Glenn Greenwald had a post Friday titled Billionaire Romney donor uses threats to silence critics.
The post concerns Frank VanderSloot, an Idaho businessman who Greenwald alleges bullies political opponents by threatening frivolous defamation and copyright suits. I don’t know if VanderSloot is guilty as charged by Greenwald, but I suspect the story is not as simple as Greenwald makes it.
We are awash in bullying and threats, and let’s not pretend it is something unique or even more common coming from the right.
Greenwald himself engages in a form of political bullying by his use of and defense of the term “Israel-Firster,” a demeaning play on ages-old stereotypes of Jews being disloyal to their country. That perjorative, which almost always is brought up only with regard to Jewish supporters of Israel, is meant to squelch political speech by delegitimizing the motives of those who disagree.
The Koch brothers, who support libertarian and free market causes, have been the subject of an explicit campaign of intimidation from groups like Think Progress. The Koch brothers just released hundreds of e-mails they have received containing death threats and other threats.
Scott Walker, Sarah Palin and others on the Republican side of the aisle also are subject to threats on Twitter and elsewhere from the left.
Opponents of Prop. 8 in California organized boycotts of Mormon businesses. As did advertisers on the Glenn Beck show on Fox News, and a law firm hired to represent the House of Representatives with regard to DOMA.
Media Matters mapped out ways to use “lawfare” against opponents.
And so on, and so on.
We are awash in threats and intimidation and much of it comes from the left.
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