Letters to the Editor
-
Oh yes, the whole eye for an eye thing
Anonymous -
"I believe what was said was that they were using false information. Given that, you don't think he would be in his rights to do the same thing to the one doing it to him? Basically, this just means that if you are going to do a hit piece on someone, you'd better be darn sure you're background is pretty clean first."
Well, but the person who said they were using false information was Rush Limbaugh himself - hardly an impartial arbiter of the truth or falsity of the information. Formerly, when a media bully wanted to squelch a story, they would just threaten to sue for libel - usually in British court, because it's easier to win such cases there. If the report was based on false information, the publisher would often back down because they knew that they would lose.
But what you seem to be advocating is a disturbing new trend in our public discourse. You don't like the editorial Joe Wilson wrote? Go after his wife. You don't like a child's advocacy of increased funding for a popular healthcare program? Go after his family. Pretty soon, everyone will think twice before speaking up about anything, because - as Rush bizarrely points out - we all masturbate, and we wouldn't want our dirty little secret becoming public, would we?
Apparently, you don't find this trend thuggish and sinister. Very well - next time I hear a conservative bemoan that our culture has been debased and lost its civility, I'll just remember geese and ganders and know that all is right in the world.