Rational only when it suits their needs: Phil Dragoo and Daily Kos

item the first:
I found a 3×5 slip of paper on the ground outside, just now, that looked like this:

In case that caption didn’t come through, it says “Trust your Doubts.” What? The evidence has failed to convict Obama of having any ties to radical Islam, so you should instead go on a gut reaction engendered by similarity of names? Wait! McCain… Scotland… located near Ireland… OH MY GOODNESS MCCAIN IS AN  IRA SUICIDE BOMBER!!! yeah exactly that logical.

I’ve checked out the rather hideous site this pic comes from (identical to the one on the paper I found), and it’s a mishmash of unsupported innuendo, ranting, racism, and fearmongering. Precious little information to be found, except that which has already been thoroughly debunked by nonpartisan groups.

Item the Second:
Consider finding a popular right-wing blog that says this:

Here is a list of contributors to Senator Obama’s campaign. Each contributor is identified as Muslim, Christian, or Other. Please dig up dirt on these people. See if they have contributed to less than honorable causes, or if any one of them has done something otherwise egregious. If so, we can make the Obama campaign return their contributions, or face a bunch of negative publicity. Remember that these people are using “reform” and “hope” as their primary motivation to support Obama. if you find anything that belies that in any way…well, you know what to do.

What would you think? Is this a smear tactic or not? (shocking answer after the cut)

This particular scenario has not happened in this form; but those are nearly the exact words used in the Daily Kos’ latest counterattack on the individual donors for Proposition 8 in California. This post is not to argue the proposition; It’s a divisive, contentious issue, especially in a place like California that has large populations of both progressive liberals and conservative Christians. But this kind of debate and conflict is what this country is all about, right? We have systems, and then we have procedures for tweaking our  systems. Nobody with half a brain expects ideological unity in this day and age. Compromise is our bread and butta. I also know Daily Kos has never pretended to be anything but a far-left site (case in point: their little survey on Proposition 8 includes varying shades of why someone would take Kos’ side, but the only option to indicate disagreement equates the reader with Sarah Palin), but holy freaking cow, man.

Giving your readers the list of individual LDS donors to the Prop. 8 campaign (careful to identify who is Mormon and who is not), and then calling for your minions to dig up dirt on them? How is this anything but slimy intimidation? To quote from Kos:

Find us some ammo.

Use any LEGAL tool at your disposal. Use OpenSecrets to see if these donors have contributed to…shall we say…less than honorable causes, or if any one of these big donors has done something otherwise egregious. If so, we have a legitimate case to make the Yes on 8 campaign return their contributions, or face a bunch of negative publicity.

Feel free to use Lexis-Nexis searches as well for anything useful, especially given that these people are using “morality” as their primary motivation to support Prop 8…if you find anything that belies that in any way…well, you know what to do.

This is the kind of tactic we’ve come to expect from admirers of Karl Rove, not those who profess “progressive” ideals. Maybe the key comes in poster Hekebolos’ statement “when the church and its members invest millions of dollars in an attempt to write discrimination into my state’s constitution and divorce my friend Brian against his will, there will be hell to pay.”

Sorry, Hekebolos, but welcome to the republic. Pay your hell in a less morally reprehensible (and more clearly legal) way, please. As everyone is fond of reminding us when it suits their immediate needs, both the beauty and horror of this system is that stuff like this can happen. You can’t say “time out from democracy” when you don’t agree with the morality of the people who are more successful than you at driving legislation. And if you think self-government doesn’t hurt people, you’ve been living under a rock. That’s the way it works.