File this under: why am I not surprised? The next time a rabid Ron Paul supporter buttonholes you online or in the flesh to proselytize for Paul, remind them of this ad which targets not only Jon Huntsman, but his adopted daughter.
From The Guardian:
The video, entitled "Jon Huntsman's Values", was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday. It intersperses clips of Huntsman speaking Chinese with images of him with his daughter Gracie Mei, who he adopted from a Chinese orphanage in 1999. The footage is set to east Asian music, and describes Huntsman as "the Manchurian candidate". In the novel and film of the same name, the son of a prominent US political family is brainwashed into being an assassin for China's Communist Party.
Yep; it's that clever.
I refuse to link to this garbage, but at the time of this diary's posting the video is readily available for view. The curious will find what struck me as a juvenile, ham-fisted, but nonetheless slimy political ad noteworthy for its use of played out Cold War memes and ugly racism. It's low budget, but definitely a Paulbot Production ™
To be fair, NHLiberty4Paul, the user or group that uploaded the video joined YouTube Jan 4, 2012 and claims no official ties to the Paul campaign. Somewhat surprisingly, Paul distanced himself from the ad but also claimed that it's just politics, folks.
Paul, a Texas congressman, disavowed the ad during an interview on Friday on CNN, but said he could not control the actions of all his supporters.
"I couldn't even hear it, haven't looked at it, but people do that, and they do it in all campaigns," Paul said.
Hrmm. Now that's accountability! Paul certainly can't control his followers any more than he can be bothered to know what's in his newsletters. And besides: everyone does it.
Everyone except Paul it seems, if the youtube comments (always a treat) are any indication. What actually happened is that Huntsman's Daughters released this ad to attack Paul
The obsession with timestamps among other comments in these videos adds to the lunacy surrounding the video they purport to explain away. It's a conspiracy!
Ron Paul: his campaign and his base in a nutshell. So to speak.