If you’ve ever asked “What is the NSA?,” we have good news. A self-proclaimed GOP “tech strategist” has the answer.
A few days ago, Red State’s Erick Erickson became the punchline of the internet for his made-up claim that grocery prices are skyrocketing. Writers across the web slammed him for his derp, while Gawker acknowledged his argument was really stupid but said please stop using the “word” derp.
Today, Red State upped the ante with an even more… brain dead… moronic… insipid… stupid argument.
Another Red State blogger — Ron Robinson — sells himself as a GOP tech/new media strategist, but he has a very poor understanding of some simple internet tools … like Google.
Robinson answered the “what is the NSA” question in an article claiming that the NSA is Sharing Data with the NRCC, the National Republican Congressional Committee. In it, he argues that not only is the NSA sharing data with the NRCC, they are also sharing data with the IRS and the pro-Obama organization Organizing For Action. Very confusing for people who are asking “what is the NSA?”
Like Erick Erickson, Robinson didn’t have any evidence.?His argument rests on the fact that he received a promotional email from the NRCC sent to him because of an advertising deal with some other email list he signed up for.
Yesterday I got the email below from the treasurer of the NRCC telling me my membership renewal is ?past due? ? even though I’m a ?member? the email addresses me as ?Friend?.
Not only have I never ?joined? the NRCC, but if I had, I suspect they would have remembered my name from the credit card transaction. (Source)
Since he’s not a member, the only reason he can think of that the NRCC would send him an email is because they must know he is a GOP political activist… probably from information they gathered from the NSA. He elaborated:
Or perhaps the NSA told them I’d be a good mark since I’m a local GOP official*.
Of course, it doesn’t take the NSA to know that Ron Robinson is a conservative who is active in GOP politics.
People who are wondering exactly “what is the NSA” can read about it on his LinkedIn page, which lists his work with John Colbert for Congress and other conservative causes, or his Twitter page, which promotes GOP Tech Week, or see his Patriot Action Network page, all of which are easily found through Google.
Ron Robinson is a new media tech guy, so he should know that it is a common practice for email lists to sell the use of their membership databases to related third parties for advertising purposes. Since he’s so active in conservative politics, he’s probably signed up for some other conservative email list that the NRCC got his email from.
In the end, I suspect Robinson isn’t really that stupid. He acknowledged, “I don’t really think the NSA is sharing data with the NRCC,” but apparently he feels other conservatives are so stupid that they might think so.
*FWIW, I don’t really think the NSA is sharing data with the NRCC, but it’s a spectacular lapse in judgement for the NRCC to be touting their ?awesome? membership database that can ?remember? that you are a ?member?, yet forget your name ? at a time when NSA snooping is so prominent in the headlines, and OFA is being publicly castigated for those creepy emails they send.
Maybe he’s right about that. There have been a lot of crazy conspiracy theories flying from the mouths of conservatives lately.
But its beyond me how anyone could think that receiving unsolicited emails is somehow linked to the NSA. If the NSA was such a powerful and evil organization as the tin foil hatters would have us believe, wouldn’t they be able to know what someone’s name is? Why would Obama want to use his NSA to help the NRCC’s get out the vote campaign if he also wants to use it to stifle conservative opposition? Maybe the sequester has hit the NSA so hard that they have to sell their data to email marketers…
Here’s a thought for Ron Robinson: How did the African Bank of Development get my email to tell me that I won millions of dollars? The African Bank of Development is in cahoots with the NSA!!! What is NSA? A partner in crime with the African Bank of Development! Hurry, get Red State on the case!
Edited by: EAP
