Last week I wrote about something in politics today that I referred to as "The Politics of Outrage" in which members of a political party are incensed by actions or comments from the other side while strangely silent when similar comments are made from their side. The recent vote in the United States Senate to condemn the MoveOn.org ad portraying General Patraeus as General "Betray Us" has prompted me to create an update (and perhaps a weekly Politics of Outrage post).
What do all of the following have in common?
- At a concert, Ted Nugent threatened the lives of Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and Senator Boxer as he told them to "suck on this" while holding a machine gun.
- Peter King, in an interview recently, declared that there are "too many mosques in this country".
- John Boehner, in an interview, proclaimed that troop deaths in Iraq were "A small price to pay".
- Michael Graham, in response to the Clinton Sopranos spoof, said "didn't you at one point want to see, like, Paulie Walnuts or someone come in and just whack them both right there? Wouldn't that have been great?"
- Columnist Anne Coulter, in an interview remarked "I do think anyone named B. Hussein Obama should avoid using 'hijack' and 'religion' in the same sentence" in an attempt to portray Barack Obama as a terrorist.
- On Hannity & Colmes, Sean Hannity was asked to disavow the statements made by Ted Nugent. His response, "No, I like Ted Nugent. He's a friend of mine."
- In January, Rush Limbaugh had this to say about Vietnam Veteran Chuck Hagel, "By the way, we had a caller call, couldn't stay on the air, got a new name for Senator Hagel in Nebraska. We got General Petraeus, and we got Senator Betrayus. New name for Senator Hagel."
- Michael Savage, in July, remarked "You know, of all of the dictators in the past, you know the one Al Gore strikes me as [being] closest [to] is Mussolini".
Answer: Theses are but a handful, most within the last few months, of remarks and recorded statements made by Republican politicians and personalities. Did they get smacked down by the right for their "outrageous" behavior? Absolutely NOT! Did they have Senate Resolutions brought against them for their comments? NOPE! What did they get? silence. THAT is the Politics of Outrage, the constant attacking of another while being "offended" that they might possibly strike back using the same techniques!
Sorry guys, I don't buy the faux outrage when the tactics you use are every bit as virulent and every bit as outrageous as those you purport to be outraged at!
3 responses to "Politics of Outrage (UPDATE)"
Well, for one, Ted Nugent, Ann Coulter, and Sean Hannity don't dole out the talking points for the RNC.
On the other hand, it doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to figure out that the Soros-funded moveon.org is both a financial and ideological arm of the dnc, and holds one helluva sway over their agenda.
That's all right Leo, you keep rationalizing that outrage! If you cannot recognize that, at the very least, Hannity and Coulter are shills for the right wing of the Republican Party there is little hope for you.
By the way, at no point did I claim that you or other Republicans shouldn't be outraged. My point is that it becomes fairly hypocritical to accept outrageous claims and statements from your side of the ideological spectrum (i.e. claiming Democrats are part of the army of Bin Laden) while being appalled at the very same tactics used by those on the other side of the spectrum. But hey, thanks for proving my point!
Sadly, Amy Klobuchar did buy the faux GOP outrage and voted with Norm Coleman to condemn moveon.org.