The Scorched-Truth Campaign Against Obama:
Sullivan on the Lies about Obama and American Exceptionalism
Andrew Sullivan absolutely nails it here.
American conservatives are currently devoted, first and foremost, to destroying Obama, and they are deploying a battery of lies and sophistries to do so. Sullivan gives the right the Daily Show treatment--that is, he goes through and collects a bunch of them all spouting the same lie and strings them together to drive the point home in an un-dodge-able way. After you see ten or so such quotes strung together, there is simply no denying the point. In this particular case, the lies are about something Obama said last year about American exceptionalism. It all began with a stupid question by notorious dumbass Jonah Goldberg, who asked Obama--in front of a foreign audience--whether he believes in American exceptionalism. Now, Goldberg--or "the Doughy Pantload" as he's known--intentionally put the President in a virtually unwinnable situation by asking this question in front of a foreign audience. The question is complicated anyway, since 'American exceptionalism' doesn't really mean one thing. It can be a lunatic view about God singling out America as his favored country...or it can mean something sane about thinking that we've held something of an unusual position in the history of the world. And, of course, it's going to be very hard to give an answer that will be well-received both at home and abroad. But Obama managed to do it, by simply articulating the very same view of America that people like me hold: though recognizing that every country probably thinks that it's special, we've got a fair bit of objective evidence that the U.S. really has been a rather special case.
So what does the right do with his response? They edit it down to the form that will play worst on the right, then (though there is, objectively speaking, not a damn thing wrong even with that edited bit) they spin it madly to fit their political prejudice to the effect that Obama doesn't think very highly of America.
These people are liars, plain and simple, and they very clearly put party over country and rhetoric over truth.
The right has gone mad. We have incontrovertible evidence of that. Sullivan here just does a particularly good job of making that clear.
Good for you, Sully. Keep up the damn fine work.
Sullivan on the Lies about Obama and American Exceptionalism
Andrew Sullivan absolutely nails it here.
American conservatives are currently devoted, first and foremost, to destroying Obama, and they are deploying a battery of lies and sophistries to do so. Sullivan gives the right the Daily Show treatment--that is, he goes through and collects a bunch of them all spouting the same lie and strings them together to drive the point home in an un-dodge-able way. After you see ten or so such quotes strung together, there is simply no denying the point. In this particular case, the lies are about something Obama said last year about American exceptionalism. It all began with a stupid question by notorious dumbass Jonah Goldberg, who asked Obama--in front of a foreign audience--whether he believes in American exceptionalism. Now, Goldberg--or "the Doughy Pantload" as he's known--intentionally put the President in a virtually unwinnable situation by asking this question in front of a foreign audience. The question is complicated anyway, since 'American exceptionalism' doesn't really mean one thing. It can be a lunatic view about God singling out America as his favored country...or it can mean something sane about thinking that we've held something of an unusual position in the history of the world. And, of course, it's going to be very hard to give an answer that will be well-received both at home and abroad. But Obama managed to do it, by simply articulating the very same view of America that people like me hold: though recognizing that every country probably thinks that it's special, we've got a fair bit of objective evidence that the U.S. really has been a rather special case.
So what does the right do with his response? They edit it down to the form that will play worst on the right, then (though there is, objectively speaking, not a damn thing wrong even with that edited bit) they spin it madly to fit their political prejudice to the effect that Obama doesn't think very highly of America.
These people are liars, plain and simple, and they very clearly put party over country and rhetoric over truth.
The right has gone mad. We have incontrovertible evidence of that. Sullivan here just does a particularly good job of making that clear.
Good for you, Sully. Keep up the damn fine work.
posted by Winston Smith at
2:09 PM
6 Comments:
I know the conservatives were being liars anyway, but how stupid do you have to be to think comparing America to the birthplace of democracy and western civilization, and the birthplace of modern liberal democracy and industry, is somehow insulting.
"These people are liars, plain and simple, and they very clearly put party over country and rhetoric over truth."
You've just described all politicians. Left/Right doesn't matter. The system engenders this sort of behaviour and that people are constantly surprised by it boggles the mind.
Thraw,
Fecking excellent point.
jae,
No way dude. "They all suck" is as false as "they're all great." Currently the GOP, as an institution, as simply gone off the rails. The Dems just seem to me to be a kind of standard-issue bunch of politicians, and their overall character is about like that of most political parties. But the GOP...they've gone off the deep end.
Winston,
While I agree that there are individuals on both sides that are not as bad as the rest, as a collective whole they 'all suck'. It is hard not to given the level of corruption inherent in the system.
I also disagree that there is that much of a difference between the Rep/Dem sides. Just compare the tea-party in this election with move-on from the last. 2 sides of the same crazy coin.
Yeah, I reckon we won't end up agreeing about this, man. I don't see any way of looking at it on which the two sides come out even close. The Dems are about averagely bad for a political party. The GOP and it's penumbra have pegged the crazy meter.
Jae writes:
Just compare the tea-party in this election with move-on from the last. 2 sides of the same crazy coin.
Mark Williams was the spokesman for the orgamization "Tea party Express" when he said that: "We have got the philosophy of fascism and national socialism at work here [in the Obama Administration]. Of course we do." Mr. Williams, to the best of my knowledge provided no evidence to substantiate his assertion.
I do not recall any official representative of Move On making a similar attack in 2008. Perhaps Jae can extend to us the small courtesy of citing such an attack by an official of Move On.
Similarly, the NAACP documented the significant overlap between the the leadership of some tea party organizations and various white supremecist and/or militia organizations.
I am unaware of any comparable entanglements of the leaders of Move On with equally violent and radical organizations. If Jae knows of such relationships, no doubt Jae will cite them. If Jae cannot cite such relationships, I am condfident that Jae will retract the assertion of equivalence between the Tea Party movement and Move On.
Best,
Jim Bales
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