I started to comment on the previous entry, but my comment got so long-winded that I deemed it worthy of its own post. I recognize I may be the only person deeming it so.
There are many fascinating sidebars to this story--the vetting process (or lack thereof), Mudge's comment on the media blackout, or the belief that many Dems are secret Truthers. What I find most intriguing, though, is the way many outlets are portraying this as 'first scalp claimed by the Right,' as though this man is nothing but a victim of Glenn Beck's hysteria. I'm not a huge Beck fan, but the man is certainly right at times, and has been right on highlighting this story of late.
Liberals have no need for concern, there will be justice for Van Jones. The course of retaliation has been established by the truly execrable Keith Olbermann. He has a Daily Kos post soliciting any dirt on Glenn Beck or his producers, promising to air on his show (to all three of his viewers) anything he can find. I went over the Kos site, and when lightning didn't strike, proceeded to read some of the comments. Some of the winning entries thus far? Whether to go after Beck's Mormon faith, and to determine how solid is standing is with the Church. Whether to go after the fact that his mother committed suicide. And whether to highlight the fact that Beck's mother and Karl Rove's mother both took their own lives. One charmer offered that it's unfortunate that their mothers didn't commit suicide before giving birth. Another helpful contributor even posted Beck's home address in Connecticut.
I once wondered who Olbermann and people of his ilk would go after once Bush was gone.
I usually tune in to all the network and cable news channels to hear the news from differing points of view. But when I get to MSNBC and I see what the loony left (pronounced Keith Olberman) is ranting about I feel a cold chill of realization that there are people out there who listen to and believe his tripe. Political philosophy aside, one can see in his eyes and body language and hear in his voice a pure visceral hatred that is undiluted by the truth.
ReplyDeleteSmoothfur: your decription of Olberman sounds like the description of Hannity, Beck and Rush. I assume you see the similarities. He is merely the counterbalance of what the extreme right has pushed for years. :)
ReplyDeleteAnon, you're right to a small degree. But neither Hannity, Beck nor Rush ooze hate and contempt quite the way Olbermann does. And do any of those gentlemen advertise for dirt on people so they can take them down on their shows?
ReplyDeleteAnon, Rush and Olberman aren't even in the same intellectual ballpark. Yet, Olberman and Jeneane Garafalo (sp?) however have many similarities in terms of snide and ill supported remarks (see "truther"), low blows, and just plain nastiness.
ReplyDelete...or like comparing apples to idiots.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: The difference between political bias and visceral hatred is immeasurable.
ReplyDeleteImmeasurable in the sense that it is so infinitesimally small that it defies measurement?
ReplyDeleteDo you have a hatredometer upon which you can base your assessment?
I'll bet that somewhere on a website called "The 'Progressive' Hokie" there's some readers who think the exact inverse of what Sally and Smoothfur do on this subject.
You both see the world through the lens of your life experiences and the worldviews you've developed. In my opinion there isn't a dime's bit of difference in style amongst those bunch of instigators.
Regardless of how intelligent they are respectively, that they play to lowest common denominators of their ilk, makes them purveyors of intellectual dishonesty in my opinion.
Incredulous, there are plenty of differences between them. I agree they're all agitators. But Olbermann invites guests on his show who agree exclusively with him. He is an angry man who absolutely cannot be challenged. Remember, this is the man who used to make Suzy Kolber lock herself into the ladies' room so she could cry when they worked together at ESPN.
ReplyDeleteBeck and Hannity at least allow opposing viewpoints on their shows, and while they hammer away at the Administration, they don't do it an angry fashion-they're almost cheerful about it. Olbermann is so hateful and self-righteous I don't know how anyone can even suffer his show.
What surprises me is that Olbermann used to be a sporstcaster. When I was a kid, candy-ass sissys like Keith O got their butts kicked by the jocks.
ReplyDeletehttp://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/out_of_context_socialism_in_barack_obamas_education_speech.php
ReplyDeletePolitics is a blood sport and it's anything but fair. Rush and Beck and Hannity and Olbermann are opinion shows: the more the merrier. My problem is with the mainstream media.
ReplyDeleteVan Jones was never mentioned in the msm. None of the networks apart from Fox, none of the major dailys apart from the Wash. Times, non of the news magazines said a word about this communist, racist nut-case. This is not media bias this is media corruption. So the idea that Olbermann is just a counter weight to Rush is rubbish. Rush is going up against the msm monster, and the monster is corrupt. One more thing, Fox gets a lot of grief for being "right wing". But even the Democrats will admit it's truly the most "fair and balanced". Ask Hillary. When she was going up against Obama the msm come down for BHO. All of a sudden she had the wrong end of the stick and she knew it. Fox treated her fairly.