Toward A Single Standard

     There’s been a lot of angry talk on the Right in the aftermath of yesterday’s murderous attack on a group of Republican Congressmen. Anger is understandable; anger is cleansing. But anger is also useful. If we fail to employ it to best advantage now. while it’s fresh and hot, I fear that we’ll regret the lost opportunity.

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     For many, the most enraging thing about our national discourse has been the double standard that appears to be in place: specifically, demonizations and exhortations to violence, if offered by the Left, are treated as no big deal, while anything from the Right that even hints at anger is denounced as “hurtful” and “unconstructive.” We get catechized for our “tone.” Sometimes the participants include conservative figures who really ought to know better.

     Double standards are rife in today’s political environment. The Left gets cleanly away with all manner of vilifications; the Right is admonished for speaking its mind even in conventionally polite terms. Leftists make use of boycott threats and scurrilous accusations to undermine Rightists’ livelihoods and other important connections; Rightists don’t dare, for fear of being accused of “discrimination.” Leftists freely advocate and employ violence and intimidation to silence speakers on the Right; Rightists are accused of “censorship” for merely criticizing Leftist rhetoric.

     If this is allowed to continue, there will be no national discourse, courteous or otherwise. Conservatives simply won’t bother to speak to anyone but other, “pre-qualified” conservatives; Leftists will own the periodicals and the airwaves, and will command the tides of conviction and opinion.

     This morning, Ace deposeth and sayeth:

     Now is not the time to start yelling "Rhetoric doesn't cause violence!" 1, it almost certainly does -- a society that condones thievery will see more thieving, after all -- and 2, we cannot continue living under the "Republican rhetoric only causes violence!" rule.

     A bad rule is many times worse when it is only applied against a disfavored caste.

     I would rather live under a regime in which a Bad Law was applied equally to everyone than a regime in which a Bad Law is only applied against me and my friends, family, and allies.

     How will the left ever learn its "rules" are vicious if the right keeps White Knighting in order to spare them of its pain?

     He has a point...but it needs additional sharpening.

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     There are better and worse ways to implement the Left’s standard against it. Here’s an example of what not to do. Granted, Larry Correia is entitled to his opinions, and to his choice of words. Moreover, I have no doubt that the person upon whom he poured out his vitriol deserves no better. But it gets us nowhere, apart from a little catharsis, to do what Correia did in that piece.

     The proper target isn’t the activists of the Left; it’s their handmaidens in the media. The Left has succeeded in making their double standard stick because of its media allies. Therefore, we must deprive them of those allies, by making the alliance too painful to be borne.

     The two things media outlets value most are:

• Their revenues;
• Their reputations for credibility.

     Those sensitive zones are where we must attack.

     Note that one of those targets is a favorite of the Left, as well. Leftist activists routinely harass conservatives’ employers, often by threatening boycotts. (It doesn’t help that so many corporations have “human resources” departments run by leftist viragoes and vindictive homosexuals.) There’s no reason we can’t do the very same to Left-aligned media institutions, especially considering that we generally dislike those institutions in the first place.

     To attack a media outlet’s reputation for credibility, we must make use of the three loci in which conservatives have a voice:

• The handful of conservative-friendly cable news channels;
• Conservative voices on talk radio;
• The World Wide Web.

     Any deviation from exactitude, proper context, or proportionality the target has exhibited must be brought to the attention of our allies in those zones, and given the proper characterization for the purpose. Needless to say, we must be scrupulously accurate in all such strokes. More to the point, we must be angry about it. Our anger at the disservice to the news-consuming public must be plain and open.

     Enough of such treatment, and both the editorial staffs and the accounting departments at the target will realize that the jig is up.

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     “It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. The gentlemen may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!” – Patrick Henry

     The Left is at war not just with the Right, but with all of “normal” America: the America whose citizens want nothing so much as to be left in peace. Warfare of any sort is unpleasant. Yet once commenced, there’s no backing away from the conflict, short of surrender. There’s no way to build a fortress against the Left’s demands, within which we’ll be safe with the remnants of our freedom.

     Now is the time for the constructive use of our anger. The Left’s double standard must be cast down and destroyed before more blood can be spilled. We may not get another chance.