Declan McCullagh has the story of the surprising entry of Big Corn and the corn farmers' lobby into the Google – Yahoo – Microsoft merger brouhaha.  Why would Big Corn care about such a thing?  Why would a business which receives so much anticompetitive largesse from the government want to spoil the anticompetitive party for other industries?

The answer, sadly, will not surprise you.  McCullagh provides a good investigation and overview of the way many supposed "grassroots" groups are formed and operate, and a look at the industry which has become known as the "astroturf" movement.

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