Why Would the Left Rather Attack than Engage?
Yesterday while doing my cardio at the gym, I was subjected to another of Keith Olbermann’s rants on MSNBC. I could not believe the effrontery of the man whose TV show has become little more a forum for Bush-bashing and Republican ridicule to claim that his political bête noire (the GOP) had become a party of hate because yet another (that makes two, with some doubt cast on the first one) participant at a McCain-Palin rally cried, “Kill Him” (about Obama). (Brian Faughnan has more on Olbermann’s outburst.)
[UPDATE: Secret Service says "Kill him" allegation unfounded. I wonder if Olbermann will admit his mistake and apologize.]
Yet, it is Olbermann’s party (particularly with cheerleaders like him) which has become the Party of Hate. John Hawkins documents some of their mean-spirited outbursts, including this comment from Democratic Talk Radio’s Stephen Crockett:
If I had my way, I would see Katherine Harris and Ken Blackwell strapped down to electric chairs and lit up like Christmas trees. The better to light the way for American Democracy and American Freedom!
Does the MSM so find a trend of hatred when they uncover such rhetoric? Do they even bother to look for it? Or maybe it’s like Joe Biden’s gaffes, the news media don’t find the left’s angry rhetoric newsworthy because, well, it’s so commonplace.
Attacking one’s rivals, often in the most vicious terms seems to have become the modus operandi of the left these past few years. Yeah, there are a few loons on our side as well, but nearly all serious conservatives distance ourselves from them, denouncing their angry rhetoric.
Comparing conservative and left-wing responses to criticism, noting particularly the comments section to his Pajamas blog, Victor Davis Hanson writes:
In that regard, I often note the tone of the hard left at this site; the right disagrees and adduces arguments, the left often by spewing invective. I know that when I give a lecture to businessmen suggesting greed is endemic on Wall Street and has discredited much of their own ethos there are serious but professional retorts; at a university the professorial response to criticism of the Left is shrill and occasionally unhinged.
What is it that has made the left so unhinged? Why do they rather revile us than engage us on the plain of ideas?
And do so, while they accuse us of being narrow-minded hate-mongers? And claim to be smarter and better educated. If they’re so well-read and smart, shouldn’t it then be easy for them to dismiss our ideas with rational argument?
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What is it that has made the left so unhinged? Why do they rather revile us than engage us on the plain of ideas?
Backwards, man. The left is where you go when you’re unhinged to begin with. Experience will tell us that one characteristic of mentally unstable people is that they almost invariably blame others for the bad choices they’ve made. It’s little wonder they would be drawn to a political philosophy that says, “Nothing is your fault; other people are screwing with you.”
Comment by V the K — October 15, 2008 @ 4:17 pm - October 15, 2008
Go work out at a different time
Comment by LCRW — October 15, 2008 @ 4:31 pm - October 15, 2008
Because they DONT think. Liberalism is based on emotions, not thought.
I suspect you know this as well as I do, so rather than ask why, since we know the answer, lets just mock, shame, deride and ridicule them for it. Much more effective than applying to reason.
Comment by American Elephant — October 15, 2008 @ 4:42 pm - October 15, 2008
Keith Olbermann, Bill Mahr and other remind me of a quote….
“If you’re not Liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not Conservative when you’re 35, you have no brain.”
Perhaps Winston Churchill said it best
“A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”
-Winston Churchill
Comment by Jeb — October 15, 2008 @ 4:59 pm - October 15, 2008
Jeb, I consider myself a bleeding heart conservative. On the one hand, I’m a foster parent, and I have pretty much passed on career advancement in order to raise abused and neglected children. I’m also a soft touch for anybody who needs help, and, trust me, I’ve been taken advantage of for that more times than I care to count.
But I also believe strongly in limited government, fiscal restraint, self-discipline, and a strong national defense.
There are millions like me. People with strong hearts and strong minds. We’re the religious right, the social cons so reviled by many here.
Comment by V the K — October 15, 2008 @ 5:16 pm - October 15, 2008
Perhaps it’s ironic, but similar comments are made on left-wing websites about right-wingers.
Comment by Nurglitch — October 15, 2008 @ 6:49 pm - October 15, 2008
Hint: *Leftism*. (Bad ideas. Bad epistemology. Bad ethics. Etc.; the badness builds on itself in a vicious cycle.)
Again: because they’re leftists. That’s what leftists have always done, from the French Revolution to Hugo Chavez.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — October 15, 2008 @ 8:42 pm - October 15, 2008
The left is made up largely of people who still harbor overwhelming resentments towards mommy and daddy. The transfer those negative feelings to public figures of authority. This is true again and again – i.e. as noted in obituaries of famous leftists who never outgrew their famly problems but who “valiantly” fought against the right. It’s really very sad. So you can see why so many young people are taken with Obama – also he speaks the way they do (when not scripted): uh… uh… uh… and… and… uh…
Comment by Chuck — October 15, 2008 @ 10:47 pm - October 15, 2008
I don’t think the people in NOVA like me when I’m looking at their screen on the treadmill and constantly correct Maddow, Olby and the Obama commercials. I love how the left tries to neutralize debate by yelling out racisim at every comment or question. Alter on Maddow basically called any allegations against ACORN racist and even hinted that any voting fraud would be ok because Dems are in control of counting the ballots in Ohio. Plus, Maddow was dishonest saying McCain supported ACORN at a rally. This was a lie McCain spoke at a rally for immigrants and one of the orgs was ACORN. The twisted lies and deception of the left never ceases to amaze me.
Comment by dcmasshole — October 16, 2008 @ 9:58 am - October 16, 2008
Leftist Democrats Bash Joe the Plumber. They really do hate ordinary people, and they really don’t tolerate heresies against the Obamassiah.
Comment by V the K — October 16, 2008 @ 11:40 am - October 16, 2008
I agree that Obermann is obsessed with hate for the right. I don’t like him and do not watch him.
I do watch Sean Hannity and he is obsessed with hate for the left. Not many leftist rants exceed the intensity of Hannity’s hatred for Barack Obama et al.
Comment by Jack Allen — October 16, 2008 @ 4:05 pm - October 16, 2008
Then as now, liberals protect themselves from detection with wild calumnies against anybody who opposes them. They have no interest in — or aptitude for — persuasion. Their goal is to anathematize their enemies.
- Ann Coulter
Comment by Vince P — October 17, 2008 @ 2:11 am - October 17, 2008