Obama's Not Taking It, Lying Down Or In Any Other Position

I'm so very glad to see that Obama is actively combating the lies in Obama Nation. Looks like he learned from John Kerry's puzzling inaction in 2004; he's responding forcefully, immediately, and vigorously on all fronts.

Marc Ambinder reports that

...Chastened by Sen. John Kerry's 2004 refusal to respond quickly enough to Corsi and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads, the campaign is determined to discredit Corsi, quickly.

"We are aggressively attacking the factual errors in this book, and making sure that everyone knows about the deeply offensive things Corsi has said that will give readers of any political affiliation pause and ample reason to question the lies he's written," Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesperson, said in a statement.

I'm as heartened by the response of the Obama campaign, as I was infuriated four years ago by the lack of response from the Kerry people. For far too long, Democrats and progressives have sat back fearfully and refused to counter-attack while the wingnuts have slung their dirt and lies at us relentlessly. The Repugs have been masters of the art of the Big Lie for decades, to our disadvantage and undoing. The early 21st Century has been downright Orwellian, and frustrating to aggressive progressives like myself, as the lies and deceptions kept piling up without significant rebuttal from anyone on the left. In fact, the number of progressive politicians willing to stand up to the far right Lie Machine have been few and far between.

Oh, how things have changed! From TPM Election Central:

Obama advisers say that whenever they hear that Corsi has been booked for an appearance on a network program, they are quickly contacting the program's producers to rebut the book's charges in phone conversations and giving them a whole run-down of past Corsi quotes that are controversial.

Obama aides also vow to insist that the producers allow them to have on a campaign surrogate to attack the charges, and are expecting to recruit more campaign surrogates, well plied with talking points, to push back against the book.

And I say, IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!! Obama is showing the far right--and some of us on the left, too--that seeking justice and being peace-loving doesn't necessarily mean that you know nothing of self-defense.