May 09, 2006
Anger Management Tour: Starring the Democratic Left
Richard Cohen in today's Washington Post writes of the flurry of angry e-mails he received regarding his column on Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House correspondents' dinner. (Cohen found it unfunny.)
Kapow! Within a day, I got more than 2,000 e-mails. A day later, I got 1,000 more. By the fourth day, the number had reached 3,499 -- a figure that does not include the usual offers of nubile Russian women or loot from African dictators. The Colbert messages began with Patrick Manley ("You wouldn't know funny if it slapped you in the face") and ended with Ron ("Colbert ROCKS, you MURDER") who was so proud of his thought that he copied countless others. Ron, you're a genius.
Truth to tell, I peeked into only a few of the e-mails. I did this because I would sometimes recognize a name I thought I knew, which was almost always a mistake. When I guilelessly clicked on the name, I would get a bucket of raw, untreated and disease-laden verbal sewage right in the face.
Cohen says he's seen this kind of anger before:
But the message in this case truly is the medium. The e-mails pulse in my queue, emanating raw hatred. This spells trouble -- not for Bush or, in 2008, the next GOP presidential candidate, but for Democrats. The anger festering on the Democratic left will be taken out on the Democratic middle. (Watch out, Hillary!) I have seen this anger before -- back in the Vietnam War era. That's when the antiwar wing of the Democratic Party helped elect Richard Nixon. In this way, they managed to prolong the very war they so hated.
The hatred is back. I know it's only words now appearing on my computer screen, but the words are so angry, so roiled with rage, that they are the functional equivalent of rocks once so furiously hurled during antiwar demonstrations. I can appreciate some of it. Institution after institution failed America -- the presidency, Congress and the press. They all endorsed a war to rid Iraq of what it did not have. Now, though, that gullibility is being matched by war critics who are so hyped on their own sanctimony that they will obliterate distinctions, punishing their friends for apostasy and, by so doing, aiding their enemies. If that's going to be the case, then Iraq is a war its critics will lose twice -- once because they couldn't stop it and once more at the polls.
He's right. The teeming hatred from the far left is damaging the Democrats' cause. These folks see the world in black and white. Cohen, certainly not a fan of President Bush and his administration, dared to call a blatantly Bush-bashing comedy performance unfunny, and suddenly he's in the president's back pocket. Anything that could remotely be seen as giving the president an iota of support, no matter how small, is a reason to arrive at the gates of the castle with torches and pitchforks in hand.
To the far left, there is no such thing as having small disagreements while still sharing the larger picture. The same thing could be said for the far right, as well as any group of extremists. But as the Republicans currently control both the executive and legislative branches of our government, right wing crazies don't pose as much danger to us as the left wing crazies do to the Democrats. If they don't get it together soon, they can kiss any chance of getting back in the driver's seat goodbye.
(On another note, I've noticed that e-mail, especially the kind sent from addresses such as "RoadRageCharlie@Email.com", is undermining some of the veneer of civility in our society. It's easy to hide behind the anonymity of the keyboard, sending out missives of bile and hatred to someone we've never met and probably never will meet. It's the same with blogs, both those who write them and those who post on them. I've had to delete comments from people who, disagreeing with what I've said, decide to fill up the comment box with expletives that would make sailors of old blush. What's the answer? I don't know. But debate and polite disagreement are a heck of a lot nicer than, "You stupid ****, you don't know ****!")
Show Comments »
Heh, no comments yet....figures! What with statements like this: "right wing crazies don't pose as much danger to us as the left wing crazies do to the Democrats. If they don't get it together soon, they can kiss any chance of getting back in the driver's seat goodbye."
The right-winged crazies are the ones, indeed, destroying America. They voted in this cabal of crazies and they alone are responsible for the state our country is in right now. I hold all of you responsible. Angry left-darn tootin' I'm angry as well as I should be. For a much more comprehensive blog about this go to http://www.dailykos.com where there are some very good points, arguements and they don't have to worry about spammers, you can post whatever you feel...not like this hate-filled site. "Due to high levels of comment spam, commenting at mu.nu has been suspended for a brief period. You will be able to comment again as soon as the flood of spam abates somewhat. Please try again in a minute or two. We apologise for this, and believe us, we hate spammers even more than you do" You poor people, you can't say the eff-word, but you support people like "Duke" Cunningham and his cabal of prostitutes. Sheesh.
Great !&%$#*@ post, Pam.
Posted by: THIRDWAVEDAVE at May 9, 2006 11:20 AMBooo! It's me, the scarry left......nothing to see here!
Posted by: Zion at May 9, 2006 12:06 PMYea we lefties are angry. You prsident is a fucking moron who lied dumbshits like you into a war with Iraq and neve caught Osama. You stupid gullible fuckers. I wasn't fooled, Ieven wrote that monkey Bush before the war and begged him not to make war. Fuck you assholes. Bush has done nothing but fuck over the middle class for the very rich, like that cunt Paris Hilton. You fucks are too dumb and greedy to live. Fuck you.
Posted by: Bryan at May 9, 2006 12:31 PMHmmm -- seems to me that when the lefties get all stressed out and swear like a dog -- seems to me that they don't think the democrats are all that great with their ideas. We went to war with the blessings of the Republicans and Democrats alike. This place has not been attacked because countries know President Bush means business. You can't plan a perfect war but Iraq is far better off. I have a neighbor whose son is now serving his second term in Iraq -- he believes in the President and is pissed that the media does not tell the good things that are taking place there. These soldiers believe in what they are doing or they would not have volunteered. Now, if clinton was president, he would be hiding under the table with Monica.
Posted by: cookiewrangler at May 9, 2006 12:50 PMFrom the Wastelands of New England to BLOGMEISTER:
Your double-wide in the paradise of Mississippi awaits you.
Posted by: Dan at May 9, 2006 12:51 PMThe "good" things taking place in Iraq?
By "IRAQ" do you mean the three square miles
in the 'Green Zone'? Because that's the only
part of Iraq that the new American-Approved
(so much for democracy) Prime Minister Malikhi
has control over.
Or are you talking about that school they painted?
Oh wise one, rather than blindly repeating that "good things" are happening in Iraq, why don't you give us a laundry list of all those "good things"... C'mon, we're waiting oh wise one!
Dan
Posted by: Dan at May 9, 2006 12:56 PMIraq is better off? Do the Iraqi's know that?
Posted by: SisterKris at May 9, 2006 01:01 PMOnce again, Richard "Waa! Waa!" Cohen avoids the whole point of Colbert's speech and those who defend Colbert, and instead embarks on another rant of illogical ad hominems, this time against Colbert's defenders.
Boo! Hoo! Nobody likes Richard "Waa! Waa!" Cohen because he doesn't know how to write a civil and logical editorial. Everybody is so mean to him for emanating raw hatred towards Stephen Colbert in his past editorial. Richard "Waa! Waa!" Cohen's cry baby rant is simply pathetic and an embarrassment for him and the Washington Post.
This is just more proof that Richard "Waa! Waa!" Cohen is irrelevant. Besides Richard "Waa! Waa!" Cohen, the Washington Post, by allowing such nonsense to again be published on its editorial pages, is irrelevant as well.
Richard "Waa! Waa!" Cohen, why are you such a Waa! Waa!???
Posted by: KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA at May 9, 2006 01:50 PMSister Kris, Kevin Schmidt, Bryan and Dan -- glad you are not in charge -- i heard they had a special on 'anger management' - three for the price of four. You guys should go for it.
Posted by: cookiewrangler at May 9, 2006 02:40 PMAt least you get cusses.
I get invites to check out Ethiopian Famine Relief Bank Accounts that are Abandoned and Need My Money to Access and Liquidate them Into My Account if I Send Ten Emails and Five Dollars into Thirty Pay Pal Accounts.
Now that's Vulgar.
Posted by: paul at May 9, 2006 09:40 PM"Do the Iraqi's know that?"
Yes, and if you stopped suckling at the teat of the Democrat's talking points, you'd know. You could just *ask* them...lots of Iraqis blog now.
Posted by: JimK at May 10, 2006 01:37 AMWow and just where are these Iraqi's getting their laptops/pcs/macs and how are they running them JimK?
They still don't have electricity or running water in most of Iraq, the exception may be the Kurdish settlements.
So just how are they obtaining these computers and how are they operating them? Maybe our military is using Bluetooth? That would be just perfect. Afterall this is a WARZONE.
I think they are more interested in just keeping alive.
Posted by: rozzy at May 10, 2006 01:59 AMDan,
Do you know anything about, let's say just the Maine Army National Guard's 133rd Engineer Battalion and their mission in Iraq? Tell you what, go speak to them and perhaps look up their accomplishments - why don't you do some research? Empower yourself with the truth.
Bryan,
Diarrhea comes out the other end.
Posted by: husband-dude at May 10, 2006 07:29 AMBoy, are liberals stupid, uncouth, and uninformed. I was reading blogs from Iraq by both US service personel and by Iraqis from the day the war began until now.
If these dead heads did other than read Daily Krap or Demented Underbrained they wouldn't be so eager to show off their stupidity.
Posted by: PCD at May 10, 2006 09:41 AM
