A Page from Stalin’s Playbook
“The Left’s favorite Argument is there is no argument.” Thomas Sowell started a recent column with this statement, a statement that rings true in both the Left’s current strategy and what appears to be one of the Left’s current primary goals: the stifling of the free flow of ideas through the use of tools such as government and political correctness. Sowell’s column in particular discussed the usage of this tactic in regards to man-made Global Warming, one example of a situation where the Left tries to prevent debate by tossing out things like a “consensus” of scientists agree on it or saying that we can’t afford to debate the issues because of the critical window we’re in concerning the future of the planet. Futher discussion of Algore’s “reason” will occur later, in addition to a discussion of how the Left is trying to stifle free speech on talk radio via “political correctness” and a current example of their tactics in action, i.e. discussion on the latest immigration “compromise.”Kivus › Edit — WordPress
In a recent column on Real Clear Politics, Robert Tracinski broke down what might be the “most alarming” part of Algore’s new book _The Assault on Reason_, namely its “justification for government controls over political speech.” Tracinski breaks down how Gore appears to suggest the usage of “tools” like anti-trust laws and the FCC to prevent alternative media sources like FOX News and talk radio from being able to exert influence on the political debate. Using these “tools” they can try to fulfill their idea of having the “ability of the leftist elite to impose its conventional dogmas on the national debate, without the need to persuade or convince others.” Utlimately, Tracinski sums it in the concluding sentence of the piece:”To do this while billing himself as a defender of reason is an act of supreme insolence.”
A current example of the Left trying to stifle free discussion and debate has arisen around the latest attempts at a “comprehensive immigration bill.” The latest “comprehensive” bill (deemed by Rush Limbaugh as the “Comprehensive Destroy the Republican Party Act of 2007″) has been met with criticism from all sides of the political spectrum. The acts by the bills “defenders” however are focussed primarily on those on the Right who oppose the bill (a group that includes William F. Buckley and George Will) labeling people who have legitimate issues with the bills as “nativists”, “protectionists” and, of course, “racists”. Instead of trying to opening debate why they feel the Immigration bill is not purely an amnesty for those who have entered the country illegal, the bill’s defenders lob ad hominem insults at people who question the bill’s authenticity, hoping that accusations of racism will be enough to keep those opposed to the bill from freely voicing their opinion.
The most recent article of NewsMax contains an article entitled _After Imus and Roise, Who’s Next?_ that discusses how “media watchdog groups” have set their sights on trying to give people like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly the Imus treatment. What NewsMax points out, but most media outlets fail to mention, is that these so called “media watchdog groups” are actually the creation of former operatives of the Democrat party and that the people who fund these groups are the people who fund the most radical of the Left wing organizations. Basically, these groups listen to popular conservative media and try to use their “willing accomplices” (as Rush likes to call them) in the “Drive-By” media to try and stir up controversy about quotes taken out of context, hoping that their mere existence will cause people to be more careful with their discussion of issues. They’re simply another tool that the Left and Democrat Party use to try and prevent people from freely expressing their ideas.
The above examples are far from of a full enumeration of the way the Left is trying to stifle the free flow of ideas, but merely a small taste of the tactics they’re employing to try and make their way of thinking the only “acceptable” way of thinking. Thankfully there are forums like Talk Radio that allow some of the propaganda spouted from the Democrat Party to be countered, however, as time goes on, the Left’s efforts to quash those forums will only intensify and it will be up to people who truly value the freedom of speech to stand athwart their efforts and yell Stop!