YESTERDAY I SHOWED YOU AN AD, put out by professional conservatives to mislead real conservatives.

I promised to explain the lies in the ad to the real conservatives, and began with the first one—that there was an important case being made that they were racists if they were not for health care reform.

I pointed out that the evidence for this case was a 12% response to a poll—not far above the percentage of Americans that don't know Hawaii is a state, and not a percentage to be taken seriously.

But that isn't the only misleading thing about the ad—there's more:

2. The author realizes that you might see through the first lie, and buttresses it with another subtle deception.
   
   The ad quotes President Carter as saying, "An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man."
   
   Carter actually said this, so where's the deception?
   1. It has nothing at all to do with health care.
      
      Carter was talking about "intensely demonstrated animosity" directed personally at Barack Obama, not opposition to health care reform.
   2. Obama himself even disagreed with Carter's statement, saying on several occasions that he didn't think racism played an important role.
   3. Carter may be right or wrong, in terms of how big a role racism plays in those who have "intense" animosity toward Obama.
      
      But be honest, you and I both know that at least some of those who intensely hate Obama have racist reasons.
      
      And you and I both know that we're not talking about you.
      
      The author of this ad, however, thinks he can get you to believe Carter was talking about you.
      
      The author thinks you can be confused into thinking that Carter's views about racism have something to do with health care reform—that he or she can use that confusion to manipulate you.
      
      The entire "racism" focus of this ad is entirely made up.
      
      There is no general, liberal conspiracy to brand people who are against health care reform as racists.
      
      12% is not an important poll result.
      
      Carter wasn't talking about health care.
      
      The implications in the ads are simply lies.
3. The ad goes on to say "Accusing us of being racist won't stop us from saying no to a total government takeover of our health care system."
   
   Three points about that:
4. 1. Nobody has seriously accused anyone of being racist because they don't want health care reform. (See above.)
   2. There is no plan for a "total government takeover" of health care.
      
      There is a very conservative plan to introduce some changes to save our current, capitalistic, system of health care by introducing a little regulation and a little competition—to stop the insurance corporations from ripping us off.
      
      (Note: Things have changed a bit since yesterday morning, when I wrote this. The "public option", which this ad was aimed at, has apparently now been dropped by the Senate. That option was part of the "competition" I talk about above. At its strongest it was never a "total government takeover" and by the time the ad was run it had almost no teeth left in it at all. None of that changes the dishonesty of the ad, which is what the post is really about.)
      
      The whole idea of a "total government takeover" is a bald-faced lie, which the author of this ad believes you are stupid enough to swallow.
   3. The author of the ad thinks you can be tricked into thinking that an accusation no one has seriously made is reason to be against a plan no one has advanced.
      
      He, or she, thinks that you can be tricked into opposing the real, very conservative, plan by this strange combination of lies.

As I said at the beginning, there are two kinds of conservatives in this country.

The real conservatives on the ground, who are decent, honest people.

And the professionals, who are not decent or honest, who will lie anytime it suits them, and who produce ads like this one, without a grain of truth.

If you're one of the real conservatives, don't get taken in by the professionals.