Michael Steele is running for the US Senate in Maryland. He’s Republican. And, he’s black. That’s not a typically good thing to be seeking political office in Maryland. They tend to elect white Democrats historically. However, what ANY candidate of…

And you say this after you spent this entire thread lecturing Oliver about what you think is out of bounds. Classic.

You know you still haven’t told us who think has the authority to declare someone a racist and why it’s a sign of character to attack gay Americans as a threat to the family. Anytime, Jay, anytime …

Unlike you, I don’t consider these discussions a “blood sport.” The Abramoff reference was intended as almost an olive branch to Oliver (who has not expressed anger over it), a slight teasing instead of the usual sledge-hammering when he does something egregious. My hopes were that it would provoke a brief smile, or even a slight wince, and lighten the mood.

If you consider that sort of thing out of bounds, then tough shit. Last time I checked, one person sets the rules around here, and it ain’t you.

As far as the rest of what you say… unfounded, incorrect, and stupid. The typical frame trifecta. I dismiss your allegations with all the effort you put into making them.

J.

Another bullshit dodge from the master coward. Just can’t ever stand by anything you write can you Jay? Tell me how, how many apologies and qualifications do have to post a day?

J.

As far as Oliver’s writing skills… I am a layman on that basis, myself. I had a very, very brief career as a semi-professional writer a long time ago; ever since then, it’s been pretty much recreational. But as someone who does a LOT of writing, his style leaves a bit to be desired.

I don’t quite see your point there, though.

J.

And as a guy who currently gets paid professionally write, you don’t even want to go there Jay …

You gotta own a little of the responsibility for that one, Oliver. I mean, you have your picture on the main page, but your icon is of a white guy…

Maybe I oughta choose a picture of Ray Nagin as my icon?

Nah.

J.

Whenever you want to get around to telling us who has the authority to call someone a racist and why it is a sign of character to support people who think gay couples pose a threat to the American family let me know. As to Oliver’s comments on Steele, what else can I tell you, he’s right. The Republicans are obviously trading on Steele’s race to put over the same old crap. It’s as cynical a strategy as it gets.

And Jay, I find it highly hypocritical of you to attack Oliver’s writing skills when you have, in the past, repeatedly championed “lay” intelligence over trained, professional knowledge. Just one more bit of snark that reveals the depth of your personal dishonesty. Oliver is a much needed firebrand on the left who is outstanding at the job. He certainly gets a rise out of you on a regular basis.

Um Jay, you’re going to have to explain this one.

I have no problem with Oliver calling something “swill.” I think I might have even used that term myself once or twice.

What I am calling him on are the words after swill, namely “in a slightly darker casing.” Oliver is making a point of highlighting Steele’s race in this context. One can also infer, by the choice of “slightly darker,” that Steele isn’t sufficiently “black” enough for Oliver’s tastes — if not in skin color, than in acting in the politically-acceptable manner for a black politician. By Oliver’s rules, blacks are simply not allowed to be conservative. Any who violate that rule are to be called out and destroyed.

Of course, perhaps I’m reading too much into that phrase. After all, that would be giving Oliver credit for being able to wring such nuance and subtlety out of the English language — and he’s never really impressed me as being that good a writer.

J.

And I can’t believe you call attending an anti-gay rally a character issue. A character issue? You’re kidding me. He’s pandering plain and simple. You think Steele is going to an anti-gay rally because he feels he can afford to take the political fallout? Really? From a recent story on the race:

“And should Cardin win the Sept. 12 primary and face Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, the likely GOP nominee, the poll shows him winning with 49 percent to Steele s 35 percent, with 16 percent undecided …

The Gonzales poll also matched Steele against Mfume in the November election. In that head-to-head match, Steele polled slightly better  39 percent  but still trailed Mfume s 44 percent, according to the telephone survey of 819 registered Maryland voters taken between April 4 and April 13. The poll has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.”

http://www.gazette.net/stories/042106/polia%20s193625_31945.shtml

Now I don’t follow Maryland politics closely either but it seems to me that Steele is obviously trying to shore up the hate-filled republican base.

Which brings us to your other comment about Rove: “Amazing  Karl Rove is behind the anti-gay-marriage movement? Damn, when does he find the TIME to do all this?” This is just the kind of idiotic comment I would
expect from someone who wants to deflect form the fact that the republican party has made demonizing groups of Americans to scare voters and divide this country a central part of its campaign strategy at every level. To suggest that this is unthinkable because “Karl Rove couldn’t possibly have the time to be engaged in so many cmpaigns” is to be deliberately obtuse and you know it. Or at least you should know it. If you don’t and you actually think Rove would have to run each republican campaign individual, well, then you’re already brain dead.

And Jay, if you’re going to start declaring who DOESN’T have the authority to call someone a racist it behooves you to suggest who you think DOES have the authority to do so. Unless you think no one does which sort of let’s the racists off the hook, now, doesn’t it?

Finally, in parting, Jay offers up his most tried and true defense against any and all actual intelligence and facts: “You know, I really don’t care any way so it doesn’t matter what you say.” Classic.

“My comments have a history of  disappearing in the past, Frame, so the thought that it might happen again was not too foreign.”

What a whiny little bitch.

“Our Lt. Governor officially kicked off his anti-gay U.S. Senate campaign this week,” said Executive Director Dan Furmansky. “No one is surprised that he has chosen to attack gay and lesbian Americans under the guise of “protecting” marriage. This is a transparent Karl Rove tactic designed to sway voters into thinking he is running something other than an empty shell of a campaign.”

Also, I never directly accused Oliver. I said they were disappearing, and speculated that I might have been banned — a theory I tested and disproved immediately. My comments have a history of “disappearing” in the past, Frame, so the thought that it might happen again was not too foreign.

Also, the numbers mislead. Four of them were originally a single posting that I tried repeatedly to put up.

Who has the authority to declare someone a racist? Well, Oliver obviously thinks he does — just on the recent memory, he’s hung that label on The Political Teen, George Allen, and Jerome Corsi.

Again, I don’t care about Steele, but it looks like he’s not making the gay marriage thing so much an “issue” issue but a “character” issue. He’s trying to show the sort of person he is to the voters who will decide whether he’s the kind of guy they want to send to DC. Has he said anything about what he’d DO as a Senator about gay marriage? I doubt it.

Again, I think he’s wrong. But he’s entitled to express his opinion, demonstrate his support for causes he believes in, and speak out on any issue he likes. He’ll have to decide on his own whether or not that will help or harm his political career, and weigh that against his beliefs in his principles. In this case, he’s decided that he can accept any political fallout.
And in that, he’s probably right.

I have four Senators I keep a rough eye on — my own (Gregg, whom I have disliked for years, and Sununu, of whom I am suspicious), and Massachusetts’ Kennedy and Kerry, the Klueless Klowns. Beyond that, I have little interest in the Senate.

J.

So you’d rather sell out your personal beliefs in favor of personal pique. Nice, Jay. And I love the concept of supporting an opponent because he’s at least fighting against me “the right way.” Oh and BTW, if Steele being in the Senate takes him out state politics and state legislatures are the only “correct” way to handle the issue, why is he attending an anti-gay marriage rally during his Senate campaign? Thank you for offering up more proof that this is a cynical political act that amounts to little more than tossing swill to swine.

And who mentioned Karl Rove? It isn’t that tough to understand that the republican leadership has sent out the word that gay marriage is the wedge issue du jour to stir up a reactionary, hateful base (which I guess is the correct way to deny American citizens the right to love who they want). Way to go, Jay.

And as for your problems with posting comments, it’s fascinating that you think you are being “denied your right to speak” here when 11 of the first 14 posts are yours. Classic victimhood.

I have no problems causing you headaches and aggravation, but I prefer to do so through words and ideas, not by repeatedly posting the same things over and over and over. For whatever difficulty my cyber-stutters may have caused you, I apologize.

In fact, the more I think about it, it might have been my own browser’s security settings that caused the problem, not your site. I’ve tweaked it, and it ought not happen again.

That being said… yeah, Jade, that was my OPINION. I don’t have the authority to declare anyone a racist. Oliver doesn’t, either, but that doesn’t stop him.

J.