QandO

August 23, 2004

Bush Derangement Syndrome (oblivious edition)
Posted by Jon Henke

Tim Blair and I spent some time this weekend discussing the hysterical state of the left side of the 'sphere, both agreeing that--for many of them--anger has led to some very self-limiting partisan blinders. Case in point: Matthew Yglesias' recent rant, in which he calls Bush "a lying, cowardly, idiot who's willing to go to any lengths whatsoever to maintain his grasp on political power" and the rest of the administration "the gang of criminals he's employed at the highest levels of government".

Of course Matt can substantiate those positions by pointing out that Bush has (1) misled, (2) taken positions that Matt thinks are "cowardly", and (3) is engaged in a campaign for President. It's all true! QED!

Except, every bit of that can be said about every Presidential candidate, and every President, past and future. And they will be.

I mean, it's like 1998 all over again.

Lately, however, the worst offender has been Oliver Willis. The guy is setting new records for (paid) flackery and hypocrisy. In a recent post, Oliver criticized Republicans, writing...

They don't stand for anything, just for tearing people down.

08/21/2004 - "George W. Bush, used money tied up with BCCI and terrorists to start up another business he wasn't qualified to run."

08/21/2004 - "Ken Cordier, seen most recently in the Swift Boat ad where they edit and distort John Kerry's testimony, is affiliated with the Bush campaign."

08/21/2004 - "George Bush is Up To His Old Tricks again, and their whole smear train is going down."

08/21/2004 - "They won't. They don't care. This is what they do. This is what's at their core." "Somehow, under George W. Bush, the Republican party has become an enemy of the armed forces."

08/22/2004 - "He doesn't give a crap about the half of the country that didn't vote for him, even though he's the president of all of us. His re-election campaign has been a raised middle finger to veterans, homosexuals, minorities, non-evangelicals, etc."

08/22/2004 - "So, since we've decided to dispute the official government record of Sen. Kerry's service, let's ask some questions about these topics:
- Texas National Guard, and not showing up for duty
- Cocaine usage
- Alcoholism
- Harken Energy
- Halliburton's accounting practices
- Postwar planning for Iraq"

To review: one positive comment about John Kerry, a meta-blog comment, a post about the Redskins, a post about Keyes being nuts/Obama being good, and about a half-dozen posts that "don't stand for anything, just for tearing people down".

...which Oliver just hates.

I'm under no delusion that my criticism will cause a liberal blogger to reevaluate their approach. Pandering, after all, does get hits. But it's important to point this out. Pundits complain about the polarized, angry nature of political discourse today.....but, far too often, they're responsible for it.

TrackBack