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Bash the Messenger

• 04.19.10
  Internet incivility
  Bash the Messenger, Free speech (0)

  L Gordon Crovitz wrote an article in the WSJ headlined: "Is Internet Civility an Oxymoron? Unmoderated, anonymous comments on Web sites create more noise than wisdom." My response: A few days ago Bill Clinton waged a neo-McCarthyite smear campaign against dissidents and protesters, trying to link their activity to the Oklahoma City bombing. I don't think you can blame the Internet or anonymity for that kind of uncivil rhetoric.
  
  
• 04.17.10
  Civil discourse from Bill Clinton
  Bash the Messenger, First Amendment (0)

  Bill Clinton says words matter. From an AP article: "By all means keep fighting, by all means, keep arguing," he said. "But remember, words have consequences as much as actions do, and what we advocate, commensurate with our position and responsibility, we have to take responsibility for. We owe that to Oklahoma City." This, of course, is the president who exuded the aura of a B-movie gangster every time he spoke, and never more so than when he said this in 1995: "The most important thing we can do to make your father [a member of the national police force] safer is ...
  
  
• 04.02.10
  Hail the news
  Bash the Messenger, Words from President Obama (0)

  My comment to the Battle Creek Enquirer article, "Obama hails job news" So one day President Obama is telling critics that it has only been a week, that we need to give his health care takeover time to work. Then one jobs report comes out with some good news. It's far too early to tell if a trend has been established, but the President jumps up and says it shows the economy is turning around. So how are we supposed to know when patience is a good thing and when it's better to jump to conclusions?
  
  
• 03.25.10
  Reconcile policy and words
  Bash the Messenger (0)

  From a NYT headline: "...Forced to Reconcile Policy and Words" No, the NYT is not re-examining or reversing its ideology. Those words do not refer to President Obama.
  
  
• 03.06.10
  If so, 1+1=2. If not, 1+1=3.
  Bash the Messenger (0)

  Peter Grier, math wizard and Christian Science Monitor reporter, says the following in an article headlined, "John Patrick Bedell: Did right-wing extremism lead to shooting?" John Patrick Bedell, whom authorities identified as the gunman in the Pentagon shooting on Thursday, appears to have been a right-wing extremist with virulent antigovernment feelings. If so, that would make the Pentagon shooting the second violent extremist attack on a federal building within the past month. On Feb. 18, Joseph Stack flew a small aircraft into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. Mr. Stack left behind a disjointed screed in which, among other things, he expressed ...
  
  
• 03.04.10
  Unseriously, we need to cut the deficit
  Bash the Messenger, Stimulus spending, Sustainability (0)

  The next time anyone suggests that we take seriously something that President Obama said, we should point to the media attack on Jim Bunning. The next time anyone suggests that we need higher taxes to pay for important social programs, or to bring down the deficit, or anything else, we should point to the media attack on Jim Bunning. The scandalous behavior of the media and everyone else who participated in the orchestrated smear campaign on the Senator from Kentucky shows the pointlessness of any of this. I say orchestrated, because there is no way that ...
  
  
• 02.27.10
  Yes, there IS such a thing as a stupid question.
  Bash the Messenger (0)

  Big quake question: Is nature out of control?
  
  
• 02.27.10
  Fun with headlines
  Bash the Messenger (0)

  Which would be a more appropriate headline if such an accusation were made: Congressman Winger says Obama's great-grandmother was Karl Marx's love child. Obama's great-grandmother is said to be love child of Karl Mark. Quiz questions: If you wanted to give a bit of credence to the accusation, which of the above two would be more accurate? On the other hand, if you wanted to point out that a lone kook was making wild accusations, which would you use? What would be the effect of leaving out the name of the Congressman? So what about the following headline: Toyota Accused of Withholding Records. What if you ...
  
  
• 02.27.10
  It just goes to show
  Bash the Messenger, Health care reform (2)

  I posted the following in response to the Battle Creek Enquirer article, "Stations pull ad critical of Schauer." “It just goes to show powerful special interests will say and do anything to maintain the status quo that keeps them rich while Michigan families are struggling," Andrew Piatt, campaign manager for Schauer for Congress, said in an e-mail Friday. So the Independent Women's Voice isn't allowed to use its own money to distribute an inaccurate statement, but the Enquirer will circulate an irresponsibly inaccurate statement by Andrew Piatt free of charge, with no fact-checking. Interesting.
  
  
• 02.26.10
  Profile in Courage
  Bash the Messenger, Stimulus spending (0)

  One courageous Senator, Jim Bunning, wants to extend unemployment benefits and COBRA to unemployed workers, and at the same time help President Obama bring the budget deficit under control. But the rest of his colleagues are too stingy and short-sighted to do it. So far I haven't found a single newspaper that has reported on this conflict.
  
  

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