Wingnut cooperation

During the Clinton Administration, supporters complained there was “a vast rightwing conspiracy” behind the persecution of Bill Clinton. “Conspiracy” is too strong a word for it, but there certainly was—and is—great cooperation among groups on the far right. Why would the rightwing engage in any sort of criminal conspiracy when they can meet their goals legally and openly?

Some will no doubt see the revelation that far right Texas christianists bankrolled the attempt to stop the “Troopergate” investigation of Sarah Palin as proof of “conspiracy”. The six Republican Alaska legislators who sued to stop the investigation declared the donation of legal services as gifts, as they were legally required to do. There’s no law preventing out of state lawyers from taking part in Alaska cases, and long as the value of their donated work is declared, as it was, everything was completely legal.

Nevertheless, it’s certainly interesting the lengths to which the far right will go to protect and promote their own. The legal help came from an organisation associated with arch-homophobe and überbigot James Dobson’s Focus on Hate, er, the Family. The declared value of the legal services was $185,000.

Ultimately, of course, the lawsuit failed and the final report criticised Palin (and she, locked in her reason-free Orwellian world, declared she was “cleared”). Interestingly, the lawyer for the Alaska Legislature was paid $29,845 for his successful work in defeating the lawsuit.

This whole thing proves that not even the bottomless pockets of the wingnuts can buy everything they want. It also shows that they’re not as powerful as they want us to think they are. Both are very good things.