Some of the comments were as out of touch with reality as one expected…the absurd claim that mainstream media has a “liberal” bias, particularly the ONLY really reliable source of credible and unbiased news that has much depth at all to it these days, NPR. And of course the tired, destructive McCarthyite lies that anyone with a concern for the poor is a “Socialist.” Not only are liberals in America NOT Socialist views that are even vaguely close to Socialist cannot even get HEARD in this nation. The moderate health care reform Obama’s proposing will not do nearly enough to address the need, yet the hearings discussing reform banned DISCUSSION of single-payer, even though most Americans when honestly told what it is support the idea. Obama isn’t even that liberal, yet the radical right continues to call him a “Socialist.”

The teabaggers were a bunch of racists that are still gagging over the fact we now have a black president,I didnt see a single person who looked as though they earned more than 250k…so they were protesting what?Whom?Where were they when bush lied us into war?when bush ran up the deficit?when he collapsed the international economy?when he started the TARP?Illegal wiretapping…torture?
Nope it took a black president to get them out into the street…..and look who they blame?

One comment about the following quote from Mike T. Mike, I know you are using a generalization here, but you can’t possibly believe, that all conservatives are patriotic and all liberals are unpatriotic (or “abandoned their feelings of patriotism” as you say). Either you believe that the military is made up entirely of conservatives (which is not true), or you believe that a good portion of the military are not patriotic (which I find hard to believe). I hope you see the logic here, because it really saddens me anytime I hear someone subscribe to this idea that half this country (i.e. those who voted for Obama/liberals) are not patriotic. (and no, I did not vote for Obama, so my motivation for saying this is not “Obama-mania virus”…I just don’t agree that half of this country is “unpatriotic”)

Secondly, no matter what party you affiliate with, no matter what your believes are…I don’t think we have anything to gain from mocking people as the “lunatic fringe” on either the right or the left, when not so recently (and even still today) drug reformers and anti-prohibitionists are constantly labeled as part of this same “lunatic fringe”.

Also, I could find any radio host, whether left-wing or right-wing, and play this game of gotcha…if you are on the air long enough, you will inevitably say something to contradicts yourself, and there will most likely be moments of hypocrisy, sadly, this happens all the time on both the left and right.

Look, I’m not trying to defend this particular radio host and the racist things her show aired…but I do think we have to be careful about how we characterize people and ideas as “lunatic” or “fringe”…It’s my opinion that there are also many ideas that are generally accepted by the political establishment to be “mainstream”, when in reality they are actually the more “radical” “fringe” ideas. Likewise, there are also plenty of ideas that are constantly characterized as “radical” and “fringe” when in actuality, these ideas are actually the most rational, effective, sensible, etc. Again, case in point being drug reformers and anti-prohibitionists. In fact, it seems to me that the better ideas never come from the mainstream or political establishment, but rather from the “outside” or “fringe”…so I really wish there was less of an emphasis to characterize “fringe” “radical” “outsider” as necessarily BAD…because that isn’t always the case.

This is ridiculous. And so are you. Anyone defending Michelle Bachman is not to be taken seriously. The founders wanted the people ‘armed and dangerous?” You are an idiot.

Government actions which are forbidden by the Constitution are illegitimate. If Obama were to direct federal officials to act in a fashion that (1) would be illegitimate, and (2) would cause irreparable harm if not stopped, then anyone who is duty-bound to uphold the Constitution of the United States (including current and retired military personnel, state and federal government officials, and naturalized citizens) would be duty-bound to stop such actions by whatever means necessary. The people who acted to block the government actions would not be anarchists. Rather, the people who ordered and sought to carry out the actions would be the anarchists, while those who opposed them would be the ones supporting legitimate government.

How about it? I want the people that way too. So did the founders.

Personally I still don’t know what to think but I can definately understand the outrage of people who say bought a house 5 years ago (at peak market value) and are still paying for it and having to live frugally, having to support $8K home buyer subsidies that they themselves are not eligable for. I can see many non-racist reasons why people would be concerned about government subsidies.

I think theres more to the racism than that.

I think there’s a lot of general outrage at the idea that some poor minorities might get to keep things they probably shouldn’t have bought to begin with.

And in regards to the original post, I don’t think you can equate the left radio extremist with the right extremist radio. Yeah, they are both wildly inaccurate and recycle the same response. But the right wing extremists are part of the mainstream media and part of the Republican Party, so much so that no one can publicly criticize them. The left extremists are just out there flailing around. Huge difference.

It is pretty great how you paranthetically moderated yourself, therefore destroying your argument. Everybody (well, most) comes to the center in some way.

I didn’t moderate myself. I merely pointed out that the only time society can take someone’s right to life away is when that person has been proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, to have murdered another person. That’s a difference in kind, not degree, just like we don’t accuse the police of kidnapping someone when they arrest a suspect on probable cause.

It is pretty great how you paranthetically moderated yourself, therefore destroying your argument. Everybody (well, most) comes to the center in some way.

However, Americans are rarely to the extreme in their politics and letting these extreme opinions get the most press is dangerous. I consider the constitution “moderate”.

Moderation is never a virtue. Take, for instance, the very plausible argument that abortion is murder. If you believe that it is, then it is flat out disgusting for someone to defend abortion on demand, and that makes them a lesser person for it.

I happen to be one of those libertarians who believes that a human being, at all stages of its existence, from start to finish, is a human being with the basic, inviolable right to life (aside from cases where the person takes another life). You may say that my view that all unnecessary abortions are murder is an extremist position, but from my legitimate point of view, I could easily call you an apologist for homicide who hypocritically opposes murder in some cases, while calling it a human right in others.

It’s not until you start seeing black helicopters or believe that Halliburton is wiretapping you that you start to cross the threshold of being indefensible.

That is putting the word “extreme” in a very different context.

Obviously, they are entitled to their opinion and to express it. However, Americans are rarely to the extreme in their politics and letting these extreme opinions get the most press is dangerous. I consider the constitution “moderate”. The revolution (Mike T) was extreme, and was needed. But it brought us as a country to the middle.

Pretty basic stuff, sorry to have to spell it out for you.

Will Gregg – my point isn’t that speaking about genuine cause for revolution are bad (vietnam is a great example). The point is that the right wing extremists are calling for the assasination of our president. Why? because they disagree with his politics. The oldest and most venerable aspect of our society is democracy and respect for human life.