Petty Vindictiveness

"As a physician I wouldn’t wish ill health on anybody, and they know that…” Senator Tom Coburn, Fox News, 12/21/09

What Senator Coburn was referring to were the comments he made on Sunday following efforts by the Democrats to get an earlier vote because of Senator Byrd’s old age and “significant health problems.”

"What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight.”

Obviously, the Democrats who interpreted his comments as a prayer that Senator Byrd would not make it to the vote don’t “know” that. (Given the context of Coburn’s remarks, I don’t blame them for not “knowing” it.) Nor do the “base” Senator Coburn was appealing to, as in the likes of Right Wing blogger “Confederate Yankee:"

It isn't too much to ask for Byrd to step off for that great klavern in the sky before the Senate vote that may force this nation to accept government-rationed health care. Even a nice coma would do.

And the usuals at Free Republic:

Coburn was right! Schumer......Hildebeast.......Reid........Leahy........any other demonRAT should have their legs broken!

In short, the message Coburn obviously intended to send was received and understood.

“Your team wins. How do you show your pleasure?
Take to the streets, rampage, overturn cars, and rob banks.” Michelle Malkin 10/30/08

“If you're not supporting Barack Hussein Obama and don't own a personal protection mechanism, now might be the time to acquire one. Even if he does win as predicted, methinks there will be a lot more violence and incivility like this (the guy was holding an anti-War sign, which isn't mentioned in the article)…" Debbie Schlussel 11/3/08

“If Obama wins, then it’s like the Pistons won the title or a brother made parole. It’s gonna be brutal no matter what. There’s just no escaping it.” (Unnamed official quoted on right wing website) 10/27/08 360 degrez

Election night "riots" in

Grant Park, Chicago

Chapel Hill NC

Atlanta GA

Greensboro NC (My alma mater!)

San Francisco CA (My home!)

I thought cop cars would be turned over, fires set, TVs stolen. I thought it was going to get scary!

Look What Happened the Last Time We Had A POTUS from Illinois!!!

Looking for great leaders from the RED States to come forward...it is time for a new delegation.
Can't count on Virginia this time..but looks like Texas will more than suffice.
What ever you do...do not let go of your Guns!!!!! Free Republic Post 11/4/08

Let’s have a huge parade…how about on Nov. 22 in Dallas…Barack can ride in the back of a convertible with his wife…they could drive by the School Book Depository…yes, that’s the ticket…
From Fox Website Comments (quoted in Crooks and Liars)

I overheard one of the guys behind the gun counter say that gun sales among the shops in the area were up about 35-percent. Later, when he wasn't as busy, I asked him why he thought that was. His answer was simple, and perhaps predictable.
"Barack." From Confederate Yankee 10/12/08

Oh.

“A McCain-Palin campaign official snubbed the president of Penn State University who inquired about attending a campus speech Tuesday by Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, university officials told ABCNews.com.

'He's a big Democrat. Why would he want to meet Palin?' campaign aide Russ Bermel allegedly asked a school employee who was hoping to make arrangements for president Graham B. Spanier to meet Palin, according to Spanier's office. Justin Rood, ABC News 10/30/08

This dovetails so neatly with the tenor of the McCain/Palin campaign that it serves as an example of an approach the GOP has been using for almost twenty years. It’s the blurring of lines between ideas and human beings, of treating, say, a flesh and blood liberal or Democrat as a stand-in for all you, as a conservative, might dislike about liberalism or the Democratic party. A person who embraces this mindset is literally unable to grasp the concept of polite disagreement. As Pat Robertson expressed it some years ago:

“You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense! I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions, but I don’t have to be nice to them.” (The 700 Club, 1/14/91)

More recently this attitude was on display in Minneapolis, when talk radio host Dennis Prager spoke at an event attended by Norm Coleman, Michele Bachmann, and Governor Tim Pawlenty:

"Prager, who calls Bachmann a 'wonderful, wonderful extraordinary human being,' addressed the brouhaha by telling how he would’ve dealt with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews — by asking Matthews if he believes there are 'American values' in the first place; if Matthews agrees, then 'logic 1.1' dictates that some people must hold anti-American values." Paul Schmelzer, Minnesota Independent, 10/29/08

The moral problems with this “logic” are obvious, but there are also tactical problems with it. While pointing at one’s opponent and yelling, “anti-American!” can be a horribly effective way of inciting the troops, it can backfire when the troops themselves find much of what your opponent says to be compelling. In that case, they are likely to start wondering, quite logically, if you are calling them “anti-American” too.

And when it’s put on display as it was at Penn State University – even inadvertently – its fundamental pettiness is revealed in a way that’s not rousing on any level. It’s simply embarrassing.