The Fringe Grows

Shawn Macomber nails one of the things that's been bothering me about the left over the last few years. While shouting about the crushing of dissent and playing martyrs over a serious misunderstanding of what constitutes censorship, the activist left has been the side that does it's utter best to silence the opposition.

Not once during the Democrats' convention did I see any large number of Republicans show up to chant, "DNC go home!" Not once did crowds of conservatives attempt to silence Democrats with obscenity or physical intimidation. Not once did Bush supporters question the legitimate right of a political party to gather for a convention. Yet all of this is commonplace at the Republican event.

"This is what democracy looks like!" the crowd chants as they demand that Republicans' right to assembly and speech be beaten to a bloody pulp.

If the left is serious about "dialog" and about the idea that we need to respect each other's rights to free political speech and freedom to assemble, they should put these groups on a leash. They do nothing to "further the debate" and they rarely do anything to win converts to the left's causes.

I don't deny the existence of a scary right wing--the racists and the "God hates fags" crowd, for instance--but the grand majority of the GOP speaks out against both the tactics and the message of these people. On the left, though, the fringe is front and center, rarely denounced, and often given a seat at the grown-ups' table.

If the left really wants to make inroads in Iowa, this can't be a winning strategy.

Read the story.

Posted by zombyboy at August 30, 2004 10:03 AM