Digby Speaks on Corsi
Digby discusses the Corsi book and how the press reacts to it:
Rutten says this is all about making money, and I don't disagree that there's probably some money to be made by the wingnut welfare recipients in the food chain. But money isn't the motive of the people who buy those books in bulk. They are making an investment in Republican politics. And the most telling thing about it is that one of the most mainstream Republican figures in the country -- so mainstream that she regularly appears with her Democratic operative husband on Meet the Press with their two daughters at Christmas time --- is giving her imprimatur to a book written by a known delusional, right wing racist. On that side of the dial the separation between the mainstream and the violent fringe isn't even one degree.
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As long as the villagers are in agreement that the only people who are truly beyond the pale in American politics are on the left, then this will continue. Mary Matalin will still be considered a perfectly respectable person by both the "right" and the "left" (as if there's any discernible difference among the cognoscenti) and there will be no professional or social repercussions. Meanwhile even staid, old organizations like the ACLU suffer from the myth of being some sort of far left fringe organization and Democratic politicians run for cover when the right wing publicly "tars" them with guilt by association.
This is an ongoing problem that we see being played out once again in a national election. And I don't think the progressive movement has fully come to grips yet with just how powerful this image of scary left wing freaks still is in the national imagination --- or how thoroughly the right's extremist views have been accepted by the political establishment. It's something...read on.
I wish a candidate or anyone in the spot light would just be damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. Simply stay with the progressive positions without budging an inch! Say, "Yes! Yes! I will not bow to this sort of smear tactic! I will challenge it with all my breath! My views are mine! Period! I will not be swayed by your pathetic lies."
It is very scary that so very many of the people in so-called "middle america" (ideological middle) believe virtually everything about obama that is in corsi's book - even though it has been debunked over and over and shown to be riddled with lies. However the "news" of the debunking simply doesn't get out to the world except on the many "preach to the choir" progressive websites and blogs. Those who use MSM as their source of all news simply do not get the truth as it is. They get the propaganda that the network owners (mostly repukes, and filthy rich at that) wish them to get.
The repukes started many years ago to take over the MSM - just so they could control the information that gets to the largely uninformed populace. Unfortunately, the corsi screed could well be the thing that turns the tide in favor of the insane mccain.
Ooops! Does Media Matters and the 24/7 cable networks know about this?
How can anyone honestly believe that Soviet-style Marxism, Jihadism, and Black supremacy could even co-exist in one person?
My God, the stupidity of that is mind-boggling, and I dislike intensely anyone stupid enough to believe that.
Obama's proving to be the true patriot here, not these smear-mongerers.
Ex-Canuck,
Unfortunately, the corsi screed could well be the thing that turns the tide in favor of the insane mccain.
No. The Corsi book will only highlight the rights pathetic attempts to control, but to me they will come November be reminded of the power of the people. I have this feeling that after the elections the landscape of both the House and the Senate will change dramatically and Obama will be sitting in the White House and there will be many a neocon scratching their conniving head wondering what the hell went wrong. How could their grand scheme of eternal majority and world domination have crumbled in such a short time? .......
When Scotty, the former dubyah insider, wrote his fact-based tell-all book about herr dubyah and his criminal administration, all the reich-wing nuts on Faux and a.m. hate radio screeched in unison that he did it for the money and only for the money. Amazing that these nut cases never mention this when one of their own publishes some factless hate-filled diatribe.
Are "scary left wing freaks" responsible for an illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation , a trillion dollar deficit , torture , illegal spying without warrants , outing of a CIA agent and a whole host of other sorry episodes over the last 8 years ?
Mary Matalin (WHIG) turns my stomach and always has. She sounds like she talks through her nose. Her husband is almost as bad as far as speech impediments go. His politics are somewhat better. Although I still have to question how any decent Democrat could possibly stand being married to something like her.
So, in my opinion, he is highly suspect because I didn't think the Bush bunch trusted anyone that was married to someone that might be leaning left. I think I have to question his democratic bona fides.
I kind of feel sorry for their children. I can only imagine what they might sound like.
"money isn’t the motive of the people who buy those books in bulk."
Well said.
"organizations like the ACLU suffer from the myth of being some sort of far left fringe organization"
Ah jez not this crap again.
Unfortunately, the only way this sort of bullshit is going to stop is for filthy rich liberals to buy up the MSM the way the wingnuts did, and fire the Mary Matalins, Rush Limbaughs, Billos, etc., and get journalism back on track by separating news from entertainment. In other words, it ain't gonna happen. It seems to me that both sides are essentially preaching to their own choirs, and the wingnuts have a bigger choir at this point in history.
I know the polls tend to show that Obama's views are much closer to mainstream America's, but the only poll that matters is the actual election, and the wingnuts are more effective at convincing people to vote against their own good, and in support of their secret, buried fears and prejudices. They're also more effective at identifying targeting precincts that can be stolen without breaking the law in an obvious way. The wingnuts have been working on this model for over a quarter century, and are quite good at it. They're so good at it that when they lose Congressional seats to the Dems, they still control the message because they still own the MSM.
It's possible that the liberals early adoption of the internet is the beginning of a new political era, but I'll only believe it when the results are in.
it is the talk radio monopoly that enables this hypocrisy and double standard. matalin, like so many republican media flacks rides the talk radio bandwagon.
limbaugh and sons have had a huge and underestimated influence on the MSM by laundering GOP/rove talking points and framing through its coordinated uncontested repetition to 50-70MIL Americans. the talk radio monopoly has given false certainty and fake popularity to bush/conservative values and have shifted the media/political center way right of USA's true populist liberal values that appear in study after study.
because media critics and political analysts and progressives don't have access to a searchable talk radio transcript database, and because guys like limbaugh and hannity give them headaches the talk radio effect has been largely ignored. unless you listen once in a while (and there's a station near every American) it is impossible to watch the migration of talking points and myths from talk radio into the MSM and onto the floor of congress.
a few suggestions:
1) progressives must recognize the groundwork for most hate and swiftboating is done on talk radio where no one checks the truth and they can say it all day long. as kerry found out, by the time it shows up in the tv and print it's too late- it's been pounded into the earholes of 50MIL and that makes it true. there has been way too much time wasted evaluating progressive politicians and causes and US media while ignoring the talk radio effect.
2) maybe the Dem party/obama should invoke limbaugh as the main guy left to represent the principles and morals of the modern republican party. give him the recognition he deserves for spearheading the effort to get the GOP where is today and where the USA is today. as long as the GOP is ambivalent on mccain the case can be made limbaugh is the flagbearer.
3) as far as legally possible the Dem party needs to immediately fund a site with searchable database of transcripts of major national and local talkers. it will give dems a heads up on what the GOP is doing next since talk radio is often used to do the prep work for their media and legislative strategies. on the local level one loudmouth with a microphone reading chamber of commerce and GOP talking points can undo the work of thousands of local citizens volunteering a few buck and hours here and there.
4) recognize the talk radio stations as the power centers of the GOP. if limbaugh has 500 stations that's an avg of 10 per state, so there's a station near everyone to picket and boycott when they lie about obama. why protest at the state capital- the GOP doesn't give a crap if their politicians are more concerned about what limbaugh and sons say to tens of millions every day. in colorado the big limbaugh/GOP station is 850KOA in denver. while respecting KOA is an important local source for sports/traffic/weather it may be a great alternative site to wave signs during the Dem convention.
The U.S has had some far right conservative Republican presidents but never one from the political left or one more liberal than JFK. No majority has ever been held in Congress by liberals, let alone leftists. Once upon a time there were some progressives on the Supreme Court, but that ended about the time color television was invented. The Democratic Party is not now and never has been a "liberal" party, yet Big Brother's corporate media has made it the Goldstein for everything wrong here in Oceana, and half the citizenry slops it up like pigs at a trough.
As long as the liberal (left), that is runs scared as soon as someone says words like "socialism" or be even more scary "communism" we stand little chance of informing the people of facts. I have previously at another time and in another comment, explained that neither of these are the "scary" things they have portrayed as. Both words, used as things to run from are actually from sources that are valid and valuable. Socialism stems from society, and means to be caring of the society. Communism stems from community and is still used in present day religious establishments such as monasteries and convents, where the people turn over their possessions for the benefit of the group. The early church actually did this, when they gathered in groups. So, such hatred and the hatred that is being spewed in uch books as Corsi's should turn the public away from the right wing that is sponsoring such attitudes.
Dr. Britney Hussein Matt @ 6:
The thing is, although Corsi may have money as one motive, he stated that his reason for writing the book is to deny Obama the presidency. The only reason this book is getting so much publicity is because it 's #1 on the NYT bestseller list at its release. The only reason it's #1 is due to massive bulk pre-orders of the book. In other words, the wingnuts are gaming the best seller list by pouring millions of dollars into preordering huge blocks of the book before publication. These are not bookstore orders, they are being ordered by wealthy wingnuts and wingnut organizations. This isn't about the money, it's about creating just enough doubt on election day.
There is no way in hell that the media would let the Democrats off of the hook if someone in their party wrote, edited, published , or distributed a book like this about their nominee. The simple fact that even the media concedes that "Unfit For Command" may have cost Kerry the Presidency, but yet they have no problem with playing the roll of getting this book out in the open is just despicable. I have been working very very hard to get people that I work with to vote for Obama instead of McCain. I printed off voting records, dug up quotes, and rebutted every "Obama is a Muslim" smear that I heard. I managed to convince a few, which is no small feat in Indiana, but the other day one of them comes in to work talking about this new book about Obama. Now he's not voting for Obama, not because he read the book, but because of what he heard about the book on the NEWS. The part that really burns me is knowing that this is exactly what the Republicans wanted to happen. They knew that the media would cover this very un-objectively and that some of the people either on the fence or on Obama's side of it would hop over to McCain's side and it worked.
What scares the mainstream American about the Left is a product of corporate media and the corporate supported Beltway. The people of power do not want to share the wealth or the power. Left leaning politics scares the piss out of them and see it as their duty to ensure the American corporate way of life.
It has been said that America has a one party system - the Party of Corporate Incumbents whose sole goal is to maintain the Incumbent Party's control for the next election cycle.
For example, how does McCain even keep up with Obama in fundraising? -- through corporate contributions. Another example is the lack of success from the Democratic controlled Congress to even giving the appearance of ending the Iraq Occupation or restricting the Imperial Presidency.
In essence, keep the American public stupid on how the game is rigged. One day John Q. Public will be pushed too far and real political power will shift. That push will be economic in nature -- the bills will come due and there is no credit left to cover the tab.
Just like the tactic in The Shock Doctrine where conservatives have their agenda and policies ready to take advantage for the next crisis, Progressives need to be educating the American public and also be ready when our Quality of Life spreads from third-world inner city to happy-to-consume-ourselves-to-death suburban sprawl.
(And that's all I got to say about that. - Forrest Gump)
Corsi, like Michelle Milkman and Ann Coultergeist before him, is nothing more than a Johnny On The Spot, tv guest of the week......the more attention given, the better ratings, which means more appearances, and the gullible and stupid will listen to it....
For the record, I think that in his own way spouse Carville can be just as destructive as Matalin. But…
In a bitter irony, I had just finished reading Rory O'Connor's Shock Jocks when that nutcase in Tennessee shot up the UU church. And it didn't take long for the first copycat to take his turn, in Arkansas.
Anyone who fails to recognize the scariness of these evil people is just as crazy as they.
Fred Corsi: Asshole, Jackoff or Scumbag?
sulphurdunn @ 12:
Half plus one wins the election.
Mike @ 19:
All three.
For over 20 years now, conservatives have been billing their ideology as mainstream, common sense and conventional wisdom. I guess after all this time, conservatives, the MSM, and a lot of voters have internalized that message. Funny how the "mainstream" keeps moving to the right, eh?
I've read things about how most Americans are afraid of being labeled as "liberal", but when you ask them questions about individual issues, they mostly agree with liberal values. As a Canadian, I find it weird that the Repugs keep saying Obama is a liberal like it's a bad thing. My feeling is "Yeah, and...?"
we need to take back the power of the perception of the left. grassroot-style. how about a series of angry-mom-tshirts ?
" sorry, i prefer my groceries unleaded. yes, i'm a liberal "
" your HMO doesn't care if you voted republican " ... hey, that one's *really* good.
" 3 jobs and my vote still didn't count "
General_Rennenkampf @ 4:
your dissonance regarding Obama and his handlers being essentially the same as McCain's is astounding.
Do you really - REALLY - think that the military industrial complex would let a neophyte into the Presidency unless it was assured of his following along with the elites agendas? Come on.
Obama is a tool of the elite. He is a Brzezinski acolyte. And the recent Georgian attacks upon S Ossetia smacks of a Grand Chessboard move.
McCain has an entire 24 hour news network on his side - Fox News. Hannity loves people like Corsi - with no
one to rebut his lies. What the Democratic party needs to do is combat Hannity's "Stop the Radical Campaign"
with their own "Stop the Radical Republicans" campaign.
Start with - lying to the parents of fallen soldiers - Pat Tillman being the most publicized.
Then - outing a CIA agent as punishment for Wilson telling the truth.
Next - firing non partisan federal prosecutors because they would not do republican bidding
Finally - paint them as the party of borrow and spend. We spent 2,000 dollars in fed taxes last year
for interest on the national debt. We have to get our country off the republican credit cards.
Use the nasty republican tactics - but be coordinated about it. Come on air america - use what little
influence you have. Come on people write letters to the editor and call into the talk shows the get
the word out.
We must stop the radical republicans.
Thanks.
Truth B Told @ 24:
I disagree with the Georgian attack smacking of a Grand Chessboard move, it smacks of a Drunken Dumb Dipshit deciding to up the ante on the big dog move.
Fred Corsi's book will not be read by many because
those hillbillies who will vote for McCain don't read.
They will vote against their best interest because
they are dumb-ass Republicans. BTW, they do see
Corsi on TV & listen to him as he guests on America's
right wing radio. The will agree with this liar because
it's the American voter & that's what people do.
I saw this Obama quote on CNN.com:
Even so, Obama stepped to McCain's defense when a voter criticized his Vietnam era record. A Naval aviator, McCain spent 5 ½ years as a prisoner of war there after being shot down and badly wounded.
"Respectfully I'm going to disagree with you on McCain and his service," Obama said. "I think his service was honorable. He deserves respect."
That comment says a lot about Obama. I'm having trouble envisioning any Republican running for office saying anything remotely similar to this about a Democrat?
Unfortunately for all of us, respect and decency in a political campaign gets you nothing.
I'm the most mainstream person I know, but the Democratic leadership considers me the enemy--or at least not worthy of listening to. They fall all over themselves to apologize and congratulate the Rethugs and then wonder why people don't vote for them. There are 50% of eligible voters out here who are so fed up with nobody representing their interests that they only look out for themselves and their families and to hell with everybody else. Reagan started this crap, this war on government. Matalin is only one of the latest messengers to make people ignore what the reich wing is really doing because they are so turned off by this slime.
I have been saying ever since the book came out last week, that Mary Matalin needs to be taken down. She was part of the Iraq Group out of Cheney's office that lied about all the reasons for War and now she edits the lies of Corsi, this fringe nut. She has to be taken apart because the MSM gives her credibility and she has none. It is time for the left to make a issue of this. For her to sit on the panel of MTP and act like she has expertise is an insult to viewers across this country. I have written NBC and I hope that others will too. I have expressed to them that if they want to be considered credible, people like Matalin have to go. She sold out for thirty pieces of silver.
I think the current Democrats in power in DC enjoy being slapped, punched and kicked in the groin.
Nothing will change until the left gives the right wing criminals a taste of thier own medicine!
JHR @ 28:
Well, it's like McCain defending Hillary Clinton when a member of his audience insulted her.
Wait a minute! No he didn't!!!
thepoetryman @ 5:
Poetryman,
Just hope that you are right about this. It's my guess that the contents of that book are going to be non-stop fodder for all the right wing hacks on FuxNews and the other forms of repuke owned media, e.g., hannity, savage, etc., etc., ad nauseum...
thepoetryman @ 5:
Mary Matalin is a fucking nutcase
she is so over the edge of insanity
that hitler looks like a kindergarden
teacher next to her. what a c#nt.
Mary Matalin is one sick pig!
ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE who could be Dick Cheney's top politico; is an inhuman, soulless, self absorbed, lying, greedy sack of shit!
And why doesn't her mouth move when she talks? Somethin' ain't right about that woman. She is really creepy.
motorfingaz @ 31:
Too bad we don't have a table to set like the Pakistani's do.
To see the way the nut-roots - in this case, the Young Republican, Bill O'Reilly wannabe nutroots - is just eating the Corsi book up with gusto, check out this kid's delusional blog post about it:
http://www.epublog.com/2008/08/icymi-obama-responds-to-corsi.html
Do ya think he'll post your fact- and reality-based comments???
;)
Did everyone notice that the arrest warrant for Larry Sinclair, the convicted felon who tried to create a big scandal for Obama, came from Delaware, Joe Biden's state?
Michael Moore is RIGHT. Obama does not need anybody on his team who will say nice things about republicans. Therefore, Joe Biden, who has no kind words at all for the Bush Administration, would be the best pick for Obama's VP. Now that Corsi has shown that the wingnuts are about to play dirty pool again, Obama needs Joe Biden more than ever.
If Biden could take down scum like Larry Sinclair, he can take down the Corsi scum as well.
I just received an email from my sister who has written a letter to the corporate headquarters of Borders bookstore. Apparently, Borders has a corporate directive to place a display of Corsi's book greeting shoppers as they enter the store. She lives in Delaware, which teeters Republican. I am going to take some of my little free time and find out if any other corporate bookstores have the same policy.
Corsi may be a nutcase, but being associated with truthers should not have anything to do with it. That sounds like a "villager" response in itself. Because not all of them are nuts and they don't get mainstream airtime either. I wouldn't put any emphasis on his association with great "unwashed" of said village. They are plenty marginalized as it is and I'm sure many of the more reasonable truthers would just as soon not have someone like Corsi on their side.
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