The term 'Ratfucking' and how it applies to Obama and Democrats [View all]

Last edited Wed Apr 1, 2015, 12:56 AM - Edit history (2)

Don Segretti 4.0, A Teabagger Nation

By Driftglass - **June 21, 2010**

'Ratfucking' is a method the GOP began during the Nixon era and consistently after that time. Since they have the money to fund pundits to do this for them, it will continue. Beware.

The practice has won the right many victories for them and very effective in causing Democrats to abandon their candidates and their party. The man who originated the term and method was:

Donald Henry Segretti (born September 17, 1941, in San Marino, California) is a former political operative for the Committee to Re-elect the President (Nixon) during the early 1970s. Segretti was hired by friend Dwight L. Chapin to run a campaign of dirty tricks (which he dubbed "ratfucking"[1]) against the Democrats, with his work being paid for by Herb Kalmbach, Nixon's lawyer, from presidential campaign re-election funds gathered before an April 7, 1972, law required that contributors be identified. His actions were part of the larger Watergate scandal, and were important indicators for the few members of the press actively investigating the Watergate break in in the earliest stages that what became known as the Watergate scandal involved far more than just a simple break in. Segretti's involvement in the "Canuck letter"[2] typifies the tactics Segretti and others working with him used, forging a letter ascribed to Senator Edmund Muskie which maligned the people, language and culture of French Canada and French Canadians, causing the soon to be Democratic presidential candidate Muskie considerable headaches in denying the letter and having to continue dealing with the issue. Many historians have indicated over the years that Muskie's withdrawal from the Presidential primaries, and the disastrous Iowa primary loss to George McGovern that precipitated it, were at least partly the result of Segretti and some of the other "Ratfuckers" creating so much confusion and false accusations that Muskie simply could not respond in any meaningful way.

In 1974, Segretti pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of distributing illegal (in fact, forged) campaign literature and was sentenced to six months in prison, actually serving four months. One notable example of his wrongdoing was a faked letter on Democratic presidential candidate Edmund Muskie's letterhead falsely alleging that U.S. Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, a fellow Democrat, had had an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old; the Muskie letters accused Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of sexual misconduct as well.[3] After testimony regarding the Muskie letters emerged, Democrats in Florida noted the similarity between these sabotage incidents and others that involved stationery stolen from Humphrey's offices after Muskie dropped out of the race. A false news release on Humphrey's letterhead "accused Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.) of being mentally unbalanced" and a mailing with an unidentified source mischaracterized Humphrey as supporting a controversial environmental measure that he actually opposed.[3]

In the 1976 film about Watergate, All the President's Men, Segretti was played by Robert Walden.

Segretti was a lawyer who served as a prosecutor for the military and later as a civilian. However, his license was suspended for two years following his conviction. In 1995, he ran for a local judgeship in Orange County, California. However, he quickly withdrew from the race when his campaign awakened lingering anger over his involvement in the Watergate scandal. In 2000, Segretti served as co-chair of John McCain's presidential campaign in Orange County.[4]

He holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Southern California (1963) and a J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law (1966). While at USC he became associated with Dwight L. Chapin, Tim Elbourne, Ron Ziegler, Herbert Porter and Gordon C. Strachan, they all joined the "Trojans for Representative Government" group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti



Back in the Nixon era

It would be tempting to label this "The Return of the Ratfuckers", but of course the GOP Ratfuck squad (from Corrente) --

Ratfucking is an American slang term for political sabotage or dirty tricks. It was first brought to public attention during the Watergate scandal investigation that during the 1972 presidential campaign the Nixon campaign committee maintained a "dirty tricks" unit focused on discrediting Nixon's strongest challengers.

According to Woodward and Bernstein, Nixon aide Dwight Chapin hired fellow USC alumnus Donald Segretti to run a campaign of dirty tricks (which Segretti dubbed "ratfucking&quot against the Democrats in 1972. The purpose of the operation was to create as much bitterness and disunity within the Democrat primary as possible. One notable example of Segretti's wrong-doing was a faked letter on Democratic presidential candidate Edmund Muskie's letterhead falsely alleging that U.S. Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, a fellow Democrat, had had an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old...

-- has never left us.

Much more worth reading at:

http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2010/06/don-segretti-40-teabagger-nation.html

This is why we see one thing after another against Obama, Kerry, Pelosi and other Democrats to gin up outrage. While some things we hear about are based on difference of opinion, tearing up Democrats and our leaders is not productive. Many of the issues have been manufactured about the things guaranteed break the hearts of liberal, progressive Democrats, but usually by Libertarians who do not want the same things. But they want to destroy Democrats because they are the force that robs their coporatist masters.

So what happens is Democrats feel betrayed and then they react accordingly, but are not given opposing information.

As soon as one issue has been debunked, they move immediately to another. It is exhausting to rebutt all of these, and after a while by repetition they are established as a truth by the inability to not rebut them at the speed they are being sent out.

Ratfucking relies upon the learned perception that the well of political discourse has been turned into a cesspool, and counts on the discouraged to lose the will to get into the government to clean the mess up which fulfills its purpose.

Instead, in their place are the Tea Party grifters who become the voices of power, instead of the compassionate who stay out of political life. Thus the RW mission is accomplished.

Another major reason some smears are not rebutted is we don't have Koch billions to fund these smears, so they outvote us with their media dollars and paid pundits. We musr be smart and patient with our movement to not allow them to divide us.

I FYI'd this for the members of the BOG as I read a post was hidden for using the term 'ratfucking' to describe the method. The claim was made it was a homophobic slur, but it clearly is not. Either the alerter and/or the jury was unware of the origin of the term and its political meaning which applies to what is being done to attack Obama and Democrats now.

Anyone who followed the political scene for many years would recognize the approach being used with or without using the word 'ratfucking.'

But the term is shorthand for a complicatd process. Its purpose is to destroy the reputation or credibility of the Democratic Party and Obama among those who should be rightly proud of our accomplishments. The media is owned by rich right wingers and they do not show our side in a credible fashion.

Make no mistake, it is not just the personality or the actions of our party or our president being attacked, it is the progressive ideas we represent. Those ideas are the enemy the RWers and Koch organizations are fighting by going after our leaders. They will use Citizens United and every other weapon in their hands to defeat us and our hopes for a better America and a better world.

In more recent events, think of the method employed to ruin the Kennedys, ACORN and so many others. We must not be taken in.

**Yes, some of us realized what was happening as the media and pundits formerly trusted did this in the summer of 2010, and it worked very well. We tried to warn others, but they stayed away from the polls and many states now live under the boot of the Tea Party.

Will they succeed in 2014?

NOTICE: This is the BOG, or Barack Obama Group for the supporters of the President. You know the drill. TIA.