“Obamaphones”

Ken Blackwell’s Obamaphone Smear: Yes, Ohio, A Black Man CAN Make Racist Ad

/ Jack Marshall / 14 Comments

Proving that a black man can do anything a white man can, like making a racist anti-Obama ad!

There are three things wrong with Ken Blackwell’s anti-Obama attack ad, courtesy of the Tea Party Victory Fund, which the former Cincinnati mayor and former Ohio Secretary of State leads:

1. It focuses on the Obamaphone, which is not an Obama give-away program, but an old program that has always offered free cell phones to the poor under certain conditions. Thus it is misleading and dishonest.

2. It stars the “Obamaphone Lady,” one of the ignorant and embarrassing Obama supporters captured on video by James O’Keefe clones to stereotype Obama supporters as fools. Yes, she’s a particularly appalling idiot. Both parties have plenty of them, however, and using any idiot to mock the candidate he or she supports is the epitome of cheap-shot, unethical politics. In this regard, the ad, like the video, is unfair and irresponsible.

3. The particular idiot chosen for this exercise is black, used to criticize a black President, whose strongest support comes from the black community. As a result, the ad is racist and offensive. Continue reading →

Just Stop It—You’re Embarrassing Yourselves

/ Jack Marshall / 7 Comments

Oh yeah? Well this guy is a ROMNEY supporter!

As evidence grows that the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention may have been practicing law in Massachusetts—the state she seeks to represent in the U.S. Senate—without proper legal authorization, the description of the matter in the mainstream media, to the extent that it is mentioned at all, is that “the conservative blogosphere” is making the accusation. This ritual drives me to distraction, as readers of Ethics Alarms know. But if conservatives want to be given more respect when they uncover a legitimate story that the biased media will try to ignore or bury, they have to stop indulging themselves in utter garbage like this. Continue reading →

“Obamaphone” Paranoia

/ Jack Marshall / 9 Comments

“Oh NO!!! It’s OBAMAPHONES!!!!”

The fevered delusions of the Rapid Right are even more wacky than the corresponding hallucinations of the Angry Left, and I can only stomach a limited dose of either until my mind shuts down and I find myself wanting to watch back episodes of “My Little Pony.” The recent hysterical column by bona fide Tea Party wingnut Gina Loudon, however, held special interest for me, first, because it is such a wonderful example of partisan paranoia gone to Cloud Cuckoo Land, and second, because it singles out Ethics Alarms. I’m so honored.

Let me try to explain this without giggling. There is a federal program that provides discounts on basic cell phone service to the indigent under certain conditions, and it has been around since the Clinton Administration. Some Tea Party zealots got the idea that the phones were an Obama Administration hand-out, and spread the rumor while calling them “Obamaphones.” Rush Limbaugh picked up the charge, and turned it into a rant on his radio show, saying… Continue reading →

Rush Limbaugh’s “Obamaphone” Smear

/ Jack Marshall / 13 Comments

No, this isn’t what Rush Limbaugh was talking about (these phones are from Kenya). Or rather, this isn’t what Rush was lying about…

When you listen to Rush Limbaugh (something his most vociferous critics almost never do), you usually get one of five things: 1) reliably ideological and sardonically phrased criticisms of progressive and Democrat positions, statements and acts, many of them richly deserving of it, 2) welcome and cheeky tweaking of  favorite targets like the “drive-by media” and Hollywood, 3) over-the-top and pointedly politically-incorrect ridicule of progressive icons and illusions, specifically crafted to make people’s heads explode, 4) off-topic self-indulgent (and boring) discourse about football, cigars and 5) feigned egomania mixed with genuine egomania in such a way that it is almost impossible to guess when Rush’s tongue is in his cheek and when he really is in the midst of delusions of grandeur. All of these are delivered with relentless cheeriness, and with the skill of a marvelously gifted improvisational radio professional—and anyone who denies that really hasn’t listened to him, or hates him so much that objectivity is impossible.

Every now and then, however, Rush is brutally unfair to the point of deception, and when he is, it does terrible damage. He is by far the most listened-to human being on the dial, and when he passes on bad information to so many people who trust him, it triggers millions of e-mails, thousands of blog posts and mass indignation and anger over falsehood. Limbaugh’s negligence, in short, is more harmful than other media figures’ negligence, and he therefore has a special obligation to be careful. Yesterday he was reckless, and dishonest to his listeners. Continue reading →