The water issues in this state are complex and often mind-boggling.  And of course, there are some people with gripes, some more legitimate than others.  It would be really nice if everybody could just sit at a table and talk honestly and openly about this, but I’m guessing that Westlands Water District doesn’t really want to sit at a table and say that they need the rest of the state to pay for the unsustainable agriculture in the western region of the Central Valley. And I really doubt that some of the construction (and even some labor) really want to say that they simply want the contracts to build a bunch of unnecessary projects.

So, barring that, you get astroturf, which really doesn’t need water. It can grow with just a bit of cash.  And, as Steve Maviglio has been pointing out, the Latino Water Coalition is just such a group.  Capitol Weekly has some juicy details of the “outraged water consumers”:

The Coalition was registered on Dec. 29 of last year by Soares. His firm, Kahn, Soares, & Conway LLP, billed lobbying clients more than $580,000 during the first six months of this year, over 80 percent of it to agricultural clients. The mailing address listed on the Coalition’s Web sites is identical to that of Soares’ firm, located on L Street across from the Capitol. (Capitol Weekly 10/1/09)

The “Coaltion” as they frequently misspell their own name on forms has hired comedian Paul Rodriguez to go around making speeches to crowds of angry people. Angry people usually bussed in, sometimes from out of state, sometimes from different regions. But boy are they angry. Angry at the Delta smelt, angry at the salmon, and angry at the fisherman for wanting their livelihoods to continue.  As for the politicians they are angry at, well that’s mostly reserved for Democrats and the mean meanies who won’t send the delta smelt to its extinction.

It works for the Republicans. The anger works, and directing the anger at the fish, and those who protect the fish, well that works too.  As Jon Stewart shows, this is really a part of a bigger scheme to simultaneously attack the environmental movement at the same time as they are attacking the president and the Central Valley Democrats.  And while I’m kind of uncomfortable standing up for a Blue Dog like Reps. Costa and Cardoza, the fact is that their records are being distorted on these issues.

But, why get real supporters, when you can simply pay some angry comic, like Paul Rodriguez, to rile up a crowd and then throw in Sean Hannity for some extra fun too?

I hope they enjoy the in-bus movie as they head back home from all the fun Latino Water Coalition rallies. I hear Baseketball is a thriller, and they use REAL astroturf on their field.