Earlier this year, an infamous, though quite mainstream, Republican Party operative quietly launched a new anti-Hillary Clinton 527 group called Citizens United Not Timid -- yes, it really is C.U.N.T. The notorious operative behind it is Roger Stone, a protege of Richard Nixon who is known for his trademark impeccable grooming, a facade that masks as thoroughly sleazy a character as any operating in modern politics.

In case you're unfamiliar with Stone's exploits, here's a brief overview:

In 1996, he was forced to resign from his volunteer role on Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996 after tabloids tracked down sexy ads he and his wife, Nydia, allegedly placed on a swingers' website. In 2000, during the Bush v. Gore recount, Stone was chosen by Bush family consigliere, former Sec. of State James Baker, to lead the fake "Brooks Brothers mob" riots in Miami. In 2004, Stone secretly helped Democrat Al Sharpton launch his insurgent presidential bid.

Last summer, Stone was accused of making anonymous threatening phone calls to the 83-year-old father of New York's Democratic governor, Eliot Spitzer. Listen to the message here, and here's the transcript:

---

This is a message for Bernard Spitzer. You will be subpoenaed to testify before the [New York State] Senate Committee on Investigations on your shady campaign loans. You will be complelled by the Senate Sergeant at Arms. If you resist this subpoena, you will be arrested and brought to Albany. And there's not a God damn thing your phony, psycho piece of shit son can do about it. Bernie, your phony loans are about to catch up with you. You will be forced to tell the truth. And the fact that your son's a pathological liar will be known to all.

(Emphasis not added.)

In December, Stone, who lives in Miami, made news by warning Florida's popular bachelor (and preternaturally tanned) governor, Charlie Crist, that if he wanted to be vice president, Crist had better get married because, Stone said, "Bachelors don't get selected for vice president." Maybe these days they don't but in fact, William Rufus de Vane King, the 13th vice president and longtime senator from Alabama, was a confirmed bachelor, nicknamed "Miss Nancy" and "Aunt Fancy," who shared digs in Washington for a quarter century with James Buchanan, who later became the only bachelor to serve as U.S. president.

So that's Roger Stone. Here's Paul Kiel at TPMuckraker on Stone's latest venture:

It's this simple: it's all about the group's acronym, which, used in conjunction with Hillary Clinton, is supposed to be irresistibly humorous. That is the beginning and the end of it. The group will not be running ads in any form and will not be making any robocalls. They'll be making T-shirts. That's it.

No robocalls from C.U.N.T. There's a mercy.