http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/04/mctruthyism.html#moreAll of this relevant to "swiftboating", so I think any thoughts on this should be absorbed by all of us as we go forward in defending against lies:
In McTruthyism, you have to know the actual truth about someone and nonetheless eager to smear that person with a lie. It gets truthy when you frame the lie as a question or a suspicion or the revelation of a secret. So the McTruthy lie will come in a factually irrefutable form: "The Mask Slips." "As far as I know." "Hmmmm." The classic formulation comes from - surprise! - South Carolina:
"Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?"
They're just asking. They're not saying. Like Stephanopoulos and Gibson, or Rove or Clinton, they have no evidence for their accusations; they just don't know for sure. Is Obama really a patriot? Is he really a Christian? And since their target is already defined as a potential fraud, the last person to believe is Obama himself. In fact, his denials only help underscore the shifty, devious deception of his candidacy. And the job of politics and journalism is to ask questions, isn't it? Are you actually a communist? Do you secretly hate your country? Do you privately support terrorism? Is your Christianity a front for Marxism? Do you find the Pledge of Allegiance repellent? Do you respect the flag?
It's all about the truth, after all. Or the "truth". Or power. And as this campaign proceeds, you can see how many in the Washington elite care about each.
The insidiousness of the 2004 campaign is even worse this time. Something I never thought could be imaginable. Add in the race baiting politics and it's even uglier. We (all Democrats) need to formulate a way to defeat this. Or at least contain it so that it doesn't prevent Obama from winning. Problem is, if he wins the presidency, the evil core of the lies will still be with us, and at least 30 - 40% of the populace will believe the lies, and quite literally think a terrorist in disguise is occupying the WH. I hope and pray that the Secret Service is very aware of all of this.