"astroturf" as euphemism?

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Sun, Aug 09, 2009 at 12:05:27PM -0400, Laurence Horn wrote:
> From a posting by Patricia Murphy at the "Politics Daily" blog,
> regarding the national health care "debate":
> http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/04/pelosi-calls-anger-over-health-care-reform-astroturf/

[...]

> I always thought "astroturf" in the political sense, as in "astroturf
> campaign", "astroturf movement", etc., was a clever coinage to refer
> to (what are represented by the speaker, and here the Speaker, as)
> faux-grass-roots efforts on behalf of a position or a candidate, but
> if it's a euphemism I'm not sure what it's a euphemism for, and whose
> feelings are being spared by its use.

So your problem here is with Pelosi's use of "euphemism",
rather than "Astroturf"?

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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