Civility for Thee, But Not for Me
Paul Kanjorski, writing in today’s New York Times:
[I]t is incumbent on all Americans to create an atmosphere of civility and respect in which political discourse can flow freely, without fear of violent confrontation.
You know what’s coming, don’t you?
“That Scott down there that’s running for governor of Florida,” Mr. Kanjorski said. “Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have him and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him. He stole billions of dollars from the United States government and he’s running for governor of Florida.
Why, it’s almost as silly as Paul Krugman lecturing us on civility after joking about Joe Lieberman being hung in effigy.
Tom Maguire reminds us that Krugman recently told us all that any Democrat who used violent rhetoric would be “ostracized.” Well sign me up for this brand of “ostracism”!
Who do I gotta blow threaten to get offered op-ed space in the nation’s largest newspaper?
eff civility and respect this is America
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 1/11/2011 @ 1:01 pmhappyfeet, even if you’re kidding, I agree.
I know Patterico’s riff is that the civility being used by the MSM is actually a poorly disguised nastiness, but my take on it is that we’re better off if people who feel nasty about politicians go ahead and directly say what they mean.
I don’t mean that we should try to hate eachother or see the worst, but we shouldn’t cover up our true feelings in order to sneak them in via selective reporting. For example ‘Palin didn’t lead to these deaths directly.’
The real problem is that these folks are insecure about their POV. they don’t conceal it because they are puppetmasters, but because they suspect they will be embarrassed. As instapundit sometimes says, credentialed but not educated.
People out there who have been thinking, for years, that Rush Limbaugh shouldn’t be ‘allowed’ to say what he says should just go ahead and say what they mean. Just propose an amendment to the constitution. They want someone to have attended an Ivy League in order to be a Judge or President, and resent a mother of many being a Governor? Go ahead and make that known, propose your reform, and see it fail.
I prefer that to the mask slipping when ‘experts’ forget themselves.
Just a couple of years of honesty, and we can process through all the gasbags and tyrants, and get patriots in their place.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 1/11/2011 @ 1:14 pmPat you and Arron the ‘umble should check your email: i sent you the latest MoveOn tripe….
evidently we may never know what the shooters motivation was…. but they want civility too.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/11/2011 @ 1:17 pmThink of it this way, as I’ve been feeling for the past few years: this is just another primal scream of anger and hopelessness on the part of the MFM, they already have one foot into the tar pits and the other is failing fast. They can feel their relevance slipping away, and since the elections they know that the ground’s shifting under their collective feet, and their relevance is fading fast into the twilight. This latest outrage is only going to drive their dwindling base of consumers further into alternative modes of media – and good riddance, at long last.
Dmac (498ece) — 1/11/2011 @ 1:33 pmPat and Aaron, You might check out what “Newsweek” has decided to print:
MikeHu (6451eb) — 1/11/2011 @ 1:37 pmhttp://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/11/homeland-security-study-warned-of-right-wing-extremism.html
Totally off topic but just read Dick Winters passed away. If the name initially escapes you, he was the real life Easy Company commander portrayed in the highly regarded HBO series, ‘Band Of Brothers.’ Winters was 92. Rest ‘Easy’ and peacefully, sir.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 1/11/2011 @ 1:40 pmRules, such as for civility, are just for the Little People, and never apply to members of The Ruling Class.
AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92) — 1/11/2011 @ 2:05 pmBTW, Kanjorski, how’d that re-election campaign go for you?
free speech is all a little pikachu has what he can fight our dirty socialist overlords with
except for like guns and stuff
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 1/11/2011 @ 2:09 pmHaving read a lot of this stuff the past few days, I really wonder if all these outbursts from the left are planned or are they just unable to help themselves. I think the Economist said it best.
Mr Loughner’s obsession with language as a form of control seems rather less like Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin than Max Stirner, Michel Foucault, or even left-leaning linguists such as George Lakoff and Geoffrey Nunberg. Our own Johnson discusses speculation about the possible influence of one David Wynn Miller. But nobody’s going to try to smear Max Stirner, George Lakoff, or David Wynn Miller in the pages of the New York Times by recklessly associating their teachings with the tragedy in Tucson because, well, that would be completely bonkers and, more importantly, Max Stirner, George Lakoff, and David Wynn Miller didn’t just recapture the House.
Mike K (8f3f19) — 1/11/2011 @ 2:15 pmDCSCA, it’s a shame some lefties have a hard time appreciating vets who weren’t portrayed on ‘highly regarded HBO’ shows. But yes, that guy’s a hero and God bless him.
another interesting point is that we’re seeing a similar death toll in Afghanistan as we saw in Iraq when Bush was president, but the left has stopped caring about it. You don’t see the total KIAs mentioned on the front page every day, because of liberal media bias.
I don’t mind covering the issue, but it’s sad that we have such good proof that our fallen troops were used for brazen partisan democrat ends.
I guess that’s a recurring theme.
MikeHu’s got a damn good example, where Newsweek actually blames Boehner for ‘missed warning signs’.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 1/11/2011 @ 2:15 pmDustin – I am going to barf if somebody else brings up that discredited POS DHS report from early 2009. Refresh your memory about it. It was entirely conjecture, based on open source reporting and pure garbage. DHS was forced to withdraw it because it was so bad.
daleyrocks (e7bc4f) — 1/11/2011 @ 2:27 pmour fallen troops were used for brazen partisan democrat ends
Teh Won was warned that his compromise of 30,000 troops was “too little, too late”, and would likely result in increased casualties.
AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92) — 1/11/2011 @ 3:21 pmNow, they have to seriously think of a real surge, but you have the Veep hollering from every peak in Waziristan that we’re going to start withdrawals this year.
Good ol’ Sloe Joe, never met a foreign policy issue that he couldn’t be wrong about.
I SO wish it was sockpuppet Tuesday. Mine would go something like this.
OK liberals. You are right. Though I’ve not seen any of you give 2 shits about Gabby Giffords recovery, you have convinced me, with no evidence whatsoever that Loeffner must be a savage, deranged murderer who killed innocent people because Conservative rhetoric is so vitriolic. I mean, look, they are so devious, they have some of the most intelligent women, ala Nikki Hayley and minorities, ala Col. Allen West actually believing they are Conservative, too. That just can’t be.
So, sign me up. Where do I go to learn how to shred the Constitution? Or, to learn how to distribute other people’s money instead of working for my own? Oh, and I’ll need a class on how to literally hate this country, too. And I’ll no longer try to help the poor and disadvantaged, right? If they only had government funded WiFi they could get ahead. Fair warning, I will struggle with hating on the military, since I come from a long line of great men who served honorably. But, I guess that will be taught in the how to hate America class. I may also be slow on the uptake on absolution of the personal responsibility stuff, too. I’m not sure how that works, since I worked 2 jobs for the better part of a decade to survive. Perhaps that will come when I surround myself with other liberals, as it seems the longer you are a liberal, the less personal responsibility you want anyone, of any kind, with any personal, emotional or financial deficiencies to assume.
So, I’ll wait for your acknowledgement. I’m just a bit nervous about how much the morning fax containing the days’ talking points is going to cost. My hours at work have been cut in half due to the economy, but it was only because the messaging wasn’t clear. (Am I doing it right?)
sybilll (c3a8e2) — 1/11/2011 @ 3:41 pmYour second Paul K link is broken, FYI.
Jim (7b1d21) — 1/11/2011 @ 3:52 pmkeep your options open they may need toe suckers
newrouter (b55202) — 1/11/2011 @ 4:26 pmThe left deep down wants to outlaw any kind of conservative opposition.
DN (e13e38) — 1/11/2011 @ 4:43 pmI was floored. I went to the gym, and some yoyo had MSNBC on. He was suggesting that someone should “go after” Palin. Then of course he kept asking, why the hatred for the government? Why does the right hate the government? Well maybe its because guys like Matthews are shills for the people who want us subservient to the government and guys like Matthews is now suggesting somebody “shut up” one of the conservative voices of the people.
Wayne (df63da) — 1/11/2011 @ 4:55 pmIt’s time to put representatives in office who absolutely refuse to compromise with leftists.
http://reformaliberal.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/busting-ours-to-kick-yours/
b5blue (c7f61a) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:10 pmWho do I gotta blow threaten to get offered op-ed space in the nation’s largest newspaper?
Yep, Patterico. With that line you proved you are from California or New York. No one in flyover country says that.
Jim (8de501) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:12 pmI have to get this off my chest:
just 14 months ago, a radical Muslim jihadist shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood, and although not all were from Texas, when you are here (in Texas), you are one of us.
It took Obama six days to get to Fort Hood. And to my knowledge, he never called the family members of any of those murdered. Now I read he is calling Dupnik (I am sure to praise Dupnik on his rhetoric) and the rabbi of Congresswoman Gifford.
What about the families? And what about those who lost loved ones at Fort Hood. These were not just ordinary citizens, these were soldiers under his command. Did Obama call their ministers, priests, rabbis?
Sorry, but what I am seeing is the same tactic coming from Obama that was used by Clinton after the OK City bombing.
retire05 (e0b7e7) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:16 pmretire05, Obama spoke at a memorial service at Fort Hood about four days after the killings. I’m sure all the family members attended that service.
Jim (8de501) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:20 pmAsk Radley Balko.
His “this Week in Innocence” articles on Reason.Com give plenty of reasons to hate the government.
Michael Ejercito (64388b) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:23 pm@retireo5,
That is exactly what I’ve been noticing as well. But with all the Clintonites that surround Obama (including Chief Clintonite Hillary) I’m not surprised. I guess we just have to keep in mind that the flogging of the Right will continue until morale improves.
I’m going to flog right back at them though.
Eric Lee (c0ba9b) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:30 pmIt took Obama six days to get to Fort Hood. And to my knowledge, he never called the family members of any of those murdered.
He did meet with families and survivors when he went to speak at Fort Hood. The delay is another matter, but I at least wanted to set that part straight.
Dallas Morning News
malclave (4f3ec1) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:32 pmPatterico
> Who do I gotta blow … to get offered op-ed space in the nation’s largest newspaper?
tsk, tsk, Patterico. You are reduced to solicitation of prostitution?
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:36 pmmalclave, USA Today is reporting that Obama is calling the families of the slain in Arizona. He did not do that for the families of his own troops.
Now, what do you think the odds are that those who were at Gabby Gifford’s meet and greet were DEMOCRATS? Or that he at least thinks most of them were?
He never called the families of his own troops. He will be in Arizona tomorrow, reading from his teleprompter, telling everyone how sorry he is.
I am sick of this man who seems to snub our troops (much like Clinton did, actually worse than Clinton did).
I remember watching his speech the day of the Fort Hood shooting. When he was told, he kept reading from his teleprompter and then mentioned in like it was a “hey, by the way, some people have been killed at Fort Hood”, like it was an afterthough.
How could America have elected such a man?
retire05 (e0b7e7) — 1/11/2011 @ 6:46 pm@23
I’m not commenting on the adequacy of Obama’s response to the Fort Hood shootings, or comparing it to his response to Tucson. I’m just saying that he did, in fact, meet with the families and survivors at Fort Hood.
You seemed to be saying that he had not contacted them at all, when he did. If we’re going to criticize him, we should at least have our facts straight.
(as far as the afterthought goes… I guess he had to make sure and get all of his shout-outs in first)
malclave (4f3ec1) — 1/11/2011 @ 7:02 pmThe evolution of the tea party per the MSM:
Astroturf, then
Racists, and now
Inciters of Murder (preying on weak minds, having stormed the South with the same tactic)
I’m beginning to think that they don’t like the tea party.
East Bay Jay (19f566) — 1/11/2011 @ 8:19 pm“USA Today is reporting that Obama is calling the families of the slain in Arizona.”
Much as I dislike Obama in particular, and Democrats in general (I’m sure people have already picked up on that, if they waste their time reading my rants), that’s a nice gesture. Doesn’t really cost anything, doesn’t really hurt anything, and I suspect it will probably make the families of the slain feel better.
So, I wouldn’t knock him for that.
Dave Surls (a9551c) — 1/11/2011 @ 8:33 pm“USA Today is reporting that Obama is calling the families of the political martyrs in Arizona.”
Dave Surls – Fixed that for the LA Times style manual.
daleyrocks (e7bc4f) — 1/12/2011 @ 8:02 am