Friday, January 14, 2011

In Middle Age I Am As Confused To The Ways of The World As I Was When I Was A Teenager

When you think you have attained some understanding of the world, of people, and of human nature, a wave will sweep ashore and deform your elaborate sand castle. The irrational hatred of Sarah Palin is confusing to me. I did not see this one coming and I did not see it becoming an obsession with a small but loud (due to their entrenchment in the news media) per centage of the population. Nor did I foresee the scapegoating of Sarah Palin for everything that goes wrong in the world. No, I did not foresee the mainstream media blame her for mass murder that she clearly did not influence. The media threw me a curve and no, I cannot hit it out of the park.

The people with minds that open like parachutes hate Sarah Palin. The people who celebrate diversity hate Sarah Palin. The people who view NYT as an oasis of sophistication hate Sarah Palin. The people who hate the very idea of hate and who incorporate terms like "hate speech" and "hate crime" into their daily coversation hate Sarah Palin. The conspiculously sanctimonious hate Sarah Palin. The people who concern themselves with social justice and gender equality and human rights hate Sarah Palin.

When McCain/Palin lost to Obama/Biden, I thought that the lies and hostility directed agaisnt Palin would go away. The heat of battle and all that. I was wrong once more. The media dragged out Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol Palin's son. Joe McGinniss moved in next door to her. The Associated Press trumpeted her misspelling of one word on a Tweet. The MSM was obsessed.

Why Sarah Palin instead of Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee or Rudy Giulani? I don't know. I know Rand Paul endured an onslaught of blatant falsehood and Sharron Angle was treated much differently than the ever-venerable Harry Reid. But the media eventually eased off those enemies of the Fourth Estate. And the focus turned once more to Sarah Palin.

For four days Sarah Palin was libeled by the mainstream media. When I could not imagine it getting weirder. she defended herself only to be blasted for releasing the video of the day of the Tucson memorial service. I understand that some of this is pure politics. But if it pure politics, why not focus on the front runners in the early polls? Romney or DeMint or Gingrich? There is real HATE here that is genuine.

Lawrence O’Donnell, the out of the closet socialist on MSNBC, devoted the bulk of Wednesday's hourlong show to Sarah Palin. He objected to her releasing her video defending herself against baseless charges on the day of the Tucson memorial service. His attacks were vicious and if he was faking the hate, O'Donnell is a damn good actor.

Now let's pause to reflect for just a minute. On the day of the memorial service O'Donnell spewed venom at Palin for releasing a video on the day of the memorial service. Am I the only one who detects a shred of irony here? If the day of the Tucson memorial service was a day of national observance, does it not seem odd that O'Donnell and his guests would detract from that event to bash Sarah Palin?

And there is further irony. O'Donnell is critical of Palin for alleged incendiary speech but his atacks on Palin were anything but polite. If anything, he turned up the heat on this day of remembrance. Again. Am I the only one who detects irony?

One could dismiss O'Donnell as a hypocrite and I would not want to defend him against such charges. But I do not think O'Donnell can comprehend his own hypocrisy. He is not just a hired gun. His seething hatred is genuine.

So, are there any articulate hate mongers out there? Is there anyone who can tell this confused and possibly senile man why Sarah Palin is worthy of our hatred? Can you explain to me why Palin is a font of evil but the Fort Hood shooter, the Tucson shooter, the shoe bomber, on and on, are deserving of our unending compassion? They are disturbed and in need of help but Sarah Palin deserves our scorn (and even worse. See previous post.)

Palin haters, please edify and enlighten me. Please.

4 Minutes Hate

THE REAL LIFE EMMANUEL GOLDSTEIN

Monday, January 10, 2011

Media Monday: Civility? Too Late Now!!!

Actually it's not too late and I have curbed my expletives. But that's the extent of it. We are still obligated to call waste, waste. We are obligated to call cronyism, cronyism. We are obligated to call corruption, corruption. And, we are obligated, to call hate speech, hate speech.

Before we continue, let us honor the people of Tucson who were slaughtered by a mad man. This was a cruel and senseless act. We are reminded of Szasz's observation that the central problem of life is that we all have a greater capacity to inflict harm than to provide comfort. A million Mother Teresas could not undo the damage inflicted by this butcher. This is a tragedy that cannot be fixed.

But never let it be said that the influence of Rahm Emanuel has returned to Chicago. No. No. No. Democratic spinmeisters instinctively went into motion, insuring that this crisis did not go to waste. Within hours they were blaming Sarah Palin, tea party activists and everyone else who challenges their agenda.

January 9, 2011 might have offered the most Orwellian TV programming in the history of that storied medium. MSNBC, the very epicenter of hate speech, served up a gabfest hosted by David Gregory. Actually, it was NBC and it "Meet The Press." But when I saw it, it was being aired by MSNBC. NBC? MSNBC? No difference!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40965541/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts

MR. GREGORY: Congressman Labrador, the--comment on that. You're a tea party candidate. A lot of sentiment in the tea party is to be very concerned about some of the government policies pursued by this president. How do you see the discourse being in any way a contribution to some of the security threats that members of Congress can experience?


Not "Do you see?" but rather "How do you see..." Just how much hate speech can we expect and how many people will you kill? In other words, NBC defines hate speech as speech uttered by people who oppose their agenda.

They then ran this video of Congresswoman Giffords.

REP. GIFFORDS: We have had hundreds and hundreds of protesters over the course of the last several months. Our office corner has really become an area where the tea party movement congregates. And the rhetoric is incredibly heated. ... This is a situation where people don't--I mean, they really do need to realize that the rhetoric and firing people up and, you know, even things--for example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list--but the thing is that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. And when people do that, they've got to realize there's consequences to that action.

Of course. Blame Palin. That's what this gabfest is all about. The press has never been objective or even truthful when it comes to Palin. Why start now? If there is another Challenger disaster, the media will blame Palin. If there is another, 9/11, the media will blame Palin. As long as she is a viable threat to their agenda, Palin will be demonized. Truth is optional.

REP. CLEAVER: But--and I, I agree. And, and, and Trent Frank and I are friends and we work together, you know, and I, I would be stunned if I, if, if I ever heard him shout out an insult. That's just not who he is. But what has happened to the debate is one person or one side--Republicans or, or Democrats, it doesn't matter--they say, "I'm right and you're evil." And that is what's damaging this country.



Here is where it gets hyperOrwellian. The show is being aired on MSNBC. MSNBC is the very epicenter for hate speech. Five nights a week, Keith Olbermann pronounces "The Worst Person In The World." To make that list, one has to simply disagree with Olbermann. And Maddow and Matthews and Schultz use the "I'm right and you're evil" formula habitually. Habitually. It is the very essence of their network.

EXHIBIT A


This is nightly fare at MSNBC. Vicious certainly. But worse than vicious, Olbermann is untruthful. He is chronically untruthful. But this is not called hate speech. In the mainstream media, hate speech is only performed by the opposition. It is Sarah Palin and anonymous members of the tea party and anonymous bloggers who promote hate speech. Journalistic immunity rules the day.

Once more, the bigger story is the role of our mainstream media in political discourse. Right vs. left, libs vs. cons, etc., etc., etc., are all eclipsed by the dinosaur media. For years, the media have fomented hate speech. Bush stole the election. Bush committed genocide in New Orleans. Palin is misquoted with journalistic license. The tea party are all racists. The hate speech is continuous.

We will revisit this subject to review exactly what the media refer to when they ask us to change our tenor and tone. Hint: Whatever challenges their agenda. For now, let's summarize our prospects for a new civility: None.

Why I am not bullish on Kumbaya futures? Once more, it is the dinosaur media to blame. It is one thing to attack Bush or Palin or Scott Brown (although it does not excuse the dishonesty)and another to attack a large cross section of America (ditto the dishonesty.) For two solid years we had to endure the insinuation, the innuendo and sometimes when the fourth estate could not contain their unbridled enthusiasm, the outright lies that all who oppose the Obama agenda are racist.

The people who criticize TARP are dismissed as racist.
The people who opposed the stimulus are dismissed as racist.
The people who opposed health care reform (sic) are dismissed as racist.
The people who opposed cash for clunkers, secretive czars, the takeover of the auto indstry, the takeover of the student loan industry, finreg, tax increases, anything small or large, were and are dismissed as racist not just by Bill Maher or Daily Kos or Huffington Post, but by the mainstream media. MSM!

So now that NYT lost 82% of ad revenue in one quarter and more people watch Fox than the nightly news, the MSM pleads for civility. Two years of carpet bombing with the r-word. Now they want civility?

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA BOMBARD US WITH HATE SPEECH AND THEN PLEAD FOR CIVILITY