Salon: Left Needs to Copy Right's Dirty Tricks and Sleazy Tactics

[rangerrebew]

Salon: Left Needs to Copy Right's Dirty Tricks and Sleazy Tactics
 
By Cheri Jacobus | January 14, 2015 | 10:22 PM EST
 

From Salon.com -- not The Onion. A new tirade by the perennially confused Edwin Lyngar addresses the alleged dirty tricks by conservatives, the Tea Party and Republicans in a flimsy piece, "The Angry Right's Secret Playbook" without citing even one example to support his rant.  Yet, he urges the Left to respond using dirty tricks, yelling and sleazy tactics, claiming they are, in fact, being far too reasonable and nice.

He thinks it's an example to claim radio hosts unfairly use the term “Saul Alinsky Democrats” and sling the insult of “Obama’s Chicago political machine.”

By way of history and context, it needs to be noted that Lyngar is a self-described former conservative-turned-liberal author who recently compared "losing" his father to FOX News to losing a parent to cancer or Alzheimer's.  He now seems convinced that sort of hyperbole is a bit too much of a gentle touch.

"[W]hat I don’t understand is why so many well-meaning liberals refuse to fight dirty." he whines. "Liberals do a lot less yelling and a whole lot more making everyone feel welcome."

"I call on my fellow liberals to embrace the rough stuff. Engage in battle with people who hate you and feel free to throw crazy right back, even if you only half believe it."

Mr. Lyngar appears to have selective memory retention of liberal approaches to political debate.

Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid is also no stranger to incendiary language unfit for a member of the country's most exclusive club, who has among other things, compared Republicans to "hostage takers" for not falling in line behind his leftist agenda.

Ed Schultz of MSNBC (and a large segment of that networks on-air personalities) routinely engage in inflammatory rhetoric against right-of-center voters, pundits, lawmakers and activists, with Schultz famously referring to conservative radio talk show host and FOX News pundit Laura Ingraham as a "right wing slut" for her views that differed from his own.

Equally overly-diplomatic and polite would be, by Lyngar's definition of liberals' meek demeanor? MSNBC's dinnertime host Al Sharpton, tax-evading darling of the Left and spokesmodel for race-baiting, rioting, and violence against law enforcement. Sharpton and his followers embrace some pretty rough stuff, including the proven lie that Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri last year had his hands up in surrender to police, rather than resisting arrest and attacking a policeman.  Despite witness testimony, forensic evidence and multiple autopsies showing the latter, Sharpton inciting anger, hysteria and eventual violence and murder of police officers with his "Hands up! Don't shoot!" slogan that still persists is part of that "welcoming" liberal attitude, in Lyngar's view.

In fact, the list of left-wing screaming, dirty tricks, fear-mongering, race-baiting and hyperbole is quite long -- a fact made even more poignant by the total lack of examples of similar behavior by conservatives provided by Salon.com's Lyngar.  There have certainly been statements made by some on the right that could fall into that category, but they are not routinely accepted by the mainstream Right and therefore gain little traction as legitimate discourse.

While there is no shortage of liberals offering commentary with no basis in reality on their own blogs and in comments sections, Salon.com, by most conventional standards -- right or left -- is a reputable, legitimate site.  With the emergence of supercilious tripe such as the recent offering by Lyngar, that status may be on the decline.
 

Source URL: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/cheri-jacobus/2015/01/14/salon-left-needs-copy-rights-dirty-tricks-and-sleazy-tactics

[massadvj]

I was a Democrat political operative in California for six years in the late 1970's/early 1980's.  I worked for The Assembly majority caucus and ran or consulted on quite a few Democrat State Assembly campaigns.  I can tell you unequivocally that our willingness to go "over the top" and break the law in order to win campaigns was far in excess of what our GOP counterparts were willing to do.  We hounded and taunted Republican opponents at every turn.  We used union thugs to go out and tear down signs in the middle of the night.  We used union workers at print shops to screw up Republican campaign materials.  We even once hijacked a truck to keep it from getting to the post office to deliver a last minute hit piece against our candidate.  Often, we spent taxpayer money to do these things.

Those of us in the trenches of Democrat campaigns never felt the slightest guilt for breaking the law in order to accomplish our objectives.  We considered ourselves revolutionaries, and we assumed the law was there to help "the man."  Also, no one in charge of us -- from the Speaker of the Assembly on down -- ever uttered a word to discourage us from engaging in these things, although they would have quickly disavowed any knowledge had we ever been caught.

[Fishrrman]

[[ Salon: Left Needs to Copy Right's Dirty Tricks and Sleazy Tactics...]]

Huh?

P-R-O-J-E-C-T-I-O-N !

[Politics4us]

I was a Democrat political operative in California for six years in the late 1970's/early 1980's.  I worked for The Assembly majority caucus and ran or consulted on quite a few Democrat State Assembly campaigns.  I can tell you unequivocally that our willingness to go "over the top" and break the law in order to win campaigns was far in excess of what our GOP counterparts were willing to do.  We hounded and taunted Republican opponents at every turn.  We used union thugs to go out and tear down signs in the middle of the night.  We used union workers at print shops to screw up Republican campaign materials.  We even once hijacked a truck to keep it from getting to the post office to deliver a last minute hit piece against our candidate.  Often, we spent taxpayer money to do these things.

Those of us in the trenches of Democrat campaigns never felt the slightest guilt for breaking the law in order to accomplish our objectives.  We considered ourselves revolutionaries, and we assumed the law was there to help "the man."  Also, no one in charge of us -- from the Speaker of the Assembly on down -- ever uttered a word to discourage us from engaging in these things, although they would have quickly disavowed any knowledge had we ever been caught.

I bet you only changed, because you got caught.

[massadvj]

I bet you only changed, because you got caught.

I was basically fired in 1983 after we lost a close, brutal campaign in Orange County.  I got blamed for the loss.  I've been trying to wash the stink off ever since, for over 30 years. 

[mountaineer]

P-R-O-J-E-C-T-I-O-N !

Of course. If you want to know what the Dems are up to, just see what terrible things they're accusing the Republicans of doing.