Monday, September 15, 2008

The moral high ground

Who has it? As Jonah Goldberg points out today, liberals and Democrats don't:

"For years now liberal activists have been decrying "the Republican noise machine," Atwater-Rove tactics, the role of conservative think tanks, the evil of rightwing talk radio, etc. And at the same time they been arguing that they need to use those very same tactics. They need their own leftwing talk radio, think tanks, negative attacks, 527s etc. I understand the argument that they need to fight fire with fire (though I hardly concede the assumption that they're merely responding in kind to those evil Republicans). But if you objectively describe a tactic or M.O. as evil and sleazy, it really doesn't reflect well on you and your cause to say — often in the same breath — that "we have to do the same thing."

In fact, not only do they claim they have to do the same (supposedly evil) thing--they claim they have to do it better!