Yesterday I was chatting with a nurse who was setting me up for a minor procedure at a local hospital.  She said she was originally from Oklahoma and still had family there.  So I used that opening to mention the drought, the heat wave and climate change.  Every chance I get I bring up the odd coincidence that Texas and Oklahoma are getting the worst climate related damage since the dust bowl days and, as it happens, the Congressmen from Oklahoma and Texas are the ones who do the bidding of the “global warming hoax” beneficiaries.  Of course, they owe their political careers to oil barons, so what else can they say about the polar ice cap melting other than it’s a “hoax”?

I generalized that the men in Congress have done a lot of damage to all of us hoping the nurse would agree.  And she did.

Then she said, “And how about that president of ours?  He won’t even say the pledge of allegiance, and, when he does, he uses the wrong hand.”

OMG, how do we counteract simplistic thinking like that?  And this is an RN who had to have some post high school education.  She seemed bright and alert, good at her job and someone who would NOT be taken in by the lies generated by American Crossroads, ALEC, Americans for Prosperity and all the “defeat Obama whatever the cost” crowd.

Yet here she was – miss middle America. Totally convinced that the President of the United States won’t say the pledge of allegiance to the United States of America.   How can anyone juggle those two things cognitively?

I took a deep breath and told her that the photo online a few months ago was a fake.  I explained that nowadays anyone clever enough can make a fake photo or video.  She agreed that that was possible but didn’t seem to apply that piece of information to the Obama Left Hand Pledge photo.

Not being sure if she was even open for information that might mess up her hard core dislike of the President, I explained that photos like that are made up by people who hate Obama because he is trying to protect programs like Social Security and Medicare, and those people want to destroy those programs.  HELLO?  Medicare?  Hospital?  Nurse?   Income?

I don’t know what else to do but keep telling the truth about the Obama haters and sharing facts about what is going on.  Truth? Facts? No thanks, it’s time for my coffee break.  Have a nice day.  

Yep, this is one way to bring home the Democratic Party base for Senator Claire McCaskill (D).

The script of a radio ad by American Crossroads, a right wingnut front organization, which is supposed to start airing today:

TV anchor: Show Me TV has discovered that Senator Claire McCaskill has been using a body-double to cast her votes in Washington, DC

TV co-anchor: How did this come to light, Matt?

TV anchor: Turns out McCaskill’s stand-in is a big-spending liberal….

….Narrator: …American Crossroads is responsible for the content of this advertising. Paid for by American Crossroads. Nor authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. AmericanCrossroads.org

American Crossroads?:

Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Karl Rove, who served as senior adviser to President George W. Bush, were instrumental in helping to launch American Crossroads in 2010. Although neither serve in any official capacity, Gillespie and Rove “encouraged the formation” of American Crossroads and serve as “informal advisers” and fundraisers, says the group’s spokesman, Jonathan Collegio.

The day-to-day operations are run by Chairman Mike Duncan, a former RNC chairman, and President and Chief Executive Officer Steven J. Law, a former deputy secretary of labor in the administration of George W. Bush. Law also served as general counsel to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce….

….In July [2010], the group filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission and is now filing reports with the FEC, instead of the IRS, Collegio says. The FEC reports provide information on contributors, as did the IRS reports.

American Crossroads and its affiliate – Crossroads GPS, a spinoff created in June – reportedly plan to raise $52 million by November [2010]. Crossroads GPS was formed as a 501(c)(4), a nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors.

Who’d they get to pay for this stuff in the last election cycle? Well, let’s follow the money (that we can) via the Federal Election Commission. A sampling:

Individuals Who Gave To This Committee

AMERICAN CROSSROADS

Party: No Associated Party

1401 NEW YORK AVE NW SUITE 1200

WASHINGTON, DC 20005

ALLIANCE RESOURCE GP LLC, TULSA OK 74121 09/14/2010 $2,000,000.00 10991701419

AMERICAN FINANCIAL GROUP INC., CINCINNATI OH 45201 08/02/2010 $400,000.00 10931311093

BASHAM, ROBERT D. TAMPA FL 33607 10/18/2010 $50,000.00 OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE/PRESIDENT 10992388111

BRAUER, STEPHEN BRIDGETON MO 63044 09/08/2010 $10,000.00 HUNTER ENGINEERING COMPANY/PRESIDE 10991701376

CHILDS, JOHN W. VERO BEACH FL 32963 11/04/2010 $100,000.00 J.W. CHILDS & ASSOCIATES/CHAIRMAN 10992388125

DIXIE RICE AGRICULTURAL CORPORATIO, GUEYDAN LA 70542 07/31/2010 $1,000,000.00 10931172088

EGBERT, STEPHEN LAWRENCE KS 66046 10/14/2010 $250.00 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS/PROFESSOR 10992388139

EICHENBERGER, STEPHEN NEW YORK NY 10023 10/13/2010 $5,000.00 JP MORGAN CHASE/BANKER 10991702059

FOX, SAM ST. LOUIS MO 63105 08/12/2010 $25,000.00 THE HARBOUR GROUP LIMITED/CHAIRMAN 10931311082

AGAN, JAMES L. VALPARAISO IN 46385 10/04/2010 $100,000.00 SELF/ENTREPRENEUR 10991702063

GILLIAM, RICHARD BAXTER KESWICK VA 22947 09/16/2010 $100,000.00 CUMBERLAND RESOURCES/FOUNDER 10991701385

GILLIAM, RICHARD BAXTER KESWICK VA 22947 10/13/2010 $150,000.00 CUMBERLAND RESOURCES/FOUNDER 10991702064

GRIFFIN, ANNE D. CHICAGO IL 60611 10/25/2010 $250,000.00 ARAGON GLOBAL MANAGEMENT/PORTFOLIO 10992388153

GRIFFIN, KENNETH C. CHICAGO IL 60611 10/25/2010 $250,000.00 CITADEL INVESTMENT GROUP/CEO 10992388153

HUGHES, B. WAYNE LEXINGTON KY 40511 10/18/2010 $950,000.00 PUBLIC STORAGE INC./CHAIRMAN 10992388164

HUGHES, B. WAYNE LEXINGTON KY 40511 07/31/2010 $1,300,000.00 PUBLIC STORAGE, INC./CHAIRMAN 10931172079

HUGHES, B. WAYNE LEXINGTON KY 40511 09/15/2010 $1,000,000.00 PUBLIC STORAGE INC./CHAIRMAN 10991701390

JERRY PERENCHIO LIVING TRUST, LOS ANGELES CA 90067 07/31/2010 $1,000,000.00 10931172088

NEW PRIME INC., SPRINGFIELD MO 65803 10/01/2010 $30,000.00 10991702109

PERRY, BOB J. HOUSTON TX 77234 10/12/2010 $1,000,000.00 PERRY HOMES/HOME BUILDER 10991702090

PERRY, BOB J. HOUSTON TX 77234 10/04/2010 $2,000,000.00 PERRY HOMES/HOME BUILDER 10991702089

PERRY, BOB J. HOUSTON TX 77234 09/10/2010 $2,000,000.00 PERRY HOMES/HOME BUILDER 10991701402

PERRY, BOB J. HOUSTON TX 77234 10/05/2010 $2,000,000.00 PERRY HOMES/HOME BUILDER 10991702089

ROWLING, ROBERT B. IRVING TX 75039 09/27/2010 $500,000.00 TRT HOLDINGS INC./CEO 10991701406

ROWLING, ROBERT B. IRVING TX 75039 10/05/2010 $1,000,000.00 TRT HOLDINGS INC./CEO 10991702095

ROWLING, ROBERT B. IRVING TX 75039 08/12/2010 $1,000,000.00 TRT HOLDINGS INC./CEO 10931311090

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA LAND LLC, HOUMA LA 70361 07/31/2010 $1,000,000.00 10931172086

TRUMP, DONALD J. NEW YORK NY 10022 10/06/2010 $50,000.00 SELF/REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER 10991702104

WEAVER POPCORN COMPANY INC., INDIANAPOLIS IN 46256 10/22/2010 $75,000.00 10992388250

WEAVER POPCORN COMPANY INC., INDIANAPOLIS IN 46256 09/16/2010 $250,000.00 10991701421

[emphasis added]

You get the picture…

Hmmm. Not a lot of Missourians on that list. Just the usual suspects, and they ain’t the heaviest hitters for American Crossroads. You think they’re friends of Roy? Just asking.

We can probably guess where Claire doesn’t go out for a steak. You gotta wonder if the guy from KU was ticked
off by one of Claire’s University of Missouri football or basketball tweets. I bet Claire doesn’t watch staged reality television shows, either.

Sigh, no more popcorn at movies…

Following up on an earlier report that connected money from foreign sources to Chamber of Commerce spending on behalf of GOP candidates in target states like Missouri, Think Progess today explores possible coordination between the ad buys of the Chamber and Carl Rove’s Crossroads GPS:

At every turn, from the operatives running the two organizations to their targeted races to their media firms, American Crossroads and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are bound to one another.

In Missouri, for instance, the seemingly “uncanny” coordination between their scheduling of ad buys insures that there will be always be a Chamber or Grossroads anti-Carnahan attack ad running:

Missouri

Crossroads GPS ads: 8/18-9/3

Chamber of Commerce ads: 9/3-9/8

American Crossroads ads begin: 09/15

Bear in mind that these two groups go to great lengths to conceal their donors, and that they account for over a fourth of the money that will be spent in this election by conservative interest groups. And it isn’t just TV ad buys. I’m sitting here as I write this looking at a glossy brochure put out by Crossroads proclaiming Robin Carnahan’s support for a “national energy tax.”

Sadly, if Congress magically decided to close the Pandora’s box opened by the Citizens United ruling, which now permits the GOP to launder donations through organizations like Chamber of Commerce; if a DOJ investigation found the Chamber guilty of violating laws that prohibit foreign entities from attempting to influence American elections; if if the (501(c)(4) tax status of organizations like Crossroads GPS were to be changed to that of a 527 political PAC (which it almost indisputably is) so that it would have to disclose its donors, all of this would happen too late to offset the unfair advantage these groups are giving the GOP in the upcoming election. For the time being we’ve got to suck it up and get on with it, no matter how badly the opposition is bending the law while working hand in hidden glove with each other and with the GOP.

It doesn’t bode well for the future – particularly if that future is is sullied by elephant crap in a GOP-controlled congress – that the Disclose Act, which would have insured some degree of transparency, couldn’t even make it though the Senate when that body has been, nominally at least, under the control of Democrats.

At any rate, there’s probably nothing to be done right now but get out and hustle our you-know-whats off. If we don’t, we’ll surely get’em handed to us on election day. We may anyway – and then it’s good bye to the good life in the old U.S. of A. for a good long while, at least for those of us who haven’t already got ours bigtime, like the richest 2% whom the GOP struggles to protect.

.