The Greatest Blog Post Ever Written?
That might be hyperbole . . . but then again, it might not.
I’m in an odd position. In the last few months, I’ve had one foot in the left wing news stream and one foot in the right. My media duality began when conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart hired me to work with him on the Pigford ‘black farmers’ settlement story. I’m a pro-choice, pro-single payer, anti-war, pro-gay rights independent liberal with years of work in print and film backing those positions. Breitbart hired me to bring a different perspective to the non-partisan issue of corruption in Pigford.
Since then, I’ve written both here for the left-leaning Huffington Post and at Breitbart’s right leaning BigGovernment.com. I’ve ended up reading a lot more conservative sites and dealing firsthand with a lot more conservatives than any time since I attended a high school dedicated to the principles of Ayn Rand about 30 years ago.
. . . .
Since working with Breitbart, my position on political issues hasn’t changed but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m deeply disappointed by the virulent, lockstep attitude I see on the left. My experience in the last few months tells me what I would not have believed possible; on any number of issues (including Pigford, by the way) I’ve seen liberals act much nastier and with less factual honesty than the conservatives… and this includes on issues where I disagree with conservatives.
Who is saying these things? It is Lee Stranahan at the Huffington Post, a lefty for whom I have never had anything but the utmost respect. So much so that, when he was looking for a way to get in touch with Andrew Breitbart, I not only made the introduction but told Andrew that this was a lefty who was honest and whom he could trust. The rest is history in the making, as Stranahan is involved with Andrew in unveiling the massive fraud that is Pigford.
And as he has become more familiar with Andrew in particular, and conservative sites and conservatives in general . . . all of a sudden, this lefty has started to see just how ugly the left can be. Just one more example:
Just before writing this article, I did a Google search and it’s stunning to find out that the right wing media really isn’t exaggerating — proven death threats against politicians are being ignored by the supposedly honest media.
The only thing is, it isn’t stunning. It’s commonplace. We conservatives are used to seeing big stories be given the cold shoulder by Big Media, for no apparent reason except that the story might benefit Republicans. For example: why does any story about cutting spending not put the cuts in context against our stunning debt and deficit, for example, caused by our unsustainable runaway entitlements?
Can’t run that story. It might benefit Republicans. Let Fox News do it.
Give Lee time. He’s just now catching on. But he’s a totally honest guy, and he’s catching on quick.
Now click that link and prepare yourself to be stunned by the incredible honesty of a lefty.
P.S. I don’t mean to suggest by anything I say in this post that dishonesty or nastiness are exclusively characteristics of the left. If there has one thing I have learned while blogging, it is that people on the right can be every bit as venal and nasty as those on the left. Here on the right, we just notice it more from the left, because you notice nastiness more when it’s directed at you.
Lee is starting to see some fire coming his way, for the sin of working with Breitbart . . . and that helps him notice the left’s nastiness better. But it also takes honesty, which Stranahan has in spades.
Now click the link already.
I’ve never been aligned much with the left OR until lately with the right; none of this unmatched hysterical aggression and hostility from the Left is a surprise to me, however. The only surprise I’m feeling is that I actually allowed myself to be cowed by the Left’s hostility and bombast (which takes the place of reasoned debate) for such a long time. When I was a public employee (long ago) it was in the interests of keeping my job, and it was a habit I just learned because they really ARE that nasty, that irrational, and that mean.
Over the last couple of years, even though my finances have gotten worse and my expectations have been lowered, it’s been like coming out from under a cloud. Seriously! I’m not scared of those bastards anymore.
Scarlett (7ace70) — 3/17/2011 @ 10:17 pmI have many friends who are liberal Democrats, and many who are conservative Democrats. It is amazing how ignorant they are about Republicans and other conservatives. They read/see/hear what the liberal media tells them about Republicans and they believe it without even thinking.
tyree (84087f) — 3/17/2011 @ 10:21 pmSince Lee often cross posts his Big Government pieces at Huffington Post, I make it a habit to go over and check the comments on his pieces there. The denial of the commenters there as well as the venom directed at Lee is what we would expect to be directed at a conservative, if tempered just slightly. Teh narrative must survive, facts be damned!
daleyrocks (ae76ce) — 3/17/2011 @ 10:24 pmNice post and very nice to read.
One side note I wouldn’t want to see lost in the focus on the main topic…
Machinist (b6f7da) — 3/17/2011 @ 10:49 pmThis mentions yet another man that turned to Patterico when he wanted to find an honest man with integrity. What does that say about his own reputation among those who know him? I came here based on a respected friend’s trust and respect of Patterico and I have found no reason to question that judgment. My respects, Sir.
I used to run a blog ranking for New Zealand, and as part of that used to scan the links from NZ blogs for new NZ blogs that I didn’t know about.
I discovered that one way to tell the political leanings of a blog was how angry they were. If they’re saying f**k this and that and everything, they’re almost always on the left – even if they’re lashing out at something that isn’t typically a left/right issue.
scrubone (eb9c13) — 3/17/2011 @ 11:55 pmFor example: why does any story about cutting spending not put the cuts in context against our stunning debt and deficit, for example, caused by our unsustainable runaway entitlements?
Another point from NZ: in 1990 the incoming (conservative, National Party) government *did* make cuts – massive, nation-changing cuts. When they were voted out (took 3 terms = 9yrs) the incoming government spent the next 8 years appending a nasty dig at National at the end of every. single. statement. Did the media pull them up on it? Heck no.
What stopped it? The scandal that erupted after they used taxpayers money to tip the 2005 election in their favour.
Of course, it also helped that their first action was to throw a bucket of National’s carefully saved money at the arts.
scrubone (eb9c13) — 3/17/2011 @ 11:59 pmYou know Patterico, every Conservative does the whole, well the right is nasty too, could you give example’s of that? and do not go with what the left calls the right ie: kkk or something pathetic like that. I mean I spend an enormous amount of time on the internet and I cannot think of anything on the right that rises to the level of the Daily Kos or Huffington for that matter and that is on the small scale, there is nothing like the media wing of the Democrat Party ignoring or out right lying against anything that doesn’t fit their liberal orthodoxy. FOX News gets 3.5M for O’Reilly and 2+M for the rest of the night=time shows out of 300+ M Americans. It is because the lying, hateful, disingenuous ABCCBSNBCNYTWAPO who get 20+M between them daily that Democrats and unions and NPR, ACORN etc get away with what they do, because the Democrats and their minions are never held to account NEVER.
JadedByPolitics (d652e9) — 3/18/2011 @ 2:01 amIf there has one thing I have learned while blogging, it is that people on the right can be every bit as venal and nasty as those on the left. Here on the right, we just notice it more from the left, because you notice nastiness more when it’s directed at you.
That sort of shoots down the whole “best blog post ever” thing doesn’t it? Lee is only noting nastiness on the Left because now it pointed at him. Otherwise he would be seeing nastiness on the Right, and the Right would see the nastiness on the Left, just because we are on different sides. If that is the case, then Lee’s post is pretty ho-hum, nothing to see here, right?
I think the point of his post is 1) scales falling from eyes, but also 2) “I’ve seen liberals act much nastier and with less factual honesty than the conservatives.”
Your PS just undercuts that. So is it the best post ever, or is he wrong?
blaster (bfe09d) — 3/18/2011 @ 3:30 amTo the conservatives who are paying attention, it most certainly is.
You’re right… of course Lee should have noticed the negative behavior of some of the left’s hardcore before now. But at least he’s got an open mind and was able to realize what he was seeing. And at least he pointed it out to Huffpo. The whole point of his post is that the left doesn’t report these things. So at some point we should hope they do…
Jaded by Politics, show me Mark Levin admitting a mistake (even after it’s been patiently explained to him). I think he tends to go off the rails screaming insults and questioning the critic’s employment. There are plenty of douches on the right.
We can play the game of ‘but that doesn’t rise to the KOS level’ if you want, and I suspect you’ll win if we do. What’s worse than that ‘I feel nothing’ post?
But I think the point is that Patterico (and many on the right) refuse to fall into intellectual trap of assuming your ‘side’ is righteous.
You rightfully note that the worst problem we face in the left media isn’t the extremes, but rather the MSM’s refusal to cover major stories if it might help republicans. I think you can find a few conservative outlets who are similarly unwilling to report news. Frankly, Fox News doesn’t and that’s why they make a lot of money. Again, we could play a game of measuring the scope of the problem, and you’d obviously win, as the left’s MSM shadows over popular culture and information exchange in a way the right’s does not.
Dustin (c16eca) — 3/18/2011 @ 3:55 amJust to be clear, I’m saying Fox News’s success is because they actually do earnestly attempt to present both sides.
Dustin (c16eca) — 3/18/2011 @ 3:56 amYes, everything they do is a lie, that’s why they were so willing to jettison Shirley. Fox is an imperfect vehicle, their Hearstian mien, now is echoing ‘the sky is falling’ toward Fukishima, O’Reilly is almost totally clueless, Beck for all his faults, has been very prescient about the structure behind everything.
narciso (a3a9aa) — 3/18/2011 @ 4:19 amNow as to plain facts, Coons turned out to be Reid’s poodle, Castle proved to be the backstabbing
Specter wannabe we all warned you about, and Lisa,
is perfectly willing to carry the left’s water.
Yet an inordinate amount of attention was focused on the ‘abomination’ that was Christine O’Donnell,
it wasn’t merely enough that she shouldn’t be a candidate, she was an embarassment as a human being.
Miller, well he should have anticipated that all laws are fluid, and be subject to the two minute
narciso (a3a9aa) — 3/18/2011 @ 4:30 amhate, while hacks like Begich and now Murkowski,
that’s just the default.
A GOOGLE SEARCH!?! This guy “suddenly” found out that conservatives weren’t lying …. by doing a GOOGLE SEARCH!?!
What on God’s green earth prevented him from doing Google searches to find out the truth when he was working with HuffPo? This article praises the “incredible honesty” of this Stranahan fellow; but all I see is another Leftist who’s spent a lifetime LYING … to himself.
Uriel (49c019) — 3/18/2011 @ 5:04 amA commendation for Lee Stranahan, people of intellectual honesty and integrity are hard to find. They also tend to get headaches when they are exposed to information they did not know before.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/18/2011 @ 5:16 amHardly fair. Also, hardly smart. If we really want people to look seriously at things like civil discourse and honest debate, what’s the point in accusing those who start of not having done it quickly enough? Really – Stranahan’s penny drops about lying and vitriol on the Left, and your response is to shoot him a dose of vitriol from the Right?
nightfly (ebe3bb) — 3/18/2011 @ 5:43 amWhat on God’s green earth prevented him from doing Google searches to find out the truth when he was working with HuffPo? This article praises the “incredible honesty” of this Stranahan fellow; but all I see is another Leftist who’s spent a lifetime LYING … to himself.
The point is, he is looking and acknowledging that there is a serious lack of honesty on the left side and he is disconnecting from it. The left has been consistently unwilling to even Google the truth – whether in the MSM or at outlets like HuffPo. And when confronted with the truth and facts, the steadfast denial reveals their hand: truth is superfluous and even unnecessary when trying to advance a narrative. Stick to the company line and facts be damned.
Kudos always to anyone willing to look past narrative, political alignment and personal preference in an effort to dig deep for the truth.
Dana (9f3823) — 3/18/2011 @ 5:47 amI should add it’s not easy to get to the facts, because of Google’s algorithms, and the way Memeorandum stacks the deck, toward those whose
narciso (a3a9aa) — 3/18/2011 @ 5:53 amjob is denial, like MMFA, and Think Progress, to Time and Newsweek, It used to be I thought Rush
was kidding but uniformity is regimented across
the board.
narciso – Yet with all the support O’Donnell got, she barely improved her performance by five points above the last time she ran. Impressive for a candidate less qualified for the Senate than Barack Obama I admit, but some people can’t stop trying to gild this lily or let it go.
daleyrocks (ae76ce) — 3/18/2011 @ 5:55 amThere’s a difference between nastiness on the Left and on the Right. Because liberalism is, like most philosophies and religions in history, an ends-justifies-the-means philosophy, there is no independent morality.
Being thuggish and dishonest is simply not a problem for them. Eggs and omelets. These days, I think that many liberals think that honesty is more or less a plot by religious extremists.
It’s similar to Islam. A charitable action not done in the name of Allah or the furtherance of Islam is simply not moral.
AmishDude (6c348c) — 3/18/2011 @ 5:57 amInteresting Pat,
I had no idea you knew either Stranahan or Breitbart; I guess that’s pretty dense of me considering you’re all L.A. guys. Good job though on hooking him up with Breitbart.
I’ve read his stuff at HuffPo over the years. And although I don’t agree that he was always the most honest of writers, having taken liberty with facts when convenient during the last Presidential election, he was probably one of the more honest among that group.
I do find these “Road to Damascus” moments to be fascinating though, since they most often are experienced by members of the port side of the ideological divide. And it’s always good to hear these folks confirm what are often dismissed as talking points by the narrative spinners.
Also, congrats on being linked by ACE. I thought it was amusing that the caption photo for the link was a contemplative Raymond Burr as Perry Mason. I often tease my ADA wife about that being what you attorneys live for; the “Perry Mason moment” when you break the criminal on the stand.
My Regards.
Bob Reed (5f2db5) — 3/18/2011 @ 6:02 amThey aren’t “serious journalists”, but I’d bet the talk radio people (Read: Rush) have more completely over-the-line nastygrams than some of the Left have listeners.
The sheer bogglement they have most any time someone on the Left whines about even vague intimidation is the kicker.
Al (14c72d) — 3/18/2011 @ 7:52 amLee Stranahan is a committed leftard loon, but nevertheless he is a man “for whom I have the utmost respect”? Say again? You respect a credulous dupe, someone too blinded by his simplistic, Disney World ideology to catch a glimpse of the obvious reality that is staring him in the face? In that case, sir, why should anyone with an ounce of judgment and commonsense respect you?
Tulsa Jack (0ceab9) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:00 amAs a fellow Tulsan, read through thr pos there Jack…
EricPWJohnson (477908) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:06 amTo me, it’s not that the MSM didn’t cover some nut’s death threat, it’s that they selectively and breathlessly DID cover the fringe nuts on the right, then tried to conflate that into a “larger truth” of Tea Party folks being racist, violent mobs.
THAT’S the bias – not what they didn’t cover, but what they did cover in a dishonest way.
It’s like the “guess your weight” guy at the carnival who keeps his toe on the scale.
Matticus Finch (6d1b8f) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:25 am.
Learned it? You’ve demonstrated it!
Rob Crawford (6c262f) — 3/18/2011 @ 12:07 pmTulsa Jack,
there’s more to a person than their political opinions. This post shows that Lee is honorable and honest, and cares about his country. He’s willing to stand up to liars, even on his own ‘side’. He is simply a good man who has political views you and I disagree with.
If you insist no one can respect Patterico because he values honest liberals, then you’re a jackass.
Dustin (c16eca) — 3/18/2011 @ 12:22 pmAs for nastiness on the right, …much as I love ’em, AoSHQ gets pretty low down, NTTAWWT. Lots of profane venting and outrage. But I don’t read Kos, DU etc to know if it’s a mirror image or a lot milder than that.
carol (e7002d) — 3/18/2011 @ 12:51 pmOh, I’m sure Ace is as crude in tone as many lefty sites, but it’s almost an aberration of a shtick, and sometimes it’s forced.
All the cussing in the world won’t make Ace as nasty as “I feel nothing (over the murder and gory display of the corpse of a veteran turned contractor)” Kos.
I think Lee’s point is that he’s seeing a campaign on the left, especially the MSM, to ignore a lot of stories, or even argue a BS version of the facts. That’s obviously the case sometimes for a few on the right. Castle didn’t impeach Bush or vote for Obamacare, etc.
It’s actually not uncommon for some right leaners to insist on reporting of stories in a way that ‘doesn’t help the left’. I’ve even been hearing that about the Japanese disaster.
Dustin (c16eca) — 3/18/2011 @ 12:59 pmLee your thugs started this and we will end this.
DohBiden (984d23) — 3/18/2011 @ 1:05 pmI’ve had Leftwing friends tell me Sarah Palin was going to ban books and put us in camps. Just recently, one suddenly burst into a fit of rage over the fact that he had to view Fox News while getting a haircut, saying he wanted to stab the barber in the eye with his scissors. Then he turned on me – did I watch Fox News? I better not, he said! I better – but here I cut him off and told him in fact, I had cut my cable service the week before. It took me a few attempts to get him to calm down. I knew there was no arguing with this one.
Justin Beiber (71f73f) — 3/18/2011 @ 7:03 pmBy the way, I love Fox News and have it set to my home page on my computers.
Save your breath, fellas. Tulsa Jack was just drivin’ by.
Icy Texan (cec02e) — 3/18/2011 @ 7:18 pmWho is saying these things? It is Lee Stranahan at the Huffington Post, a lefty …
Stop right there. He’s not a lefty, he’s concern troll, a righty pretending to be a lefty to trash lefties and to impress gullible righties.
Not only is that not the best blog post eveah, this might be the worst.
jfxgillis (e9d57d) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:09 pmit’s not the worst for sure that’s hyperbole, what you said
happyfeet (ab5779) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:15 pmbut you’re right it’s not the best blog post ever this is cause of how it combines duppy pogs and bathos and spontaneity and lugubriousness
happyfeet (ab5779) — 3/18/2011 @ 8:25 pmThere is a lot of anger here, and not much substance.
Marcus (4f462a) — 3/18/2011 @ 9:22 pmalso, here
happyfeet (ab5779) — 3/18/2011 @ 9:26 pmjfx is an twat.
DohBiden (984d23) — 3/18/2011 @ 9:48 pmYou know, I have, perhaps, more than my share of anger management issues…
But never have I considered harming someone due to the proximity of a show (or station) that I dislike being on in my presence.
Not even over Seinfeld…
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 3/18/2011 @ 9:58 pmIf it’s on the Huffington Post, then some punk with facial jewelry and a penchant for Wilco must have written it.
Norman Rogers (4e95f7) — 3/19/2011 @ 6:13 amNorman Rogers – Reading is not your strong point Norman. Lee posted it simultaneously on Big Government and HuffPo. The contrast is comments at each site is amazing.
The series Stranahan has done for Breitbart on the Pigford fraud is well worth reading and not something a typical lefty would normally touch with a ten foot pole.
daleyrocks (ae76ce) — 3/19/2011 @ 6:24 amNor is yours. Dip your wick into the liberal infested waters of the premiere liberal site in all of the Western World, and I guarantee you–the whirlwind will tear out your nipple rings.
I am disgusted with the notion that you can speak to liberals via their mouthpiece blog. The hits that should go to the BG site are diluted in this way.
Have you any evidence that the facts have ever changed the mind of the American liberal? If so, why try?
Norman Rogers (4e95f7) — 3/19/2011 @ 8:04 amWhy not just read his stuff at big government, then? Who gives a crap if ‘the hits are diluted’? I doubt they are even slightly harmed by the cross posting, since those two sites have drastically different readerships. If anything, the cross posting increased the hit count, as partisans looked at both sites. But again, so what?
It happens all the time. If you have never met a Republican who used to vote democrat, that’s pretty bizarre. There are tons of them. A lot of people are liberals when they are younger, and as they grow up, they become more conservative. This is a well worn story.
You respond to Daleyrocks noting how different the comments are on huffpo by telling him they are different? I think you need to ease off.
Yeah, we need to try to reason with Obama voters to vote for Republicans. If you’ve given up on that, then you’ve given up period.
Dustin (c16eca) — 4/3/2011 @ 9:52 pmAs they say, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, or, more topically, the invective is always fouler on the other side of the fence.
Oddly enough, “the virulent, lockstep attitude” is exactly what I see as the GOP’s problem. They’ve spent a decade or more building internal unity, pushing the right wing fringe toward Ron Paul or out of the tent altogether. With this unity, or with this “virulent, lockstep attitude”, the GOP built a lot of momentum which seemed to be working for them until the advent of the Tea Party, when the GOP fringe realized they could do their own lockstep and finally be taken seriously.
What the debt ceiling debate debacle proved is that when your group is lockstepped it becomes awful hard to steer.
What you see depends on where you look. Claiming that one side is more inherently incivil is a false argument, and usually used by the proclaimer to excuse some bit of incivility on their own part.
Snertly (b9e636) — 9/2/2011 @ 8:06 amI think teabaggerz want to hang blacks, or make them second class citizens. And snertly remains 100% nozzle.
JD (318f81) — 9/2/2011 @ 8:10 amWhat you see depends on where you look. Claiming that one side is more inherently incivil is a false argument, and usually used by the proclaimer to excuse some bit of incivility on their own part.
Pure drivel.
JD (318f81) — 9/2/2011 @ 8:11 am