In the ongoing Human Rights Campaign attempt to extort money from Target, it seems the Left isn’t too hip on supporting their ‘allies.’  HRC is coming under increasing fire from the GLBT community for trying to ‘equalize’ the political contributions of the Target Corporation.  They have staked a great deal of press and prestige on this issue and Moveon.org has stepped in to cover their rears, as it were.  Moveon created an ad that even MSNBC won’t air.  There are several questions which arise in this situation.  Will Target buckle?  Are HRC and Moveon.org fighting a losing battle?  What are the limits to the Left’s shakedown?  Most of all, what strategies can we learn and use against them?

Yesterday, I went on my weekly shopping trip to my local SuperTarget.  I wondered, as I wandered in, whether the store would be empty or busy as usual.  This particular Target store is adjacent to the looniest and most leftist precincts in the state of Minnesota.  If a boycott was going to take hold, here was the place. 

Instead, the parking lot was filled with the usual Prius’ with Obama/Biden stickers plastered on the back.  The equal signs of HRC proliferated with the same frequency as normal.  Rage Against the Machine t-shirts and multiple piercings abounded throughout the parking lot.  Several lesbian and gay couples made their way to the front doors.  Inside the store, it was as busy, or busier, than usual.  The store shelves were depleted.  The harried cashiers had longer lines and frantic looks.  There would appear to be no boycott here.

Also yesterday, the DFL-controlled StarTribune had a commentary by a gay professor from the University of Minnesota urging the GBLT (I call them GiBLets) community and its allies to commit to flipping Target.  The accompanying editorial scolded Moveon.org for their childish ad.  In the comments section online, the writers mostly mocked and laughed at HRC and Moveon for their blatant protection ring attempt.  The comments that blasted the boycott as duplicitous and mean-spirited had a heavily favored edge over the usual socialist/progressive wingnut posts.  What was even more surprising was the tiny number of pro-HRC comments to either article. 

What is going on here?  In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic of Minnesota moonbats, the left always gets united and suppresses any dissent.  Corporations are regularly shaken down for contributions which lead to their own destruction.  Professional leftists can always rely on their brethern to use economic leverage to silence opposition.  So, what happened here.

The professional left would probably account for this one-hand-clapping as selfish, mean-spirited, blind adherence to ‘the people’s’ reliance on Target for employment.  They are afraid Target will close up shop and flee to South Dakota or Utah.  So the narrative goes, the regular citizen is simply suppressed by the big, evil, capitalist giant.

Nothing can be farther from the truth.  Several commentors stated they appreciated Target’s committment to helping the community and one little campaign contribution wasn’t going to change that.  Another openly scoffed and reminded the readers that Target got a 100% rating FROM THE HRC.  Criticism of Moveon.org was more scathing.  Some called the anti-Target ad sophomoric and dumb.  Others pointed out that unions have been contributing and working for Democrats for years.  Why can’t a corporation protect itself. 

I took a different tack.  Like Alinsky and Obama, I decided to speak in the language they understand using their own rules against them.

To the Moveon.org LA Times piece, I wrote;

Oliver Twist – The Moveon.org Musical

For twenty years the left wing collectivists have told the GLBT community that if they gave money, volunteered and became stalwart members of the Democratic Party Machine, we’d get our due. With hat in hand, we’ve stood patiently waiting for some crumbs from the master’s table. When we got our turn, what did we get? We got gruel, and not much of it. We got Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. We got unbelievable debt and payoffs to unions and lackey corporations. We got corrupt politicians that lined their pockets with our money. And then, we are told to go back to the end of the line for more gruel. Enough. Gay people should not have to subliminate their other hopes and dreams for a place at the Democratic Party kids’ table. Give up on these collectivists and their identity politics. Instead, resist those who are destroying our American Dream for more power and more money. Don’t believe for a second that these Democratic Party hacks speak for all of those who are in the LGBT community. They are nothing more than a bunch of extortionists who are hellbent on collecting money from the productive class and handing to their friends in the government class in turn to get a payoff themselves.

To the University of Minnesota professor, I argued;

You Don’t Speak For Me

I may be gay, but that is not the be all and end all of me or my political opinions. The Human Rights Campaign, a Democratic Party shill, demanded, “Target can still make it right by making equivalent contributions to equality-minded organizations and by making clear the procedure by which they will evaluate potential contributions in the future to include issues of LGBT-equality” This is the autocratic, extortionist message of this editorial. Not only must Target payoff left-wing organizations, but the HRC and far-left whackadoodles should become a kind of Star Chamber that ‘approves’ of what contributions are given to whom. What is this dastardly, evil, misguided contribution that causes HRC and Munson so much heartbreak? It’s a contribution to a pro-business group that supports Tom Emmer, who, according to Munson is “a dangerous anti-gay extremist.” What is Emmer’s ‘dangerous’ belief? Does he believe gays and lesbians should be shot on sight? Does he believe in mandatory re-education camps or witch-hunts? No. He believes marriage is between a man and a woman, a belief that far-right extremist, Neocon, cowboy President Barack Hussein Obama shares with Emmer. Don’t believe disingenuous collectivist hacks like this professor. Many of us are sick of having socialists pretend they speak for us. They do not.

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Now, I’m not suggesting that my humble words are more powerful or influential than those on the Left.  Nor, am I say my voice is being heard or heeded.  What I am saying is there are certain tactics the Democratic Left has used to their advantage and can be used against them.  Several things are incumbent in building their tribal cohesion keeping their disparate factions in line.  These unwritten rules keep the party faithful focused, united, and without them they begin to splinter.  (Note-I use ‘tribal’ against them as they tried to use it against us).

1.     Factions have first dibs on issues that directly relate to them.

2.     Factions are always to be considered ‘unitary’ and any dissent outside that unit must be isolated and silenced.

3.     Factions must come to the aid of a threatened faction, absolutely.

4.     Factions must all adhere to the collectivist mantra, all for one, and one for all.

5.     No faction shall be allowed success in all their goals.  Once a faction becomes satisfied, it will no longer adhere to the collective.  Victimhood is the glue that binds them.

Here is how I attempted to ‘break’ those rules. 

1.     As a gay man, I have the right to speak about the issue.  When a straight person speaks, they can charge them with homophobia.  Such tactics don’t work effectively when the speaker is a member of the affected faction.

2.     My stance outside the factional unity is incredibly threatening to them.  They are more frightened of factional calving than anything else.  In addition, I use the time-tested, ‘I’m not the only one’, rhetoric.  They don’t know who else may listen and stand against them.  Note* This is the one Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann challenge them on.  Women are simply Democrats and if there are some that are not, they must be crazy.

3.     This is where I invoke Barack Obama.  He’s the collectivist leader and yet stands against them on this issue.  He may grunt and nod his head in the right direction, but deep down, they know he’d throw them right under the bus, back up, and drive over them again.

4.     I was very particular and ‘in their faces’ about not just doubting, but rejecting the collectivist dogma.  I call it out as misdirected and destructive to the community.  I question the very premises on which it stands and the moral imperatives it promises.

5.     The GiBLeT community is particularly sensitive about this subject.  Democrats have not been very helpful to the group.  In fact, they have been singularly unresponsive considering their complete control of Washington.  This grates on the nerves of all GiBLeTs.  It also brings the question to the mind of the black community and the promises left unkept after years on the Democratic Party Wish List but only getting a smile and a wink.

In any case, I find this fascinating to watch and analyze.  There are lessons to be learned from this developing saga.  The Left is in a precarious position of their own making, and they are digging themselves deeper.  But, we can use their tactics against them.  Like a field scientist, we can make observations, make a theory, test that theory, and proceed from those results.  This is my analysis of the implosion of the Democratic Party extortion racket.  I hope it keeps failing.