Heritage Foundation

After all, shouldn't a decent red-blooded conservative be allowed to use violence to prove just how not-gay he is?

Carlson said, "Having sex in a public men's room is outrageous. It's also really common. I've been bothered in men's rooms." Carlson continued, "I've been bothered in Georgetown Park," in Washington, D.C., "when I was in high school." When Abrams asked how Carlson responded to being "bothered," as Abrams and Scarborough laughed, Carlson asserted, "I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him, and ... hit him against the stall with his head, actually." The laughter continued.

Carlson's comments, coupled with laughter from Abrams and Scarborough, suggested to viewers that physical violence is an appropriate response to an unwelcome overture. This is dangerous and wrong.

MSNBC has yet to acknowledge Carlson's comments or address why Abrams and Scarborough laughed while Carlson recounted his actions. Instead, MSNBC has treated Carlson's comments as a laughing matter, re-airing the portion in which Carlson claimed to have been "bothered," but omitting the portion in which he seemed to boast of physical assault.

Typical liberal media bias -- er, liberal blog bias, trying to oppress decent homophobes! Don't the violently-not-gay people in this world have the right to express themselves, too?

After all, it must be so hard for all these conservatives who had to choose not to be gay in the first place.

Whether you've followed the right-wing hits on the John Edwards bloggers or not, this is a must-read. (And well worth the brief on-screen ad required for Salon non-subscribers.)

That Donohue easily succeeded where a hundred right-wing bloggers failed is also unsurprising. Donohue has a long, dirty, but bizarrely successful career of conservative hit jobs. As Frances Kissling has noted, Donohue seems to take particular pleasure in silencing women.

In venues ranging from the New York Times to the major cable news networks, Donohue demanded that the Edwards campaign fire McEwan and me. The left blogosphere, furious that a smear artist might try to snap his fingers and bully a Democratic campaign into firing a staffer, pushed back hard. Liza at Culture Kitchen collected just a sampling of the hundreds of blog posts and letters that were protesting the very idea that such a manufactured controversy should have any impact on the staffing of presidential campaigns.

To me, it's rather shocking how such radical hate-filled bigots have gained currency in the mainstream media claiming that they are being oppressed by criticism of their bigotry.

Then again, maybe it's just a natural result. Most mainstream news outlets and reporters seem to work just hard enough to get a headline and a lead paragraph, and to hell with the details. The well-financed right-wing noise machine makes for convenient news. Even the respected NewsHour routinely hosts dogmatists from the well-funded Republican shill foundations to "analyze" the news.

If you build it, they will come. If you shout it loud enough, they will report it. QED.

Still, it is disturbing how these wingnut operatives -- whether freelance or funded -- wage political terrorism in American media. Amanda's Salon article offers some startling and offensive details:

Ken Salazar defeated millionaire Republican, Pete Coors for the open senate seat from Colorado in 2004.

Salazar's vote for "S.256 - Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" shows that Coloradans did not send a Democrat to the Senate. They got Coors lite.

Salazar thinks he is making himself safer and that six years is a long time and his strategy will get him re-elected, and he might be right - ever more to the right - but I doubt he will get many of us stumping for him again.

He may think he is assuring himself of re-election by voting with the Republicans time and again, but our limited energy will be focused on candidates who are closer to our hearts. Just as Coors, I mean Salazar, moves his constituents down on his priority list, his supporters will find other campaigns to work on, instead.

You may get our votes, Ken, but you've lost our hearts and enthusiasm and I doubt you'll be getting any Republicans on your side in a swing state like Colorado. The Republicans will be back in force. Yet, Colorado is shifting and I suppose you're waiting us out and for the time being sucking up to the right. Yet, you may be on the wrong side. Colorado voted the Republicans out as they were not for bread-and-butter issues. Democrats recaptured both State Houses for the first time in over 40 years.

You're out of step Ken. Ken? Ken? Ah. I see. You aren't listening.

Oh well.

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