Thursday, 04 May 2006
What an adorable little girl
The Stephen Colbert kerfuffle, intrinsically uninteresting though it is, leads Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen to an excellent insight:
Why are you wasting my time with Colbert, I hear you ask. Because he is representative of what too often passes for political courage, not to mention wit, in this country. His defenders—and they are all over the blogosphere—will tell you he spoke truth to power. This is a tired phrase, as we all know, but when it was fresh and meaningful it suggested repercussions, consequences—maybe even death in some countries. When you spoke truth to power you took the distinct chance that power would smite you, toss you into a dungeon or—if you’re at work—take away your office.
But in this country, anyone can insult the president of the United States. Colbert just did it, and he will not suffer any consequence at all. He knew that going in.
This, it seems to us, explains several conceits of the Angry Left:
The notion that criticism—whether of the Dixie Chicks or of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer—amounts to censorship.
Claims by Democratic politicians that Republicans are “questioning” their “patriotism.”
Fears of incipient fascism.
What these have in common, aside from being totally fantastical, is that they all reinforce the image of the Angry Leftist as courageous dissenter. In truth, this country is so tolerant, indeed downright indulgent, of this sort of “dissent” that it affords no opportunity to be courageous.
Speak “truth to power” in America, and power will pat you on the head and say, “What an adorable little girl.” Some on the Angry Left could actually have the courage to stand up if they were faced with real consequences—but they are unlikely ever to get that chance. America’s almost boundless tolerance thus reduces them to the level of petulant children. No wonder they’re so angry.
posted on May 4, 2006 03:17 PM
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Let me see. The right didn't like the Dixie Chicks comments about being 'ashamed' of Bush, so Clear Channel pulled them off of their thousands of stations. But that's not censorship, that's just whining, right? They got anonymous death threats, but that's just ridiculous, right? No one would shoot *anyone* in America!
Oh, and Republicans NEVER question anyone's patriotism. Except for Max Cleland (morphing into bin Laden, subtle), John Kerry (purple heart band-aids, respectful) Al Gore (they claimed he was a liar but darned if he DIDN'T help create the Internet).
Fears of incipient fascism? Rubbish! Who's lying about the danger from an enemy on the other side of the planet to goad us into a war? Who's tapping my phones? Who's arresting people and droping them into forgotten, unseeable camps where they're detained without limit and possibly tortured. I don't see ANYTHING like that here in this country.
Sheesh.
Posted by: Barry Seymour at May 4, 2006 04:21 PM
Cohen joins the humor-impaired minority who do not get it. Mr. Bush is the school bully, and Colbert not only pinned a "kick me" sign on him, he did it in the middle of the pep rally in front of the whole student body. Who doesn't think that is funny?
The importance of his 20-minute scolding is reflected in the blogosphere. The right-whiners like Cohen are desperately trying to tell people who are rolling on the floor clutching their sides that they are not laughing. They are trying to tell us that we do not see what we clearly are seeing, and we do not feel what we are feling.
Oh, and there are WMD in Iraq.
But I digress. Google blogsearch indicates that some 21,000 blogs have commented on this, and as I scroll down through the results, my unofficial count is that the positive reviews outnumber the whiny-ass negatives by about 50-1. Don't believe me? Click the link and start counting.
At the same time, despite the near blackout by the media, interrupted only by hacks like Cohen telling people not to watch it because it isn't "funny," the video set download records in only a couple of days. Someone seems to be out of touch with the American people, and I don't think it's the American people.
Posted by: Repack Rider ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.retrophisch.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 5, 2006 12:16 AM
Radio stations pull them off the air for their new song and that's not censorship?!?!? It's the number 1 downloaded video for a reason. It's a great song that can't be found on the radio in a number of "red" states.
Posted by: PoliticalCritic at May 14, 2006 09:08 PM