Brought forward from April 2006. One of the themes that I encountered in my own work is the need to give proof to the idea that the media was biased, and that all the Supposed Good People of the world, such as the liberals I worked with every day were actually vicious and biased. The National Review had always said so, Rush had made his early career out of humorously cataloguing what the Three Chosen Networks, plus the supposed "news" magazines and newspapers were saying that was patently obviously biased, and I had been in email argument since 1998 with my uncle and brother, both of whom denied that the media and the college professors, and the book publishers were any such things. And of course, I reprinted the CS Lewis quote from That Hideous Strength, about the people who read the "high-brown weeklies" frequently. There was a site called "Oh That Liberal Media," and I had years of ongoing frustration dealing with people in the church who were sure that it was the Religious Right that was mixing Christianity and politics, while they were just "objectively" applying the Scriptures to their social beliefs in obvious Jesus-centered ways, and there was not real Religious Left.
Nowadays some have become rather forced to admit it*, though their are holdout groups who still look at you in innocent amazement and insist that the seminaries, headquarters, main charities, and publishing houses of the major denominations aren't liberal.
*They retreat to "Well of course everyone has a perspective and that results in some bias, but..." As if gradations only mattered when it applies to others, and their group is just about up to the approach-to-the-speed-of-light barrier as they can reasonably be expected to get, rather than the worst offenders in the room.
*********
In my adventures trying to find a sensible liberal blog, where issues are discussed, even if not always politely (Ed: Not like you, huh?), I was accused of making this one up. My point in the discussion was that hate speech and incitement to violence were more prevalent on the left, having penetrated from the leftist fringe to the average Democrat (the owner of the car with this sticker has a Master's degree and is a socially graceful coworker). The equivalent on the Right, those with the "I Don't Brake For Liberals" stickers remain on the fringe.
Actually, it's not a bad site, and I will write up my adventure, and a lesson learned, soon. For now, here's the bumper sticker that doesn't exist. Imagine zipping in the name "Jesse Jackson" or "Hillary Clinton," if you still think it's just lighthearted humor.
Hate Speech?
6 comments:
Wow....yeah that is not a nice bumper sticker at all!
OMG... I drive a Subaru Baja too... same gray also.... Ahhh, but an entirely different political philosophy. Besides, I live in Texas!
http://www.break.com/index/bush9.html
Love him or hate him, these are pretty funny. I always like it when the president quotes songs from the who.
Where's your sense of metaphor? You seem to be quick to use the word "hate." Feeling a little touchy lately?
I'm sure the person who has this sticker, and 99% of the people who own a similar one, think it is funny because no one would ever suspect them of real incitement to violence. My point is that when the roles are reversed - as in the examples of my last paragraph - those same people believe some horrible and frightening force is loose in the republic, and that real violence is being suggested.
Point of comparison: the vicious sentiments put forth on the liberal blogs whenever a member of the current administration, such as Dick Cheney, has a medical problem, versus the great warmth and kindness expressed for Elizabeth Edwards on the right blogosphere lately. Don't see it? Doesn't change the fact.
Ideology is like body odor insofar as no one smells his own. I work in a very liberal milieu and recognize liberalism in simple inflections of speech or connotations of gestures. "Virtue signaling" is intentional display of a shibboleth of a group one identifies with, but we cannot help but to signal our allegiances with shibboleths. Changing the topic of a conversation gives one away, as does insufficient rage or merriment over some story. Humans are pretty good liars, but they are not very good hypocrites. Their true colors are almost always pretty obvious to anyone who does not share those colors.
I would not say that liberals surpass conservatives in the use of offensive words and images, only that in doing so they violate their own rules.. It is a completely liberal thing to faint, or sheik, or call the cops at the sight of a noose. Only liberals say that use of the symbol of a noose indicates an intention to actually lynch people. Rudeness is especially remarkable in a person who makes a very loud profession of kindness.
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