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Title: THE MYTH OF MORAL SUPERIORITY IS SHATTERED
Source:
www.washingtonmonthly.com
URL Source: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/sh ... vidual/2006_10/009617.php#more
Published: Oct 4, 2006
Author: by Paul Begala
Post Date: 2006-10-04 03:26:07 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 355
Comments: 16
THE MYTH OF MORAL SUPERIORITY IS SHATTERED: First, congratulations to Washington Monthly for their timely and useful new blog. Paul Glastris has been kind enough to offer me some occasional real estate, and I intend to make the most of it until he comes to his senses. Let’s begin with the biggest story of the week. But what is it? Is it that Jack Abramoff showered Bush aides with gifts, perhaps illegally, and that they in turn gave Abramoff insider info? Is it that the Bushies were (once again) caught lying about how close Abramoff was to Team W? In the sweep of history, no doubt, the biggest story is Iraq. And Bob Woodward’s latest blockbuster: that Pres. Bush and his fellow chickenhawks have been lying to us about the level of violence in Iraq, is surely a development that historians will be talking about a hundred years hence. (I love the Bushies’ response: “This is nothing new.” They’re right of course. It’s nothing new that the Bush White House lies. All the time. But for them to be so brazen and blasé about their mendacity is pretty amazing.) But in my world – campaigns and cable television – nothing matches the Mark Foley story. I’ve long believed each party has its wrongheaded conceit. Many Democrats have a need to feel intellectually superior, while many Republicans have a need to feel morally superior. Both aggravate the hell out of me (a not-so-bright sinner); neither is remotely true. But let us now say that as of the Third Day of the Tenth Month in the Year of Our Lord 2006, the Conservative Myth of Moral Superiority has been crushed. ABC News reports that as long as five years ago, key Republican staffers knew that Foley was a potential danger to children, so they warned pages to stay away from him. And as we’ve all learned in the past few days, House GOP leaders from Dennis Hastert (R-Fat Hypocrite) on down knew something about Foley’s inappropriate behavior and did nothing. GOP Congressional Campaign Chair Tom Reynolds (R-Soon-to-be-Minority) learned that Foley had been sending inappropriate emails to an underage boy who had been a page in the spring of this year. He did not call the cops. Did not call the FBI. Did not even call the toothless hounds at the House Ethics Committee. But he did take $100,000 from Foley for the NRCC, a contribution the New York Daily News called “unusually large.” Think about that. Reynolds knew Foley was having some sort of inappropriate contact with a child, but he took $100,000 from him. And his spokesliar says he’d be willing to take the rest of Foley’s remaining $2.7 million war chest. Reynolds’ flak didn’t say the money ought to go for counseling and compensation for the children and families this animal harmed. He said Reynolds would like to get his greedy, slimy political mitts on it. Why? Power, baby. As Henry Kissinger (R-War Criminal) once said, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Like his colleagues in the GOP elite, Reynolds is so enamored with power, so seduced by the money that buys power, so enthralled with the Republicans’ one-party rule that he turned a blind eye to a red flag every dad in America would have noticed. Tony Snow (R-Hair Spray) similarly has lost his moral bearings. The former Fox host (as if) told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien yesterday, “I hate to tell you, but it’s not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. And there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails.” Naughty emails, Tony? Naughty emails? Is there anything more callous, more cavalier, more corrupt than laughing off a sexual predator as “naughty”? The Capitol needs a change. Hell, it needs to be fumigated. And as the stench and filth of GOP sleaze slowly oozes away, let us never forget that these slimeballs, these dirtbags, these moral midgets think they’re better than you and me.
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#1. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Well yes, laughing off torture and murder as "frat pranks" comes to mind.
This is something I know is true because I've heard it often enough. I don't understand it, I just don't get it. I have no desire to have power over others likewise I don't want others having power over me.
Amen.
the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal bread.
I say that applies to both major parties equally. Are you too blue or yellow to admit it?
Employing some Standard Shill Scandal Defenses: 1. It didn't happen. 1a. Look at the source, he's (partisan, unreliable, dishonest, a traitor) 2. If it happened, it's no big deal. 3. If it happened and it's a big deal, it was isolated and we didn't know about it. 4. If it happened, was a big deal and we knew about it, there was no cover up. 5. If it happened, was a big deal, we knew about it and we covered it up, the other side does it just as much as we do. 6. If it happened, was a big deal, we knew about it, we covered it up, and the other side doesn't do it, it's because we were set up by the other side. 7. It's all a conspiracy by the other side. 8. Both sides are just as bad. 9. The other side is worse. 10. We did it, we're really sorry, but the other side is making a bigger deal about it than it is. 11. It was bad, but look over there! That's something REALLY bad! Keep this list handy. On it you will find just about every shill defense offered by the shills of each party when a scandal breaks. You can even write up your own defenses. Of course you do. That's a number 8.
the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal bread.
Ding! Ding! We have a winner here. Thanks, I'm still snickering. Made into a bumper sticker, it would still fit on Badlie's Botmobile. It would look good there seeing that these are his eleven commandments of posting online.
You can't admit it can you?? You are too yellow or blue. You are a Dem partisan shill by your own list.
I don't think there's any question that I favor Democrats over Republicans, even when the Democrats were in a position of power I favored them. The past five years have proven that I was right. At their worst, the Democrats were corrupt and incompetent. They weren't bootlicking corporate fascists, and they were never the rabid statists. The article I posted indicates that in the author's opinion the Republicans have claimed to be the party of values and morality and all that blah blah blah... The contention of the article is not that Democrats are morally superior, inferior or otherwise, which is your thesis, number 7, the Democrats are "just as bad". The contention of the article is that the Republican's claim of the moral high ground is bullshit hypocricy. Which it is. If your question is, "aren't the Democrats just as bad", my answer is no. The Democrats did not kill habeas corpus, pimp bullshit wars, condone and encourage torture or cover for a gay pedophile in their ranks. And incidentally, it isn't a Republic. It's a police state, and you've been cheering the whole time your dear leader has been making it one.
the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal bread.
Dear God. Help me.
In 1947, the UN created a perpetual war and named it Israel.
1. It didn't happen. 1a. Look at the source, he's (partisan, unreliable, dishonest, a traitor) 2. If it happened, it's no big deal. 3. If it happened and it's a big deal, it was isolated and we didn't know about it. 4. If it happened, was a big deal and we knew about it, there was no cover up. 5. If it happened, was a big deal, we knew about it and we covered it up, the other side does it just as much as we do. 6. If it happened, was a big deal, we knew about it, we covered it up, and the other side doesn't do it, it's because we were set up by the other side. 7. It's all a conspiracy by the other side. 8. Both sides are just as bad. 9. The other side is worse. 10. We did it, we're really sorry, but the other side is making a bigger deal about it than it is. 11. It was bad, but look over there! That's something REALLY bad! Too good.
In 1947, the UN created a perpetual war and named it Israel.
I accept your guilty plea.
I think I've been cosmically banned from ever having any real power, which is probably not a bad thing. I'm kinda sure that if I were to ever hit one of the huge powerball jackpots that I'd be just a white persian cat and a monocle away from being a James Bond super villian.
"First I'm gonna bother everybody I meet, and then I'll probably go home and get drunk."
Oh yeah. Like you're a bastion of "neutrality". What's the matter? Did Rimjob ban you or something?
the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal bread.
That's because you're not an evil person.
I suspect it takes real evil to experience any thrill from this.
"If there’s another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will be, the day after or within days an equivalent of a Reichstag fire decree that will involve massive detentions in this country." - Daniel Ellsberg Author, Pentagon Papers What's the matter? Did Rimjob ban you or something? fairness, apathy, neutrality and unfettered partisanship are why we are so screwed now....... a long time ago...........
Naughty emails, Tony? Naughty emails? Is there anything more callous, more cavalier, more corrupt than laughing off a sexual predator as “naughty”?
#2. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Why? Power, baby. As Henry Kissinger (R-War Criminal) once said, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Like his colleagues in the GOP elite, Reynolds is so enamored with power, so seduced by the money that buys power, so enthralled with the Republicans’ one-party rule that he turned a blind eye to a red flag every dad in America would have noticed.
#3. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
let us never forget that these slimeballs, these dirtbags, these moral midgets think they’re better than you and me.
#4. To: bluedogtxn (#3)
let us never forget that these slimeballs, these dirtbags, these moral midgets think they’re better than you and me.
#5. To: It Is A Republic (#4)
"I say that applies to both major parties equally. Are you too blue or yellow to admit it?"
#6. To: bluedogtxn (#5)
1. It didn't happen. 1a. Look at the source, he's (partisan, unreliable, dishonest, a traitor) 2. If it happened, it's no big deal. 3. If it happened and it's a big deal, it was isolated and we didn't know about it. 4. If it happened, was a big deal and we knew about it, there was no cover up. 5. If it happened, was a big deal, we knew about it and we covered it up, the other side does it just as much as we do. 6. If it happened, was a big deal, we knew about it, we covered it up, and the other side doesn't do it, it's because we were set up by the other side. 7. It's all a conspiracy by the other side. 8. Both sides are just as bad. 9. The other side is worse. 10. We did it, we're really sorry, but the other side is making a bigger deal about it than it is. 11. It was bad, but look over there! That's something REALLY bad!
#7. To: bluedogtxn (#5)
#8. To: It Is A Republic (#7)
You can't admit it can you?? You are too yellow or blue. You are a Dem partisan shill by your own list.
#9. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Tony Snow (R-Hair Spray)
#10. To: bluedogtxn (#5)
Employing some Standard Shill Scandal Defenses:
#11. To: bluedogtxn (#8)
#12. To: Diana (#2)
I don't understand it, I just don't get it. I have no desire to have power over others likewise I don't want others having power over me.
#13. To: It Is A Republic (#11)
I accept your guilty plea.
#14. To: Diana (#2)
I don't understand it, I just don't get it. I have no desire to have power over others likewise I don't want others having power over me.
#15. To: Diana (#2)
This is something I know is true because I've heard it often enough. I don't understand it, I just don't get it. I have no desire to have power over others likewise I don't want others having power over me.
#16. To: bluedogtxn (#13)
Oh yeah. Like you're a bastion of "neutrality".
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