Attacking the ACLU
Right Wing bloggers have always reminded me of a huge flock of birds. It’s something to marvel at, to see hundreds of birds swooping and diving and zigzagging in unison. But humans — at least in theory — are more individual. They’re supposed to be thinking and reasoning for themselves, not marching in lockstep.
But then, when you glimpse into the Far Right regions of the blogosphere — what have we here? Hundreds of humans, technically not joined at the hip, all swooping and diving and careening in unison.
Just a few days ago, The Flock (oops, that was the name of a dynamite Chicago rock group in the late ‘60s — I’ll call them something else), uh, the Disciples were all chanting in unison about that treasonous Newsweek article. Overnight, America’s pristine reputation was ruined by one slanderous magazine article. People who were perfectly content suddenly started rioting because of that wicked Newsweek article. Etc.
Well, they’ve zigzagged again, and now they’re fuming and foaming — together as one — about the next Burning Issue. The ACLU is trying to ruin everything this great nation stands for by — gasp! — legalizing prostitution! That’s right, the world’s oldest profession will just go quietly away if we just keep passing laws.
Who needs an intelligent debate when it’s so much more fun to just gang up on that big bad ACLU? The Disciples have locked onto a new issue and they’re ready to roll. Forward, March!
The Supreme Commander (whoever that is) has given the Order, and they are marching. Obedient little soldiers, born to obey! Vee muss carry out zee Mission!
And how much do you want to bet, the ones who are making the loudest noise about the evils of prostitution are probably drooling and fantasizing about that picture. (Yes, of course these posts are all displaying the same picture.)
Let’s play a guessing game. Think this issue will last several months, like the Terri Schiavo Show? Or just a few days like the Newsweek hysteria? And which hot-button issue will they swoop to next? Any guesses?
posted by Tom Harper @ 8:43 PM
32 Comments:
Actually we choose a new topic every Thursday! there are so many evil things to choose from that the ACLU does.
and you keep reading our stuff....after awhile you may actually have a coherent thought.
Damn!!! Outnumbered in your own house....and you thought draggin dogshit in on your shoe was bad.....you aint seen nothing yet.
Been expecting you folks. After all, I linked to all of you, so bring it on. I'm all for discussing things civilly. I'll be deleting comments that are obscene or involve name-calling.
Don't worry, I read most of your blogs. It's hard to spend 30 minutes surfing on BE without being bombarded by them. I read all sorts of opinions, but I can't imagine being converted to your views.
The ACLU is a Communist organization -- riiight. So were the civil rights protests of the '60s and the environmental movement from the '70s to the present, right?
As far as "you ain't seen nothing yet": OOOOOOHHH!!! Just a minute, let me get my boots on so I can quake in them.
Hiya Tom!
I haven't seen you around for a looong time. Where you been hiding? Anyway, lets get the ball rolling shall we?
Something I've taken notice of is the structure of the blogging ecosystem. The political architecture of it is something to be pondered. Lets take a look at the right side of things:
First we have the ever present LGF, Michelle Malkin and Powerline, but they're not pulling that insane of numbers. The highest of these three are rolling around 85K per day. To must of us these are astronomical numbers, but keep in mind these are supposed to be the "creme dela creme" of the VRWC. Lets slip a little bit further down the totem pole into the average heavy duty neo-con blogger. Since you've already linked to a few let me use them as an example: On average they roll about 300 unique hits per day. Considering you and me to be the average blogger that is three times the readership that we are getting. It's not just these blogs either. It's a standard among the right side of the blogosphere.
Me? I'm bottom of the barrel. I don't post regularly and I'm just barely on the right side of the line. I'm guessing that's why I don't attrackt a larger readership.
Now lets check the other side of the mountain: Left
If you'll take a peek at the hit counts you will notice that KOS gets more hits than any other blogger in the ecosystem by more than double. The only other major liberal in the top ten is Eschaton, aka Atrios, aka Mr. Black. He still clears over 100K. Does this mean that there are more liberals in the ecosystem and therefore the majority? No. Lets look further.
A few bloggers that I used to communicate with/fight/debate/whatever are Pusillanimous Wanker and Will4223. Both of these individuals write about as frequently as we do but are only clearing hits between 60-80. There are several other examples, but I'm sure you could look around to your buddies and see for yourself.
So, having taken an entirely unofficial demographic of how the ecosystem compares between left and right it would appear we can theorise the it is the left "marching in lock-step" behind one or two leaders, not the other way around.
...and on the picture note, how many places have you been able to find Saddam in his undies today? It was the same picture wasn't it? The cloning of pictures is a common occurence and does not indicate "mindless Rove zombies". (Yes, you can use that Tom. I don't have it copywrited.)
This entire statement is just a single speculative comparison of who is following whom mindlessly.
I welcome your counter-argument Tom.
Not an attack, just a counter.
I've had my fair share of gang-ups from the other side of the street. Both sides do it, particularly when asked so nicely like Tom here did.
hehe...sort of funny Joe. You're in a blog group with one of the "Zealots", Jay777. So, you playing both sides of the fence on us Joe?
Tom,
Something I remember being curious but never outright asked, Why no links on your sidebar?
OK Democrat: Oh yeah, put out the bait and they come running. I did link to 5 of them in my post, so I was expecting them. That unison/lockstep approach just really bugs me. I'm sure it's an effective tactic, but after a short period of surfing through BE, you just start seeing the same slogans, same mantras, same buzzwords, over and over and over...
American Warmonger: I don't doubt your statistics, which left and right wing blogs get the most viewers, etc. But that lockstep/unison thing, I see that mostly on the right (and that might be subjective to an extent). I really don't look for other political opinions online, other than the political sites on Blog Explosion. If DailyKos and Atrios get zillions of readers, that's fine, but I'm not one of them. I pretty much just keep on top of the news (MSNBC.com and the Seattle daily papers) and when I read about something that pisses me off, I rant about it on my blog.
If I end up posting on the same subject as other leftwing bloggers, it's mostly coincidence (really. Trust me). I'm sure that's the case some of the time with rightwing bloggers, but there just seems to be this concerted group effort with them where they're all saying the same things. That's my perception anyway.
Now, for that personal intimate question you asked: uh, I'm just too much of a technodunce to figure out how to create links. Seriously. The instructions in the Blogger help menu show some code to copy to the web page. Every time I've tried to copy code to my template, it hasn't worked. It gets really humiliating, so I usually just don't try it. But I have tried that several times and nothing has happened. Before I got SiteMeter I tried another hit counter, copied their code to my template -- nothing. (SiteMeter does everything for you.)
I'll figure it out someday. But I know it looks really lame. I see my site linked at lots of other blogs, and here I am not returning the favor. I have zillions of blogmarks and bookmarks; lots of other sites I keep in constant touch with. Just no links. But I'll figure it out someday.
So fragmented, so fragmented...haven't you people ever heard of like, thinking? Comparing viewpoints? Not forcing everyone to conform to your standards and goals lest they lose face? You call the ACLU communist, but you're the ones controlling everything your members say- "democratic" or not. Perhaps "totalitarian" is a better descriptive? No obligation, but gasp! Stick with the flock, little geese!
I'm not sure about what hot button issue is next, Tom, considering they all seem completely irrational and erratic. If you'd like any link help, let me know.
Allison L: Great comment. Thanks. You've got 'em dialed.
I'll figure out the link thing somehow, but thanks for your offer.
Let me help you out. Go to blogrolling.com, and sign up. From there you can create a blogroll. Get the code from the section that says..."Get code"...at which point you copy and paste it into the section of your template where it says "sidebar".
Jay777: Thanks. I'll check that out. I know some Blogger templates have the code already on them, but mine doesn't. Every time I've tried to copy code to the template I either copy it to the wrong place, or something. But I'll try this. I've got to get this taken care of. Thanks.
John: Yeah, I liked the Flock, but then I remembered that was the name of this obscure blues-jazz-psychedelic group from the '60s, so I changed it. Since you know all my scripts, I guess that means you're reading my site. Maybe you'll come around someday :)
Okay, OKD. We have established that both sides of the extreme are guilty. Are you just going to sit there and explain why the right is MORE guilty than the left or are you going to do something productive.
Blamestorming like you have just done leads to more hate and vitriol. Lets try talking things through rather than pointing at "The Flock" or "Star Wars" as a means to get back at the other side.
BTW, the group you called out only comes when asked (like in this case) or in defense of another from the group.
...at least that's how it's supposed to work.
The only way to stop prostitution is for guys to keep it in their pants. C'mon guys it's the old law of supply and demand that you're so good at preaching to us lefties about. The demand will always be there and it's healthier and less dangerous for society that prostitution be legalized and regulated like any other trade.
Good point Frenchie...but the ACLU wants it UNREGULATED! You all seem to have missed that part.
The mob mentality is the only thing that works for the radical right. Bullies are a global phenomenon as old as time itself. Groupthink is a mentality that feeds on its own hysteria.
*shrugs*
We can't make them think of their own beliefs; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
These right-wingers really know how to make intelligent debate, don't they...
*rolls eyes*
OK, I'm back -- damn, I'm gonna have to hire a secretary.
Chaudes: Interesting pictures and all, but this is a discussion site. Put your spam where the sun doesn't shine.
OK Democrat: Yeah, you've got it right. Newt Gingrich's tactics (later improved on by Rove) have really put the Right out front for the past 10-12 years. I don't know if that makes them more guilty or just more skillful at mass psychology techniques. But they've sure been winning that battle lately.
John: I hate to disappoint you but I'm not interested in Star Wars or any other science fiction. I still maintain that the Right (from the highest levels on down to the thousands of bloggers and columnists) is more into conforming and becoming a united front (soldiers, ants, flocks of birds, whatever metaphor you want to use) than the Left. Just my perception; no way to prove or disprove it.
American Warmonger: "Blamestorming," I like that. This post was the third one I've done on that theme of rightwing conformity, armies of ants, soldiers, etc. (The other 2 were about Newsweek/Toiletgate and Terri Schiavo). None of those posts were planned ahead of time. They all just kind of wrote themselves after I was surfing through BE and I could have sworn I was looking at the same blog over and over. Same topic, same slogans, same buzzwords. Maybe the Left does this too and I just don't see it.
Frenchie, Jay777, ~jay: The prostitution issue just seems like, you know, what's the big deal? The Right always says people should stand on their own 2 feet, be self-reliant, and then they want to swoop in and regulate everyone's morals. It's too contradictory. I guess the whole prostitution debate got lost among all the other issues we've all been yelling about.
Chris Woods: Oh yeah. Careful they don't gang up on you :)
Zaphriel: I'm not familiar with the ACLU's history. I'll take your word for it that Communists founded it; I know Cao's Blog recites this fact endlessly.
As far as current events go, I'm usually on the side of the ACLU, even their unpopular causes. (I don't think they should be trying to ban religious decorations; that just alienates a lot of people who might otherwise be on their side, or at least neutral.) But defending the right of the Nazis to demonstrate -- I think they're committed to the First Amendment.
I'm not sure about this, but my understanding is that they don't solicit cases; they just help people who come to them. (But again, I'm not sure about that.)
Like I said, I don't follow them that closely; just what I read about them in the news.
As far as prostitution goes, conservatives (not including Libertarians) are usually the most gung ho about squelching any kind of "deviant" behavior -- prostitution, pornography, topless dancers, gay rights, you name it. Now all of a sudden they're all in favor of prostitution being legal but with regulations to protect the customer -- and they're only against the ACLU's idea of totally legalizing prostitution without any regulations. Something rings a little hollow here.
Conservatives used this same tactic a few years ago when they were trying to get rid of government funding for "obscene" art (a cross in a jar of piss, etc.). They'd always start their tirade with "I'm not in favor of censorship, but..." But a lot of these same people actually were in favor of government censorship; it just made a better sound bite if they could put a free-enterprise let-the-marketplace-decide spin on it. I suspect this is the tactic they're using against the ACLU's prostitution effort: They're against any kind of legalizing or decriminalizing of prostitution, but they want to fight the ACLU by putting a "gee what about the poor customer" spin on it.
That's just my guess; I haven't followed this particular issue very closely.
and I the left are all Nazis. Santorum, please eexplain this one.
WhatBias?: Of course, and don't forget the Environmental Protection Agency. DeLay compares them to the Gestapo every chance he gets.
OK Democrat: Yeah, that's about it. Gingrich elevated the precise skill and the hatred level; before that both sides were pretty much equally guilty. That was what you said before; I think John probably just pretended not to get it so he could lash back with "what, they're both equally guilty but the Republicans are worse?"
Liberty Dog: Can't argue with you there; mass protests have been the Left's tool since the early '60s. What the Right has gotten scary-good at are these fabricated events that look spontaneous. These giant Social Security rallies where it turns out the audience was totally handpicked and all the questions were scripted and rehearsed. Same with those pro-Tom DeLay rallies, where the handpicked audience starts "spontaneously" cheering for DeLay at the exact moment. This is downright eerie. It's like that movie The Truman Show, where Jim Carey starts to figure out that his whole life is a TV show and all his friends are just actors.
As far as rightwing bloggers all acting in unison, it just has that appearance to me, like hundreds of bloggers are getting their scripts and instructions from -- who knows? I'm not talking about the blogbursts where they're upfront about it. It just appears like somewhere, higher up, somebodys' telling his underlings to tell his underlings to tell his subordinates to tell the bloggers what to write about. That's just my perception. I'm not making any accusations. Like I said in an earlier comment, this post, and 2 earlier posts where I also talked about the Right doing everything in unison -- these 3 posts kind of wrote themselves in my head while I was surfing on BE. After about an hour I'd swear I was reading the same blog over and over. Same topic, same talking points.
Maybe the Left does this too and I'm just not seeing it.
Oh, my goodness, ToTo, the ACLU was formed DECADES ago by 2 commie pinkos! Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
So what? And, the point is? What, it's still a big, bad RED organization? What is this, 1958, with commies lurking under every school desk and in every bedroom closet - no, wait, wasn't that the FBI under Hoover?
The ACLU serves it's purpose - just ask Rush Limbaugh. Funny, I didn't hear much "ACLU are commies and should all be killed" after they defended him in his drug case against illegal search of his medical records.
OK Democrat: You're right, it's that behind the scenes organizing that really sets this current batch of Republicans apart. If 500,000 people are demonstrating, at least it's out there in the open where you can see everything. Part of this is just envy on my part. The Left needs a Karl Rove so we can level the playing field.
Liberty Dog: There's plenty of sleaze and corruption on both sides. I don't see any of this as the good guys vs. bad guys; mostly, it's Godawful vs. not quite as bad. So yes, a pox on both their houses.
Bee: Yeah, the ACLU has defended the free speech rights of lots of despicable people of all extremes. Rush Limbaugh, like you mentioned; the Nazis who march through Skokie, IL periodically (where a lot of Holocaust survivors live). I don't know much about the ACLU's inner workings, but it's hard to imagine them being this wicked Communist group that wants to ruin everything America stands for. Sometimes I wonder if Joseph McCarthy is smiling from his grave (or if he's even dead).
Thanks. Looking forward to the next big showdown over at Balance of Power.
Tom - you've played host to an increadible display of (relatively) healthy banter, so kudos to you. It strikes me that this banter examplifies another reason so many continue to see Bush as out of touch, since he claims in response to querries that our nation is more divided than ever, that he just doesn't see it.
"Flawk"?
Is that chatroom talk vocab, like "birfday" and "sammich"?
Sar: Thanks. Yeah, I can't tell if Bush is really that oblivious or if he's just trying to keep a positive spin on things.
Mags: What, flawk isn't the right spelling? Ime not shore, I'll loook it upp.
There is a truism that can be confirmed over and over in history.
The way the Government will treat the worst scum among us, is exactly the way the Government will treat you, should some misfortune or mistake find its way to you.
The ACLU does indeed champion the cause of some despicable characters. And they are absolutely necessary.
Jolly Roger: Yup, you've got it. Democracy isn't perfect; one of the byproducts is that we have to put up with obnoxious viewpoints. If one person gets squelched, who's next?
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