So let’s recap the big complaints of the right wingers right now: Howard Dean says mean things about Republicans. And Amnesty International refered to Gitmo as a “gulag.” On the left? “We worry the Republicans are destroying everything it means to be American:”:http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2005/06/more_things_we_.html
bq. The thought that I could not say, with complete confidence, that my country would never throw people in jail and torture them, would never beat innocent taxi drivers to death for no reason, would never ship prisoners off to be tortured in other countries, and would never try to lock up its citizens without charges, trial or counsel — that was among the most horrifying thoughts I have ever had. And it was horrifying because I love my country, and because I love it not just because it is mine, but because of what it stands for. And I cannot stand to see it thrown away. [ "More Things We Throw Away":http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2005/06/more_things_we_.html , Obsidian Wings ]
Did you get that? Republicans, who continue to support and justify torture, feel insulted. We’re shipping prisoners off to countries that boil people alive, and some pundits are concerned that “gulag” might be overly offensive or that Howard Dean’s denegrated the work-ethic of the Republican leadership.
You know what? Be thankful he was _just_ talking about work ethic, because I suspect what he _really_ thinks of George Bush’s freedom-spreading bona-fides couldn’t be printed in a family newspaper. You don’t spread freedom with allies like Vladimir Putin, “Tom "Sweatshop" DeLay”:http://www.alternet.org/story/13140/, or Prince Abdullah.
Now, anytime any A or B-list blogger points this out or gets the least bit mad or disgusted we’re repremanded: if the Democrats want to win office, we need to put forward a positive vision. As long as we are intemperate in our speech we will continue to lose elections.
This is coming from the party of Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh? People who have made their careers off of slandering and libeling Democrats? The side that ran on fear and hatred and _won_?
You have to wonder why they don’t take their own advice:
_How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)_. _Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right_. _Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism._ _High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton._ All by Ann Coulter.
_Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism_ and _Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism_, by Sean Hannity. _A Deficit Of Decency_ by Zell Miller. _Men In Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America_ by Mark R. Levin.
_Liberalism is a Mental Disorder : Savage Solutions_ and _The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military_ by Michael Savage. _Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry_ by the “Swift Boat Veterans for a Convenient Lie.” _If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It_ by Hugh Hewitt.
Because to win you have to be nice and have a polite vision, yes? Hmm. Seems to me like the kind of thing we *must not do* has been putting food on their plates for the last decade. Must not be _very good advice_.
Those liberals who _buy_ this message from the right wing should take close note. Back up the Chairman. You can speak more gently if you wish, but let Teddy Roosevelt have his bombast. _We need it and it works_.
*Update:* Media Matters brings us polite, respectful, cheerful, positive quotes from “Tucker Carlson’s new co-host”:http://mediamatters.org/items/200506100003.
