Hate Speech

The Valley Advocate ^ | june 5, 2003 | Alan Bisbort

[ummark]

Hate Speech Now is not the time for quiet, well-thought rhetoric

by Alan Bisbort - June 5, 2003

PETER MORLOCK ILLUSTRATION

Problem! The problem is you, Peggy Noonan.

"Let them hate me, if they only fear me."-- Caligula

"Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you." -- Matthew, Chap. 5, Verses 44

In the best of times, I would agree with John Goggin, who wrote a letter to my editor last week about my habit of "labeling" a select cadre of right-wingers "hatemongers." I had in mind, when I chose that unfortunate epithet, people like Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Matt Drudge and Peggy Noonan. Mr. Goggin's well-meaning appeal to civility caused me to rethink my words. I was forced to ask myself if I had, indeed, overstated my case.

Then I did a little poking around. It's not hard. All you have to do is switch on any talk radio show and eventually one of these self-righteous "conservatives" will be found holding court, or simply flick through the hundreds of channels on cable TV where the more telegenic are regularly featured. Or those with a stronger cast of mind can check out the bestseller list where you'll find their words immortalized between covers, or comb the editorial pages of even "moderate" newspapers and you'll find them. Of course, the quickest way is via the Internet where, like insects and centipedes under an overturned rock, their rawest opinions are on display.

Here, for example, are some random thoughts I found on the popular Free Republic, "an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web." Free Republic posted an article about legislation proposed for a Slave Memorial in Washington, D.C. Among the barrage of nasty comments were: "Paradoxically, it's why slavery was RIGHT, in some weird sense. It's a condition of our existence, and in particular, a condition of black Americans' existence." Another: "Hell, what would it look like, a body swinging from a rope!" This is just the tip of their daily iceberg.

Michael Savage is a clear-cut "hater," and his book Savage Nation has floated through the bestseller list for months, held aloft by his lighter-than-air nativism, ignorance and intolerance. Like Rush Limbaugh, Savage hides behind his pseudonymous persona (his real last name is Wiener), and his radio show is one of the most popular in the country right now. His shtick is to regularly refer to the world's poor nations as the "Turd World," and a typical retort to those who complain about his rhetoric is: "I'm more powerful than you are you little hateful nothings ... you represent nobody but the perverts that you hang around with and I'm warning you if you try to damage me any further with lies, be aware of something: that which you stoke shall come to burn you, the ashes of the fireplace will come and burn your own house down." He believes the U.S. is "being taken over by the freaks, the cripples, the perverts and the mental defectives."

Ann Coulter, Fairfield County's Own Femme Fatale, is a best-selling author and regular talking head on TV. She says:

"We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed too." And: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."

Rush Limbaugh is always reliable for one hate-bomb an hour. How about these recent tidbits? "There's only one way to get rid of nuclear weapons. Use them." Or "Why should blacks be heard? They're 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?" And so on, day in and day out, three hours a day.

Finally, I agree that including Peggy Noonan on the list was wrong. She's not a hatemonger. She's merely insane. But her loopy pronouncements are given a veneer of respectability by originating at the Wall Street Journal. And, her nonsense -- she regularly "channels" Ronald Reagan in her columns -- is used to prop up hateful policies (e.g., slashing social programs for poor kids in order to reward fat cat CEOs). If the measure of a civilized society is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, Noonan's priorities (among which is pulling the plug on public education) are the sort that inspired Charles Dickens to write novels.

See how hard it is to keep from falling into their traps and habits of mind? The sad truth is that NOBODY LISTENS TO PEOPLE WHO SPEAK QUIETLY AND RATIONALLY. The dominant discourse in this nation right now is hateful, loud and relentless. You can not, and will not, be heard if you whisper into the teeth of this idiot wind.

I dearly wish it were possible to speak quietly and carry a big rhetorical stick, Mr. Goggin. I hope we can return to such a time in our nation's life. Now is not that time.

[RAT Patrol]

I thought you already were an "evil uncle tom." ;) Surely you haven't escaped that label. LOL!

[JoeSixPack1]

You ROCK Michael,




but I ran out of right hand monitor trying to read it.. :-)

[GSWarrior]

Like Rush Limbaugh, Savage hides behind his pseudonymous persona

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Rush Limbaugh his real name?

[backhoe]

He's a classic anti-bigot bigot....

[Bullish]

F U Bisbort.

[TexasCajun]

...don't forget me!

Me too!! Me too!!

[Little Bill]

Mike, you are an Oreo like True Black Man, get real. These people don't understand the FReeper community, it isn't who you are it is how you think.

[GSWarrior]

Noonan's priorities (among which is pulling the plug on public education)

The horror....the horror.

[Vigilantcitizen]

Good work neighbor.

[Osage Orange]

You wrote:

"I wonder what they'd say if they figured out that the body on a rope quip came from a black man? ;)"

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

They would say..."You probably aren't really black."

Or....."Sure mhking....could be black. But, you know it is the internet".

Or heck...they could say....."A true black person would never say that."

These guys are so predictable.........

Best FRegards,

[Osage Orange]

You wrote:

"Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Rush Limbaugh his real name?"

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Good catch....I noticed the same thing.

Like someone would change their name to Rush Limbaugh..!!! ROFLOL!!!

FRegards,

[Eaker]

Everytime I get a bigger monitor Michael screws it for me!!

;>)

Eaker

[JoeSixPack1]

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!

*<|:-)~~

[mvpel]

I think he's taking that quote out of context too - I suspect that the underlying idea there was that we're all living as percentage-slaves to the IRS and the Federal Government. Someone from whom 100% of their labor is forcibly confiscated is not too qualitatively different from someone losing only 50% of the fruits of their labor to forcible confiscation.

[mvpel]

Here's the "swinging" post in question:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/919316/posts?page=10#10

And here's the "slavery was RIGHT" quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/919316/posts?page=10#10

[mvpel]

Missed the "past tense" there... Oops.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

"IF THEY HATE YOU .....YOU MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT".......

[ladyinred]

LOL!
It's amusing to me that when you have your usual 2 or 3 liberals on a talk show, and the one token conservative. The liberals scream and yell, won't let the conservative guest get a word in edge wise, call names like Nazi, and yet we are the hateful ones? Since when does the left speak calmly and rationally about anything?

[ummark]

Thanks! The only way to confront ignorance is with information.

[honeygrl]

The quotes did come from the thread but one of them (the rope one) was from mhking who is a black man himself. I guess the author thinks that all black conservatives are racist against black people as well.