Though the Though the Hillary ad I mentioned below is not, in my view, offsides in its invocation of terrorism, this repellent and highly misleading ad produced by a conservative 527 group is clearly out of bounds. It is amazing, but never surprising, just how low the conservative movement will stoop -- particularly in their use of fear and hate -- to motivate people to vote against things. I hesitated to add the link, but you really have to see it to understand.
There are plenty of people and sources to blame for the general apathy and widespread cynicism Americans feel toward politics and their government. But conservatives deserve the lion's share; their entire project is based on appealing to our worst and lowest sentiments: hate and fear. It's really maddening, and ads like these remind us what's at stake -- not just policies, and not even offices and elections, but the quality of discourse in this democracy which, ironically, conservatives hold up as a beacon to the rest of the world while they obscure and dim the light that beacon might otherwise emit.
--Tom Schaller
