A few weeks ago, there were a couple of diaries about the Jerome Corsi book, THE OBAMANATION. The book has received a fair amount of criticism. But according to accounts in the mainstream press, the garbage in the book is all over talk radio and Faux News. And at least one commentator has noted that Mary Matalin, publisher of the book, which is very much more polished and professional-looking than UNFIT TO COMMAND, is closely associated with the GOP officially and has been an advisor to President George W. Bush. Uh, she's also closely associated with someone who might be able to complain loudly about this junk and compare it to similar stuff hurled at the Clintons; outright falsehoods, exagerrations, guilt by association, wild stories, etc.
I am already seeing educated, sophisticated GOP-leaning friends of the kind who read those nutty books about Clinton passing this junk around in e-mails. The diarist from San Jose told us of her experience just a few days ago. I've only seen John Kerry, ironically, point out that McCain has hired the same gang of thugs who attacked him in 2004.
For more information on what is out there--it's certainly not the truth-- see link to Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker below.
You just cannot ignore this stuff the way Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry did in 1988, 2000, and 2004. The Rove and GOP crowd not only like to attack their opponents on what are their opponents' perceived strengths, but they also accuse the Democratic candidates of what their own vulnerabilities actually are.
Bush II was a phony, not a uniter, not a "compassionate conservative". So his campaign accused Gore of being a phony. Gore failed to take the challenge head on, though it could easily have been done based on Bush's record as governor and even on the basis of how the governor's office in Texas is mostly ceremonial--except when it comes to vetoes and executions. The indolent press were apparently taken in by better food and a warmer atmosphere on the Bush campaign plane.
Bush/Cheney had a terrible record on terrorism, irresponsibly ignoring the threat of Al Qaeda attacks in the first several months of 2001. Other than Michael Moore's film, and even with the back-up of Richard Clarke's book AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, the case was not made and Bush/Cheney succeeded in convincing soccer moms not only that they could best protect us, but that we would be attacked if they were not re-elected. Remember Cheney's statement? "If we don't make the right decision...."
I'm sorry to say it, but Edwards was the worst attack dog VP choice I have ever seen. Here were a couple of draft-dodgers attacking the war veteran credentials of a war hero. And Kerry was arguably the perfect candidate to explain the futility of the war in Iraq, the deception that got us into it, etc.
So what are we seeing now? Palin is being compared to Obama, with the implicit suggestion that if she is risky as VP, at least she's not at the top of the ticket. I bet she can't find Iraq on a map.
This is being added to the garbage going around about Obama. Meanwhile, there is all this junk out there, and participants here worry about honest investigations of what seemed to be a plausible story about just one of many examples of apparent dishonesty on the part of Palin. And on CBS's "Sixty Minutes" last night, the Biden "plagiarism" story from twenty years ago was revived.
Call me a "concern troll" if you like (Michael Moore is another, as I pointed out not too long ago). I started getting concerned when Obama's people backed away from Wes Clark's remarks about McCain.
I am concerned and until Obama's speech last Thursday, many were concerned. I am still concerned about what Hertzberg describes below, how there is no "Democratic equivalent" to Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage, Ingraham, and their "hundreds of imitators".
Back to the Corsi book, am I confusing the publisher with someone else or isn't she close to someone who is close to some people who are close to the Democratic establishment? Persuasive, experienced people who could remind everyone how this has been done before by the same people....
Read Hertzberg here:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/...