Desperate GOP Resorts To Nasty, Disgusting, Anonymous, Racist Whispering Campaign

When the going gets rough, Republicans get downright dirty.

By the look of things--especially the polls--things have gotten pretty rough for John McCain and Co. So, it's time to get out the ol' Lee Atwater playbook.

That means resorting to fear and racism. And the best way to do that is through local operatives ostensibly divorced from the official campaigns, operating anonymously.

We got a taste of it this past week: a hand addressed envelope arrived, with a typed letter addressed to "Dearest neighbor" and anonymously signed with a scribble as "A Clarendon neighbor" (Clarendon being our neighborhood in Arlington).

The letter starts out like this: "Please don't take this the wrong way, but a friend has recommended that I reach out to you about a problem that you may be having but may not be aware of: Have you ever considered whether your ostentatious support for Senator Barack Obama is really a disguise that hides a deeply anchored form of racism towards Black-Americans?" (Bold in original).

The letter goes on and on, saying things like "an Obama lawn-sign is the yuppy status-symbol du jour" and "you should be absolutely certain that you are not being carried over to the voting booth upon a guilt trip."

At the end, the letter says "I beg you to visit www.instituteforhealingracism.org, and allow the healing process to begin."

We checked out the website, and it has a disclaimer saying it had nothing to do with the letter "from a Clarendon neighbor."

So who is this anonymous person? [The Curmudgeon posts anonymously, but we've included enough information in our bio that most people can figure out who we are, and we don't ever hide our affiliation with the Curmudgeon.]

Mind you, this is how organizations like the Taliban work. This is how "ethnic cleansing" gets started--neighbors spy on their neighbors and send them anonymous threats about their lifestyles.

And yes, the thought has crossed our mind that this could be some kind of reverse psychology by some Obama supporter, albeit it would be very risky. For sure, if we found out that was what it was, we'd be quite angry and would out that person in a nanosecond.

So, Clarendon "neighbor," who are you? You've taken the time to send these letters "reach[ing] out" to others, why not let us know who it is that's being so helpful?

Oh, and by the way, why not go back to the old days of working for W Bush, when folks like you sent anonymous messages in South Carolina saying that McCain had a black child, or that he had sold out the U.S.A. when he was a Vietnamese P.O.W.?