Letters to the Editor
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The sad truth is...
...if there wasn't an audience for this bilge, and if there weren't alot of people receptive to it, we wouldn't be seeing it. It works. Unfortunately the right wing hate tactics mirrors the mind set of a whole lotta of Americans. Its effective because it has a strong base of support.
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Careful what you wish for
The comment section in the Campos posting has brought out large numbers of venomous Instapunk defenders eager to endorse his racism. It seems to me that they view Instapunk's screed as their permission slip to be broad-daylight racists, and they do not want to be pushed back into their white hoods.
Senator Obama's brilliant speech invited an honest dialog on race in America. We, and he, may regret extending that invitation.
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the GOP establishment for years ...
"... has tied itself at the hip to hate-mongering extremists along the lines of John Hagee, Rod Parsley, Pat Roberston, Ann Coulter, and all sorts of various Instapunks, with no repercussions or accountability whatsoever." (GG)
And Limbaugh. Coincidentally, I was talking with a young Obama supporter in a book store today and a few of his comments made me wonder why there is no "anti-Limbaugh" out there on TV or Radio. Some have tried, but all have fallen far short of the hate-mongering that Limbaugh gets away with.
A Glenn Greenwald look at the '800 pound gorilla' of radio would make a nice post. I hope you find the time someday.
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Obama's Race Speech
Wasn't brilliant. It was forced. And he needs to get off that stuff forced or not.
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You actually have a point, -blank-, although you miss the next logical step.
Even this column with Glenns endless complaints about the right, all you're doing is playing into their hands. They don't care what you think and they're not shamed.
Perhaps and quite likely this is the case. Being salaried employees however they do care about their jobs.
So if, as happened with Sean Hannity recently, it was pointed out these people are friends and supporters of prominant America haters and asked if they agreed with their sentiments, what would happen?
In Hannity's case (if I read the story correctly), he stated he wasn't really 'friends' at all. This in turn lead to a very strong statement from his neo-nazi buddy who set the record straight and promised violence upon those who uses his name this way again.
My point is that there's a third option besides becoming like them or just ignoring them. Its precisely what Glenn did Sunday: broadcast how these idiots link themselves to their extremist supporters and make them defend themselves for a change.
In other words, hold them to the same 'standards' they hold everyone else and don't be shy about calling them on it. Ultimately, their audience (and supporters) will hopefully see them for the weasels they are and quit giving them airtime. An added benefit would be a loss in advertising revenue when said advertisers learn what kind of moral degenerates they're paying into.
Comments?
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Corporate Media
"...the GOP establishment for years has tied itself at the hip to hate-mongering extremists along the lines of John Hagee, Rod Parsley, Pat Roberston, Ann Coulter, and all sorts of various Instapunks, with no repercussions or accountability whatsoever."
Is there any reason for that other than the full and enthusiastic cooperation of the corporate-owned, profit-driven mass media? No, none. It's the coverage, plain, pure and simple. Big Media is conservative, it likes tax cuts, it loves a war, it thrives best on simplistic arguments and viral tropes. That ain't gonna change until the corporate stranglehold is loosened.
It will be a miracle if Obama can get elected, not because McCain is a formidable adversary, not because the nation isn't bone tired of the neocons, but because the fat-cat oligarchs behind the MSM are terrified of him. To them, it's like Fidel Castro is running for president. They're not going to let it happen.
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@Jeanette D
Yes, I suppose that is all any of us can do. Human nature being what it is, though, it would be nice to get some kind of positive feedback from one's efforts - to know that what you're doing is making some discernible difference.
I suppose that's asking too much, though. The difference may never be plainly or directly visible, and it may never be truly appreciated until some point well into the future.
In a battle of attrition like this, time is on our side. There are more defections from the right to our side than there are new recruits to theirs. Information does that. I don't want to confuse you, Orwell was a socialist anti-Stalinist who hated fascism and Hitler. Most people are unaware of this. On the right, they think he was John Wayne. He saw more combat than John Wayne, who never heard a shot fired in anger, for or against. I don't think Orwell would have thought much of John Wayne.
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@DemoChristian
Does the MSM care about our country at all?
-- DemoChristian
The MSM has become a bloated and rotted self-interest group. The idea that a community (of any size, shape, or composition) requires selfless "grease" to ease the burden of the collective wheel has been so successfully muffled and manipulated that the shame of turning one's back on the needy and the true is nearly gone. Like Graham Greene's "whiskey priest" in the novel The Power and the Glory who is hounded from hamlet to hamlet, on the run and in mortal pain, the MSM, at the jefe's behest, is poised to crush the last voice of those who wish desperately to revive a reverent faith.
These voices here in this blog, and others like it, must take on that role the MSM has abandoned.
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Make that John Wayne with a brain
Orwell. What they think of him one the right.
Now they have Chuck Norris.
What a dope.
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@ Jeanette D.
Thank you for illustrating the nature of the stalemate so well.
Now what do we do?
I'm not sure it's a stalemate. As GG points out, right-wing blogs and politicians can get away with associating with people who have made incendiary racist, militarist or just plain stupid comments and yet are not held accountable for that. Of course, bloggers like Instapundit get all defensive when others mention it and brand us as hateful. On the other hand, Obama gets hounded for not wearing a lapel. It seems like we're on the losing side here. So what do we do? Keep making noise, commenting on blogs, writing letters to editors. It may not work but it's the best we can do.