John McCain is Dead

I finally came across the ad that caused such a ruckus. Wow - a flat out lie, and McCain approves it. The television advertisement in question is a pastiche of unrelated soundbites; I guess it's possible to say that it isn't untruthful - the people shown speaking said the words they said, except for that the three soundbites are on unrelated topics run together to imply something different. Heck, what it's implying doesn't pass the smell test - one implication is that Barack Obama is calling sweet Sarah Palin a pig (though that might be fair after all the insults she threw at him during the speech she read at the nominating convention). Another implication is that sweet sassy Sarah Palin is being treated unfairly because she is a woman. Hardly - she hasn't been on stage long enough for one to make a judgement as to that. The sexism Katie's talking about was the constant Hillary bashing during the primaries. Those people don't seem to be going after sweet Sarah the same way. The kicker is the closing "Obama - Ready to Smear? Yes." - so over the top it defies parody.

You got to give credit to John McCain's television advertising team for breaking new ground. This advertisement, like the"Celebrity" one before it, doesn't even make sense; it's a collection of disparate things that imply something else. Since it's nonsense, it's not untrue - the message (aside from the assertion that Obama is "Ready to Smear") is not stated; there's no voice over that says Obama called Sarah Palin names during a speech or that other politicians and newspeople are treating Sara Palin unfairly because she's a woman, because those things aren't true. So, since it's not saying anything (except that Obama's "Ready to Smear"), it's not lying, right?

Shameless. Fabulous. Artful. I can't wait for the next installment. Republicans are so good at drama. Let's see those lipsticks, ladies. And please, smear it on generously. Let's keep this puppy alive until election day.