What is this "both sides" BS?

[Atticus]

I just listened to Rand Paul use that pair of words many times in the space of a minute or so while commenting on the assault and battery of a 23 year old female MoveOn.org supporter by one of his campaign staff last evening.

Widely shown video shows this snarling Teabagger stomping on the head of this young woman after others had pulled her to the pavement. Her offense? She held a sign which correctly tied Mr. Paul and his party to Corporate America. Nearly everyone in the video is wearing a Rand Paul tee shirt or holding a Rand Paul campaign sign. The only person being stomped or assaulted in any way is the lone peaceful opponent of Rand Paul.

So, why are these prepared statements about how "both sides" should cool it allowed to be repeated endlessly without at least one journalist interrupting to ask "Where is the video of a liberal stomping a Teabagger?"

We have seen a persistent reporter illegally detained and "arrested" by Mr. Miller's paid goons in Alaska.

We have heard Stephen Broden, GOP congressional candidate from Texas, assure everyone that violent overthrow of our government is "on the table" if this election doesn't go the way all right-thinking Christians know it should.

We have listened, open-mouthed, as Sharon Angle spoke of "Second Amendment remedies" and resorting to the "bullet box" if the ballot box didn't produce the appropriate Tea Party approved results.

I'm sure there have been incidents of Democrats or liberals doing or saying things that would make most of us wince, but,ladies, gentlemen and Teabaggers: there simply is no comparison and anyone who says differently is a lying son-of-a-bitch. That most certainly includes Rand Paul, Rush Limbaugh and any other media darling who spews this noxious propaganda.

The plain unvarnished truth is that violence has been condoned and encouraged by the Tea Party and their captives in the GOP for most of this campaign. What was previously over-the-top and transparently ignorant aberration has become this season's "Yeah---so what?" This was totally predictable.

You cannot characterize your political opponents as the Anti-Christ, as enemies of our democracy, our cherished traditions, our very nation and then profess alarm and shock when some of your disciples decide to "do whatever is necessary" to rid our country of this terrible "enemy within".

Those who applauded when scowling Teabaggers openly carried guns to political rallies; those who encouraged and laughed at the racist signs and rhetoric; those who repeated or condoned the slanders about muslims and Kenyans and birth ceritificates; those who knowingly associated with or accepted support from the haters and screamers who called for "watering the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants"; all of these participated in last night's curb-stomping of a young woman who dared to disagree with the stompers.

All these people will have blood on their hands when the stomping and shooting begin in earnest. We must never allow them to conceal it or wipe it off. We must point them out, each time we have the chance, and scream: "THIS is ignorance! THIS is bigotry! THIS is intolerance!"

And, we must never let them tell the "both sides" lie without challenging them to give comparable examples and calling them "liars" when they fail to do so.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. Oft-used RW trolling technique here too. -nt

[sufrommich]

30. Yep, it's pretty pervasive on political forums. On Fark, the

saying is "both sides are bad so vote republican"(meant sarcastically).

[elleng]

2. 'They' say outrageous things, things none of us would even think of saying,

they FABRICATE, and 'we' are somehow forced to respond. Their HUGE propaganda machine WORKS, and we are somehow screwed.

[H2O Man]

3. Right.

This was absolutely a one-sided act of violence. Had I been there, and witnessed those cowardly thugs assaulting this young lady, then they could talk about violence on both sides.

[fascisthunter]

24. .

[Raksha]

25. I wish you HAD been there, H2O Man.

We all know you were a boxer. I would have given a lot to see you deck those thugs!

[H2O Man]

26. Thank you.

This event really upsets me. I just posted an essay of some of my thoughts on it. I'm an old man now, but if those thugs did that in front of me, I'd have done a fuck of a lot of damage. I'm sorry to curse, but I am very upset by this.

[walldude]

4. Well, there was the "B" girl....

:shrug:

I actually saw a post today on You Tube saying this was just like the "B" girl thing, it was all set up but this time by the Democrats. Yes the Democrats talked Rand Paul supporters into pretending to beat up a woman, so it would make Rand Paul look bad.

I can't even grasp the insane mind that would come up with that one.

[Raksha]

28. Are you serious?

Re Yes the Democrats talked Rand Paul supporters into pretending to beat up a woman, so it would make Rand Paul look bad.

Some Repuke actually said that with a straight face?

[walldude]

31. Yup, it was actually on YouTube I think, some of the comments

over there were unbelievable.

[butterfly77]

39. Remember during the campaign ..

when Obama was running for President and the girl wrote Obama on her face and blamed the left. As time went on they found out she did it herself.

[spanone]

5. randy says 'there's passion on both sides' but there's only violence on one

your side mr paul

[soryang]

6. This is the logical fallacy that there are two sides to a crime

...like the two sides to torture "debate" championed by Alan Dershowitz and the current ruling class in Amerika.

There are two sides to wars of aggression, rendition, illegal surveillance...and stomping on someone who disagrees with your point of view.

[catzies]

19. Indeed. Logical fallacies are a staples of debate in this dysfunctional climate

Heaven forbid we give our citizens civics instruction, encourage critical thinking, and discourage illogical "arguments!"

[Bozita]

7. That belongs on DU's Homepage. Recommended with enthusiasm!

[dennis4868]

8. The media....

especially Anderson Cooper has been using the "both sides do it" meme anytime a conservative does something really bad.....Remember the Breibart edited video that got that African American federal employee fired? Well, it did not take long for Cooper to say, "well, both sides do it." WTF!

[butterfly77]

40. Don't mention him..

I have been watching him for a long while now and David Gergen through every episode it is the left's fault and the President needs to speak out EVERY DAMN TIME THEY DO SOMETHING THEY WANT THE PRES TO SPEAK OUT AND THEN,LATER THEY SAY WHY ISN'T HE WORKING ON CREATING JOBS WHEN THEY KEEP CALLING FOR HIM TO ANSWER TO ALL OF THIS NONSENSE.

[K8-EEE]

9. "Personal Responsibility" in GOP brain means "everyone does it mommy!"

I do think it's a mental condition, this so-called conservatism.

[gratuitous]

14. Yup another rugged individualist libertarian

Who can't take responsibility.

[Gold Metal Flake]

10. False equivalency. SOP for sociopaths.

Realize who they are.

[mrcheerful]

11. Don't forget how they use that screwed up video of union workers beating up the poor black

tea bagger at one of their tea bag charades that supposedly showed union workers beating down the black guy, what I remember of the incidence was the guy got shoved, the video showed up on youtube, a few days later the guy shows up in a second video in a wheelchair claiming some nonsense then he disappeared into history. But every since tea bagging nit wits say union members are more violent then tea bagging for jebus members. So that is their proof that its both sides doing violence.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[butterfly77]

41. The guy looked like..

he laid on the ground on purpose..

[kenfrequed]

43. It was selective

And it was utterly staged.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. "Both Sides" is what one says when one knows one is intellectually bankrupt.

Whenever you hear it used to bolster the other side of an argument in which you're engaged, rest assured that you've already won that argument.

[Bozita]

13. "Both Sides Do It" is a terrific substitute for real journalism.

It allows the news reader to shake his/her head in feigned utter dismay.

With authority.

That way, we know he/she is telling us the whole damned story.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. CableNooz: It just keeps giving back

This all started when they went to the cross talk staging.

Tank Yoo Boyz! Dat Wus A Spirritid Discushun But Vee Are Out Uff Time. Vee Vill Haff Yoo Bahk Verry Zoon.

. . . . fuckers.

[Joe Fields]

17. Pure thuggery, on the part of Paul supporters.

I would have lit into that asshole like a buzz saw, had I been there.

[tomp]

18. fascism rolling out right on schedule.

nothing to be surprised about.

obama the conciliator has played a role. the democratic party should be up in arms about this. they aren't and have not been.

[Raksha]

20. "Both sides" is one of the phrases I despise the most in political speech.

It's right up there with "Bipartisanship" and "Let's put this behind us."

Edited to add alternative for "Bipartisanship": "Reach across the aisle."
And alternative to "Let's put this behind us": "Looking forward."

I think everyone gets the idea.

[booley]

21. False Equivalency to Duck Responsibility

You see, if "both Sides" are doing bad stuff, if "Both sides" are to blame", if "both sides" are equally guilty" then "My Side" is less guilty.

Blame is like butter, the more you spread it, the thinner it becomes.

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. Absolutely!

[Javaman]

23. The revolution will not be televised but the push to fascism will be. nt

[felix_numinous]

27. Assault, along with all the other

illegal activities of the 'RW' are LEGAL issues, not political issues. They are hiding behind politics in order to commit crimes! This is the most important aspect of defeating them---TO GO AFTER THEM WITH THE LAWS OF THE LAND.

This rhetoric using 'both sides' along with forceful language is akin to nothing more than 'Might Makes Right', these people have been reduced to the most primitive forms of social behavior. This is yet more Neo-Orwellian language that can be decoded by applying it's opposite meaning--'both sides'= 'there is only one side'.

If professional law enforcement personnel do not handle these people, what do they expect law abiding citizens to do?

[JDPriestly]

29. K&R

First and foremost, we must stand for non-violence.

Democracy and violence are incompatible.

[DainBramaged]

32. It's the same message the nannies here puke out when they say we should play nice with them

fucking troll lurkers.

[kenfrequed]

45. Agreed

And the same people chide Grayson and other progressive politicians for having the temerity to speak out, or they complain that the progressives don't get anything done because they are unable to be bipartisan or pragmatic enough.

[Deep13]

33. Any examples of liberals physically assaulting RW activists?

'Cuz I'm not aware of any.

[sufrommich]

34. Some guy from SEIU apparently accidentally stepped

on someones foot. According to freepers, that's the exact same thing.

[SnakeEyes]

46. and the black guy in St Louis

but that's it. i don't think they can name any others

[Flora]

52. The man's name

is Kenneth Gladney.

[DirkGently]

35. Very well said. We've had enough of false equivalency.

[katty]

36. Tea Baggers LOVE headbangin & insults, they fuel their zeal with it

[veganlush]

37. you're so right

this is what has happened to the MSM too, when they report misleading ads, even if it's lobsided, they have to prtend it's both sides, because they're so afraid of being labeled "liberal". Th net result is that they are UNABLE to report the truth! It's pretty amazing if you think about it (try not too)

[butterfly77]

38. I have been saying this

since they started this shit last year. I watched after every incident when the media kept saying BOTH SIDES need to stop.

Go watch some old clips and then the asshole who wrote the book about "WINGNUTS" and watch how they kept having him on saying this about the left over and over he is a regular on cnn..

[Uncle Joe]

42. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Atticus.

[nxylas]

44. Economic royalty plotted a fascist coup when FDR was in power

And they're plotting one now (you forgot to mention the Oathkeepers or whatever they're called, those military officers who, to paraphrase The Onion, are passionate defenders of what they imagine the Consitution to be). Will we have a General Smedley Butler to save us this time around?

[Overseas]

47. K&R x 1,000. And it's done as such a regular easy lie on the corporate media.

Even heard the Tweety spout the "both sides should cut it out" crap recently. So irresponsible.

[mwb970]

48. Were all of these right-wing assholes here all along?

If so, why are they suddenly all in our face right now? I don't get it.

:shrug:

[spanone]

49. chris matthews actually addressed this today

he asked when was the last time a progressive candidate hired his own security to arrest journalists?

or when was the last time a progressive knocked down and put their foot on the head of a political opponent ?

[rucky]

50. Here was my response to the BS on Facebook yesterday:

Discussion on the Rand Paul stomping incident...

TEABAGGER: yeah i'm sure they're all just total morons like this ONE guy...you can find idiots on both sides man. how do you not know this by now? get Pelosi and the dems out PLEASE. have you gotten a job yet?

ME: There are morons like this guy, then there are the ones who kill doctors, the ones who burn mosques, the ones who shoot at cops, and plenty more who make excuses for them.

[avaistheone1]

51. "Both sides" and "scuffle" are their code words to get a pass on

their violent assault and battery on this woman.

k&r

[Chisox08]

53. By both side Rand was talking about how

She attacked the ground with her body following that up with her vicious attack on that poor man's foot with hea head. You know he threw his back out in that attack.

These people are just plain evil.