Anyone else think the approach of linking everyone you dislike with devil de jour, Ron Paul

[cthulu2016]

14. It's an excellent method to drive some people away from the Democratic party

I am not suggesting that folks who want a 24/7 purge of people for the sake of purging people actually seek to harm the president and the party.

I think they believe they are helping. They are mistaken, of course.

There is an important statistical illusion that buttresses their view. If you drive everyone out of the room who disagress with you then you will feel that you have convinced everyone in the world of your position, because the room is all you see of the world.

In practice, the whole Ron Paul McCarthyite spasm becomes an ironic argument for Ron Paul. The guilt-by-association Paulopalooza bullshit is what George Orwell would have called "objectively pro Ron Paul."

I do not, however, take the additional step of accusing that group of being Ron Paul supporters.

And that is the difference.

They seem to want to force the question, though doing so can only drive people out of the party.

Eseentially, the argument they make (intentionally or not) is "If you don't want war and surveillance and a universal criminal mentality then you do not belong in the Democratic Party."

That is a poisonous message that is, in my view, pretty obviously not good for the party. A de facto Democratic Party loyalty oath demanding that one embrace authoritarianism is a very, very, very bad idea.

But they know best...