Thanks.

LP

I’ve seen your girlfriend…not a “hottie.” Well, I’m off to be a xenophobe with my immigrant wife and step-daughter (that’s sarcasm, for the layperson). What a douchebag you are.

That would be like me saying, “I don’t watch O’Reilly, so he really doesn’t count as a right-wing character assassin.”

Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Agreed that Character Assassination is uncool. Disagree that is strictly a Conservative issue (period, full stop).

As Johnny pointed out, the level of the conversation has occasionally gotten so low, that we must waste time talking about the pundits, and not the issues.

Regarding Moore and Sicko, as Rip said, and I have said, I will watch it when it comes out on DVD just like I have all of his other movies, and when the time comes you guys will hear (ad nauseum) my opinions on the U.S. Health Care system.

Until then, when Michael Moore (or anyone else–especially people, like him, that I particularly don’t like) says something REALLY STUPID I will be sure and point it out.

In addition to that, I will do my best to point out the stupid things that people that I DO like say, but no promises.

Fixing typos is a mess…What I meant to say is drop dead you liberal idiot!

Certainly the level of discourse has dropped a few notches, and unfortunately, the rise of the internet new media has hasn’t this process. Consider that Ana Marie Cox, who made a living using the word “B***F***” while blogging about politics, is now the online editor for Time magazine. She doesn’t have the name recognition that Limbaugh has, but she’s definitely no Edward R Murrow.

Needless to say, I think your call for character assassins on the left , which conflate name-calling and argument, is a few years too late. Just because people don’t take them seriously or they are only on a hundred stations doesn’t help your argument. In fact, it supports the fact that left wing demagoguery is not as popular as right wing demagoguery, despite repeated attempts by the left (i.e. Air America).

No one makes people listen to Limbaugh or watch O’Reilly. If Olbermann can’t match O’Reilly’s ratings, is O’Reilly supposed to quit so liberals can monopolize the debate in this country?

Sure, Al Franken called Rush a big fat idiot. What else? I haven’t read his other books.

Bill Maher. What’s he said that puts him in the league of Rush and O’Reilly to qualify him as a character assassin? Have you thrown him in merely because he’s a liberal? In the eyes of any conservative qualifies one as utterly anti-American! But I’m not a conservative. You better back your arguments up with some facts.

Olberman? Maybe, but I’ve never seen to this guy. I’ve read that he’s very biased. But can you verify that he is lying like I can verify Limbaugh’s and O’Reilly’s lies?

Ed Schultz? 100 radio stations carry this guy. Who’s he slandered? Any defamation coming from this man’s program? What’s your dirt on him? What lies against conservatives has he been telling?

Rosie O’Donnell. That’s pretty lame. How many people take this woman seriously?

For too long the left, center-left, Democratic party, et al have been on the sides of rational, reasoned debate, thinking that we would bring our opponents around by appealing to their reason. This strategy is just not reflective of the world we live in today — 24 hour news, soundbites, internet hook-ups everywhere, constant information flow, faster, quicker, now — today it’s all about who gets their position out first, always, and in the most direct fashion possible (to include name-calling, character assassination). The right/Republicans have understood this for some time, and we have to bow to reality as well, as much as I dislike it….it’s depressing.

It wasn’t my intention to infer that Moore is the only Leftist counterpart to Limbaugh and O’Reilly but that he is the only one to my mind with the same celebrity (please re-read the post). If there are other liberals out there of this stature, I’m curious to know who they are.

While you guys may not be paying much or any attention to O’Reilly and Limbaugh yourselves, millions of Americans are. These turkeys have spent countless hours of airtime mixing facts with fiction. Countless. Which is why I think their is a major difference in output of this sort from the Right than from the Left. Is that unreasonable? Again, I’m talking about the namecalling, the smearing, the slandering.

As for Rip’s response to my comment that there should (or should not) be more character assassins on the Left, I have come to believe that this sort of filthy behavior in the media will not be toned down at all. People eat this shit up. And what perplexes me is that, while conservatives constantly harp on the influence movies and tv have on people, they ignore the extent to which major media pundits (among whom conservatives the likes of Limbaugh and O’Reilly outnumber liberals) are exerting influence over millions of Americans every day. So how do you deal with this excessible and unstoppable belligerence from the Right?

The point of the post was less to say let’s all get along and more to say you’re plaing dirty, so put up your dukes.

This is exhausting me! Time for some bar-b-que and beer. You guys have a happy holiday.