Posted on 05/19/2005 5:12:42 PM PDT by Chris_Shugart
Nowadays, up-to-date and happening progressives no longer rely on discussion and debate to further their cause. In today's world of liberal politics, thoughtful discourse has become inconvenient. Formulating reasonable arguments can be complex and require annoying things like research, facts, and the coherent articulation of ideas. Why waste time trying to create intelligent rebuttals when you can counter your opponent by just throwing food at them?
Malcontented liberals like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have become so yesterday. Their anti-Bush griping is moldier than John Kerry's campaign victory cake. These days, even Michael Moore and Al Franken are about as cutting edge as a Lawrence Welk polka party. They've been upstaged by a zany new style of political rhetoric that has all of the incisiveness of a Three Stooges free-for-all.
In March, within the span of about a week, Ann Coulter, David Horowitz, and William Kristol were all on the receiving end of this peculiar new left wing rhetoric. To be specific, they were all hit with pies by angry leftists while each was appearing at different speaking engagements. In another incident, Pat Buchanan was hit with salad dressing.
We're now seeing the emergence of a new breed of frustrated leftists who no longer take their cue from Democratic strategists like Susan Estrich, James Carville, or Howard Dean. Instead, these innovative radicals have developed a new tactic that falls somewhere between Soupy Sales and Bluto Blutarsky. It may not be as astute and demonstrative as political dialog, but it is messy. And we know how messy politics can get.
Rather than promote political ideas and legislative agendas, the modern liberal rhetorician of today no longer bothers with the mundane details of making rational arguments. The issue is no longer Social Security versus private retirement accounts. It's custard or chocolate cream. Homeland security is no longer about the Patriot Act versus civil rights. It's about ranch or thousand island. Apparently the theory is if you mess up a conservative's clothes, you've somehow taken the starch out of their arguments. Well, at the very least, you've added to their dry cleaning bill.
Horowitz hasn't taken these assaults so lightly. He believes it's an indication of "a wave of violence on college campuses, committed by what I'd call fascists opposing conservatives." Buchanan's comments weren't quite so strident after his confrontation. He seemed to think there was a "sort of a monkey-see, monkey-do aspect" to these recent attacks against conservatives. But Horowitz cautioned, "It's one step from that to injury."
Predictably, the MSM has tried to shrug off the attacks as little more than amusing hi-jinks by innocent pranksters. With lead lines like, "A Dressing-Down For Pat Buchanan" (CBS), and "What's a little pie in the face? (NPR) no one should expect much honest scrutiny from them. However, the Washington Times properly admonished its peers for their failure to take the attacks seriously. "The media should highlight these cases not as the jokes they are perhaps intended to be, but as unacceptable perversions of the First Amendment."
Whether you prefer to call the attacks poor attempts at humor, or see them as a sign of potential danger, there is some political significance that can be distilled from all of this. If there's actually any humor to be derived from these antics, the joke is on the politically impotent food flinging liberals. Just when you think that left wingers couldn't possibly be more ridiculous, they destroy their already flimsy credibility by transforming their rhetoric into low-browed slapstick.
On the other hand, if you happen to be one of those pathetic leftists desperate for attention, perhaps there's an up side. From now on, any time you get the urge to promote your progressive agenda, your task is now as easy as a trip to your local grocery store. But someone please tell Bluto to go easy on the mayo. It leaves a greasy stain.
MSM if its soft ie. pie it a joke. If it hard ie. brick what will they call it? If its they what is it??
Personally I'd shoot the sumbitch, but that's probably why I'm not a celebrity.
The pie in the face is an old leftist tactic. Someone shoved one in the face of a woman in the 1970s because she spoke out against homosexuality.
They all got outraged when someone spit tobacco juice on Hanoi Jane recently.
I thought you where suppose to spit tobacco juice in the cats eyes to make them go away.
It's a small step from throwing pies to criticizing judges. Oh, the horror!
The Vietnam Vet who spit on Jane Fonda as she was signing her new book was the topic of debate in the news this week - should he have done it? Everyone said no, and I agree. However, I understand the anger behind it.Many of our troops experienced the same thing when they came home from the war. Just last year my husband, Duane, who is a decorated Vietnam Vet, was speaking to a group about the war in Iraq as compared to the Vietnam war and one man shared during the Q & A that he was one of the soldiers who had been spit on by Americans when he got home. As Duane expressed his sorrow and understanding, the man wept. Needless to say, you could hear a pin drop in the crowd. Everyone got it.
I don't think Jane Fonda gets it. I know she said she's sorry recently for some of the things she did, but she didn't apologize to Vietnam Vets, especially the POWs who suffered longer as a result of her anti- war activities. She says she still hasn't changed her view of that war.
[Jane Fonda] Spitter Taps Into Vein of Deep Emotion (KC Star ^ | 4/21/05 | Rick Montgomery)
Fonda Spitter Explains Reasons for Attack (WENN ^ | 4/21/05 )
Phyllis Schlafly mentioned the recent pie-throwing incidents during her remarks at the dinner in support of Tom DeLay that was on C-SPAN a few nights ago. Apparently she was hit with an apple pie, because she is seen as standing for motherhood and apple pie. She predicted that DeLay would be hit with a blackberry pie.
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