If you’re reading this site, the odds are that you know that the Roy Blunt you’re seeing on the television is not the Roy Blunt that wants to become a US Senator. They look similar, so you can’t be blamed for confusing them, but when you take out a coin and scratch the surface then anybody can see the show being put on by Roy Blunt to hide his views. Not to be confused with the show being put on by Roy Blunt to avoid televised debates. It’s easier to twist reality when nobody around you can call you on your lies and tactics.

I will admit, he does have novel ways of volunteer motivation.

“Media reports 17 environmental extremists are in Mo. to campaign for my opponent. Help us recruit 17 new volunteers”

Specifically 17. That number might drop to 16 if one of them discovers a love for fossil fuels. Good thing he didn’t look at a ketchup bottle before setting a volunteer goal. (Nobody tell him about the pipers piping or Calling Birds who are volunteering for the campaign, ok)

Then on the trail of the Real Roy Blunt, there’s how he talks to his AM radio base. Nothing says responsible like gunfire towards your opponent’s attacks. (there’s also the pulled internet-only ad with WTC rubble that was ‘accidentally’ posted weeks ago). You’d probably see a Blunt/Carnahan debate moderated by Keith Olbermann before he goes AM talk radio over the network airwaves.

There’s two Roy Blunts, one who dislikes bailouts and puts on a “reasonable” act, and one who supports corporate bailouts and votes right-wing first. There’s only one Robin Carnahan.

Heh. There’s got to be somebody at Faux News who spoke up at a meeting and said, “let’s sue Robin Carnahan’s campaign for using some of our video clips in an ad” who is thankful that he doesn’t have to clear his desk out at the end of business today only because everyone else around the table probably agreed so enthusiastically that it was a mondo boffo idea.

[Mindy Mazur – Campaign Manager

Robin Carnahan for Senate]

Mindy Mazur: Hey, guess what I’m doing? I’m standing up to Congressman Blunt. And you should, too. And while we’re doing that we’re gonna stand up to Fox News as well. Their parent company has given Congressman Blunt ten thousand dollars over the years. But in just one day we’ve already gotten four hundred donations supporting us in standing up to tell the truth. But we want five hundred. George in St. Louis, thanks for being number four hundred. You out there who haven’t donated yet, it’s your turn. Help us out, go to Robin Carnahan dot com. Thanks.

My advice to Robin Carnahan’s campaign – keep beating this like a big bass drum.

FiredUP! points out that Blunt’s new line on Robin Carnahan – liar, liar, pants on fire – might not really correspond to reality all that much – and that, in fact, the claims that Carnahan makes in this ad, to which Blunt takes exception, actually do stand up to scrutiny:

So who’s the liar here? And why are we not surprised that it isn’t Carnahan? Maybe because there are are so many of Roy Blunt’s other equivocations, whoppers, prevarications, fibs, fabrications, and inventions out there. Here’s a small sample of what you can easily find on Google with a few simple searches:

Equivocating about birtherism: Blunt knows where Obama was born, but he wants birthers and Tea Partiers to like him – as long as he can pander to them without owning up to it in responsible adult company.

Tarp whopper: Blunts hopes that TARP haters have short memories; or that they think Obama managed the entire bailout all by his lonesome without any help from then President Bush and his go-to boy in the House, Roy Blunt.

Prevaricating about post-Katrina oil spills: Why? It’s obvious. Blunt’s collected lots of oil and gas money over the years.

Fibs about minimum wage votes: Blunt tells hardscrabble Missourians that he’s supported minimum wage increases in the past, but his record says otherwise.

Fabrications about knee and hip replacements: It wasn’t just the fairy tales about Canadian and English “rationing” of knee replacements that raised eyebrows – but his follow-up statement to the effect that the uninsured can get hip replacements by going to the emergency room.

Inventing a whole new persona: Hard to believe the plaid-shirted, (rented) pick-up driving, good ole boy is the same urbane socialite who is married to one of Washington’s “top 50 party animals,” with whom he shares a place in the “old-school Georgetown social establishment, which keeps them in the pages of Washington’s glossy society magazines.”

I could keep on doing this all night – there’s lots of material and plenty more synonyms for lies … but, by now I expect you’ve got the idea.

…and that might imperil his own sense of outsiderness.

Heh. It appears Roy Blunt (r-lobbyists) would rather hide behind special interest attack ads:

Robin Carnahan for US Senate

For Immediate Release:

September 22, 2010

[…]

True to His Record, Congressman ‘Bailout’ Blunt Bails on Debate Package With Robin Carnahan

Robin Carnahan Accepts Debate Package With Blunt, Including Fox News Sunday and Meet The Press

Blunt Backs Out of All But 2 Debates and Refuses to Finalize Negotiations for St. Louis Public TV Debate

St. Louis – After months of claiming he will debate anytime, anywhere with Robin Carnahan, it appears that Congressman Roy Blunt is trying to fashion his own personal debate “bailout” package by refusing to take part in the very debates he called for and on the very dates he proposed. For weeks, Congressman Blunt has sidestepped and stalled the process and now failed to complete negotiations on a St. Louis Public Television debate with Robin Carnahan.

“During his 14 years in Washington, Congressman Blunt has perfected the art of DC Doublespeak and negotiated the Wall Street bailout – now he’s using his art to bail himself out of debates,” said Linden Zakula, Robin Carnahan for Senate spokesman.  “Just like on the campaign trail, Congressman Blunt wants to talk as little as possible about his 14 year Washington record of wasteful spending, corruption and sticking it to the middle class.  This refusal to agree to additional debates over the smallest of issues is a clear sign that Congressman Blunt consistently says one thing, but does another and he simply can’t be trusted.”

The Facts About Congressman Blunt’s Debate Bailout:

   *      On July 22, Robin Carnahan sent letters to all the qualified candidates proposing a series of three general election debates with all four U.S. Senate candidates in Missouri.

   *      On August 5, Congressman Blunt sent out a press release calling for 6 debates with Robin, noting that he had accepted nationally televised debates with Fox News Sunday and Meet the Press.

   *      Congressman Blunt then proposed to respective representatives dates for Meet the Press with David Gregory and Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.  Among those dates were September 26 for Fox News Sunday and September 12 for Meet the Press.  Robin Carnahan accepted those dates, but Congressman Blunt, despite living in Washington, DC, and having no travel concerns, refused to participate and instead insisted on a package of only 3 debates that could only be sponsored on Missouri Public TV stations and not network affiliates.

   *      In the interim, Robin also accepted debates hosted by the Joplin Globe and the Clayton Chamber of Commerce, both of which had major local TV and radio station partnerships so that more voters could see and hear them.

   *      Despite Robin’s desire to do more debates, Congressman Blunt’s campaign refused to consider them, so her campaign agreed to his package of three in-state debates proposed by Congressman Blunt: the Missouri Press Association Debate on October 15 and debates on St. Louis and Kansas City Public Television.

   *      In this process, Robin Carnahan’s campaign has agreed to every demand made by Congressman Blunt’s campaign.

   *      An agreement has been reached with Kansas City Public Television and all 4 candidates (including Jonathan Dine, the Libertarian candidate and Jerry Beck, the Constitution Party candidate) for the Missouri Press Association debate in October.

*”[Carnahan consultant Tony] Wyche, after we assured him of television coverage out of Joplin and Springfield, said that Carnahan would accept. Rich Chrismer, with Blunt’s campaign, did not decline our invitation. In fact he told me that Blunt had not declined any of the invitations. But, I didn’t get the yes I needed to move forward.” [Joplin Globe, 9/19/10]

Robin is running for the U.S. Senate Seat currently held by U.S. Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) who is retiring. She is currently in her second term as Missouri Secretary of State where she has worked across party lines to protect consumers by standing up to big institutions and getting more than $10 billion returned to wronged investors, and to cut red tape for small businesses so they can save resources and create more jobs. A breast cancer survivor with a background in business and law, Robin also still oversees her family’s cattle farm in Rolla, MO. For more information on Robin’s background and values, visit: http://www.RobinCarnahan.com

###

Yeah, those pointed questions could be so, you know…inconvenient.

The Kid (2000)

“Aww, somebody call the waahmbulance!”

https://secure.robincarnahan.com/page/-/video/jwplayer/player.swf

Mindy Mazur: Hi, I’m Mindy Mazur, I’m Robin Carnahan’s campaign manager. It’s a little after ten o’clock on Thursday night, but I wanted to record a, a short message for you and give you an update on what’s going on in the Missouri Senate race.

As you may have heard late last night Fox News and Chris Wallace sued our campaign over our most recent TV ad. The ad in question is one where Chris Wallace questions Congressman Blunt about his slipping a secret provision in for Phillip Morris into a Homeland Security bill and his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It’s just a short clip, it’s completely in context, and it’s the truth.

And we at the Robin Carnahan campaign believe the truth matters in this race. And that’s why, despite this lawsuit, we’re keeping this ad on the air. We’re gonna fight the lawsuit to keep it on the air and to make sure Missouri voters know truth.

You and I know that Robin’s a fighter and she fights on principle. And this is a fight worth having. Please join us, go to Robin Carnahan dot com. Thanks for your help.

In the business of politics Faux News and his whineyness Chris Wallace handed Robin Carnahan and her campaign what is called “earned media”. There isn’t enough money on the planet to pay to get the coverage Roy’ Blunt’s (r-lobbyist) Washington insider pedigree is getting with this story.

Previously:

You make the ad, we sue you to protect our candidate

Faux sues, We deride: The ripple effect

Update: The Carnahan campaign has put the ad back up on the web.

http://c0000646.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/embed.html

the topic title is satirical, don’t sue us Fox

An assortment of reactions to Faux News standing up for Roy Blunt (and for Chris Wallace’s self esteem) against Robin Carnahan ads (nobody tell Chris Wallace, just tell him that he is somebody and pat his head).

Fired Up! Missouri: “Bloomberg  reports that Fox is complaining that “The Carnahan ad is designed to make it appear as if Wallace — a trusted journalist — is instead speaking as a campaign operative.”  This is obviously absurd.  The power of the ad comes from the fact that Wallace is a journalist, not a campaign operative.”

DailyKos: “The suit alleges that the ad makes it appear that Fox and Wallace are endorsing Carnahan. It’s an absurd claim, since obviously nowhere in the 2006 interview are Carnahan or Blunt’s Senate run mentioned. But we know that isn’t the real issue; in fact, this isn’t the first time they’ve demanded Democrats pull ads for this reason — and naturally, they’ve been fine with Republicans using their footage.”

Talking Points Memo:

“This is the only case that I know of where a broadcast news organization has sued a political campaign over use of news footage in an ad,” Ben Sheffner, a lawyer who specializes in copyright issues and writes the Copyrights & Campaigns blog, told TPM. “There’s been a number of disputes over this issue, but they never got to a court case, that I’m aware.”

AmericaBlog: “Who knew Chris Wallace was such a delicate little flower? FOX will do anything for Blunt and other GOPers — even file a lawsuit that makes its leading reporter sound like a thin-skinned, fragile prima donna. Meanwhile, Robin is undaunted. She’s keeping the ad on the air.”

America Blog has an ActBlue page for Robin if you’re interested in that sort of thing after any recent events. Or donate here if you wanna be direct about it.

And this isn’t finished yet.

Today I have bad and good news. TPM made public a list of 31 Democrats in the House of Representative who are breaking with the president’s plan to cut taxes for the middle class while allowing tax giveaways for the wealthy to expire. These so-called Democrats are signatories to a letter to Nancy Pelosi that repeats debunked Republican arguments about how allowing the tax bracket of the 2% of the richest Americans to rise less than 4% points will crash the economy. (Even Republicans don’t really believe that stuff!)  

That’s the bad news. The good news? To date, none of Missouri’s Democratic House delegation are on that list! Sing Hallelujah!

Given that Senator McCaskill has been dancing around the issue, telegraphing her willingness to give the goods away if anyone asks, and the fact that Robin Carnahan managed to do just that before anyone even knocked on her door to ask, this comes as a pleasant surprise. I had begun to think that Missouri’s Democrats were a pretty worthless bunch. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, Russ Carnahan, Lacy Clay and Ike Skelton are to be congratulated for standing up for the people that they represent on this issue.

There is no way that extending the Bush tax giveaways for the wealthy does anyone any good. The tax cuts do not, contrary to GOP claims, affect most small businesses; economists argue convincingly that they will play little or no stimulative role; and, to cap it all off, they will cost 1.1 trillion dollars over ten years – which is to say that they will really bolster up the big, bad, deficit boogeyman that the right wing has been using to herd weak Democrats rightwards. To top it all off, for once, Americans seem to recognize that extending the tax cuts is a stupid idea – with maybe the exception of the Tea Party where stupid seems to be king.

Just to encourage these gentlemen to keep on keeping on, I suggest that those of you who live in their districts, if  you are so inclined, drop them an email or give them a phone call and let them know that you are gratified by the respect they are showing their constituents and to good policy:

Russ Carnahan: (Email Contact page; phone nos.)

Lacy Clay (Email contact page*; phone nos.)

Emanuel Cleaver (Email contact page; phone nos.)

Ike Skelton (Email contact page; phone nos.)

Just remember, if progressives can’t win on this issue, we might as well just give up and get minimum wage jobs helping McCaskill parcel out the goods to the waiting Tea Party. We need to let our guys know that if they want us to stick with them, we need a win.

* Perhaps it’s just my browser, but but the email contact page on Lacy Clay’s website appears to be broken.

There’s a first time for everything, so Congrats to Robin Carnahan’s campaign on being sued by Faux News and here’s some “best of” from this situation.

“The Carnahan Ad is designed to make it appear as if Wallace – a trusted journalist – is instead speaking as a campaign operative,” the suit says.

1. They have trusted journalists at Faux News? That’s a pretty big claim to make in a lawsuit.

2. Obviously Faux personalities would not act as campaign operatives. Ask Mike Castle. They have a shock collar hidden to prevent that activity.

The suit, which says that Wallace won every major broadcast news award, claims the Carnahan ad “intruded upon Wallace’s private self-esteem and dignity; and caused him emotional or mental distress and suffering.”

If you’re gonna go for the lawsuit, go 100% and make up as much favorable stuff as possible. I hope that his kids weren’t made fun of at school too.

Fox’s suit asks the judge to yank the commercial from the air – its already been taken off YouTube — and order the Carnahan campaign to pay “reasonable attorneys’ fees” and undetermined monetary damages.

So Faux is off the bandwagon for tort “reform”?

Fox News is being represented by Lathrop and Gage in Kansas City.

No kidding?

Probably that a Republican would be getting sued by Faux for using a Faux news appearance to make their Democratic opponent look bad: -6% (they’d probably air the ad for free)

We wish Chris Wallace and Faux News a speedy recovery from effects of that ad existing. We know it’s been so hard. Since people never lie/distort on legal filings.

Kind of hard to argue the ad isn’t having an effect when Faux has to run defense for Roy Blunt. You don’t sue over ineffective ads.

Roy Blunt (r-lobbyists) takes a hit in the latest DSCC ad:

[Here in Missouri]

Roy Blunt’s been gone some time now. Probably doesn’t know how tough folks here in Missouri have it.

[Back in Washington]

Roy is the life of the party in D.C. His wife? Great! A Powerful tobacco lobbyist.

[Here in Missouri]

Jobs sent overseas. Schools heading down hill.

[Back in Washington]

Roy’s building a new million dollar home in D.C.’s best neighborhood.

[Here in Missouri]

My nephew lost his house.

[Back in Washington]

That’s how you know he’s made it here.

[Here in Missouri]

Roy Blunt’s just forgotten Missouri.

Announcer: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.

Nothing says down home like a million dollar house and the inside the beltway party scene.

Hat tip to our good friends at Fired Up.