Recently, several conservatives have visited my blog (I suspect many for the first time) and have denounced my critiques of conservative politicians and policy positions on the grounds that I am a "biased liberal." Many of them have argued that unless I can prove that I have criticized liberals as well, they will not accept my criticism of conservatives (apparently, regardless of the merits of my arguments).
Well, as a proud and happy educator, I have linked to nearly 200 blog posts that either defend conservatives -- including Bush, Palin, Steele, McCain and Limbaugh -- or which criticize liberals -- including progressives/Democrats, the so-called "liberal media," and President Obama.
I challenge any conservative reader to name a staunch conservative blogger or commentator who has defended liberals and criticized conservatives to the extent that I have gone against my own ideological instincts.
Bush
Get a Grip People: Bush Is not the Worst President in U.S. History
Presidential Idol: Lincoln the Best, Bush Not the Worst
Yikes! Congress' Approval Ratings Lower Than President Bush's
Say What? Obama and Bush Agree On 20 Major Issues, CNN Article Finds
Limbaugh
Bitter Sarcasm Alert: Flap Over Rush Limbaugh Proves That the Media Continues to Cover Extremely Compelling News Items!
Rush: The New Bush
McCain
Blacks, the Poor, and Democrats Overwhelmingly Endorse McCain's Mortgage Plan
Fundamentals of the Economy Are Sound -- Really?
New Polls Finds That Voters Care More About McCain's Age Than Obama's Race
Who Won the Debate? Depends Upon Which Candidate You Support
Palin
Is Liberal Sexism Against Palin OK? No!
Washington Post Proclaims That "Sarah Palin Picks Ferraro as Favorite Vice President." Shocking -- Yes. Truthful -- No.
Palin's Neiman Marcus Run a Drop in the Bucket: 2008 Is Most Expensive Election Ever
CNN and CBS Release Highly Misleading Polls Regarding VP Debate
Palin: A Roveian Strategy?
Madness from the Left and Right: Obama's Birth and Palin's Divorce
The Democrats' Palin Strategy: A Bridge to Nowhere!
Like a Moose Caught in the Headlights? How Will Sarah Palin Do Tonight?
November Surprise Regarding Troopergate: Palin Did Not Break Any Laws, Alaska Board Finds
Michael Steele
Man of Steele: RNC Chair Serves Major "Swagger" During Recent Interview
From the "Post-Racial" Vault: Slate Magazine Asks Whether Michael Steele Is Barack Obama's "Evil Twin"
A Black Progressive Law Professor Responds to News That Michael Steele Will Lead the GOP
I have criticized:
"Democrats," "Liberals" and "Progressives"
Hold Them Accountable Too: Many Democrats Supported Policies of the "Worst President" (Part I)
Hold Them Accountable Part II: If Conservatives Caused the Economic Crisis, They Had a Lot of Help from Democrats!
Chicken Little Politics: Moderate Obama Causes Progressive Panic
2008 Is Not 1964: Why Liberal Mania and Conservative Panic Are Nothing But Melodrama
Elevating Form Over Substance: Liberals Now Argue that They Oppose the Label of Bush's Program, Not the Substance
Split Ticket? What California's Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage Means for U.S. Liberals
Free at Last? No!
Strong Support for California Anti-Gay Measure Proves That Many Blue-State Voters Embrace Red Agendas
Lunacy from HuffingtonPost: Jesse Berney Says Democrats Should Ignore the GOP in January!
The Powell Endorsement: A Good Thing?
Head Explosion at The Nation: Left "Duped" by Its "Own Wishful Thinking"
If President Hillary Clinton Had Same Cabinet As Obama, Left Would Experience Meltdown
Progressives Awaken from Obama-Vegetative State
Reality Check: Obama's Election Victory Does Not Mean That Era of Race-Based Identity Politics Has Died
What (I Think) Progressives Should Have Done for Workers of Republic Windows and Doors
Republic Windows and Doors Received a Bailout from Chicago Before It Bailed Out of Chicago
MADE IN IOWA: Did Company in Chicago Sit-In Illegally Discard Its Workers and Quietly Relocate While Liberals Forced BOA to Pay for the Shady Scheme?
Laid-Off Republic Windows and Doors Workers: Pawns in Political Football
Dodd's Discriminatory Bailout: "Regime Change" for Main Street, But Not for Wall Street?
Drink Coffee With Obama: DNC Offers Commemorative Obama Holiday Coffee Mug for Donations!
Cheerleading for Ledbetter Law Drowns Out Discussion of More Progressive Pay Equity Measure
No Child Left Behind: Obama Magically Negates Differences in Black-White Peformance on Standardized Tests!
Separate and Unequal Public Schools: "Liberal" Blue States Have Worse Records Than "Dixie"
Patrick Buchanan Shows Greater Commitment to Liberal Values Than Senate Democrats, Defends Roland Burris
From the "Duh" Files: Effusive Political Adoration Does Not Lead to Social Change
Still a Flip-Flop: My Fellow Liberals Push Back Against Allegations of Inconsistency Concerning Rendition
Major Flip-Flop by Human Rights Watch: Organization Waiting for Obama to Develop Kinder, Gentler Rendition Program
Professor Balkin Defends Constitutionality of Bonus Tax
EXTREME IRONY ALERT: Rendell Says Steele Is Toast Because Republican Leaders Do Not Want A "Big Tent"
Will Defenders of the "Kinder, Gentler" Rendition" Beat Up the United Nations?
NBC Sex Therapist Thinks the Obamas Can Stimulate Romance
Are Young People Really Progressive As New Study Claims?
Pathetic News Item: "Liberal" New York City Charging Homeless People to Stay at Shelters!
Democrats Finally Seem to Accept the Truth About Specter
Several Senators Want States to Ban TWD: Texting While Driving
No! "Gay Is Not the New Black," BUT. . . .
Latest Recipient of a "Rotten Tomato Award": The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
OK, Kids: Protests = Good; Disrupting Meetings, Punching People, Hurling Racial Slurs, Etc. = Bad
"Our" "Mature" "Leaders": DNC and RNC Play Tag
Madness from the Left and Right: Obama's Birth and Palin's Divorce
Remember the Drama Over Those Missing White House Emails?
Ahem
The "Yes We Can" Movement Gets Sudden Reality Check!
Much Ado About Nothing? Liberals Absolutely Ecstatic Over Return to Pre-Bush Status Quo
Do Nepotism, Wealth and Dynastic Power "Taint" Kennedy's Likely Senate Appointment? Taking Reid's Arguments Where He Wouldn't Want Them to Go
Back Down Memory Lane: A Review of Anti-Clinton Rhetoric by "Progressives" on Daily Kos, Huffington Post, and AlterNet
Warning to Progressives: NYT Proclaims Obama Will Govern From Center-Right
So When Exactly Does "Change" Arrive? Senate Battle Over Burris and Blagojevich Offers "More of the Same"!
Would Obama Have Won If He Were Black...and Gay?
Black Californians and Proposition 8: Is White Gay Anger Justifiable?
A Wise Bob Herbert Discusses What Happens "After Election Day"
Raining on My Party's Parade? An Election-Day Analysis of Hillary Clinton and Liberal Sexism by a Progressive Law Professor
More Progressives Question Liberals' Euphoria
Blacks Less Optimistic About a Coming Liberal Utopia
A Sober Look at a Democratic Sweep
An Obama Presidency Would Cause the Death of Racism and the Civil Rights Movement, Says Alec Baldwin.
Bah Humbug: Both Parties Are Guilty With Respect to the Economy, But Neither Offers Concrete Solutions
FactCheck.Org Confirms What Neither Party Will Admit: Bipartisan Blame for Wall Street Woes
"Liberal" Media
Excuse Me Dana Milbank, Your Sexism Is Showing (Again)
Isn't It Ironic: E.J. Dionne's Column on Politics, the Media and Obama
Reader Challenge: How Has Obama Changed DC?
LA Times Joins the Hillary Media Makeover
Hillary's Media Makeover Continues: Secretary of State Clinton Scores High Marks for Her Asia Tour
"Scratching and Surviving" Less Newsworthy Than Politicians at Labor Protests: Scant Media Coverage of Republic Windows Workers After Sit-In
"Change" Has Arrived: NYT's Frank Rich Criticizes Obama For the First Time!
2008's Biggest Losers: The Media
Absolutely Shocking News Alert!
Oy Vey: Liberals Dominate Media Because They Want to "Change the World," Says WaPo Ombudsman
Why I Don't Trust the Media, Part 1000: Palin-Africa Story a Hoax
After the Obamercial: A Hint of Criticism Amidst Effusive Praise
2 Politico.Com Reporters Concede Media Biased, Blame McCain
ABC News Takes on Issue of Media Bias and Concludes: It Exists
Another Study Proves That 1+1=2, Or That the Media Love Obama, Hate McCain/Palin, and Who's Biden?
On Low Roads and Hypocrisy: The Media, Sexism and Hillary Clinton
Obama/Obama Administration
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Hold Your Breath
Rick Warren versus Don Imus: Obama's Inconsistent Positions
The Fallacy of Obama's "Diversity" Defense: Rick Warren's Views Already Have a Place at the Table
Embracing Uncle Good-But-Homophobic: Why "Reaching Across the Aisle" to Rick Warren Does Not Feel Safe to Everyone
Obama and Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Political Hot Air?
Obama and Gates: Two Unlikely "Race Men"
NYC Flyover Drama: An Update and a Question
Obama Administration's "Measured" Approach to Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Kinder, Gentler Discrimination: Obama Administration Trying to Make "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" More "Humane"
Dissenting Justice on the DOMA Brief, Part II: The Legal Arguments
Indefinite Detention By Executive Order: Another Looming Disappointment for the Left?
Dissenting Justice on the DOMA Brief, Part I: The Politics
THIS IS NOT CHANGE
Obama on National Security: I Am Doing the Right Things; I Have Not Broken Campaign Promises
Earth to Obama: Your Supreme Court Choice Is SUPPOSED to Galvanize Republicans
When Will Obama Close the Guantanamo Bay Prison?
Did the President Misspeak? Health Care Leaders Say Obama Misrepresented Their Promise to Reduce Costs
Change Alert: Indefinite Detention in the USA -- Not Guantanamo Bay
President Obama: Less Talk, More Action on GLBT Rights Issues!
They're Baaack. . . .
WhiteHouse.Gov Gets GLBT Makeover
Kinder, Gentler Military Tribunals? You Betcha. . . .
New Partisan Theatrics on the Left: GOP Supports the Flu
Obama Administration Will Appeal Court Ruling Which Allows Habeas Petitions for Certain Captives in Afghanistan
Et Tu, Olbermann? Some Liberals Finally Realize That for Certain Issues, "Change" Actually Means "More of the Same"
Great Unifier? Pew Center Survey Finds Largest Partisan Gap in Presidential Approval Ratings
Big One from the Washington Post: Obama Administration Plans to Devise Scheme to Avoid Company Restrictions on Bailout Funds
Another Alaska Criminal Case, Different Posture by DoJ
Grab the Smelling Salts: Obama Gives Her Majesty an iPod!
More on Bailouts, Autos and Banks
Discriminatory Bailouts? $2 Trillion for Wall Street, Tough Love for Detroit
Irony Alert: Can Spain Abduct Bush-Era Officials and Prosecute Them for Violating International Law?
Reliable FactCheck.Org Dissects Obama's Tuesday Night News Conference
Feds Converts Value of AIG Bonuses Into a Short-Term Loan: Geithner Says He Will Deduct $165 Million from AIG's Next TARP Installment
More Outrage: Obama Administration Knew About the Bonuses Months Ago
Misdirected Outrage: Public Should Bash the Feds for Giving AIG a "Blank Check"
Sincere or False Outrage? The Obama Administration Smacks Down AIG
Change = Same?
First Bush, Now Obama: Department of Justice Opposes Inmate's Effort to Test DNA Evidence Used to Convict Him
Finally -- A Bipartisan Issue: Hypocrisy Regarding Earmarks!
Obama's "Interesting" Comments About Rendition
Silly Me: Opposition to Earmarks Is "Last Year's Business"
No Kicking and Screaming Yet. . .
Is "Rosy" Back? Economists Question Obama's Economic Forecasting
GITMO: Why Is Obama Closing Such a Professional, Lawfully Run Facility?
Attorney General Holder Visits Guantanamo Bay After Pentagon Report Declares That Detention Facility Complies With Geneva Conventions
You Won't Believe Your Eyes: Despite Anti-Earmark Fervor and Economic Crisis, Proposed Budget Would Fund Thousands of Pork Projects
Two Important Terrorism Updates...But You've Heard Them Before
Don't Blame the Current Economic Conditions: Obama's Softer Position on NAFTA Emerged Almost a Year Ago
Chill Out, Canada: Despite Tough Campaign Rhetoric Obama Will Not Touch NAFTA
So Exactly When Does "Change" Begin, Take 45345234524523452452: Elena Kagan Says Government Can Indefinitely Detain Terrorism Suspects
Just As I Predicted: Obama Administration Invokes State Secrets Privilege in Anti-Torture Lawsuit
Panetta: Rendition Will Continue, Would Ask Obama to Authorize Harsher Interrogation Methods "If Necessary"
Speaking of Obama, Rendition and Torture. . . .
Corporate Salary Caps: Reading the Fine Print
Obama Will Order Military to Study Whether It Should Stop Discriminating Against Gays and Lesbians
My Requisite Feel-Good Inauguration-King Day Essay
Waffling or Just Filling in the Details: Obama's Statements on Guantanamo Bay Raise Questions
Maxing Out on Lincoln: Obama Will Eat Abe and Mary Todd's Favorite Foods at Inauguration Luncheon
Dining With Rivals: Obama to Honor McCain, Biden and Powell at Pre-Inauguration Event
Latest Cabinet Buzz: Richard Holbrooke to Lead South Asia Diplomacy
Governing In Prose: Obama's Cabinet Picks Defy Campaign Narrative That Emphasized "Hope," "Change," and "Washington-Outsider" Status
Will Wonders Ever Cease: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Stonewalling on Don't Ask, Don't Tell? No Action Until 2010
Robert Gates as Obama's Secretary of Defense: "More of the Same" for Gay Rights?
More "Change": Tom Daschle to Lead Dept. of Health and Human Services
Professor Tony Sebok: Do Not Look to Obama or Senate for Civil Justice Reform
Attorney General: Eric Holder, Clinton-Era DOJ Official
Big Guv'ment Alert: Obama Promises to Reform College Football!!!
If Clinton Becomes Sec. of State for Obama, My Cynicism Will Max Out!
Obama Picks Two Clintonites for White House Positions
From Strange to Surreal: Sec. of State Clinton
Trail of Broken Promises: A Powerful Closing Argument By an Unknown Candidate
Update: More Post-Obamercial Budget Analysis
Which Candidate Will Keep His Campaign Promises AND Reduce the Deficit? Neither!
Barack Obama: Echoes of Bill Clinton
Will Wonders Ever Cease! Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on the Campaign Circuit
Look Who's "Divisive" Now: The Anti-Obama Attacks Similar to Republican Smearing of the Clintons
Obama Proposes 90-Day Moratorium on Foreclosures, Despite Previously Bashing Clinton Plan to Do the Same
Obama Allows Two "Racists" to Campaign for Him: Why?
Enough Criticism, Senator Obama. Where Is Your Plan to Help Homeowners?
Obama Flip-Flop? Rejects McCain's Mortgage Plan As Too Costly
13 comments:
I think you're missing the point. Those that might complain about substance on your blog are clearly just noisemaking disruptors who are not actually interested in intelligent debate. Confronting them with facts will not do any good if they do not care about facts to begin with.
Anonymous: Good point. Perhaps it's the educator in me. Also, this is for my own benefit. Finally, it may help others who do not "know" the blog.
Darren, I felt that your remarks were dismissing the protesters' arguments based on their actions, which are not one in the same. The second point I had was that even though I disagree with the methods of protest, after 7 years of bad behavior from the left I find it hard to feel bad when the right resorts to the same tactics.
The only blogging community on the "right" which I have found that consistently criticizes both sides are those over at Reason. Yours is a great perspective from the left, consistently pointing out flaws with both sides. Keep it up.
-JS
Anonymous:
It's completely fine not to accept a persons's argument, but I usually do that with more argumentation. I have posted a few articles on here regarding the substance of healthcare reform, and I even explored the subject in the piece on the protestors. I do not oppose people expressing their viewpoints. Instead, I opposed the method. Outside of the meetings, I would have even endorsed a big loud and boisterous rally against "Obamacare." I love free speech.
Your second argument is what keeps us in the partisan trap - although you certainly are not in this alone. If we keep saying "but you did this," we will never escape. Even though I criticized both conservatives AND liberals, I still received messages saying "but liberals did this." It was maddening from the perspective of someone who wants to move beyond that....
The other point I would make briefly is that the Right also behaved badly with respect to speech during the Bush administration. Tossing people from restaurants, planes, malls, etc., because they were wearing anti-war tshirts is a bit much. The Dixie Chix were chased off the national radio scene just because they spoke candidly at a concert. I hope that many rightwingers can look back on these moments as overblown, just as they ask liberals to do the same.
This is one of the few blogs out there that does, in fact, rely on the merits of an arguement when discussing an issue, rather than the partisan colors of the people in question.
So it's a bit confusing to me how someone could level a charge of bias. I thought "dissenting" from positions that you felt were wrong, regardless of who was making those positions, was the point of the blog.
The reason the ideologues are allowed to get away with this is because intellectual dishonesty is not a concern to anyone with attention spans measured in seconds.
You can put me down as someone on the right who thinks that you are an intellectually honest liberal and not a blind partisan. I haven't commented here before, other than to link one of your posts, but I appreciate the fact that you take a critical look at your own side.
Restaurant: millisecond.
UNRR: THANKS. I will add that liberals have done the same. I was banned from MAJOR liberal websites - which is why I started my own blog.
While i commend your general even handedness and intellectual honesty in criticising those who deserve it regardless of party afiliation or ideology i think it unfortunately legitimizes the assumptions underpinning the critique. its entirely possible that you could never criticise liberals and have all your critiques of conservatives be valid. Every argument should be weighed post by post and the fact that you have criticised or defended an ideology or party in the past shouldnt matter.
Gaucho - although I agree with you, people do not appreciate nuance and logic -- especially when they are insecure in their own position. In the future, I will always be able to silence that madness with a simple link -- followed by your argument (that "it doesn't matter").
I am an conservative. I agree with what your view states in this post. I read both views (liberal and conservative) to stay in touch and make my own decisions.
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