Late last week the RNC produced a James Bond themed video mocking Nancy Pelosi and her bizarre assertion during her disjointed press conference that the CIA had lied to her and not told her that waterboarding had been used as a means of interrogating terror suspects like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
I watched the video and thought nothing more of it. It was a cute way to wrap the CIA / Spy angle around a particularly humiliating appearance by the lying Speaker of the House. I thought the actual video of the press conference, where Stretch Pelosi is fumbling with her papers and quivering as she makes up tall tales about the CIA was more damaging, but I’m no advertising guru. Themed web ads are where it’s at apparently, and as themed web ads go it was themed and it was a web ad. Enough said.
Apparently, the lefties got themselves all in a snit over a two second shot of Grandma Nancy next to Honor Blackman, who played the character Pussy Galore in the Bond film Goldfinger. Somehow, of all the Bond images in the ad, we were supposed to associate that one image with Nancy Pelosi and then get offended that the RNC had called Nancy Pelosi a pussy.
Bear in mind that the word “pussy” does not appear in the ad. Not once. A shot of the actress who played the character Pussy Galore appears briefly in the ad. The actresses name is “Honor.” Should conservatives be offended that the RNC put a picture of Nancy Pelosi next to one of someone named Honor? Are they saying she’s honorable? Makes as much sense as accusing them of saying she’s a pussy.
Robert Gibbs, who actually is a bit of a pussy, also appears in the video. Why is no one making that connection?
The issue bubbled over Saturday when Politico posted a curiously un-news like news story by Andie Coller about the RNC ad, filled with venom and quite a few factually incorrect statement.
For example, Coller claims that that ad “begins with the speaker’s head in the iconic spy-series gun sight,” implying some sort of assassination fantasy. Anyone who has ever seen a James Bond movie knows that the shot is not of a gun sight. It’s through a gun barrel, and the person normally seen at the other end of the barrel is James Bond.
Where was Coller when the entire liberal blogosphere was obsessed with the sex life of Bristol Palin? Or when Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig? Those things didn’t have to be invented out of nothing like this faux-scandal, because they actually happened.
As much as I’ve come to expect the feigned outrage from the leftists, I’ve come to expect the immediate tortured apologies from those who claim to be conservative as a response.
Allahpundit at Hot Air was first out of the gate denouncing the RNC. I’m guessing the leftist outcry just wasn’t being heard loudly enough.
I’d love to know who among the Republican brain trust thought this was a good idea. Even if their motives were pure, after seeing what happened to Limbaugh’s “I hope he fails” comment, they simply have to be more attuned to how their message will be received and whether they’re giving their opponents easy opportunities to distort it.
Because letting them frame debates for us has worked out so well in the past 5 years, I guess. Raising only the issues they raise and only to rebut them has won exactly zero elections for us, so let’s let them decide what we do and don’t talk about and how we do it.
Professor Jacobson lept to Allahpundit’s defense, although he tempered it slightly and offered more detail on his position after receiving criticism.
[T]he RNC, being an organization which has to carry a larger message and organizational effort, needs to be more careful in how it makes its point. What the RNC does as an organization affects not just the RNC, but candidates down the line…Take away the James Bond theme, and the video is compelling, effective, and appropriate for a national party to run.
“Take away the James Bond theme” and it’s a news report that we’ve seen a dozen times and has fallen off the radar of the complicit media.
Jeff G sums up the problem with the hand-wringing right blogosphere.
Christ. Conservatives deserve to wander in the wilderness so long as they continue to accept the premises that Democrats foist upon them, and then scurry about trying to fit their behavior inside parameters that have been defined for them by their ideological enemies.
Call me when “conservatives” are ready to get serious. Because as it stands, our high-traffic spokespeople seem content to play by the left’s rules while humping each other for traffic.
…and explains further…
It is well and good that the GOP be more careful about how it makes its point if the concern is that the point was not made effectively. It is NOT well and good to express “concern” when the concern being expressed is that a completely predictable reaction by the left could negatively affect “not just the RNC, but candidates down the line.”
And that’s exactly right.
Moe Lane punctuates the issue appropriately.
If you don’t like the way that we mock the Speaker of the House for being not only a liar, but a stupid liar, here’s a thought: replace her with someone who isn’t a stupid liar.
If the video even matters anymore, it’s below.
Like That? You'll Probably Like These.
- Pelosi: Obama Faces Higher Expectations Than Any Other President
- Unshocker: Nancy Pelosi Knew Waterboarding Was In Use
- Patrick Murphy And Nancy Pelosi Discuss Health Care Vote
- Pelosi: Unemployment Checks Create Jobs
- Pelosi to At-Risk Dems: You Can Back Drilling
