The author, Allison Hantschel
Posted on 10/04/2007 5:54:18 AM PDT by kristinn
Two weeks ago, members of the right-wing Web site FreeRepublic.com were invited to a picnic at the White House.
The Freepers, as they call themselves, were invited to eat and mingle with the president and his aides, receiving praise from the chief executive and first lady for their work in supporting the war.
Regular features on Free Republic include threats to American citizens and public officials (liberals and Democrats, of course); racist, sexist and discriminatory rhetoric; and much mockery of the president himself, largely because of his insufficiently harsh stance on immigration.
"The only good Muslim," one site regular wrote after the president visited a Washington-area mosque "is an ex-Muslim."
Along with the Freepers were members of the political action group Move America Forward, chaired by San Francisco hate-radio host Melanie Morgan. Morgan's most famous public moment came when she called for the hanging of New York Times editor Bill Keller and laughed along her co-hosts as they talked about putting a bull's-eye on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The president honored those in attendance:
"Everybody is supporting our troops. I want to thank you for doing it. It's important people hear from you. It's important people hear your voice. And I want to thank you for organizing. I want to thank you not only for the grassroots support of our families, I want to thank you for going up to Capitol Hill."
A week later, the same people who threw the Freepers a party wanted any and all politicians to condemn anti-war organization MoveOn.org for a newspaper ad opposing the upcoming Capitol Hill testimony of Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus.
The same people who feted the Freepers and took pictures with them found the content of MoveOn's ad, which called Petraeus "Betray Us," beyond the pale.
Perhaps it was the rhyme. Freepers' posts rarely scan.
I don't know what's more disgusting, that the Republicans who lauded the pillars of right-wing hate turned around and asked Democrats in Congress to condemn MoveOn or that Democrats in Congress meekly assented, as though to their masters' demands.
Brazen hypocrisy at least has the appeal of chutzpah.
I don't know how many times a bully has to kick you in the face before you stop bending down to tie his shoes for him. I don't know how many times Democrats have to learn this particular lesson.
You'd think they'd have learned it in 2002, when Republicans won a Senate seat in Georgia by mocking war hero Max Cleland as insufficiently patriotic. Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, was derided as weak on national security while his chickenhawk opponent was positioned as the toughest guy in the room.
You'd think they'd have learned it in 2004, when delegates to the Republican National Convention wore Band-Aids with Purple Hearts on them to belittle Democratic nominee John Kerry's war wounds in Vietnam.
You'd think they'd have learned it just by watching the ongoing Republican presidential primaries. Conservative commentator Lee Rodgers recently said Republican Sen. John McCain, another hero of the Vietnam war, was able to coast in his political career because of his status as a former prisoner of war.
"He's had a free political ride for a long, long time because of the 'Oh, poor John, he was a POW in Vietnam' syndrome. But I think the country is getting pretty well fed up with that," Rodgers said.
It's not about patriotism at all. It's not about whose speech went too far. It's not about who was offensive and who wasn't.
Petraeus is a fairly important and powerful man. I bet he didn't go home and cry after reading what MoveOn said about him in the paper.
It's about power. Republicans in Congress have no problem with hateful speech, with questioning patriots' characters, when somebody on the president's side is taking the shots.
They have no problem with it when they can't use it to distract the country from the fact that the Iraq war is getting worse, and there's no end in sight.
You wouldn't think this is something a girl with a Web site would have to tell them, but 22 Senate Democrats and 146 House Democrats voted to condemn MoveOn, voted to say that a newspaper ad was just terrible, voted to clutch their pearls and fan themselves and fuss themselves into a right state.
Hopefully, the next time a piece of legislation this absurd comes across their desks, they'll remember the last time they lay down for this kind of nonsense, Republicans walked right over them.
Talk about “Projection”!
Not real strong on current events huh!
Prattling imbecile...
Free Speech is a two way road.
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Freerepublic.com = CLARITY
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~aloharonnie/
http://www.Freerepublic.com/~anita1/
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Max Cleland lost his limbs in an accident with a dropped grenade, not in combat, IIRC..............
The author, Allison Hantschel
bump.
just speechless.
This means she wants to march Freepers off to death camps.
'nuff said.
Sounds reasonable to me...
The Republicans do their homework and they learned their lessons, we do not want a repeat of the Clinton, Carter Presidencies.
Unlike your typical lib, I know he didn't!
By clicking on the Daily Southtown (Chicago Sun-Times) your computer now has cooties. The only solution is a bath in Lye followed by a good scrub down with Lava soap (for your computer, not you).
'Series' the Daily Southtown has nothing but left wing wackos as columnists and op-eds by not so closeted communists.
I fear the South Suburbs are lost (that's why I stay out of them). (not sarcasm)
True dat!
I’ve heard worse. Daily. She must not have dug too deep.
A face that only a nanny stater could love. I can see a burkha being a plus for her and the people that may come in contact with her. LOL!
Funny how the far-left hate-mongers throw these smears around without ever explaining themselves. What was the hypocrisy? I don't see it anywhere in the article.
“the fact that the Iraq war is getting worse, and there’s no end in sight.”
...and her proof would be........?
Thomas Jefferson sent him there on a secret mission accompanied by Lewis and Clark.
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