Charles Lane has written one of the most deeply repulsive things I have ever seen in a major newspaper:
Perhaps most disappointing of all is that the president himself, rather than living up to the words he spoke so eloquently in Tuscon, has chosen to fuel the fury on the Great Lakes. He labeled Walker’s legislation “an assault on unions,” while the White House political operation bused in more demonstrators to join those waving Walker = Hitler placards. These are the words and deeds of a partisan politician, not a national leader.
If the brave Gabrielle Giffords could speak normally, what would she say about these events? I hope she would agree with me: This is a sad moment for liberalism, for the Democratic Party, and, really, for the whole country.
That’s right, Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and almost killed, for reasons that may have been related to a right-wing movement that Lane often celebrates. And now he seeks to put words in her mouth; he seeks to make a speechless victim of political violence a spokesperson for his own political philosophy.
This is disgusting and demands an apology.
gbear
Sorry to go OT on the first comment, but:
MikeJ
@gbear: I hope this is yet another case where you can’t believe random tweets.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
In the recent NYT Mag profile of Marty Peretz, there was a picture of Marty surrounded by some of his bright young things, Lane was one of them.
I wouldn’t know where to begin addressing this nonsense, except to point out that hardcore neocon rightwing jackass Charles Lane is posting this in a blog called “Post Partisan”. Fred Hiatt and Donnie Graham have a lot to answer for.
JGabriel
DougJ:
I couldn’t agree more.
.
RalfW
The level of decay in the conservative, good ol’ USA is rather breathtaking.
freelancer
Can we start a donation drive to hire actor Peter Sarsgaard to punch Chuck Lane in the face repeatedly? I think of Sarsgaard whenever Lane is mentioned due to his great performance in Shattered Glass, and I LIKE him as an actor. He should feel disappointed that the man he portrayed is such a hack and a journalistic monster in his own right. Clocking him in the face would do a lot to fix that.
RalfW
Oh, well, on the other hand, having a black man say “an assault on unions” is practically a direct incitement to riot with deadly weapons, so maybe Lane has a, ummm, …
F*ck it. The crazy makes my head explode.
jwb
Let me get this straight: a bunch of union folks hold completely peaceful rallies, Obama expresses support for these unions that are explicitly being threatened for termination by the governor of Wisconsin by characterizing such termination as an “assault,” and Charles fucking Lane thinks this language is on par with a gunman going up and shooting a congresswoman? I mean, if he wanted to claim that Obama and the unions were playing the victim card in demonizing Walker as an assailant, that would be a bit nutty, but it would make some sort of rhetorical sense. But Lane just ends up with one big puddle of a non-sequitur.
jwb
@gbear: Nice touch: planning to do it at the dead of night.
E.D. Kain
Yes, way to invoke a Congresswoman who can’t speak because she was shot in the head. Very classy.
JGabriel
RalfW: RalfW:
What decay? They’ve always been like this. Apparently you don’t remember William F. Buckley demanding in his column that all HIV+ patients be tattoo’d on the “upper arm and buttocks” back in the 80’s.
Among conservatives, foulness of spirit is a badge of honor.
.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
Christ, I know the fReichtards like to make corpses into talking point spouting meat puppets, but now they’re starting in on the living.
He earns an additional kick in the junk for failing to mention non-Wisconsinite TeaTards that went out there today.
General Stuck
These are the things said from a viewpoint of maximum sense of entitlement, and minimum sense of hypocrisy and shame. Peak Wingnut looms, so close, yet so far away.
asiangrrlMN
That’s appalling. It’s the same thing the damn Republicans did to Terri Schiavo, though, pretended to talk for her. I would ask if they know any shame, but I know the answer to that already.
I posted this in the last thread, but it fits here, too. E.D. twitted this video. I think it sums up the anger and frustration many in Madison (and here) have expressed today.
RalfW
@JGabriel: You’re right, I had forgotten that, or probably ascribed it to that crust of hateful blood Jesse helms.
Anne Laurie
“If the brave Gabrielle Giffords could speak normally, what would she say about these events?”
She would tell you to remove your hand from under her dress, you filthy little Koch-sucker. Of course, if Lane was one of Peretz’s fair-haired boys, he’s probably never had his hand that close to a lady’s unmentionables since the day he was born, so perhaps he will argue that he didn’t realize quite how rude he was being.
Maude
Lane doesn’t even make any sense.
That is so disconnected and stupid.
The word assault is correct. There is an attack on unions.
I imagine Congresswoman Giffords would tell him to STFU and not speak for her. She’s probably more polite, but even so.
Mister Papercut
So would you say he’s stealing Peggy Noonan’s shtick, or is it more accurate to call it an homage?
Wait, I know: sampling.
asiangrrlMN
@Anne Laurie: God, this made me laugh so. Thanks, Anne Laurie. I desperately needed that.
JGabriel
Anne Laurie:
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much shortage of conservative women turned on by boy-winger negging.
.
Elvis Elvisberg
If only Charles Lane’s grandfather were still alive. I am certain that he would say that this is a sad moment for journalism, for the Lane family, and, really, for the whole country.
Omnes Omnibus
The levels on which this is vile are beyond cataloging.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
In case anyone is interested: [email protected].
LindaH
Yeah, don’t hold your breath on that. There will be ice skating in Hell first. And if God is the way fundamentalist Christians view him Charles Lane will spend a lot of time waiting for that ice.
piratedan
well don’t read the comments, I had to go throw up after reaching #4 as they procedded to indicate that unions are no longer necessary in this here America despite the fact that there have been two major mine explosions in the last two years (Utah and Wva) and a massive oil rig explosion in da gulf. Yuppers, no need to worry about public safety or employers taking advantage of workers, just doesn’t happen, it would affect the profit margin dontchaknow..
Allan
Time to burn the Washington Post to the ground.
Fallsroad
I see what Lane did there.
Nerull
@gbear: People in contact with capitol police have said this is not true and the building will be open all night.
Allan
@Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen: The Ombudsman will reply that this was an opinion piece, and yours isn’t wanted.
Nick
Too bad Obama didn’t use the bully pulpit, huh? The media would just let him say whatever he wants without comment, amirite?
Fallsroad
@Allan:
The ombudsman will, in fact, reply that it is an opinion piece and direct you to contact the oped page editor. I’ve been down that road.
Yutsano
Give me one example where Dubya took on a highly partisan position and Charles Lane made the exact same criticism. Go ahead, I’ll wait, I have all night.
And I hope Gabrielle Giffords recovers enough to kick him in the nads hard enough to sterilize him. And her husband drops a turd out of orbit just right to take out his house. Fucktard.
Allan
@Fallsroad: And it’s a dead end, amirite?
TooManyJens
This reminds me of the time Peggy Noonan channeled Paul Wellstone to tell us all that, as he looked down at his memorial service from heaven, he was deeply disappointed in how it was politicized.
Of course, it’s even more grotesque to put words in the mouth of a living person who is not currently able to express her own views. So, kudos to Charles Lane, I guess. I really hope he gets a phone call from Gabrielle Giffords some day.
jwb
@Allan: Yes, the ombudsman’s role has evolved into one of slavishly defending the paper in all things except agreeing that the paper should never contradict a right wing talking point.
Fallsroad
@Allan:
I got only the redirect from Mr. Alexander with no comment, then sent my email to the editor of the opinion page and it vanished into the WaPo intellectual honesty black hole.
It was many months ago, and to be honest, I cannot recall what set me off to writing the letter in the first place. One of the alleged in house “liberals” was probably writing another of those irritating “both sides do it” screeds and my head was going to explode.
Bah. Charles Lane is a prick.
piratedan
Well based on the latest medical update that I have seen, Gabby is now speaking, but I wouldn’t want to send her this POS else she might come unspooled. The amount of things she might have in common with Charles Lane might be that their names are both spelled using the same alphabet.
Mnemosyne
What an asshole. As Fallsroad noted, I especially love the implication that these can’t actually be thousands of disgruntled citizens. They must be ringers bussed in by Obama because everyone knows how happy the workers are.
gbear
@Nerull: Thank you.
Sly
Even the former editor of the liberal New Republic agrees with the liberal Joe Klein that unions are shit.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: A little nit to pick.
Fixed that for ya.
jwb
@Mnemosyne: Of course, it’s projection again: because busing in supporters is how Koch, Inc manufactured all those teabagger rallies over the past two years. On the other hand, the meme of this being a proxy war fought between bused in supporters for both sides has started taking hold today. I especially noted it in the NY Times coverage.
Yutsano
@TooManyJens:
I hope her husband gets angrier and starts firing off counteropinions about this bullcrap. He has shown the capacity to strike back with his tongue before, I hope that instinct is still strong in him.
@asiangrrlMN: Hee. Dropping Breitbart from orbit would be its own little pleasure. And I’m not talking the euphemism here.
Chuck Butcher
Arghhh. This kind of crap doesn’t surprise me a bit, then again; I have paid attention to politics for a long time.
It is virtually never intelligent or even half-reasoned but then look what they’ve got to work with…
Cacti
She wouldn’t be kicking public employees in the teeth.
Signed,
An Arizonan
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: No kidding. That would be pleasant, indeed. Oh noez! Both sides do it!
@Cacti: A-fucking-men to that.
piratedan
@Cacti: bingo
RalfW
@TooManyJens:
Fantasy fixt.
Fallsroad
@Mnemosyne:
He uses the weasel phrase “to join” the few who may have been waving such placards, thereby allowing himself the Civility get outta jail free card. No question he was implying the White House is busing in people who carry those specific placards, hell, he probably believes they were printed in the White house basement.
Prick, through and through. Sullivan has also been appalling on this issue. TNR is a real bonus to society for cranking out these hideous class warriors and unleashing them on undeserving people who do actual work for a living.
themann1086
@Mnemosyne: I thought you said “They must be niggers bussed in by Obama”. Although that reading makes just as much sense of Lane’s piece….
piratedan
I also wish that the bastard would get the proper spelling of my town correct, it’s “Tucson” you moran, or is the appropriate spelling of my town also subject to opinion? I guess he was so quick to get this hyperbolic drivel done in time for maximum outrage he forgot to spellcheck. Kinda sad for a once proud national paper.
Mnemosyne
@themann1086:
I’m sure that linking to that video didn’t help dispel the confusion, but for some reason that’s what it reminded me of (with Lane as the dimwitted cowboy supervisor, of course).
TooManyJens
@RalfW: Now I’m curious. Is Charles Lane involved in some shady dealings I don’t know about?
Ruckus
I’m with Chuck here. Why are you all surprised that a conservative is lying and making up bullshit? Or at the amount of it?
It’s their nature. Frog and scorpion. I am only surprised when any conservative actually has a cognitive thought and true words come out of their mouths. Their operative position is lies and bullshit. Always has been. And given the last 200+ years of our history I expect it to remain their position for, well forever.
Ija
What is Lane’s job at WaPo anyway? Just a Post Partisan blogger? From editor of New Republic to a blogger? What a comedown. Couldn’t have happened to a better person.
fuckwit
@JGabriel: Link?
TBogg
Terri Schiavo would agree with me that Charles Lane is brain dead. And she would know….
Caz
He said that he hopes Giffords would agree with him. That’s a FAR CRY from putting words in her mouth. I don’t think his words were very objectionable. Perhaps you disagree with him, but there’s nothing out of bounds in his article.
Get a grip, and stop grasping for straws. Just say you disagree with him and you’re pissed because he attacked Obama.
Grow up, and stop trying to make something bigger out of this article than is there.
One of the most deeply repulsive things you’ve read?? LOL!! I read more repulsive things on this blog every single day.
Your phony indignation from is pathetic.
roshan
Lane has a lot to learn…..from Peggy Noonan who wrote a whole article as Paul Wellstone after his death.
El Cid
u stupid libtardz he din’t say no bad just wanted shot-in-head lady to see that obama was saying yay to kenyan thugs he payd to burn down madison wisconsin
why kaint you libs be lik founding father tea parties who knew respett when they protest at health care townhalls
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
@Sly: And you know, I didn’t even know they were handing out certificates to progressives.
matoko_chan
This. Is. What. They. Do.
this is what EDK and Conor did at Culture 11, and what razib khan/david hume does at Secular Right and what Andrew Sullivan does at the Dish.
this is race war and IQ war, and empowering the tyranny of the stupid.
this is the IQ war that has been going on since Kylon and Pythagoras.
the only way to stop it is for the leadership of the right to accept the responsibily of EDUCATING their base instead of demagoguing it to win.
Sure people have a constitutional right to believe in bad, stupid, wrong, and counterfactual ideas……but they DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT to impose those ideas on their fellow citizens.
read my lips fucker. conservatism is a DEAD PARADIGM. IT FUCKING FAILED.
IT IS NON-EMPIRICAL. THERE ARE NO ASPECTS OF SOCIAL CONSERVATISM THAT ARE SECULAR.
Shalimar
@jwb: Governor Walker already accused Democratic Senators of “bullying” Republicans, I assume by running away to another state when he tried to have them all arrested and forced to work. So yeah, the bs rhetoric is deep on this one. On the other hand, I am pretty happy that Walker, Lane and the rest still see bullying as something they want to avoid being accused of. I’m afraid we aren’t far away from the time they proudly take possession of their tactics as a sign of strength instead of having to project them onto their opponents.
El Cid
I would like to think that if Paul Wellstone were alive and speaking as the brave Gabrielle Giffords that he would be able to express the thoughts of Ronald Reagan if Reagan were able to channel the inner courage of Terry Schiavo if she could bring the moral rectitude of Alexander Hamilton once he suffered his loss to Aaron Burr, who would be able to have the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. inhabit him to condemn the Wisconsin mob for its extreme offensiveness in pursuit of wasting money on corrupt lazy public workers unions, if he were able to let Jesus speak through him.
matoko_chan
There are three main reasons it is getting crazy out there.
One, the demographic timer. Conservatives have tried to turn off the memetically inbred racism in their base, and it apparently cannot be done. Birtherism is subliminated racism, because overt racism is taboo in contemporary America. Conservatives have tried to persuade their base on this starting at last years CPAC and the numbers have not changed…around 3/4 of conservative voters polled as either overt birthers or uncertain..
In the 2011 survey 51% dont believe our president is an american, and 21% are “not sure”.
Two the secularization of America. Hayek was wrong. The growth of the welfare state doesnt lead to socialism–it leads to secularism. this is also a consequence of the race war incidentally. Once upon a time in America the local churches were the engines were the welfare providers. I guess this worked pretty well (for white men) until women and blacks got the vote. But then the federal government was forced to intervene to distribute citizen rights and citizen welfare at the local level. And the churches couldnt compete. Federal welfare is essentially free in terms of social capital, much cheaper than church attendance, tithing, and conforming to a behavioral standard. And any citizen can get it, even unwed mothers and black and brown citizens.
This is happening in Great Britain as well. While youth may be religious, they are not church attenders leading to empty church syndrome.
And the third major component is the flattening of information brought on us by the rise of the interwebs.
What we see right now in FOXnews and other closed information sources is a sort of walling off of “dangerous” information. Like the US gov does with overclassification to keep the people from the truth. I think this a temporary effect that only works with older, non-net savvy people that still respond to authoritarianism.
DougJ’s analysis of Lanes piece is and example–pre-interwebs the oligarchs and their mouthpieces could just say what they wanted. Now they get factchecked. Information spreads. Now Sully and the other spinners are forced to read DougJ’s factchecking if they want to to continue to appear “reasonable” and take hits in their belief structure.
Conservatism simply cannot coexist with freedom of information because it is anti-empirical.
We are seeing conservatism’s last stand.
And yeah, it will be ugly.
But it is creative destruction. The future looks brighter everyday.
tick…..tick…..tick….
DougJ®
@El Cid:
Awesome.
matoko_chan
oh plz can you unmoderate my comment Master.
i worked hard on it. :)
there isnt even any swearing.
El Cid
@DougJ®: I’d like to express Patrick Henry’s appreciation for your comment.
matoko_chan
correction
Once upon a time in America the local churches were the engines of social cohesion, and the local welfare providers.
matoko_chan
more correction.
Now Sully and the other spinners are forced to read DougJ’s factchecking if they want to to continue to appear “reasonable” and as a consequence take hits in their belief structure.
i suppose this is what is SLOWLY happening to EDK. but its too slow for my taste.
this shit is obviouso to anyone with an IQ over room temperature.
Yikes! i said the IQ word. cue bioluddites raving about a 16 year old book by a polysci major.
Elia
I don’t understand what makes Charles Lane tick. Does he consider himself a liberal? Or is he just a garden-variety neocon?
matoko_chan
@Elia: he is a spinner, a propagandist. the mannered deadtree equivalent of Brietbart and Limbaugh.
matoko_chan
@gbear: but what about the right of Americans to peaceably assemble?
did the teabaggers incite a riot?
matoko_chan
it sounds like people were just pulling down signs before the cops could trash them.
D.N. Nation
Just so you know, you fucking dipshit, the name of the town is T-U-C-S-O-N. Hope that helps.
rea
Given that they don’t believe the presidency ought to be decided by elections (see, e. g., 2000 and the illegitimacy of the Carter, Clinton and Obama administrations), it’s not surprising that they are shocked to find the president taking a partisan position.
Stefan
These are the words and deeds of a partisan politician, not a national leader.
What does this even mean? Of course Obama is a partisan politician — what’s wrong with that? He’s the head of the Democratic Party, he was elected president as the result of a contested national election against the Republican candidate. He wasn’t anointed king, for fuck’s sake — he’s the president, and the president is always a partisan politician.
I’m sorry if Charles Lane doesn’t approve of democracy — if he’d prefer to live in a kingdom where the national leader presumes to speak for the entire country, perhaps he should move to Bahrain.
Kejia
The RSS feed of Post Partisan at Washpo does not always identify the author of each piece. I usually have fun guessing the author, but in this instance I read Lane’s diatribe with a growing sense of outrage and nausea. I used to live in D.C., subscribed to the Post and read it religiously. I’m starting to look upon the paper as if it were one of the Brewster sisters from Arsenic and Old Lace, coasting upon a good reputation and surreptitiously murdering the odd passerby.
David Eoll
@gbear: Riot police, police riot.
Oliver
The only disgusting aspect of this is the post itself!
Oliver
The only disgusting aspect of this is the post itself!
gnomedad
@Caz:
I’m only hoping you DIAF. That’s a FAR CRY from actually setting fire to you.
Quiddity
What else was Charles Lane an ass about? IIRC, it was Iraq, but I’m not sure. Was it domestic policies, CIA torture, or what?
Egypt Steve
My only question is, what would Charles Lane say if *he* could speak normally?
kth
This is probably the main reason people hate the New Republic so much: not that the magazine itself doesn’t have a fair amount to answer for, but the TNR grads write things that are 10 times as loathsome on pretty much a weekly basis.
Hendrik Hertzberg is great, and Kinsley is good most of the time, but nearly all of the rest of the TNR alums e.g., (Krauthammer, Barnes, Kondrake, Kaus, Michael Kelly) are a cancer on punditry.
lllphd
@D.N. Nation:
yeah, no kidding. but am i the only one who noticed that this frog fart did not bother to capitalize President??
fasteddie9318
I can’t believe Chuck Lane has fanbois. Hysterical.
I, for one, hope that if we could bring Saint Ronnie Reagan back from the dead and give him a functioning human brain, he would agree with me that Charles Lane should stick his head up his own ass and then light one of his farts on fire.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
If God could speak normally, what would she say about these events? I hope she would agree with me: Charles Lane is a waste of skin and will burn in hell forever for his many sins.
.
.
ice weasel
Seriously? As repugnant, self-serving and ignorant as this is, this is standard fare for the WaPo. Apology? How about just admitting that as part of the media of this nation, you’ve failed. That’s what I want an apology for. This one, partisan hack piece doesn’t even stand out.
PIGL
@Caz: Disingenuous Troll is lying and a poseur and a fraud. Also smells bad, and can’t read too good, neither.
gocart mozart
If Charles Lane’s mother were alive today, what would she say about her son? I hope she would agree with me: Her son is a repulsive human being and is a sad embarrassment for her, for journalism, and, really, for the whole country.
gocart mozart
@Elvis Elvisberg:
Didn’t read your comment Elvis, before I posted mine. You preemptively stole my comment before I had even thought of it. Nice trick you did sir.
Jebediah
@freelancer:
If you are willing to include Paul Simonon recreating the cover of London Calling, I will both contribute AND subscribe to your newsletter.
michel chavaniac
Logic and compassion become useless obstructions in someone such as lane. His MO is just cause as much confusion and misinformation while
never once conceding any doubt. Thus he applies religious constraints/political dogma. Keeping the lowest form of intelligence as the norm.
A schism of monumental depth is created and the lumpen fear to cross or even try to see the other side.
Fear and stupidity are the step parents of violence.
Bender
What demands an apology is your desperate clinging to the baseless lie that Giffords’ shooting had anything to do with conservative media (It didn’t. Obama said it. America doesn’t buy it. Congrats — now you’re exactly like a crazy Truther or Birther!).
Besides, all the dude said was “I hope she would agree…” You guys spazzing over “I hope” is just as dumb as, if not dumber than, people spazzing over the “assault” language. You hear what you want to hear based on your agenda.
morzer
@Bender:
*pats you on the head*
Did you really learn all those long words on your own, Bendie?
esther
If she could talk. Well gee, why can’t she talk. Maybe because of the right wing’s insistence than anyone and everyone be allowed to walk in any WalMart and buy a gun and ammo.
Maybe if we had some gun control Gabby could talk for herself and we wouldn’t have to speculate.
DougW
Charles Lane is an asshole, as is the current Thuglican majority in the Wisconsin Congress. It’s almost too fun that they are so clearly against the voting majority that they will suffer a significant electoral defeat in 2012. God help the poor that the republicans want to further marginalize. 2012 the potential to wipe the thugs off of the planet. Keep the faith!
cosmosis
Chuckles Lane, like the rest of the beltway me-jia, is part of the top 2%. He knows his job is to lick Koch Brother ass if he wants to keep his place in line.
Steeplejack
@matoko_chan:
Way late to this thread, but I just wanted to say right on, Matoko_chan, you little Muslim minx. Best thing I’ve seen you write here, and I agree with almost all of it.