One of the most significant (and depressing) political trends of the last few decades has been the left's abandoning of reason and adopting lies and character assassination to defeat opponents. They have taken a big step toward totalitarianism. Those who no longer respect the truth are capable of anything.
Today we learn that some leftists, at least, consider expanding smears and intimidation not just to politicians but to Republican donors.
Nearly 10,000 of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes across the country will probably receive a foreboding “warning” letter in the mail next week.
The letter is an opening shot across the bow from an unusual new outside political group on the left that is poised to engage in hardball tactics to prevent similar groups on the right from getting off the ground this fall.
Led by Tom Matzzie, a liberal political operative who has been involved with some prominent left-wing efforts in recent years, the newly formed nonprofit group, Accountable America, is planning to confront donors to conservative groups, hoping to create a chilling effect that will dry up contributions. …
The warning letter is intended as a first step, alerting donors who might be considering giving to right-wing groups to a variety of potential dangers, including legal trouble, public exposure and watchdog groups digging through their lives.
As Captain Ed comments, this will backfire. Big time. Republicans are not primarily motivated by love of their candidates -- certainly they have little love of McCain -- but by fear and loathing of the Democrats. This letter will feed that fear and loathing, and justly so.
This is the kind of thing that made me predict that in the end Republicans will fall behind their candidate. They will vote for McCain even though they dislike him because they hate the left. If the Democrats were smart they would stay away from all lies, smears and brownshirt intimidation tactics -- all of which people like Hugh Hewitt use to whip up anger on the right and motivate the base. Apparently, leftists can't help themselves: they just have to release their inner thug.
3 comments:
If the Democrats were smart they would stay away from all lies, smears and brownshirt intimidation tactics . . .
But the "lies, smears and brownshirt intimindation tactics" (which, incidentally, have been par for the course since at the least the 2000 election) are direct and natural corollaries of the principles Democrats espouse and for which they advocate. Say rather: if the Democrats were smart they would repudiate the principles. Anything less would simply be another lie.
Lies, smears and intimidation tactics can be seen in both parties. This is not surprising. Ayn Rand noted that when people abandon reason, the only way they have left to deal with each other is through force. Both the left and the right have abandoned reason and principle for variations of emotion and pragmatism. They behave accordingly.
...including legal trouble, public exposure and watchdog groups digging through their lives.
Tell me how this is any different from the tactics of a certain infamous religious sect, http://www.xenu.net/archive/personal_story/paulette_cooper/ . Will the Democratic Party become the next religion of the stars, or has it become so already?
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