Phones, Racism and The Tea Party

There’s political desperation and then there’s political sleaze…this next one serves up both in equal measure.

Unless you consume a lot of conservative media, you might not have seen the “Obama phone” video that led the Drudge Report in September. An Ohio voter, a black woman, thanked the president for giving her a phone. Some quick follow-up reporting revealed the bland truth that this free phone program began decades ago.

At issue here is Lifeline, a government program which provides low cost and free telephones to the poor. The program gives low-income consumers access to emergency services as well as allowing them to stay in touch with family and jobs. “Obama phone”? Nope. It’s actually a ‘Reagan phone’. The program was begun by the former president in 1984, but that bit of information hasn’t stopped a Tea Party group from putting together the following attack ad slated to play in predominately white ridings in Ohio.

Here’s the letter the group sent out soliciting donations.

This is it — this is the October surprise. We just need to get this ad on television today. Will you help us?

This commercial is a microcosm of the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans want to create an environment where free people make their own choices and pursue their dreams. President Obama and the Democrats want to create a dependency on Government that ensures that Americans will continue to rely on Washington from cradle to grave.

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If swing voters in this state see this ad, they simply will not support President Obama, and he will lose Ohio.

Lies, desperation and sleaze directed at white folk who are too fucking ignorant to know any better.

Yeah, tell me again how the Tea Party isn’t a racist organization.

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