Behind the Ad: Santorum goes apocalyptic with "Obamaville" nightmare

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(Another installment in our "Behind the Ad" series.) 

Who: Santorum. All Santorum, but speaking on behalf of many, many Republicans in their hatred of President Obama.

Where: Online. In other words, everywhere.

What's going on: Just watch the ad. It explains itself.

You may have seen this on Jon Stewart last night, but it's also been making the rounds. And it's about as un-subtle as a Ron Jeremy film.

We do a series here at The Reaction called "Signs of the Apocalypse," though we haven't done a new entry in a long time. (This was the most recent, #75, from October 2010. I really need to get back to it.) It's more socio-cultural than political, focusing on various indications that the Apocalypse is on the way. (And, no, it's not religious.)

Well, according to Santorum, in this first of an apparently eight-part series (just like Harry Potter!), the Apocalypse will come if President Obama is re-elected -- and it's called "Obamaville," a dystopian future meant to scare the shit out of conservatives, or at least to reinforce the conservative lie that Obama will turn America into something resembling Mordor, an earthly hell for "God"-fearin' Americans. And, note, for white Americans specifically, as Jon pointed out. Yes, this too features the racism that is at the core of the right's assault on Obama.

"Imagine a small American town two years from now, if Obama is re-elected..." Yes, 2014! If Obama is re-elected, it will take just two years for the nightmare to become a reality.

Oh wait... that's not quite enough to scare you? How about blending Obama and... Ahmadinejad. Yes! Perfect! And add to that the treat of nuclear armageddon. Even better! "And every day, the residents of this town must come to grips with the harsh reality that a rogue nation and sworn American enemy has become a nuclear threat."

Honestly, this may be the silliest, most ridiculous political ad I've ever seen. And yet it captures the fear, ignorance, bigotry, and outright insanity that have been driving the right's own apocalyptic opposition to Obama -- and that are driving conservative politics generally.

As Rude Pundit put it yesterday, so very well:

One of the things it has always been easy to admire (yes, admire) about Santorum is that the motherfucker may be crazy as a shit fight in a monkey house, but he believes what he's saying. He's all-in. If you're gonna base your candidacy on your belief that Satan wins if you don't, own that shit. And nothing says nutzoid like Santorum's latest video from his campaign, not a Super PAC, wherein he imagines the color-drained hellscape that America will become if Barack Obama wins a second term. Because apparently you can put anything after the President's last name, it's called, "Obamaville."

That's right. Obama will force your children off playgrounds and take away one of their shoes. Hot women with whore-red lips will tell you to be quiet. You and your spouse will have nothing to chop on the butcher block but a bowl of grapefruit. Grapefruit, goddamnit. Little girls will dress in rags and sit in wooden rooms. Doctors will have long lines, says the narrator, but somehow hospital beds will remain empty. And all of a sudden gasoline will have the ability to pierce your skull. Old people will sit or stand quietly, knowingly. TV will mix up Mahmoud Ahmadenijad with the President in showing us our "enemies."

It's all supposed to be a bit Twilight Zone-y. Check out the ending. It's the sort of thing that would be understandable, perhaps, as satire, as something you might see on Colbert to show just how fucking insane Republicans really are. The thing is, Santorum means it. And you know conservatives are just lapping it up.

Enjoy!