“Only racists cite that fact or make this argument. You’re not a RACIST, are you?”
Ever had a liberal tell you that? I have, many times.
What are they telling you when they say this? Here’s my summation of their thinking:
“That fact you are citing discounts our Collective’s policy/theory. Oh wait… What was your motive for saying that? What compelled you to bring uncomfortable facts up? Why, it was your racism/hatred/craziness! Because everything you say, you are compelled to say by your irrational hatred/insanity, I will now discount every uncomfortable fact you just brought up. I don’t have to deal with those facts because the only reason you brought them up is your impure, hateful motives. Since your views and the facts you cite are motivated by hatred, & hate speech is illegitimate, your views & speech are illegitimate! Why in the world would I waste my time trying to answer hate speech that is illegitimate by it’s very nature and doesn’t belong in the public square?”
“Because your racist, hate-filled views result in your racist, hate-filled speech, your speech doesn’t deserve equal footing with ours! This is why the IRS & federal government should be suppressing all that stupid, evil hate speech by driving them out of the public square! You wingnuts want your speech on a level playing field with ours here on the left? No problem! Just give up all that racism/hatred! We here on the Left in the media and in the federal bureaucracy will know when you’ve given up all that horrible, terrible, racist hate speech, wingnuts! How will we know you’ve given up your hate speech? Simple! You’ll stop citing all those uncomfortable facts, that’s how!”
An honest journalist who slants all his stories leftward could put it this way: “Why in the world would I give equal time in news coverage to illegitimate views fostered by racism and hatred? You want me to give equal coverage to hate speech? Why would I do that?”
And there you see the progressive logic. Hate speech doesn’t deserve an equal footing in the public square with ‘”good” speech. So the left has simply learned to attack motives by claiming everything Conservatives say or do is motivated by hate/racism.
That’s why you see liberals constantly ignore any facts you bring up, to “go for the kill”: “WHY did you make that argument or bring those facts up? No, you’re lying! I know why you really said that! RACISM!”
We’ve seen this for years, and in the past 4 1/2 years it got really bad. They are trying to shut down discussion and avoid the truth with ad hominem attacks. This is why IRS bureaucrats can, with progressive approval, target conservative groups & donors, because they truly think conservative speech is “illegitimate.”
Progressives don’t want a level playing field, they want to disqualify their opponents at every opportunity so they can win unchallenged.
Look at Obama. How did he win his first few elections in Illinois? Simple–by getting his opponents disqualified or playing dirty pool by unsealing divorce records to force his opponent to drop out so he could run unopposed.
So it’s no surprise at all that an Administration under Obama’s direction almost immediately turned to trying to disqualify the opposition.
How do the IRS officials and higher-ups in D.C. that ordered this abuse justify it? This is what they tell themselves: “Those views don’t deserve a level playing field with ours!”
And as if to perfectly illustrate what I’m talking about here, look at what MSNBC host Martin Bashir said this week–Martin Bashir: “IRS Is The New Ni**er”
I had written 90% of this column before seeing that segment. Liberals are so predictable.
This is nothing less than Bashir’s attempt to claim people still harping on the IRS scandal at this “late date” can only be motivated by that horrible thing that motivates every attempt to keep an Obama scandal alive: racism.
Typical progressive playbook: end debate/discussion by claiming the other party is only bringing up the facts about whichever current White House scandal (IRS, Benghazi, AP/Fox, Pigford, F&F, etc.) they’re discussing because… racism!
Newsflash, liberals: it’s not working. The race card is maxed out. Nobody’s buying what you’re selling. You’re just going to have to suck it up and argue honestly on a level playing field for what you want instead of trying these rhetorical tricks & dodges in an attempt to shut down the discussion.
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