Differences of opinion and ideology, passionately held, drive the opposition against ObamaCare.

Yet to shut down the effort to overturn ObamaCare’s unpopular assault on freedom and prosperity, the left resorts to a frequently employed tactic. They and their media co-conspirators find whack jobs holding stupid signs – or saying or doing stupid things – and say, “See! Right-wing intolerance, hatred and racism fuel this movement.”

Idiots, wing nuts and haters exist – on both sides of the political spectrum – in a country of 300 million people. Those who threaten and engage in violence should be arrested and prosecuted. Those who use incendiary language should be denounced.

But which “hater” said the following, and where was the condemnation?

“The (George W.) Bush administration and the Nazi and Communist regimes all engaged in the politics of fear. … Indeed, the Bush administration has been able to improve on the techniques used by the Nazi and Communist propaganda machines.” Was it a) Miss Piggy, b) Lady Gaga, c) the Dog Whisperer, or d) George Soros, billionaire Democratic supporter?

“(George W. Bush’s) executive branch has made it a practice to try and control and intimidate news organizations, from PBS to CBS to Newsweek. … And every day, they unleash squadrons of digital brownshirts to harass and hector any journalist who is critical of the President.” a) Dan Rather, b) Katie Couric, c) Helen Thomas, d) Al Gore, Nobel laureate.

“(Republicans are) coming for our children. They’re coming for the poor. They’re coming for the sick, the elderly and the disabled.” a) Mother Teresa, b) the Grim Reaper, c) Jack Bauer, d) Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

The contest between Democrats and Republicans is “a struggle of good and evil. And we’re the good.” a) Wolverine, b) Spider-Man, c) RoboCop, d) Howard Dean, then-Democratic national chairman.

When asked whether the number and prominence of blacks in the Bush administration suggested a lack of racism, he said, “Hitler had a lot of Jews high up in the hierarchy of the Third Reich.” a) Adolf Eichmann, b) Joseph Goebbels, c) Heinrich Himmler, d) Harry Belafonte, entertainer and liberal activist.

He called President Bush’s perceived lack of help for Katrina victims “ethnic cleansing by inaction” and called it a “calculated … policy.” He added, “So by simply not doing anything to alleviate this … crisis that was so greatly exaggerated by Katrina, they let the hurricane do the ethnic cleansing, and their hands are clean.” a) David Duke, b) Jack the Ripper, c) Jeffrey Dahmer, d) Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

“When you look at the way the (then-Republican-controlled) House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation. And you know what I’m talking about.” a) Kunta Kinte, b) Harriet Tubman, c) Booker T. Washington, d) then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, former first lady and current secretary of State.

“George Bush let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and because they were black.” a) Ming the Merciless, b) Ivan the Terrible, c) Vlad the Impaler, d) Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

“It’s not ‘spic’ or ‘nigger’ anymore. (Instead, Republicans) say, ‘Let’s cut taxes.’” a) Bernie Madoff, b) Bonnie and Clyde, c) Bennie and the Jets, d) Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y.

“You’re damn right; Dick Cheney’s heart’s a political football. We ought to rip it out and kick it around and stuff it back in him.” a) Dr. Seuss, b) Dr. Oz, c) Dr. J, d) Ed Schultz, MSNBC and radio host.

“We are in danger. The extreme right wing has seized the government. Tonight (John) Ashcroft and the CIA and the FBI and Homeland Security and the IRS can work together. So look out, because without a definition of who is a terrorist, anyone can be. … Martin Luther King could have been. … The right-wing media, the FBI – they are targeting our leadership.” a) Mr. T, b) Flavor Flav, c) Gary Coleman, d) the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“And what we are dealing with right now in this country is whether we are having a kind of bloodless, silent coup or not. … (George W. Bush) is trying to bring to himself all the power to become an emperor – to create Empire America,” a) Darth Vader, b) Satan, c) the Rev. Pat Robertson, d) Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.

Lanny Davis, former special counsel to President Bill Clinton, campaigned for Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Lieberman, despite his reliably left-wing voting record, infuriated the left for supporting the Iraq War. Davis found himself on the receiving end of “hate and vitriol of bloggers on the liberal side of the aisle” and “their extremism, bigotry and intolerance.” A friend and fellow Lieberman supporter, said Davis, became “fearful for his physical safety.”

“I held on to the view,” Davis admitted, “that the left was inherently more tolerant and less hateful than the right. … I have reluctantly concluded that I was wrong. The far right does not have a monopoly on bigotry and hatred and sanctimony.”

The majority of Americans oppose ObamaCare. Their opposition is not racist, fascist or intolerant. Let us work to prevail.

COPYRIGHT 2010 LAURENCE A. ELDER
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