Debunking Pelosi putdown and smear

Coming at you fast and furious today. Hey, it's not my fault there's a lot to type about. I'll probably go deep into the night, too. I've got a lot on my mind, and this is my outlet.

Anyway, I saw this news tidbit last week, and it really irked me. Seems that Opie Cunningham*, a Republican Congressman from Florida (below left as he is today; below right as Opie on The Andy Griffith Show. He later played Richie on Happy Days), was neck deep in the ridiculous Nancy Pelosi "story" about how she "demanded" a larger plane than her predecessor as Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert.

The story was revealed by many to be complete b.s., but that didn't stop many Republicans from letting facts get in the way of a good 'ole fashioned smear.

Opie (real name: Adam Putnam), chairman of the House Republican Conference Committee, is one of the guys who ran with, and pushed, the phony Nancy Pelosi plane request story. Last week, as reported on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann and reported in the Tampa Tribune newspaper, Putnam admitted to the paper that he not only doesn't know if the story is true... he doesn't care.

He reportedly read it in the Washington Times, notorious right-wing rag owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a creepy man who has very strong ties to the Republican Party. (For kicks, do some reading about Moon sometime.)

This is precisely the kind of smears, accusations and reporting you can expect for the next 18 months, people. I had hoped that the Republicans were done with this type of crap, and that their smear games would be over. Fat chance.

Looks like the next generation of Republicans are picking up right where DeLay and Hastert left off: smears, fears, jeers and queers. (Sorry ~ stem cell research, abortion, banning flag burning, and a $600 billion price tag for an immoral war don't rhyme.)

* - I know that Opie's last name was Taylor and Richie's was Cunningham. It's a joke.