About a year ago, the Right got righteously indignant over Hugo Chavez calling George Bush the devil. I can understand that … the comment was clearly out of line.
Right now, the big issue is MoveOn.org’s vile ad calling General Petraeus “General Betray Us.” I agree with the various Republicans calling this offensive and an uncalled-for attack, as well as an inappropriate method of attacking. Name-calling like that is something that people should have outgrown by about the time they finished junior high school.
Having said that …
How many of these same Republicans object to the term “feminazi”? (And, please, don’t bother me with Rush Limbaugh’s inane defense of the term … it doesn’t hold water compared to how he uses the term.)
How many of them objected when Limbaugh was referring to Tom Daschle as “El Diablo”?
When Barack Obama is called “Barack Usama,” how many of these voices are raised in indignation?
How many of them condemned Ann Coulter for referring to John Edwards as a “faggot”?
I did, by the way.
It is wrong to refer to “Flush Limbaugh.” It is wrong to refer to the former Secretary of State as “Colon Bowel.” It’s even wrong to accent Dick Cheney’s name that way … and you know what I mean.
It’s also wrong to pretend that this kind of juvenile behavior is limited to one party or the other. It should end, and it’s only going to if the audience stops encouraging it.
No matter what you think of General Petraeus and the Bush administration, he deserves a certain level of respect. Everyone deserves a certain level of respect. It’s time for the debate in this nation to be conducted as if by adults.
I condemn MoveOn.org for this, and I hope that Democrats join in that condemnation. I hope that Republicans seize this opportunity to take and keep the high road.
