Reply #6: The author of that article wrote a book about strategy called /The 48 Laws of Power/.

[LoZoccolo]

In it, I think he gives a better strategy:

Law 11

Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted.  The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have.  Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear.  Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

Random teabaggers on the corner have no incentive to gain or maintain credibility with us. If we were to keep entangling ourselves with them, and make it cost something - even if only in embarassment - to spread bullshit, then you have some power to both reward good and punish bad. Making a complete catastrophic break opens the door to them having no incentive to leave their teabaggery.