UPDATED: Right-wing bloggers uncover Obama's Enemies List (And it comes with a seven year warranty!)

Written by Eric Boehlert

Published

It's official: This nutty right-wing conspiracy hatched by the blogosphere has gone bust. (I know, right?)

The premise was that Obama personally oversaw which Chrysler dealership were forced to close as part of the company's, government-sponsored restructuring. And since Obama picked which ones got the ax, guess what? He shuttered dealership whose owners gave money to Republicans. It's all part of Obama's ruthless plan to “punish” GOP donors.

Or something.

Trust us, this was a very big deal among right-wing true believers this week even though, as we tried to point out, all the bloggers' dogged research was able to confirm was that car dealers in general give lots of money to Republican politicians. Meaning there's nothing to indicate that the dealerships that survived were big Democratic donors. Clueless bloggers simply confirmed that dealers that got closed had given to the GOP in the past and then deduced the evil connection.

Anyway, the Macomb Daily in Michigan does the (further) honors of debunking this nonsense:

In Macomb County, three dealerships were closed in the Chrysler bankruptcy process and seven were saved. The FEC records show no noticeable difference in the political leanings of the owners of the 10 businesses.

Anthony Viviano, president of the Metro Detroit Dodge dealer's association and owner of Sterling Heights Dodge, which will remain in operation, said politics was never a factor in the process.

“That's just a bunch of baloney,” said Viviano, former president of the Detroit Area Dealers Association.

According to the FEC, Viviano donated $4,150 to federal candidates over the past 10 years, with most of the money flowing to former Republican senator Spence Abraham and GOP Rep. Candice Miller. The only deviation was a $500 contribution to Democrat Carl Marlinga's 2002 bid for Congress.

As with every other Chrysler dealer in Macomb, Viviano did not donate to President Obama or any other 2008 presidential candidates.

Uh-oh, Chrysler dealer Vivano is staying open, yet 90 percent of his political donations have gone to Republicans. How did Obama let him slip through the cracks?!