Remember Fight the Smears? I spent the better part of a year using it as inspiration and fodder to hammer insane wingnut lunatics out to prevent Barack Obama from becoming President by lying and sowing seeds of fear and loathing among the masses.
It didn’t work out well for them.
One reason it didn’t was a coordinated effort by the campaign and by bloggers like me who fought back – hard. It’s the only way you deal with insane ignorant bullies. Hit them hard and keep hitting them until those who might sheepishly go along are forced not to. It wasn’t easy, but it worked. It took up a ton of time I didn’t have, but it was worth it.
The Fight The Smears website was a brilliant idea and one in a long list of Obama campaign innovations that will be studied for years. The reason it worked was due mostly to it’s simplicity. A clearinghouse for campaign lies and smears that were being forwarded ad nauseum and parroted in right wing outlet after right wing outlet. The messaging was simple too. Fight the smears. Simple. Easy. Effective. The site was resource with which armies of supporters could battle the insanity of the Palin Mobs. The energy of supporters enabled the campaign to harness a cadre of people willing to get the message out and counter misinformation. Daily.
Mission Accomplished.
That we have to do it again is sad, really, but that’s where the Birthers, Palin Mobs, and Townhall Rioters have led us. It is the summer of wingnut discontent and it requires action. Enter “Health Insurance Reform Reality Check“. Not quite “Fight The Smears”, but “Reality Check” is the perfect messaging for what is happening. We are in serious need of a reality check. The stuff that is being peddle by the right is not reality. Death panels. Nazi end of life euthanasia for seniors. So-called “Socialized Medicine”. Killing the Down Syndrome child of a former VP candiate. These fuckers are as unhinged as ever.
So the next time you hear one of these fantastical objections to health care reform (ie complete made up crazy shit), use Reality Check to answer them. Whenever and wherever you see them. Our instinct is to laugh them off, sure. It’s what I did with most of the original Birther arguments and Obama smears. We should begin taking them on directly and unequivocally.
So what is in it for us average Americans? What will health care reform get us? Let’s first answer what it WON’T do:
NO Euthanasia for seniors NO Government takeover of health care NO Government rationing, but prevention of rationing by insurance companies NO Veteran health care affects NO Small business burden NO Medicare cuts NO Forcing you out of your current plan
Of course, the “no socialized medicine” argument is easily debunked by explaining to people what Medicare is (Government run health care). The ignorance in this debate is breathtaking. It’s going to take at least as much work as it did defeating the Obama smears. The misinformation may even be worse!
OK, so that’s what health care reform WON’T do. What about what’s in it for us? Good question. Here are several consumer protections guaranteed by reform. It’s too bad they couldn’t have grabbed realitycheck.com. It doesn’t look like it’s being used and that would be a sweet URL to point people to.
Remember February? It will go down as the time in this campaign when John McCain had some modicum of dignity and respect. October will be known as the time in this campaign when the soul of John McCain died. In February he said:
“It’s my understanding that before I came in here a person who was on the program before I spoke made some disparaging remarks about my two colleagues in the Senate, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton,†he said. “I have repeatedly stated my respect for Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, that I will treat them with respect. I will call them ‘Senator.’ We will have a respectful debate, as I have said on hundreds of occasions. I regret any comments that may have been made about these two individuals who are honorable Americans.â€
Wingnut talker Bill Cunningham had just repeatedly used Barack’s middle name Hussein as a slur that whipped the rabid GOP crowd into a frenzy. John McCain quickly and forcefully repudiated this action. He did so just after Bill spoke.
Today he stood and watched while someone yelled TERRORIST when he had rhetorically asked who the real Barack Obama was:
In this clip you can see a microcosm of what this campaign has become for John McCain. His original self, the John McCain of 2000 and you could argue even the John McCain of some months ago would be horrified by such a comment being yelled out. That is his initial – and natural – reaction. He was horrified. This quickly gives way to apology and indifference to rightwing conservative bloodlust. They had, afterall, struck a deal. The transformation of John McCain “Maverick” into John McCain “Right Wing Partisan” is thus complete. The soul of the maverick is dead. What could cause such a turn of events? Ambition. Powerfully singular and blind ambition.
The desire for any kind of respectful debate on the issues was jettisoned along the campaign trail like so many of his past airplanes about to crash. This one is going down in flames as well. McCain will once again be a POW. This time, he’ll be a prisoner in his own cell of inadequacy and inability to live up to the expectations of his much vaunted father and grandfather – both admirals in the Navy. It was something John could never obtain given his track record in the military. His ambition to be President was his last grasp at family redemption. His last best hope to live up to the McCain name.
The plane is on fire and it is in a flat tailspin.
Any dignity and respect that John McCain had in this campaign has been all but used up in this October campaign period like oil from an offshore “drill, baby, drill” rig. The disgusting level to which the McCain camp has sunk in a desperate attempt to stem the tide that is rising against their bid for a date with McCain family ambition and continuation of disastrous George W. Bush policies is simply breathtaking.
The entire thing has left me with this sick feeling all day. Right in the pit of the gut. It’s a combination of sadness and anger. Sadness for segments of our society who would shout “terrorist” about another candidate for President of the United States of America and anger for those who would so bastardize their right to free speech that they’d literally shout for the execution of another human being. All of which happens at a Republican campaign event without the slightest hint of repudiation. Not one word. The show, of course, had to go on. [click to continue…]
This strikes the right tone. It doesn’t appear too negative and It beat the McCain smear stuff that will happen on Tuesday. They even got it out a full day early.
Now when the attacks come, the message can be “see, we told you they were going to do these desperate personal attacks”.
McCain officials had said early in the weekend that they plan to begin advertising after Tuesday’s debate that will tie Obama to convicted money launderer Tony Rezko and former Weathermen radical William Ayers.
But Obama isn’t waiting to respond. His campaign is going up Monday on national cable stations with a scathing ad saying: “Three quarters of a million jobs lost this year. Our financial system in turmoil. And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis. Out of touch on the economy. No wonder his campaign wants to change the subject.
“Turn the page on the financial crisis by launching dishonorable, dishonest ‘assaults’ against Barack Obama. Struggling families can’t turn the page on this economy, and we can’t afford another president who is this out of touch.â€
This is being called Jujitsu (Jujutsu or Jiu-Jitsu). It looks and sounds more like Aikido to me. Whatever it is, I like it.
Did I say “here come the bastards”? Maybe I should have also said here come the bitches. Palin begins the ugly by making the following comment:
“Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”
She cites a NYT article which concludes:
“the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called ’somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.’ “
This attack is beyond ridiculous and it points to how desperate the GOP is that they have Palin out front leading this attack. Sarah has some REAL “anti-American” ties. I guess the MSM can finally talk about that now! What IS Sarah Palin doing “palling around” with American hating secessionists anyway?
Batton down the hatches and get prepared for the final assault. Shit is going to get ugly. John McCain has already decided to go almost 100% negative (something John says the American people don’t want).
Now we learn that they will not only go totally negative. They will go MORE negative than they have been. They’re gonna go nookular:
Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama’s character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat’s judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.
“We’re going to get a little tougher,” a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. “We’ve got to question this guy’s associations. Very soon. There’s no question that we have to change the subject here,” said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
So that’s the story, right? The Republicans are going to try to scare the people of the 7th with stories of how some illegal alien is on the loose in their district and – GASP – he’s one of them there African types that commits the crimes! And it’s all Sharen Neuhardt’s fault!
These people are disgusting. Jeff has more at ODB. The bottom line is this kid escaped a hell none of us can possibly imagine, was graciously aided by the Neuhardt family, and is caught in a bureaucratic nightmare that threatens to send him back to a place where he would surely be killed. Sharen’s family is not going to let that happen and all of us – wingnut bloggers and GOP candidates included – should defend this as a UNIQUELY American thing to do.
Do the Republicans even remember what is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty?
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Steve Austria and Matt Hurley apparently don’t want America to be American. They don’t want a lifting of the lamp. They want to attack the tired and the poor. They’d rather score points using the tempest-tossed as cannon fodder in political campaigns than to take the time to live up to the very promise that birth in this country has afforded them. They’d rather soil the poetry of Emma Lazarus than live up to the ideals upon which we all stand.
It’s almost as if Matt Hurley and the rest of his disgusting excuses for humanity have never seen Hotel Rwanda. Asshats. I suppose it’s the Christian in them that allows them to attack a political opponent by using a genocide refugee they helped have a future. Wonder what Jesus would do. I know! Spread rumor and innuendo while ignoring unconstitutional immigration laws.
That they attack this kid to score political points is shameless and un-American. Hurley and friends should be ashamed. Look for Bizzy to pick up on this story along with Nixguy. Both of whom will somehow blame this kid for the entire genocide I’m sure.
Neuhardt’s campaign is not taking this lightly. Their statement:
“Steve Austria knows his campaign is desperate and he will do or say anything to get elected, including cowardly personal attacks. He’s stooped so low as to attack Sharen’s family for standing up and doing what’s right,†said Jessica Kershaw, Communications Director for the Neuhardt Campaign. “Austria’s errand boys pushed this cowardly attack and in doing so are attempting to make a victim of the Rwandan tragedy a victim again.â€
Austria and his Washington cronies unleashed an attack on Ishema Umuhoza, a political refugee who fled the Rwandan genocide at 11 years old. He lives in the United States legally as he waits for the federal courts to review his petition for political asylum.
“This smear attempt is telling of Steve Austria’s true character,†said Kershaw. “It is the worst kind of political mudslinging and is reminiscent of the smears John McCain endured in 2000.â€
Ahum. That didn’t take long. I asked for it and it appears Team Obama is gonna give it to me (and many others all thinking and screaming the same thing: FIGHT!). This is really great to see and it’s only a warning shot straight across the bows of those who think it will work this time:
It’s called “Unfit for Publication,” but the subtitle could be: “We Are Not John Kerry’s Campaign.”
In an move that is one part genuine pushback and one part message-sending, Obama’s campaign has released a 41-page pdf file designed to rebut accusations made in Jerome Corsi’s book, “The Obama Nation.”
The idea is to aggressively fact-check a book that is now number one on the NYT’s best-seller list. But, as made plain by the title and faux book jacket, the goal is also to demonstrate to fretting Democrats, Republicans plotting attacks and reporters watching it all that they won’t be “swift-boated” in the way John Kerry was in 2004 starting with Corsi’s book, “Unfit for Command.”
To prove this point, they don’t stop at merely fact-checking each questionable claim in the book — they also set out to attack Corsi for his fringe views, discrediting the messenger.
Of course, the lies in “The Obama Nation†almost pale in comparison to the bizarre, conspiratorial views that Jerome Corsi has advocated in his broader work,” writes the Obama campaign in what amounts to an introduction, noting the author’s fear of a purported North American Union, belief that there was a government coverup of 9/11 and past anti-Catholic comments.
They should expand on this and print it in book format and offer it as an incentive to donate. I’d donate enough to get 10 copies and pass out. Maybe more.
You see. I made it known how we were gonna fight anonymous email smears of Barack Obama:
1. Reply to everyone who got the email that you can tell (you may need to copy addresses from a quoted email that was forwarded). Tell them the truth.
2. Forward it to watchdog@barackobama.com
3. Forward it to me eric@plunderbund.com and I’ll blog it (include the entire message including original sender/recipients)
All well and good until you get one from your own mother. This is how insidious this thing is. It’s like a hyperactive viral form of cancer. So now what, right? Post mom’s email? Post her friends who sent it to you?
Hell no I’m not posting my mom’s email address.
The object of this exercise has always been to fight the anonymity. To draw out into the open those who would hide behind an email address and a false attack smear sent to their entire address book. My mom is not anonymous to me. I can answer these smears directly by emailing or even picking up the phone. What I DID do that is consistent with the strategy is to answer her and the others who were copied along with her:
Hi everyone. I’m Eric Vessels, son of Judy and George. I received a forwarded email that contained your addresses as well.
The information in that email that you received about Barack Obama blowing off the troops in Afghanistan is false. It has been thoroughly debunked by the Army Times and the author, Capt. Jeffrey S. Porter, has recanted his story:
“I am writing this to ask that you delete my e-mail and not forward it, after checking my sources some of the information that was put out in my e-mail was wrong. This e-mail was meant only for my family. Please respect my wishes and delete the e-mail and if there are any blogs you have my e-mail portrayed on I would ask if you would take it down too.â€
I’ve been in or around the military for the better part of my life. I grew up on Fort Knox, where I met at least one of you on this list as a kid. I have fond memories of it all. I know from this experience that there are a range of cultural, political, racial, and ethnic experiences within the military life. These diversities are a large part of what formed the person I am today.
Let’s have political debate. Let’s exercise our American right to vote for the person we think best represents us. But let’s not propagate lies, innuendo, and false attacks against those we have decided not to support.
It belittles us as Americans and certainly is beneath a code I first learned on a rock at West Point.
So my request is that you don’t accept receiving nor allow yourself to send these types of false email smears, no matter which candidate for POTUS you support.
Thanks for your time and I wish you all well.
Eric Vessels
This is what makes these kinds of attacks so pervasive and dangerous. Long after they have been debunked they float around and get forwarded by people who take them at face value and that lie spreads. This is why we fight.
When are the smear merchants gonna learn that we are going to be doing more than just blogging righteous indignation this time around? We’re going to hold them accountable this time and fight back. How? By posting their emails, phone numbers, addresses and asking them to back up their lies and their smears in public. In the light of day. Not in anonymity online or in news reports.
The nice thing about Findlay, Ohio, is that it is the most Republican place in Ohio, which means it’s irrelevant. But, there are smearers there. And that makes it relevant to me.
The Washington Post visited Findlay, and found this out.
College Street in Findlay is sounding like a wingnut haven. Our latest two subjects are Don LeMaster and Leroy Pollard. Both misinformed Obama bashers from our own Findlay, Ohio. Tim gives us the full run down. I might just have to call them both tomorrow and correct them on their misinformed rantings to WaPo.
So again, it’s
Don LeMaster
(419) 422-8216
633 COLLEGE ST
Findlay, OH 45840
and
Leroy Pollard
(419) 425-9947
641 COLLEGE ST
Findlay, OH 45840
Listen. If you don’t want to be called out or have your email or other information put on the Internet, my suggestion to you would be to deal in facts and become better educated about the issues that matter in this election. It’s really that simple.
If you needed any indication of the slime that is going to be tossed in the next few months during the Presidential Election, one need look no further than Jeff Gannon (outed male hooker fake reporter) and Larry Sinclair (lying smear merchant seeking 5 minutes of fame) coming together at the National Press Club. No pun intended.
The National Press Club is going to give this lunatic the stage to do what? Spout his deranged nonsense about Obama having a drug induced homosexual affair? Please.
Action Item: Call the National Press Club (Sylvia Smith, President) at 202-662-7500, and tell them they need to deny an outlet for this smear merchant to slander a candidate running for President and a sitting Senator with absolutely no basis in fact.
