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The lunatics are running the RNC’s asylum

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In any party or political movement, there’s bound to be a mainstream and a fringe. As a rule, the fringe looks to the mainstream for validation, and the mainstream looks at the fringe as kind of icky.

Things get interesting, of course, when the line between the mainstream and the fringe blurs. Take the Republican National Committee, for example.

The RNC is a fairly predictable, far-right animal. It’s run by lobbyists and business interests who divide their time between raising money and lying about Democrats. The RNC likes to exploit the ignorance of its base, and stoke the culture-war fires from time to time, but generally steer clear of the kind of insanity one might find in, say, a thread at the Free Republic. It’s the whole mainstream/fringe dynamic in practice.

At least, that’s usually the case. This morning, RNC Chairman Mike Duncan sent out this email to Republican donors.

During his recent speech in Berlin, Barack Obama tried to ingratiate himself to the foreign crowd by claiming loudly that he was “a citizen of the world.”

The problem is Obama’s self-proclaimed global “citizenship” appears to go well beyond just a rhetorical device to gain favor with a European throng full of pie-in-the-sky utopians.

It seems the Democrats’ would-be president of the United States of America really believes that the rest of the world’s problems, and approval, trump the interests of Americans when it comes to how we live our lives and where our money is spent.

While stumping for the support of his party’s leftist base, Obama proclaimed, “we can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times . . . and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”

And now he’s putting your money where his mouth is.

A bill he has sponsored in the U.S. Senate, the so-called Global Poverty Act
(S. 2433), would raise the amount of American tax dollars allocated to United Nations’ redistribution efforts to $845 billion.

That’s $2,500 from every American taxpayer, when many in our country already are struggling to make ends meet.

And with that, the line between the unhinged fringe and the Republican National Committee has disappeared. The lunatics, it appears, are running the asylum.

You can check Google and find literally thousands of right-wing activists who are just livid about Obama’s “plan” to give the United Nations $845 billion of our money. And they can’t imagine why the media refuses to tell the public about this nefarious scheme, but they’re pretty sure news outlets are in on some kind of conspiracy to keep this dastardly plan under wraps.

The problem, of course, is that there is no such plan. It’s a right-wing myth that has been making the rounds for months, and to which the Republican National Committee has finally given its imprimatur.

At issue here is a U.N. initiative to implement its Millennium Goals on global poverty, which would, in fact, total $845 billion over 13 years — from industrialized nations across the globe.

The Congressional Budget Office did a cost-estimate analysis of Obama’s legislation, co-sponsored by Joe Biden, and found that U.S. responsibilities “would cost less than $1 million per year.”

I know Republicans can struggle with math, so I’ll make this one simple: $1 million is a lot less than $845 billion.

Jonathan Cohn concluded, “[I]t certainly appears that the Republicans are telling a pretty bald-faced lie about Obama here. Of course, that wouldn’t be so new or surprising either, would it?”

No, not at all. But it is a little surprising that the RNC would jump head-first into the nutty end of the pool. This conspiracy theory isn’t just wrong, it’s plainly insane. That the RNC is talking about it, in writing, and emailing it to supporters nationwide suggests a) these guys really are desperate; and b) they’ve completely lost their mind.

Comments

  • howard

    says:

    by now, the republican party is run by people who have quite literally spent at least the last 44 years living in a parallel universe in which they make their own reality. of course they are lunatics….

  • The Answer is Orange

    says:

    Goodness me. If I didn’t know better I’d say this is an attempt to stir up the militias. That could make the GOP convention even more interesting than already promised: The Survivalists v. The Stall Lurkers.

    But at least there won’t be so many empty seats.

  • Old School

    says:

    So the U.N. has a poverty initiative that would need $845 billion over 13 years and the U.S. is still debating whether we should chip in our .0015%?

    Is that correct?

  • Mudge

    says:

    S. 2433 seems to require a study and reports involving the development and implementation of a strategy. The strategy will define our involvement in the Global Policy Act. Funding the resulting strategy is a separate issue.

  • Elvis Elvisberg

    says:

    The wheels are coming off at the RNC. No smart person wants to be associated with them now. So who do they have but the dregs of the dregs?

  • LoquaciousLaura

    says:

    Thing is, your average non-media-savvy person will not find out any of this. They’ll read this email, take it on its face, and it will add to the sense that Obama is not like us, that he’s a Muslim mole or whatever it is that they think, etc. The media won’t report on this, they will never find out the truth.

    The Republicans aren’t CRAZY, they’re SMART. They know how the average American acts and they know that if you repeat the lie enough, it’s the truth. They also know there are no consequences whatsoever for lying. Including losing elections.

    I’m getting pretty worried.

  • Old School

    says:

    Mudge – you’re correct. According to the CBO:

    S. 2433 would require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to
    reduce global poverty. The strategy should include, among other things, more effective
    forms of development assistance, coordination of efforts with other countries and
    international organizations, and continuation of existing initiatives to reduce poverty and
    disease in developing countries. The bill also would require the State Department to prepare
    several reports describing the strategy, its implementation, and the progress made on
    achieving the objectives for reducing global poverty.

    —–

    It does appear to only develop and monitor the plan rather than fund it.

  • Dale

    says:

    But it is a little surprising that the RNC would jump head-first into the nutty end of the pool.

    What an image! I see a pool party as drawn by Mad Magazine and Hieronymus Bosch.

  • Diogenes

    says:

    I agree with #7. I had a conversation with some of my family last weekend who were Democrats, but worried about Obama’s secret Muslim faith. Being Catholics, I pointed out that Obama’s not Muslim, but even if he were, they were actually repeating concerns raised in 1960 about Kennedy. The line then being that he would basically make the U.S. an arm of the Vatican, and that really the Pope would be running the country. They responded that those smears were insane, and I said, “So, even though Barak Obama isn’t Muslim, you’re worried that he’ll somehow force the U.S. towards Islam? But you’re also upset that his Christian pastor said some foolish things? And you don’t see any inconsistency in these fears?” And they basically just parroted GOP attacks.

  • True Dem

    says:

    Lie like this at the debates McPain, I dare you McLame, I double-dare you. If Barack is smart, wh/ he is, he will address this in plain, honest english and put the lie to the RNC’s BS. Also, some percentage of the RNC base will know, or come to find out, that they are being bold-faced lied to, in order to manipulate them. NO ONE appreciates that, and it could just backfire if Senator Obama’s campain responds properly, as it has done pretty well so far. Liers and cheaters win sometimes, but ultimately they strangle themselves with their own rope. Toby Keith, the Prophet, lives.

  • Steve

    says:

    The lunatics are running the RNC’s asylum

    The Amalgamated Brotherhood of Lunatics just called. They’re telling me that they’re being unjustly associated with Republicans, and have announced that they “renounce and reject” the activities of the rogue fundamentalist wacko-fascist splinter group over at RNC.

  • slappy magoo

    says:

    OK, I know there’s always discussion about how much Obama should, or should not, respond to these charges. After all, if he spent all his time refuting the lies and rumors spread about him, he’d have no time to eat or take a crap, let alone campaign.

    But this is one occasion where I REALLY think Obama could, and should, take the fight to the McCain campaign in general, and McMaverick in particular. He should not only denounce this talking point as a lie, but challenge McCain to publicly denounce it as a lie as well. And by “publicly” I mean on national network TV, the cable news networks, the press AND his website. Furthermore, Obama should make it clear that, if McCain can’t take the time to help straighten out his fellow party leaders, then it’s obvious that he wants people to believe the lies, because otherwise, it becomes obvious McBush’s got nothing upon which to campaign.

  • ericfree

    says:

    Since the McCarthy years, one of the Right’s most successful techniques has been the obscure “fact,” dredged up out of nowhere and delivered with extreme emotionalism to convince its listeners “they,” that would be us, want to destroy a country composed of slumbering, well-meaning “real people” and a few diehard patriots who know the real truth and are all that’s keeping “us” (that would be them) from communistic (or now fascistic, communism not being what it was) subjugation.

    The reaction of those who fail to reach the desired outrage threshold is usually “Huh? What?,” which admittedly is not much of a debate response. It’s almost like you have to drink their Kool-Aid to know what they’re talking about in order to rebut it.

    That’s why sites like this are so valuable. The Right has done the country a service too, in becoming so nutball extreme that they’re more often easily refuted. But there will always be stuff like this that sounds plausible if not examined and is pure crap of a quality that really can destroy a country.

  • Former Dan

    says:

    Strange from the GOP has no problem putting of piling on the US debt to the tune of several TRILLION dollars, much of it owed to Communist (in a good Walmart way) China and Middle Eastern Nations who has some influential citizens pumping oil bucks back into terrorist groups.

  • Gridlock

    says:

    I hate to say it, but Obama will lose unless the Dems start propogating their own lies about McCain and the GOP. I know, I know, the truth about the Republican’ts is far more damaging. The only problem is that nobody believes the truth anymore. The vast majority of Americans are sold on lies that conform to their hatred. And ever since the Soviet Republic went under Americans have been looking for someone/thing to hate. The Al Qaeda/muslim/terrorist threat is okay, but its too nebulous. There are no flags to burn. Their shadows. Dems and Obama however, are right there in the open.

    Well enough is enough. Time to turn the tables.

    McCain eats babies. He was forced to eat babies as a POW and has grown to love the taste of fresh babies. If McCain becomes President, he will outlaw abortion and force unwed mothers to give up their babies for ‘adoption’. Babies that will got to feed his undying craving for fresh baby. American baby.

    E-mail this to everyone you know! IF you love America and babies, please forward this to your friends and family!

  • Racer X

    says:

    This is where it would be handy to have a real media on the job, instead of a bunch of whores who get paid more if they don’t do their jobs. Can the RNC get away with lying THIS much? Unless the MSM says otherwise, they can.

    When you say “it is a little surprising that the RNC would jump head-first into the nutty end of the pool”, all I can say is “nuttier than a squirrel turd” pretty much sums up today’s GOP.

  • slappy magoo

    says:

    11. On August 6th, 2008 at 11:40 am, True Dem said:
    Also, some percentage of the RNC base will know, or come to find out, that they are being bold-faced lied to, in order to manipulate them. NO ONE appreciates that, and it could just backfire if Senator Obama’s campain responds properly, as it has done pretty well so far.
    _________________________

    Sadly, I doubt anyone in the RNC base will give a rat’s ass if they find out they’ve been lied to. They’re the “whatever it takes to win” party. If they had any integrity, they’d have stopped being Republicans a long long time ago.

  • Racer X

    says:

    No, gridlock.

    All we need to do is email everyone about how he dumped his disabled wife for a girl half his age, who he now calls a cunt. Even his Republican friends are scared of his temper. He lies like a rug, and will say anything to get elected.

    That’s the truth, and it should be bad enough.

  • Little Dick

    says:

    Read #7 & #10. These are typical truths. Scary stuff…. And I agree with Slappy @ #13. Obama needs to start taking the fight to his oppenent and his “party”.

  • bigeugene

    says:

    For a long time the Repugs were at least dressing up their lies with attempts at partial truths. They’ve just started lying outright. And with a media that doesn’t really call them out on it, who cares? Just tell whopper after whopper without consequence. Pretty much what Bush has done for 8 years. The truth is no longer relevant and since the Rs have convinced the wingnuts the media can’t be trusted, they win. They have become the sole purveyors of “truth” through perception. My dad forwards me these types of emails his retired friends circulate….they are all lies, most discredited by snopes or similar sites. But none of that matters…these wingnuts believe this stuff and hence it becomes a truth to them. Not a truth in fact, but that is irrelevant.

  • Gridlock

    says:

    Racer X

    Not good enough. Not salacious enough. Every Republican’t has lived or knows somebody who has lived that story.

    Now if you told me that McCain paid for Cindy to have an abortion…ooohhhh…..that’s what you ARE telling me.

    That’s why they adopted. Cindy could no longer have children after her abortion went horribly wrong.

    EMAIL this to ALL your friend and neighbors! McCain is an abortionist!

  • joey

    says:

    That this is still a political party in the US is astonishing. Lie cheat and steal your way to power appears to be the republican party’s motto. They have no integrity anymore and those that have just can’t see what has happened to their party. Not only will they lose big in the next election but they will forever be branded the party that very nearly destroyed America. Now that they are sinking into the mire, the abyss they created, their last words are not of remorse but more of the same divisive, destructive lies that sunk them to begin with. The desperation of insanity…remarkable.

  • Tom Cleaver

    says:

    But it is a little surprising that the RNC would jump head-first into the nutty end of the pool.

    What do you mean? In the Republican party, the far right fringe is the “mainstream.” The RNC is just doing what comes naturally.

  • Patrick

    says:

    Obama should agree to an interview at FoxNews and when they ask him any questions just start talking about this stuff and tell the viewers directly that McCain and the RNC is lying to them and playing them for fools.

  • Rich

    says:

    Obama has to go on the attack. As has been pointed out, he’s only playing defense, and if he doesn’t change he, like Kerry, will lose. You can’t take the high road against this bunch of lunatics. The American sheeple vote with their gut not their head. The Rethugs have figured this out, and the dim-Dems never seem to. The MSM wants a horserace, and reinforces the lowest common denominator. Credible “truth-tellers” in the American political circus are drowned in the tidal wave of sludge and sewage from the rightwing noise machine that is stirred up every four years. No, actually they do it all the time.

    I know, Democrats are supposed to be better than slugging it out on the other guy’s terms, but when you’re tied to a post atop a pile of dry wood, and the rabble are dancing around you with lit torches, looking noble and being above it all doesn’t put out the fire.

  • mikeyes

    says:

    No, it is a reasonable tactic. It recognizes that most voters are “rationally ignorant”, in other words they don’t get deep into policy issues nor do they vet what is said in campaigns because it requires too much energy to do so all the time. They vote on whether or not they like the candidate.

    Ever since Truman stopped being president the Democrats have had a tendency to run unlikeable candidates. They may be better for the country on an intellectual (or even actual) basis, but the Republicans have learned to make their candidate more likeable and that garners votes.

    Telling plausable lies like these is simply another way to say that voters should not like Obama, few people will vet these remarks and the firehose of contumely will continue to flow. Final result? Romney as president since McCain will not last that long the way his brain is going.

    McCain is uber-likeable as long as he doesn’t have to make too many substantive statements and keeps harping on his POW/hero status. While Obama is aware of this and is running a good campaign, he is the one that has to wait for an egregious mistake on the part of his opponent. Policy will not matter nor will intelligence, ideas, inspiration, or leadership. Just look at the current president if you don’t believe me.

  • Coloradoblue

    says:

    Ronald Reagan introduced himself in a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations as “both a citizen of the United States and of the world.”

    I see only two possibilies for these people. A brain transplant or maybe growing one (via stem cell research of course).

  • Davis X. Machina

    says:

    Ever since Truman stopped being president the Democrats have had a tendency to run unlikeable candidates.

    Circular logic. A candidate who doesn’t win is unliekabke, and therrfore didnt’ win.

    “Electability, ‘;likability’; etc. are all unknowable ex ante and are therefore useless as decision-making tools for candidate selection.

  • Danp

    says:

    The Congressional Budget Office did a cost-estimate analysis of Obama’s legislation, co-sponsored by Joe Biden, and found that U.S. responsibilities “would cost less than $1 million per year.”

    I interpret the CBO report a bit differently. It reads to me as though implementation of this plan wouold cost less than a million per year. But it assumes the availability of appropriated funds. The actual $845 billion is a separate issue. While presumable the US wouldn’t be responsible for all of it, I assume we would have to contribute some of it. But the one million is only for creating the mechanism.

  • About the GPA

    says:

    Those who want an intellectually honest discussion of the GPA should click my name’s link; what’s above is simply pro-BHO hackwork.

    When I left a comment about this at Kevin Drum’s Washington Monthly, it was deleted. See the comment they deleted here.

  • mikeyes

    says:

    On the face of it Humphrey was a lot more likeable than Nixon, but not the way that the Democrats presented Humphrey. Besides, in 1968 HHH was the war candidate at a time when the war was not very popular. Wallace was more popular with Southerners and the media, who normally disliked Nixon, “applauded his secret plan to end the war.” It was all a matter of perception, it has little to do with whether the candidate is truely a nice likeable person. Once you are likeable, you usually have to eat babies before that polish wears off. (Unless you are Brett Favre in Wisconsin, of course.)

    On the other hand, JFK was more likeable than Nixon in spite of his drawbacks (mostly being Catholic, it lost him the South) and JFK’s campaign made sure that TV and the MSM projected his image.

    McCain comes in this election more likeable as a result of years of encouraging this image. Obama has no legacy in this regard.

  • libra

    says:

    The RNc has it’s headquarters in the nutty end of the pool, I though we all knew that? — Rick, @3

    You mean… they have their quarter-sized heads stuck up their nutty (rear) ends?