Deep cover liberal

A deep cover liberal is someone who supposedly pretends to be ultra-conservative with the intended purpose of discrediting conservative political parties or conservatives in general. According to this accusation, they act in a way contrary to their own beliefs and often sacrifice their credibility to defend the public against world-renowned nutjobs.
==Characteristics==
Deep cover liberals are often characterized by:
*Subtle or not-so-subtle racist (often anti-Semitic) comments disguised as "Pro-Christian" statements.
*Extreme religious intolerance. 
*Active persecution of minorities.
*Unquestioning support of former President Reagan, Bush, and/or Trump and apparent hatred for anyone who disagrees with them.QAnon notwithstanding, the opinions of "real conservatives" are not quite as unanimous on the subject of Donald Trump as they are on Ronald Regan or George W. Bush. Some conservatives either still hold Trump's former affiliation with the Democratic Party against him (to the point where Trump himself has been accused of being a deep cover liberal; see our section on suspected DCL individuals) and/or are just barely intelligent and/or empathetic enough to recognize Trump as a crime against humanity made flesh and realize that endorsing him is a horrible idea on every possible level.
*Making suggestions for policy that actively contradict the U.S. Constitution, either literally or in intent.
*Frequently making outrageous and illogical statements which do more harm to the conservative cause than good (conservatives are sometimes oblivious to this).
==Alternative theories==
Whether or not these people actually exist is an open question. An alternative theory to explain the existence of people like this is related to the existence of Poe's Law — that liberals themselves just can't possibly grasp that alternative views this extreme can seriously exist. Therefore, real wingnuts must be taking the piss, it's the only thing that makes sense. This isn't entirely a fault; anyone with even a modicum of confidence in the goodwill of humanity will have their view threatened by ten seconds in the presence of Ann Coulter. Assuming or theorising that Kool-Aid drinkers are in fact parodists or insincere may just be a way of resolving the cognitive dissonance of wanting to think that everyone is, deep down, a good person while watching Glenn Beck make an ass of himself.
==Mentality==
The concept of a deep cover liberal says quite a bit about the conservative mindset. Follow this Schlafly-esque line of reasoning:
# All conservatives are good
# This conservative, however, is making us look bad
# Therefore, they must actually be a leebral
This seems ridiculous at first, but time and time again, conservatives want to attribute blame to liberals for the bad things (or at the very least, bad press) that conservatives are actually responsible for. This mentality is the heart of such annoyances as the Dixiecrat fallacy, as well as PIDOOMA assertions such as one by Ted Cruz, who suggested that the very conservative, anti-abortion perpetrator of the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2015 was actually a transgender leftist.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/30/ted-cruz-cites-reports-that-planned-parenthood-shooter-could-be-transgendered-leftist-activist-what/
The phantom of a deep cover liberal also plays into the paranoia and persecution complex of conspiracy theorists that dominate conservative talk radio and other media. Apparently, pretending to be a member of a party that you're not is a perfectly acceptable political tactic to win an election, such as was the case with Kim Davis or Dave Wilson.http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/07/24/12238904/
==Suspected DCLs==
===Groups===
*Everyone on the alt-right. The movement is sometimes claimed, including by some of its own proponents like Milo Yiannopoulos, to be made up mainly of trolls who don't seriously hold the views they espouse.
*Breitbart, the alt-right news outlet, collaborated with liberal activists to take down mainstream conservatives like Marco Rubio in order to get Trump the GOP nomination.Hadas Gold, Breitbart coordinated with liberal activist and organizer who disrupted GOP primary campaign events. Politico, 25 October 2016. But the argument could go both ways; perhaps the liberals in question are really deep cover alt-rightists?
*The editorial staff of the New York Post.
*The Birther movement, which originated thanks to PUMAs.
===People===
*John Ashcroft, after his dramatic reversal on states' rights upon becoming Attorney General.
*Glenn Beck, for hypocritically using the same tactics that he decries liberals for using.Brilliant Response to Beck Case, ScienceBlogs
*Herman Cain
*Jack Chick
*Ray Comfort
*Ann Coulter, according to The Boondocks"The S-Word," episode 2.11 of The Boondocks
*Ted Cruz, an undercover CSIS agent?
*S. E. Cupp, an atheist concern troll and "coastal elite" who insults coastal elites.
*Clint Eastwood, after lighting up the 2012 GOP convention by yelling at a chair for ten minutes.
*Arianna Huffington, outed after the 2000 election by virtue of being a friend of Al Franken.
*Victoria Jackson
*Charles G. Koch, because flags.Weird to see basically the @dailykos logo on the Charles Koch @wsj op-ed out tonight. pourmecoffee on Twitter, 2 April 2014.
*Rush Limbaugh
*Christine O'Donnell, for obvious reasons.
*Bill O'Reilly
*Fred Phelps, according to some conservatives, anyway. Though he was not exactly a conservative so much as an extreme homophobe who had no opinion on almost any issue not related to homosexuality.Because Phelps was a Democrat, Conservapedia said he was a liberal for quite a while.
*"Mad" Melanie Phillips, especially for her columns in the Spectator.
*Andrew Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia, and is theorised to have only done so to avoid embarrassing his mother, Phyllis Schlafly.However, his activity at CP has not ceased, even after the death of Mommy Schlafly.
*Donald Trump, former reality TV star, former President of the United States. Granted, Trump did identify as a Democrat, donated to major candidates of both parties, and had nice things to say about Hillary Clinton not even four years before he ran on the GOP ticket for the first time, which lends a little credence to the theory.Conor Friedersdorf, Donald Trump Is No Conservative. The Atlantic, 13 July 2015.
*Hal Turner, outed as a possible FBI informant against white supremacist activity in late 2007 — was he only in it for the money?
*Jesse Waters, Fox News ambush reporter, who may be one of the first documented deep cover liberals; he donated $500 to the Obama campaign while publicly mocking Obama voters on the air.Tommy Christopher, FEC Document: Fox News Ambush Reporter Jesse Watters Donated $500 To Obama Campaign. mediaite.com, 11 December 2012.Of course, as of this writing, it could be a hoax, but it's too funny not to mention. (Maybe not.)
==See also==
*Poe's Law
*No True Scotsman
*Agent provocateur
*False flag operation
*Lightning rod
*Club for Growth
*Useful idiot
*Tea Party
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Conspiracy theories
Category:Right-wing activists