How much longer can the Democratic Party, the mainstream media and other leftists successfully maintain the ruse that intolerance, hatred and the propensity for violence mainly come from the right in this country? The lie is getting old.
The left's ideas continue to fail in the real world, and the majority of the people reject them, which is why their proponents so often disguise their true intentions. Partially because they can't prevail on a level playing field, they use whatever means they can to advance their agenda. One of those means is to pre-emptively strike their political opponents by falsely condemning them for behavior that they — leftists — actually engage in. It's called "projection."
Thus, intolerant, dogmatic leftists paint the right as reality-challenged and science-averse, when leftists are the ones who refuse to allow any contradictory evidence to penetrate their blinders about alleged catastrophic man-made global warming. They insist on continuing to deficit spend our nation into bankruptcy on the rationale that such reckless spending is the only recipe for stimulating an economy, despite dispositive historical and recent evidence proving otherwise.
Instead of joining Republicans in good faith to radically curb this spending, they accuse Republicans of "Draconian" cuts. Fully aware that runaway entitlement spending is guaranteed to bankrupt us eventually — even if we do get a handle on discretionary expenditures — they refuse seriously to address entitlement reform. They choose to exploit the issue as a political weapon to scare seniors and other entitlement beneficiaries.
But one of the worst examples of leftists' projection is their depiction of conservatives as hateful, violent Neanderthals whose mere participation in the marketplace of ideas and the democratic process is inherently dangerous.
If I'm overstating the case, it's not by much. Consider that Bill Clinton, with no basis in reality, slandered and scapegoated conservative talk radio for the Oklahoma City bombing; that Obama's Department of Homeland Security issued a report suggesting that tea party protesters are potential domestic terrorists; that the left uniformly rushed to judgment in indicting conservatives, including Sarah Palin, for the Arizona shootings and persisted with the charge even after it was abundantly clear that it was factually erroneous; and that the left continues to equate conservative talk with hate speech that will lead to violence and advocates selectively suppressing conservative speech through such insidious means as the Fairness Doctrine.
President Obama himself characterized small-town Midwesterners (read: conservatives) as bitter clingers who hold on to their guns, religion and antipathy for people who aren't like them. There was no mistaking his implication that mostly white Christians from small Midwestern towns who embrace the Second Amendment are angry, bitter, violent, backward and racist. It is surprising that he was careless enough, even in an unscripted moment, to reveal those dark thoughts, but it was hardly surprising that he in fact has those thoughts. For leftists habitually portray conservatives as angry, mean-spirited, close-minded and violent.
Most Americans realize just how wickedly inaccurate these smears are. Tea party protesters, to be sure, are righteously indignant about the government's abuse of powers, its defiance of the rule of law, its trampling on the Constitution and, most of all, its reckless spending. But they are invariably peaceful, reasonable and restrained in their decorum. Unlike many leftist protesters, they even clean up after themselves. They are not racists and do not engage in violent behavior. The only racism or violence that surfaces at tea party rallies is that fabricated or fomented by opportunistic leftists.
Those same leftists, meanwhile, often do engage in the very type of behavior they condemn. We are seeing that in spades in the Wisconsin union protests. Talk about hate — and violence!
Where are the leftist media to call out the thugs who assaulted Fox News national reporter Mike Tobin in Madison on Saturday night? Where are their reports about the alleged involvement of international socialists in similar protests, such as the rallies to "save the American dream"? Why didn't they report on the calls by union thugs for blood in the streets? And where are their fair and balanced reports that even after Gov. Scott Walker's proposed cuts, the Wisconsin state workers would do much better than private-sector and even federal workers?
The political left has increasingly shown its ugly face since Democrats won both political branches of the federal government in 2008, and they show no signs of pulling back, despite growing popular resistance from the American people. Their arrogance, extremism and brutality should be their undoing.
David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His new book, "Crimes Against Liberty," was No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction for its first two weeks. To find out more about David Limbaugh, please visit his website at www.DavidLimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
