Joe Conason -- who used to be one of the few sane observers of things Clintonian -- has this to say in his
latest:
Of course "Obama and company" have said much that is unkind and untrue about the Clintons before and since, but it is all too easy to imagine the outrage of the Clinton spokespersons if the Illinois senator had started mailing around old clips from the American Spectator.
Conason was bothered by the Clinton campaign's citation of stories concerning Obama spokesperson General McPeak, about whom I have written previously. McPeak has a history. The man is a
butcher, and Clinton supporters have been far too kind to him.
Joe Conason, have you lost all sense of perspective? Obama is relying on the
Daily Fucking Kos, which has a much higher readership than the
American Spectator ever did. Compare the Kos diaries published on any given day to the '90s-era right-wing smear machine described in David Brock's
Blinded By the Right. By any rational standard, Moulitsas and his compatriots have less conscience and more power than Scaife did or does.
And you say that
Clinton has crossed a line? Are you also going to argue that Poland invaded Nazi Germany?
If she beats the odds and wins, this kind of behavior will taint her victory.
What about Obama's behavior? I'm scarcely the only former Obama supporter so repulsed by the Obama/Kos smear machine that I will refuse to vote Democratic in November, should he be the candidate.
If Obama's tactics have proven so divisive in the primaries, then how can he hope to unite the entire country?