Bonus:
h/t Blazing Cat Fur
All my adult life as a newspaperman I have been fighting, in defense of the Left and of a sane politics, against conspiracy theories of history, character assassination, guilt by association and demonology. I.F.StoneA "new McCarthyism" is seen in the manner in which guilt by association has been pursued by the likes of Glenn Beck and "mainstream" GOP leadership (if there is such a thing). Katrina vanden Heuvel, The NationIn the United States of America, we don’t practice guilt by association. And let’s remember that just as violence and extremism are not unique to any one faith, the responsibility to oppose ignorance and violence rests with us all. Jeremy Ben Ami, President, JStreet
This is the story of a late-twentieth century invention, namely the ostensible moral and intellectual sin of accusations of "guilt by association."
This trope, "guilt by association," or GbA, has a curious history and a curious present. It has the following characteristics:
1) The trope user is almost invariably a self-described person of the "Left," or, in somewhat more modern usage, a "progressive." The target is someone perceived as, or at least designated as someone opposed to the Left, a "right-winger."
2) The trope has a surface resemblance to accusations of established errors of reasoning -- fallacies -- but in fact it is the user of the trope who is illogical and irrational.
3) The accusation underlying the usage of the trope is as much moral as intellectual; the trope user combines a disdain for the ethics and morality of the target (the ostensible bad faith of so-called right-wing McCarthites, for example) with an accusation of intellectual incompetence (failure to understand elementary logic).
4) The trope enables its users, who are often devoted supporters of totalitarian and other hateful movements, to pose as moral and intellectual superiors.
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| George Galloway carries on the fine tradition of Sir Oswald Mosley |
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| Sam was 1st runner-up |
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| 2nd runner up |
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| Spiro didn't get a single vote! Lucky Spiro! |
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| 3rd runner up, Sir Oswald Mosley (this would have been my choice) |
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| But wait! It wasn't Mel on his own! To remind you of Galloway, it was Mel under the influence of a hell of a lot of.. |
"Assemble at 720 Spadina Avenue (west side of Spadina, south of Bloor) at 4:30 p.m.That address is on the same block and only about a dozen yards south of the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre at Bloor and Spadina. Of all the places in the many square miles of downtown Toronto, they chose the same block as the largest Jewish centre in the old city of Toronto.
Bus will depart downtown Toronto at 4:45 p.m. Bus will return to same location at 10:00 p.m."
Galloway's “last publicity stunt involved him wearing a skin-tight red leotard on Celebrity Big Brother, and then pretending to be a cat licking milk from the palms of a B-list celebrity.”
“Minister Kenney has no interest in getting entangled in another one of George Galloway's desperate cries for someone – anyone – to notice him"