I just opened up my wallet and gave Chris Murphy a campaign contribution. Why? Because I saw his competitor's TV ad on
Hardball and I don't like liars. Particularly people who lie on TV with the expectation that they won't have to pay for their lie.
I'm not disposed to accuse people of lying because my standards are pretty high. It has to be something that is not just untrue, but something done deliberately for gain. Nancy Johnson's ad lives down to this extremely low standard.
Here's the ad in question:
A terrorist plot may be unfolding. Should the government intercept that call or wait until the paperwork is filed? Nancy Johnson says work immediately, lives may be at stake. Liberal Chris Murphy says, "No, apply for a court warrant, even if valuable time is lost." Chris Murphy, wrong on security, wrong for America.
That's the lie, that the issue is whether to lose valuable time in protecting American lives or not. This means that Nancy Johnson and her staff are either liars or completely incompetent.
As we all probably know from being told repeatedly, the FISA system allows the President to wiretap immediately and file the paperwork later. I would like the Johnson campaign to produce evidence that the words they put in Chris Murphy's mouth were actually uttered or written by him. At what point did he say that the government should wait to file paperwork when a terrorist plot is brewing and our government knows about it?
That's the lie: "Chris Murphy says to apply for a court warrant, even if valuable time is lost."
Here's the lying liar who put this on the air: Nancy Johnson.
I nominate Nancy Johnson for a [new] Al Franken Liar of the Year award.
That's what made me angry enough to contribute to Chris Murphy's campaign.
But the lie isn't the only travesty in this ad, only the worst one. The other big injustice is the subliminal message.
The graphics show a phone link being lost between an unidentified location in Pakistan and some country in the direction of the U.S. Little rectangular frames show suspicious messages. When Chris Murphy's picture appears, he's in the same little rectangles, implying that he is also a terrorist. The caption says: "Access denied court order required" under his frame.
Talk about framing.
I have an ad for this district. I call it:
World Without Law
Video of a little girl, about four, walking with her toys.
VOICE OVER: SUPPOSE THIS IS YOUR CHILD. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOUR GOVERNMENT TORTURED HER?
Video of a little boy, about four, walking with his toys.
VOICE OVER: SUPPOSE THIS IS YOUR CHILD. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOUR GOVERNMENT TORTURED HIM?
Video of recognizably American landscape.
VOICE OVER: IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE GOVERNMENT VIOLATES ITS OWN LAWS, NO ONE IS SAFE FROM TORTURE.
Video zoom on first page of Constitution.
VOICE OVER: CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM TO STOP THE PRESIDENT FROM VIOLATING THIS LAW.
---End---
(See Reaffirm Democracy.)
Whenever someone questions your patriotism, you need to remind them that all good Americans put the Constitution first. It is the heart and soul of our democracy. Send them off to read Are Democrats Traitors?.
Democrats are not traitors. People who accuse us of being traitors don't have the credibility to make the accusation.
Markos: Please put Chris Murphy on the Netroots Challengers list.
And, for good measure, here's Chris Murphy's website: ChrisMurphy for Congress