If Arianna went to see Star Trek, would that make it a "liberal" movie? :)

I'm not sure exactly what Arianna is but she ain't no liberal ... worthy of any respect, that is.

She damn sure is a card-carrying member of the "professional left", though ... of that, there can be no doubt.

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/lachlan-markay/2010/10/29/major-media-far-more-interested-jon-stewarts-rally-glenn-becks

And ya'all still claim there is no media bias.. :D

Ironic though...

The media was more interested in the Send In The Clowns Rally..

The American People were more interested in the Restoring Honor Rally...

Kinda sums things up perfectly, don't it? :D

Michale.....

Here is an example of the "civility" of the Left...

http://www.bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2010/10/rally_to_restor_1.html

And before you ask, yea that's a typical example of the Left....

Michale.....

Yea... And ya'all hated that.. :D Because it made you think, "Hmmmmmmm Maybe Michale is right about things.. "

Can't have THAT, can we.. :D

That's OK... I don't mind being the token Non Political Entity around here.. :D

Michale.....

Why aren't Democrats running on their record???

Why are the indulging in personal attacks against their opponents instead of crowing about their accomplishments??

OK, that's 2.5 questions, but still..

They are valid questions.

Michale.....

Oh you can bet I will.. :D

God help your poor souls...

If there is one obvious fact it is that the GOP can't frak it up any more than the Democrats already have.. :D

The proof of that, of course, will come in 2012...

Michale.....

You asked for a Democrat that was nuttia.. I gave you one...

I mean, what are you telling me??

"Michale, I want you to show me a Democrat who is nuttia. But you can't choose any Democrat that IS nuttia..."

:D

Seriously??

:D

Of course the Greene campaign is a joke. That's my point... It's even more nuttia than you think O'Donnell's campaign is... Yet, O'Donnell has a LOT better chance of winning than Greene does...

Let's face it. You have nuttia from the Right and you have nuttia from the Left.. To castigate one side's nuttia while ignoring the other side's nuttia is just not right.. or left.. :D

Michale....

You DO know the Greene "campaign" was a joke, right? Did he ever put forward ONE idiotic plan? I asked for a serious candidate, which is actually granting the Republicans on Olbermann's list more credit than they deserve. Your both sides are the same argument is just silly; repeating it ad nauseam doesn't make it so. (Little Star Trek there for ya...I know, very little).

Do you have an Alter Ego?? :D

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/29/richard-socarides-obama-house-democrats-republicans-wednesday-tea-party-muslim/

Michale.....

Yea, that Pelosi one was weak, I grant you.. But it was just off the top of my head..

Let's start with Candidate Al Green of South Carolina.. :D

Bashi made a good point. There are whack jobs from the Right *AND* the Left. What bothers me is that the majority of the Left is always slamming the Right, implying that THEIR side is as pure as the driven snow..

Speaking completely objectively, the Left's snow has a few tire tracks thru it...

Michale.....

Michale.....

Michale.....

I think he's very serious and sincere in many ways, Bashi. I really do think he wants to restore some sanity to the conversation between folks. Saw a recent interview with him and what seemed to frustrate him most was not anything conservative, but rather the media and their failure to do their job.

Though he wants to be sure to have some fun along the way.

I'm just amazed the Left has its act together RE: busses. Usually the only ones that organized on the Left are the Unions.

Heheheh. Very true, CW. Maybe they're old Volkswagon buses :)

I DO like the few Olbermann clips I get to see, I can heartily agree with his frustration.

Kevin, I can't quite put my finger on why I'm not a big Olbermann fan. I think only part of it is because he seems to play into the Right vs. Left thing more than most. Maybe it's because he talks like his pants are on too tight. If I compare him to Rachel Maddow, for example, she just seems like she's having more fun.

It's too bad more people are not taking this rally seriously. What if Jon Stewart is serious and sincere? Is there some reason that an entertainer can't do this? Is there a class in society that is allowed to be political and have rallies and others that are not? Must everything be singular in it's goal? It will be interesting to see how this pans out. There are something like 600 sister rallies planned around the world. My wife and I were considering going but we are on the opposite coast. If we lived on the east coast we would be there and we are not generally the rallying types. This might end up surprising a lot of people, or at least a lot of cynical journalists…

From what I understand, Michale, Ms. Huffington offered to provide buses to anyone interested in attending.

She won't even let me post comments to her blog.

Do you HONESTLY think she would allow me to ride on her bus??? :D

Michale.....

Oooooooo now that's just MEAN!!!! :D

Michale.....

Good points. I'm actually pleasantly surprised at the responses to this article, as I was fully expecting Stewart/Colbert fans to gang up on me and pummel me with snarkiness, but so far that hasn't happened either here or at HP.

The whole thing, to me, is one of those moments where you wish one of the political commentators on teevee would just stop and say:

"Why are we talking about this, for Pete's sake?"

Michale -

Even if they have to travel, I bet most of them will have recovered by Tuesday. Heh.

Osborne -

Yeah, Beck's show was chock full of "dog whistles" -- messages that his followers know what they mean, but the media is clueless about. I should have mentioned that.

Michale -

Hey, I'm just amazed the Left has its act together RE: busses. Usually the only ones that organized on the Left are the Unions.

David -

Blatant CW.com plugs are always appreciated!

:-)

Kevin -

I'm actually glad the idea occurred to Stewart, and not Olbermann. I think an Olbermann rally would be a far different thing.

David -

Ooo! Good "Star Trek" zinger! Next time Michale watches a ST movie, he's going to have to fight to get the image of Arianna sitting there next to him, watching, out of his head. Heh.

:-)

-CW

Michale, could you come up with ONE example of wingnuttia from a serious Democrat candidate? Blue Dogs don't count.

Why not?? They are Democrats?? You can't pick and choose who gets to be "real" Democrats and who doesn't.

Regardless, I don't even need to go to Blue Dogs..

Pelosi claiming that Dems are going to hold onto control of the House is about as nuttia as it gets...

Tell ya what.. You give me an example of "nuttia" from a current candidate from the Right and I will match it with an example of "nuttia" from a current candidate from the Left..

But it has to be REAL nuttia, not just something you disagree with...

Michale.....

Michale, could you come up with ONE example of wingnuttia from a serious Democrat candidate? Blue Dogs don't count. (We need some minimal standards...). Maybe I'm too isolated up here in the British Columbia wasteland, but if ANY Democrat candidate was spouting similar bilge to your avaerage bagger, I'm sure it would be front page news everywhere and you'd be harping on it as an example of "both sides are the same". Given your intelligence, I don't understand how you can honestly believe this tripe.

I would say MOST of the other blogs are like that. If yer bored one day, take a gander.. You'll be amazed at how nice we have it here at CW.com.. Suburban Guerrilla is another good site where the debates are good. Of course, my definition of "good" is a site that doesn't ban people simply for a dissenting opinion. :D So, my standards in that regard are pretty low. :D

But, getting back to the topic.....

What do you think about the theory that has been put forth that the upcoming rallies might negatively impact the Dem vote???

Michale.....

I don't know if that's true w/ all blogs, but I'd agree w/ you that certainly some of them. And, you may find this surprising, Michale, but I think Olbermann often gets caught up in the "Right vs. Left" trap. Or, at least that's what his show feeds into.

Someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - I don't watch a lot of Olbermann so I could very well be - but I find he spends too much time talking about things like the "crazy Tea Party".

I'd rather see progressive commentators talking about things like our economic philosophy and defining what progressives stand for.

Unfortunately, Olbermann's getting big ratings (like some of those on Fox) so he will likely continue. *sigh*

-David

Of course Michale won't take it seriously because Cesca banned him from his site, but the sheer volume of wingnuttia Olbermann lists is staggering.

I am sure that, if I had the time and the inclination, I could find an equal volume of wingnuttia from the Left..

But you prove my point for me. In the realm of political blogs it is usually ALL about "Left vs Right"...

As for Cesca's site. It's nothing but an echo chamber for people to go to and be ditto heads.. Everyone that posts a dissenting opinion is called a litany of names or banned.. Or both... I challenged the resident ditto head to a debate regarding his hypocritical posting and his response was personal attacks against myself, my wife and my mother...

Yea, they are REAL classy over at Cesca... :^/

I disagree. I'd be happy if Rush or Glenn were busing people in if they were busing people with the non-partisan goal of restoring some civility to the conversation.

Sure didn't seem that way back before Beck's lil gathering.. :D

If Arianna went to see Star Trek, would that make it a "liberal" movie? :)

Ohh oooooo, don't get me started on THAT movie!!!!! :D

But seriously... Read over some of my posts at HuffPo... Are ANY of them worthy of a ban?? Check Cesca's site or Oink's site.. NONE of the posts there were attacks or anything. They were simply logical and rational responses that disputed the echo chamber..

And THAT is why I was banned there. Because I had the audacity, the unmitigated GALL to dispute the echo chamber...

But, I digest... :D

Dissent is as American and as patriotic as Mom and apple pie...

A point that the Huffington's and the Cesca's and the Oink's just cannot seem to grasp...

Michale.....

I disagree. I'd be happy if Rush or Glenn were busing people in if they were busing people with the non-partisan goal of restoring some civility to the conversation.

I'm sure Stewart/Colbert would be too as they are entertainers and the bigger the crowd, the better.

If Arianna went to see Star Trek, would that make it a "liberal" movie? :)

-David

http://www.bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2010/10/the_tea_party_i.html

Of course Michale won't take it seriously because Cesca banned him from his site, but the sheer volume of wingnuttia Olbermann lists is staggering.

The fact that it is Arianna MAKES it a Left vs Right issue.. Not to mention the simple fact that I can't post to Arianna's commentary makes it a Left vs Right thing. :D

Just as it would be a Right vs Left if Limbaugh or Beck offered to bus people in, as I am sure you would agree. :D

Having said that, I did read the responses to How Would You Restore Sanity and I have to admit that I am suitably impressed...

But once again, I point out how Arianna doesn't like to hear all opinions, which is a strike against her...

It's ironic. Most of the suggestions more or less say, "listen to other people's opinions" and "keep it civil".. Yet, I am still banned...

Which is why it's hard to think that HuffPo'ers are really serious about it..

Michale

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/huffpost-readers-weigh-in_b_775232.html

What's interesting about it to me is that there's no mention of Right vs. Left.

From what I understand, Michale, Ms. Huffington offered to provide buses to anyone interested in attending.

As I mentioned earlier, I think a lot of people are fed up with all the Right vs. Left screaming. People across the political spectrum.

If you check the Interwebs, she may have posted more on her reasons. I did a brief search and couldn't find but I wasn't too inspired.

Believe it or not, Michale, and I consider myself pretty liberal, I honestly don't hate conservatives or Republicans or Tea Partiers. What I don't like is the atmosphere where we can't sit down and discuss things instead of calling each other Hitler :).

That's why I try not to do it myself and also why I like hanging out here at CW.com (blatant plug for Chris)

I think it's undeniable that satire of celebrity politics is the goal this weekend

Good point, Osborne. Couldn't agree with you more that both comedians like to make fun of celebrity pundits (especially Colbert).

-David

If it is not a "Right Vs Left" venue, then why is Arianna Huffington paying a quarter of a million dollars to bus liberals into the event??

Michale.....

I saw Colbert's "testimony" as a direct attack on the phenomenon you note here. For that matter, Beck's event was ostensibly about a charity; Stewart has been pushing his own charity in conjunction with the Rally4Sanity.

Stewart came up with the rally idea *after* "WhiteStock." I think it's undeniable that satire of celebrity politics is the goal this weekend, just as Colbert always pauses on his way to the guest interview area and receives the adoration of the crowd. By saying 'it's all about ME,' Colbert lampoons ego-driven celebrity pundits.

I think there is some validity to that theory.. Like you said, fans of the two are exactly the kind of youthful activist that made the Democrats ascension to power possible..

And they ain't gonna be around this weekend. Hell, it will provide those people an excuse NOT to vote or volunteer..

"Sorry, I really wanted to do my part and vote Democrat but I was just too damn tired from the weekend in DC to pull myself out of bed on Tuesday."

And, since Arianna is providing transportation for tens of thousands MORE Lefty activists, the Dems numbers will be even MORE depressed come election day.

It's gonna be a rout....

Michale.....

Yesterday morning Salon had posted an article about there not being many details on the event. And by afternoon, Frazier Moore at the AP had parroted much of the story. I saw it here at ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wirestory?id=11985005&page=1

Mr. Frazier uses the lack of details to speculate that the event is going to be more political than everyone thinks.

Despite Stewart's insistence to the contrary, are he and Colbert perilously straying from illuminative mockery into full-blown political activism?

To me, this misses the point.

I think, if anything, this is a commentary on the sad state of our media that turns everything into the great Right vs. Left crusade.

So it's funny to me when the press tries to portray his rally as part of the great Right vs. Left crusade. No matter how much John actually says that's not what it's about.

Yes, a lot of people who would be called "liberals" by the right will probably attend his rally. But that's because most of the liberals I know don't believe in this "Right vs Left" crap.

And I know a lot of independents and even some conservatives who are tired of it as well.

What I think upsets John the most is that the story that he wants to see in the media is a story about a comedian who is tired of "Right vs. Left". What he wants to see in the media are fact-based stories. What he gets in the media is "Right vs. Left". Ad nauseum. Or, maybe I'm projecting here and this is what I miss from the media :).

The event will make for some great comedy. I just have to keep asking myself, why is it that people voted for John as the most trusted anchor in America. He runs a comedy show!!! He even continuously tells you he runs a comedy show.

I think the reason is that the traditional media no longer does the job that it once used to do.

Great topic, Chris!
-David