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Sunday’s Washington Post has a nice one-two punch aimed at those who observe reality and notice that there is something especially unnerving and striking about today’s right wing rhetoric, most notably that it is endorsed, condoned, and enabled by elected Republicans who stand side by side with those who call President Obama a Nazi, terrorist, illegal alien following in the footsteps of Adolph Hitler (when they’re not making such comparisons themselves).
On page A1, there’s this piece, asserting that there’s nothing new about right wing venom directed at Obama: “as if President George W. Bush had never been depicted as Hitler, declared a dunce, and heckled by Code Pink”. This is false equivalency. There’s a big difference between an entry in a MoveOn ad contest comparing Bush to Hitler and the chorus of Obama-Hitler comparisons made and/or condoned by Republican and right wing heavyweights.
What the Post is missing is that everyone denounced the anonymous MoveOn ad contestant–and rightly so. Elected Republicans not only aren’t denouncing the Obama-Hitler comparisons made commonplace by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others, they are joining the chorus: Rep. Paul Broun mixed his extremist political metaphors by declaring that Obama is poised to establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship, admitting that “it may sound a bit crazy and off base, but [Obama]‘s the one who proposed a national security force“, adding “that’s exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany”. Yes, Rep. Broun, you do sound a bit crazy, because it is absurd to suggest that Obama is putting the United States on the same path Hitler led Nazi Germany. Rep. Broun is not alone among elected Republicans in condoning Obama-Hitler comparisons. Rep. Steve King and Sen. Chuck Grassley said nothing when constituents at town hall meetings compared Obama to the Nazi Fuhrer. Sen. Jim DeMint praised a crowd holding signs denouncing Obama as a Nazi and a terrorist, declaring the assembled extremists were “freedom fighters” and he had “never been so proud to be an American.” As I have noted previously, Sen. DeMint is not alone among elected Republicans in standing side by side with these unhinged extremists.
The Post apparently thinks nothing new is going on when elected Republicans question whether the nation’s first black president is a real American–after all, some people called Bush a dunce and CodePink heckled him. The Post is missing a couple of crucial differences. First, there’s a big difference between calling Bush a dunce and threatening to march on Washington with guns. Second, and more importantly, there is a big difference between an anonymous person comparing Bush to Hitler and elected Republicans doing the same for Obama. Yes, there have always been extremists, as the Post observes. There has always been over the top rhetoric. What’s striking about this moment is that elected Republicans can joke about lynching Democrats, they can praise a self-described right wing terrorist as a great American, they can accuse Obama of doing “exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany”, and they can lend credibility to conferences that helpfully instruct attendees on “How to Recognize Living Under Nazis and Communists.”
The Post’s piece mentions none of this–in its studiously “balanced” depiction of left wing and right wing extremism, the Post ignores the many examples of elected Republicans who are fanning the flames of extremism (the Post does mention Joe Wilson’s “you lie” moment, but doesn’t give any context and doesn’t mention any of the Obama-Hitler comparisons made or condoned by elected Republicans–the closest it comes is mentioning that Glenn Beck has accused Obama of putting the U.S. on a path to socialism. That’s actually a pretty tame example of Beck’s insane rhetoric).
So, to the Washington Post, there’s nothing to see when right wing demogogues are comparing Obama to Hitler and elected Republicans are doing the same or standing side by side with extremists who level this dangerous charge. Right wing anger is nothing new, you see. What is notheworthy is “seething liberals” who are driving around with Kerry/Edwards or Gore/Lieberman bumper stickers–something George Will sees as evidence of their “unassuageable anger“. Right wingers may hang Democrats in effigy, they may speak of marching on Washington with guns, they may denounce Obama as a terrorist, but you haven’t seen rage until you’ve visited a Washington, D.C. neighborhood where “seething liberal[s]” are protesting speed bumps by loudly honking their horns or giving residents the finger. Too bad the front page column couldn’t work in this important information. Elected Republicans may be standing side by side with those who compare Obama to Hitler, but anonymous motorists (all, apparently known liberals) honking their horns as many as 30 times are the real threat. I can understand why no one is paying attention to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sen. DeMint or Rep. Broun. For god’s sake, some people are honking their horns and displaying Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers. I’m glad the Post is on the case.
8 Comments
It’s a sad sight to see the same WaPo that uncovered facts – to bring on the Watergate investigation – now under right wing ideology scrabbling to obscure those liberally biased facts. In its life as a winger rag, those facts are uncomfortable now. Giving the lies as much weight as those facts does, indeed, make me seethe, because of the harm it does to the country, and to public knowledge of real news.
If the young man he called “Macaca” hadn’t had his camera with him at George Allen’s rally, we might never have heard what language Allen was using when he thought he would get by with it. It’s up to those who want the truth to dig it out, here and throughout the internet.
yeah, I was thinking something similar…we’ve come a long way since Woodward and Bernstein (even Woodward and Bernstein have come a long way since the Woodward and Bernstein of Watergate). There is some good work still being done at the Post–I remember Barton Gellman’s series on the Cheney presidency. But the pieces yesterday are a reminder that so-called liberal media has fallen into the balance trap. It’s not even a left-right thing so much as it is a failure to recognize uncomfortable facts, as you say.
Isn’t it cheaper to cover things this way? It’s definitely easier.
No need to actually check facts, or do any digging. Just report what each side side.
that’s an excellent point. I’m sure it is both cheaper and easier to follow the “balance” model and that may be a big reason (perhaps the biggest) for its existence.
There is a REAL big problem with the progressive image in main stream media. There is a abundance of lazy reporting and drive-by commentary. It IS sad to see WaPo go down this road too.
The media coverage of the Left feels like going to a Pro-Iraq War rally and shouting “Where are the WMD’s!”. Your in a crowd full of morons and all they want to do is kick your ass because you point out the truth.
yeah, uncomfortable truths don’t often find their way into mainstream media coverage. I thought it was funny to watch cable news talk about the death panel claims–I heard several people say something like “most objective observers have concluded the claim has no merit”. That suggests, of course, that some may conclude otherwise–and maybe there’s some basis for claiming the government really is coming for grandma. It’s nearly impossible to call a lie a lie on cable news or in print journalism. It does happen sometimes, and sometimes from an unlikely source, but it the traditional media is very reluctant to call even a blatant lie a lie.
Thanks for a nice analysis of the media and its false equivalence framing of important issues. I recently wrote about that myself here.
thanks very much–good piece on Grayson. as you note, he does do a great job of rejecting the false equivalence framing. I saw him on MSNBC and someone (Contessa Brewer, I think) asked if he wasn’t doing the same thing as Joe Wilson–after all (she said) “You die” sounds like “you lie”. Grayson rightly derided the comparison as “nonsense”.