Remember the Right-Wing sleaze merchants who wrote and marketed Unfit for Command, the Swift Boat hit job on John Kerry during the 2004 Presidential election?
Well, they're back.
One of my enjoyable tasks on Friday mornings is to look through the upcoming titles for the next coming months and see if anything interesting pops out. While I shouldn't have been surprised to see this, I came across two major titles due to be released in the weeks before the Democratic Convention for the sole purpose of attempting to take down Senator Obama.
First out of the gate is The Case against Barack Obama by David Freddoso. There is a much longer subtitle to this, and the flyleaf description has all the usual suspects: Rev. Wright, inexperienced, #1 Liberal Senator, and so on. Nothing that we haven't heard before, though some of the stuff in the flyleaf is particularly funny. Did you know that having progressive views are a greater danger to this country than terrorism? I sure didn't -- I would have thought soaring oil and food prices would at least trump that, but I'm not a Very Important Author. Anyway, the truly important aspect to know about this book is that it's published by Regnery. Never heard of them? They are the peddlers of Right-Wing fearmongering/smear titles, such as the infamous Unfit for Command, and other titles about how liberals are such traitors to America, and the whole "Politically Incorrect" series, and, well, you get the idea.
About a week later we have Obama Nationby Jerome Corsi. I guess it's a little too early in the season, because there is no description. However, Corsi helped John O'Neill write Unfit for Command and is the author of right-wing fearmongering books about how Iran is the greatest threat EVER and that energy conservation is a hoax because oil is a constantly renewable resource. Any guesses on what viewpoint his book is going to take?
Why is this is important?: After all, from what I can tell, there is nothing that is going to be revealed that hasn't been covered ad nauseum already (particularly Rev. Wright). However, as hard as it is for us to believe, the majority of the public hasn't been paying attention, even when these topics were receiving wall-to-wall media coverage. They may have noticed it on the periphery of their vision, but not really absorbed it. Come August, the general public will be more invested and willing to pay attention, and the fact that they are printed between the covers of a book will somehow appear to lend them more credibility.
And if there is anything these publishers know how to do, it's how to rig the publicity game. It was no accident that Regnery had a very small intial run of Unfit , causing the book to sell out almost immediately. They then let the demand build, assisted by right-wingers who were saying that the stores were being all liberal and trying to censor the title. By the time it arrived back in the stores, everybody wanted it, though I will say it did peak fairly quickly.
What can we do about it?: Well, I don't really have much an answer for that. I am a firm believer in the concept of "Forewarned is Forearmed." Just knowing about something is its own reward even you don't go around screaming about the sky falling. I really think that was one of the aspects that hurt Sen. Kerry -- they probably had an awareness O'Neill's book was coming out but not what kind of impact it would have. I'm certain Sen. Obama's campaign learned that particular lesson and is already planning on their counterattacks.
The best I can say is that we do the same. So don't grind your teeth in disgust when we see these books receiving so much so serious consideration on the talk-shows. Take comfort in realizing that knowing ahead of time is half the battle and that you will have responses prepared to tell your friends and neighbors when they listen to this crap.