Peevish

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?

In the C-SPAN interview, Bush expressed doubts that TV oversight is a governmental, rather than a familial, job. "As a free-speech advocate, I've often told parents who were complaining about content, 'You're the first line of responsibility. They put an off button on the TV for a reason.' "

Holy Cow! I actually agree with him about something! I wonder if I have to turn in my liberal card now. Perhaps not, as my Dad (another big liberal) always said "Censorship, like charity, begins in the home - now turn that crap off!"

Perhaps my friend Dave will see this quote and get off the collective backs of the "lefties" and realize that free speech is important to everyone. So says his President, after all. Be sure to check out his post about the value of free speech to the left and drop him a line about it. He loves comments.

12 Comments:

  • Bush was right...? Well, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Lets see if he can keep up the tough talk once his "we-want-big-government-in-your-business" red state base finds out about it.

    - Lefty

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 10:54 AM  

  • Did you mean to say "My crybaby anecdotes about right wing victimhood are interminable, I'm afraid."

    Was that it?

    Because that would be both true and honest. I've seen your blog.

    - Lefty

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 12:12 PM  

  • If ever a nonsensical post ever demanded to be ignored, it is your crazy double post.

    I mean...(?) What is this? "However, it *is* quite the catharthis making you and yours out to be the cretinous hypocrites that you are! :-)" huh ?

    Maybe you can take another run at it after you collect your thoughts.

    Let me point you in the right direction. Bush says, "(parents are) the first line of responsibility." when it comes to protecting kids from objectionable TV. Bronwen du Hadaway and I agree. Do you agree? I still don't know.

    Because you go on some tiresome rant about your volumes of indiginities visted on the poor down trodden conservative students trapped in liberal colleges. Does anything not merit a tiresome rant about poor downtrodden conservative college students with you?

    Now try again. Do you agree with Mr. Bush, Ms. du Hadaway, and Mr. Lefty?

    - Lefty

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 2:15 PM  

  • Just to clarify, Lefty: I was commenting on one of Dave's posts in particular, and left some pretty strongly-worded comments (for me, at least). Dave & I don't usually engage in any ideological debates (best for our friendship that way), and Dave brought that here, as I had posted a link to his site about it. And tacitly invited others to give him Hell. For that, I apologize, Dave.

    However, it always annoys me to be lumped in with the lefties that you write about, Dave, as you always pick the most radical ones and then write about them as though they were typical liberals. They're not. Just as I'm not a cretinous hypocrite.

    Anyhoo - I'm not a political pundit. There are many out there that are more knowledgeable than I am. So I'll go back to the stuff I'm good at, namely cookie recipes, and leave the politics to them.

    By Blogger Peevish McSnark, At 2:31 PM  

  • Bron -

    Sorry about using your turf for a spitting match.

    Yours,

    Lefty

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 2:34 PM  

  • Oh, feel free! I know that in his heart of hearts, Dave enjoys a good debate, as do I. I was just taking myself out of it. Carry on, though!

    By Blogger Peevish McSnark, At 2:37 PM  

  • Okay, but I need a milk and cookie break.

    Lefty

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 3:28 PM  

  • the reason dave's comments don't make sense is because he's attacking a straw man. obviously, some people on the left are anti-free speech. some people on the right are too. but that doesn't mean that all lefties are anti-free speech. these are not "teams" we belong to. we are not responsible for every nut job out there who calls him or herself liberal unless we endorse their beliefs, just as dave is not responsible whatever anne coulter says.

    the irony i see running thoughout dave's site is all the time he spends decrying examples of liberals comparing republicans to hitler when he is committing exactly the same crime of overgeneralization in his post on liberals and free speech. for example he implies that the mere existence of critical race theory makes ward churchill a hypocrat even though churchill himself is not an advocate of CRT. as a result, this particular "gotcha" moment falls pretty flat.

    personally, i think any argument that depends on an overgeneralization is inherently weak and counterproductive. when someone claims that i am anti-speech because i am liberal, just because some other person out there somewhere calls himself liberal and is against free speech, i can easily dismiss that person as ignorant of my real beliefs. if you really want to convince people that you are right, and not just come across as an angry loon, you need to address what they actually believe.

    By Blogger upyernoz, At 4:34 PM  

  • upyernoz -

    What a breath of fresh air. Thanks for that.

    -Lefty

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 9:05 PM  

  • Bron -

    I'm off to Paris to celebrate St. Valentines day (the secular version of course) with my wife and plot the overthrow of capitalism through the use of the American university system. (Insert diabolical laughter here)

    Keep the blog-fires burning.

    Au revoir for now !

    -Lefty


    PS. Dave, Paris is in France.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 9:29 AM  

  • i disagree that critical race theory is a theory "held by many in the academic left." it's actually an obscure offshoot of critical legal theory (a school that criticizes the existing legal system for reasons that are too complex to go into here), and almost completely unknown outside of law schools and africana studies departments.

    at least that's my impression. i only heard of the theory because i took a class called "non-traditional perspectives" in my last year of law school because i was sick of all the dry courses about contracts and mergers.

    please do call me if you feel i overgeneralize. i try not to and will publish a correction if i think you have a point.

    actually, i have criticized other liberal bloggers in their comments about overgeneralizing. never kos. i don't generally comment there. i've actually been a guest poster at atrios (but only because i know duncan black in real life and he asked me to sub for him when he went on vacation last november). aside from what the handful of posts that i have written over at atrios' site, i don't see why i would be responsible for any over-generalizations there for the same reasons i stated above in my first comment

    and finally dave, don't you see the irony of this:

    I've been e-mailed and have received comments that since many of my posts are of an "anti-liberal, pro-conservative" stripe, I am pro-Iraq war, pro-life, anti-gay marriage, etc. etc. etc.

    All of which are false.Who's "overgeneralizing" again?
    why you are. otherwise why would i be responsible for what some wack-job sends you by email? (provided that wack-job is not me) just because i'm liberal does not mean i am responsible for everything anyone who calls themselves liberal says or does.

    By Blogger upyernoz, At 2:42 PM  

  • Holy Shit, Mr. Huber's a Republican?!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 2:56 PM  

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