Right-wing group plays Ayers/Rezko/Wright cards

Marc Ambinder writes about a new character-smear attack ad slated to air, supposedly, in small media markets.

The Judicial Confirmation Network is spending more than $1 million on a television/text/advertising campaign in a bunch of small city DMAs. Ostensibly, the campaign's educating folks about Obama's associations, including his former pastor and William Ayers.

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Here's the text of the television ad as narrated by the JCN's Wendy Long:

Wendy: With the help of hundreds of thousands of Americans, the Judicial Confirmation Network fought for the nominations of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Sam Alito. The next President may nominate 4 new Justices. So we'd like you to see this....

VO: Choosing the right Justices is critical for America. We don't know who Barack Obama would choose, but we know this: He chose as one of his first financial backers a slumlord now convicted on 16 counts of corruption. Obama chose as an associate a man who helped to bomb the Pentagon and said he "didn't do enough." And Obama chose as his pastor a man who has blamed America for the 9/11 attacks. Obama chose to associate with these men, while voting against these men.

Wendy: Please join the Judicial Confirmation Network. We need a Supreme Court that respects the Constitution and Justices who won't legislate from the bench. Judicial Confirmation Network paid for this message and is responsible for it

Ambinder is too credulous about this garbage. This fringe group is not “educating” anyone with this smear. Education involves providing people with accurate, useful information.

The “argument” behind this ad is a classical logical fallacy. It is a crude guilt-by-association smear. It invokes the names of unsavory people and connects them rhetorically to the target of the smear. It suggests that the target’s associations with the unsavory characters were stronger than they actually were. And it implies that the target of the smear approves of illegal or immoral behavior with which the unsavory characters were involved.

The right wing has run completely out of positive arguments to make on behalf of John McCain. All they are left with is character assassination.