For much of the Bush/Cheney era, right-wing groups could be counted on to spew neoconservative talking points pretty aggressively. After President Obama put together a series of national security and counter-terrorist victories, the arguments largely faded.
But not completely. A ridiculous group called Secure America Now released an attack video this week, filled with so many cartoonish lies, it's almost a parody of itself. After literally including footage of the 9/11 terrorists flying airplanes into the Twin Towers, the video forces an actor to tell us Obama "apologized" to foreign countries (that never happened) and "abandoned" Israel (not according to Israelis). The actor also whines about the president ending torture policies, as if that were a bad thing.
Perhaps more entertaining is the way in which the video goes after the president for things the left wishes were true -- trying terrorists in civilian courts, closing Gitmo, closing CIA black sites -- but aren't.
But of particular interest is Secure America Now's exceedingly bad timing: the attack ad warning Americans that Obama is making us less safe was released the day before this news reached the public.
Osama bin Laden's death sent al-Qaida into a decline that will be hard to reverse, the United States said on Tuesday in a report that found terrorist attacks last year fell to their lowest level since 2005.
Describing 2011 as a "landmark year," the United States said other top al-Qaida members killed last year included Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, reportedly the militant organization's No. 2 figure after bin Laden's death, and Anwar al-Awlaki, who led its lethal affiliate in Yemen.
"The loss of bin Laden and these other key operatives puts the network on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse," the State Department said in its annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" document, which covers calendar year 2011.
There are important debates to be had over the limits of presidential power and potential abuses in counter-terrorism, but going into the election, it's pretty tough for the right to argue with a straight face that President Obama has chosen a "weak" path that has made the nation "less safe." The evidence to the contrary is simply overwhelming.
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Evidence? They don't need no steenking evidence! They will say whatever paranoid, fact-free drivel their warped little minds tell them to.
And how many of the Faux Snooze eaters will know these facts? Brooklyn Michael above is right.
Evidence? When exactly did GOP Attack Ads. Actually care to have evidence or facts, to back them up. The old saying of If you tell a lie long enough, people will start to believe it's true. Look at the Tea Party if you want proof of that. Half the things they claim are 'true/fact' are fabrications of Rove. The other half are just delusions of Momma Grizzly.
Tastes Great! Less Filling!"
"I am not a crook!"
"Al Gore invented the Internet!"
"There are nuclear weapons in Iraq!"
To become part of the Great American Knowledge Bank, one need only repeat anything, ad nauseam.
I can't help but laugh when I think about the difference between Bush and Obama in handling the war on terror. Bush's policies were terribly ineffective and costly, waging a big 'ol "Texas-style" war, while Obama has...well, killed bad guys like ninjas. I mean, seriously. If the right were at all concerned about effectiveness and reality, they should be praising our president DAILY.
The only thing that gives me some comfort about the Citizens United cesspool is how much of the money seems to be just flat out wasted on ads by people who think undecideds and persuadables can be persuaded by the same dreck that gets the base all hot and bothered.
My fear is that by 2016, they'll be much, much better at this crap. Right now, though, it's just one big opportunity for grifters to con anonymous Texas gazillionaire neo-Birchers out of huge piles of money in order to Send a Wake-Up Call to the Sleeping Americal Public about the Growing
CommunistIslamofascistmarxistanticolonialist Menace to our Very Way of Life.Citizens United is the GOP plan for full employment. Since they own the media, it is out one pocket and in the other. "Pity the Fool."
The only hope I see is for these propaganda fools to literally go so far over the top that they become laughable except to only the kookiest of the kooks in our midst. Otherwise, all is lost.
We could have been rid of the Republican fools in 2009 if the Dems had kicked them in the teeth instead of inviting them back to the table as responsible partners.
Fear the truth! Beware the light! Hmmm..yet there was that thingy somewhere about bearing FALSE witness.
One can only wonder is this is some kind of over done reverse thinking, from what I observe the GOP has been over doing everything to get what they want while the Democrats seem to be chasing the middle line further to the right.
It should be noted, however, that the first two of these are policies the president fought for but was blocked by Congress when they prohibited money from being spent on them. Let's not make the mistake of giving credence to the GOP line that closing Gitmo is a "broken promise."
That said, attacking him both for breaking the promise to close Gitmo by failing to overcome their opposition and for wanting to close it (though not in the same ad) is about equivalent to killing your parents and then asking for mercy because you're an orphan.
The up side to these ads is that whoever is funding the ads is wasting a lot of money that could be going to conservative candidates. I doubt anyone is going to be convinced to change their vote by these ads. Let us hope the fools put even more money into this garbage.
While the congressman's rhetoric was way overblown, there are significant problems with Obamacare. Diana Furchtgott-Roth made a good point in her latest Washington Examiner column today about the Payment Advisory Board, which will lead to rationing of screenings, including for women. One example she gives is cervical cancer screenings, which are very expensive to administer and would be more cost effective if run once every four years: http://washingtonexaminer.com/presenting-alternatives-to-obamacare/article/2501768
Wow what you don't know about women's health care. Cervical cancer screenings are done what are know as Pap Smears. They are done routinely in office visits either to primary care physicians (the most common now) or to a OB-GYN. Their not expensive at all. Really have you ever had a girlfriend or wife? I am surprised a woman would write that in a column. No really Iam. I have had pap smears done for since I was 18 years old at Planned Parenthood. Back then it was paid for by State and Federal funds. It is one of the most cheapest ways to detect a cancer.