Rick Perry has gotten plenty of pushback for his latest ad, which accuses President Obama of saying that “Americans are lazy.” Obama didn’t say that, of course, just like he’s never gone on an apology tour, he’s never bad-mouthed American exceptionalism, and he’s never said he hates Christians. It doesn’t matter, though. I suppose this one is bound to take its place in the great Republican pantheon of Obama’s imaginary rhetorical sins along with all the other stuff they’ve made up. It’s sort of remarkable how invested they are in this kind of thing.
But there’s more to this ad than just that! Michael Scherer chastises Perry for lying about what Obama said. Dan Amira mocks him for his inability to speak correctly even on a taped spot. (No teleprompter, I guess.) But so far I haven’t seen anyone even blink at the fact that Perry finishes up by telling us that “Obama’s socialist policies are bankrupting America.”
Has it come to that? Is calling Obama a socialist now so routine that it doesn’t even raise an eyebrow anymore? I guess I must have missed it when we passed that milestone.