The ugliest of histories

The Washington Monthly's Ed Kilgore goes ballistic over the Romney campaign's latest falsehood:

The Romney ad’s claim that the administration has abolished [welfare's] work and training requirements ... is a bold-faced lie....

It’s the old welfare-queen meme....

Romney and conservatives can go absolutely wild with this attack line, hauling in every racial innuendo imaginable with relatively little fear of blowback....

All in all, this development in the campaign is a very nasty piece of work that I hope, but do not expect, Republicans come to regret.

Kilgore's piece is a valuable read in its entirety. But fair warning, it's also bittersweet; it retains the left's adorably unfashionable fascination with facts and empiricism even while the right attempts a "bold-faced" revivification of Joe Goebbels' spirit.

To me, that second part is the essential story of the 2012 campaign: one that will either die--to be remembered only as a political object lesson in "going too far"--or forever be carried forward as a postmodern model of relatively easy political success. If Mitt Romney and his downballot allies achieve victory through propaganda techniques virtually identical to the early National Socialists', then we're in for a much bumpier ride than a mere Bush III administration.

Meanwhile, progressive columnists persist in producing 800-word essays that refute, point-by-unread-point, the right's malevolent lies on this issue or that. Hence the latter keeps the former chasing the latter's tail; and the latter, needless to add, is always driving the agenda.

Before this election is out, perhaps the left will settle on the one and only central issue: not precisely what the right is saying, but how and why it is saying it. And in that, there's the ugliest of histories.

Comments

[japa21]

It is interesting that Romney is going around telling people that Obama is lying about him and his policies (which is in itself a lie)but has no qualms in telling lies about Obama.

And if Obama actually told a real lie about Romney, it would be a major media story for days.

The level of projection being displayed by Republicans is at a level that is, quite honestly, almost unbelievable. I say almost only because it seems like every day they reach a new level.

And as you pointed out earlier, when the truth is told about Republican policies, people presume that it is a lie because they can't believe anybody would actually do things like that.

I am at a loss as to how to combat all this.

[dricey]

If the GOP wins this election and takes control of the federal government, we haven't even begun to see "ugly" yet. We'll find out that, while God may or may not be an Englishman, the Devil is most assuredly a Republican.

[Lord Basil]

Romney and the GOP are the only hope for dismantling the "soft tyranny" (in the words of The Great One, Mark Levin), of the Kenyan Marxist homosexual.

You people have been so deluded by the lamestream media that you can't see just how much the illegal Kenyan President has shat upon the Founder'S constitutional conservative framework.

[susan zoon]

Have we run out of Troll Begone or something?

[PM]

My lord--deluded or not, I'm issuing fair warning: either knock off the "homo" crap and related psychoses or get your ignoble ass banned. Your choice. Verstehen Sie?
--PM

[janicket]

PM, why wait? I understand you prize the free exchange of ideas, but that's not what's on offer from this...creature. The Lord of Basil has contributed nothing of value here in any of his vile dribblings, merely right-wing talking points, sewer division. The ban hammer would be a mercy killing for him and a mercy for the rest of us.

[PM]

Janicket, you're right. If I had any hope for this sad gentleman's sanity, well.
It's so bad, I was at first convinced it was parody. But poorly executed parody is also inexcusable.
So, the recommended 'Troll Begone' button has been activated.
--PM

[AnneJ]

I know I'm not the sharpest poster here, but I wonder: Is the level of republican projection this cycle even more obvious than in the past? I mean has it gotten so bad that even the average voter can spot it?