Getting a handle on this Village Voice article by Wayne Barrett (Sleeping With the GOP: A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton’s Campaign) isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Does Barrett actually believe that Roger Stone is acting on direct orders of [insert whoever’s supposed to be the Secret Masters of the Right this week], or is Barrett just Hesioding Sharpton? I suppose that I should be offended if it’s the latter* – still, it’s Sharpton, so the temptation was strong to just pretend I didn’t see this one…
(via Matt Stinson)
Moe
*I’ve gotten used to people believing anything about the Bush administration and the GOP, you see, so I’m not all that surprised to encounter one more person assuming the worst without actual proof. To be fair, Roger Stone features prominently in Democratic demonology; he’s at least a fiend, and possibly even an archfiend, so it’s probably not that much of a conceptual leap of faith for Barrett, at that.
…so this nice man Roger Stone is just helping Sharpton out because he likes his ideas on the IMF and the Federal Reserve?
…so this nice man Roger Stone is just helping Sharpton out because he likes his ideas on the IMF and the Federal Reserve?
Oh, I’ll believe readily enough that Stone probably has ulterior motives – but I’d like to see some actual proof before I declare him to be one of Rove’s Merry Pranksters. After all, not everything that helps to support the Right has sanction or support*… 🙂
Moe
*A pity, in its way. Not that I need the cash, but it’s the thought that counts.
The word “Rove” doesn’t appear in the article, which doesn’t automatically disprove your point, but is a sure sign that it’s not mindless lefty conspiracy theory — since all real mindless lefty conspiracy theory, not just that which is tarred as such, uses “Rove” more than the total count of all prepositions.
Nor would it have to be. I think the case is pretty clear that his reasons are quite discernable, and that the two are parasites feeding off each other and leaving the waste all over the Democratic Party. Republican support of and glee over Democratic in-fighting is not even an open secret, nor is it even the dirtiest of politics, compared to what Atwater would have done for a 6th grade homeroom election.
I submit that there are, from time to time, rogue GOP elements who engage in dirty tricksterism on behalf of the party without official sanction (or condemnation, for that matter). I’m not saying that all present-day dirty tricks are independent of Rove’s requests, but that some might be, and until I see otherwise, I’m going to assume Stone is doing this independently of Rove. If anything, I’d expect Rove to have a hand in some of Dean’s fundraising instead of wasting his time on an also-ran like Sharpton.
“…since all real mindless lefty conspiracy theory, not just that which is tarred as such, uses “Rove” more than the total count of all prepositions.”
Point taken.
Praktika,
Any possibility that Roger Stone is being paid? You know, by Sharpton? As an employee?
There aren’t exactly dozens of Republican campaigns waging extended primary campaigns this season.
Naah, Repubs don’t need to eat or anything. We’re actually only Rove/VRWC manufactured holograms.
Roger and wife Nikki aren’t fiends — pranksters comes close, BTW — but down at the Vault they’re just called swingers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.*
*The latter thanks to dim memory and, of course, the good time folks at Google.
Uh, I don’t think Stone is being paid. In fact, he’s lent money and run up credit card debt to keep Sharpton afloat for as long as he has.
Color me extremely skeptical on this one.