USA Presidential Politics - 2008

[PlayadelSoul]

Now, you can get all caught up in the world of political punditry and act like the pundits actually speak for someone, other than themselves (I love Dennis Miller, for example), but I tend to be more concerned when actual representatives of the parties start spewing irresponsible rhetoric. So, when Senator Kerry refers to our troops as "terrorists in the night" or Congressman Murtha calls them "cold blooded killers", I have to ask myself if maybe this is the position of their party.

Anne Coulter called Edwards a faggot. Big deal. File a complaint with the PC police. Or, better still, have your mom call and complain to the teacher.

[kirbyfan]

Originally Posted by StewartG

Mark - can you find me a room or audience full of Democrats applauding Rosie's ridiculous statements similar to the clips posted by Steve above?

Ummmm....

Didn't think so.

See the difference here?

Are you kidding me Stew? Honestly?

Did you ever watch The View? The audience was continually applauding Rosies outlandish statements. My wife Tivos that show daily. Pretty much since her first outlandish statement I watch the first 30 minutes of the show to see what kind of nonsense shes gonna come up with next and of course to cheer for Elizabeth to throw her a beat down.

Most Democrats are smart/wise/good enough to distance themselves from complete idiocy in their fold. An awful lot of Republicans embrace (and apparently applaud) it.

Come on now Stew you are being a homer. You know as well as I that there are just as many Dems that support the nutjobs in their party as there are in the other party.

[melliedee]

Originally Posted by PlayadelSoul

Now, you can get all caught up in the world of political punditry and act like the pundits actually speak for someone, other than themselves (I love Dennis Miller, for example), but I tend to be more concerned when actual representatives of the parties start spewing irresponsible rhetoric. So, when Senator Kerry refers to our troops as "terrorists in the night" or Congressman Murtha calls them "cold blooded killers", I have to ask myself if maybe this is the position of their party.

Anne Coulter called Edwards a faggot. Big deal. File a complaint with the PC police. Or, better still, have your mom call and complain to the teacher.

I guess I don't take it as lightly as you. Hate speech leads to actual crimes, especially gay bashing (remember Matthew Shepard?). Coulter being youngish, blonde, etc means she appeals to a certain base of young convervatives and does so with ugly comments that increasingly support/legitimize such stances.

[ryberg]

Originally Posted by PlayadelSoul

Anne Coulter called Edwards a faggot. Big deal. File a complaint with the PC police. Or, better still, have your mom call and complain to the teacher.

Well but again, the claim that she's just a pundit and doesn't represent conservatives or their views is contradicted by the part of the story you omit, but which I think is actually more important: it was really

Anne Coulter called Edwards a faggot and then the large audience of people she was speaking to and who are explicitly identified as politically involved conservatives gave her a round of applause.

Not a big deal?

Steve

[PlayadelSoul]

"Mr. President, the Iranians are burning you in effigy, have called you the 'Great Satan' and our threatening to send nukes."

"Oh dear. Ask my wife to call the Iranian President and explain how it hurts our feelings."

[ryberg]

Originally Posted by melliedee

I guess I don't take it as lightly as you. Hate speech leads to actual crimes, especially gay bashing (remember Matthew Shepard?). Coulter being youngish, blonde, etc means she appeals to a certain base of young convervatives and does so with ugly comments that increasingly support/legitimize such stances.

Actually I think that is a good part of the answer as to why Coulter remains in the spotlight, though of course it would be difficult if not impossible to prove such an impression. I would venture to guess that if she were even just not blonde, that might be a significant whammy on her staying power in the public eye; naturally that would go double or triple if she were not only not blonde but not youngish or attractive (though I confess it truly pains me to try to be objective and say that she basically qualifies physically speaking as attractive, given her hateful personality and style!).

Edit: Like, say, if she looked like Rosie O'Donnell...

Steve

[ryberg]

Originally Posted by PlayadelSoul

"Mr. President, the Iranians are burning you in effigy, have called you the 'Great Satan' and our threatening to send nukes."

"Oh dear. Ask my wife to call the Iranian President and explain how it hurts our feelings."

Shift and dodge!





Steve

[Just Lucky]

Ms (and I use that term loosly ) Coulter is only one example of the right wing hate machine that pushs buttons for some of the Republican electorate. Take a look at these quotes from yesterday:

Several senators said Wednesday that they did not care to be identified speaking critically of the broadcasters, fearing the same conservative backlash that befell Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, this month when he declared: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”

and this from the article:

As Mr. Graham walked back to his office on Wednesday, he said he doubted that senators would be deterred by any threats. “I’m sure a lot of the people who have taken a high-profile position on this have been threatened, but what are you going to do?” he said. “You saw what happened to Senator Daschle.”
Mr. Graham was referring to Tom Daschle, the former Democratic majority leader from South Dakota, whose office received a mailing of anthrax in 2001. The case remains unsolved.
“One of the requirements of public service in modern America is dealing with a few voices that are full of hate,” Mr. Graham said. “And our discourse and the way we politic, the way we engage each other, brings that out.”

Maybe I shouuld have just posted the entire article because it shows a pattern with hate radio in the drivers seat:

The threat came in the weekend mail.
The recipient was Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, who has been a leading advocate of the proposed legislation for changing the immigration system. His offices in Washington and across Florida have received thousands of angry messages in recent weeks, but nothing as alarming as that letter he received at his home.
“I’ll turn it over to Capitol police, and we’ll go from there,” said Mr. Martinez, who declined to elaborate on the nature of the threat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/wa...=1&oref=slogin

[Cosmo]

The link king is on a roll..

[kirbyfan]

Originally Posted by Just Lucky

Ms (and I use that term loosly ) Coulter is only one example of the right wing hate machine that pushs buttons for some of the Republican electorate. Take a look at these quotes from yesterday: and this from the article: Maybe I shouuld have just posted the entire article because it shows a pattern with hate radio in the drivers seat: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/wa...=1&oref=slogin

Were you by chance one of those people back in the day that claimed AC/DC and The Beatles were causing people to commit murder?

[PlayadelSoul]

Originally Posted by melliedee

I guess I don't take it as lightly as you. Hate speech leads to actual crimes, especially gay bashing (remember Matthew Shepard?). Coulter being youngish, blonde, etc means she appeals to a certain base of young convervatives and does so with ugly comments that increasingly support/legitimize such stances.

Well, you have your issues, I have mine. Labeling any form of speech as out of bounds smells a lot like thought control to me.

If you seriously suggest that by calling someone a "faggot", you are taking part in a crime, then there really are two Americas.

Coulter is an American citizen and, as such, can say whatever she wants. Personally, I wouldn't call Edwards a "faggot". I would use the word that begins with a P and ends with a Y. Using your cancer ridden wife (as if that protects her from criticism in the political arena) to do your dirty work would fall right into that definition.

[Just Lucky]

Originally Posted by kirbyfan

Were you by chance one of those people back in the day that claimed AC/DC and The Beatles were causing people to commit murder?

No I wasn't. I do see talk radio much the way many of our Republican representatives do as having a very negative effect on public discourse. There are folks who actually believe the things your man Rush says. I know it's hard to believe anyone who made it through the sixth grade would put any stock in what he Coulter or O'Reilly as examples say but is an unfortunate truth in todays political environment.

[PlayadelSoul]

Originally Posted by Just Lucky

No I wasn't. I do see talk radio much the way many of our Republican representatives do as having a very negative effect on public discourse. There are folks who actually believe the things your man Rush says. I know it's hard to believe anyone who made it through the sixth grade would put any stock in what he Coulter or O'Reilly as examples say but is an unfortunate truth in todays political environment.

Hey, Lucky, why not pass a law that says they can't speak. That will solve the problem.

[Just Lucky]

Originally Posted by PlayadelSoul

Well, you have your issues, I have mine. Labeling any form of speech as out of bounds smells a lot like thought control to me.

If you seriously suggest that by calling someone a "faggot", you are taking part in a crime, then there really are two Americas.

Coulter is an American citizen and, as such, can say whatever she wants. Personally, I wouldn't call Edwards a "faggot". I would use the word that begins with a P and ends with a Y. Using your cancer ridden wife (as if that protects her from criticism in the political arena) to do your dirty work would fall right into that definition.

I think this last statement is beneath you and beneath contempt.

[Cosmo]

There's whats legal and what's right, two different things.