I bet you can dig up dirt on just about anyone who is prominent enough to be a worthwhile target.

[Jackpine Radical]

Spitzer, Weiner, Clinton, Randy Hopper (remember him?).

Thing is, the RW specializes in doing this kind of thing to anyone who threatens their comfortable and corrupt lifestyles.

A lot of RW types like Newt, Falwell, Vitter, etc. get exposed pretty much by happenstance, but those on the left typically get exposed when it's convenient for their enemies to take them down and distract people from the real issues (Spitzer & Wall St, Weiner & Thomas, Ritter & WMD, Assange & everything). If they can't find dirt, they manufacture it.

Now, I don't hold with manufacturing evidence, but when these RW jerks start shooting fire arrows at us, I think we ought to respond with flame throwers and napalm.

You can bet that anybody as slimy as Breitbart or O'Keefe will have left a trail like a garden slug. Not to mention maybe politicians like Scott Walker. Why the hell don't we start doing some real, down & dirty oppo research, or at least get Anonymous to do it for us?

Personally, I have only slightly more facility with the Intertubes than does my golden retriever, but this place has to be filled with bright, cunning diggers who are up to the challenge.

[RandomThoughts]

1. That is what has to be learned.

Until smears can be seen in perspective, and people don't have there weakness of liking to hear titillating gossip used against them by smear merchants.

[H2O Man]

2. Right.

There were distinct advantages to the stance that Malcolm X took: he was open about his past, and used it to his advantage.

[fascisthunter]

19. and that is how one wins over the Public

[JuniperLea]

3. And if you can't, Breitbart can manufacture some for you...

AND someone that sleazy must surely have plenty of his own dirt. You can't go through life that wicked without racking up skeletons of your very own.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Perzackly.

They are playing with fire in a nitroglycerine factory.

[notadmblnd]

4. I'm certain it can be done. If not dug up, then entrapped at the very least.

This could have been turned around and used to the congressman's advantage, instead, once again- the Dems cowered to the rightwing nutballs.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Technically it would be a sting, not an entrapment.

You wouldn't be luring them into doing something they would not otherwise have done.


And some of the hopelessly optimistic sorts around here were speculating that was exactly what the Weiner-man was doing with his initial non-denial denial.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Absolutely, Jackpine.

Which is why we should be vigilant to find out who is taking over police departments which have the power to sneak into our computers and cellphones.

[sabrina 1]

8. The left needs a well-funded smear machine to do what

Breitbart does. The left is 'unarmed' in what the right views as a 'war'. They are very well armed, and willing to destroy their 'enemies' and they are well funded to conduct these ambushes. Even when they are caught lying, it doesn't matter it seems. The media has no interest in exposing their vile, viscious, orchestrated dirty tricks network of far right organizations.

I don't like what they do, but they are not going to stop, so what should the left do? Continue to go to these 'gunfights' completely unarmed?

Where's Larry Flint these days? I think it's time to start fighting fire with fire. Unless we intend to let them accomplish their goal, which is to completely 'destroy the left' in this country.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. The scumbags are part of the media machine.

The corporate propaganda system doesn't permit its nominally "clean" hand to point fingers at the hand it keeps in the sewer.

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. I fear you will soon be chastised. I hear it now...

"But are you suggesting that WE stoop to THEIR level?"

Now, FWIW (which isn't much), I agree with you. Enough is enough. I am no longer content to see them vanquished -- I want to see them personally and professionally destroyed. They wish no less upon us.

Even Popeye, that known pacifist, reaches his "that's all I can stands, I can't stands no more" moments with some regularity. (Usually, just before he squashes someone squishy.)

[sabrina 1]

17. Lol, well, yes, I am suggesting we go, I don't know that I would

say 'lower' that would be hard. But let me put it this way, if the enemy lives in the dark, muddy underworld, darting out every once in a while, covered in slime to ambush you, then where are you going to wrestle with them, if not in their natural habitat?

They certainly won't crawl out of their disgusting, filthy world and fight fairly, on the issues. We know that, so yes, I guess I am saying we need to go into their world for a while with the goal of totally destroying them, using their very own weapons against them.

They chose this fight, AND the weapons, it is absolutely ludicrous that we keep talking about 'taking the high road' while they are stalking us every step of the way from the gutter.

I want to go find them, root them out, bring them into the sunlight, shine blinding bright lights on them, expose them and whatever it takes to remove this cancer from the political landscape. Iow, yes, destroy them and their entire vile operation. And then we can go back to talking about what is important to this country. But until this little job is taken care of, we will continue to be following their agenda, over and over again!

I am usually a very reasonable person. I hope you believe that! :-)

[Left coast liberal]

21. I agree with you. Nicely put.

[fascisthunter]

20. I Ignore those Folks for a good reason

[alc]

10. yep.

and how many have been caught by someone who wanted favors rather than someone who wanted publicity? Next time I wonder why someone voted in an unexpected way I'll think about more than just being bought off by big business with campaign money.

I don't care what anyone does in private but they better be willing to come clean 100% if caught. At the first hint someone has evidence, they need to be willing to go to the media and spill all the details no matter how embarrassing and no matter what other "options" they've been given. If they aren't, then I do care what they do in private if they represent me.

[rucky]

11. The best comparison to this scandal that I can think of...

is NOT Edwards or Ensign or Sanford or even Gary Hart.

It's the teacher who was fired for posting Facebook pics of her holding up a margarita on her vacation.

[seabeyond]

12. i betcha you cant. a person has to put self out there to get got. not all people make

those choices.

[Jackpine Radical]

14. I think it is a small minority of politicians who don't have skeletons.

I'm not necessarily just talking about internet searches & hacks. How about hiring a private detective? How about sifting through old records? Talking to old associates?

There seems to be something about power, sex & politics that either attracts risk-takers or creates them.

[MineralMan]

15. I think you're wrong about that.

I can't prove it, of course, but I think the general run of elected officials are pretty much OK in terms of their behavior. I've known more than a few politicians personally, and none of the ones I knew had any skeletons in their closets. They were pretty straightforward people. Even those I didn't agree with, politically, were pretty much average people with average lives. None were really prominent, but they were state and federal legislators and holders of other offices.

I believe we make a mistake when we attribute the flaws of some to the rest. I pretty much insist on proof of bad behavior before assuming bad behavior.


I understand your pessimism, but I do not believe your assessment is correct.

[sabrina 1]

23. You would have said all that about Anthony Weiner just a few

days ago. But Weiner, we are now learning in a lot of detail, was a target for many months, years actually, of the slime known as Breitbart and his dirty tricks operation funded by Corporate America and aided and abetted by the media.

I would be willing to bet that if that vast rightwing machine was to focus on some of those politicians you know, they could make them look like criminals, with or without any help from them, as they have already done to other innocent individuals.

This slime targeted decent human beings who had never done anything wrong, like Juan Carlos Vera and Shirley Sherrod, Van Jones, and a whole list of decent people and with their dirty tricks, lies and edited videos manufactured behavior that didn't exist. They are now being sued by at least two of those good people and I hope they get some pretty big settlements.

To them, it doesn't matter whether the person has actually done anything wrong or not, the results will be the same, as in the case of many whose lives were virtually destroyed by them.

Weiner was doing something morally wrong, lucky for them, but it wouldn't have mattered. They were targeting him anyhow. And would have invented something if they could not actually catch him doing wrong.

Which is why I will not support him stepping down. I don't believe in caving to bullies, the way the Democratic Party has done over and over again. And far more important to this country than a Congressman flirting on the internet, is the harm done to this country by these racists, which they are, and their funders whose goal it is, is to completely destroy the 'left' in this country. They've had decades to build this movement, and millions of dollars behind it, we need a similar movement now to counteract them and to put on end to their influence on this country's politics.

Weiner is a minor issue in all of this, but there will be more of it, innocent lives will continue to be smeared and destroyed until Democrats start standing up to them.

And they won, not because they exposed one individual's personal sexual behavior, but because that is what we are talking about, instead of talking about them and their negative and harmful influence on this country. They changed the dialogue from real issues, to a relatively trivial matter and everyone jumped on board.

Fortunately there are some who are still capable of seeing the bigger picture, and the implications of NOT dealing with this vast movement, and it is a movement, whose goal it is, is to destroy this democracy.

[seabeyond]

16. i see absolutely no evidence of that. on the contrary. if so many had something that could be

foudn, then found it would be. too many of the politicians going thru arent in trouble. i think it is much easier for these people, at this level, to be found out than be able to hide it.

so i have to conclude that fewer have something to be found.

all of it just a guess on both our parts.

[fascisthunter]

18. Ha! I was just going to post something similar

[GeorgeGist]

22. You think they got prominent by being honest?

:SNORT: