I love the twisted lens through which conservatives view the world. President Bush can spy on American citizens, send 2,000+ soldiers to die for weapons that aren’t there with no strategy or plan of any sort…. BUT THE “DAY-O MAN” SAID MEAN THINGS ON CNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O-Dub Logic 101 (courtesy of the immortal Tom Lehrer):
“There are people in this world who do not love their fellow man, and I HATE people like that!”
Thanks for the chuckle, Ollie!
Well gee, in another thread poster Wilbur, still traumitized evidently, wants an apology for 20 years of abuse from the likes Rush et al. So Day O calls Homeland Security the Gestapo. I demand an apology NOW!!! But maybe no problem, he might be just another IndyMedia idiot – EXCEPT – he’s on CNN spreading his sickness and he’s called to a major univeristy, Duke, to deliver an important address. If he’s not important and his words don’t matter, as you imply, why Duke, why CNN. And be careful, I haven’t bothered to research, betcha he’s gotten a lot more invites from respected institutions.
Dugger, Why Does He Have to Say these things
Because it gets attention.
Because if he hadn’t, nobody would be discussing this now.
Because the Right uses such inflammatory speech all the time.
Ann Coulter:
“My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building.”
“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”
“[Liberals are] Nazi block watchers. This is what they’re good at.”
We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.
In addition to racist and Nazi, how about adding traitor to the list of things that professors can t be? And yes, I realize I just proposed firing the entire Harvard faculty.
“Well, he [Clinton] was a very good rapist. I think that should not be forgotten.”
Rush Limbaugh:
“Why should Blacks be heard? They’re 12% of the population.
Who the hell cares.”
“I’m serious, let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely
no knowledge whatsoever to do–let the stupid and
unskilled Mexicans do that work.”
“The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get
a liquor store and practice robberies”
“I say keep these freaks out there. Keep these left-wing socialist freaks out there. The feminazis, the 1960s feminazis…”
When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation
Take that bone out of your nose and call me back
And that’s just 2 minutes on Google (which I’m sure the NSA would be thrilled to know).
It’s not like right wing pundits are a shining example of decorum and civility. While I don’t enjoy some of the extreme rhetorical flourishes certain celebrities and politicians seem prone to when they get in front of a camera, I find it much easier to forgive the occasional misstep of someone concerned with protecting our civil rights than someone advancing the classist and eliminationist positions of what passes for conservatism these days.
And please, Hugh Hewitt epitomizes the phrase, “steady as a rock and twice as smart.”
That’s about right Bryan. It’s called civility.
So the right can throw the word “traitor” around all they like (Kerry, Carter, anyone against the war), but (volunteer) War Vet Mr. Belafonte had better shut up? Is this about right?
Liberalism in a microcosm: Belafonte is allowed to use his freedom of speech to compare Bush to the Gestapo and Osama (”world’s greatest terrorists”) but Conservatives aren’t allowed to use their freedom of speech to label Belafonte as a nutjob.
You’re not very bright, are you, Oliver?
but Bryan,
Who in the mainstream of conservative, Republican thought, Bryan ol’ sod, called Kerry or Carter a traitor? Looking forward to your factual input. And Bryan if we object to Day O calling Homeland Security the Gestapo, are we just supposed to to say nothing, because to object to this fine, intelligent sentiment means we think Day O is a traitor. Did we think this one out Bryan?
Dugger
Dugger, why are you arguing “mainstream of conservative, Republican thought” versus Harry Belafonte?
C’mon, even it up. Either it’s mainstream versus mainstream or your wackos versus our wackos.
Yes, before the election many of us were upset because John Kerry hadn’t invited the political powerhouse that is Harry freaking Belafonte to join the team.
Probably because Belafonte is treated by other Dems as a member of the mainstream (getting invited to the same events as HRC, speaking at MoveOn.org functions, etc.)
Quaker,
If you concede Belafonte is a wacko – I’m OK. I too think he is wacko. But then I wonder why he is a featured honorary speaker at a major university like Duke. Wonder why he was a 2006 AARP Impact Award honoree. Why he won an MLK peace prize a Mandela Courage award. Why he was invited to speak at Emory. Do these univeristies not agree with your wacko award?
Dugger, Bryan still waiting for those who called Carter and Kerry “traitors”
I wonder where you’re headed with this.
Are Duke, the AARP, Emory, and whoever hands out the MLK and Mandela prizes now part of the Democratic party? Are people people only given such honors in proportion to their hatred of George Bush?
There are some things in the world that can be measured without referencing where one stands on the continuum of domestic politics. Maybe Harry got some of those honors for something besides what he thinks about George Bush.
Ah, yes. Jimmy Carter. Other than bad-mouth George Bush, what the hell has he ever done?
The Nobel Prize Committee said as much when they bestowed their Peace prize upon Jimmy Carter.
Ah, yes. Jimmy Carter. Other than bad-mouth George Bush, what the hell has he ever done?
He IS “History’s Greatest Monster”. Isn’t that enough?
I guess I was wrong. Maybe the Nobel committee gave him the prize for brokering the deal that gave North Korea the bomb. Cause that REALLY helped world peace.
Smart move there, Jimmah.
Do you actively avoid knowledge? Or does it simply elude you?
Quaker, there is no such thing as knowledge. Only spin. Where has you been the last few years?
Oh come on, fact. I know that. I was just amusing myself by contemplating whether Farris runs from knowledge or knowledge runs from him.
It’s not meant to make sense. There are a few strategies here. One is always attack the attacker. Never engage in debate. Once you engage in debate you’ve lost.
Liberals and Libertarians (being rational people) will engage in debate. “My actions are justfied because… ” you’d say.
A neocon will just say “… you’re a rapist”…
Kevin
Sorry Dugger, I have a life away from my keyboard, and I live in a different timezone (and mindset).
You know that guy who represented the Republican Party, Mr Cunningham? (I think he’s had to quit or something?), well, he called Clinton a traitor. I got that from a 2 minute Google search. Try the same with Carter; you seem to have more time than I do.
Is Cunningham, an elected person, mainstream enough for you, or would you like to move the goalposts some more?
Now is “Gestapo” the right word?
Quaker, in the last paragraph you cite, the Nobel is implicitly laying out that opposition to Bush (and the Iraq War) was one of the qualifications.
Thanks for proving my point!
Well Bryan, it was 1992, but he is or was certainly as mainstream on our side as Cynthia McKinney is on yours. And he did effectively accuse Bubba of being a traitor. So,
you were right and I was wrong.
Dugger (Glad you have a life)
You know, a guilty conscience can make you think people are talking about you (or the Republican president you support) when they’re really not.
Since no one seems to have clicked the link I provided, here’s a few choice bits about our new Gestapo from said article:
-This new federal police force is “subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security.”
-The new police are empowered to “make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony.”
-Once a SENS (special event of national significance) designation is placed on an event, the new federal police are empowered to keep out and arrest people at their discretion.
-A “special event of national significance” is neither defined nor does it require the presence of a “protected person” such as the president in order to trigger it.
-The language conveys enormous discretionary and arbitrary powers. What is “an offense against the United States”? What are “reasonable grounds”?
If that doesn’t sound like the beginnings of a Gestapo, I don’t know what does. So ultimately, just as Murtha was right about Iraq (not that the Left needed convincing), so too does it seem that Harry Belafonte’s little bit of rhetorical flourish was omininously on target.
I’m going to design some Bill of Rights toilet paper so Bush can ACTUALLY wipe his ass with it instead of just metaphorically.
So long 1st amendment, it was nice knowin’ ya.
“If that doesn t sound like the beginnings of a Gestapo, I don t know what does.”
On that we agree.
Dugger
Bill, it’s Paul Craig Roberts posting on antiwar.com. (The cognitive dissonance of that alone should trouble you.) Neither is what I’d call a reliable source.
Doesn’t mean what you post isn’t true. But given the track record of the writer and the site, I’d look for corroboration before getting worked up.
the actual text of the act
Yeah, I know it’s Roberts, but the majority of what he says is pretty much straight out of the Patriot Act, and frankly, just the words “federal police force under the control of the Department of Homeland Security” should make everyone crap their pants.
The Fed isn’t supposed to have a police force, that’s the state’s job, and we also have the National Guard and the Secret Service to round things out.
Another article
This all appears to be Sensenbrenner’s idea. I think that says it all.