Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn will seek to offset federal aid to victims of a massive tornado that blasted through Oklahoma City suburbs on Monday with cuts elsewhere in the budget.> more ... (0 comments)
Look, everyone knows that I typically loves me some John Stewart, but the enormous bit of false equivalency at the end of this quote is just unadulterated bullshit:
Jon Stewart announced his much-awaited “big announcement” on Thursday’s edition of his late-night program, “The Daily Show.” He plans to stage a rally in Washington to counter what he identified as extremists on either side of the political spectrum. . .Hmm, why might the equivalence be considered by some to be patently false?He later labeled it a “Million Moderate March.” The purpose, he said, is to counter what he called a minority of 15 percent or 20 percent of the country that has dominated the national political discussion with extreme rhetoric. He tarred both parties with that charge, mentioning both the attacks on the right against President Obama for being everything from a socialist to un-American and on the left against former President Bush for being a war criminal.
Oh, I don’t know, maybe because BUSH AND HIS CRONIES HAVE PUBLICLY ADMITTED TO AUTHORIZING ACTS THAT QUALIFY AS WAR CRIMES?
Or, as Glenzilla put it:
The example [Stewart] chose to prove that the left is guilty, too — the proposition that Bush is a “war criminal” — is an extremely poor one given that the General in charge of formally investigating detainee abuse (not exactly someone with a history of Leftist advocacy) has declared this to be the case, and core Nuremberg principles compel the same conclusion.Stewart’s show is typically pretty good at avoiding the “Member of Group X kills children and wears a woven cloak of their skin during public speaking engagements, BUT Member of Group Y called Dick Cheney a murderer once” routine, but not always.
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Hors D’oeuvres
Watching a Jerk Seize Main Chance
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Polled GOP Respondents Say Obama Hangnail Worse Than Holocaust
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We Paid For the Shadow Demon, We're Gonna Use the Shadow Demon
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THE GRAPEVINE
Stewart has usually been very careful about this using the example of "9/11 is an inside job" fringe or the Code Pink freaks as the counter-examples on the Left. I think this may have just been a slip since I've seen several occasions over the last few years that suggest he thinks there were war crimes going on in the Bush years.
but, frankly, those two examples are also extraordinarily weak tea. as, again, glenzilla puts it better than me:
Stewart's examples of right-wing rhetorical excesses (Obama is a socialist who wasn't born in the U.S. and hates America) are pervasive in the GOP, while his examples of left-wing excesses (Code Pink and 9/11 Truthers) have no currency (for better or worse) in the Democratic Party. The claim that Bush is "a war criminal" has ample basis, and it's deeply irresponsible to try to declare this discussion off-limits, or lump it in with a whole slew of baseless right-wing accusatory rhetoric, in order to establish one's centrist bona fides.
I.E., you can't just look at the crazy shit that gets SAID on one side, you also need to look at the power, influence and currency of the PEOPLE SAYING IT.
Yep, I agree with all of that, but he has to say something and those are fringers we can all agree with as fringe, even if the Left's crazies have no power or influence in the party whereas the Right's fringe has a lot of power and influence (and numbers) on their party. Stewart's shtick is he's not a partisan, he's a conscience, and since almost everyone on the Right think he's far left wing, he has to try to throw up a little smoke and dull the edges every once in awhile. This doesn't bother me for the most part because he actually has a much larger influence on the media/cultural political narrative as long as he continues to try to paint himself as a non-partisan and that influence, all things considered, is a great boon for the progressive view on politics and policy.
fair enough, although i've always had a sense of stewart being mostly intellectually honest. but this is one of the only instances where i don't find him there. although i suppose if it draws more squishy moderate dipshits to hear what he has to say, probably the more the better