Sometimes they write (fake) letters

It is really disgusting to see the Democrats resorting to the same kind of smear campaigns that they have always accused (with reason) the Repuclians of doing.  When gossip and name calling replace real journalism, we are in a heap of trouble. 

One major problem with the Obama campaign is their constant use of moral equivilancies.  They argue that a tactic is fine because the other side “did it first”.  This is troublesome because it ignores the fact that there is a difference between right and wrong.  Again it comes down to the “end justifies the means” philosophy of the Obama camp which I personally find morally repugnant.

The first instance of this involved a “letter” from a soldier in Afghanistan or Iraq decrying Obama’s decision not to visit a military hospital while in Germany.  It actually appeared in a local newspaper here in NC.  Of course it wasn’t the letter from the soldier himself, but rather a second hand version by someone who had been given the letter by a “friend”.

This letter also spread like wildfire across the blogospehre.  Here’s one incarnation on a Ron Paul supporters blog:

This was sent to me this morning from a reader who’s friends boy is in Afghanistan and saw up close and personal Obama’s behavior.

 

This is Jeff’s  first hand view of Senator Obama.

Hello everyone,

As you know I am not a very  political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama  came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ‘The War Zone’. He got off the plane and got  into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the  Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram. As the Soldiers where lined  up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn’t say a word as he  went into the conference room to meet the General.

Notice how it quickly goes from being a tale told from a friend’s boy (3rd hand) to being Jeff’s 1st hand view.  Typical propaganda.  The letter goes on to paint Obama as an elitist who doesn’t care about the soldiers.  As much as I believe that sentiment, this letter is just plain claptrap propaganda.   It hits all the talking points and pulls on the readers heartstrings.  Even if the sentiment is true, this type of misinformation is both immoral and damaging when it comes to really pointing out Obama’s flaws.

But this is the kind of rehtoric we’ve come to expect from the right wing, especially the wingnut blogosphere.  They have no problem using these kinds of tactics to smear their opponents, no matter how ethically questionable they might be.  I always thought the Democrats were better than that.  Wrong.

Since Sarah Palin’s electrifying speech on Wednesday, several “letters” have begun to pop up in the “progressive” blogosphere from people who supposedely know Sarah Palin.  Surprisingly, the things they “know” are straight from Axelrod’s talking points play book.  The first was from Anne Kilkenny who lives in Wasilla Alaska.  This was on many Obama supporting websites, but I found this version on the top rated blog on wordpress yesterday, its called Mudflats.  The author of the post prefaces it with no citation other than this has been “circulating” lately:

This letter has been circulating for a couple days now, and I thought I’d post it in full for those who haven’t had a chance to read it. One of the best ways to become informed about local politics is by attending city council/assembly meetings. I know this from mind-numbing, clock-staring, experience. There’s no substitute for butt-in-the-chair observation, no matter how awful it is to sit for hours on end listening to a bunch of bloviating local politicians. But it’s difficult not to show who you are.

This letter is written by someone who knows Sarah Palin, lives in Wasilla, and has city council lurker cred. (There ought to be a badge for that.) I think that babygate is on the way out of the news cycle, and the next aspect of her life to come under scrutiny will be her tenure as mayor. This is a good place to start. And thanks to Anne Kilkenny for speaking out. Wasilla is a small town. It takes a certain amount of conviction and downright bravery to lay it all out there like this. So a hat tip and a big sweeping bow to Anne.

Notice the similarity to the other letter.  It gets credibility from the fact that there is a real name associated with it.  There is no context however.  There may actually be an “Anne Kilkenny”  but her observations are nothing more than opinion disguised as “eye-witness” observation.  This one even made its way into the New York Times, as this “Kilkenny” was quoted in an article on Palin:

Anne Kilkenny, who said she voted for Ms. Palin in city elections, said she became disillusioned with her after participating in Wasilla city government and seeing Ms. Palin up close.

“You’ve got to remember,” Ms. Kilkenny said, “we are not much bigger than a high school and she is the homecoming queen.”

So I’m guessing either the name was lifted from the Times and added to the letter to give credibility, or Kilkenny is just a shill.  Either way the letter is nothing but pure propaganda.  First the author sets up herself as a credible witness:

am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most populargirl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because she is a “babe”.

So the writer starts out saying she “knows” Palin on a first name basis (but then again, so does everyone else in the town).  The second paragraph is telling in that the jump from praise of Palin to sexist takedown is extreme.  “She may be a ‘babe’ but men won’t vote for her”.  That’s seems more like analysis of the male electorate than description of Palin.  Anyway, the letter quickly devolves into very specific talking points:

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

Call me cynical, but I tend to think this was written by a campaign strategist, not a small town Alaskan citizen.  This letter however didn’t seem to have enough “bite” for the Obamabots, so they actually had to come up with a new one. 

The next letter is written by someone else who has “known” Sarah Palin for years.  An aptly named “John Smith” from Alaska.  (John Smith, are you kidding me???).  Anyway, this letter goes from wonky takedowns to downright name calling. I found this letter on several blogs like this one:

The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snowmobiles. She is a lifetime member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and bears.

Now if I recall correctly this was the way the Obots wrote off the voters of Appalachia..you know they are rednecks who cling to their guns.  “John” does much the same thing in his “letter”. Not only does he smear Palin, but also the people (voters) who elected her as mayor:

Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla, a small red neck town outside Anchorage.The average maximum education level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade. Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I’m talking about.

These people don’t have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don’t care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they’re happy. I wish I were exaggerating.

Notice how his smear alludes to things that the Obama campaign has said about her–lack of foreign diplomacy skills, questionable education.  This type of elitism reeks to the high heavens of the Obama campaign.  The telltale giveaway, for me, that this originates directly from Obama central is the total lack of respect not only for Palin, but the utter disdain for voters themselves.  Typical Obama MO.

I may not agree with a lot of Palin’s views, but she definitely doesn’t deserve this kind of hit job, and neither, frankly, do the people of Wasilla, Alaska.