Anger is a gift (Happy 3rd Anniversary!)

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

No one else here is going to see the irony in people in this thread calling conservatives (radio etc) "hateful" when the thread starts and continues in nothing but a hate fest itself?

There was no hate expressed in this thread (well, other than iSm, of course), only anger. As far as hatred expressed by right-wing radio, it is easy to find examples, not from hateful people that call the shows, but from the hosts themselves. Here are a few examples:

"You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig." - Michael Savage to a gay caller.

"We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee" - Ann Coulter

"I wanted to bludgeon her with a tire iron. That's what I wanted to do." Michael Graham on Hillary Clinton.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong but I've never heard Al Frankin or Randy Rhodes or any other liberal host EVER call for the death of anyone. Find me an example of a liberal talk show host that has stooped to these levels and I'll reconsider my position.

Therefore, I don't see the irony here.

[The Shadoe]

I hope that no one here honestly thinks that Iraqis are better off under a dictator? I hear a lot of that. Take a glance at history. You can find newspaper articles criticizing the United States for getting involved in Germany and Japan, that nation-building in those areas would never work, that those people couldn't function under anything but a dictatorship. If you blanked out the names of the countries, you'd think the articles were about Iraq.

And take a look at Germany and Japan now... among the world's strongest economies.

People complain about freedom not coming to the Iraqis without taking a look at the United States history. It took 14 YEARS after we gained independance from the British to get things going. It wasn't just like "The British are gone, now everything is hunky-dory." To boot, we had a civil war as well! It took a Civil War to even attempt to correct the problems in society. President Lincoln SUSPENDED civil liberties during that period of time!! There wasn't a Patriot Act which pretty much only detains people, liberties were outright SUSPENDED during those times! Lincoln had people who acted like Cindy Sheehan hauled off. Why? He felt that there was too much at stake.

I'm not going to get into a debate about whether we should've gone to war in Iraq or not, but we are there now, and it would be disastrous if we pulled out of Iraq now. Nation building is a long process. Iraq is into it 3 years. The United States took 14.

Nation building isn't like constructing a shed, which is a day's work. It's more like building a skyscraper. And it doesn't go perfectly all of the time. We simply can't pull out of Iraq now. It would be a disaster. This is a long process, and for our sake, the citizens of Iraq's sake, and the Middle East's sake, it is vitally important that this works.

Imagine if the people who talk about all the negativity in Iraq were alive when the United States was in the process of building itself up. Using their logic, they'd have thrown in the towel and surrendered to the British.

[wendybeth]

We did not go into Iraq to nation build. It is not our business to nation build unless asked- we certainly do not invade other countries with the express intent of doing so. We did not invade Japan pre-emptively, we were attacked. Same with Germany. What you describe is called imperialism, and God help us if that is what we are up to over there. It has never worked in the past, and it won't work now.

[The Shadoe]

Originally Posted by Motorboat Cruiser

Find me an example of a liberal talk show host that has stooped to these levels and I'll reconsider my position.

Well there must be lots, because Michelle Malkin wrote a whole book about it. I recommend you at least take a look at Unhinged. Unfortunately, I don't have it handy to quote from at the moment, but if you check it out, various Air America hosts are in there acting like gooks, especially Al Franken. Laura Ingraham once mentioned about how at the RNC04 he went and stuck his finger into her producer's face. I also remember Malkin talking about him wrestling a Dean supporter to the ground at a Kerry rally, and getting into a hissy fit with someone at Fox for "not being liberal enough."

I just saw a book at Barnes & Noble that exposes the many, many lies of Franken, which is ironic because he claims to be the purveyor of all truth.

Anyhow, if people like Coulter, Limbaugh, Ingraham, Medved, etc. were to disappear, Franken would have nothing to talk about. He talks about them on an almost daily basis, whereas they rarely talk about him at all. Laura Ingraham, as I already mentioned, brought up his wacky behavior; Ann Coulter reportedly once tried to say "Hi" to him and he accused her of name-dropping when she told someone of how he snubbed her. Ann Coulter dropping Al Franken's name? That's laughable. Ann Coulter doesn't need Franken, but Franken certainly needs Coulter.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by The Shadoe

Anyhow, if people like Coulter, Limbaugh, Ingraham, Medved, etc. were to disappear, Franken would have nothing to talk about. He talks about them on an almost daily basis, whereas they rarely talk about him at all.

Perhaps he talks about them every day because they have a tendency to lie every day. I suspect that if there were no lies to catch them in, he would probably have to find something else to do. As it stands, they give him plenty of material. And as someone else said, if he is libelous, where are the lawsuits? The one from O'Reilly and Fox was laughed out of the courtroom.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

If anyone needs a good laugh, go here and click on the video entitled "Rambling Man".

[Not Afraid]

Hate? I would describe it more as disgust. Complete and total disgust.

[Scrooge McSam]

*Scrooge hugs Nephythys and passes Leo an expresso machine under the table*

Psst... Give this to Wendybeth but don't tell her it's from me.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Scrooge McSam

*Scrooge hugs Nephythys and passes Leo an expresso machine under the table*

Psst... Give this to Wendybeth but don't tell her it's from me.

She'll never know.

[wendybeth]

The words I used in my hate-radio post were all words that have been frequently aimed at libs and other dissenters by conservative talk show hosts. These same catchy phrases have been tossed around by their listeners, and show up in the oddest places- such as internet message boards and sig lines. They are mean, hateful and people who parrot them are perceived as such. I've looked over this thread and while I've seen a lot of anger directed at the 'leadership' of this country, I haven't seen anything that approaches the vicious (and childish) verbiage of some of our radio pundits. I can handle a reasoned conversation or monologue defending the actions of the current admin, but when they start foaming at the mouth and namecalling I lose any interest in listening. It's lazy, harmful and immature.


(Psst! Scrooge- thanks- now how do I work the damn thing? )