A one-time post

One of my favorite bloggers is Morgan Freeberg a.k.a. House of Erato-sthenes. He is able to explain things clearly, although not always concisely. Simple ideas or complex ideas, when Morgan gets a hold of it, he can boil it down to something that is understandable. I urge you to make him a daily stop.

But I was a little dismayed when he rather off-handedly remarked that he didn't like fisking, musing that doing so usually didn't add anything to a discussion.

Of course, I've been doing a weekly (more-or-less) fisking of a liberal columnist for several years now. I don't think Morgan's comment was directed at me, because those fiskings are on a more obscure website that is more of a diary than a blog, but I did take it as whispered advice from an older brother. I hold Morgan's advice in high regard, so whenever he expresses an opinion, I weight it a bit more than other people's words. So I quit doing fiskings and figured that I would never do them again.

Until now.

This one has been sticking in my craw for over a week, and I've got to release it. I know this is only my second post here, so not much is known about me. But one thing I want to make clear: I do not tolerate fools gladly. And the fool that prompted this has a bit of a backstory.

Bob Scott claims to be a Republican here in Arkansas. I say claims, because back in 2004, Bob wrote a letter to the only state-wide newspaper (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), urging every Republican to vote for John Kerry. I wish I still had a copy of the letter, but one phrase remains stuck in my memory. "For the first time in my life, I am going to vote for a Democrat for President." This is from someone who claims to have been a county chairman for the Republican Party, and having served on Republican Lieutenant Governor John Rockefeller's staff.

In a previous letter to the editor, Bob states that he is a liberal Republican. The liberal part I believe, but I have my doubts about the Republican part. And the letter Bob presents here shows what a complete fool Bob is.

So, with no further ado, I present here Bob's letter as it was published in the Northwest Arkansas Times, which I will put in italics.

*OPINION PAGES, WRITERS GREAT


The column by the Rev. Lowell Grisham (“Rich Get Richer,” Jan. 9) was, as usual, an excellent Bible lesson and very timely with the recent insistence by MY PARTY (the conservative Republican Party) to send an additional $81.5 billion tax deduction to the richest 1 percent of Americans. *

Well, Bob, I’m not sure, but I do believe that somewhere in the Bible there’s probably something that the followers of God would consider commands. I imagine that these “commandments" would probably be ten in number, simply because it would allow the followers to tick them easily off their fingers as they recited them. And I’m pretty sure that these “Ten Commandments" would have at least a commandment to not covet what your neighbor has. Now, Bob, assuming that there is such a commandment in these “Ten Commandments" that does indeed command the followers to not covet what others have, why are you concerning yourself with what others have?

*The ultimate example of the conservative “trickle down” theory worshipped [sic] by the “supply-siders” under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, an economic theory tabbed as “voodoo economics” by none other than the honorable George Herbert Walker Bush.*

So, since you find him ‘honorable’ now, did you find him ‘honorable’ when he struck a deal with the Democrats to raise taxes in exchange for cutting spending? A deal that Democrats reneged on?
The elder Bush believed that supply-side reforms like ending regulation would not be enough to rejuvenate the economy. Remind me how that turned out again, Bob?
Sorry to sound so cynical, but I find Bob’s labeling of the elder Bush as ‘honorable’ to be rather convenient, and most likely insincere.

*In addition to Grisham, you feature columns by John Brummett and Dr. Art Hobson, all of whom make us think. *

Make us think of vomiting from the idiocy, that is.

*Thank you for a great editorial page, and we are thankful for them as well as many other writers on your editorial pages. Your editorial page is comparable to the editorial pages of the Arkansas Gazette prior to the purchase by the Arkansas Democrat, owned by the right-wing Republican.*

You can almost hear the disgust at having to actually having to contemplate the thought that those evil, mean, contemptible right-wing Republicans are actually owners of a newspaper. I can even imagine Bob spitting in disgust at having to utter the term “right-wing Republicans". He’s tolerant like all liberals, you know.

*Comparing your editorial page with that of the Democrat-Gazette is like comparing CNN to Fox.

Finally, thank you for not publishing the hatred spouted by the extreme right wing. *

I’ll just pause a moment here so that you can relish the amount of irony in that sentence. Probably the only difference in Bob's mind is the insertion of the word ‘extreme' into that sentence.

*Even though I am not willing to conclude that the hatred spouted by conservatives like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck (Fox News) is responsible for the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the distinguished chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona, along with five other Americans, *

That’s mighty white of you, Bob. Seeing as how that’s what the evidence has proven.

*it is time for conservatives to examine that possibility.*

Oh. I see. So, conservatives and the “hatred" that we have “spouted" are not responsible for the shooting, but we need to examine the “possibility" that we are.

It all makes perfect sense!

*What about the open display of fully automatic weapons at Tea Party political events with total silence from the conservative leaders. *

He’s right! All that hate that was spouted at the Tea Parties and the weapons that were there caused.... er, no incidents at all.

Not one.

Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Clearly, the Tea Party has much to be ashamed of.

*Ever hear of a liberal spouting similar hatred, carrying a submachine gun at a political event or any other public event, talking about “crosshairs” on the back of politicians and activating our Second Amendment rights?*

Well, since you asked...

How about when some tolerant liberals plotted to attack Republicans at their national convention in 2008?

Or how about liberal Senator Carnahan (D-MO) who had his own campaign office firebombed and tolerant liberals like you blamed the Tea Party?

Ooh, that one’s gonna sting a little, won't it?

Or how about Casey Berzik, who cut the throat of a community college dean, but his intended target was Missouri governor Jay Nixon?

Okay, bombs and knives, but no guns, I hear you say. Ask, and ye shall receive:

Let's start with James von Brunn, who shot and killed a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

John Patrick Bedell shot two security guards at the Pentagon.

How about the guy who wanted to shoot the anti-abortion protesters? The quote is, ""When we come out, I’m going to put a bullet in your head if you talk to her."

How about Clay Duke, who opened fire on members in a school board meeting in Florida, then killed himself?

Or even how a tolerant leftist like yourself threatened to kill Senator Cantor and his family? Well, he didn’t put it that way. The way he put it was, ““My Congressman Eric Cantor, and you and your cupcake evil wife…” “Remember Eric…our judgment time, the final Yom Kippur has been given. You are a liar, you’re a Lucifer, you’re a pig, a greedy fucking pig, you’re an abomination, you receive my bullets in your office, remember they will be placed in your heads. You and your children are Lucifer’s abominations.”“

So I could be reading too much into that.

And surely you haven’t forgotten the shooting right here in Arkansas of a military recruiter? Unless you had your head in the sand (or some other dank dense place), you couldn’t have missed the newspaper account: “police said the man who’s suspected in the shooting did not know the victims but shot them because of “ideological reasons.” The suspect was described as a convert to Islam who specifically targeted soldiers for the attack”.

Ah. Well. How embarrassing. As Michelle Malkin says, “being a Tea Party-bashing liberal means never having to say you’re sorry for smearing conservative dissent."

*Take a look at the March 25 interview with Giffords during her campaign after Palin mentioned targeting her with crosshairs on the congresswoman’s legislative district on Sarah’s website. Sarah knew what she was doing and knew what happened in Tucson was a real possibility if not probability, as the reference was immediately removed from her website following the shooting.*

I love how the possibility that the people responsible removed it so as not to be insensitive to the tragedy never enters Bob’s mind. Nope, nope, it’s because dumb, idiotic Sarah remembered the map on her website and wanted to remove any hint of complacency in something that she clearly orchestrated.

And hey Bob! You didn't happen to see the map that's up at the top of this post here on this page, now did you? No, I didn't think so.

*The silence about this hatred rhetoric from the conservative leadership has been deafening. *

Hey, there’s also been a deafening silence from the black leadership! They must also be guilty!
And the Hispanic leadership, as well! They also must be guilty!
Ditto for the female leadership!
And the Eskimo leadership!
And the Soviets! Why aren’t they saying anything! I’m telling you, this conspiracy goes all the way to the top! They are all clearly guilty! Guilty, guilty, GUILTY!!!!!!!

*Sen. John McCain is the exception; he stopped the lady blathering about candidate Obama being a Muslim, foreign-born, un-American and candidly told her and the world that Obama was not evil or un-American, but an honest, good American.*

Clearly, John McCain (or should I say, Ivan McCain!) is in on the conspiracy! He’s always looked rather shifty-eyed to me!

And he messed up when he described Obama as ‘honest' and ‘good'.
And the ‘American' part is still in doubt, too.

*I do not have to know anything about the shooter to know he should never have had access to a gun, especially a gun capable of firing 30 rounds in seconds without reloading. That is a weapon for war or police enforcement, not hunting or target practice.*

Do you see Bob’s point here? He’s not saying that Kook Boy who shot a Congresswoman shouldn’t have had access to a gun. No, what Bob is saying here is that NO ONE should have access to such a gun, Second Amendment be damned.

*Turn off Fox. Stop hate and fear.*

Another irony-rich sentence. Dishonesty and smearing is still all right in Bob's book.

OK, that's it. It's out of my system, now. I feel better. I hope you enjoyed this fisking. I promise my next post will be more punditry. I'm aiming to have another one this week, because of my inability to get one out last week. I feel obligated to make up for that deficit.

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