Saturday, February 26, 2005
The American Right: we define freedom so you can't.
Thanks to Michael Berube (check his blog out if you haven't already) I found a ridiculous rightwing website that includes the Ayatollah Khomeini and Mohamed Atta as part of the "political left" of the US.
The site is called Discover the Network, and is an attempt by rightwing nut David Horowitz to document the ties between individuals and groups who are supposedly part of the political left.
The site includes a list of left-wing "causes" and highlights several individuals and groups that are supposedly part of these causes. Some of the causes are accurate - such as civil liberties, the environment etc -- but others such as "terrorist" and "radical" are obviously a blatent attempt to smear liberals by listing terrorist organizations along with human rights or other actual left-wing causes.
Another obvious clue that Horowitz is obviously attempting to smear liberals is that he chose to include a ton of groups that are pro-Muslim or pro-Palestine. Interesting that there didn't seem to be any pro-Israel groups... is it really true that there are no left-wing pro-Israel groups? Apparently all lefties want to see the Israelis blown up by suicide bombers. Or that's what this Horowitz asshole would have you believe.
The list of causes made me ponder the idea that if the left is fighting for (and being denigrated for on this website) causes such as human rights, anti-war, the environment, etc, the reverse must be true. That is, by extension, wouldn't it be correct to believe that the righties are against all the things that the left is truly for?
Wouldn't it be nice during the next election cycle, the righties campaigned on for their true values including being anti-environment, anti-women, pro-war, and anti-civil liberties?
But of course they avoid the truth like a plague. Perhaps they realize that if they acknowledge that they want to turn the US into a hegemonic corporate dictatorship, some of those Kansas voters might not be so happy to support them. Instead the righties lie about their true goals and smear liberals in an attempt to make the security moms and other voters feel that the liberals want to hand the US over to terrorists.
Why else would they include photos of Democratic politicians such as Nancy Pelosi, Jim McGovern, and Howard Dean along with those of terrorists and dictators? This is a shameless ploy to link these politicans with terrorists in the minds of the gullible.
In keeping with the righties' need to misrepresent themselves to the public, the site links to the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. The name sounds rather academic and non-biased, right?
However, it should more rightly be called "Center for the Sliming of American Liberals" with a mission that is less "defending the cultural foundations of a free society" and more "defending the corporate foundations of a capitalist society." But again, that doesn't play so well in Kansas. Better to make the average Joe think that you care about him so that you can rob him blind and have him thank you for it.
Apart from the terrorist and dictators that the site incorrectly describes as being part of the American left, the common thread that many of the people on the "network" website have is not that they are un-American communist sympathizers, but rather that they are against corporate control of our country and our resources, and that they believe that our government shouldn't have unfettered control over our lives, especially if the government is acting to protect corporate interests.
Hey, I think that what the lefties are promoting is more commonly called "freedom"! Strange that the righties oppose that. Especially since we are fighting wars in the name of freedom.
See new slogan at top. And I won't even charge if the righties want to use it. Heck, if it will help them with their little honesty problem, all the better!
¶ 4:38 PM
Thanks to Michael Berube (check his blog out if you haven't already) I found a ridiculous rightwing website that includes the Ayatollah Khomeini and Mohamed Atta as part of the "political left" of the US.
The site is called Discover the Network, and is an attempt by rightwing nut David Horowitz to document the ties between individuals and groups who are supposedly part of the political left.
The site includes a list of left-wing "causes" and highlights several individuals and groups that are supposedly part of these causes. Some of the causes are accurate - such as civil liberties, the environment etc -- but others such as "terrorist" and "radical" are obviously a blatent attempt to smear liberals by listing terrorist organizations along with human rights or other actual left-wing causes.
Another obvious clue that Horowitz is obviously attempting to smear liberals is that he chose to include a ton of groups that are pro-Muslim or pro-Palestine. Interesting that there didn't seem to be any pro-Israel groups... is it really true that there are no left-wing pro-Israel groups? Apparently all lefties want to see the Israelis blown up by suicide bombers. Or that's what this Horowitz asshole would have you believe.
The list of causes made me ponder the idea that if the left is fighting for (and being denigrated for on this website) causes such as human rights, anti-war, the environment, etc, the reverse must be true. That is, by extension, wouldn't it be correct to believe that the righties are against all the things that the left is truly for?
Wouldn't it be nice during the next election cycle, the righties campaigned on for their true values including being anti-environment, anti-women, pro-war, and anti-civil liberties?
But of course they avoid the truth like a plague. Perhaps they realize that if they acknowledge that they want to turn the US into a hegemonic corporate dictatorship, some of those Kansas voters might not be so happy to support them. Instead the righties lie about their true goals and smear liberals in an attempt to make the security moms and other voters feel that the liberals want to hand the US over to terrorists.
Why else would they include photos of Democratic politicians such as Nancy Pelosi, Jim McGovern, and Howard Dean along with those of terrorists and dictators? This is a shameless ploy to link these politicans with terrorists in the minds of the gullible.
In keeping with the righties' need to misrepresent themselves to the public, the site links to the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. The name sounds rather academic and non-biased, right?
However, it should more rightly be called "Center for the Sliming of American Liberals" with a mission that is less "defending the cultural foundations of a free society" and more "defending the corporate foundations of a capitalist society." But again, that doesn't play so well in Kansas. Better to make the average Joe think that you care about him so that you can rob him blind and have him thank you for it.
Apart from the terrorist and dictators that the site incorrectly describes as being part of the American left, the common thread that many of the people on the "network" website have is not that they are un-American communist sympathizers, but rather that they are against corporate control of our country and our resources, and that they believe that our government shouldn't have unfettered control over our lives, especially if the government is acting to protect corporate interests.
Hey, I think that what the lefties are promoting is more commonly called "freedom"! Strange that the righties oppose that. Especially since we are fighting wars in the name of freedom.
See new slogan at top. And I won't even charge if the righties want to use it. Heck, if it will help them with their little honesty problem, all the better!
¶ 4:38 PM
Comments:
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Hello from a fellow Oregonian!
You're right about Horowitz being a nut. I saw his latest book at Barnes and Noble over the weekend. He's absolutely off the rails.
I've seen that Discover the Networks site too..it was sent to me via email. Good fodder for the tin foil hat set.
What guys like Horowitz do is unethical and shameless. But the right swallows it like kool aid.
You're right about Horowitz being a nut. I saw his latest book at Barnes and Noble over the weekend. He's absolutely off the rails.
I've seen that Discover the Networks site too..it was sent to me via email. Good fodder for the tin foil hat set.
What guys like Horowitz do is unethical and shameless. But the right swallows it like kool aid.
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