Eugene Robinson's Knock Out Punch - Republican rhetoric over the top

[kpete]

Eugene Robinson
Opinion Writer
Republican rhetoric over the top

...............................

Let me be clear: I’m saying that the extreme language we hear from the far right is qualitatively different from the extreme language we hear from the far left — and far more damaging to the ties that bind us as a nation. Tut-tutting that both sides should tone it down is meaningless. For all intents and purposes, one side is the problem.

...............

This is what distinguishes the flame-throwers of the far right from those of the far left. Nugent and his ilk seek to deny their political opponents the very right to believe in a different philosophy. Agree with me, he says, or be stomped.

There is no symmetry here. The far left may hurl insults at the right but doesn’t scream “fascism” whenever a Republican proposes privatizing Medicare.

So this is what I want to know: Mitt Romney, do you agree with your prominent endorser Ted Nugent that the Obama administration is evil and hates America? House Speaker John Boehner, do you agree with your star freshman West that “78 to 81” of your colleagues are card-carrying communists?

Speak up, gentlemen; I didn’t hear you.





http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republican-rhetoric-that-damages-the-nation/2012/04/19/gIQAlPH8TT_story.html

[lukkadairish]

1. So speaks

the winner of a Pulitzer.

[ProSense]

2. Nailed it. There

is a good diary a Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/19/1084863/-Eugene-Robinson-nails-it-

[FSogol]

3. K & R. Eugene Robinson doing great work, as usual. n/t

[hifiguy]

4. Gene Robinson is always a voice of sanity

and intelligence. He's one of the best.

[barbtries]

5. he's right.

so sad that we lost a media that gives a rat's ass.

[nolabear]

7. Well, he is in media. Let's be glad for that.

Reward the good.

[barbtries]

11. we gotta take what we can get.

but i don't think we're going to see reporters stopping these hatemongers and asking these important questions. hope i'm wrong.

[NewJeffCT]

13. How often is he on the air

outside of MSNBC?

[Bobbie Jo]

6. K&R

Thanks for posting.

[stupidicus]

8. that's been obvious for a very long time

the "both sides do it/are equally guilty" false equivalence has been a pet peeve of mine for a decade or more now.

Imo, this became inarguable after what happened to Durbin over his "Gulag" comment http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/06/16/496/87846 as a memer of the troop-hating, terrorist-loving party so many rightwingers shamelessly talked about at the time

[NewJeffCT]

14. I remember that

And, Durbin tearfully apologizing for it. WTF?

I also remember the RW going apeshit over some obscure university professor from Colorado making some inflammatory comments about 9/11 (forgot his name). But, those comments were used for a few years to justify all sorts of inflammatory RW comments from mainstream Republican politicians and pundits (Ann Coulter, Rush, etc). "Well, sure Coulter is over the top, but it's all the same since the prof from Colorado said just as bad..." (meanwhile, nobody had heard of this guy, while Coulter was a headline guest at major Republican events throughout the country...)

[stupidicus]

18. as many do I'm sure

it's almost the same situation with the Rosen/Nugent thing.

Rosen wasn't even on my radar, and hardly had BHO courting her as the Mutt did Nugent because of his high profile and influence with the nutttiest of the rightwingnuts.

What has always slayed me when debating this issue with rightwingers elsewhere, most of them were on record at one time or another calling dem pols in particular, pussies, like pussies make a habit outta spewing hate speech.

But hey, having things "both ways" in that manner is as critical to their denial maintence as the false equivalence is that they are generally a part of.

This issue is why I've spent the last ten years calling and referring to them as brownshirts, because the only diff between them and their ideological cousins is the lack of a real club being used, but they wield their rhetorical one in an identical manner.

And of course, they are no strangers to the "Big Lie" technique all this kinda dishonest garbage serves.

[freshwest]

9. Why I'm also losing patience with the 'both parties are alike' meme. The GOP loves that. Give the RW

Cover as 'reasonable 'and justifies what they do, because 'See! They did X, also!' So they vote for the GOP no matter what scandal, what harm they do.

The 'there's no difference' meme demoralizes the left, so they don't vote and then lose elections consistently. Shooting those who are 'trying to make a difference' in the back.

There is a huge difference on the largest issues, the social safety net, essential regulation and human rights. But it's never enough for those who bought the meme. It's the left's version of 'I'm too smart to be fooled by X, so I don't care and neither should you.'

Robinson wrote a mild rebuke, but altogether true.

[marshall gaines]

10. rightwing rhetoric

their rhetoric is vicious, downright mean, coded racism and dangerous because not everyone out here is ready to turn the other cheek. Just ain't going to happen zimmermans and nugents.

[SunSeeker]

12. K&R

[Ikonoklast]

15. Love me some Gene.

He is a pointer-out of facts, and for that, the right has no real response to him.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

16. Robinson went yard with that.

[polichick]

17. The right is made up of a bunch of cowards, governed by fear...

Which is why we get both the horrible messages in the first place AND the lack of leadership by the "leaders" - fear and cowardice is all they know.

[mwb970]

23. Their brains are wired for fear.

Enlarged amygdalas, and all that. They can't help it! They are defective.

[polichick]

26. That's true, but in recent years they're actually regressing...

...to the point of rejecting science, and even common sense.

It's depressing to watch our gov't so ineffective in the face of climate change because of such throwbacks. And also depressing that Dems can't - or won't - take a much bolder approach with regard to both messaging and policy. Two years after the BP disaster this admin. has allowed drilling at those same deep levels when everyone knows we are no more prepared to do it safely now than we were then, and the admin. understands that there is one global oil market so all this drilling puts the Gulf at risk with absolutely no upside to Americans.

The right may have lizard brains, but Dems actually know better and still sell out. One party, two faces.

[Honeycombe8]

19. Excellent. nt

[many a good man]

20. Far Left?

He loses credibility even hinting of the existence of a far left in this country. Great article, other than that.

[SemperEadem]

21. I just fell in love with Eugene Robinson

yes! This is what I'm talking about.

George Will on Sunday on ABC will double down on saying that both sides do it. Yet again. And Stephanopolous will let him get away with it. And it will be business as usual because media requires access. If you wont' go on their air, they can't fill the time and most hosts can't tap dance for 52 minutes (a TV hour).

[saras]

22. "Both sides" has been a lie since we adopted the meme from the French

I find it interesting that historically, psychology immediately after Freud started to make the discovery that "left" and "right" are different psychological processes, not different political positions. But when you have people like Adler studying power specifically, of course you will make the sort of discoveries that result in the entire field being suppressed and replaced for a decade by behaviorism and Taylorism, even though behaviorism never pretended to be any more science than intelligent design.

Then, after WWII, another set of researchers developed another successful set of practices, known collectively as humanist psychology, that was also, in a different way, discovering that authoritarianism isn't simply a political preference. The result of that was the suppression of that school by pharmaceutical psychiatry and the claim that anyone not wanting to be a McAmerican is simply defective and needs medication.

Now the neurobiologists are beginning to make the same damn discovery again. It will be interesting, in a sad, sick way, to see how their research gets suppressed.

[B Calm]

24. Republicans have transformed into fascists

from being conservative.

[jimlup]

25. Actually Robinson's comments are timid...

If he had the guts he would say "There is no symmetry here. The far left may hurl insults at the right but doesn't scream "kill 'em!" whenever a Republican proposes privatizing Medicare.

[RZM]

27. He seems to be talking mostly about the politicians. And there he has a point

You're not going to see Congressional Dems or the president say the kinds of things Allen West did (of course, we don't have anybody that nutty to begin with).

But isn't it ironic that here on DU, a big complaint about Dem politicians is that they aren't doing this kind of thing? That they are lily-livered precisely because they don't adopt a 'take no prisoners' attitude and they don't scream 'fascist' at the Republicans? I think there are plenty here who would prefer a situation where this column couldn't be written.