Right-wing bloggers discover Lyndon LaRouche (Whew, that was close!)
Written by Eric Boehlert
Published
Yeah, it turns out LaRouche and his followers--not Republicans!--are responsible for all the Hitler-Obama posters found among the town hall mini-mobs. Or so says TWS.
It's fun to watch the GOP Noise Machine continues to tie itself into a pretzel over Rep. Nancy Pelosi's completely accurate claim that some mini-mob members were showing up with “swastikas and symbols like that.” Right-wing bloggers and writers and have been whiffing at that pitch for days now.
Their latest line of defense has been, OK, some Nazi posters did appear at town halls (sorry, Rush), but they were planted by political opponents because conservatives would never (ever!) sink to such lows. And John McCormack, at least based on his Weekly Standard headline, seemed to have nailed the story down:
Video: Democrats Bring Obama-As-Hitler Signs to Town Halls
Couldn't be more clear, right? TWS had video proof that Democratic trolls had planted Hitler posters amidst the mini-mob members in order to make conservatives look bad. Scoop!
Not exactly.
It turns out TWS had found a YouTube clip that report how followers of conspiracy nut ball Lyndon LaRouche brought Hitler-Obama signs to a town hall forum, and since LaRouche is a Democrat (who knew?), it's Democrats who are responsible for the Hitler-Obama signs. It's Democrats who think Obama is just like Hitler, so leave the mini-mobs alone.
(You can stop laughing now.)
But actually, even if you buy the comical idea that LaRouche's deluded followers are true Blue Staters (LaRouche has about as much cache among Democrats as Tony Zirkle does among Republicans; look it up), the YouTube video actually raises more troubling questions for the TWS crew. Because even though it purports to show LaRouche followers with a Hitler-Obama sign at a town hall gathering, the video also makes perfectly clear that none of the other mini-mob members objected. The Hitler-Obama sign fit right in among the mini-mob members.
If TWS's larger point were accurate, if conservatives would never (ever!) bring Nazi propaganda to an anti-Obama rally, than why weren't the LaRouche followers asked to leave or asked to destroy their signs? Indeed, have we seen a single report during all this mini-mob nonsense in which a one conservative confronted a Nazi-waving protesters and complained that the Hitler stuff was grotesque and out of bounds? Have any of the Nazi-waving protesters been shouted down or told to get lost by the mini-mob?
Indeed, has anyone at TWS denounced Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck for using Nazi rhetoric in recent days?
Yeah, I didn't think so.
Truth is, If the Noise Machine's going to try to rule by the mob, then it's going to get tarred by the same mob, no matter how many YouTube clips The Weekly Standard posts.
UPDATED: Wonkette has more.