Thursday 11 June 2009

Double Standards

When Barak Obama has strong political links with trendy leftist terrorist bombers Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrne , the left-leaning media and blogs say nothing or defend him.

When his former preacher, someone whose sermons Obama has listened to and applauded for many years says "them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me.", the Left is silent on the issue.

When David Letterman makes a mistake, and instead of talking about Sarah Palin's 18 year old daughter being raped, he refers to her 14 year old daughter, what does the National Organisation of Women, or any Feminist Organisation say about such odious sexism? Nothing. With a very few honourable exceptions, the "Progressives" are silent.

And meanwhile....

On the Right, we have Far Righters who have previously spoken glowingly about a NeoNazi's writings suddenly deciding that National Socialism is Socialism after all, and thus of the Left, when a nutcase shoots up a Holocaust Museum.

We have others on the Right who would rub salt into the wounds for someone shot on the steps of a Church.

And then there's the back-peddling when a homophobe shot up a church in Knoxville, Tennessee not that long ago.
“The future looks bleak...I’m absolutely fed up! So I thought I’d do something good for this country — kill Democrats ‘til (sic) the cops kill me.”
...
“I’d like to encourage other like-minded people to do what I’ve done... If life ain’t worth living anymore, don’t just kill yourself. Do something for your country before you go. Go kill liberals.”
And few right-wing commentators deal with the problem that conservatism has in its midst.

The cycle feeds on itself : tu quoque, until it's no longer Left vs Right so much as Sane vs Insane.

UPDATE :

I called out the National Organisation of Women, simply because I was so disappointed in a group that had before now deserved my support. It was with a sense of disillusionment. But... there's this now : National Organisation of Women Inducts David Letterman into "Hall of Shame".
The sexualization of girls and women in the media is reaching new lows these days -- it is exploitative and has a negative effect on how all women and girls are perceived and how they view themselves. Letterman also joked about what he called Palin's "slutty flight attendant look" -- yet another example of how the media love to focus on a woman politician's appearance, especially as it relates to her sexual appeal to men. Someone of Letterman's stature, who appears on what used to be known as "the Tiffany Network" (CBS), should be above wallowing in the juvenile, sexist mud that other comedians and broadcasters seem to prefer.

On that point, it's important to note that when Chelsea Clinton was 13 years old she was the target of numerous insults based on her appearance. Rush Limbaugh even referred to her as the "White House dog." NOW hopes that all the conservatives who are fired up about sexism in the media lately will join us in calling out sexism when it is directed at women who aren't professed conservatives.
Well Said. And here's one conservative who always has and always will.

7 comments:

Danielle Murray said...

You know, I just have to, Zoe. Sorry.

Now do we see any differences between shooters and Letterman?

Do we see any differences between Obama and Hitler?

Sane vs insane. Yes. I'm with you on that one.

Zoe Brain said...

Danielle - had he made the same crack about Obama's 10 year old daughter, the outcry from the Left would have reached the heavens. And the relative silence from the Right would have been deafening.

The problem is that today it's the Right-wing loons who are bombing and shooting. The Left-wing loons who did the same thing 40 years ago are hobnobbing with the Rich and Powerful.

And the enablers and fellow-travellers who are able to distance themselves from the direct violence, while encouraging it with words and money, hide behind "freedom of speech" and get no criticism except by their political opponents.

That is the problem.

RadarGrrl said...

Are you suggesting that the Right has become a feeding ground for the lunatic fringe?

This is hardly news, Zoebie!

deebee said...

Zoe's correct and is merely pointing out the obvious - that we all tend to ignore or rationalise the more egregious faults of people or causes we believe in. Rather than what we should be doing, which is calling fail on the absurdities that exist on all sides of politics. I'm an Obama fan, but it's much, much easier for me to ignore Rev Wright then Rush Limbaugh.

WV = temon, or how you may be offered tea in the Carribean.

Unknown said...

Actually Zoe,

Keith Olbberman and Rachel Maddow both criticized Wright on their shows. If Maddow and Olberman aren't the media mouthpiece of the left. I don't know who is.

A

sumptos devil s advocate said...

Zoe,

I agree. Here's another example of this:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/027427.html

Now, I'm hearing that Obama is declaring that the national emergency regarding Belarus, because Belarus is a threat to the United States, as they say, will continue.

Danielle Murray said...

Hi, Zoe.

Paul Krugman's op-ed piece in yesterday's NYT was on point.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/opinion/12krugman.html?em

The old ways are difficult to let go of, aren't they.

Like the blob, they just keep coming at you!