Feel the Love
March 27, 2007
Callimachus notes that Tony Snow’s cancer news seems to have brought out the more despicable elements of the Left. Assistant Viliage Idiot is looking for examples, say, of Right Winger comments with a similar attitude towards Elizabeth Edwards. Any? AVI had this to say about the Edwards… and Dean Barnett had this to say. Is there anything as kind and elegant on the progressive side of the blogosphere? I want to believe it, but these two seem to say it aint’ so.
I know it’s not fair to generalize but it seems to me that one side is definitely more a class act, the other tends towards crass. Present company excepted of course.
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I think it’s not so simple.
Like I said, present company excepted. In a weird way I would actually welcome some examples on the right of despicable comments. I want to feel like on the whole, the two sides have about the same number of low-lifes. I at least think I travel in the more civilized circles of the blogoshpere. This could definitely be a case of holding up “our” best to “their” worst.
Awaiting the evidence…
You wrote:
Well, they did two things wrong. They quoted blogs that are by no means thought leaders in the progressive communities (they mostly look like sites with about 4 total readers – not that there is anything wrong with that), and on the one exception to that (Crooks and Liars) they quoted “COMMENTS” on those blogs, no the authors themsleves…who knows who the commentors are. Or who the bloggers they found are.
Let me start this off by giving examples from thought leaders and moderate to huge liberal bloggers… examples Calimachus seems to have not googled or chose not to collect on his site.
And note unlike the other examples these are all from the blog authors and front page diarists from MAJOR liberal bloggers:
“We at Dailykos do not swim in the Rush Limbaugh pool of scum.”
Tim C.,
You were inches from proving your point. : – )
Comparing our best to your worst never proves anything.
Compare President Bush to Nancy Pelosi, John McCain to Jack Murtha, Dick Cheney to Al Gore, Rush Limbaugh to Al Franken, President George H.W. Bush to President Jimmy Carter, Dan Rather to Brit Hume, George Will to David Broder, Dailykos to Tom Maguire, etc..
Wow, it still doesn’t seem fair.
Tim- Thanks for the links- I’m not that surprised, and much relieved.
I’m not convinced there’s an equal amount of bile on the Right in the sense that I’ve yet to see a collection of similar winger quotes attacking Elizabeth Edwards.
As for Kos, remember “Srew them”. Heartless, and never really apologized for,
remarks removed too. The Democrats should be ashamed to have anything to do with this guy.
Glad you aren’t “too surprised” and relieved, from the earlier prominent liberal bloggers quotes…
You added:
OK, here are exactly analogous ones, from smaller lesser known blogs and comments from larger ones.
Free republic commenters:
“No need to worry that E. will be “alone” while Breck Girl is out campaigning. I’m sure that gazillion-dollar mansion will be fitted with all kinds of servants, plus private nurses, nutritionists, fitness coaches; nannies for the kids, tutors, cooks, maids, and gardeners. Elizabeth Edwards will go out in style.”
Another commentor responds:
“That’s pretty cold.
But you gotta admit post [above] was probably pretty accurate, as unpretty as the reality of the facts may be.”
later from another:
“Pony Boy is such a huge fan of nationalized health care. Let’s see him drop her off a a local “not for profit” butcher shop and trust in the goobermint. ”
and from another:
“I agree. With all her past treatments, etc., shouldn’t the cancer be working on her third breast by now?”
Right Wing News:(from the author not a commentor)
“But I can’t help feel that Edwards press conference was nothing but a crass, unfeeling attempt to exploit his wife’s suffering for his own political career…. I say that, to say this…looking through the lists of ‘efforts’ Elizabeth Edwards is credited with I see the kind of self-serving “poor me” articles, books and such that flood bookstores and internet sites and seem to be copies of each other… I have to stop and wonder about those that will only write about it [as Elizabeth Edwards did]if people will go and buy the book, especially when they’re already making more money each year than many Americans would see in their entire lifetime….Y’know what would prove me wrong? If Elizabeth Edwards agreed to release her book, Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers, online for free to encourage others. It’s not that the Edwardses need money.”
and then in the comments:
“Her alleged relapse, you mean… here we have a floundering campaign pretty clearly headed NOWHERE, and out of nowhere comes all this free publicity. Well, an unexpected “relapse” could suddenly go into “remission” just as easily, couldn’t it?”
and another posts:
“…If I were a cancer specialist and he and his wife showed up at my door, I think I’d have to take a pass and tell them to find someone else to be their patsy.”
and later another comment:
“They [john and elizabeth] are the poster “scum” of the MSM, and are “trotted” out there for pandering to the useful idiot entitlent mentality fools of this country.”
Edwards is just another phony empty suit, just like Osama, and Hitlery!”
Rush Limbaugh, (not some no name blogger) the day after the Elizabeth Edwards cancer announcement:
“[M]ost people, when told a family member’s been diagnosed with the kind of cancer Elizabeth Edwards has, they turn to God. The Edwards turned to the campaign. Their religion is politics and the quest for the White House.”
Enough?
AVI responds quite well to the Limbaugh quote above (this to say). I think Limbaugh is defensible on this point.
The weakness of your examples only proves my point even more. There is simply no comparison to the vitriol unleashed by the Left in the examples by Callimachus. Now certainly that could be explained by you not finding the quotes, but I think objectively that the wish for someone to die is too often expressed by Liberal commenters.
Take for instance the avanlanche of hatred spewed on the Huffington Post regarding the attempt on the Vice President’s life. There’s simply no analogue at a major conservative site.
I know this is getting into subjective territory at some level, and commenters are almost always worse than the major bloggers, but I’ve never seen hate mail like Michelle Malkin gets.
I also acknowledge it’s not fair to hold writers responsible for their commenters, but it is worth noting. Also, too many of the Liberal people I work with are quite harsh with their comments regarding the President etc.
Yeah it is subjective:
I’d see the “I hope he dies” anonymous comments is pretty synonymous to “If i were a cancer specialist, I wouldn’t treat her” is pretty much the same wish.
I’d say, “She’s a liar just doing this fake cancer thing for her husbands career” is pretty much synonymous with “I just don’t believe Tony Snow had surgery or that he has cancer again. I think he wanted to quit and this is how they are spinning it.”
I’d say: “I bet you’ll look GREAT bald!” is roughly synonymous to “shouldn’t cancer be working on her third breast by now?”
I’d say: “But maybe he’d be up for trial to see if ‘faith based’ cancer treatments work?”
is roughly equal to “Let’s see him drop her off a a local “not for profit” butcher shop and trust in the goobermint.”
I’d say: “Too bad so sad. No doubt all of those lies finally caught up with Tony and spilled over to infect his liver..Bye Tony”
is roughly equal to “No need to worry that E. will be “alone” while Breck Girl is out campaigning….Elizabeth Edwards will go out in style.”
Saying: “I can say that frankly, I’m not crying any tears for Tony Snow, who we have watched lying shamelessly to the entire country for the last year.” isn’t that far from “She and her husband are just “empty suits like Osama and Hitlery.”
But maybe that is just me.
Lastly, On Rush’s slam…
Let’s start with the fact that Elizabeth and John Edwards are both self-identified Christians.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/213/story_21312_1.html#extndVer
When someone like Rush who does not know them, and does not know how deeply or not they looked to God for comfort and for guidance before accusing them of NOT reaching out to God after hearing the cancer news it is actually indefensible.
Declaring that “their religion is politics” without knowing them intimately is just not defensible slander.
I see no way that I can imagine to see that statement other than being a mean, defamatory slam on a woman who just announced her cancer.
It is mean. When people have cancer, you say nice things to them, or you keep a lid on it.
Your are also correct that the statements you compare are roughly equivalent. I have no problem with that. I still haven’t seen the avalanche of venom like the HuffPo post on Cheney.
Also, AVI makes a good point in his post when he quotes the Edwards saying this:
I wouldn’t go as far as Rush (who I never listen to BTW) but I think a reasonable reading of these people is that they are primarily political. Charitably you could say they are “called” to the campaign. Nobody will ever call them Christianists for it though is my guess. Or Godbags.
It also seems reasonable to believe that Elizabeth Edwards may have been responsible for, or at least in a position to know about the hiring of Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon. Yes Edwards is part of Call to Action. But she thought Ms. Pandagon would be OK. But that’s another thread…