|
 NH-based AnkleBitingPundits.com blogger Patrick Hynes was outed as a paid consultant for Senator John McCain
Not to defend Hynes, but it was refreshing to see McCain’s pay-for-play scam used against him for a change. It might have ended there, but oh-oh, there was also the timing – the fiduciary relationship and Hynes’ about-face on McCain’s fitness for the presidency looked a little too…payola-esque?
And then came the stuff Hynes wrote cursing Kos&Co for doing the same thing:
“On Tuesday the former Director of Internet Organizing for Dean for President, Zephyr Teachout, revealed that the selfsame Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (who goes by the handle “Kos”) had been a paid shill for the Dean campaign, accepting fees for promoting the campaign of the angry little ex-Governor of Vermont on his blog. Oh yeah, Zúniga also gave “advice” to the campaign…. This mini-scandal is, probably, the blog equivalent of Rathergate or the Williams scandal.”
Except Kos had disclosed his relationship with the Dean campaign (which Hynes now concedes he somehow missed), and Hynes failed to do the same with his McCain relationship. So where does this leave us with the “Rathergate or the (Armstrong) Williams scandal’” analog? My rule of thumb comes from William S. Burroughs: “When doing business with a religious son-of-a-bitch, get it in writing.”
But wait a minute, there’s more. It also turns out Hynes was the head apostle behind the Passion for Fairness campaign, which took the heroic position of defending Mel Gibson’s ego-pic, “The Passion,” which made $371 million in the US and $610 million worldwide. So…I guess it worked. But ever the fanatic, Hynes couldn’t leave it at that. He had to be better than you and me for appreciating the majesty and social relevance of “The Passion.” He even divided the country between “Janet Jackson Americans” and Mel Gibson Americans.” For me, it would depend upon whether I was going dancing, or drinking.
Hynes, true to form, is never properly chastened; his response to Mel’s Josef Goebbels impersonation:
“The Passion of the Christ…was a splendid film; without a trace of anti-Semitism. I am still moved by its images and message to this day. But I would never have stood up for him if I’d known that he believes the Jews are the cause of all the wars in the world.”
Which means maybe he’s not Goebbels after all, just Leni Riefenstahl...
Hynes has also written a book about “what's right” with the religious right. All sloganeering aside (but that does seem to be his tour de force), it’s hard to understand why a religious/political movement that can lay claim to the White House and reliable majorities in both houses of congress needs much of a defense. Maybe his talents would be better served by writing about something that lacks success – like privatizing Social Security, or the War in Iraq – or maybe just pen an impassioned essay in defense of skanky-smelling gym bags. Because love songs to religious conservatives and Mel Gibson write themselves.
But that’s not my point, which is that Mel’s got serious issues. And I don’t know, but maybe those critics who dismissed “The Passion” as anti-Jewish, saw something others missed – such as all the mean, violent Jews depicted in it. All I saw was a high-quality fetish film that was totally off my diet. But Patrick Hynes, John McCain’s Straight talk Express’ newest paid hack in the blogosphere, saw a great work of art. And that creeps me out – not so much about Patrick Hynes, but about John McCain. You know what they say – religion is like good underwear. It supports you; it comforts you. It’s worn on the inside, and it’s bad manners to show it off.
~Jack McEnany
Also see: McCain Again, John McCain, McCaining, One more time,
|
