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The Intimidation Game: How the Left Is Silencing Free Speech Hardcover – June 21, 2016
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For nearly 40 years, Washington and much of the American public have held up disclosure and campaign finance laws as ideals, and the path to cleaner and freer elections. This book will show, through first-hand accounts, how both have been hijacked by the Left as weapons against free speech and free association, becoming the most powerful tools of those intent on silencing their political opposition. The Intimidation Game provides a chilling expose of political scare tactics and overreach, including:
- How Citizens United set off a wave of liberal harassment against conservative politicians
- The targeting of Tea Party groups by the IRS
- How Wisconsin prosecutors, state AGs, and a Democratic Congress shut down political activists and businesses
- The politicization by the Obama administration of a host of government agencies including the FEC, FCC and the SEC
- Print length416 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTwelve
- Publication dateJune 21, 2016
- Dimensions6 x 1.06 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101455591882
- ISBN-13978-1455591886
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"There have been a lot of good books of late decrying the increasingly repressive climate towards free speech. But none have connected the dots between the Obama White House, Congressional Democrats, and the spider web of 'grassroots' organizations the way Kim Strassel does in THE INTIMIDATION GAME. It is required reading for those who want to know what's behind the supposedly spontaneous daily outrages we see every day."―Jonah Goldberg
"Public shaming encouraged by leading political figures. Pre-dawn police raids. Federal agencies targeting groups and individuals because of their political views. It's hard to believe these things are happening-and taking place with increasing frequency-in the United States. But they are. And in this searing indictment of the systematic attempt of the political left to shut down political debates they cannot win-Kimberly Strassel provides the often-horrifying details. THE INTIMIDATION GAME is a shocking and assiduously well-reported chronicle of the illiberal tactics of the new progressives-and a must-read for anyone who wants to understand American politics today."―Stephen Hayes
"Strassel draws a timely, convincing, and alarming picture of liberal governance and a
Democratic machine that's eager to bully resistant citizens."―Publishers Weekly
"An eye-opening lesson in the law of unintended consequences: where "a vast new disclosure regime" intended to curb corruption has spawned a corruption all its own."―Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Twelve; First Edition first Printing (June 21, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1455591882
- ISBN-13 : 978-1455591886
- Item Weight : 1.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.06 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #501,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #641 in United States National Government
- #1,248 in Political Conservatism & Liberalism
- #1,327 in Political Commentary & Opinion
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Kimberley Strassel is a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, based in Washington. Since 2007 she has written the "Potomac Watch" column and has worked for the Wall Street Journal in Brussels, London, and New York. An Oregon native, Ms. Strassel is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in Virginia with her three children.
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Strassel examines the First Amendment to the Constitution with regard to freedom of speech, she looks at the way politicians use manipulative tactics to alter only the way corporations can donate money, but then they ignore the way unions do, the way they use the IRS as a personal arm to explore, illegally, the records of 501(c)(3) companies, seeks to curb free speech by trying to pass a law to force the disclosure of donors to certain groups so they can be attacked for political purposes, and uses other subtle and secret methods which are really frightening to contemplate in the long run.
Strassel covers the tactics used by some politicians to manipulate the participants in many conservative organizations by 1-falsely accusing them of interfering in politics, 2-demanding their records, present and past, that they have no right to demand, 3-creating divisiveness and a general atmosphere of fear because of the governments support of their tactics and the governments inordinate ability to punish, gag and keep those falsely accused hanging for months and even years on end, 4-spreading false innuendos with abandon about anyone who opposes them in order to humiliate them and their families and associates, and 5- by stalling any actual action to adjudicate the issues which ultimately unfairly gives these progressive operatives the upper hand.
The aim of those involved in this behavior seems to be to abort our democracy in an explicit effort to gain the advantage, even when they know their cause and their effort walks the thin line between acceptable and unacceptable, immoral and moral, truth and lie, constitutional and unconstitutional. Some of the people who do this are well known, for example Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer. They drag out the phony implied issues in order to create disinterest and distract everyone from the real issues. By planting false narratives they create false scandals, by using defamatory terms over and over, they define issues and people improperly. The lemmings simply follow in their footsteps lockstep, and their victims are left to swing in the wind and suffer the costs and consequences of their undignified, unethical and sometimes illegal betrayals of our constitution, which has previously made us the greatest and most successful country in the world. The power is always with the party in power, if that party changes, do those same people want to suffer the slings and arrows of their own doing.
The system is so hijacked that people, innocent people and businesses, small and large, are afraid to speak out, afraid to be targeted by a party that has lost their moral compass in favor of winning at all costs, even when they know they are lying, cheating, behaving illegally, even unconstitutionally, and in some cases criminally, by remaining unified in their poor and shameful conduct, supporting each other regardless of the message they hear. Sadly, many in our government, schools (teachers and students alike) and courts are just as biased and self-motivated with self-interest. They refuse to think honestly about their actions and refuse to try and learn anything new about issues that might jeopardize the candidate their party runs (or their particular project), even when that candidate is unprepared, unfit, inexperienced and often has a criminal record and his proposals are unjust. But don’t take my word for it. Before you try to contradict the messenger, as so many tend to do with shouts and calls for boycotts, with name calling and civil protests, read the information widely available for yourself, and then decide. If you still choose to perpetuate the scandals that have been largely created, sometimes out of thin air, if you still will not speak out for justice because at the moment you are on the receiving end and are profiting from it, then you will be responsible for what you sow. Sadly, those you hurt will also be damaged by what you reap in the process.
One candidate may say things inartfully, but one has already done things inartfully. If the presentation of the message is more important than the message, then our electorate has been kidnapped by this new world of technology with its sound bites and 24 hour news coverage. If oppositional opinion or preference is silenced by a corrupt administration, which will then continue to rule for years to come, in one form or another, and we all don’t hold ourselves to a higher standard exposing those tactics, our lower standards will not only defeat worthy candidates, but will defeat what we know as America.
This book exposes the sometimes underhanded methods used by those who represent us. It exposes the practice of using sinister methods to intimidate, and therefore stop opposition. Laws have been enacted and individuals have been targeted with unfounded threats and law suits in an effort to prevent any effective opposition, and all this is being done in plain sight with those who are doing it very aware that their lawsuits are trivial and their behavior is unworthy. Simply put, they realize that a lie told often enough is often believed and they have raised the act of lying to an art form. The law allows those with the power to blackmail their victims, and then the law actually forbids their victims from going public by threatening them with incarceration and character assassination. These tactics have been successful, and so they continue. Our educators no longer seem to want to stimulate intellectual discussion in the classroom, but rather they present one-sided views on most subjects and issues, often taking unprecedented political positions. Those with the bully pulpit have the administration firmly in their corner, an administration willing to defy the constitution to further its agenda. Therefore, it is fairly easy for them to tip the scales in their favor and possibly steal elections which, after reading the book, will definitely seem rigged to most readers. The dilemma is that they are not rigged in the traditionally understood meaning of being rigged, and so the spin often blinds our citizens to the truth. Does anyone consider what will happen if the power ever changes hands?
Our citizens are influenced by the constant attention paid to subjects that arouse emotion rather than intellectual and meaningful thought, and the use of famous athletes and entertainment giants who may know less than the voters and who do not share their interests but feather their own nests by supporting candidates who then shower them with favors and positive attention. They listen only to the sound bites of those who speak with a gift of gab and possibly are more charismatic, those who may say do as I say and not as I do, They are not encouraged to do their own research, and they often prefer to support their own personal agenda over the needs of their country, and therefore they continue to vote without thought about a future for themselves or America. They are simply seeking immediate gratification for their own needs and often that is simply a hand-out rather than a hand-up. The “me” generation has reappeared in a hybrid form which is far more dangerous than it once was because it has no idea of what will happen next and does not care. The pot calls the kettle black and that pot is on fire, but no one has the courage to put it out.
Before you judge me or the author, read the book and judge for yourself. Learn both sides of the issues. Do not just go off into the sunset like so many Democrats and Progressives, Conservatives and Republicans do, singing lalalala…it may spell your country’s swan song.
If you are a die-hard Sanders or Clinton loving liberal, or devout socialist, you won’t read this book, and this book probably isn’t for you anyway, because it’s about you.
On the other hand, if you are an open-minded Democrat (is that a conundrum, dichotomy or an oxymoron?) a Regan Democrat, a constitution supporting, gun toting, right-wing, tea party conservative nut (as the bulk of patriotic Americans would likely be called by the left) or anything in between, this book will send chills down your spine, scare the he*l out of you at best, terrify you at worst, and give you nightmares. But it should also wake up a lot of reasonable rank and file Americans as to what’s going on in our country and how we have already lost a lot of our First Amendment rights, not to mention the current move by liberals, including Hillary Clinton, to amend the First Amendment to put the federal government in charge of speech, and to determine what’s free and what isn’t.
I’ll bet you didn’t know that, regardless if you are a Republican or a Democrat, if you contribute to or are a part of an organization who supports an idea contrary to the establishment’s position on a subject, and don’t walk and talk the party line, you are risking your job, business, savings, marriage, family and/or reputation; virtually everything you have, and may even be prosecuted. Did you know that the federal government strives to acquire the names and addresses of members of, and donors to, of these opposition organizations, and keeps data bases of these people with the intent of harassing and intimidating them, and silencing them in retaliation for their political beliefs, via federal agency’s like the IRS, FBI, DOJ, FEC, and in some cases even the FDA, or by making the data public, so you will be harassed by citizens with opposing views? I sure didn’t, at least until I read this book. Can you make a significant or even nominal contribution to your favorite conservative group or local conservative politician without fear of a visit from the IRS or your local sheriff? After reading this book, I fear not.
Similar to Kirsten Powers’ book, “The Silencing: How the left is Killing Free Speech”, this book is about the First Amendment, but Ms. Powers talks about losing; Ms. Strassel talks about lost. It’s over, gone kaput. There are enough left wing zealots already in place in the judiciary, federal, state and local governments; elected, appointed, or employed, that all of the subversives can never be routed out. All of them have nefarious intentions, and have been and will continue to be subversive with regard to constitutional rights, particularly free speech, with little or no respect for the rule of law.
Ms. Strassel talks about how in today’s world you can’t have free political speech without spending money. While free speech is protected by the First Amendment, spending money in support of free speech is not. So, liberals used to attack the sources of the money through campaign finance laws. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s January, 2010 “Citizens United” ruling, a lot of those campaign finance laws were swept away, so liberals had to come up with something else, and along comes President Obama, and the left’s move to harass, scare and shame its opponents out of speaking.
They have used the IRS to target and freeze out conservative groups. They made targets out of donors to conservative groups by publicizing their names and addresses. They filed complaints with the Justice Department and federal regulators against any and all rivals. They issued new IRS, SEC, FCC rules and regulations and executive orders to either order or scare their opponents into silence. And even more ominous, they went after companies, think tanks, conservative non-profits, etc., demanding to know the names of those who funded them so that they could retaliate against those donors. They leaked information to the press, flooded opponents with document requests, and made it clear that donating to the wrong groups would subject you to protests, boycotts, blacklists, and possibly prosecution.
They had liberal groups purchase stocks in corporations to get a proxy voice in order to pressure shareholders to demand that companies get out of the political process. They retaliated against CEO’s, vandalizing and urinating on their homes, and demonstrated in front of corporation headquarters. They threatened conservative organizations with litigation if they didn’t hand over donor lists, even though in most cases donor lists are protected as confidential under the law. All of this with the consent and in many cases at the direction of the Obama administration.
I could go on and on, but you need to read the book, and I mean it. You’ll learn about our liberal State Department’s refusal to prosecute liberal criminal activity, liberal courts that either misinterpret or fail to uphold the law, Tea Party groups that were required to wait five (5) years for permission to speak, everyday Americans that had their careers or businesses destroyed and their lives ruined because they dared to speak out against the establishment or support a conservative organization or political candidate. The reprehensible behavior on the part of own government is shocking, frightening and appalling. And now it’s quite likely too late to do anything about it. Donald Trump’s victory may slow it down, but the left isn’t going away, and like a metastasized cancer, liberalism has embedded itself into every organ of our government. It will resurge in four years, eight years at best, with a new vengeance, and our very Constitution is at stake.
All of the time I was reading this book I kept being reminded of an incident that happened to me in the late 1970’s. I was working as a technical consultant to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea. Jimmy Carter was in the White House and the time, and I was at dinner with several of my South Korean associates. I was railing at what a poor president I thought Carter was, and how bad our economy, inflation, and interest rates were, when a young South Korean engineer looked at me with a tear in his eye and said, “I envy your freedom to disagree”. Well he needn’t be envious anymore, because like the South Koreans, I fear we don’t have the “freedom to disagree”.
Read “The Intimidation Game”, and then do something about it. We are witnessing the death throes of free speech in the United States and the United States Constitution itself.
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On the other hand, I agree with Strassel that the government (IRS) over-reached its legal authority in selectively singling out grassroots groups critical of its policies and then subjecting them to onerous bureaucratic hurdles in order to prevent their political activities. Strassel writes very well and her style is admirable. However, I am not convinced by her neoliberal arguments, some of which are based on bad analogies.







