Democrat Taylor Marsh running ad for book comparing Obama to Mussolini

Faux-talk radio host and blogger Taylor Marsh (her site header proclaims she’s “the antidote to right-wing talk”) is a member of the Blogads network and its invite-only “Advertise Liberally” hive.  For the record, back when I ran my previous blog Catch.com I was a member of both Blogads and Advertise Liberally.

Here’s a simple description of how Blogads works: A potential advertiser creates an ad using the Blogads interface and chooses blogs they would like their ad to run on. Chosen blog owners then receive an email notifying them of the request for ad placement.  The blogger is then required to log-in to their Blogads admin panel, review the ad and either accept or reject it. This protects the blog owner from having an ad running on their site that they find objectionable or wouldn’t want their blog to be associated with. The Blogads member has total control of all ads that run on their site.

Now let’s look at the approved ad I saw running on Democrat Taylor Marsh’s blog early yesterday, displayed directly under the “Advertise Liberally” banner:

As of this writing (10:00 am ET) this ad is still running on Taylor’s blog today (full screenshot available on request).  Take a close look at the image of the book cover.  That’s a picture of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on the left doing the Nazi salute.  In case you don’t recognize the photo, it’s a cropped version of this one:

That’s Hitler on the right.  You may have heard about him.

The book cover also features a photo of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to the right of the shot of Mussolini. To the average person it looks like he’s smiling and waving.  When paired with the image of Mussolini it’s pretty clear what the implication is. That’s right: Barack Obama is a fascist.  Charming.

Now let’s look at where you go when you click the ad approved by Democrat Taylor Marsh and running prominently on her blog.  Here’s a description of the book Obama - the Postmodern Coup: The Making of a Manchurian Candidate, written by conspiracy-theory crackpot and self-published author (just like Taylor!) Webster Griffin Tarpley, that can be found after clicking on the ad:

The Making of a Manchurian Candidate… Barack Obama is a troubled personality, the megalomaniac front man for a postmodern coup by intelligence agencies using fake polls, mobs of adolescents, super-rich backers, and orchestrated media hysteria to short-circuit normal politics and seize power. Obama comes from the orbit of the Ford Foundation, and has never won an election in a real contest. His guru and controller is Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Trilateral Commission co-founder and mad Russia-hater. Zbig wants a showdown with Russia and China far more dangerous for the US than the Bush-Cheney Iraq quagmire. Obama’s economics are pure Skull & Bones/Chicago school austerity and sacrifice for American working families, to bail out the bankrupt Wall Street financiers who own him. Obama’s lemming legions and Kool-Aid cult candidacy hearken back to Italy in 1919-1922, and raise a spectre of postmodern fascism in America. No voter can afford to ignore the lessons contained in this book.

Here’s a “press release” for the book with additional, ahem, info.

I don’t think there’s really much to add.

Democrat Taylor Marsh chose to run this ad on her blog, directly under the “Advertise Liberally” banner. Taylor Marsh used to think it was a bad thing to imply that Democrats were fascists. Taylor Marsh should be ashamed of herself as should any Democratic/liberal/progressive blog who still blogrolls her. Taylor Marsh isn’t the antidote to right-wing talk anymore.  Taylor Marsh is the antithesis of left-wing talk.

MORE: If you’d like to ask the person who’s running the Advertise Liberally hive why someone who would run that offensive ad under the Advertise Liberally banner is allowed to remain on the roster when there are probably plenty of worthy liberal blogs*, who would never in a million years run an ad like that, waiting to be rolled into the network (“Advertise Liberally is currently not accepting any new members for the foreseeable future.”), their contact info is available here.

* Please note: I have not requested reentry into the Advertise Liberally hive, just in case anyone thinks I’m angling to take Taylor’s spot.

MORE: Taylor Marsh would like people to email Air America and XM about getting her on the air.  I think Air America, in particular, should probably hear from you folks.

UPDATE (3:56 PM): Thanks to Oliver Willis for linking to this. DU has picked it up as well. If any bloggers on the Blogads network received and rejected this ad, I’d be interested in hearing from you in comments or via our tips email (link top left). As I type this Taylor has a writer for The New Republic sitting in her “home studio” with her for a piece they’re putting together on her. And, yes, the ad is still running on her blog.

Posted by Kevin K. on 04/16/08 at 09:02 AM • Permalink

What? You expected integrity from a former pornographer?

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