By Douglas V. Gibbs
It's one of the oldest tricks in the book. Use an accusation, no matter how baseless it may be, and watch the recipient wiggle uncomfortably as they try to claim it is a lie. The accusers then add that it is no surprise the accused is calling it a lie, they don't want the truth to come out, or they don't want to be marked as being whatever the accusation says they are.
The accusation carries even more weight if at sometime, or someplace, the accused said something that could be construed as being along the lines of what the accuser is saying.
Throw in a little slight of hand, and political careers end, and movements crumble.
Unfortunately, the tactic is an all-too familiar strategy in politics.
Dan Quail, after reading the misspelling of "potato" on the card he was given, and not catching the misspelling quick enough in order to correct it, was accused of being unintelligent - the accusation was enough to end his blossoming political career.
Tom DeLay was accused of money laundering, and campaign finance violations, none of which was ever proven, but the accusations alone were enough to force his resignation, and end his political career.
Sarah Palin continues to be attacked, accused of being simple minded. The most glaring example of her simple mindedness? A statement she never uttered. "I can see Russia from my house," was never spoken by Sarah Palin, but was instead said by Tina Fey in a Saturday Night Live routine in which Tina was imitating Palin. Yet, most folks I talk to that dislike Palin use that sentence as their reason they don't like Palin. When I advise them Palin never actually said it, they call me a liar. The Tina Fey quote, coupled with interviews during which she did not articulate a particular Supreme Court case she did not agree with, and for asking what was meant by the Bush Doctrine because she understood the Right and the Left viewed the Bush Doctrine as being two different things, the accusations flew that Sarah Palin was too dumb to serve at the national level in politics. Though her political career has not been completely destroyed, it will take a long time to politically recover, if she ever does.
Like Quail, DeLay, and Palin, the Tea Party Movement is considered by the authoritarian ideology of liberalism to be a major threat. Therefore, the strategy of baseless accusations has been unleashed, and the false accusations have been flying at blazing speed. The patriots that associate with the Tea Party Movement have been accused of being racist, Bible-thumping, gun slinging purveyors of violence (as if owning a Bible and being a law abiding gun owner is a dangerous thing).
Then, as the supporters of the Tea Party Movement show that they are not only far from being a violent collection of individuals, a Michigan Militia appears just in time to be used as a shining example of the Right's violent tendency. Never mind the fact that the group's "Christianity" is not consistent with fundamental Biblical teachings, or that the only member of the militia group arrested to have identification showing political party affiliation turned out to be a Democrat. The accusation was in place, and the connections made were enough for the Leftists to convince a significant number of foolish people that despite the facts, the Tea Party is a collection of a bunch of violent crazies.
Fortunately, some of the media has decided to go to the Tea Parties and find out for themselves, and surprise, surprise, it turns out that the accusations are false.
Andy Barr's Politico article quotes Mississippi GOP Gov. Haley Barbour that suggesting the Tea Party activists are violent is the "biggest crock you’ve ever seen."
Robert McCartney of the Washington Post, in his article, says after visiting a Tea Party rally himself that, "tea party members are not seething, ready-to-explode racists, as some liberal commentators have caricatured them."
Yet the accusations continue. Rachel Maddow and Bill Clinton compares the Tea Party folks to Timothy McVeigh, leaving out the Waco connection that drags Bill Clinton into the picture as the cause more than McVeigh's political affiliation, whatever it was.
The fact is, the Tea Party activists are no doubt angry. They are angry because they see an expansion of government that is dangerous to the liberties of individual American citizens. But the Tea Party activists are hardly ready to go on some violent rampage firing their weapons at a bunch of government officials. The firing that Tea Party folks have in mind is more in line with firing the politicians with the ballot box, and using the rallies to encourage their fellow Americans to do the same.
If any violence comes out of any of this, it will be by the government in an attempt to silence the opposition.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Barbour: Tea party violence a 'crock' - Politico
'Tea partiers' more wacky mavericks than extremist threat - Washington Post
Limbaugh Blasts Clinton: Didn't Waco Raid Inspire OKC Bombing? - Breitbart TV
It's one of the oldest tricks in the book. Use an accusation, no matter how baseless it may be, and watch the recipient wiggle uncomfortably as they try to claim it is a lie. The accusers then add that it is no surprise the accused is calling it a lie, they don't want the truth to come out, or they don't want to be marked as being whatever the accusation says they are.
The accusation carries even more weight if at sometime, or someplace, the accused said something that could be construed as being along the lines of what the accuser is saying.
Throw in a little slight of hand, and political careers end, and movements crumble.
Unfortunately, the tactic is an all-too familiar strategy in politics.
Dan Quail, after reading the misspelling of "potato" on the card he was given, and not catching the misspelling quick enough in order to correct it, was accused of being unintelligent - the accusation was enough to end his blossoming political career.
Tom DeLay was accused of money laundering, and campaign finance violations, none of which was ever proven, but the accusations alone were enough to force his resignation, and end his political career.
Sarah Palin continues to be attacked, accused of being simple minded. The most glaring example of her simple mindedness? A statement she never uttered. "I can see Russia from my house," was never spoken by Sarah Palin, but was instead said by Tina Fey in a Saturday Night Live routine in which Tina was imitating Palin. Yet, most folks I talk to that dislike Palin use that sentence as their reason they don't like Palin. When I advise them Palin never actually said it, they call me a liar. The Tina Fey quote, coupled with interviews during which she did not articulate a particular Supreme Court case she did not agree with, and for asking what was meant by the Bush Doctrine because she understood the Right and the Left viewed the Bush Doctrine as being two different things, the accusations flew that Sarah Palin was too dumb to serve at the national level in politics. Though her political career has not been completely destroyed, it will take a long time to politically recover, if she ever does.
Like Quail, DeLay, and Palin, the Tea Party Movement is considered by the authoritarian ideology of liberalism to be a major threat. Therefore, the strategy of baseless accusations has been unleashed, and the false accusations have been flying at blazing speed. The patriots that associate with the Tea Party Movement have been accused of being racist, Bible-thumping, gun slinging purveyors of violence (as if owning a Bible and being a law abiding gun owner is a dangerous thing).
Then, as the supporters of the Tea Party Movement show that they are not only far from being a violent collection of individuals, a Michigan Militia appears just in time to be used as a shining example of the Right's violent tendency. Never mind the fact that the group's "Christianity" is not consistent with fundamental Biblical teachings, or that the only member of the militia group arrested to have identification showing political party affiliation turned out to be a Democrat. The accusation was in place, and the connections made were enough for the Leftists to convince a significant number of foolish people that despite the facts, the Tea Party is a collection of a bunch of violent crazies.
Fortunately, some of the media has decided to go to the Tea Parties and find out for themselves, and surprise, surprise, it turns out that the accusations are false.
Andy Barr's Politico article quotes Mississippi GOP Gov. Haley Barbour that suggesting the Tea Party activists are violent is the "biggest crock you’ve ever seen."
Robert McCartney of the Washington Post, in his article, says after visiting a Tea Party rally himself that, "tea party members are not seething, ready-to-explode racists, as some liberal commentators have caricatured them."
Yet the accusations continue. Rachel Maddow and Bill Clinton compares the Tea Party folks to Timothy McVeigh, leaving out the Waco connection that drags Bill Clinton into the picture as the cause more than McVeigh's political affiliation, whatever it was.
The fact is, the Tea Party activists are no doubt angry. They are angry because they see an expansion of government that is dangerous to the liberties of individual American citizens. But the Tea Party activists are hardly ready to go on some violent rampage firing their weapons at a bunch of government officials. The firing that Tea Party folks have in mind is more in line with firing the politicians with the ballot box, and using the rallies to encourage their fellow Americans to do the same.
If any violence comes out of any of this, it will be by the government in an attempt to silence the opposition.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Barbour: Tea party violence a 'crock' - Politico
'Tea partiers' more wacky mavericks than extremist threat - Washington Post
Limbaugh Blasts Clinton: Didn't Waco Raid Inspire OKC Bombing? - Breitbart TV
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