There's a Lesson in Those Political Ads: It's About Lying

John Edwards

Those of us who have stumbled upon early-evening TV during the past few weeks (and not many people would sit there and watch on purpose) have been assaulted with the spiked bludgeon of outrageous political ads (or as the Republican guy calls them, "Ai-yuds," two syllables). Nearly all of them are so filled with bald-assed lies as to be laughable.

I ask that you take a few minutes to search out ads, especially those from 70-year-old Ralph Smith, the Dumbest Man in Virginia Government, according to one poll (mine). His opponent, Brandon Bell, a former Republican who lost patience with the direction of the party (off a cliff), started the little tiff by correctly calling Smith (who says he owns four houses outside his Senate district, but "lives in" a rented cabin, which is in the district*) a "liar." Not a "truth stretcher" or a "provaricator" or even "a man who wouldn't know the truth if it stuck a pin in his ass," but "a liar." In old Western movies when a guy called another guy a liar, usually in a bar, the lie-ee pulled a beat up old Civil War gun and the accuser drew a faster, silver-plated Colt .45 and blew a fake hole in him. Frontier justice, it was.

Smith's version of justice is to tell more lies. This is pretty much Republican Party dogma, though. Bell once voted for a tiny tax cut in order to save Virginia from becoming Greece and today Smith has turned that on its head saying it was a job-killing tax hike. Smith forgets--or probably never knew--that 30 years ago when taxes were high compared to today, we had 3 percent unemployment and even his little business was humming along. A lot of the Repubs--who caused the economic conditions we are experiencing today--are daring anybody to even mention a tax increase.

Brandon Bell on WSLS-TV

An example of that is Dave Nutter--an otherwise decent guy, but man who, when he puts on that Senate candidate mask, turns into Halloween--saying Roanoke Democrat John Edwards killed jobs by suggesting that maybe it was time to put a tax on gas so people wouldn't use so much and maybe we could use the money to fix a few bridges which are going to fall down and kill everybody in Tazewell County. Dave won't have it. Won't countenance even the discussion of it. And besides, John Edwards wants to KILL YOUR JOB with a big tax increase on ... well, whatever.

The great solace I take from all this is that it will be over Tuesday about 7 p.m. and we'll see if anybody believed the people who are telling the whoppers on the people who know how to run government in a sensible manner. That would be Edwards and Bell, but you sure as hell can't tell it from the ads.

(* Yeh, right Ralph.)