Descent into Absurdity
Wow. After Republicans use every dirty word in the book against Democrats, and attempt to vilify every word in liberalism that’s not dirty, they get all offended at Obama for name-calling.
What unspeakable name did Obama call them?
“Right-wing.”
Yes, the party of “political correctness is fascism” is now seriously offended at being called “right-wing.” Which means that Fox News and the vast majority of those in the conservative media must have Tourette’s Syndrome.
And no, I am not making any of this up. This comes directly from David Avella, President of GOPAC. He appeared on Bill Maher and acted like the president was being so unreasonable and insulting. His words:
AVELLA: The president also talked about not making absolutism for principle, substitute spectacle for politics, and treat name-calling as reasoned debate. This is a week before he sit and name-called and made critical of Republicans in his last press conference! So which Barack Obama are we going to get?
MAHER: What did he call them? What name did he call them?
AVELLA: Oh, he talked about “right-wing Republicans,”…
MAHER: That’s a name-call? “Right wing”?
AVELLA: Sure.
MAHER: “Right wing” is a name-calling now?
AVELLA: It is a name-calling.
Words fail me.
I kinda agree that the president, being leader of everyone, needs to always pick his phrasing very carefully, clearly, and measuredly.
So “conservative” instead of the casual “right wing” would have been better.
When the words “right wing” come out, it’s considered an epithet, or at least it brings along that baggage, just as “left wing” does.
Sorry, I don’t buy it. “Wingnut” is inappropriate. “Extremist” is more accurate but still a bit much for political speech-making. “Right-wing,” if anything, is simply descriptive in a mild sense.
Bush 43 always called Democratic party members, policies, and the party itself by the conservative appellation “Democrat,” as in “the Democrat Party,” following the habit established amongst most conservatives. This has been and is an intentional snub against Democrats, to use the noun form in the adjectival sense. I never heard anyone in politics or on TV shows complain about this, even though it was inaccurate and a snub. Yet the Republican president used it freely. I certainly never saw him taking heat for it.
“Right-wing” is far more mild. It is used commonly in the same sense as “conservative” just as “left-wing” is used for “liberal.” It might be less gentle than “conservative,” but it is far kinder than the adjectival “Democrat” which Republicans, including Boehner, use incessantly. But if that’s not enough, there are numerous examples on Boehner’s own web site, himself citing “left-wing activists,” “left-wing groups,” “left-wing special interests,” the “left-wing agenda,” and the “left-wing fringe” of the “Democrat Party.”
Even if it were uncivil, which I still don’t agree with, Republicans citing Obama for it is more than a wee bit hypocritical. Not just for the term itself, not just because they use far harsher terms with startling frequency, but because they make a huge deal about how “political correctness”—having to be careful about terms used for other people which they might be sensitive about—is one of the great evils of liberalism. They mock it, laugh at it, and vilify it.
And now they’re acting all hurt and angry? Screw them.
This is just an attempt, and a rather ridiculous one, to act the victim so as to gain an advantage in a political environment. Nothing more.
I have zero respect for their claims.
Boehner is Speaker of the House, the guy the Republican majority put into that position since the majority runs the House.
Obama is President of the whole enchilada.
While I agree it’s ridiculous for conservatives to complain about this, I still think the President and all Executive branch people should remain above such verbal laxity.
Of course, GWB is a pretty low bar:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=site:georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov+%22democrat+party%22