Anti-McConnell Site Opportunity to Cast Foes as Extremists
Though recent polls and strong fundraising show Senator McConnell in a strong position for his 08 reelection bid, liberals believe next year may be their time to finally defeat the most successful GOP politician in KY history. One of the tools they plan to use in their effort to take out KY’s Senior Senator is the burgeoning new media, particularly blogs and videos. But a careful look at the state’s leading anti-McConnell blog reveals attacks so harsh that they just might backfire.
The lead anti-McConnell blog in KY is DitchMitch. Since its launch earlier this year, it’s received a fair bit of press. Its imminent birth was leaked to Newsweek's Howard Fineman, it’s been the subject of a front page story in The Nation mag, and Greg Stumbo and Andrew Horne, the two Democrats most frequently mentioned as opponents for McConnell, miss no opportunity to be seen, grinning and glad-handing, with DitchMitch multimedia contributor, Jim Pence on the blog’s video spots.
In addition to posting short comments about various news stories the way most blogs do, DitchMitch also frequently posts short videos on the site and at YouTube. They often feature Pence as narrator. Video content ranges from coverage of anti-war protests, to interviews with candidates, to attempts at satire. It’s the satirical pieces that are the most disturbing aspect to DM’s work. In them, Pence plays a disheveled older man whose home is a large storage shed adorned with the GOP symbol (and, occasionally, a Confederate battle flag.) The man either takes questions or takes a phone call from a person he always says is Mitch McConnell. Stunningly, they are replete with mockeries of Christians and the Ten Commandments and crude vulgarity.
In a recent episode Pence’s character is woken when a helicopter flies over. Pence then receives a phone call from Senator McConnell who tells Pence he and Larry Craig are on their way to the Minneapolis airport bathroom, and asks Pence to retrieve for McConnell’s wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, something he dropped from the chopper. Pence refers to the object as a “dear-doe”, but it’s obvious he’s playing word games with a well known sex toy. As Pence always does in these woodshed posts, he disparages religion (this time by suggesting the Ten Commandments are imprinted on the “dear-doe”).
Pence’s previous post included references to diapers, insinuated Elaine Chao and David Vitter were going to hook up, and made further disgusting insinuations against the Minority Leader of the United States Senate.
The fact that such content is allowed on a site operated by a respected group of scholars in training, people with ties to Yale, Columbia, New York University School of Law, Spalding University and UK, is pretty astonishing. But they not only allow it, they encourage it. Matt Gunterman, DitchMitch’s founder, recently referred to Pence’s work as “ever provocatively ornery, [capturing] the humor and mood of the moment when making its point,[and] elevated, quite frankly, to the level of art."
In addition to crass videos, Ditch Mitch also courts controversy with their political affiliations. Last week the group launched a furious defense of MoveOn.org, an organization that’s accused General Petraeus of treason. They co-blog on sites such as Daily Kos, the founder of which once said things like “I feel nothing over the death of mercenaries” (speaking of American contractors killed in Iraq) and “Zionism was and remains a racist ideology.” (To complement the latter remark Daily Kos created images of a Jewish official with half the face of Adolph Hitler.) And their posts reveal little of their academic backgrounds, consisting more of raw anger than reflection and balance.
Tip O’Neil used to say “politics ain’t beanbag.” In America, it’s a hard, tough business the outcome of which determines who leads the greatest, most powerful nation in the world. Even so, voters expect a certain level of dignity for their candidates and groups associated with them. The prominence of Ditch Mitch in the anti-McConnell movement, and their beyond-the-pall commentary, videos and associations just might create an opportunity for McConnell supporters to tag the movement—including potential candidates like Andrew Horne and Greg Stumbo who appear on taped interviews for the site often—as extremists. Now, if only the MSM were paying attention.
The lead anti-McConnell blog in KY is DitchMitch. Since its launch earlier this year, it’s received a fair bit of press. Its imminent birth was leaked to Newsweek's Howard Fineman, it’s been the subject of a front page story in The Nation mag, and Greg Stumbo and Andrew Horne, the two Democrats most frequently mentioned as opponents for McConnell, miss no opportunity to be seen, grinning and glad-handing, with DitchMitch multimedia contributor, Jim Pence on the blog’s video spots.
In addition to posting short comments about various news stories the way most blogs do, DitchMitch also frequently posts short videos on the site and at YouTube. They often feature Pence as narrator. Video content ranges from coverage of anti-war protests, to interviews with candidates, to attempts at satire. It’s the satirical pieces that are the most disturbing aspect to DM’s work. In them, Pence plays a disheveled older man whose home is a large storage shed adorned with the GOP symbol (and, occasionally, a Confederate battle flag.) The man either takes questions or takes a phone call from a person he always says is Mitch McConnell. Stunningly, they are replete with mockeries of Christians and the Ten Commandments and crude vulgarity.
In a recent episode Pence’s character is woken when a helicopter flies over. Pence then receives a phone call from Senator McConnell who tells Pence he and Larry Craig are on their way to the Minneapolis airport bathroom, and asks Pence to retrieve for McConnell’s wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, something he dropped from the chopper. Pence refers to the object as a “dear-doe”, but it’s obvious he’s playing word games with a well known sex toy. As Pence always does in these woodshed posts, he disparages religion (this time by suggesting the Ten Commandments are imprinted on the “dear-doe”).
Pence’s previous post included references to diapers, insinuated Elaine Chao and David Vitter were going to hook up, and made further disgusting insinuations against the Minority Leader of the United States Senate.
The fact that such content is allowed on a site operated by a respected group of scholars in training, people with ties to Yale, Columbia, New York University School of Law, Spalding University and UK, is pretty astonishing. But they not only allow it, they encourage it. Matt Gunterman, DitchMitch’s founder, recently referred to Pence’s work as “ever provocatively ornery, [capturing] the humor and mood of the moment when making its point,[and] elevated, quite frankly, to the level of art."
In addition to crass videos, Ditch Mitch also courts controversy with their political affiliations. Last week the group launched a furious defense of MoveOn.org, an organization that’s accused General Petraeus of treason. They co-blog on sites such as Daily Kos, the founder of which once said things like “I feel nothing over the death of mercenaries” (speaking of American contractors killed in Iraq) and “Zionism was and remains a racist ideology.” (To complement the latter remark Daily Kos created images of a Jewish official with half the face of Adolph Hitler.) And their posts reveal little of their academic backgrounds, consisting more of raw anger than reflection and balance.
Tip O’Neil used to say “politics ain’t beanbag.” In America, it’s a hard, tough business the outcome of which determines who leads the greatest, most powerful nation in the world. Even so, voters expect a certain level of dignity for their candidates and groups associated with them. The prominence of Ditch Mitch in the anti-McConnell movement, and their beyond-the-pall commentary, videos and associations just might create an opportunity for McConnell supporters to tag the movement—including potential candidates like Andrew Horne and Greg Stumbo who appear on taped interviews for the site often—as extremists. Now, if only the MSM were paying attention.
Labels: Ditch Mitch, Mitch McConnell, Nutroots
posted by Johnathan Gay at 7:08 AM
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