The FWDing of the Conservative Revolution

If you have a computer, you probably have noticed the torrent of FWDed emails with titles like "Bring Home Our Troops: Send the Democrats" and "See Obama's Kenyan Birth Cert." Curious about the origins of these FWD:FWD:FWDs, I enlisted a systems analyst and followed the digital trails backward.

Sometimes the source is garden-variety grassroots, the likes of a patriotic cowboy who thought up a catchy ditty on the truck ride home from work one day, plucked it out on his guitar that night, was persuaded by friends to make a low-budget video, then sat back agog as the YouTube link went viral -- that's the story of Ed Montana and his hit "Obamanation."

Perhaps more often, greater strategy and calculation is involved. A good deal of the "conservative revolution" is produced by Patriot Depot™, a division of Discount Book Distributors, a Georgia corporation founded in 2007 by Brandon Vallorani, an MBA with a graphic design background. His Chief Operating Officer is another MBA, Jay Taylor, whose undergraduate degree was in computer engineering.

Patriot Depot, which advertises "Supplies for the Conservative Revolution," now has nine employees in White Hall, West Virginia, mostly packing and shipping books, DVDs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts with original messages like, I'll keep my guns, freedom & money... you can keep the "change!" Taylor told me that the company has sold nearly 100,000 Keep the "change!" bumper stickers.

Almost every day, Patriot Depot sends more than 100,000 individuals emails with original content such as "The Ten Commandments According to Obama"-- the first of which is:

Thou shalt have no God in America, except for me. For we are no longer a Christian nation and, after all, I am the chosen One. (And like God, I do not have a birth certificate.)

These "Commandments" also are for sale at Patriot Depot on a t-shirt.

Which brings us to emailers with itchy FWD fingers.

"We hope they'll forward the emails on," Taylor says. He acknowledges that such people serve as unwitting salespeople in a multi-tiered marketing system, like Amway's.

He is reluctant to divulge the resulting annual sales, other than "between one and ten million dollars." An educated guess is $3.5 million. "Initially it was a business opportunity," he says. "Then we saw an opportunity to get the message out."

The company recently launched Patriot Update, a website complete with news, commentary, and editorial cartoons (example below). They also just published a book, Born To Lie: From The Birth Certificate to Health Care. Taylor anticipates sales of 10,000.

"Personally I think he was born in Hawaii," Taylor said of President Obama. He believes Obama ought to release his "long-form" birth certificate, however.

Expect to soon see forwarded email with similar rhetoric. And if you also see a spate of "got a birth certificate?" bumper stickers, it's because one comes free with every copy of Born To Lie purchased.

Follow Keith Thomson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kqthomson

Comments

[cheo]

Today's Andy Borowitz is good prescription--for a few minutes

But unfortunately, with the level of hatred we are seeing at events like the tea parties, the town halls and Beck's 9/12 event, it is going to take a lot more than a funny finger stuck in the ever more fragile dike which holds back the crazies..... The lies are winning.

I would say that we need to hit the streets and phones in greater numbers than the Right encouraging Obama and the Dems we worked so hard to put into the majority to turn that 9 million vote mandate into REAL healthcare reform (I vote Single Payer) and campaign finance reform.

EXCEPT....all this just shows what a great driver hate and anger is: Now Bush is gone, we have the WH and a majority in Congress......and so NOW what happens to the most of the Left? ZZZZZZZ. Yup, back to sleep again--just like the Clinton years. NAFTA, GATT, Glass Steagall, FCC dereg....all happened without enough protest from our side to even get any media attention. We couldn't get a crowd like Beck's on the mall right now if we tried. We aren't even coming close to touching the number of anti-everything calls coming from the Right to the White House and Congress.

How about we wake up and get mad again? In the millions.

[take10]

Exactly! I just posted a similar comment in response to another poster.

[take10]

cheo, you are fanned!

[Javani]

I disagree. These right wing protests are a Godsend to Obamaphiles.

It gives them the outlet to point, label and emote passionately, and combat their growing understanding that the current administration is perfectly in line with those they hate--health insurance industry, finance capital, almost all business interests.

Look how many here devote their emotions to the alleged racism of the protesters, couple with statements about President Obama's agenda which comport with their own Hopes!, but not with reality.

[RenoSage]

One of the signs yesterday at the "Tea Party" said,
Bury Obama with Kennedy.

It's an indication that too many of the bumper stickers and signs that make money for the printers
are beyond the pale. Not only poor taste but inflamatory. Follow the money, these people should
be held responsible.

Did you notice the security at yesterday's health care meeting in Minnesota? The threat of violence
costs every one of us.

[Downix]

You know, I made a counter site to them once, but I had zero sales. I find it far more telling that the right-wing fringe is willing to engage in this kind of action but the left wing is not.

[RenoSage]

The money people and their followers are willing to tout anything even when proven otherwise.

The left wingers have more principles.

[HumbleSage]

I think most of this is not actually about Obama but obviously amplified by his election. It seems to me these folks are very frightened by both the 20th and 21st centuries, a multi-cultural world and the ethnically-diverse city, any advanced knowledge, and global consciousness, and therefore they attack the local icon of all this, Obama.

This is like the fanaticism that accompanied the ego-centric dislocations produced by Galileo and Darwin, and these folks still accept neither. The economic downturn brings all these fears home--they are helpless to shape their world anymore, or keep institutions and government at arm's length. They need them to survive and that infuriates them.

There is no rational way to calm these energies; like the flu we will see how many are susceptible and how it will run its course. Economic recovery could help, education, sports, the military if it had a reasonable mission, a benevolent Christianity, their own inter-marriages. A dangerous time.

[MysticMichael]

A very insightful post. Yes, the forces of reaction have always existed in the world, right from the beginning.

In our western culture(s), it dates back at least as far as the early Roman Catholic Church, to the Crusades, the Counter-Re­formation, Colonialism, Imperialism, the corporate cultures of the early Industrial Revolution, the age of the robber barons, Fascism, the military-industrial complex, Nixon's manipulated and exploited "silent majority", the "Moral Majority", religious Fundamentalism, etc.

Not a pretty picture. And one in which cultural evolution, progress, democracy and civilization itself has come about ONLY after many years of hard, gut-wrenching struggle. So it is in our day, as we fight anew against the forces of ignorance, intolerance, bigotry and hegemony.

MM

[cheo]

Not about Obama? You CAN'T leave the race card out of this insane equation and just make it about "principle", belief, or ideology, or even fear of change altho all are in play here. Even Clinton didn't bring out this much vitriol.

The combination of his party affiliation PLUS his race, plus his name, plus the imminent fact that in a few years "white" will be in the minority in "their America" has taken us back to the kind of open hatred I saw in the South in the days when the government was trying to segregate the schools. It has brought the racist /and or government-hating cockroaches out of the woodwork and they have taken over the shredded remnants of the Republican party--with little to no resistance offered...in fact as far as I can see many of those who might have been seen as "moderate" have either signed onto the insanity, or stepped aside and remain silent with little exception.

And so right about a dangerous time; I believe there is NOTHING this president could do which would make him OK with these people: with the heightened number of threats of violence both explicit and implicit specifically against this Prez and including from these willfully uninformed and hate-filled tea-bag crowds who are buying up guns and ammo as fast as they can, I would liken it more to a powder keg.

[HumbleSage]

I do not claim that this anger has nothing to do with ethnicity, or Obama, but that is only part of it. Obama as icon of the 21st century embodies much of what generates the anger--ethnic diversity, advanced education, skill with institutions, self-discovery and of course power within a corrupt system. But to miss the larger picture would suggest if it weren't for Obama this anger would not have arisen. I disagree. I would also claim that this anger simmered under the surface of George Bush's years in office, but he deflected out onto scapegoats. Obama won't and can't do that.

[SisterArtemis]

HuffPo featured an interesting column by Frank Schaeffer the other day, which addresses some of the more recent questions on "where did this all come from" and also on the difficulty of getting the right wing to listen to reason. I encourage everyone concerned about what is motivating the deeply entrenched religious right:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/glenn-beck-and-the-912-ma_b_284387.html

[slim1921]

I followed the link and read Schaeffer's article (I've read others and agreed with him).

This one is, no pun intended, nearly apocalyptic. I'm not sure whether to thank you or curse you : )

I grew up in the mountains of east Tennessee in the 60s and 70s, and I knew people who were part of this subculture. Back then they were considered a bit strange, not allowing women to wear pants or making boys keep their hair short, but now with cable TV and tons of fundamentalist religious channels and programs plus websites that look legit and pass on their warped views, it's getting a bit more dangerous than just passing out leaflets and those little cartoon booklets by "Chick." (I just checked and this guy has a website where you can order those weirdo, apocalyse cartoons).

[SonofLiberty1]

Galileo? 400 years later and I think you are just off a bit. BTW, rememeber Pope John Paul II set the church right with Galileo!

[CatTheGadfly]

The bumper stickers: Some are just idiotic and I don't object to unobtrusive public display of idiocy. I object to the ones that are not "opinions" but lies perpetuated, and racist or incendiary statements that would offend a reasonable person.

Hmmm..."Bring Home Our Troops... Send The Democrats".

Let's see... Obvious implication about killing off Democrats, possibly some misguided overattribution of responsibility to the Democrats for continued presence in the Middle East. But... is there some message there that our military are all Republicans?

Perhaps I am overanalyzing. Probably just meant "Democrats in Congress" or "People who voted for Obama". Yeah.

However, I can't help but feel a little twinge of amused pity for the person who sticks that on his or her truck and gets caught in traffic in front of one of my Democrat friends whose Democrat sons are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan or one of our returned Democrat veterans of whatever war who interprets that sticker in the manner that I did.

In reality, we'd not sink to their level, but we'd think about it.

But if whoever wrote that had a working brain , this possible interpretation should have leapt out.

I saw a T-shirt that reads "My IQ Test Came Back Negative". Might make a good bumper sticker. Paste one of those on any car with an incendiary or patently untrue slogan on it... but next to the offending original sticker. I want it clear what earned the person the honors.

[jayhawk6677]

Personally I think the bumper stickers are pretty funny.
That being said, as a REAL conservative ( you know one with a firm belief in this Republic' Constitution ).......I agree with you that bumper stickers with the Afghanistan and Dems and the one referring to Al Queda is completely out of line.
As a REAL conservative, I have absolutely no sympathy for G W Bush and those Neoconservative traitors. Something happened to the GOP, and young conservatives flocking to the patriot movement need to understand NEOCONS aint conservatives!!!

[Downix]

They are a knee-jerk bastardization of neo-liberalism and classic conservativism. Truth is, neocons are Fascists.

[RenoSage]

Bumper stickers are not without consequences. Some enrage other motorists.

All the REAL conservatives I know are now Independents. They eschew the neocons
and BUMPER STICKERS.

[TimesNewRoman]

Thank you! I doubt that the originators of the Republican party would recognize their party as is it is today!

[GearRatio]

Have to laugh, though; a year or so back, some web site or other (think it was Mother Jones) looked up military service records of House & Senate members. Results were:

Democrats 38% veterans
GOP 20% veterans

Always thought that the term "chicken haw" was a bit too derogatory to be allowed in polite political discourse, but, it's not entirely without foundation!

[Talossa]

More like the WTFing of the republican revolution.

[brandon102]

I'm sure none of this has to do with Obama's race. They'd probably be just as tough on an educated, articulate White Republican, like . . . well, if there were any.

[NHpeakbagger]

The real problem is not so much that he's black, it's that he's blak and very intelligent - he's a lot smarter than they are, and that rankles.

I think it's almost as funny as it is absolutely disgusting that these people protray Obama as a dangerous wild-eye radical when so obviously he is a very cautious person who has compromise and consensus-building oozing from every pore.

[aboveparr]

Great point, but it's so easy to see only what we want to see.

[noesis]

It's called "White spite".

[lyta]

Spot on.

[Ohsherrie]

Do you suppose this is what the founding fathers that the republicans like to take at their words regarding the second amendment right to bear arms meant Freedom of Speech to be used for? Somehow I think they'd be appalled at the way both of those rights are being abused.

[blood1]

Trying to keep up with all the "funding the GOP" is like playing Whack a Mole, highlight one, it goes dark and another pops up in it's place. I do find it interesting that these sites have a 2 fold purpose, one is to garner income for themselves and the other is so put forth their backers/funders ideas. There is a group named Democracy Data and Communications LLC that has over 600 listservers that can be used to get the message out for those willing to pay. They are paid for by Right Wing politicos...just trying to keep up with them is timeconsuming...but it is the only way to actually know who is paying for what.

The "follow the money" adage has never been more true and following legislators and these groups are necessary. I just added this to evergrowing list!

[JDM73]

I've never understood what it is that conservatives are supposed to be revolting against. They have lots of money, lots of mall-sized churches on every street corner, and they've played a large part in destroying any chance of real health care reform. How can you "revolt" if you already have everything you want? Could it be that these people are just so mindlessly angry that everyone and everything looks like an adversary? I still remember the Republican reaction when Bush won a second term in '04. You might have expected them to be happy, smiling, mellow...but they weren't. They were livid. "Boy, we're REALLY gonna stick it to those terrorist-loving liberals now!" Even when something as major as a presidential election goes their way, the only sensation conservatives are capable of feeling is that of white-hot rage.

[aboveparr]

excellent point

[tnkeating]

We are revolting against unfair taxation without representation, against turning the country we and our parents foght for from turning into a socialist nation from one of capitalism, we want health care reform, but reform that can be paid for not on the backs of our childrens, children, we want tort reform and mal-practice reform. I don't have a dime to my name, I'm unemployed and I'm an artist, I have lived paycheck to paycheck my whole life and I'm 55 years old and I've never owned a car that was under six years old, on top of all this I helped my two kids get through college, what the hell are you talkin about lots of money, I earned every dime I ever made and I am not about to give it to the government so they can give it to someone who won't work. We can't even buy a pizza on friday night anymore, I will be damned if I let this government put anymore debt on my children..­.......Pea­ce

[pinellas]

Oh duh! There's a BLACK PRESIDENT in the White House - what could be worse?

[philko]

A woman.

[philko]

A black woman.

[philko]

A Clinton woman

[philko]

But seriously, do you think that the righties would settle down at all if Obama were to step down and Biden became President? Sure, the text of the bumper stickers would change, but the emotion and attitude would still be there.

To most of these folks, adding a charge of "black" to one of "liberal" makes about the same difference as adding a charge of jaywalking to one of murder. It's "liberal" that's the capital offense and all else (black, woman, edumacated, eeleet) are just incidentals that makes it easier to prosecute.

[grooveygrover]

who opens emails from senders they don't know?

[Bongborg]

Republicans.

[sjones66]

teabagging, medicare-using grandmas and grandpas who watch fox and hate the gubmint.

[aboveparr]

lol

[Matthew Walters]

Worse then the greed ravished economy and the disparity in health care, and justice between rich and poor, is that the fabric of a young nation is beginning to tear apart with racial and ethnic divisiveness.

These conspiracy theories and many other fabricated ideological conflicts with Obama are being used for news cycles and debates while the entire point of what is driving all this is being missed!

Unfortunately the media has missed the point entirely time after time. I’ll ask the questions they are afraid to ask:

If Obama was not half African-American and if he spoke like a militant in some stereotype of an urban dialect would they hate him half as much? NO!

He is everything a separatist detests in a person of color! Smart, well spoken, inclusive, and willing to speak to all people as if his color or theirs didn’t matter!

If you look back a few years to when persons of color were legally prohibited from education.
Obama is the personification of all the fears of all those generations.

That is the reason right wing white schools don’t want their kids watching him on their screens! He desires better health care for us, tax fairness, less dependence on foreign oil, cleaner air, and peace instead of war! For this he is hated?

I see hateful emails every day vilifying Obama for the most ridiculous and ludicrous attacks that dance all around the real problem millions of Americans have with him……..he is black!

[Bobotheclown]

Good insight. The scary thing is that if you think about what that really means in respect to the character of America it shows that overt racism still exists across huge segments of our country. Racism is a problem far worse than healthcare or the deficit. It caused our civil war and it has been responsible for the absolute worst attrocities in American history. We all have been lulled into the comfortable belief that after the 60's and the civil rights era that this sickness has been eradicated. If it has not it portends grief and agony ahead for all of us.

[wanda665]

As I have said countless times, Walter's post is saying same thing, color is only reason for what is going on. The repubs could not get previous pres. out fast enough because they knew what was going to happen from past 8 yrs. mess. Only they thought it would fall on Mrs. Clinton, not an African-American.

[humor impaired]

I have to disagree. I do not believe it is all about color.

Many of the people I have seen who are so angry are on fixed incomes, or come from backgrounds who have seen their wages stagnate, their costs increase, and their benefits decrease. They are scared. And finding a scapegoat (Illegal immigrants, foreigners, Muslims, educated Americans of African descent) is easy. Mostly it is not "people like us". The most vocal, in my experience, work hard, go to church, and hope to be able to buy a house, car, truck, or send their kids to college someday. This is becoming harder and harder. They perceive others (not like us) as getting breaks and opportunities they don't have. They look around and see many in the same situation they are in.

The neo-con message of lower taxes sounded great; since wages were stagnant, anything that resulted in more home more is good. Hence the popularity of Bush's tax rebates. The "assistance" this time round hasn't been an apparent. Where is the rebate check this time around? Oh, yeah, I'm not AIG or Citigroup. I don't get one.

Take that anger, add in some racism, stir, and see what boils...

[aboveparr]

Couldn't agree with you more. Racism dehumanizes both the racist and the target. To see Obama attacked not on actual policy, not on actual legislation but on intentions and ideals that any reasonable person would support is very telling about his attackers.

Turning a profit on the fear and paranoia of uneducated people is a republican specialty.

We should start some answer bumper stickers like: Weren't these the same people who told you it was good idea to vote for George Bush twice. or:

Stop whining: You Only Got Beat by 10 million votes!

[Ricktay]

Obviously, just like Fox News, and the usual suspect propagandists limbaugh, coulter, et al, these guys are just exploiting the cash cow that is the Republican Party Line. They can make money by sounding the alarm to the easily scared and difficultly educated populace, which sadly, is a sizable number of folks.

Sarah Palin quit as governor because the low hanging fruit was there, at this moment, so she went for it. Cashing in on these poor souls gullibility is immoral of course, but greed blinds all these purveyors of half-truth, lies and innuendo. It's just what they do to make a pile of money. So what if the people on our planet suffer for it! Plus, their egos are really stoked by the attention and applause. I suspect deep inside they know this is wrong, but if 50 million Americans agree with them, they console themselves that it just might be allright.

[justoverit333]

And this guy actually believes that Obama was born in Hawaii.
The Party of No can stoop no lower than it already has.

[Pilate]

They are lying, they know it, and they don't care. Reprehensible.