No Apologies Accepted: Beating Bush is never having to say you´re sorry.

[struggle4progress]

In a recent letter to a university journal, a self-described "young conservative" took umbrage with those who'd question his commitment to the environment. He moaned, "Environmental protection has unfortunately become wrapped up with a liberal agenda in this country." He said this made him feel "very, very uncomfortable."
<snip>

Hell's bells, boy, you whine more than George Will with a Chardonnay hangover! Nobody has to apologize to you, nor do they have to walk on eggshells to placate your feelings. We're talking about the environment here, we're talking about issues that an overwhelming number of Americans -- not just so-called "liberals," whatever they are -- feel strongly about, we're talking about threats to the public health and the well-being of our children. And your poster boy, GWB, doesn't believe in global warming or climate change -- accepted as fact by all but the lunatic fringe -- and he's gutted 30 years of bipartisan progress on the environment. This is one area on which you do not get to dictate dress code. Any discomfort you feel is best aimed elsewhere. Start by looking in the mirror.

Everywhere you turn these days, you see this plaint from the right for a return to civility. They want those of us who've been the recipient of their lash, who've received threats for things we've said or written, who've watched them destroy all that we hold dear, to "make nice," as New York Mayor Bloomberg has requested of his city's residents during the Republican Convention in August. Never mind that their agenda has a headlock on America now and is running roughshod across the planet, killing, maiming, burning, looting, decimating, gouging, stripmining and, for good measure, sodomizing people with broom handles. Never mind that they have loosed this this blood-dimmed tide upon us with glee, relish and large doses of bullying and fear-mongering.

They realize now that their little man with the big cowboy hat is, in the words of Rep. Nancy Pelosi -- one of the few Democrats with fighting spirit -- "so gone," that he may indeed be the war criminal others say he is, and that his administration is composed of war profiteers and marginally sane end-timers. Just look at recent columns by Thomas Friedman, David Brooks, Andrew Sullivan, Bill O'Reilly, and George Will, all of whom have turned down the volume of their saber rattling and are asking us to believe that they were taken in by Bush. (Only seriously unhinged people like Ann Coulter, who recently disgraced herself, and the Connecticut Forum, keep tweaking the knob past 11). These veterans of power politics, these swimmers in political sewage, these traders in cant and lies, these amoral apologists for the most destructive gang of thieves in American history, now want to apologize? Please.
<snip>
http://hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:67244

[benburch]

1. Great piece!

Thanks for posting that!

[leftistagitator]

2. I find the call for civility coming from the Right absolutely maddening!

We've sat for years and watched as they attacked President Clinton, called him a rapist, a serial killer, a drug kingpin, and a communist, and this from mainstream rethuglicans. We sat while they openly wished for the Kosovo War to fail, and listened as they mused that not enough American soldiers were being killed. We watched as they spent millions of tax payer dollars investigating every shadowy delusion of possible crimes of our President and found nothing.

Then they're boy was elected. Well, perhaps "elected" is too strong a word, in any case he became the "president". We were told to shut up and forget about it, and unfortunately we did. Then 9/11 happened, and for the next 2 years after that any criticism of the "president", no matter how mild and carefully framed, was characterized as either treasonous or at least helpful to America's enemies. We watched launch a war, for reasons I still don't understand because none of the stated ones make sense, against a country that had never done anything to us. No connection to Bin Laden, no WMD, no people grateful to live under the yoke of American rule. And most of this we knew about before the War, and America would have known too, if not for the same right wing sources that now ask for peace. I still remember the things Orielly and Hannity and Limbaugh said about the protesters, that they were traitors, morons, loony, pro-Saddam. I remember Cavotu pointing his finger at the camera and saying "To the protesters watching my show right now, I want you to know that you disgust me." And now that we are proven right they want a return to civility. They want civil discourse. They've learned no lesson, payed no price, and yet think they deserve forgiveness for what they've done. Well, they won't get it from me. If they want to do a Brock and renounce their old beliefs and join the fight for justice, then I will forgive them. Phony Mae Culpa's don't mean anything to me.

[HamdenRice]

3. The Daily Show: The facts are biased

This drives me bonkers too! And I was watching George Will Jr. -- that insufferable prick Tucker Carlson -- whining about Kerry going negative.

The Daily Show a couple of weeks ago hit the nail on the head when they did a piece about media bias and their loopy correspondent (the bald one) said, the problem is that "the facts are now biased" against Bush. All you have to do is list what Bush has done and the result is a negative picture. So to be fair and balanced, journalists must not talk about the facts!

[cap]

4. people who are hurting aren't civil...

people who have lost their homes... CA high school grads who can't get into college... people who've lost their life savings and jobs...

Why should they be civil?