Letters to the Editor
softdog
Published Letters: 186 Editor's Choice: 8
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I know plenty of great lefty blogs which never used blackface.
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Glenn: "Let me know the magazines and newspapers which have nobody associated with them who ever made a single inappropriate comment in the past and who never made a mistake."
This wasn't some person "associated", it was founder of the blog.
If the owner of a right leaning site made some shocking comment which came off worse than intended, my favorite blogs would not let him live it down. My favorite blogs are taking Kos to task for the sexim in his post about Kathy Sierra.
I get what point Hamsher thought she was making, but I felt it was racially insensitive - she wasn't careful enough with the presentation or context, it seemed this racially charged image was tossed in as an afterthought.
She never really apologized or copped to how it could seem racist; instead she her apology post was mostly about the dishonest agenda of her loudest critics.
I'm sorry but flippant, clumsy usage of racially charged material, defensive non-apology - this reminds me of a few other cases currently in the news.
Plus, isn't part of our entire critique of the media about how they keep on giving access to people who cross the line and don't really apologize? I don't think Jane pulled and Imus, but she did set herself up as the object of a talking point with her carelessness.
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Heather: Let It DROP
[Read the article: Rabbit Bites: We're all Alec Baldwin]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Heather H. is one of the editors of VideoDog and has long played favorites with Rabbit Bites. Maybe she's friends with the producer, maybe she just likes rabbits. I do know the producer Nicholas Quixote, has written her gushing compliments in the letters section, usually in response to columns which cover the same topics as his videos.
I had the impression Video Dog was supposed to be wide ranging, but Rabbit Bites has become its default filler.
It's not that funny or interesting. And now one day after her not-funny Alec Baldwin article, we get a not-funny video on the same topic. Let it drop, guys.
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Good points, but I don't agree with everything
[Read the article: The Dan Gerstein sham]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I can accept Glenn's argument that the post is about the lack of ethics by those exploiting the controversey and the controversey is not the point and his reasons for not judging Fire Dog Lake.
Glenn's post is the start of a conversation and I think it's okay to go beyond agreeing that Dan Gerstein is a sham expert who should not get media time. For me, the issue is what tools Dan Gerstein uses to manipulate the media.
In this case it's this thoughtless image and the weak justification for it.
I think Chris Muir's use of Hilary in blackface is utter BS and further proves he's a talentless right wing hack, and I found this the image offensive. I don't buy the convoluted explanations of how the image wasn't racist at all.
It was a charged image calculated to offend, that people did not react as expected doesn't make their reactions invalid. You don't have to be right wing to find it charged.
I'd give Hamsher a complete pass on it as it seems a unique lapse in judgment were it not for the "yes, but" apology and justifications by of others, which I knew would end up being used against the left in the future - and it has, by weasels like Dan Gerstein and Chris Muir.
I understand why it is hard for we on the left to get worked up over our transgressions when the right is far worse. I also know how hard it is for anyone to admit when they are wrong.
But the Bushies greatest sins are how they can't admit when they're wrong, even if it was an honest mistake, their flagrant convoluted hipocrisy and their willingness to split hairs at key moments, like half-apologies like "mistakes were made" and "if anyone was offended" (which puts the blame on the offended).
So it bugs me when my side, has trouble walking the walk as well. I don't think it is over the top to confront this. Especially if it helps defuse the methods of evasion the right uses.