Swiftboat Veterans for Shelley

Sounds like wacky Shelley Sekula Gibbs is spending that campaign cash with all the stops pulled this week for Texas CD 22. Or maybe I should say, it looks like she and someone else is. My phone is literally ringing off the hook. Today, after confirming that I was the person on his phone list, I listened to a live voice read a script to me all about how I didn’t want a carpetbagger for a congressman and that I should not vote for Pete Olson.

There was no question and answer period however. After the paid phone banker finished reading his script, he said “Thank you for listening”. At which I replied, “Well wait-a-minute here, who do I vote for?”

What was his reply?

“Click.”

I guess that was a stupid question.

Or maybe it was a question asked to a guy being paid by someone who doesn’t want their helping hands showing up on the Sekula Gibbs campaign finance reports.

Then I checked my voicemail, where I discovered that I got a robocall from John O’Neill.

Remember John O’Neill? One of those guys who smeared John Kerry’s military record so that his candidate, George “Chickenhawk” Bush could have a 2nd term? Well it sounds like John is doing a bang-up business selling his name and his message to anyone who has the campaign lucre to buy it. Enter Shelley Sekula Gibbs. Here is the message that I heard, transcribed:

"This is John O’Neill, I was a swiftboat veteran in Vietnam. In 2004 I helped defeat John Kerry’s lies about us and our military. I’ve watched the runoff for the 22nd congressional district. I’m shocked by Pete Olson’s false claims about Shelley Sekula Gibbs, like she doesn’t support the military. I know her personally. Her father, grandfather and seven uncles are veterans. During her 20 year career as a doctor Shelley has often given free medical care to veterans. Please friends, join me again as you did in defeating John Kerry in 2004. Teach the Washington lobbyists behind Olson that the 22nd congressional district can’t be bought for 'DC Pete' with Washington money. Vote for Shelley Sekula Gibbs."

Irony, it seems, has no limits.

Here we have Sekula Gibbs, whose entire personal military experience involved listening to the stories told to her by her father and uncles, being defended by a swiftboat veteran as he attacks a fellow veteran. A fellow Navy veteran, no less.

It’s amazing how many friends money will buy, isn’t it? I suspect that O’Neill hasn’t begun to smear. He probably has a long list of recordings to make this year to smear fellow veterans, Democratic or Republican, it doesn’t really seem to matter.

So wacky Shelley’s message, crafted for the truly confused, goes out this weekend to God knows how many households.

Again, money appears to be no object, and call after call is probably being made to Democratic households and to households of registered voters who HAVE ALREADY voted this past week (as I have), with that information completely available to the public for 5 dollars and a smile.

Shelley’s people might be awash in cash to spend, but they don’t seem to be awash in brains to use.

But that’s OK, I prefer a potential Republican in the general election to be cash-rich and intelligence-poor.

And let’s hope that this phone strategy works for SSG, just as the swiftboat strategy worked for Dubya four years ago. A mindless, confused phone message for mindless, confused Republican voters. Because we need Shelley Sekula Gibbs on the ballot this fall, because truth to tell, she simply scares the bejesus out of some people.

And entertains the rest of us to no end.