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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
When Spocko put clips of a San Francisco radio show on his blog Mr. Kurtz hosted a debate on the story on his show Reliable Sources. One of the clips included a simulated electrocution (including audible convulsions) of the editor of the New York Times. Spocko wasnt on the show, but someone representing his viewpoint was. Mr. Kurtz turned to the guy and said "What happened to free speech?"
but someone writes "Dr. Evil escapes again ... damn" on a message board and Kurtz is so scandalized he can barely summon the strength to do any more than crosslink Malkin.
Didn't you know, Howard gets criticism from BOTH the right AND the left! You can't please everyone. What's a reporter to do? It comes from both sides. There'll always be someone to try to shoot ....
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For the whole RWM establishment. Yeah, it's totally OK for Coulter to write an entire book denouncing liberalism as treason (which, by the way, the Founding Fathers made almost impossible to prove so it wouldn't be thrown around politically). It's perfectly fine for folks to say to millions of listeners on the radio every day that 50% of your own country should be locked up and tortured. that's cool.
But, heaven forfend, a few memebers on the Left make some unwise remarks, and whoa. I'm surprised Atty. Gen. Gonzales hasn't tracked them down and locked them away (it is a federal offense to threaten an official, you know). You know, in every party, in every stripe, all over the world, there eare crazy people. The difference between us and the Republicans: We don't give the crazy ones radio talk shows and billion dollar book deals.
While everyone here is complaining about the right-wingers shock and outrage at a few blog comments, I think that the true nugget hiding behind the story is that if Mr. Cheney had been killed in the attack, he would not be mourned by many Americans. Mr. Cheney has been the puppet master behind the worst abuses of the Bush administration (it has been reported that his CIA nickname was "Edgar" as in Edgar Bergen). Mr. Cheney and his friends have done more to undermine the principles (and the future stability) of the United States than Al Queda. While violence and war (of his own making) are always reprehensible, it would be justice for someone in this administration to learn the old biblical dictum "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword". Mr. Cheney has had no tears for the hundreds of thousands dead in Iraq, and I would have no tears if he was swallowed by his own Golem.
McCain went on Letterman last night and said American Lives were "wasted" in Iraq. No outrage. No call for apology.
Barak Obama said the EXACT SAME THING two weeks ago, and he was jumped on by every singe fringe wacko, RNC sponsored 527, and political hack in the Beltway. HE had to apologize.
What's McCain gonna do?
Is whether wishing someone to die is lunatic, or fringe, or the glory of the first amendment.
The issue is what the hell do you want to do about it? Send the secret service around trying to track down the anonymous posts and see if that person is mail ordering a rifle and getting a job at the school book depository? Hannity, among others, have already expressed support for this strategy.
That sounds like almost as good an expenditure of resources as the invasion of Iraq. Almost, but not quite.
Given that Mr. Cheney was supposedly a mile away from the blast site, that his presence in Afghanistan was, for security reasons, almost certainly not widely known, and that the Taliban do not have a reputation for unbiased truthful communication (and neither does Mr. Cheney). I think that it is quite possible that the intended recipient of the bombing was not Mr. Cheney, but simply any foreigner or 'lackey' that the bomber was able to reach and that both sides in this conflict are trying to propagandize the explosion for their own benefit (which, disturbingly, has them using the same story).
This whole non-story goes to show how desperate the right-wing blogosphere is right now.
Were there any major US politicians upset that Cheney wasn't killed? Kennedy? Reid? Pelosi? Of course not.
What about members of the big, bad, "liberal Hollywood establishment"? Baldwin? Dixie Chicks? Babs? Sean Penn? Nope, not even they are upset that Cheney wasn't killed?
How about members of the much-maligned "liberal MSM." Olberman? Wolf Blitzer? Chris Matthews? Nope, no go there either.
Finally, how about other prominent left-wing boogeymen? Kos? Michael Moore? Cindy Sheehan? Jimmy Carter? Nope - no nasty comments from them either.
So...the only place the righties can find disturbing comments about Cheney's near death experience are from ANONYMOUS posters on a blog. And from this, they are overgeneralizing to the ENTIRE liberal/left-of-center movement.
This is akin to asking your parents their favorite color, and then stating that the ENTIRE PLANET likes that color too.
Huffington should put the posts back up along with the same disclaimer used by O'Reilly to explain his comment that we allow Al-Qaeda to blow up San Fransisco, or by Hannity to excuse some of Coulter's gems-----It's a joke. It's satire.
If Kurtz ever bothers to acknowledge Glenn's critique, I bet he'll respond with his usual willful obtuseness:
"Huh--I just don't see it."
Software programs are much more sophisticated!
for the left to keep flogging this story. Let it die. The commenters in question were idiots. They aren't representative or our ideology. We condemn the sentiments expressed, but we will not abridge anyone's right to voice an opinion.
If someone has proof the comments were posted by trolls, show your hand. It shouldn't be too hard to track past comments by these same people and see where they stand. Most people know the trolls in their midst.
The better lesson is to understand that dumb comments can hurt the cause. The right is trolling for examples of "unhinged leftist rage" to pillory. Stop giving them ammunition.
We live in a crazy world: Those on the right can actually bomb and kill people -- and openly advocate invading new countries to bomb and kill more people. And yet that is not considered vile or outrageous in the least.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
