Scapegays

Social Security privatization advocates are getting desperate.

The New York Times reports today that an organization called USA Next is testing an advertising campaign intended to discredit the AARP with senior citizens by linking it to support for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

"We are going to be revealing areas where the AARP is out of touch with a large number of their members, including the issue of marriage," Charlie Jarvis, the group's chief executive, said in a statement. "We will engage AARP with an aggressive campaign to educate the people about where they really stand on the issues and how out of touch they are with the large majority of their own members."

The ad prototype, which was available briefly online through The American Spectator, showed two photographs: a crossed-out shot of a U.S. soldier and another one, marked with a campaign-ad style checkmark, of two men in tuxedos kissing each other. The campaign slogan? "The Real AARP Agenda."

Somehow, right-wing activists have managed to link the floundering struggle for privatization to the war on terror and gay marriage. I'm surprised they weren't also able to work in tort reform and the global warming hoax. Maybe that's a different commercial.

What an organization that advocates for senior citizens -- with a membership largely comprised of veterans -- has to do with the war on terror is not clear. The evidence that they support gay marriage comes in the form of their position on last year's ballot measure in Ohio banning gay marriage, which they opposed "because the second clause blocked legal recognition of any union, potentially including unmarried heterosexuals, that approximated marriage rights."

Either way, none of this has anything to do with social security. Apparently USA Next thinks seniors are so gullible that they'll run screaming in fear away from a photo of two gay men and conclude that the AARP is a subversive group actually trying to undermine social security and "family values" after all. If this sounds outrageous and far-fetched, consider that USA Next hired the same consulting team responsible for the anti-Kerry "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" ads.

I guess honesty and integrity aren't "family values" anymore.

Fortunately, it seems senior citizens are not so easily distracted. A separate Times article today detailed Senator Rick Santorum's efforts in Pennsylvania to get young voters to hop on the Social Security Derailment Express. Seniors are preventing that train from leaving the station.

"We refuse to accept this concept of 'you got yours, now back off,' " Martin Berger, president of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans, said. "We built the system. We believe it should be available for our children and grandchildren."