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Deceit and the Left

DR, our resident "conservative Republican" recently made a confession on Citizen Smash's blog:

I think you are just trying to provoke needless confrontation at our vigils. We at Code Pink will not tire from our mission of bringing the troops home, no matter how much deceitful propaganda is written about us.

If you can prove we do not support the troops, we will more than gladly stop holding our vigils. Until then, please drop the divisive charade and try to accept that one can oppose the war while supporting the troops.

This "conservative Republican" has been active on the threads lately, calling his "fellow" conservatives "Bushbots" and the like, while mouthing suspiciously liberal-flavored phrases. Now we find out he's a member of one of the most vile anti-war organizations in the United States. And in that Smash thread, unlike here, he doesn't claim to be a conservative Republican. He does have this to say, though:

Again, the people of Fallujah may be your enemies, but they are not Code Pink's.

We stand behind the people of Fallujah 100%.

This thread isn't entirely about DR, though, but of a trend he likely represents. I have spent a lot of time on conservative sites, and know a lot of conservative people. None of them has ever admitted to going into a liberal site pretending to be a liberal. Sure, some of us have trolled liberal sites from time to time stirring up the pot, and I'm sure conservatives do pretend to be liberals at times, but the practice seems more widespread on the left.

Some weaselly little techno musicians actually encouraged it:

"For example, you can go on all the pro-life chat rooms and say you're an outraged right-wing voter and that you know that George Bush drove an ex-girlfriend to an abortion clinic and paid for her to get an abortion. Then you go to an anti-immigration website chat room and ask, 'What's all this about George Bush proposing amnesty for illegal aliens?'"

How effective can this practice really be? I've seen it on numerous discussion boards, heard callers try to fake conservatism on various radio talk shows (Howie Carr does an especially fine job rooting out and slapping down such offenders) and have seen examples of it on the web.

This practice isn't clever and I doubt it has allowed liberals to win many converts. In fact, it shows an inability on the part of liberals who practice it to articulate what they really believe. If the Republicans keep gaining in the polls, I think we can expect to see more of this type of behavior.

I am not an especially partisan Republican. I voted for our Democrat congressman in the last election, and I have voted Democrat for governor a few times. The left's actions since Bush won in 2000, and especially since he was re-elected in 2004, though, have changed me a bit. Until the Democrat party separates itself from the fringe left, until a Democrat politician has the courage to speak out against an "anti-war" organization that mocks the sacrifice of wounded troops; until a Democrat politician has the decency to stand up against the unhinged element in their party, I will vote straight Republican.

And I'm from Maine, so that means voting for Snowe and Collins. And that hurts.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Daily Kos diary to create...

UPDATE - Warden found this site, which has a few "suggestions" for CodePinkers on how best to "support the troops." Some examples:

Life-sized coffin with idea that potential recruits can "try out" their future/post-service home? "Real military benefits include this oak box?"

Chalk: Bring sidewalk chalk to draw outlines of fallen soldiers at the entry way of the Center, or draw footprints with arrows and a message saying, "This way to death/war/lies/deception"

"Mothers don't let your children grow up to be killers"

Some support.