Lots of clamor on the left side of the blogosphere over GOP “robo-calls,” (Washington Post article here) which apparently have been designed to deceive listeners into thinking that Democrats placed the calls.

New Hampshire Republicans agreed to stop making the calls. Elsewhere, state legislators in both parties across the country are considering banning the intrusive political automated calls, which were (surprise, surprise) exempted by Congress from the federal do-not-call registry.

Democrats use them too. The firefighters union in Montana ignored state law and placed robo calls attacking GOP Sen. incumbent Conrad Burns. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported last year that both his Democrat challenger Jon Tester had used automated calls to raise campaign funds, then stopped making the automated calls from his campaign.

These are only going to backfire, especially the deceptive ones. Tell the genius political strategists on both sides: Just. Knock. It. Off.

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By the way, when GOP moderate Rep. Chris Shays pointed out deceptive robo calls, liberal critics ridiculed him for complaining about trivialities and mocked him for resorting to desperate diversions.

Now, look at the Huffington Post, TPM, dKos, and the NYTimes all roaring about robo-calls in the final run-up to Election Day like it’s an international war crime.

Free advice: If you hear something you don’t like, hang up the phone and turn off the ringer for a bit. Then exhale.