BOTH SIDES DO IT... really?

[nadinbrzezinski]

Ok so let me ask this... appart of one radio show host on the left who could be said to have used that language how many can you think off? (Yes Malloy has at times used the language that might be construed as that level, but 'xcuse me, Beck, Savage, et al use that language all the time)

Have I seen I don't know, a lefty use a graphic such as the one Sarah Pac used? Ok so perhaps Grayson was "over the top" by calling his opponent Talbian Dan, and that is the closest from an elected official to this level of anger.

So please... tell me, how the hell do they get away with this false equivalency crap?

[valerief]

1. $$$$$$$$$ buys the false equivalencies. nt

[Hubert Flottz]

2. Because republicans make up their own "Reality" as they blunder

along.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. I've been bitching about this all morning!

No, it's not the same rhetoric, and certainly not to the same degree.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Last I saw any really overheated rhetoric from the Left was during the '60s.

There were a few groups, like SDS and the Weather Underground, that said some fairly extreme stuff, and a few did commit acts of violence. But there was never the constant violent ranting from ostensibly "respectable" sources -- politicians, radio and TV personalities -- that we now see from the right wing. Despite all the unrest of the late '60s and early '70s, most left-wingers, including politicians and pundits, did not promote violence, and most disavowed the acts and statements of the more extreme groups like the Weather Underground.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Exactly, I think it is time we confront the media on this too

I am getting tired of this crap, because we are moving clearly towards a right wing led civil war, and the msm is enabling it.

[Roy Rolling]

43. CONFRONT!

It needs to be confronted...the very first mention of such equivalency bullshit needs to be questioned with "so tell me one example of progressive violence or progressives advocating gun solutions as Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle suggest". Then, be prepared for a long silence but do not say anything---enjoy their squirming.

[TheKentuckian]

30. Even in those cases the goal was not assassination or mass murder but heavily leaning toward

destruction of property to make political statements or an attack on a power structure.

All acts of destruction aren't created equal either.

What I don't get is the need to get off of the here and now in order to pursue an equivalency in the matters at hand.

We can go all the way back in recorded history and expand that to the archaeological record and we will still find that the overwhelming predisposition to the use of violence, especially as a first response. Its what authoritarians do.

[WinkyDink]

38. Precisely! The TRUE equivalencies, then, might be the SDS and Minutemen, NOT SDS and Sarah Palin.

Civilian to civilian.

[adnelson60087]

6. Democrats are chicken-shit and have no spines to say

what needs to be said. Thaat is, We are not advocates for guns, violence, wars, and all the other bullshit that streams constantly from the mouths of Cons.

[DCKit]

9. We don't exactly have unrestricted access to the MSM, either.

It usually helps to be permanently installed in the bully pulpit, as the Republicans have been for the past twenty+ years.

[adnelson60087]

21. Good point, but I watched Meet the Press this

morning and nearly threw something at the Tea Party guys and their ridiculous views. I just wish someone would call Bullshit.

[OHdem10]

7. The Republicans have been able to manipulate their way

to power.

Anytime they are "caught" doing anything, they get blustery
with the Media yipping the Democrats do it. Usually they
quickly move the conversation to some other aspect rather
than the point on which they have been called out.

The Media depend on Corporate Bosses to pay their checks
and these same Corporate Bosses support Republicans and their
Campaigns.

Otherwise, we have a very "slow-thinking" Media. I do not
believe this.

[Cleita]

8. Speaking of Malloy, it will be interesting to hear

what he has to say about this.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. I will be doing Rush tomorrow morning

I NEED TO KNOW what this guy will say... that is the tone of the talking points for the next week

[Odin2005]

11. We have posters here pushing that very same false equivalency BS.

It's a huge effort of MSM propaganda.

[demmiblue]

12. Yep

And they get away with their constant attacks on the left. Go figure. :shrug:

[L0oniX]

13. They are plants.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Or they have now come to believe the Ministry of Truth

I wanted to scream at the TV. At least they were good enough to mention Grayson AND Republican Campaigns, but it was ONE, vs many.

It will get uglier, that is all I can say.

[Quantess]

16. That, or they truly buy into it.

Media is a powerful influence.

[L0oniX]

32. Media is a powerful influence ...and so is Landrew.

:evilgrin:

[socialist_n_TN]

14. Yeah there are. And have you noticed...........

that it's the same "centrist" DLC group of posters? It's our own little DU right wing! :)

[Odin2005]

27. Paid Corporatist Hacks.

I think Skinner needs to investigate some of these posters.

[WinkyDink]

39. Yes, there are quislings and fifth-columnists here.

[Gregorian]

17. They get away with it because we let them. Please let me explain.

What I saw in that interview was Savannah asking the question, and Gabrielle trying to answer it. That was the mistake. Trying to answer a bad question.

I am speaking from experience. And I think this is a HUGE issue. This is far more important than it seems. I put up with a father who did this. I'm now 55, and finally recognizing how to deal with it. You throw it back at them.

The way to solve this problem is to ask Savannah if that is what she thinks.

I hope people are listening to me. This is how we do it. They ask, and we do not try to respond. That only vlidates their question, immediately. We let them try to answer it, since the questions are rhetorical in the sense that they have an agenda. And that agenda is to get us on the defensive.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. OF course and we need to get it back at them

but it needs to happen NOW.

We both know messaging is not strong.

Also this is code for... we are not bad.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

18. Examples please.

Quotes, videos, signs any thing suggesting violence...I'm waiting...:grr:

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. As I said, the closest you could come would be Malloy

when he uses the phrase, if not the ballot box, the ammo box.

As to Grayson the CLOSEST they can come is Taliban Dan adds...

Those are the CLOSEST, and if you cannot get that I am tired of this bullshit I suggest reading the OP AGAIN

[EmeraldCityGrl]

24. I'm agreeing with you! Should have used the sarcasm icon...geez

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. I guess we are all short

sorry.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

29. No problem. :)

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

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

[Broderick]

22. I stay out of the finger pointing

in the beginning best I can. Seems like tragedy like this always furthers political division and the media laps it up left and right for ratings. I don't play it. History will tell the story.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Well as far as finger pointing is concerned

eliminationist language is NOT coming from the Left, at present. The two CLOSEST examples I can come up with are simply not.

The right uses it regularly. and it is fucking time they are called on it. Or, this will continue to ratchet up.

[Odin2005]

28. Oh look, a perfect example of what I am talking about.

[Broderick]

31. deleted

I think I misread.

[dkf]

25. I have to tell you when I see posts asking why we don't riot it scares the bejesus out of me.

[hulka38]

34. Just youtube some good skull cracking.

I recommend 1968 Chicago.

[PurityOfEssence]

33. It's an old excuse, like the "bipartisanship" of the Reagan revolution

The argument comes up all the time when dealing with conservatives, and they claim that all the evils of the Reagan years were done with a Democratic Congress. It's crap; these things were done with ALL Republicans and enough crossover Dems to make the various mistakes fly.

False equivalency is a classic excuse used by offenders. Ask any criminal--the ones who will actually admit their criminality--and you'll hear bellyaching about how others comport themselves.

[Kurovski]

35. I have to say...proud "moderates" like to spout this crap about almost everything.

it's easier than figuring it out. Critical thinking is hard work.

it is also convenient as a way to tell someone to "hush", or "I don't want to talk about it."

[eridani]

36. The only thing I've ever heard Malloy say is

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate these people?" He says it pretty often, and has never onece advocated that his listeners use '2nd amendment remedies" on any of these people.

[Supersedeas]

40. According to Debbie Wasserman Schulz, Dems need to go on a retreat to learn to tone it down

Maybe, Dems should also learn how to campaign for Repukes like Debbie does.

[EstimatedProphet]

41. They get away with it because Republicans Are Better Than Everyone Else

The rules don't apply to them. This is because they have taken over the media, so they get to write the rules.

[GoCubsGo]

42. Last night CBS showed Gov. Manchin shootiing a gun.

He was shooting it at bad legislation, like the tax cuts for the wealthy. They put this and the "Taliban Dan" commercial up as the evidence that "Democrats do it, too." Never mind that Manchin was shooting at pieces of paper with words on them, and not individuals. Even their false equivalencies are false.

As to how they get away with it, it's the same old same old: They who control the media control the message.

[mod mom]

44. Krugman nails it here:

And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans. But you won’t hear jokes about shooting government officials or beheading a journalist at The Washington Post. Listen to Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly, and you will.

Of course, the likes of Mr. Beck and Mr. O’Reilly are responding to popular demand. Citizens of other democracies may marvel at the American psyche, at the way efforts by mildly liberal presidents to expand health coverage are met with cries of tyranny and talk of armed resistance. Still, that’s what happens whenever a Democrat occupies the White House, and there’s a market for anyone willing to stoke that anger.

But even if hate is what many want to hear, that doesn’t excuse those who pander to that desire. They should be shunned by all decent people.

-snip
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss