Teabaggers, Bullies, Fatties, and Stoners
J.L. Bell, whom I know from the online community of Oz fans, made an interesting post on the increase of nasty rumors, threats, and such during the Obama administration. And I apparently wasn't the only one who liked it, as Slate picked it up. It does seem like right-wing outlets are eager to dismiss this trend by saying that there's plenty of bad behavior on the left as well. Which there is, but I don't think there's any real comparison for some of what's going on. This is especially true in terms of racism. Conservatives will insist that the majority of Republicans and Tea Partiers aren't racist, yet they refuse to call out the people who are. As I've argued before, why wouldn't they want to call out the bad apples from their own side? And really, isn't the right wing meaner in general? Not necessarily more critical, but just less likely to be sympathetic. Think about it. If you're more likely to be pro-war, pro-gun, opposed to social programs, resistant to expansion of civil rights, in favor of corporate bigwigs over their employees, unwilling for any of your money to support the less fortunate, and tough on crime...well, that suggests meanness to me. Now, there might well be cases where meanness is more effective than niceness, so I'm not saying these positions are always wrong. What I am saying is that they usually tend toward the violent and exclusive. So why is it Not Done to mention this? And why does nobody do anything about Facebook groups like this one? (I guess it's possible that someone HAS done something, as that's the kind of thing that might well attract the attention of the Secret Service, but if so I haven't heard of it.)
By the way, while I think part of why people like Jon Stewart criticize Fox News is indeed that they're a propaganda outlet rather than a legitimate source of news, we can't discount that it's fun to take swipes at them because they're one of the ultimate examples of being able to dish it out and not take it. Pretty much any criticism of Fox News on some other station, even if it's a joke, will result in a whole lot of "Awww, why does the liberal media have to be so MEAN?" responses from Fox News itself. It's an entire channel of self-satisfied bullies, and I'm not using "bully" in the sense that Theodore Roosevelt did.
If I may switch to another topic, have you heard about the Lane Bryant commercial that was banned by ABC, allegedly because it showed too much cleavage or something stupid like that?
Click to viewSo, okay, how is that any worse than the Victoria's Secret commercials they show on network TV all the time? Is it an FCC regulation that we're only allowed to see women in underwear if they're emaciated? For more takes on this subject, see here and here.
Another item that got me thinking was this one on changing the image of medical marijuana. While I'm not so keen on the drug business in general, I do think weed needs a facelift, so to speak. While the government is doing plenty to discredit pot, the potheads are unwittingly helping them out. I've never smoked marijuana myself, but I know plenty of people who have without getting into jam bands, patchouli, High Times magazine, saying "420" at every possible opportunity, and emblazoning pot leaves on things as if they're at all attractive.
