As noted below, if attending an anti-war rally organized by ANSWER means that you support their hidden agenda, then certainly writing for the Washington Times makes you objectively pro-Moonie. Andrew Sullivan, for instance, takes a regular paycheck from the man who once referred to America as “Satan’s Harvest.” Talk about “depraved” (to use one of Andrew’s favorite words)…
The vast majority of demonstrators arguably had no idea who even organized the rally. But no political commentator can plausibly plead ignorance when it comes to the Reverend Moon.
The point is, guilt by association is a slippery slope. (And spare me the Trent Lott comparisons — that’s guilt by deliberate affiliation, which is a whole different can of worms.)
And as Katha Pollitt noted a few months ago, communists were prominent in the civil rights movement. Would the world be a better place today if there had been right wing bloggers on the case, trying to discredit Dr. King and the March on Washington because of it?
Well, no, it would not.
Atrios is on this, of course, as is David Neiwert. As for me, I’m probably not going to be blogging much for a day or two, for all the usual reasons.
(Edited ever-so-slighty for clarity.)