Many years ago I had dinner with Ambassador Joseph Wilson,

[PCIntern]

An event which I chronicled here in detail. This was during the height of his fame in the weapons of mass destruction scandal that should have rocked the Bush II administration.


The line I remembered from dinner was when I asked him how come Republicans lie about everything, no matter how trivial his reply was, “They lie about things like that just to keep in shape.“

Obviously, nothing has changed since those days and in fact, it’s gotten worse. This whole business with this guy who is supposedly named George Santos reminds me of one of my greatest objections in the early days to Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Their pronouncements in and of themselves were so ridiculous that the vast number of people did not pay all that much attention in the early going. However, what they did is move the line of acceptability so far to the right that you would look at somebody who was what we used to call radical right and say, “Well they’re not as bad as Limbaugh so they’re sort of OK.“

That’s what has now happened with Santos, who actually lies from a percentage standpoint more than TFG, which I didn’t believe would be possible. He has set the boundaries with such a subterranean depth that you would need a drilling rig to find them.

[Lasher]

1. They lie about things like that just to keep in shape.

That's a quote to remember.

[certainot]

2. ignoring talk radio continues to be the biggest political mistake in history - astoundingly

stupid, incompetent, and irresponsible. the demo and progressive orgs have not been doing due diligence for 35 years

[PCIntern]

3. That would be correct.

[Kid Berwyn]

4. Political Malpractice

Messaging is how the battle for minds is won or, as we see with the current US House, lost.

Just for the SCOTUS overturning Roe, we Democrats should have 2/3 majorities in each chamber. Then there’s the Trump-Putin connection that got put in the back seat to emphasize prescription drug prices and earned child tax income credit or some such hog of mental bandwidth.

[calimary]

5. This! Messaging!

It’s THE power. And sometimes I feel like my Dems have just ignored the significance and power of messaging - as a tool, and as a weapon. Maybe they just assumed it didn’t matter or wasn’t all that important because it was superficial or something. HUGE mistake. Colossal.

And even now, I’m not sure the team fully groks that.

Messaging is EVERYTHING. Messaging is what moves hearts and minds and motivations. Messaging is powerful beyond all imagining. Messaging is EVERYTHING.

It’s important enough to have a place in the “Good Book”. In fact, it’s what THAT particular messaging starts with: “In the beginning was the WORD.”

[Kid Berwyn]

7. Word...an idea made manifest.

Perhaps the more words there are, the bigger the universe becomes.

[calimary]

9. Indeed, my friend. Indeed.

[plimsoll]

6. Some of us didn't ignore it, but having other supposed allies attack you for not supporting free

speech kind of killed the vibe.

It's like "don't call them fascists, it's hyperbole." Well, I wasn't calling them fascists, I was pointing out that they were using the techniques that the fascists used in the 1920's and 1930's. That it was the proverbial slippery slope was self evident, but it was also incredibly unpopular to point it out. And to some extent I agreed with the position initially, but I came to realize that the arguments were not made in good faith (both by the proto fascists and their liberal apologists) there were other considerations that came into play.

Plenty of people saw, some people commented, but doing something requires commitment and numbers. Those are things that we won't get in the US.

And I need to stop here because I'm about to say one of those things that can't be unsaid.

[certainot]

13. no one can argue "free speech!" for an attack on RW radio if AI is used to digitize it. the only

reason rw radio is so effective is that those it attacks don't listen to it. now AI allows it to be digitized like MIT Media Lab did with 2.8 bil words of it, so it can be analyzed and read - no listening needed!

all those blowhards and advertisers should be glad.... right?

[plimsoll]

17. That will be nice, but trust me they'll say we're trying to suppress free speech.

The right doesn't really mean "free speech," they mean their speech. Free speech absolutists (Elon Mollusk?) are pretty much the same. The "liberal" organizations who defend people who clearly want to eliminate others speech baffle me but no longer surprise me.

The one thing that will come out of the AI generated data will be potential law suits against RW yakkers. Downside there is that they will dox the people who did it and their legions of dumb will put peoples lives at risk.

Sorry, I've just gotten pessimistic about our societies ability to actually control this small but extremely willing to be transgressive and violent minority. I'm usually an optimistic person, "sure stuff is broken but we can fix it," but RW Hate radio just doesn't seem to be controllable by normal societal rules. We may need to revert to social ostracism and actual boycotts of individuals and stores/retailers that serve them or advertise with them. They'll whine, but apparently money talks in our society.

[OMGWTF]

8. Now the Reicht-wingers on h8 radio are broadcasting in Spanish.

Dems need to buy up a couple of high-powered radio stations in red states and fight back.

[Raine1967]

10. Indeed. When we talk about conspiracy theories and he GOP

this is where it was birthed.

I wish people took it FAR MORE seriously at the time. It happened right out in the open.

[Evolve Dammit]

11. yep. One radio exception: "Air America" The rest was all RW hate 24/7/365. 35 or more years.

and Armed Forces radio too

[dalton99a]

12. Franken used to keep track of them

[lame54]

14. They get up and tell...

10 fibs
2 sets of lies
6 miles of deceptions

And all before breakfast

[H2O Man]

15. Recommended.

Santos reminds me of a conversation I had with my father years ago. I don't think that Santos's being elected was part of a republican plan, but I think they find him useful, if only for the moment.

When talking to my father about Reagan's secretary of interior James Watt, I noted what a flaming asshole he was. I said I was surprised that Reagan didn't dump him, because of all the negative attention Watt was getting. Dad said I needed to understand the republican tactic of having a lightening road. Yes, he said, Watt should be dropped .... into the middle of the ocean ..... but that he was actually doing exactly what Reagan et al wanted him to do: serve as a lightening rod that distracted attention from the even worse things the administration was doing.

There are obvious differences between Watt and Santos. The republicans had control of the White House. And Watt was honest about his not caring for the environment. But I think Santos is something of a distraction right now. In my opinion, he should be hung around the neck of the republican party in the same manner one hangs a dead chicken around the neck of the dog that killed it. But having experience in doing that, I can say one then focuses on the dog, not the dead chicken. The dog will learn not to kill chickens in an average of 72 hours.

[gldstwmn]

16. With Santos I think it is just going to come down to following the money.

It's unsettling to think about who might be funding him. He clearly has no morals. The rest of the picture paints itself.
I did read the other day that Howard Stern of all people was talking with someone who knows Santos and Howard was painting him in some sort of sympathetic light. I haven't heard what he actually said but that just seems very strange to me.