A Stained Mind

[H2O Man]

This morning I had a :45 minute wait between dropping my daughter off, and the beginning of an 8th grade basketball game. During a stop at a convenience store, I picked up The New York Post. At the counter, I took part in a conversation with three other people about the up-coming primary. All four of us were democrats, which I took as a good sign considering that we are in a very conservative, republican upstate county.

I would have bought the NY Times had the store carried it, and when I opened the Post I was reminded why I rarely read it. There was an editorial titled "Obama: No JFK," by a snake named Jonah Goldberg. He became a right-wing darling when his mother helped fuel the fire of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. (she is the snake who convinced Linda Tripp to record her conversations with Monica).

Goldberg is the editor-at-large of the National Review online. He recently published a book titled "Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning." The book reportedly had a "working title" than compared Senator Hillary Clinton to Mussolini. He is a peddler of lies and hatred, and the editorial in today’s paper ranks with the most obscene things I’ve read.

Goldberg is not satisfied to discuss the issues involved in the democratic primary – he would have nothing of value to add – and so spews hatred towards the democratic party at large. He attacks the journalists who have commented favorably on Obama; insults Ted Kennedy and Ted Sorensen; and condemns Barack Obama for the sin of being more liberal than Hillary Clinton.

That alone would merely reinforce the image of Jonah as a neoconservative lap dog – a yappy little poodle barking at the image of a lion on a television screen. But he is far worse than that: Jonah lies about the nature of the Kennedy administration, attempting to reinvent JFK as a conservative hawk, while completely ignoring the reality of President Kennedy’s message of hope. Should anyone question where Kennedy stood on issues, they should read the transcript of the address he delivered at American University in June of 1963 (and compare it to Senator Obama’s message).

Jonah appeals to the darker side of human nature when he focuses attention on Lee Harvey Oswald, who he incorrectly claims was a Marxist representative of the American left. Why would anyone who is focusing on the campaign of Barack Obama today include information on LHO in their editorial? He is a snake. He is more of a hate-monger than Louis Farrakhan, though he lacks Farrakhan’s communication skills.

But the message is the same.

No matter if a citizen of this country is a democrat, and supports either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton; or if they are a republican, stuck with the choice between John McCain or Willard Romney; or is an independent or a member of another party, they should reject the poison that snakes like Jonah Goldberg are attempting to inject into the election. And the media should not promote the hate speech with its not-so-subtle calls to the diseased aspects of our society.

[NYCGirl]

1. Good post. But I think Jonah Goldberg is lower than a snake. A slug maybe? NT

[H2O Man]

2. He is a hateful

person. He should not be given space in newspapers to spread his hate. Comparing Hillary Clinton to Mussalini is gross. It is unacceptable. His article today has similarly unacceptable rantings against Obama. Hatred distorts people's minds, and he is as sick as Farrakhan. That type of message should not be allowed in a mainstream newspaper.

[TexasObserver]

20. Good call. On behalf of lizards, I stand with you in unity.

Jonah and his mother are two of the slimiest slugs on the planet.

[MADem]

3. Some putzes here actually quote TNR when it suits their purposes.

I'd worry about my ass if that were all I had to wipe it with after taking a massive crap. It's that hideous, that publication.

I always ask "Shattered GLASS, anyone?" when someone quotes that rag. They're the outfit that hired that punk Stephen Glass kid who MADE SHIT UP ... and no one fact-checked his bullshit. His story of deceit was turned into a film....

If it sounds good, print it--that's TNR for you.

[H2O Man]

5. I do not think

there is any reason to publish the rantings of Goldberg or an Ann Coulter, any more than an op-ed by David Duke or any other diseased mind. There aren't similar writers for the progressive or liberal side -- because our side does not advocate hatred and violence. People like Jonah realize that there are other people about to take control of the executive branch, and the neoconservative policies will be on the outside. That has upset him.

[MADem]

6. I think the fat little bastard realizes that the free ride is over!

He and his mean ass mama have been riding Monica's blowjob for all these years, and that old horse is about to collapse and die. He knows it, and he'll display that vindictive streak that's in his sordid and treacherous DNA.

[H2O Man]

9. Yes.

They will attack which ever candidate we nominate, spew the ugliest of lies, and have the media pretend that they represent a responsible point of view. They seek to benefit from brewing hatred, and they will not only direct it at our candidates, they will attempt to divide us with that poison.

[NYCGirl]

8. BTW, this is not directed at you, but tnr.com is "The New Republic".

The National Review's site is nationalreview — NRO. I've seen some confusion here.

[H2O Man]

10. Thank you.

I'm admittedly unfamiliar with their site.

[NYCGirl]

12. I only remember this because I was about to scream at someone who posted

an article from tnr.com — until I clicked through and realized it was a Democratic site! (Not that there haven't been times when I've made a fool of myself.)

:hi:

[H2O Man]

13. I expect to

make a fool of myself at least once per day. My children would not think the day was complete, otherwise.

[Blue_Roses]

24. lol!

I love that! I need that in a T-shirt.:rofl:

[MADem]

14. I stand corrected, but they're both putz outfits! nt

[ClericJohnPreston]

4. For once

we agree. There is no place for a Jonah Goldberg, discredited time after time. He does serve a purpose for liberals though, to identify the enemy of reason.

I only agree with the premise that there is no similarity between JFK and Obama. But, for all the right reasons, not Neocon arguments. The greatest difference is that JFK's dreams came with a price tag attached: Sacrifice and work.

"Ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country".

No such price tag has been attached by Obama.

[milkyway]

23. Simply not true. He just used the word "sacrifice" a minute ago in St. Louis (live on Cspan).

"The Amerian people are decent people willing to sacrifice for future generations."

He called for "serious sacrifice" in this post he made at dailyKos.com two years ago.

<snip>
Beyond that, by applying such tests, we are hamstringing our ability to build a majority. We won't be able to transform the country with such a polarized electorate. Because the truth of the matter is this: Most of the issues this country faces are hard. They require tough choices, and they require sacrifice. The Bush Administration and the Republican Congress may have made the problems worse, but they won't go away after President Bush is gone. Unless we are open to new ideas, and not just new packaging, we won't change enough hearts and minds to initiate a serious energy or fiscal policy that calls for serious sacrifice. We won't have the popular support to craft a foreign policy that meets the challenges of globalization or terrorism while avoiding isolationism and protecting civil liberties. We certainly won't have a mandate to overhaul a health care policy that overcomes all the entrenched interests that are the legacy of a jerry-rigged health care system. And we won't have the broad political support, or the effective strategies, required to lift large numbers of our fellow citizens out of numbing poverty.
<snip>

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/30/102745/165/500/153069

Michelle Obama gave a speech on Thursday (shown today on Cspan) in which she spoke extensively about the call for sacrifice, referring directly to JFK as you just did.

[rosesaylavee]

7. I have mentioned this before here

but I have had the misfortune to have had to work with him on a project just as the Lewinksi scandal unfolded. I am quite sure that he was probably he who helped Tripp record Monica. I was amazed at his level of egotistical naivete then and the many many times that year he had to postpone what we were working on because he had yet again been asked to be on Larry King or some other television talkshow. I finally just told him that we were not going to agree on the Clinton scandal and that we should move forward on our project without any political discussion whatsoever. I remember standing in an elevator with him and him going on about being on Larry King and how much he was going to be paid just for talking with him. He was absolutely thrilled that the Larry Kings of the world wanted to hear what he wanted to say about his mother and the Clintons.

A brush with 'fame' I could have done without. Without his mommy and the nasty plot they came up wtih to ensnare a President, he would still be a small-time, mediocre video producer.

[H2O Man]

11. It is interesting,

in a strange way, to see what it is that germinates the seeds of hatred. I'm thinking it was a brush with something besides "fame." Yikes!

[rosesaylavee]

25. He is not a smart person.

Not a bright person at all. But at this time in our history, someone with so little talent and a whole lot of hate can create quite the lucrative career. I hope someday to see this trend reversed.

[H2O Man]

27. The moral decay

of our society is found in the fact that a person need not be "good" to be considered a success. We have politicians, celebrities, journalists and judges, for example, who are petty, mean, dishonest, lying snakes, but who hold positions of power in our country. Their vicious and hateful natures are not viewed as shameful, but rather as mere quirks that society must endure. The fact that Jonah's opinions are printed in newspapers is sad, indeed; they belong only in the literature of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which expose hate speech.

[rusty quoin]

15. Chris Kelly quote at Huffington Post.

I guess Jonah Goldberg is supposed to be a fun guy -- you don't grow up in a whorehouse without learning to play at least a little piano

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/jonah-goldberg-to-base-u_b_81828.html

[H2O Man]

21. Very good.

Thank you.

[Olney Blue]

16. We have to fight off these attacks every step of the way.

Thanks for the post.

[H2O Man]

28. Right.

We can not allow the unacceptable to pass for acceptable, and hold out hope that we can heal the damage that hateful people have caused -- and continue to cause.

[rufus dog]

17. The LA Times publishes his column

I read each one until I find a misrepresentation or outright lie. Never get past the third paragraph.

[H2O Man]

29. I can't believe

that he believes his own lies.

[Yael]

18. His segment with Jon Stewart was so bad

and had to be cut so severely that Steward quipped, "is there going to be enough left to air?".

That was hilarious.

As usual, Jon made mincemeat out of the little weasel.

[cali]

19. He's a fucking idiot.

Yes, he's a poisonous idiot. But I can't take the moron seriously. He actually claimed that the organic food movement is fascist in nature.

[bleever]

22. He's the mud

in the glass of water.

Stirring up confusion and peddling hate. It appears to pay really well.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

26. I couldn't agree more.

K & R