With Democrat in White House
Washington Post discovers bile of the blogosphere
Washington Post discovers bile of the blogosphere
Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a Page A1 story which, one blogger claims, connects conservative blogress Michelle “Malkin and her fans with anti-Semitic radio host Father Charles Coughlin, railing against Roosevelt in the 1930s.” Now that some conservatives have reacted to the Democratic Administration with venom and vitriol, the Post has suddenly discovered that the internet is home to some pretty nasty rhetoric.
To be fair to the paper, writer Ann Gerhart does acknowledge that the decline of civility in a “viral world” did not begin with conservative reaction to the incumbent President:
The nation’s political discourse seems sour, angry, even dangerous; “uglier than it’s ever been” is a phrase often volunteered — as if President George W. Bush had never been depicted as Hitler, declared a dunce and heckled by Code Pink during his second inaugural address.
She may acknowledge it today, but did the Post ever run a Page A1 article (on a Sunday no less) where they lamented the decline of civility in the Bush era?
Yesterday’s story focuses on the woes of Charisse Carney-Nunes, author of a children’s book, I Am Barack Obama, recently subject to a raft of hate e-mail after Malkin reported that she “uploaded the video of schoolchildren reciting a Barack Obama song/rap at Bernice Young elementary school in June“:
Carney-Nunes, who writes children’s books and was a year behind Obama at Harvard Law School, watched as strangers posted her personal information on the Internet. She read, “You’re a dirtbag commie propagandist trying to infect children with your failed Marxist ideology.” And “your Obama chant is right out of Africa.” And “get ready for a massive attack!!!” And “my friend GLENN BECK will also shove this in your face until justice is served.”
Michelle, for the record, never encouraged this type of discourse (while the article intimates she did). The epithets above are disgusting and juvenile, discrediting those who who penned them (and send them on the object of their revilement). The senders should have known better and acted differently. No matter how silly and syrupy her book may have been in praising the President, it is wrong to send her this kind of e-mails.
But, this left-of-center woman is not the first person to receive such blog-generated hate mail. We received our share of it during the Bush era–as did other conservative bloggers. And I highly doubt that the Post covered those attacks.
If some people perceive conservatives in general and Republicans in particular to be full of bile and bitterness, it is due in no small measure to articles like this recent front-page piece in the Post. They dwell on conservatives’ incivility and all but ignored the same level of vitriol when directed against those reviled right-wingers.
It’s as if they only discovered the bile of the blogosphere when a Democrat is in the White House–and (his and) their political allies its victims.
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Amen. It seems to me that dems told us over the last 8 years how we are to dissent and speak our minds. Don’t get pissy b/c we get it now.
Comment by Holly Berry — October 12, 2009 @ 4:52 pm - October 12, 2009
My, my! How shocking!
Comment by Laura — October 12, 2009 @ 4:56 pm - October 12, 2009
What Kool-aid you drinking? Malkin ALWAYS AND AT EVERY CHANCE SHE GETS encourages this type of discourse. Malkin was the scumbag who gave out the identity of a child asking a question at a town hall meeting because her Mom gave a few bucks to Obama’s campaign. Thanks to Malkin, we knew who the little girl was, her Mom’s identity and where they lived and how easily it would be to find out which school she attended. Today, there are tea-baggers protesting outside the school in question scaring the ever living hell out of children attending this school because they are fascists. It’s thanks to the white nationalists herself Michelle Malkin that now everybody knows where this school is and where they can gather to exercise their “1st Amendment” rights in scaring the crap out of children attending the school.
Ms. Nunes was accused or writing the song…she didn’t. She was accused of being the teacher there responsible for it…she wasn’t. She doesn’t even teach there and was only there visiting to do an author’s reading and thank you WaPo for telling the truth because Malkin sure as hell didn’t. Only today is that fascist pig back-tracking to cover her a$$ because God forbid, the losers who defend her may actually learn how to spell Google and take steps to think for themselves. NOPE!!! Rather be tea-baggers!
Comment by Syntax — October 12, 2009 @ 5:00 pm - October 12, 2009
Well, the comment above tells it all. Malkin herself is use to such rants. The difference is that we now have a thin-skinned president who can not take criticism and a white house of babies. The Post et al, take there cue from the fearless leader in that white house.
Thank goodness for Malkin and conservative bloggers. Imagine a world where only people like Syntax could report the news.
Comment by Pete — October 12, 2009 @ 5:08 pm - October 12, 2009
Sorry for my poor spelling above. But you see, I went to a Chicago Public School.
Comment by Pete — October 12, 2009 @ 5:10 pm - October 12, 2009
Wow. Is it that you just don’t like “uppity gooks”?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — October 12, 2009 @ 5:26 pm - October 12, 2009
Syntax, I think it wasn’t the little girl’s name or address specifically. It was the fact she was from a different state and had been “randomly” drawn to ask a question. Why is she there, and why from another state is a good question to ask.
Additionally, it was not that her mom gave a couple of bucks to Obama’s campaign, but was actually a convention delegate for Obama and had held (I believe) several fund-rasiers for him.
Quite a bit of difference from those facts and some little girl randomly called on to ask a question, no?
Comment by MarkButter in SoCal — October 12, 2009 @ 5:30 pm - October 12, 2009
And then there’s
Maudeer..Syntax…I never cease to be amazed at how easily some of these people become so thoroughly unhinged. Ignoring the fact that Malkin is Asian, and is therefore, I believe, quite unwelcome at the “white nationalists’” meetings, our enraged friend here has chosen to deliberately ignore the thrust of Mr. Blatt’s article.
I remain unsurprised…
Comment by Eric Olsen — October 12, 2009 @ 5:34 pm - October 12, 2009
#8: “I never cease to be amazed at how easily some of these people become so thoroughly unhinged. Ignoring the fact that Malkin is Asian, and is therefore, I believe, quite unwelcome at the “white nationalists’” meetings, our enraged friend here has chosen to deliberately ignore the thrust of Mr. Blatt’s article.”
Eric Olsen, funny you should mention it , but Michelle Malkin has already written a book titled “Unhinged,” which details the psychotic, hysterical, vein-popping hatred that defines the Left and its spastic minions like Syntax. The book chronicles in hilarious detail how liberals are so consumed with hatred for conservatives that they routinely express their condemnation of all things mean and uncaring by burning effigies of GOP Presidents, engaging in assassination fantasies in their novels and films, attempting to run down GOP politicians with their cars, intimidating minority Republicans with racial and homophobic slurs, and violently attacking the people they disagree with. But good for them! If the liberals won’t take action to support peace, love, and harmony by putting some of those mean Republicans in the hospital, then who will?
http://www.amazon.com/Unhinged-Exposing-Liberals-Gone-Wild/dp/0895260301/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2
Comment by Sean A — October 12, 2009 @ 9:43 pm - October 12, 2009
So Malkin is anti-Semitic now?
Sounds like someone is off their meds.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — October 12, 2009 @ 10:59 pm - October 12, 2009
Evening all. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist I tend to think that at least some of the attack emails that people receive that are highly offensive and utterly vile in nature actually come from other liberals. This gives the receiver an opportunity to print them and point to conservatives as dangerous, amoral nutjobs. It can also provide a distraction depending on what issue is being discussed/revealed.
Just a thought. Now I have to put my tin-foil hat on
Cheers
Comment by scr_north — October 12, 2009 @ 11:45 pm - October 12, 2009
scr_north(#11): Althouse has noted the same effect on her blog – they wait until nightfall, then type a string of scurrilous posts and pass along screenshots before the comments can be addressed or in extreme cases deleted.
It’s bewildering, pernicious nonsense.
Best wishes,
-MFS
Comment by MFS — October 13, 2009 @ 9:11 am - October 13, 2009