Attack of the Right-Winging Befuddled

It's not often I hear directly from the Dark Side. Its agents, I gather, tend to glue their ears mostly to talk radio, and their eyes to Bill O'Reilly, the Wall Street Journal's editorial page and the occasional right-wing blog. So it was with no small amount of surprise and delight when, upon opening an email early yesterday morning, I found this missive -- in response to my earlier praise of David Shuster's on-air destruction of Rep. Marsha Blackburn -- which I feel obliged to share with you:

[4:27AM] Have you read that your boy, David Schuster, was WRONG about the soldier that was killed in Congresswoman Blackburn's district. Turns out he wasn't from her district and his sickening game of using a soldier's death to play gotcha made him look like the next Dan Rather. You can read all about here:

[A link to "Newsbusters: Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias," was provided, which availed a blank page.]

Keep up the great work, Douschebag!

Jen

My, my, such virulence, and misspelled virulence at that. Hence, right off the bat, the lady writer offered Confirmations #1 and #2 of the Dark Side's natural tendencies: the ad hominem attack, and the failure to capture its correct presentation.

Buried within Jen's foaming outburst was also Confirmation #3. This furious right-wing rep, the poor dear, had failed to grasp the point. I was presented a dilemma. Should I note in my response that the actual name of the fallen soldier was irrelevant to Shuster's principal point, which was that Blackburn was clearly out of touch with the fallen humanity of this senseless war, but had spent a great deal of time learning the history of the New York Times' ad rates? Or should I cut my correspondent loose and let her figure it out for herself?

Being that I was presently engaged in writing another column for that day, and presuming, playfully, that my own lack of handing her a tidy explanation of the larger point would send her sputtering into further obtuseness, I opted for the latter:

Thank you, Jen, for your complete lack of comprehension regarding the point Shuster made. I love it. Keep up the great work!

PM

I demurred from returning any "douchebag" fire. Nevertheless my thoughtful omission prompted this immediate and even more unpleasant befuddlement:

[4:52AM] And what lack of comprehension is that? A repugnant ploy by Schuster to use a soldier killed in battle to score points with people like you? This woman was blindsided and the interviewer clearly had an agenda, like he always does. How do you think the soldier's family feels right now? And if I have the wrong perspective on this, why did Schuster apologize on the air last night?

I guess to expect you to post Schuster's embarassing error on your site would be too much to ask. You simply don't have the balls to do it. [At least Jen finally got my gender-needs correct.] Means to an end, right?

Needless to say, I won't be attending Schuster's class anymore. If NBC had any journalistic values, they would put him in detention.

J

I'd be more than happy, with balls still happily intact as well, to "post Schuster's [sic] embarassing [sic] error" on this site, except such a posting, of course, would be irrelevant to the issue at hand. And that, of course, is what the right seeks: irrelevancies -- the ways and means to change the topic.

Hence my final note:

Explaining the obvious to folks like you is like shooting ducks in the water, yet you're too stubbornly partisan to accept the explanations, so I won't waste my time. Figure it out yourself, if you can (and then ignore it, which you would).

So, for my part, this correspondence is at an end.

Ta-ta.

From which my correspondent concluded that my refusal to change the debate was my way to change the debate.

[5:22AM] You're one hell of a debater. Great points! Excellent retort. All clear and concise. Then again, I guess that's hard to do when you look like an assclown for telling your six readers that Schuster should be a teacher of journalism.

You'll ignore it by not posting an update on Schuster's apology on your site. That's what hacks do: Ignore, attack, only print news that fits their viewpoint, and change the debate.

Have fun living in your delusional world.

Jen 3
Phil 0

And there I had it, a touch of Confirmation #4 -- partial proof of my growing suspicion that some, most, perhaps the vast majority of right wingers are simply stupid. Their diminished capacity, I further suspect, is less a congenital defect than the result of far too many years of gluing themselves to simpleminded talk radio and assorted right-wing scribblings of overbearing oversimplification. And, naturally, attack, attack, attack.

If you, dear reader -- one of my six -- would care to elaborate on the essence of the Shuster-Blackburn episode for Ms. Jen's benefit, then be my guest and take a whack at it below. You would be graciously relieving me from speaking truth to the benighted. But I warn you ... well, just see Confirmation #s 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Comments

[CV]

don't bother trying to teach a pig to sing. it wastes your time and can annoy the pig.
reader #9

[Cervantes]

From the Commercial Appeal: (http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/did_shuster_have_it_right_update_67953.asp)

Shuster's apology may have been premature. The tiny hamlet of Bon Aqua, Tenn., is where Bohannon lived in the months immediately prior to entering the Army. The Census Bureau places his home in Blackburn's 7th Congressional District.

He lived in Bon Aqua for "close to a year" immediately prior to entering the Army, said Tonya Taylor, 35, who permitted him to stay at her house while Bohannon was dating her daughter.

Bohannon grew up, was home-schooled and was buried in McEwan, which is clearly in the 8th Congressional District of U.S. Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn. But his last legal address was in Blackburn's district.

[Lynn]

Dear Jen,
The point is that the Congresswoman didn't know the name of the last soldier killed in her district. Maybe there are so many that it's too much for her to keep up with but she did claim to care so much. If Shuster got it wrong it was Rep. Blackburn's duty to correct him which she couldn't do. Notice, I haven't included any perjorative attacks on you or the Congresswoman.

[VL]

Shuster could have destroyed Blackburn without using a dead soldier's name. Sorry, I think the wingnuts have a wee bit of a point here. I'd have preferred an unanswerable question about the Administration and its shenanigans rather than a jab based on having the proper levels of soldier sentiment.

I think the same question could have been asked of ANY other Representative (with the possible exception of Dennis Kucinich) and they would have been equally unable to name the latest casualty from their district.

If it's true that the casualty isn't from Blackburn's district, then I think the wingnuts score a point. Let them have it; Shuster has plenty of other arrows in his quiver and should learn to use less questionable ones.

[Cervantes]

Well VL, I'm not a member of Congress, but I can name the last soldier from my rep's district who was killed in Iraq, as I am quite sure nearly 100% of members of congress can do because they go to the funerals if they actually, you know, give a shit.

(BTW, his name was Carlos Arredondo.)

[Helen Rainier]

CV,

Re your post about teaching a pig to sing:

It all depends -- has the pig ever been a finalist on American Idol?

Does the pig have an opera background?

If the answer to either is yes, then you can teach a pig to sing.

(/snark off -- Sorry I just couldn't resist)

[DLC]

Since pigs are highly intelligent animals, I believe it would be easier to teach them to sing (and a better use of one's time) than to attempt to teach Jen and her ilk to think critically (or even to think at all, for that matter!). Also, pigs are much better company, imo!

[chanceny]

When dealing with bushco fundies one must not present facts. Confusion makes them angry. Anger makes them hyperventilate. Any little hole left unguarded, such as Kerry's misspoken joke, Edwards' locks of gold, Hillary's oriental moneyman, or 'betray us' daring to be uttered, gives them cover to drool as they utter the drivel that comforts them. Kinda sorta like scarfing down Doritos.

[meowomon]

The young man in question was indeed from Rep. Blackburn's district. I used "the Google" to find this out. That whole area is so gerrymandered by the Rethuglicans, so it is hard to tell, but BonAqua, Tennessee is right smack dab in the middle of her district. I used to live in her district and she is an evil GOP warmongering hose.

[Hotrod54235]

The wingnuts are unused to hearing anyone talk back, much less attack their stupid stance on nearly every issue. As a close relative of mine is a wingnut, I know they just say LA LA LA abd cover their ears whenever you counter their view with any reasonable points. I guess that is another symtom of Facsism. Where, oh where is the Left wing in this country? Our centrist DLC'ers are considered socialists.

[Kimberly]

Well, I think PM's right that Jen from Wingnuttia missed the point entirely. Blackburn knew chapter and verse of the orchestrated "outrage" regarding Moveon.org's ad, but in her feigned pique she couldn't give the name of the most recent fallen soldier in her district. Doesn't this perfectly illustrate the complete lack of perspective from the disingenuous rightwing GOP? And wasn't that Shuster's point? He nailed it - too bad MSNBC made him apologize for unmasking the monster that lurks in the rightwing mindset, rather than giving him a medal for which he so richly deserves in portraying what a journalist is supposed to be.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Disdirected faux outrage on the right is becomming exhausting. They command the entire apparatus of the Fed. Govt. and the corporate press and still play the struggling underdog. The Republican base is built on fear, racism and projectile bile.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is not "my guy" or "your guy" duking it out on the TeeVee.

They are, both sides, well paid to do that -- duke it out over something or other on the teevee.
They are paid to score points and keep "we the people" from demanding that our employees, our government duly elected do their frickin' jobs.

Is it the congresswoman's job to tear into the first amendment rights of ANY interest group? Nope.

Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ. Anyone who has ever worked for a little company in a little office park knows that if you screw up you get canned.

Except in the strange twilight world of post 9-11 politics.

[Bevin Gilmore]

Shuster wins this. It was also an excellent illustration of the sublime and the ridiculous: the latter - fake outrage over the ad - wilts before a reminder of the tragedy that occurs daily in Iraq.

(She was asked for the name and didn't know it & didn't seem to have any first-hand knowledge of any family members of anyone at all! At that point she had already disgraced herself by carrying water for criminals).

The ad garbage was pure theater, the equivalent of failing a school paper because the student forgot to cross a T (if that, even). It is absurd that it could be heard on CNN headline news. It was never newsworthy in any capacity, even the rate business. (I don't have a problem with discounting grassroots organizations down from a corporate rate).

Deadenders too embarrassed to admit they were duped by this crowd in the White House tend to get quiet about things. Aggressors like your friend Jen lash out with clinically antisocial behavior for God knows what reason: youth, the bad habits that come from insecure debating skills....but mostly because there is no draft, and certainly none for a Jen.

I doubt she knows anyone there, or that she's paid for her comments.

What is certain that the GOP are now officially brownshirts egging on these types. They are at the end of their tactics, now relying on manipulating those on the strength of the knowledge that hate operates the same glands as love, only more efficiently.

Sure drains you, though, spewing all that hate. There is a huge difference between anger over the deaths of people and anger because someone doesn't go along being pro-war with them.

[JCK]

Hey, VL, I think you must have voted for * at least once. You missed the point by as Jen did. And BTW, I would be willing to bet that Kerry AND Teddy could name EVERY Massachussettes soldier killed in Operation Flightsuit.

[jackieoh]

great article, pm - douchebags, balls n' all!! you gotta imagine jen as some recent liberty u graduate and present white house or blackburn staffer being given the propagandic challenge of going unarmed onto the net to refute schuster's slam-dunk against blackburn, jen's fellow nitwit for the "cause."

count me in as reader #11...

[Bina]

So, let's see if I got this straight: Wingnut "Jen" writes to "correct" you and David Shuster when in fact neither of you required correction? Shuster was right all along when he pegged the last place of residence of a killed soldier whose name his own so-called representative in Congress could not recall, even though she's supposedly intimately in touch with war-bereft constituents, according to her own boasts? "NewsBusters" page dedicated to exposing Shuster's alleged error is blank (thereby indicating either a webmaster caught napping, or, more likely, a belated, blushing realization that this was a non-story)?

In other words: Jen made an ass of herself for nothing, because she had something serious to prove...namely, that conservatism conserves nothing so much as brainpower.

[beamer]

teaching a pig to fly would be a better use of time&energy