Aug 28 2008
Good ol’ American Pundicks…
I love watching how American conservatives distort reality so much. There are literally thousands of examples to choose, but I’m taking this one. Forget about what you think about infidelity. Just take a look at the conservatives’ argument here–which you may agree with–and then see how they become all flustered when confronted with reality.
Now, the fact is that this is not a simple black and white issue without extenuating circumstances. However, just watch the conservatives’ tactics, childish behaviours, and inability to produce cogent, coherent arguments (although Hannity almost comes close at the very end–too bad he had to resort to the idiot school-boy taunting, which ruins his credibility).
Hahaha, “AFTER 5 1/2 YEARS IN A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP!! AFTER 5 1/2 YEARS!!” These guys can offer a post hoc rationalization for anything. Really, if there’s anything political pundits (or most politicians themselves) can teach us, it’s that you can perpetually keep yourself from looking like a hypocrite in the eyes of the undiscerning viewer by citing a completely extraneous piece of evidence whenever somebody points out a counterexample to your argument.
Speaking of McCain’s infidelity, I was actually surprised at how quickly that story about him having an affair with a lobbyist was made to disappear back in February. It was as if the entire media just said “This is a smear; let’s plug our ears and pretend it doesn’t exist! And while we’re at it, let’s fire the people responsible for it!” OK, yes, obviously it was an opportune smear, but what the hell does that tell us about its veracity? I’m inclined to think he really did sleep with that woman, and the paper trail is available to suggest that he offered special favors to the firm she was representing… and yet the story has become virtually unmentionable. At the time that it surfaced, I think I was actually hoping, in my naive, schoolboy way, that it might allow Ron Paul to make an inroad in the primaries (yeah, I know). But now that he’s the nominee, I at least hope that it comes back to haunt him in the election. Maybe it’ll help turn the ~5% margin that he’s already going to lose by into a ~10% margin. Then again, he might take that dive on his own when, after watching the debates, people realize that he’s mentally retarded.
Good observations, Steve. But I’m not so sure about McCain’s defeat. I’ve been bang-on in my predictions re. American and Canadian elections at various levels of government for the past many years, and I’ve got this really uncomfortable feeling in my gut that America might do the unthinkable and vote against Obama. There are several factors involved, including the Democrats’ amazing ability to allow the Republicans to lie their asses off without challenging them (until it’s too late).
Also, apparently tens if not hundreds of millions of Americans are stupid/ignorant enough to have fallen for that whole “Democrats = evil, mock-worthy, money-wasting elitists” image, despite the fact that such a description epitomizes the power-brokers of the Republican party, including their very president.
In any event, one of the best examples of what you describe re. how to avoid looking like a hypocrite is that evil Ann Coulter, who not only tries to avoid looking like a hypocrite but also distracts people from the extremely false, disgusting, hateful shit she spews every other sentence. Here’s one of my previous posts on that Hideous Argument for Birth Control:
http://rationalradical.com/2008/07/04/why-ann-coulter-is-so-horrible/
Of course, the master of all this is one of the most cowardly, despicable men in the US, Bill O’Reilly. Youtube is full of clips proving his ignorance, lies and hypocrisy. Here’s just one of many clips to choose from. Look how he disrespects a 9-year military vet who’s only trying to protect his colleagues and get them the help/support they need. O’Reilly has the gall to try to position himself as some brave hero/defender and this vet as a coward who’s disloyal to his own military.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGAibec9JsA&feature=related