The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy: From Zero to Smearing Mitch McConnell In 60 Seconds

      

By Dan

April 11, 2013

Connect these dots, beginning, where else, in the pages of Mother Jones in January of this year.

Revealed: The Massive New Liberal Plan to Remake American Politics
A month after President Obama won reelection, America’s most powerful liberal groups met to plan their next moves. Here’s what they talked about.
Greenpeaces Phil Radford notes that for decades conservatives have aimed to shrink local, state, and federal governments by reforming the rules so they could install like-minded politicians, bureaucrats, and judges. Radford calls it “a 40-plus-year strategy by the Scaifes, Exxons, Coors, and Kochs of the world…to take over the country.
“So last spring Brune, Cohen, Jealous, and Radford called up their friends on the left and, in June, convened the Democracy Initiatives first meeting. A handful of groups attended, and they began to focus on the triad of money in politics, voting rights, and dysfunction in the Senate.

So, who was there and what else was discussed? Let me help you – keywords Mother Jones, CREW and  Senator McConnell:

By December, the Democracy Initiative’s ranks had swelled to 30 to 35 groups, Brune says. (He expects it to be 50 by the end of the winter.) Other attendees at the December meeting included top officials from the League of Conservation Voters, Friends of the Earth, Public Campaign, the AFL-CIO, SEIU, Common Cause, Voto Latino, the Demos think tank, Piper Fund, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, People for the American Way, National People’s Action, National Wildlife Federation, the Center for American Progress, the United Auto Workers, and Color of Change. (A non-editorial employee of Mother Jones also attended.)
According to a schedule of the meeting, the attendees focused on opportunities for 2013. On money in politics, Nick Nyhart of Public Campaign, a pro-campaign-finance-reform advocacy group, singled out Kentucky, New York, and North Carolina as potential targets for campaign finance fights. In a recent interview, Nyhart said the Kentucky battle would likely involve trying to oust Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Public Enemy No. 1 for campaign finance reform, who faces reelection in 2014. In New York, Nyhart said, activists are pressuring state lawmakers, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to pass a statewide public financing bill in 2013. And in North Carolina, the fight is more about countering the influence of a single powerful donor, the conservative millionaire Art Pope, whose largesse helped install a Republican governor and turn the state legislature entirely red.

Fast-forward to today and what do we find? Oh and bonus points for noticing that ABC basically mimics the Left’s talking point by casting McConnell as a “roadblock” in their headline. But, that’s just … journalism – cough, cough.
Within a span of six hours, Democrat-aligned PPP releases a Kentucky Senate Poll: McConnell remains extremely unpopular,  Democrat-aligned Majority PAC released a micro-site attacking GOP Senate Leader McConnell and ABC bites: Democrats Call Mitch McConnell ‘Washington’s Top Roadblock’. Meanwhile, Mother Jones posted a story featuring what appears to be illegally obtained audio … by whomever recorded it. There may be more to report on that front going forward.
Then, within hours of the Mother Jones story going public, DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil was tweeting about what are now known to be false allegations based upon an inaccurate transcript: “How many McConnell Senate staffers participated in gathering opposition research on Democrats? Was this part of their day-to-work?”
Answer none: Relying on Mistaken Transcription, Liberal Magazine Accuses McConnell of Breaking the Law.
But that didn’t stop CREW – who, as you may recall was at the very same meeting Mother Jones reported on back in January. Coincidence?

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the FBI and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) violated federal law and Senate rules by misusing Senate staff or resources to conduct opposition research on potential campaign opponents.

Thus, the circle is squared on this little look at the vast online Left-wing conspiracy as it exists today.