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August 17, 2009
activist narrative becomes government mainstream?
Commenter Veeshir alerted me to the possibility that I was overreacting (in this post) to an ABC report which in turn quoted a retired FBI agent who claimed that Rush Limbaugh's comparison of the Obamcare logo to a Nazi logo "legitimizes people who are on the edge to go do something or say something." While I took issue with Rush Limbaugh's comparison, I also opined that "law enforcement officials at the highest levels are now thinking like left wing activists." Pointing out that the sources in the ABC report all came down to the SPLC, Veeshir expressed hopeful skepticism about whether our law enforcement officials are going along with it. That story is kind of scary, but....Veeshir also supplied a link to this post from Confederate Yankee, and concluded that all the stories about this "go back to Mark Potok at the Southern Poverty Law Center." Not the government, just an activist working for a left wing outfit. I was relieved, because I don't like to think that the government is taking marching orders from left wing activists any more than Veeshir did. This morning, however, I was disabused from my wishful thinking, when I read a well-documented post which appears to demonstrate pretty clearly that the SPLC is being used as a Homeland Security source: Last week, ALG News reported a startling update in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "rightwing extremism" threat assessment controversy after receiving an interim response from the department to Americans for Limited Government's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.I checked out the links, and unless the letters are forgeries (which I doubt), the above is true. Much as I'd like to think that the SPLC isn't a government source, and that this is just (as Veeshir said) "the media trying to push their narrative," it appears more likely that these SPLC narratives are being mainstreamed by the government in what I'd call a left wing opinion laundering cycle. From activist "sources," to left-wing blogs, then to mainstream media, and finally to the government. Didn't they used to accuse the right of doing the same thing? AFTERTHOUGHT: The retaliatory nature of this cycle game worries me, because I could easily see the left rationalize it by saying "Well, Bush did it too!" That poses quite a problem, though, because the evil Bush meme encompasses torture, genocide, war crimes, illegal surveillance, and even blowing up the Twin Towers. I'm not saying Bush did these things, but lots of lefties think he did. Should they be using the evil Bush meme as a retaliatory role model? How does that represent hope and change? posted by Eric on 08.17.09 at 11:48 AM
Comments
Well, there is a bright side. If activists are busily retaliating against each other, it leaves reasonable people to get things done. During the Reformation, science and the arts flourished during periods of protracted religious conflict -- simply because the people who wanted to tell everyone what to do were too busy battling each other. Eric Scheie · August 17, 2009 12:12 PM It's the wave! jo · August 17, 2009 12:13 PM Perhaps the hope and change Obama has been talking about is totally selfish, hoping for revenge and changing advantage to Democrats. Hugh · August 17, 2009 12:40 PM I'm not saying Bush did these things, but lots of lefties think he did. Or they say they think he did, thereby setting up a condition whereby they could justify nearly any action they felt was necessary in furthering their own goals by pointing at the behaviors attributed to the guy before them. Deep game. Set someone up as the ultimate example of an a**hole, so your own a**hole will only look like a sphincter by comparison. apotheosis · August 17, 2009 01:20 PM Never mind that it's an apples and oranges comparison to monitor overseas calls between even American citizens and a group with a proven track record of chopping off heads, stoning rape victims, setting bombs, etc. SDN · August 18, 2009 05:45 AM Post a comment
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Ahh, crap. Why'd you have to go and harsh my mellow?
I still have high hopes for career law enforcement though.
Possibly because I really don't want to see the type of conflagration we'll have if they try to make dissent illegal.