Glenn Greenwald had a post Friday titled Billionaire Romney donor uses threats to silence critics.
The post concerns Frank VanderSloot, an Idaho businessman who Greenwald alleges bullies political opponents by threatening frivolous defamation and copyright suits. I don’t know if VanderSloot is guilty as charged by Greenwald, but I suspect the story is not as simple as Greenwald makes it.
We are awash in bullying and threats, and let’s not pretend it is something unique or even more common coming from the right.
Greenwald himself engages in a form of political bullying by his use of and defense of the term “Israel-Firster,” a demeaning play on ages-old stereotypes of Jews being disloyal to their country. That perjorative, which almost always is brought up only with regard to Jewish supporters of Israel, is meant to squelch political speech by delegitimizing the motives of those who disagree.
The Koch brothers, who support libertarian and free market causes, have been the subject of an explicit campaign of intimidation from groups like Think Progress. The Koch brothers just released hundreds of e-mails they have received containing death threats and other threats.
Scott Walker, Sarah Palin and others on the Republican side of the aisle also are subject to threats on Twitter and elsewhere from the left.
Opponents of Prop. 8 in California organized boycotts of Mormon businesses. As did advertisers on the Glenn Beck show on Fox News, and a law firm hired to represent the House of Representatives with regard to DOMA.
Media Matters mapped out ways to use “lawfare” against opponents.
And so on, and so on.
We are awash in threats and intimidation and much of it comes from the left.
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Comments
McCarthy … excuse me, … I mean Greenwald … should prioritize threats. The domestic threats he imagines and blows up out of all proportion in his mind are still harmless if journalistic superheros fail to defeat them, but Iran’s sincere and serious threat to actually blow up populations, if carried out, would not only kill hundreds of thousands or millions of innocents, it would render the subject matter of Greenwald columns irrelevant and unreadable with a half-life of decades.
Meanwhile, I have to live with the threats of the red-paint brigade who jealously detest my mink and fox ensemble. They can throw their paint, they can splatter, they can spray, but …
Nothing comes between me and my mink.
Greenwald is a liar. Seriously, defamation suits? We do not live in England where there is a cottage industry over such crap. Call me very skeptical on anything Greenwald says…
The threat of suits can have a chilling effect here, but it’s far from one-sided. And sometimes the threat of suit is a reaction to the type of demonization which takes place every day as a political tactic.
I felt sorry for Sarah Palin this time. She really did want to run for President and I think she had to pull back because of the constant threats against her and her family.
I believe her reluctance to openly endorse Newt is because she will not be able to go out and campaign with him. So, this is why Todd is helping out. Of course, I don’t know this for a fact, but I feel like this is probably true. She had a lot of security at CPAC, which should tell us all how mean and lethal the left really is.
Todd started The iron Dog yesterday . He has sent Newt his former guernsey with his sponsor boldly displayed.
It reads STUD BOY .
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