Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton will get you killed.
That’s the message of the new RNC ad (“Protect America Alert”) posted above. Sure, it’s ostensibly calling on Congress to make the 2007 updates to FISA (the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) permanent. And, yes, it criticizes Obama and Clinton for “vot[ing] against the… FISA updates in 2007 and remain[ing] opposed to them today.”
But if the ad were really about, you know, the legislation, it might note that neither Obama nor Clinton objects to surveillance of potential terrorist calls from overseas into the U.S.; instead, they oppose ending debate on a bill that in its current form will immunize telecommunications firms that may have spied illegally on Americans, at the request of the Bush administration. (They recently returned to Washington to vote in favor of extending discussion.) Not to mention the fact that both Obama and Clinton have strenuously avoided taking much of a stance on the issue–out of fear being tarred as “soft on terrorism.”
Too late, apparently. “Protect America Alert” is a master class in fear-mongering: the sinister images of Obama, Clinton and Harry Reid, their faces partially obscured by shadows; machine guns, helicopters and security agents; the invocation of slick, greedy trial lawyers; and a ticking digital clock straight out of “24” that reaches zero just as the words “the terrorist threat to America never expires” appear on screen. My favorite touch, however, is the female announcer’s novel pronunciation of Obama’s name 27 seconds in:
“Buh-raaack,” she says, instead of “Buh-rock.” As in “sack.” Or “black.”
Or “Iraq.”
Genius, I say. Evil genius.
I have a feeling there’s more where that came from.
