Dave Weigel has caught FreedomWorks and The Daily Caller in a attempt to smear Florida congressman Joe Garcia as a supporter of Communism. Congressman Garcia did use the words "we proved Communism works", but in the context of questioning the efficacy of government spending in border communities like El Paso. If you watch the video and listen to all of his words, it is clear that he isn't advocating for Communism.

As Weigel points out, FreedomWorks takes the extra step to reformulate Garcia's words into:

Rep. Joe Garcia (D., Fla) thinks “communism works.”

Seriously. A sitting Representative in the United States government thinks Communism actually works, and that forced redistribution of wealth is the key to prosperity in America.

By blatantly taking his words out of context and then starting a campaign on their site (see the image below), which now has over 3,000 signatures, FreedomWorks helped facilitate a storm of outrage against Garcia. Newsbusters, Ben Swann, and the Washington Free Beacon all promoted the distortion. They all share in the blame, but FreedomWorks' page doesn't even link to the video or include remarks from Garcia clarifying his position. One might even suspect that FreedomWorks is trying to raise money or gain supporters by promoting an obvious lie.

FreedomWorks knows that the charge of supporting Communism, a doctrine of violence and oppression, is very serious. To accuse Rep. Garcia of this requires proof. But the only way they get the proof is by twisting his words. The congressman, in responding to the manufactured outrage has definitely said that he doesn't support Communism. FreedomWorks in maintaining this petition is engaging in the worst sort of politics. They should be ashamed.

But, if FreedomWorks is an honorable organization, or should I say, if the employees of FreedomWorks have honor and respect the truth above any political points they may score, they will immediately pull down this petition and issue a formal apology to Rep. Joe Garcia.