Negative campaigning against Democrats: that’s Good, bring it on. But when Republicans turn attack ads on each other: all of a sudden, attack ads are BAD. And last night, Bill O’Reilly and Sarah Palin got kind of worried about them.
On O’Reilly’s "Back of the Book" segment, Palin (posed prettily against a woodland lake which is presumably meant to represent Alaska) discussed the possibility that attack ads by Republicans against other Republicans – which they referred to as “brutality” - would help Obama. As indeed they might.
Palin, the Gingrich supporter (who pretends otherwise), was particularly distressed that Romney’s better-financed campaign gave him an advantage over her guy. “What we just witnessed in Florida that brutality via $17 million in negative ads in a 65-to-1 negative ad ratio that was mounted against Newt Gingrich, which I think did result in him falling there in the polls and in that primary.” What should be done about it? Americans, she said, should “aggressively and ambitiously do our own homework … because we cannot rely on the media, the establishment, the super PACs and candidates who hide behind the super PACs to tell us what the truth is about these candidates.”
O’Reilly’s response: “Well, OK, but people who watch this program listen to talk radio, read the newspapers…. But that's not the majority of the American people. And the majority of voters will be -- and I'm not being condescending; I'm being realistic -- ill-informed. And they're going to pick up, just as the voters in Florida did, trends on television.”
(Please excuse your humble servant - I’m about to roll on the floor in a fit of hysterics. Given repeated studies showing how misinformed Fox viewers are on issues, the irony is just too much to take. There, that’s better. Back to the blog.)
O’Reilly then asked Palin how she deals with attacks, given that so many of them have been directed at her. “Well, I hope that they, like I am able to do, keep priorities straight and right and know what really matters. At the end of the day what matters to me is my faith, my family, and my freedom as an American. So all that other stuff on the periphery, you know, it can just kind of go away…. But I do feel for others. And I do understand why American voters seem to be a bit more disenchanted with the whole process today, because they see the brutality.”
Really? As if it wasn’t conservatives who turned that kind of “brutality” into an art form? And wasn’t it conservatives, by and large, who praised the Supreme Court Citizens United decision, two years ago, that paved the way for SuperPACs? Now, we’re starting to see the consequences of that decision: whoever can raise the most money has the advantage, and since attack ads are so effective, they won’t hesitate to spend their gazillions on using them to demolish the rivals du jour, whatever party they belong to. If the right didn’t see that coming, gentle reader, they should go back to thinking school.
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Anne-claire Souza commented
2012-02-03 12:18:29 -0500
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This woman is starting to look pretty rough,it must really be bothering her that the fascination from her Fans has waned to almost obscurity, the well must be running dry.Bile our “Humble corrspondent”is as per usual talking out of his ass.Nobody cares about the opinions of either one of these Clowns.
truman commented
2012-02-03 09:37:44 -0500
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@visitor 55. You nailed it. Snow Snooki and Bildo will quickly change their tune during the election. When Plastic-Fantastic MIttens’ SuperPAC and Turdblossom’s SuperPAC spew out lies upon lies about President Obama, it will be all good First Amendment free speech.
John Martin commented
2012-02-03 05:41:38 -0500
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Tell the truth. let the rival choke on lies and dstoriions. A weak mind like der Mit can’t handle the truth. He is insulated from real life. Ask him kitchen table questions then watch him fold. Newt is trickier but in the end he loves his mind too much not to say everything he thinks no matter how farfetched. Self ediring is not a skill he possesses.
NewsHounds
posted
about Irony Alert! Palin and O’Reilly Suddenly Bemoan the “Brutality” of Negative Campaigning
on NewsHounds' Facebook page
2012-02-02 22:08:57 -0500
Palin whines about the campaign monster her side helped create.
Kent Brockman commented
2012-02-02 21:23:09 -0500
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LOL! The RW knew what they were going to do with their expanded avenues for attacks, lies, hating & smears. But morons like Sarin_gas Pale_one and Killer O’Reilly never dreamed that vile vindictive people, the type who inhabit Fux Nuze and the TeaGOP Bizaro-Wurld would of course attack their own. In essence, all fundamentalists live in a Cult of Self. One POV in every diseased skull that says “you’re with me or against me, and if you’re against me I’ll crush you”. Enjoy your dinner chumps, you made with your own intolerance and hate. The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street.
