Spinsanity: Friend or Foe?

[ilpostino]

Do you appreciate Spinsanity's efforts to keep the Left honest, as in the following piece, or do you feel that they betray the cause?

More excesses from Bush critics (8/18)
By Brendan Nyhan
In several recent cases, prominent liberal figures have resorted to rhetorical extremes and factual deception to attack conservatives and the Bush administration.

Molly Ivins, a syndicated columnist, invoked the specter of fascism with no serious justification in an August 7 column:

This is more than just, "Boy, do their policies suck." There's a creepy advance of something more menacing than bad policies.
I keep thinking of Mussolini's definition of fascism: "Fascism should more properly be called 'corporatism,' since it is the marriage of government and corporate power." When was the last time we saw this administration do something that involved standing up to some corporate special interest in favor of the great majority of the people?

Obviously, this last question is a logical absurdity. The fact that the Bush administration does not oppose corporate interests to Ivins' satisfaction is hardly proof that it bears any relation to fascism.
James Taranto of Opinion Journal's "Best of the Web Today" also pointed out that Reverend Jesse Jackson, an activist and former presidential contender, compared proponents of the California gubernatorial recall to the extremists of the French Revolution in the Chicago Sun-Times on August 12:

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

http://www.spinsanity.org/post.html?2003_08_17_archive.html#1061208318158946
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[Larkspur]

1. Spinsanity needs to take a course on "What is Fascism?"

One of the halmarks of fascism is corporate cronyism. Why isn't Ken lay in jail?

Also the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics winner said that what is going on in the US Government today is a form of looting. Bush's tax cuts have been documented as favoring the wealthy and the economy has not recoved. The stock market is rising, but that's base on a bubble propped up by fudged reports from the Treasury Department.

[reprehensor]

2. Neutral.

spinsanity is regarded as a propaganda device by the right or the left, depending on who is getting torn a new one. I don't think they support anybody's cause, except by promoting 'fair and balanced' commentary by whichever pundit they attack.

spinsanity has torn Coulter's flimsy rhetoric into tiny little digestible bits that pass more easily through the system, and for that alone they should be commended.

By posting a comment about spinsanity, you have just given them more attention.

Ignore them, and maybe they'll go away. But most gadflys don't.

[PATRICK]

3. Even the sane

can look a bit irrlevant and nitpicking when rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Little help there from fact checkers. Maybe they are missing the point? You can die while missing the point. If they are promoting sane discourse they had better emigrate fast.

Mars is receding.

[Barney Gumble]

4. Nyhan's good, Ben Fritz is a hack.

Ben Fritz's idea of research is a Forbes article.

[MarinCoUSA]

5. Fascism, It cannt happen here!

Didn't Zappa say something like that?

- don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows -

The old fascist marched around in cool brown uniforms,
our new fascist wear suits, red white and blue ties and are
frequently spitting out lies over the radio-

[Terran]

6. ilpostino

Please review DU's rules regarding posting of copyrighted material--a maximum of four paragraphs may be excerpted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html#copyright

Thanks,

Dirk - DU Moderator

[Hasaler]

7. Re: "Spinsanity: Friend or Foe?"

I personally think they are just going out of their way to seem "fair and balanced", even if they are wrong on this. The word "facist" is an inflammatory word. I don't see a problem with a columnist using the word to make a point. Honestly, they've had a pretty tough time recently finding spin on the left, that matches the spin on the right. I appreciate their efforts to make people think and challenge their own ideas. If they write something we don't agree with, at least we can submit evidence that disproves their claim. All the right has is "shut-up, shut-upTM".* (Bill O'Reilly's rebuttel to Al Franken on C-SPAN


* - BE WARNED "shut-up, shut-up" is a registered trademark of Bill O'Reilly and the FOX network. Any use of "shut-up, shut-up" without the written permision of Bill O'Reilly or the FOX network will lead to a lawsuit that may increase sales of any products you may produce or distribute.