Right on cue, attack artist Jerome Corsi has released another book smearing another Democratic presidential candidate. “The Obama Nation” is a hit piece against Barack Obama that is filled with falsehoods, such as how Obama is secretly a radical Muslim. Corsi is the guy who co-wrote “Unfit for Command,” which smeared John Kerry’s war record and gave us the term “Swift-boating.” He also has smeared the Catholic Church and wrote a book claiming that President Bush was part of a secret conspiracy to create a one-worldlike North American Union.
So how could a book by this guy debut at No. 1 on the New York Times’ best-seller list? It’s partly because people like books that reinforce their fears and biases. But the main reason is that conservative book distributors and groups buy the book in bulk in order to place it on the best-seller list, which appears to legitimize the book and enables right-wing commentators to treat it seriously.
“Putting Kathleen Sebelius on the ticket is simply putting a female governor on the ticket to put a female governor on the ticket. But Caroline Kennedy has the experience and training necessary to lead, and as vice president, could help to restore our image in the world.” — blogger Ben Goodman, on the Huffington Post
As leaders of key health committees in the Legislature, Sen. Susan Wagle (in photo), R-Wichita, and Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, surely are more knowledgeable than they appeared in an Eagle news article Thursday. Wagle complained that too many people on public health assistance could afford to take responsibility for their care. Her evidence: patients she saw who had cell phones or talked about watching cable TV. Landwehr complained about “a generation who believes that welfare is a job.”
Most of the estimated 47 million Americans who don’t have health insurance are working full time, and most of the people who receive public health assistance had to meet income qualifications. The fact that some of them have cell phones doesn’t mean they could afford health insurance premiums, which in 2007 averaged more than $12,000 a year for a family.
Nearly two-thirds of city clerks and government board members in 57 Kansas cities want public smoking bans implemented locally and statewide, according to a new survey by the Sunflower Foundation. Previous surveys have found overwhelming public support for a statewide smoking ban. So if both local leaders and the public want a statewide smoking ban, why doesn’t the Kansas Legislature take action?
Former Clinton strategist Mark Penn approves of John McCain’s Paris Hilton “celebrity” ad and negative ads in general, writing on Politico.com that “Clever negative advertising works. That is reality.”
He adds, “Done fairly, (negative ads) serve a legitimate role” by exposing an opponent’s weaknesses.
He’s right, of course, on one level — negative ads often do “work.” But at what cost?
Note that in the primary, Penn recommended an all-out negative strategy that would have attacked Barack Obama for not being “fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values.”
How would that have helped the party?
Clinton didn’t take the advice — to her credit. Penn’s piece is revealing about the warped mindset of winning at all costs that drives modern campaigns.
Rasmussen Reports’ latest telephone poll in Kansas looks a bit better for Democrat Jim Slattery than last month’s survey showing him 27 percentage points behind incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. But a formidable gap remains between Slattery’s 36 percent support and Roberts’ 55 percent. At least fewer Kansans are drawing a blank on Slattery these days — only 9 percent have no opinion of him, compared with 21 percent just last month. Only two months after Roberts’ support dipped beneath 50 percent, though, Rasmussen calls him “one of the few Republican incumbents who appear to be in the clear this election year.”
Right on cue, attack artist Jerome Corsi has released another book smearing another Democratic presidential candidate. “The Obama Nation” is a hit piece against Barack Obama that is filled with falsehoods, such as how Obama is secretly a radical Muslim. Corsi is the guy who co-wrote “Unfit for Command,” which smeared John Kerry’s war record and gave us the term “Swift-boating.” He also has smeared the Catholic Church and wrote a book claiming that President Bush was part of a secret conspiracy to create a one-worldlike North American Union.
