Liberals frequently like to try to compare two entirely different things and say they are the same. For example, there's the comparison between defense of traditional marriage with the civil rights movement. Or, as happened on a recent thread at Common Sense Political Thought, comparing radical Islam, which has at least 10 million followers, with tiny radical Christian sects which have perhaps a few thousand followers (at best).
The latest example is the leftwing blogosphere's attempt to defend potty-mouth Amanda Marcotte by accusing right leaning blogs of similar behavior. The problem is, there isn't anything close to the sorts of things Amanda has routinely said for years.
Media Matters is already doing their best at damage control by finding a blogger who said Chelsea Clinton was ugly. I kid you not.
Worse, MM quotes Sock Puppet MasterGlenn Greenwald, who laughably uses the "everybody does it" argument that your mom wouldn't buy back in seventh grade and doesn't work today.
I do not know of many bloggers, or citizens generally, who do not have some views that would be offensive to large groups of people and who periodically express those views in less than demure ways, but if that is going to be the standard, we ought to apply it universally to all bloggers who are affiliated with political campaigns.
Hilariously, Greenwald sifts through the blog of Patrick Hynes, a paid consultant for John McCain. Here's what Greenwald found:
1. Hynes called Henry Waxman names (no curse words are noted)
2. Hynes' claiming that America is a "Christian nation" (I know, it's horrifyingly similar to accusing pro-life supporters of only wanting more babies for adoption, isn't it?)
3. He wrote anti-Mitt Romney posts.
I guess in Greenwald's world, this:
One thing I vow here and now–you motherfuckers who want to ban birth control will never sleep. I will fuck without making children day in and out and you will know it and you won’t be able to stop it. Toss and turn, you mean, jealous motherfuckers. I’m not going to be “punished” with babies. Which makes all your efforts a failure. Some non-procreating women escaped. So give up now. You’ll never catch all of us. Give up now.
Equates with this:
But a dude with a mug like this guy has really needs a nickname. Something that’ll stick. Nothing too clever comes to mind right away. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the “Comments” thread.
Then making a "big nose" joke which is, if you are a moonbat, anti-semitic.
He's kidding, right? This is the best he can come up with? I'm sure I've written more inflammatory stuff than that if the hysterical Pandagonistas are any indication.
I guess some commenters took Greenwald's tepid arguments apart because he had to come back with an update.
It is some Catholics themselves -- like evangelical Christians and religious Jews and others -- who have transformed their set of religious beliefs into politcal beliefs, even political weapons.
There is nothing per se wrong with doing that, but under those circumstances, there is also no justification for the notion that those beliefs should then be immune from the same type of criticisms, and even mockery, which is deemed acceptable when applied to any other set of political beliefs. I suppose that in an ideal world it would be nice if we all engaged in political discussions using only the most polite and respectful tone. But every set of political beliefs is subjected to the most intense insult and mockery, and those who insinuate their religious beliefs into the political arena have no right thereafter to demand that those beliefs be accorded some sort of special status.
Here's where Greenwald is wrong. Every set of political beliefs need not be subjected to intense insult and mockery, certainly not the level that Amanda Marcotte uses.
That really is the point of the whole controversy. Amanda managed, over the course of her blogger career, to insult huge constituents any rational candidate needs to get elected to higher office. I'm not simply talking about the fact that she has a hard time putting together more than three sentences without a curse word. I'm talking about the insulting, vituperative and unnecessary vitriol aimed at her political opponents. Call people "wingnuts" if you want. Call them "moonbats" if you want. But when you mock sacred tenets of a religion for a cheap joke, ridicule people who might share some of your beliefs but don't believe in abortion, or state that parents who don't want their daughters to get the HPV vaccine would rather their kids died of cancer than admit those kids might have sex one day, then you are crossing the line.
There's a big difference between "big nose" and "godbags." The people who don't understand that probably won't be winning any elections any time soon, anyay.
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