Wanted: New Pandagon Watcher

Friend Chuck Serio has suffered the Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels' fate and been banned from Pandagon for being "boring as f*ck" (i.e., intelligent). I'm now looking for a new watcher. If interested, send me an e-mail. Thanks!

Pandagon Watch: Amanda Marcotte Discovers the Secret Goal of Conservatives

And that is to piss off liberals. I'm not making this stuff up; she actually said that that is the reason so many people either don't believe in global warming or are skeptical about it and question the science. It can't possibly be that every couple of years scientists change their mind about something and announce that they now believe the exact opposite (example: remember when eggs were the worst food on the planet and nobody was supposed to eat them? Then, scientists changed their minds and decided eggs were great! Now, they're somewhere in between).

No, conservatives aren't just rational people with memories longer than Amanda's convenient memory about politics and logic. They clearly aren't skeptical about drastic changes in the way we are supposed to live, including getting rid of cars, crippling American industries and generally taxing the hell out of everyone and dictating how they will live their lives. No, according to Amanda, there are really just two reasons why conservatives don't believe the climate screamers:

1) They’re in deep denial.
2) They know that global warming is real, but they don’t care.

It's no wonder Pandagon has to screen every person who comments on their blog. They have to make sure only the idiotic and insane get on to say, "Wow! What great insight! I knew conservatives were eeeevillll but I didn't know their soul motivation was to piss off liberals!" Amanda couldn't handle someone explaining to her that no, there's not a scientific consensus on global warming and that many well-respected scientists think we need more evidence to make such a declaration (and to determine that (a) human beings are the cause and (b) anything we do will change it anyway). Nor could she handle anyone noting that the cult of global warming isn't merely about getting federal money, but about power and controlling what people can and can't do, which is a key element of liberalism (you don't know what's best for you; only Democrat-controlled organizations/governments know what's best and should have the power to force you to do what they want). Liberals think forcing you to keep your thermostat at 68 in the winter and 80 in the summer is a good thing and letting you decide what temp you want your house at (and pay the bills for) is a bad thing. Or driving a big SUV (and paying the gasoline for it) is a bad thing and forcing everyone who drives to drive a pregnant rollerskate is a good thing.

In other words, what pisses off liberals, and therefore, is the conservative goal, is the idea of individuals living their lives with little government interference, and actually remembering when scientists were afraid of global cooling. Perhaps pissing off liberals this way is a great goal to have.

Pandagon Watch: Even When They're Wrong, It's All the Right's Fault

So, the Kentucky census worker killed by those eeeeeevilllll rightwingers has been ruled a suicide. Worse, it was a suicide designed to bilk the insurance company. But those inconvenient facts don't get in the way of a good narrative for Amanda Marcotte. No, Amanda still finds a way to blame the Right for this man's decision to off himself.

But as much as the hate-mongerers will surely conclude they get 100% off the hook for this, they do not. Sparkman concluded that this was an effective disguise for his suicide because he’d been subjected to so many concerns about his safety working the Census. How realistic those concerns are is somewhat beside the point, since terrorism is about creating the perception of danger. Loud-mouthed threats aimed at government workers, right wing gun nut paranoia about “big government”, shirts with “jokes” about shooting liberals---all these add up to an atmosphere of fear that made Sparkman believe that this murder scenario was realistic. His fraud and suicide are evidence that creating a threatening, violent atmosphere is effective, and so no, the hate-mongerers are not off the hook.

You get that? This guy commits suicide, trying to make it look like somebody murdered him and...that makes it the fault of those paranoid Deliverance types. Call it the Matthew Shepard defense.

Were this sort of argument not so pathetic, it would be funny. Hilarious, even. But the fact is, Amanda's sitting there with egg on her face, trying to find a way to blame the egg for smacking her, when there are bits of egg and shell all over her own hand. In fact, a commenter points this out in the thread, only to be accused of--what else?--being a man, as though that affects the veracity of his/her/its point.

I never tire of pointing out the outrageous demagoguery of the Left, but trying to blame a guy's suicide-for-insurance-fraud on gun owners is pretty far out there even for Pandagon. Deliciously, there are even commenters arguing that it was only right to try to screw the insurance company, since they were to blame for the guy's depression in the first place. The fact that insurance fraud comes back to bite consumers on the ass is of no consequence to these jerks, I suppose.