How Republicans Rely On Fringe Nutjobs To Slander Their Opponents

A week or so ago there was considerable buzz about a new book by right-wing smear merchant Jerome Corsi titled "Obama Nation" (Get it? Say it out loud, its just stupendously clever). "Obama Nation" follows in the footsteps of his 2004 anti-Kerry swiftboating book "Unfit for Command". Both are full of baseless assertions and represent Republican hackery at its worst. And as such, both books made it to the #1 spot on the New York Times best seller list for non-fiction (how these can be classified as "non-fiction" is beyond me, but we'll get to that in a bit), and of course Corsi got a warm reception from Fox "News", which has helped him promote his sleazy book. Before taking a look at the book itself, let's take a look at its author, because aside from helping to swiftboat Kerry, he is notable for many other reasons:

• Corsi likes to appear on "The Political Cesspool", a white supremacist radio show that the Southern Law Poverty Center describes thusly:

  an overtly racist, anti-Semitic radio show hosted by self-avowed white nationalist James Edwards. Corsi was interviewed on the Cesspool on July 20 and is scheduled to appear again this Sunday, August 17, joining a recent guest roster that has included Christian Identity pastor Pete Peters, Holocaust denier Mark Weber and former Klan boss David Duke.

  Nice bedfellows Corsi.
• Corsi also believes that the Bush administration engaged in a cover up of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and that demolition explosives, not airplanes, took down the World Trade Center.
• Corsi has said that Hillary Clinton is a lesbian.
• Corsi believes that Muslims worship Satan. (Yes, and apparently Jesus, who they revere as a prophet, is the son of Satan?)
• Corsi claims that Bush has been secretly trying to eliminate the Mexican and Canadian borders in order to merge the three countries into one large "North American Union".
• Corsi has claimed that Kerry is a Communist (apparently he has no idea what a Communist actually is), anti-Christian, and anti-American.
• Corsi has written that pedophilia "is OK with the Pope as long as it isn't reported by the liberal press" (I don't know which is more unfounded and ridiculous, that the Pope supports pedophilia or that the media has a liberal bias).
• Corsi has also written that "RAGHEADS are Boy-Bumpers as clearly as they are Women-Haters" (I'm assuming here he is trying to say that inhabitants of the Middle East are homosexuals and misogynists, if I'm correctly translating the bigot-speak).

And now Corsi is adding a new volume of paranoid and baseless delusions for the Republicans and the right wing pundits to use to smear Obama. Yes, some people are actually taking this guy seriously. Apparently McCain thinks it is all in good taste too:

After he emerged from the meeting, a reporter asked McCain his reaction to the new Jerome Corsi book, "Obama Nation."

"Gotta keep your sense of humor," McCain responded, before his aides shuttled reporters away.

Obama's campaign didn't agree:

The old John McCain used to boast about honorable politics, while the new John McCain finds Roveian smears funny. Honor is not a laughing matter. What does John McCain think is funny about an intolerant smear artist who called Pope John Paul II senile and claims the government lied about 9/11? McCain has said he wants to run an honorable campaign, but his belief that these smears are funny makes people question whether he now approves of the same reprehensible politics used to smear his own character eight years ago.

Of course, McCain probably doesn't think this is as funny:

WND Exclusive ELECTION 2008
Group tied to al-Qaida backs McCain for prez
'They will do all they can to turn Kosovo into a jihadist camp in the heart of Europe'
Posted: March 02, 2008
9:07 pm Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

First paragraph:

"Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has enjoyed strong support from a lobbyist group that backs the Kosovo Liberation Army despite allegations the KLA is a Muslim terrorist group with ties to criminal drug networks and al-Qaida."

Uh-oh. Is this still a guy you want to embrace and whose lies you want your supporters to use to slander your opponent? Is accusing you of having lobbyist ties to al-Qaeda something you have a "sense of humor" about? Hmm...didn't think so.

But while Kerry was caught unprepared by the tidal wave of desperate Republican lies, and was eventually drowned by it, Obama has already moved to take them on forcefully. Obama has released a 41-page point-by-point rebuttal of Corsi's outrageous claims, baseless claims so poorly founded and sourced that they would earn a 5th grader a big fat F.



Check out the main page for "Unfit for Publication" here. And the direct link to the full pdf version here.

The Republicans are desperate, yet well funded, and well practiced at smearing their enemies when they know they can't win on the issues or the facts. From petty and childish (and jealous) attacks on Obama's "celebrity" to the questioning Obama's patriotism to utter trash like this book, you can be sure you won't hear any "straight talk" about the issues that matter to Americans from John McCain and the Republicans, and what you do hear is nothing but lies, like their blatantly false offshore drilling lies, and their blatantly false lies about Obama's tax plans. These lies have already risen to a frenzy, and will only get worse as November approaches, so it is our job to set the record straight to everyone we know and everyone we can reach. And if you can, please donate to Obama to help him fight these lies. Don't let swiftboating give us another four years of Republican failed policies ever again.

Update: John Kerry has also started a new effort to keep the Republican swiftboaters from succeeding with their lies again: Truth Fights Back. This site is actually dedicated to pushing back on Republican lies about Democrats in general, not just Obama.