CHERRYPICKING COMMENTS

"When will the first lib (moonbat) accuse John of cherry picking DU quotes? I give it about an hour."

Over the weekend, Vice President Cheney was the target of a suicide bomber, one that failed. The explosion killed 23 people (one of which was the moron with the bomb) and wounded 20. Cheney was asked if he thought the Taliban was trying to target him directly and he responded:

"I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government."

"Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that," he said. "But it shouldn't affect our behavior at all."

How the Taliban knew about Cheney's presence is somewhat of a concern, as this is not the first time a supposedly secret presence of someone has been acted on by the terrorists:

In January 2006, a militant blew himself up in Uruzgan province during a supposedly secret visit by the U.S. ambassador, killing 10 Afghans.

In response to this attack on the United States, most people were outraged and upset. Others, less so. At the Huffington Post, there was a blog entry about the event, and it was literally flooded with comments by the fans. The comments section has been closed and locked away, but there is a pdf file of the comments out there, and here are some samples:

If at first you don't succeed...
-by Tented


Better luck next time!
-by TDB


DrEvil escapes again... damn!
-by truthtopower01

Over at Democratic Underground, the response varied. One was even glad that Cheney hadn't been harmed:

Thank God Cheney was fine. I couldn’t deal with it if that man was made a martyr.

In fact I wish that the black hearted thug would stick around for the next 50 years so that he can see what the history books say about him, but that ain’t gonna happen.
-by LeviathanCrumbling


Cheney Unhurt, World Disappointed
-by TheWatcher

Some at the Democratic Underground even theorized that Vice President Cheney had become a liability and was targeted for execution, but the Bush team was so incompetent they failed the attempt. At the Daily Kos, the "sorry he lived" theme continued:

for viewers benefit that Cheney was NOT injured! Also had info that attack had as its goal Darth himself! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy! (snark!!)
-Dolphin777


damn, they missed!
-by Dancewater


A protest bombing versus real attempt on Cheney's life. Sad world when "protest bombing" makes some sort of sense.
-by John Boy


I'm glad the sick old sod survived; I couldn't stomach having to memorialize him against the backdrops of his numerous and abysmal failures.

I'm sure any of our troops there would have gladly put themselves in harms way to protect him. If I were in their shoes, I would too.
-by Kimberley


Good Point
I want him to rot in jail not die in a way that could in any way be construed as bravery, honor or decency.
-by Panda

Note that many of the comments in these sections were about sadness for the Afghanis that died, some even showed some concern for a friend who is overseas in Afghanistan. Not one single post showed the slightest outrage that a Vice President of the United States was targeted by terrorists for murder. None.

I was afraid Ronald Reagan was going to destroy the world, I considered him wrong and evil and dangerous when I was young and he was President. When he was shot, I was confused by how angry I felt and how much it hurt and frightened me for the president to be targeted, regardless of who he was. I wanted him to live, I hoped he was OK when I first heard about the assassination attempt. Apparently these folks do not share that ideology.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Right Wing News will semi-regularly post comments from the Democratic Underground or other leftist websites, outrageous quotes by commenters and diarists, bloggers and rabble rousers. The refrain constantly state when John Hawkins does such a post is "you're cherry picking comments, you're just finding the worst, this doesn't represent the left!" When this event happened, the biggest leftwing blogs on the internet were flooded with the kinds of comments I listed above, particularly the Huffington Post (where twice now blog writers have fantasized about Vice President Cheney's death) - things got so bad there that the comment threat was locked away and hidden.

The response from the left is again the same thing, "you're cherry picking comments, this doesn't represent the left, liberals aren't like that." Is that fair, are they right?

CLINTON MADNESS
I recall in the 1990s getting random emails about how President Clinton had secret drug-smuggling airstrips built in Arkansas and lists of all the people who "mysteriously died" around him. Rumors of how Ron Brown died from a gunshot to the back of the head before the plane crashed emerged. Theories of how Vincent Foster really died and why were brought up, questions were asked whether President Clinton would even step down from office. I remember the bitter rage many on the right felt that such a man was in the highest office of the land, that he was commander in chief.

Not everyone was a crank, but there were those who talked about wishing President Clinton would be assassinated, wishing he'd die choking on a french fry. I recall discussions of the ways the military would have to step in if the president refused to leave office. The rhetoric and the anger was always under the surface of the mainstream, because the right doesn't control the media and entertainment industries in America. It was, however, out there and to some degree still is.

The causes of this were frustration, fear, and anger. People were so upset that this man who they felt was so utterly undeserving of office, so patently corrupt, so sleazy and who had such terrible ideas for government would be president. The divide in the nation was very strong and very stark at the time. It just didn't get publicity or official sanction because it wasn't felt by the news anchors, pundits, comedians, and actors. To them, everything was going along just fine, and why would anyone not like this guy?

BUSH DERANGEMENT
Although the plain facts of the case tell the tale of Florida 2000, many on the left were horrified in what they thought was the theft of the election from Vice President Gore. Granted, almost to a man they all admitted they were glad Gore wasn't the president on 9/11, but that was quickly forgotten as the events on that day were excised from memory lest some patriotism or anti-terrorist fervor catch hold. Then President Bush demonstrated his desire to govern as a social conservative, to fight a strong war against terrorism, to dare to ignore them as he made decisions.

President Bush chose judges that would be resistant to liberal activism, banned funding to Embryonic Stem Cell research, blocked the use of foreign military bases for abortions given to locals. He cut taxes while implementing the very programs the left always had called for. Worst of all, he was popular, successful, and Republican at the same time. The bitter frustration, anger, and fear crept deeper and deeper into the hearts of the left. Without knowing the facts in most cases, they were told lies about the man and his actions. Rejecting any contrary position as a right wing conspiracy, the fear built on fear.

CHERRYPICKING?
Does the left really want Vice President Cheney to die? I think the bulk of them deep down would not want that VP of the United States to be murdered by terrorists, they would consider it an attack on them and a brutal evil, as far as they are willing to admit the existence of such a thing. That said, I believe most of them, even the ones crying "cherry picking!" today would cheer this event at least in part, simply because of that fear and frustration. It would vindicate their anger, it would express their bitter hate for the man who is so competent, capable, and has such profound presence.

The animosity toward Vice President Cheney is even stronger than President Bush, if that is imaginable, because he seems so capable, strong, and threatening. Cheney has one of those faces that is sort of scary to kids, he has an enormous presence that comes across even over television. He has a booming, deep voice, an attitude of confidence and unconcern, and a competence that is unnerving. If something were to happen to President Bush, Dick Cheney would take over and some even theorize that he's really in power anyway, with the hapless idiot chimp George Bush as a puppet. In a childish way, because Vice President Cheney looks and feels sort of scary he is considered to be by the radical left. He looks like a bad guy, so he must be. Besides, he owned oil companies.

RELATIVISM
I believe that this isn't so much cherry picking as exaggerating. I believe that the majority of the radical left - the ones with the loudest voices and greatest influence today on the Democratic party - really deep down do want Vice President Cheney to die. That they would celebrate such a thing, while at the same time being opposed to murder. These are the same people who considered Glenn Reynolds a barbaric thug for suggesting that Iranian nuclear scientists be assassinated. The thing is, the irony doesn't reach them - irony requires an absolute understanding of truth and ethics, and if you reject those concepts, you can hold contradictory positions gleefully and knowingly.

This is how they can state truthfully that they support the troops - as far as it goes - yet take every single position and action that plainly demonstrates contempt for and opposition to these men and women and everything they are trying to accomplish. Not only are most of them generally ignorant about the military, but they are willing to hold two contradictory positions at the same time because it shows how nuanced they are.

Are these comments being cherry picked? In this case no, they were the majority opinion with almost no opposition or contradiction. Are they truly representative of the left in America? Sort of, yes. Should we all be better than this? Yes, but how can we be, if our attitude is that political power is the end all and be all of our lives? If we think that this life is all there is and nothing exists beyond what can be measured by our senses and science, what else is there other than power? The fruits of relativism and naturalistic philosophy are bitter indeed.

Comments, Relativism, Naturalism