Archives for 2004
Glass Houses
With all of the Kos drama going on, this idiotic comment seems to not have received the sort of attention it deserves:
Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, speaking of Dr. Daniel Mongiardo, a dark-haired, dark-skinned second-generation Italian-American running against him this fall:
“I have to tell you he looks like one of Saddam Hussein’s sons… I mean before they were dead, of course…I really mean that he looks like one of Saddam’s sons, and he even dresses like them, too.”
Bunning made the remarks at a Lincoln-Reagan dinner (Abraham Lincoln couldn’t be reached for comment either on pairing his name with Reagan’s or on Bunning’s Know-Nothing comments). After word leaked out, Bunning’s campaign denied that he’d said any such thing.
But then it emerged that the event had been videotaped, and Mongiardo’s people started to demand that the Bunning folks release the tape.
I don’t think, for one minute, that Kos’s remarks are indicative of a wider Democratic position, but I do agree with the Instapundit when he stated that Kos “seems to be infested with a degree of hatred that I previously associated with the Democratic Underground and other fringe sites.”
Similarly, I do not think that all Republicans are racist- nor am I sure that this was necessarily a racist comment- but that is how it will be perceived. However, the fact that ELECTED officials from the party I belong to (more or less- I am a registered Republican and I most likely will continue to support Bush) feel comfortable even thinking this remark is somehow funny or appropriate, let alone uttering it, and worse yet, making it in front of a large crowd, having it videotaped, and then trying to lie about it, is indicative that there is still a good deal of house cleaning to be done on the right side of the aisle. I think comparing even the appearance of a political opponent to that of the Husseins is an inappropriate statement.
*** Update ***
Post edited to add coherence.
*** Update #2 ***
I am not sure what is so hard to understand about this for some people. I am not completely sure that this was indeed a racist remark, whether the racist connotation was made accidentally, intentionally, or not at all. I am pretty damn sure that this is, at the very least, an idiotic thing to say and do, as comparing anyone to those scum is offensive. It pisses me off when I see Hitler mustaches painted on Bush- how is this any different? Even if you don’t think this was racist, you have to be able to agree with me it was offensive and demonstrative of an apalling lack of judgement.
Making things worse is the behavior of Bunning’s staff. When are these people going to learn to just admit a mistake, apologize, take a hit on the airwaves for one news cycle, and then move on?
The Tired Old Refrain
Christ- what is wrong with people. Juan Cole, much celebrated in left-wing circles for his intellect, has focused his critical thinking skills on the massacre at Fallujah, and after much deep thinking, he has decided who should be blamed for the brutal murders.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Cole’s “Informed Comment” is as follows:
There is increasing evidence that the brutal attack on the American security guards in Fallujah, and the desecration of their bodies, was the work of Islamists seeking vengeance for the Israeli murder of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Leaflets found at the scene said the operation was in the name of Yassin. al-Hayat reports in its Friday edition that responsibility for the attack has been taken by a group called Phalanges of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The group said the deaths were a “gift to the Palestinian people.”
You put yourself in the shoes of an American military commander in Fallujah. He treats with the local clan leaders and Sunni clergy. He tries to get them on the side of the US. He faces hostility, but he is making some progress. And then Ariel Sharon sends US-made helicopter gunships to Gaza and has them fire missiles at people coming out of a mosque, killing 8 and wounding 24. One of the dead is a half-blind paraplegic Islamist named Sheikh Yassin. He could have easily been arrested, and had been in the 1990s. But he was incinerated in a piece of state terror instead. And all of a sudden the people of Fallujah in Iraq are pointing their fingers at the American troops and saying, ‘you did this. You gave Sharon the green light.’ And all the commander’s hard work in building bridges collapses over night. And four US security personnel are dead, and 5 US troops are dead, and the fighting flares up. Thanks, Prime Minister Sharon. Thank you very much.
I don’t even know where to start. Why is the left filled with so many smart people who don’t know anything?
I guess what Mr. Cole is really saying that an Israeli mob should kill some Russian civilians- after all, the Israeli’s have seen so many of their peopled killed with Russian made AK-47’s and former Soviet bloc explosives.
Kos Does His Rosa Parks Impression
He just gets dumber:
So I said something pretty stupid last week. I served up the wingnuts a big, juicy softball. They went into a tizzy, led by Instapundit.
And for a while, I was actually pretty worried.
But the final tally was — about 30 hate-filled emails, about 15,000 hate-filled visitors, and the pulling of three advertising spots that are going to be replaced in less than a week. (I had two emails today about people wanting to advertise despite the controversy.)
That was it. Oh, they’re doing their best to turn me into the devil, and they’re making racist comments about my heritage and family and threatening to kick my ass — you know, typical right-wing shit.
But if that’s the best they can throw at me, I’ll simply echo Kerry.
Bring it on.
Fight the Power, Che.
Anyone who is making racial slurs about Kos or the like is just an idiot- but don;t you just love that the only people who could have found something distasteful with his remarks are ‘wingnuts.’ Kos- just another ‘mainstream moderate Democrat’ being brought down by the man.
And however offensive someone’s comments might have been about his family, I doubt anyone shit on the memory of his loved ones after they were murdered while overseas, and then ripped limb from limb, burned, and hung from posts. Only a real shitheel would do something like that, you know.
*** Update ***
I didn’t need to write this post because the Instapundit beat me to it.
*** Update ***
Poste edited- the men were
Are They Trying to Be Obtuse
Are they trying to be this stupid, or does it just come naturally?
Nathan Newman has now updated his post about the Falluja murders, and he has included some pretty graphic war porn. The picture is a pretty graphic screen shot from Al Jazeera, and shows a dead Iraqi boy- a civilian casualty. Nate concludes:
Folks outraged by the pictures of the well-paid security guards have the right to their outrage only if they were equally outraged by the deaths of these victims of US attacks on Iraq.
Do I really need to explain the difference, or are Nate and his ilk too stupid to comprehend even if I take the time?
Kos Update
Not only did the moral coward remove his vile post from his website, he even went to the extreme of removing it from Google’s cache and from the Internet Archive.
That makes this Michael Friedman screenshot of Kos’s post all the more important, and worthy of preservation. I have uploaded here so Kos can’t disappear it down the memory hole, too.
Kos has had a field day bashing this administration, making a buck in highly connected DNC circles. Now he wants to try to hide who he really is and what he really believes to protect his cash flow as a left-wing hit man. Not gonna happen. Upload the screenshot to your server. As Roger Simon stated– “You can run, but you can’t hide.”
And my offer still stands- anyone who advertises on blogads with Kos who drops him can have two free months here. Not like I am ovrwhelmed with advertisers anyway…
*** Update ***
I was wrong, the post was not deleted (just redirected) and I apologize for the false accusation. I was so pissed off at the remarks I should have checked my sources better.
Why I Quit Reading Kos
I quit reading Daily Kos months ago when it became clear he was nothing more than an unprincipled hispanic version of Sydney Blumenthal. I was late to the game- commenters here were for months telling me I was giving him too much credit (REDACTED DUE TO EXCESSIVE NASTINESS).
At any rate, to make a long story short, here is one big REDACTED aimed at Kos and Nathan Newman for their despicable posts. This from Kos is just a gem:
Let the people see what war is like. This isn’t an XBox game. There are real repercussion’s to Bush’s folly.
That said, I feel nothing about the deaths of mercernaries. They aren’t in Iraw because of orders, or because they are trying to help the people make Iraq abetter place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.
And this lame back-pedalling doesn’t cut it. I hope someone takes the time to point out to the American public what Democrat activists and hard-core Kerry supporters really think.
I am done being charitable, and I no longer feel the need to pretend that some of these people are merely dissenting. This is no longer dissent- these people are simply on the other side. I guess it is time for Yglesias and Drum to try to pretend that their side is really pretty moderate- it’s the conservatives who are nuts. Yeah, right.
The Instapundit has the link round-up, while I tend to just agree with the folks at Q and O:
People who say things like this deserve nothing but contempt.
I agree, and like Michael Freedman, urge you to write the candidates advertising on Kos’s website if this is their feeling. Go check Mr. Friedman’s campaign to write all the politicians to sever their ties with this human debris.
I will even go one further- I will run the same blogads they run on Kos’s site here- for free for two months. You won’t get the same traffic exposure, and it will be more conservative than liberal, but anything to hit this jerk in the wallet.
*** Update ***
Post edited with major deletions.