Swift-boating the seniors
Wow. Just when you think you've seen it all.
Here's the deal. The Powers That Be have determined that Social Security needs to be replaced by private accounts. However, this plan is not playing well with most Americans, and particularly with older Americans. The AARP is steadfastly against privatization. So, what do the Powers That Be do?
They hire the PR firm that handled the odious Swift Boat Veterans.
You remember the Swift Boat Veterans, right? A group of veterans who didn't actually serve with John Kerry, but spoke as though they did. They spread numerous self-contradictory stories and outright fabrications about Kerry's war career to cast doubt on his claims to heroism. Real slimy stuff.
So, you can probably guess the tenor of the initial work against the AARP. The chosen surrogate for the attacks is an organization called USANext, which purports to be a grass-roots movement opposed to the AARP's liberal agenda. Unlike the AARP, which receives most of its funds through member dues, USANext receives no money from their membership, which is a curious thing for a "grass-roots" organization. They receive almost all of their funding from pharmaceutical companies. That's going to change, of course. I can confidently predict that additional monies will be made available by the big brokerage houses who stand to benefit from privatizing Social Security.
If their first ad is any indication, this campaign is going to put the Swift Boat smears to shame...or, more shame, I guess. The ad has the headline "The REAL AARP Agenda." Beneath the headline, there's a picture of a soldier in fatigues on the left. The soldier has a big "X" through him. On the right, there's a picture of two men in tuxes (i.e. wedding attire) kissing each other. There's a big check mark over the two men.
That's right. The AARP is secretly an anti-troop, pro-gay-marriage front organization. I don't know if this is more offensive because of its content or because someone actually thinks we're dumb enough to buy into this. This ad was pulled within a day, but it provides a peek into the type of campaign we're going to be seeing. Dirty doesn't begin to describe it. The only thing that's missing is Jeff Gannon copying and pasting USANext press releases and putting his name on it.
I'll post the ad as soon as I can find it. Words (in this case, stolen from Josh Marshall) don't really begin to describe it. Or, they do, but it's still a damned funny (and scary) image.
Here's the deal. The Powers That Be have determined that Social Security needs to be replaced by private accounts. However, this plan is not playing well with most Americans, and particularly with older Americans. The AARP is steadfastly against privatization. So, what do the Powers That Be do?
They hire the PR firm that handled the odious Swift Boat Veterans.
You remember the Swift Boat Veterans, right? A group of veterans who didn't actually serve with John Kerry, but spoke as though they did. They spread numerous self-contradictory stories and outright fabrications about Kerry's war career to cast doubt on his claims to heroism. Real slimy stuff.
So, you can probably guess the tenor of the initial work against the AARP. The chosen surrogate for the attacks is an organization called USANext, which purports to be a grass-roots movement opposed to the AARP's liberal agenda. Unlike the AARP, which receives most of its funds through member dues, USANext receives no money from their membership, which is a curious thing for a "grass-roots" organization. They receive almost all of their funding from pharmaceutical companies. That's going to change, of course. I can confidently predict that additional monies will be made available by the big brokerage houses who stand to benefit from privatizing Social Security.
If their first ad is any indication, this campaign is going to put the Swift Boat smears to shame...or, more shame, I guess. The ad has the headline "The REAL AARP Agenda." Beneath the headline, there's a picture of a soldier in fatigues on the left. The soldier has a big "X" through him. On the right, there's a picture of two men in tuxes (i.e. wedding attire) kissing each other. There's a big check mark over the two men.
That's right. The AARP is secretly an anti-troop, pro-gay-marriage front organization. I don't know if this is more offensive because of its content or because someone actually thinks we're dumb enough to buy into this. This ad was pulled within a day, but it provides a peek into the type of campaign we're going to be seeing. Dirty doesn't begin to describe it. The only thing that's missing is Jeff Gannon copying and pasting USANext press releases and putting his name on it.
I'll post the ad as soon as I can find it. Words (in this case, stolen from Josh Marshall) don't really begin to describe it. Or, they do, but it's still a damned funny (and scary) image.
posted by No. 6 at 10:00 AM
