Discussion for article #233385
“it horrifies [Erickson] that the list sometimes get rented to some of these guys.”
Riiiight. Remind us, Erick, just who owns that list?
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I get the New Yorker mailed to me. I get a local neighborhood newspaper in the mail. The rest of it goes in a recycling bin at my door without so much as a glance.
Mail? Really? Wow.
It would make me happy to see people like Palin and Huckabee marginalized by their political party. If only. . .
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So this is yet another thing we can thank Citizens united for, right?
Awesome…but I suppose there some benefit to this…if the money were going to where it was supposed to, the elections might be that much harder than they already are.
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years ago, i worked with someone who received those newt solicitations… it was so obviously a scam, but damned if he didn’t send off a check for that lame ass – and utterly meaningless – certificate.
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Nothing surprises me anymore, but I find it slightly ironic that TPM is “shocked” Casablanca-style that this exists when TPM’s own FREE web site is littered with scam, spammy and bait-links ads strewn throughout the various regions of each page. TPM is a great “one link away” portal to medical woo scams like acai berry, green tea and colonic flushing bullshit. Talk about scaring and scamming people, the advertisers on this sight are no better.
'nuff said. Peace and love to all.
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Who cares if Republicans rip off other Republicans.
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What’s been troubling me of late is that among the scant few liberal media personalities, some aren’t merely selling their subscriber lists, they themselves are promoting snake-oil nutritional supplements and the libertarianesque “safety and security of gold” as an investment.
I appreciate their need for funds, however, I do expect a higher standard than that of right wingers to be observed. Same goes for “Democrats” who sell themselves to corporate interests, like Manchin. It’s vile, really. Don’t tell me you’re on my side and then try to rip me off or work against me.
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Conservatives need to police their own. Me? I couldn’t care less.
But they never will, because conservatism itself is the scam.
Nothing good has ever come of conservatism, from the Tories during the Revolutionary War to the KKK to the crooks and liars that run today’s GOP.
Disagree? Let’s hear some examples of conservative goodness. My premise is that there is no such thing; never has been, never will be.
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Names?
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Boom! And this is precisely why I hope they continue scamming each other.
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So, I wonder if any of these PACs that are in the 5% camp were also complaining about having to fight the IRS to get their tax exempt status?
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I have always felt that this quirk among conservatives–to con their own zealots–was one of the few natural advantages that liberals have. First, money that might legitimately help elect GOPers goes instead to crooks. Second, the hyperbole of the hucksterism (with its attendant dumbing down of the target recipient) displaces any real intellectual discussion of conservative thought.
In short, this scamming by right-wing leaders drains both their money and their ideology. It is inevitable that the right-wing populace will be left impoverished of wealth and intelligence.
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I recently read about how Nigerian scammers purposely use bad grammar and fantastic claims to weed out all but the biggest suckers. It’s not surprising that home grown scammers use the same method and use right-wing mailing lists as easy fodder. To be a tea party support is to be a denier of objective reality. If you can believe that the earth is 6000 years old, that climate change is a hoax, and that tax cuts lead to greater government revenue, you can be convinced of anything.
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I wonder how much overlap there is between those who succumb to right wing scams and those who send money to televangelists. I bet a lot.
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When the left is so badly outspent already, it’s really hard for me to care that some money gets diverted to fundraiser pockets. Better that than buying a few more elections.
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Exactly.
“…Tea Party-style PACs are basically taking money gullible donors think is going to elect conservative politicians and using it for basically anything but that…”
I keep looking for the downside in this. Less money for RWNJ candidates, guns, and Bibles…
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The modern Republican party is mostly defined by its unshakable faith that unregulated free markets are always correct and that radical self-interest is inherently moral.
This is the result of that ideology. I don’t expect anything to change, outside of some superficial calls for decency. After all, it’s a slippery slope from trying to stop scam artists from ripping off America to having to do something about Wall Street ripping off America.
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So is this about the wingnut sheep getting scammed, or just about them being scammed by the wrong people? Every money that goes to a fake cancer cure is money that isn’t going to elect another teabagger.
Ironically (well, perhaps not) the right wing has always been against the kinds of disclosure laws that might let people know that their contributions are going to feather the nests of the fundraisers rather than to the ostensible cause.
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