Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

The evidence of things not seen

–Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

Some assholes made a video,

In which they told some lies—

They asked dishonest questions,

And they did so in disguise…

These assholes sent that video

To everyone they knew

To press, to politicians…

And they told them it was true.

In mere hours (maybe minutes)

It was clear what they had done

So it should have been “game over”

Just as soon as they’d begun

But these assholes knew their audience;

They knew they wouldn’t care:

Who cares if it’s all fictional—

THE EVIDENCE IS THERE!

The evidence of things not seen

A fantasy, defended!

The horrid things you do not do—

We want your funding ended!

The fable fits the narrative,

So, true or false, it fits:

Planned Parenthood takes toddlers

And it cuts them all to bits

And it sells them to the butcher

For the atheists to eat…

(A proper villain always

Makes the fantasy complete)

The godless eat the babies

And the right wing takes the bait

And the assholes are rewarded

For the chaos they create

Some assholes made a video,

In which they told some lies—

They asked dishonest questions,

And they did so in disguise…

Sorry, this one is behind the curve, news-cycle-wise. GOP candidate Carly Fiorina vividly, graphically described a video showing Planned Parenthood as the mercenary butchers she knows them to be… a video which does not seem to actually exist. Some sites (mediate, slate, think progress, etc.) called her out on her lie (which, when asked about specifically, she reiterated). At least one prominent source (Ross Douthat in the NY Times) has defended her account as within the realm of honest human memory.

I don’t know if Fiorina believes what she claims to have seen or not. I have no qualms at all believing she believed it when she said it at the debate. Since then, though, there is no way that her staffers have not been combing the internet for a video that fits that description. She would silence her critics, make PP look horrible, and (no big thing) skyrocket in the polls, if she could uncover a video that (without Douthat’s contortions) fit the description she so vividly gave. I’d have had staffers working overtime, going through my browser history (if I believed that’s where I saw it), my email history (ditto), to stuff this video down the throats of the barbarian unbelievers.

Hasn’t happened yet; isn’t gonna. So doubling down now is following the evidence of things not seen… quite literally. Fortunately (for her) that’s a virtue in the GOP rabid right base. And fortunately for the rest of us, it is not valued nearly so much by the general electorate.

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