If President Obama has failed as spectacularly as his Republican detractors argue, shouldn't it be easier for them to come up with honest attack ads?
In other words, if Obama's presidency has been genuinely awful, the right shouldn't have any trouble at all coming up with devastating criticism based solely on facts -- there would be no need to make stuff up because the truth would be brutal enough on its own.
And yet, the Koch-financed Americans for Prosperity is running new attack ads like this one.
The investment behind this spot is pretty remarkable given that it's only April and the election is still 192 days away.
The group Americans for Prosperity just went up with a $6.1 million ad buy in swing states that accuses the Obama administration of squandering American taxpayer dollars on green energy projects, asserting that some of the money actually went to foreign entities. The ad is going up in eight states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia.
The principal problem with the commercial is that it's breathtakingly wrong. AFP would have voters believe the administration gave $1.2 billion "to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico," when in reality the investment was a federal loan guarantee for an energy project in California. The ad points to "half a billion to an electric car company that created hundreds of jobs in Finland," which is a claim that made the rounds last fall, before being completely and thoroughly debunked.
Stephen Lacey and Rebecca Leber ran a detailed fact-check of the ad that's well worth checking out, but the larger point that's worth pondering is the fact that the Koch brothers and their attack operation feel the need to lie so blatantly in the first place. To hear Republicans tell it, the Recovery Act that saved the American economy was a terrible disaster. It wasn't, but that's their pitch.
But if the stimulus were really so bad, couldn't Americans for Prosperity find legitimate criticisms that stand up to scrutiny? Why lie when the truth is supposed to be so damaging? Perhaps because the facts aren't on conservatives' side at all.
What's more, I'd be remiss if I didn't note the level of irony underpinning the AFP's new offensive. They're complaining that the Obama administration's investments benefited overseas workers, but someone might want to remind the Koch brothers that they're trying to elect Mitt Romney -- who, as Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and the Obama campaign have noted in recent months, has quite a record of outsourcing American jobs and investing heavily outside the United States.
It's almost as if the right is trying to neutralize one of Romney's vulnerabilities by projecting his faults onto the president in an I'm-rubber-you're-glue sort of way.
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But, of course, television stations, including those associated with NBC, are running the blatant lies. They are cashing the Koch brothers checks without saying a word about the truth or falsity what Karl Rove has wrought.
Seriously , I couldn't agree more . The lies emanating from my TEEVEE are beyond belief. I can usually watch Mourning Joe and just let it roll off , but I had to turn it off this morning .Lie after Lie after Lie with no one pushing back. With the s*it storm that is about to be unleashed courtesy of the Supremes and Citizens United may force me to stop watching TEEVEE in order to preserve my sanity .
The general population will swallow this BS and the Republicans will use the lies as talking points until it becomes"common knowledge"
Lies don't matter any more as there is no one to stop them.
They have them a horse race and that's all they want , so they can sell more ad time .
I Give Up
Truly egregious group think, wasn't it?
Completely agree with every thing you said. The Swift Boating of John Kerry proved that facts don't matter. Just repeat the big lie because the media won't debunk it, they'll just state the "other side's" "opinion" that the lie isn't true. So we're left with dueling opinions and no reporting--except for Rachel Maddow, who is fabulous, but sadly an exception in today's media and Jon Stewart, who is a comedian but more of a journalist than most of the folks reading the news or hosting shout fests on cable.
I couldn't agree more w/ both of you! I've stopped watching my usual morning TV shows because of the blatant lies that NBC is running--I can catch them online without the aggravation.
And the general population is a bunch of sheep to lazy to think for themselves and prefer to jump on the bandwagon of whatever the loudest dolt is selling. The ones that makes me simply shake my head at the stupidity are the ones accusing President Obama of raising the price of gas. Seriously, who by now is not aware of the fact that the president doesn't determine the price of gas??!!! And dude, if it costs you $80 to fill your tank, I can tell you're driving a big a$$ SUV. You're still going to pay a lot to fill it if gas were only $2/gal.
NDC needs to counter these ads IMMEDIATELY, before they take any further hold, by running ads that debunk all these lies one by one....
There are TV shows in the morning? That sounds awful!
Unfortunately, federal law REQUIRES TV an radio stations to air these ads, and they are not permitted to reject them based on content. That's how we ended up with a dead fetus ad during the SuperBowl.
For what the writer says about lies relating to the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove as in roving in mendacity and obfuscation. What is the truth or is just your personal opinion with no REAL fact----just emotional and I can understand fed-up Ron but what about seeking some fact. I am not casting aspersions, but what are the lies you are talking about. ?
No... they... DON'T... need to air these deceptive ads! Political ads from outside groups are NOT subject to the same regulations as political candidate ads, which is why they can get away with such despicable lies. See here: http://www.flackcheck.org/stations/
Americans for Mendacity. They lie for the sheer joy of it, as an expression of contempt for the uppity foreigner in the Whites Only House.
When is it ever about facts? All this is about is getting a loud soundbite out there that the GOP can fawn over for several media cycles.
I am sorry, I must be getting old, but I have always thought politics was about securing the best government, which means we are safer, our economy is fairer and our future is more secure. I didn't know making sure the cable news and television talking heads had GOP soundbites to fawn over for a few media cycles was what politics and elections were all about. Alas, on reflection, you must be right.
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA . You funny guy
Welcome to the geezer club . Its about filling a 7-24 news cycle with enough manure and controversy to sell more pharmaceuticals and cheerios.
The business of news is to sell stuff.
The business of politicians is to get re-elected
Governing is an accident that happens after the first two.
On TeeVee, Truth and Reality are two separate things.
If a viewer sees most anything- (print ads always say "as seen on TV")- he believes it to be true.
Millions watch the ad. Hundreds look at Politifact's Truth-O-Meter.
I'm not sure if it's 'hundreds' anymore.
TV political coverage would improve dramatically if the talking heads would simply say, "This is a press release from (name of group)", read the first page or so of the press release, remind their readers, "that was a press release from (group)," and move on to the next press release.
At this point, their main 'contribution' is to lend their credibility to the material in the press release, to give it the pretense of fact. Since that's value subtracted rather than added, you can see why a straightforward reading of press releases, clearly identified as such, would be an improvement.
Hey! When oil is a monomaniacal obsession, reality doesn't matter. The Kochs will be standing in 125 degree weather in the future and commenting, "Isn't this weather just BEAUTIFUL?" Their minions will touch their heads to the ground, and Sean Hannity, wearing an asbestos suit to work, will defend them against Communist ecologists.
Do truth in advertising rules not apply to political ads?
I fully think we should be able to sue for false advertising when political ads lie. Anyone care to start a class action against AFP?
Interesting idea - the challenge, of course, would be showing exactly how we, as a class, were damaged by the ads. Otherwise the case would be thrown out in a heartbeat. Not saying we aren't damaged by the ads - just saying it might be difficult to demonstrate.
Rather than trying to sue AFP, it would make more sense for Dems to discredit AFP, the Koch Bros., Karl Rove and his group and, of course, Grover Norquist. Ads can be produced demonstrating the big lies that these people tell or endorse. Run these ads in every market that these groups are putting out ads. This allows Dems to directly attack the groups who support Republicans just like they attack Planned Parenthood and Moveon.org and it would indirectly attack Republicans. If Dems can make these groups an election liability, Republicans will run away. The thrust of the attacks will be the lies and the radical positions these people and groups support. Romney and the Republicans will be vicariously attacked for their radical positions. This worked against ALEC by using the media to expose the group and this same tactic could very well work against these other groups and people.
You are insinuating that we should play their game? You may have heard we are no good at it. Besides, people must come to their own realization. The fact that Obama ever won is encouraging that more and more people are seeing through the lies. It's infuriating, but it's what makes us the good guys and them the bad guys. That, by the way is how the R's attract manual laborers: by painting D's as pushovers.
But the Dems do not have to lie or create fabrications about these groups or people. The truth is more than enough.
Even the voice over sounds discredible-he doesn't believe it himself, just saying...
Don't truth in advertising rules apply to political ads? If not, I wonder why?
The person who annoys me the most is david Gregory. He just repeats it like it's a fact when the Repubs throw out garbage like that without asking for any facts on it. He then attacks Dem as if he has to explain why they continue the actions they're being accused of. I swear I've just about thrown something at my tv every time I see him do that.
Me, too. I would love to throw rotten eggs at him, except that I would then have to clean them up off the floor. It drives me crazy that practically none of the so-called "journalists" ever challenge these outrageous assertions.
I found some relief from the infuriating, lying and crap for content TV ads by making some faux rocks and bricks out of foam rubber to throw at my TV when the assaults on my intelligence occur. For the really egregious ads I made some foam rubber dog poop. As I live in a swing state (Colorado) where the ads will be 24/7 I plan to make more dog poop .
Maybe the reason that Koch et al is claiming that the California solar energy plant is in Mexico is because they plan to give California back to Mexico when they get into office. I can understand why those people wouldn't want a state like CA with its history of fighting pollution to interfere with their plans of destroying the rest of the US.
I've noticed over and over again that the "I'm rubber you're glue" defense is used by Rush Limbaugh. He incites anger over stuff the GOP is doing by saying the Dems are doing it, or he pre-argues what he knows is the next Dem attack. Its diabolically clever. QUESTION: How do we fight the lies without sounding defensive which always puts you in the back of the argument? Rachel: you are the best and brightest. Advise Obama on his campaign, please!
Instead of Right Wing..It should be "Right Wing-It" cause that's just what they are doing "wing-ing it" ..#pantsonfire
is there any way to determine how much money the Koch brothers made, either directly or indirectly, from the Recovery Act? i think we can bet there was a bundle.
Old. Scared. White. People. Vote.
Meaning what exactly? Do you really think that old, scared, white people actually admit to the fact that they are A) old, B) scared, and C) racist?
Courageous. People. Of. All. Colors. Too.
Well if they run the add in Michigan I will change the channel or at least mute the dumb thing but I happen to be an intelligent voter who would not believe the Koch brothers if they yelled "fire" and I could smell smoke.
Imagine what money like that could do if used for humanitarian or philanthropic purposes to make our nation, our world a better place. Imagine...
Or maybe pay a few taxes? The money that goes into these negative campaigns is OBSCENE. If a portion of that were used to pay taxes that they spend so much money avoiding, this country would not have a deficit.
The major problem is that people are too tired and too warn out to check things out for themselves. Many are afraid. The republican are great at getting out a message even if it is false. Remember is you tell people a lie enough times they will begin to believe it . The republicans are good at spinng things around and blaming their opponent for exactly what they are doing. and peole will follow like sheep. its amazing how many people will vote against their own best interest because they are of all this
worn out?
This is all very clever. Most clever of all is the way the argument of Republican vs. Liberal, or if you prefer, Obama's Administration vs. Mitt Romney's campaign, has been completely ignored in favor of this. Perhaps the ad is nothing but lies. Maybe they're half-lies. Maybe it's just the typical hazy shady garbage that people from both sides engage in as a matter of course. What I never see, however, is any liberals justifying the fact that there STILL is no budget from the Senate 3 years in, despite the legal mandate for one annually. Nor is there any explanation for the fact that the Obama Admin has spent more than anyone in the history of the Universe, or that there is no explanation on how that's going to ever be paid back. Guess it doesn't matter right? It's painfully easy to sit in the rafters and watch for that "perfect" story to do the perfect hatchet job on, there are people from both sides doing that every day. It is the easiest way to feign intelligence and convince as many as possible that you are informed and that your point of view is the correct one. But regardless of which side is doing the hatchet job, that is not the way you actually arrive at clarity. It's just a dopey way to go and makes those that do look like shills and drones for whomever it is that is telling them what to say, think and do. So have fun with that. Moving on now...
As long as there is a 60 vote requirement in the Senate you will NEVER see a budget passed by either party. "Obama Admin has spent more than anyone in the history of the Universe"?? I am not sure where to begin with this argument...but i'm fairly certain it is false. How much did Bush spend on Iraq? Afghanistan? The tea party are the ones who will not allow this admin to pay for anything!!!! This may come as a shock to some, but occasionally taxes do need to go up.
Why are they allowed to advertise lies? It should be illegal...
Lies Lies and more Lies by the Republican Party and right wing conservatives.Fox news is just sickening anymore so repulsive . I don't even stay on that channel for but a blip on the TV screen. to the voters that fall for it and believe these lies, i hope they wise up. All these lies about President Obama are a black thing don't you know, and it's a dirty rotten shame that RACISM is still running amok in our society today. They need to get over it.
NeedMoreCoffee, I was just about to say that if the Koch brothers would just give the price of each ad buy to the IRS, the national debt might be gone in two or three election cycles. Further proof (as if we needed any) that "it is NOT the economy, stupid!" as they claim. "It" is something far more insidious. I don't know what the "it" is, but it is clear that they don't give a flying foofie about the US economy!
I just don't get the I'm rubber you're glue analogy. Rubber is pliable, glue is sticky. These are not opposites. Is there a story I don't know, maybe about a dirty tire spinning down a road paved with glue? It'd make more sense to say I'm teflon, you're glue, or "you may have some dirt on me, but I'm putting a whole lot of glue on you"
Items bounce off rubber, items stick to glue. The playground taunt is: "I'm rubber and your glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!"
My mother's biggest fear is that the republicans will buy this election and the recall election in Wisconsin. Unfortunately they have the money to commercialize these lies. It is up to the American public to get themselves educated and learn the truth. Do I feel the democrats are so much better? No, but they are the lesser of two evils.
My hope is that these lying ads get repeated so often that people just stop paying attention to them. Of course at this point, it seems like that's a flip of the coin.
It is up to the American public to get themselves educated and learn the truth.
Will. Never. Happen.
The American sheeple are way more concerned about the Kardashians and American Idol than the world in which they live .
America: Too Stupid for democracy
The truth never seems to deter the right