A Vast Left Wing Conspiracy? I Wish

by Chris Bowers, Tue Apr 05, 2005 at 12:12:43 PM EDT

Byron York is coming out with a book called the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy. Both out of curiosity and as someone who is actively trying to help build a left-wing conspiracy, I'm wondering what vast left-wing conspiracy his book will discuss.

The conspiracy where labor and environmental groups can hardly stand each other, and most progressive organizations have ghettoized themselves into special interests?
The conspiracy where even the lefty blogosphere is divided into at least two camps that rarely link one another?
The conspiracy where Democrats and Greens can hardly stop frothing at the mouth long enough to even talk to each other?
The conspiracy where many prominent Democrats have made a cottage industry out of criticizing the Democratic party?
The conspiracy where Republicans in Congress vote far more in unison than Democrats?
The conspiracy where self-identifying Republicans vote far more in union than self-identifying Democrats in at least eight consecutive Presidential elections?
The conspiracy where supposedly progressive think thanks and supposedly progressive universities and supposedly progressive professions don't even both to invite any progressive bloggers to panels about blogging?
The conspiracy where conservative think tanks are quoted in the media four times more often than progressive think tanks?
The conspiracy where conservatives utterly dominate the guest lists on Sunday morning talk shows?
The conspiracy where two out of three Federal judges were appointed by Republicans, including eleven out of the last thirteen Supreme Court Justices?
The conspiracy where Republicans regularly raise more money than Democrats?

If York is arguing that Democrats, bloggers, billionaires, think tanks, the media, the judiciary, Hollywood, progressive interest groups and academia are engaged in some vast left-left-wing conspiracy, someone better tell Democrats, bloggers, billionaires, think tanks, media, judiciary, Hollywood, progressive interest groups and academics that they are really sucking ass at conspiring. I have dreams that we will make it there someday, but let me tell all my conservative friends what should have been obvious enough to them from recent election results. For quite some time, there has been no left-wing unity, much less conspiracy, to speak of. If you think you are winning in spite of some vast left-wing conspiracy, you are really flattering yourselves.

Tags: Activism (all tags)

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Facts

Oh, Bowers, you are trying to argue logic and facts. Please - none of that stuff matters to the right! You should try ranting and yelling and making shit up and arguing purely based on emotion. It works for them!

by DavidNYC 2005-04-05 12:56PM | 0 recs

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We need one

I would love to be involved in a conspiracy, it sounds like fun. How can the GOP argue that they are being targeted and victimized when they control everything?

by Max Friedman 2005-04-05 01:09PM | 0 recs

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People buy these books

I guess it makes them think they are Men of Letters to read such tripe. My current favorite is "Vile France: Fear, Duplicity, Cowardice, and Cheese" by Denis Boyles. Boyles, not coincidentally, is featured on the National Review Online, where conservatives practice their intellectual incest. You know, the kind where you continuously knock down the same straw man to the ceers of the echo chamber.

I wonder what the French were writing in 1914 when we Brave Americans leaped to their aid. Or what they said in 1940 when, again, we leaped to their aid. Oh that's right, we didn't leap to their aid we were fearful, duplicitous, and cowardly! I'll bet we even ate cheese!

Right wing idiots keep buying this tripe there is nothing that can be done to stop it. If the "left" (whatever that means) is inherently more intellectual, then our best strategy is to sway elite opinion. The masses are too far gone.

by Paul Goodman 2005-04-05 01:53PM | 0 recs

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VLWC

It's a great idea, one that is 30 years overdue. What would we need to take the next step towards making it a reality?

by KDMfromPhila 2005-04-05 02:20PM | 0 recs

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A few $billion and a religion.

by catastrophile 2005-04-05 03:13PM | 0 recs

4a2fab88-ed3b-47a4-8f14-3ec8a24504ac_normal

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hahaha

Sounds like the dipshit had the book already to go out the door,"How they brought down" BUsh.... oh well, didn't work, so what the hell, tried will do. But why even give the piece of shit publicity?

by Jerome Armstrong 2005-04-05 02:52PM | 0 recs

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Re: hahaha

Basically, because I was really struggling to write yesterday, and this idea popped into my head.

by Chris Bowers 2005-04-06 05:43AM | 0 recs

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Sounds like a great idea

Well, if there isn't already a vast left wing conspiracy, I can only ask - WHY NOT?
What have you guys been doing for the last ten years?
But fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on . . .
Anyway, NOW I can see the outline of your plot.
By voting for republicans and putting them into power in November, the secretly left-wing Americans have demonstrated their sheer cunning and vast sneakiness. Its cruel, I say -- you are forcing Republicans --FORCING THEM --to actually run the country and refusing -- REFUSING --to help. You won't vote their way and support SS change and install their judges or anything. Why, its insidious, its outrageous.
Must have been Michael Moore's idea.

by CathiefromCanada 2005-04-05 04:00PM | 0 recs

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Where do I sign up?

Damn. I've been missing out. All these years of being a Democrat out in public, when I could have been a member of a conspiracy. I'd much rather be a member of a conspiracy than the current goatfsck of a party I belong to.

Let's see. I'm the descendent of a long line of Democrats (family legend has it we voted against Lincoln because he was the wrong party) and blue-collar farmers, and I'm following in their political footsteps. I'm college educated, I think Michael Moore is funny and thought provoking and generally right, I'm on the DFA, DFL, and MoveOn mailing lists, I donated over $500 to Dean (and, come to think of it, need to throw him another century on general principles). I've been reading blogs since before they were called blogs (hint: slashdot's been around a long time). My preference would be to haul Bush off to Nuremburg to face a war crimes tribunal, my second choice would be impeachment.

I want to belong to this conspiracy. Currently, all I see are a bunch of public forums. You hold conspiracy meetings on rooftops with bullhorns, and you don't put you secret documents on billboards or webpages (note to Jeff Gannon: if it's on your web page, it's not private anymore). Places where people are not only allowed, but actively encouraged to go look/read/listen/contribute.

Obviously, I'm not a member of the conspiracy yet. So where do I go to join?

If someone tells me to go bury $5000 in my backyard and wait to be contacted by their underground moles, they'll get thwacked.

Brian

by bhurt 2005-04-05 05:27PM | 0 recs