Anonymous says:

There is fringe, and there is Finge

I thought most of Glenn's piece was great, and the current conservative leaders are certainly no longer aligned with the majority of Americans. But, please stop listing Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh in the same sentence as Krauthammer or Kristol, unless you are willing to put Rosie O'Donnall and Michael Moore on a par with Susan Estritch and Frank Rich.

Fist off, of course, I would never, never, never elevate Susan Estrich to the level of Rosie O'Donnell. Estrich is a Fox News Democrat, and the very fact that her name pops up in this purported equation is all the evidence one needs that false equivilents are being drawn. But neither is O'Donnell a figure on the left comparable to Limbaugh or Coulter. They are figures whose entire public personas are political, they are known for nothing else--except, of course, Rush's drug addiction, and failed attempt as a sports broadcaster. O'Donnell, OTOH, is only thought of as a political figure by those on the right. No one I can think of on the left regards her as such. She's outspoken about her politics. But that doesn't make her a political figure. Maybe you were confusing her with Margaret Cho???

Now we come to the perennial false equivilence of Michael Moore to the likes of Coulter and Limbaugh. This is one of the right wing's favorite tropes. Why? Because Michael Moore is devastatingly effective and they know it. Yes, it's true, Moore is flamboyant and in your face, just like Coulter and Limbaugh. But that's where the similarities end.

Most notably (A) Moore is not a party apparatchik like they are (back in 1995, Newt hailed Limbaugh's role in electing the GOP House that made him speaker, even Matt Drudge hasn't made up a similar relationship between Moore and Pelosi). (B) Moore does not lie with every breath the way they do. (Yes, he's sometimes a bit slap-dash, and those--like Hankest--who wish to misread him can easily do so in even more damaging ways, but they do the same thing with anyone who makes movies. Just ask Al Gore.)

In short, Anonymous is concern trolling.

We seem to be getting a lot of that lately.

JimC:

[Me]:

We've seen it from your perspective dude. It was called Nazi Germany. They cleaned up the degenerates real good.

We, however, are Americans. So why don't you just pack up your family and go back to Nazi Germany where you belong?

Paul, Nazi Germany? Are you insane, you act like America has always been this broken. Back when we were fighting the Nazi’s, the vast majority of Americans then would abhor your views and praise mine, so get some perspective before you cast aspersions upon me.

Back when we were fighting the Nazi's the vast majority of Americans supported or accepted racial segregation, too. But eventually, thanks to enormous sacrifice and struggle, the cognitive dissonance became too much for most of them, and what was once considered as American as apple pie came to be seen as an abomination, something diametrically opposed to what America is supposed to stand for. The same is true about treating gays and lesbians as second class citizens. It's just taken a bit longer for folks to work that out. But anyone the Nazis would try to exterminate must be doing something right. So get some perspective before you cast aspersions on millions of gays and lesbians whom you know nothing about.

You call America "broken." Yeah, well, blame it on us liberals. Blame it on Earl Warren and Martin Luther King. Because the America that you love was riddled with contradictions, and the part that it cast off was the part that looked like Nazi Germany. That's the part you miss.

I hate Nazi Germany,

But you'd fit right in! And not feel like an outsider, surrounded by decadence, as you are in America. Trust, me, Jim, Nazi Germany was made for folks just like you.

had you paid attention, I love the Jews and support Israel, hardly someone who would idolize Nazism.

Christian Zionists "support Israel" as a means to the end of Armageddon, which means the destruction of Irsael. The only Jews who get saved are those who convert. Some "love." With love like that, who needs hate?