--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Liberals and leftists have been…" description: "\"Liberals and leftists have been dismissing inconvenient facts by attacking motives for generations. In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, Soviet spies and abet..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4c/jonah-goldberg-2339_1930s_liberals-and-leftists-have-been-dismissi_1343062.png" --- # Liberals and leftists have been dismissing inconvenient… ![“Liberals and leftists have been dismissing inconvenient facts by attacking motives for generations. In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, Soviet spies and abettors attacked the motives of their accusers because the fact of their guilt was undeniable. In the 1960s, over a thousand psychiatrists who'd never…” quote by Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4c/jonah-goldberg-2339_1930s_liberals-and-leftists-have-been-dismissi_1343062.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4c/jonah-goldberg-2339_1930s_liberals-and-leftists-have-been-dismissi_1343062.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4c/jonah-goldberg-2339_1930s_liberals-and-leftists-have-been-dismissi_1343062.png) > “Liberals and leftists have been dismissing inconvenient facts by attacking motives for generations. In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, Soviet spies and abettors attacked the motives of their accusers because the fact of their guilt was undeniable. In the 1960s, over a thousand psychiatrists who'd never even met Barry Goldwater signed a petition saying the GOP candidate was too mentally unstable to be president.” [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that liberals and leftists often dismiss facts by attacking motives, citing historical examples. **In simple terms:** He says they attack motives instead of confronting facts. Key Takeaway Beware of motive‑based arguments that avoid evidence. Themes politics media criticism historical patterns Mood critical skeptical Type analytical controversial When to use this quote - debates - media analysis - academic discourse Key Concepts motive attacks confirmation bias political rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - Why do people resort to motive attacks? - How can we focus on evidence? A Different Perspective Motive attacks can themselves be a form of bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Leftists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leftists/) [Motive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive/) [Petitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/petitions/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [Psychiatrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychiatrist/) [Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet/) [Spy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spy/) ## Related quotes > [Realization: I spend a large amount of my working day in all of my jobs dealing with people who are hostile to inconvenient facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/realization-i-spend-a-large-amount-of-my-working-day-in-all-of-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The primary task of a useful teacher is to teach his students to recognize 'inconvenient' facts - I mean facts that are inconvenient for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/the-primary-task-of-a-useful-teacher-is-to-teach-his-students-to/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [“In every generation there have been matters which the general public is irresistibly tempted to ignore, partly through actual lack of information, but far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-g-coulton/in-every-generation-there-have-been-matters-which-the-general-public/) G. G. Coulton > [“how easily people can zealously pursue and defend a point of view, often ignoring inconvenient facts that interfere with their desired belief structure. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-allan/how-easily-people-can-zealously-pursue-and-defend-a-point-of-view/) [Jay Allan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-allan/) > [Hersh's account of the bin Laden raid is a farrago of nonsense that is contravened by a multitude of eyewitness accounts, inconvenient facts, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bergen/hersh-s-account-of-the-bin-laden-raid-is-a-farrago-of-nonsense-that/) [Peter Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bergen/) > [The people who would call me an obstructionist overlook some inconvenient facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-mcconnell/the-people-who-would-call-me-an-obstructionist-overlook-some/) [Mitch McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-mcconnell/) > [I'm a liberal to a degree, I want everybody to be free. But if you think that I'll let Barry Goldwater move in next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-m-a-liberal-to-a-degree-i-want-everybody-to-be-free-but-if-you/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“While David runs the financial end of the Rockefeller dynasty, Nelson runs the political. Nelson would like to be President of the United States.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-allen/while-david-runs-the-financial-end-of-the-rockefeller-dynasty-nelson/) Gary Allen > [Toward the end of the 1964 presidential campaign, Reagan gives a speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater. It was like a screen test for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/toward-the-end-of-the-1964-presidential-campaign-reagan-gives-a/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [“... in an airport in '64, Goldwater said, 'Well, keep punching, Hubert' during a chance meeting there. By the end of 1977, it became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/in-an-airport-in-64-goldwater-said-well-keep-punching-hubert-during-a/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [In 1964, I tried to convince my grandfather, who was active in the New York City firefighters union, to vote for Barry Goldwater over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-lhota/in-1964-i-tried-to-convince-my-grandfather-who-was-active-in-the-new/) [Joe Lhota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-lhota/) > [My favorite politician was Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who reminded me of Tom Mix, and there wasn't any way to explain that to anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/my-favorite-politician-was-arizona-senator-barry-goldwater-who/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“Truth be told, the party was moving in entirely the wrong direction. Ever since 1964, when Barry Goldwater championed “states’ rights”—understood to signify his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-green/truth-be-told-the-party-was-moving-in-entirely-the-wrong-direction/) [Joshua Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-green/) > [The ur-conservatives of the 1950s - William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and all the rest - were revolting not against a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-boot/the-ur-conservatives-of-the-1950s-william-f-buckley-jr-barry/) [Max Boot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-boot/) > [Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan had tremendous influence on generations of American because, even if people disagreed with them, they admired them because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-crane/barry-goldwater-and-ronald-reagan-had-tremendous-influence-on/) [Phil Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-crane/) ## More by Jonah Goldberg > [Not reassuring when weathermen say 'Today will be terrible but don't worry it won't be as terrible as tomorrow or Friday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/not-reassuring-when-weathermen-say-today-will-be-terrible-but-don-t/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Are you a producer or a looter? If diversity were always and everywhere good we would be clamoring for more midgets in the NBA.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/are-you-a-producer-or-a-looter-if-diversity-were-always-and/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [You can make a very good argument that society would be much worse off if you let 10 rapists and murderers free rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/you-can-make-a-very-good-argument-that-society-would-be-much-worse/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [“The nasty racism that infused the progressive eugenics of Margaret Sanger and others has largely melted away. But liberal fascists are still racist in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/the-nasty-racism-that-infused-the-progressive-eugenics-of-margaret/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Liberals are Nazis, and Nazis are liberals. And if you don't agree with me, you're a Nazi too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/liberals-are-nazis-and-nazis-are-liberals-and-if-you-don-t-agree-with/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [I have always seen the Clinton Foundation - yes, they do a lot of charitable good works. But by my lights, the charitable good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/i-have-always-seen-the-clinton-foundation-yes-they-do-a-lot-of/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [(I)f France's righteous bloviating against war makes them your Dashboard Saint of International Integrity, it's either because you are sand-poundingly ignorant of how the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/i-f-france-s-righteous-bloviating-against-war-makes-them-your/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [(I)t is simply wrong to confuse cowardice with appeasement. Cowardice is a failing of character. Appeasement is a failure of policy. Stalin appeased Hitler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/i-t-is-simply-wrong-to-confuse-cowardice-with-appeasement-cowardice/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Social distinctions tend to matter only at your own level and above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/social-distinctions-tend-to-matter-only-at-your-own-level-and-above/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [The logical upshot of liberalism's hatred of hypocrisy is that it is better for the liar to champion lying, the glutton to advocate gluttony,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/the-logical-upshot-of-liberalism-s-hatred-of-hypocrisy-is-that-it-is/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [“No nation influenced American thinking more profoundly than Germany, W.E.B. DuBois, Charles Beard, Walter Weyl, Richard Ely, Richard Ely, Nicholas Murray Butler, and countless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/no-nation-influenced-american-thinking-more-profoundly-than-germany-w/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [In Europe and America alike, voters increasingly recognize that the benefits of the green revolution aren't worth the costs, particularly when the revolutionaries don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/in-europe-and-america-alike-voters-increasingly-recognize-that-the/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [“Tom Friedman says China is so awesome they make kosher pigs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/tom-friedman-says-china-is-so-awesome-they-make-kosher-pigs/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Facts are mere speed bumps on the road to lefty moral outrage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/facts-are-mere-speed-bumps-on-the-road-to-lefty-moral-outrage/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [There was no intellectual movement in American history called social Darwinism. The people who were supposedly the leaders of the social Darwinist movement never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/there-was-no-intellectual-movement-in-american-history-called-social/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) [Explore all 171 Jonah Goldberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) ## More 1930s quotes > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [My grandmother was a minister as well, which was not that common in the 1930s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-firth/my-grandmother-was-a-minister-as-well-which-was-not-that-common-in/) [Colin Firth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-firth/) > [It reminds me in some ways of the debate taking place in this country and around the world in the late 1930s. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/it-reminds-me-in-some-ways-of-the-debate-taking-place-in-this-country/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [As a result of the efforts of Hayek .. and the many others who share his general outlook, the idea of a centrally planned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/as-a-result-of-the-efforts-of-hayek-and-the-many-others-who-share-his/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [When I was in Philadelphia during the Depression in 1930 or '31, I got a very sad job as a night watchman in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-glazer/when-i-was-in-philadelphia-during-the-depression-in-1930-or-31-i-got/) [Tom Glazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-glazer/) > [Working in 3D I didn't experience much of a difference, except that the cameras are very big so they can't be moved around with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frain/working-in-3d-i-didn-t-experience-much-of-a-difference-except-that/) [James Frain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frain/) > [Whatever the reasons may be, I was very much affected by events of the 1930s - the Spanish Civil War, for example, though I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/whatever-the-reasons-may-be-i-was-very-much-affected-by-events-of-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [We're a little bit low in the 1970s, right, post-Vietnam, Watergate era, malaise, all that, but this is more like the 1930s where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-fried/we-re-a-little-bit-low-in-the-1970s-right-post-vietnam-watergate-era/) [Daniel Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-fried/) > [In the immediate postwar era, financial crises in advanced countries were rare events, and before 1970 did not happen at all. Since then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-m-taylor/in-the-immediate-postwar-era-financial-crises-in-advanced-countries/) [Alan M. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-m-taylor/) > [I would not say that Harvard possesses any sort of absolute dominance. And I personally do not take the rankings of schools all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/i-would-not-say-that-harvard-possesses-any-sort-of-absolute-dominance/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > [In the 1930s one was aware of two great evils - mass unemployment and the threat of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-meade/in-the-1930s-one-was-aware-of-two-great-evils-mass-unemployment-and/) [James Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-meade/) > [When comics came along in the 1930s there was a talent pool waiting. And one reason is so many areas were closed to Jews.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-robinson/when-comics-came-along-in-the-1930s-there-was-a-talent-pool-waiting/) [Jerry Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-robinson/) > [In his 1930 book, Dirac took for granted that measurements could be made, but was very vague about what was actually involved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willis-lamb/in-his-1930-book-dirac-took-for-granted-that-measurements-could-be/) [Willis Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willis-lamb/) > [Under the gold standard America had no major financial panics other than in 1873, 1884, 1890, 1893, 1907, 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1933.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/under-the-gold-standard-america-had-no-major-financial-panics-other/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [The crucial role communists played in organizing industrial unions in the 1930s and struggling for social reforms, peace, and civil rights strengthened rather then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-parenti/the-crucial-role-communists-played-in-organizing-industrial-unions-in/) [Michael Parenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-parenti/) Browse all 255 1930s quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Liberals and leftists have been dismissing inconvenient facts by attacking motives for generations. 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