On a number of occasions (too lazy to provide links) I've given thanks to the scores of grifters who divert right wing funds from their intended use (subverting the Republic) into their own undeserving pockets. It’s dirty work, but thank God someone's doing it. Newt, Sarah, Ben and their lesser known direct mail kindred deserve our thanks and our scorn. (Do I contradict myself? Take it up with Walt Whitman)
Sadly, it appears that some on the right have suddenly realized that maybe the grifters are not pulling their political weight:
But there are signs that some of the most rigidly conservative rightwing writers out there are getting sick of it and are ready to speak out. On Tuesday, Jonah Goldberg of the National Review highlighted a report from John Hawkins of Right Wing News that exposed how many of the Tea Party-style PACs are basically taking money gullible donors think is going to elect conservative politicians and using it for basically anything but that. Ten of the 17 PACs examined by Hawkins took in more than $50 million and only spent about $3.6 million of it on campaigns. SarahPAC, run by Sarah Palin, was a typical offender, spending only $205,000 of their $3 million, or about 7 percent of the funds.
Thing is, Jonah's not really upset about it, he's just jealous. Still, it's unsettling that the right is noticing what was obvious to the rest of us. It's marginally possible they'll be able to do something about it, and divert some of the money shelled out by the rubes to actually influencing elections. And don't fool yourself into thinking that the rubes we're talking about are only the yahoos living in trailers watching Fox News. Even the Koch Brothers and their ilk have thrown money at more highly placed con artists, like Karl Rove. The only thing keeping the Republic on life support is the fact that these people waste so much of the money they spend to influence elections. If they ever get their act together, the country will truly be toast.
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