After the beheading of Nick Berg, I found the partisan response of the blogosphere to a beheading quite interesting. Long story short, conservative blogs were all over the story, liberals not so much…
Fast-forward to the Tsunami– a story that should be nearly devoid of partisan bias. I decided to check the same blogs…
The Lefty Blogs
Crooked Timber has exactly one post of just 4 lines on the Tsunami itself and a follow-up post about red cross donations.
Over at Washington Monthly there was one post from a guest poster. Kevin Drum was apparently too busy to mention 60,000 or so people dead but he did find time to call George Bush a criminal and post about the fact that the label in his new shirt doesn’t itch him. Nothing like priorities in life.
Matthew Yglesias, to his credit, has 3 posts.
Josh Marshall? That would be one post.
Atrios had a single post where he called it “Horrible” and said he had nothing to add. But he did find time later to blame the U.S for being stingy
Daily Kos has 2 posts, neither from Kos. I can’t help but wonder what he’d say about these victims.
MYDD – the new big dog in the liberal half of the blogosphere- could not be bothered to even mention 60,000 people dead.
The Righty Blogs
LGF has 5 posts that I saw and I might have missed some.
Michele at A Small Victory, is all over it, dozens of posts if you count CP, many for charitable donations.
Outsidethebeltway has 3 posts on the topic.
Glenn Reynolds has 10 posts (that I saw) up with multiple updates/links.
(Vodkapundit is on a hiatus of some sort, so subbing for Steven Green will be Steven Taylor)
Steven Taylor is at 3 posts and a cool map.
Wizbang is at 9 and counting.
AND what the heck, since I got both sides, I’ll get Joe over at “The Moderate Voice.” Joe has 7 posts (that I saw) including the mother of all round-ups.
To be fair, things have changed in the blogosphere. I listed Andrew Sullivan as a righty blogger before, but I don’t know he qualifies for that label toady. I didn’t have a “gay marriage blog” category so I dumped him. The lefty blogs (and readers) have cemented around a few big names in these last few months while there are a ton of new righty blogs. Many of the new “righty” blogs had few posts on the topic.
Still I have to wonder… We are continually told how much more liberals care about their fellow man than conservatives, yet 60,000 people are presumed dead and many of the liberals hardly mention it…
The numbers don’t seem to tell the same story.
finally, some proof positive that liberals are a bunch of hypocrites. Only 1 post? You should see rightwingpeoplewhocare.com. 60,000 posts and counting! Nuf said.
Does everything have to be a competition about whose better righties or lefties. As a liberal I read most of the liberal blogs listed and had no trouble finding a link to make a donation. Surely providing relief in the face of this tremendous tragedy is one thing both sides can agree on.
This is pathetic and disgusting.
I like to peruse liberal blogs. I do it to get political news, opinion on the state of politics and so on. I read them to find out about controversial issues.
There is nothing controversial about the tsumani. No one is for it. It is not a left/right issue. If I want news about it, I’ll read a newspaper watch CNN.
I haven’t seen any discussion of the tsunami in automobile commercials. Obviously car makers are heartless bastards. I haven’t seen any discussion of it on ESPN sportcenter – those bastards! The back of my cereal box had no mention of it! Has General Mills no decency!?
I couldn’t reach rightwingpeoplewhocare.com. It down due to so many posts? Or was that made up? Well, if nothing else Paul, you got people talking/posting about the Tsunami.
I take the silence as awed humility. I take the discussion as compassionate concern. Neither deserves reproach.
Julie, a little face to face contact with some one of the liberal persuasion might do you some good. There’s a good chance he wouldn’t tear out your eyes and eat your children.
It must be nice to find something to blame the left for, since you can’t exactly blame them for the faultline moving.
And here I was, thinking that all the small ways in which lefty bloggers like John Holbo and Teresa Nielsen Hayden were good things. Now I discover that they’re just the widow’s mites and that they should have been dropping their big golden coins into the temple baskets.
Hey Mavis, I live in the belly of the beast. I know first hand the damage they have and can do. So please can the lecture.
Once the left began labelling conservatives and Republicans as “neo nazis” and “bushistas” and “bushnazis” and, not to be omitted here, “fascists,” they lost any shred of crebility with me.
Such that there is no reason any longer to even consider spending any time with liberals or even trying to interact with them about much of anything — they’ve proven themselves time and time again to be unreliable and often quite threatening to the United States as to their dedication to oppose most of the country and most of us citizens in the country and worse…– and the very idea in these times that there’s some need for conservatives/Republicans to somehow protract liberals’ abuses as entertaining or good socialization or whatever, is just plain wrong. Also unproductive. Also a waste of time.
I was just perusing the Yahoo message board that accompanies the Washington State election issue and the messages are fraught with incredibly inflexible, didactic and quite condescending liberals lecturing everyone else about the “nazi” and “fascist” “conservatives” and pretty much threatening anyone who provides any suggestions, information or questions that doesn’t meet with a handful of liberals’ laid in concrete approach toward ‘victory’ and such. All one hundred or a few more eeked out hand counted by prying Democrats’ eyes ballots suddenly found in King County seems to equate to liberals as some sort of message from beyond.
I always think it’s interesting how truly autocratic individuals think that any idea of any change from their own perceptions equates with “naziism” and “fascism” and such, while, in actuality, it is they who demonstrate and fully embody true fascism. Today’s DNC, and all that disdain for everyone else not a liberal, is the actual conformity for conformists insisting on conformity from everyone else, under threat of “or else.” To wit: the very idea that Nature is striking out at human beings simply because the Democrats lost the Presidency (and have before, so I guess natural disasters were because of that in times past, too, if you reason as some liberals do today).
You know, the storms, all these natural disasters, maybe they would happen MORE if Democrats won the Presidency. And then the Democratic President could just do what Clinton did for eight years and say things were great, instead.
Seriously, folks, by the time conservatives, Republicans get to a keyboard, we are usually in need of time away from liberals, not more time listening to/reading about how bad liberals think everyone else is.
And, God doesn’t inflict storms or disasters on people. And certainly not because the DNC is resentful about conservatives. Which I find to be the epitomy of liberal insanity, that the very world trembles because liberals lose elections, that liberals consider everyone else to be “soulless” and such.
Once the left began labelling conservatives and Republicans as “neo nazis” and “bushistas” and “bushnazis” and, not to be omitted here, “fascists,” they lost any shred of crebility with me.
So did the right lose credibility with you when they began labeling liberals and Democrats as “traitors,” “cowards,” and communists? Remember when the religious right blamed 9/11 on the wickedness of America? As much as I’d like conservatives to be better, partisan hatred and absurd claims about God being on one’s side are equally common on both sides of American politics. Both Republicans and Democrats have their share of wingnuts and idiot commentators who will say anything to create controversy to drive up their ratings/sales. It’s a serious problem, and one which we need to acknowledge on our side too if we’re ever going to fix it.
Julie’s been eaten by Ted Kennedy!!!
God, help me! (Oh, well, it’s a better way to go then going for a drive with him. )
So did the right lose credibility with you when they began labeling liberals and Democrats as “traitors,” “cowards,” and communists?
You forgot to include criticizing their patriotism. Considering all the talk about leaving the country after losing in a democraticaly held election, the charge has been substantiated. And people like ANSWER are communists.
… and people like Paul and Julie are idiots, lunatics, and simpletons.
For those of you who haven’t been able to keep up, let me summarize the elevated discourse from Julie:
“… using other people’s blogs to bitch and moan and spew their same b.s. … deary … What a piece of shit you are. Truly a piece of shit … you cheap bastard … You are the self-centered and elitist one here … you feel all touchy feely good … an ego like yours would be telling everybody instead of taking cheap shots at other people … And your’re still a cheap bastard … it’s you BSD people who are so full of hatred … your hate-filled politics … ran over here and whined about the bad people saying mean things about you … too cheap and selfish … You’re looking for alt.blog.spank.spank.spank! … the left will once again lie to make America, Americans, and Bush look bad because the left is so damn petty. Don’t give me this esoteric bullshit … What good are you? Bleh! … it’s the same old bullshit … really cheap … narcisstic needs … Your children couldn’t stand your exceedingly bitter and cheap self and stick you in a nursing home? … another Bush/America bashing session … Shove it! … another bash America session … I live in the belly of the beast … God, help me!”
That’s comedy gold! Over New Year’s she’ll be playing the Sands at Tahoe and The Laff Factory in Petaluma.
Make sure to tip the wait staff on your way out.
OMG, Boffo is my first stalker! You put lots of effort into this, I see. Anyway, since everything you cut, pasted, edited, and took out of context was in response to an equal or greater insult initiated by the other party, once again, you lose.
And Boffo, since you obviously have no real job, when I’m playing the Sands, I’ll check to see if they need busboys and put in a good word for you. 🙂
Holy shit — a tsunami? Why didn’t anybody tell me about this? As a progressive Democrat, my only news source is progressive Democratic blogs, so, of course, I’d heard nothing. Thank the Lord for Wizbang!
Your statement that Kos personnaly put up no posts on the subjects is factually incorrect:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/29/202425/20
Nice slander, though. It must make you feel good inside to know you can slander people simply because you disagree with them on political issues.
Next time, look before you leap. Unless you’re leaping into the grand canyon — in which case — please leap away.
Hey dipshit, Dailykos has been obsessed with the Tsunami tragedy since it happened. Every aid agency imaginable has been given and people have donated alot of money to help. Quite playing politics with a tragedy, especially when the guy who should be at the lead is vacationing. Geezus.
Keven, don’t follow our lazy press’ lead. As a blogger, you need to research your statements before posting them. As blof pointed out, Kos did post about the trajedy.
I’m sorry, it’s Kevin (typo)
You’ve convinced me! Because of the difference in the number of posts, I’m going to start fearing niggers and try to abolish all taxes.
Fact checking is your friend, unless you like to look foolish. I might add that to make assertions like this in lieu of the horror is beyond bad taste and says more about the author than it does the accused. Guess I won’t have to come back here every again.
Paul and Julie: if you two aren’t a couple of assholes, you’ll do nicely until the real thing comes along.
How anyone can take this piece-of-shit blog seriously is beyond me.
Conservatives are incapable of feeling empathy. Your brains are abnormally wired, and you are incapable of feeling or acting in any way that isn’t self-serving. You only care about the Tsunami victims to the extent that you can brag about caring. Sucks to be you.
julie: everything you cut, pasted, edited, and took out of context was in response to an equal or greater insult initiated by the other party
You don’t have to use the they-did-it-first defense any more, Julie. Just call your genuinely loathsome behavior a pre-emptive strike, and maybe your troglodyte pals will overlook how the worst disaster in human history was just an excuse for you to shit on liberals.
Right-wingers always remind of that minister in NJ who muredered his entire familiy back in the seventies, because they had turned evil. They say and do the most vile things and then say they have to because “the LEFT” makes them. The lack of self-responsibility and shear self serving malignity of the right is disgusting. 100,000 dead and all they can say is “we talk about more than the left that makes us better”. You people really are less than human.
Your statement that Kos personnaly put up no posts on the subjects is factually incorrect:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/29/202425/20
Nice slander, though. It must make you feel good inside to know you can slander people simply because you disagree with them on political issues.
Next time, look before you leap. Unless you’re leaping into the grand canyon — in which case — please leap away.
SPEAKING of not looking before you leap… you might want to check the time stamps on the post…
Then apologize for being a jackass.
The guy in NJ was not a minister. His name was List and he was an accountant. He was obviously more than a little unbalanced and there is no proof he was a Republican. Nah nah na na nah. But he was Lutheran. So obviously Lutherans are all bad. How else could someone so evil come from their ultra-religious right holy roller red-neck scary church?
The only basis for this silly discussion comes from the fact that the left has to start bashing Bush 24 hours after the tsunami because he picked the week between Christmas (can I say that?) and New Years to go back to Crawford where by the way it is set up like a WHITE HOUSE with all the communications, staffing and presidential shit so he can still do business if the need arises.
How do you guys feel about the bastard Kofi Annan being on vacation too? He came back to NY as well he should after the shit he’s pulled at the UN. A lot he cares about people dying…like in Dafur, Kosovo and starving in Iraq from 91 to 2003. But I’m sure glad he’s back taking charge of UN relief (now there’s an oxymoron if I ever saw one)in this moment of crisis. Now tell me again, besides coordinating a few conference calls, setting up a few committee meetings since Sunday, what HAS the UN actually accomplished this week in south Asia? I mean the US military is all over this mess with supplies, medical personel, logistics, helicopters, ships…you name it. Oh, and by the way, the White House doesn’t have the descretion to put up any more than $35 million without Congress’s approval. Bah. Clueless jerks. Before its all done, the US will have kicked in a few billion no doubt. Quit reading kos and maybe you’ll learn what’s really goin’ on.
Paul in his original post:
Still I have to wonder… We are continually told how much more liberals care about their fellow man than conservatives, yet 60,000 people are presumed dead and many of the liberals hardly mention it…
Paul in comments:
What’s so appalling is that you are too stupid to see that I did not seek to score political points, I POSTED THAT OTHERS DID.
Oh please, Paul. That’s exactly what you did. It’s a “Has the left stopped beating its wife yet?” argument.
BY the way, the Volokhs and Prof. Bainbridge have been posting pretty sparsely about the tsunami, and they certainly haven’t been screaming about THEIR AMAZING COMPASSION AND BOTTOMLESS HEARTS, even though I bet they are the types to donate whatever they can.
Why do they hate America, Paul?
Julia?
By the way here’s one of the compassionate commenters from LGF opining on the tragedy:
I won’t be giving a dime for aid and I wish our whole country wouldn’t either. We’re at war and a large chunk of the world would love to see us lose. Fuck them. Make countries come begging on their knees for money. Make the prime ministers of these shit hole 3rd world countries come to the US, get on their knees, denounce terrorism and then plant a big smooch on Bush’s ass. I’m tired of getting shit on after we as taxpayers dole out large sums of hard earned money.
Waldo: Glad to help!
blof: Next time, learn to read a calendar before you open your dumb mouth.
BigFatFibTeller: No, he hasn’t. But you are right that even tho Kos was on vacation, it was no excuse for him to post all his usual political crap but have no time to post about the relief effort.
Pinky: Read Kevin’s post, then borrow blof’s calendar. Feel free to post a retraction.
Now-Lefty: You’re disgusting.
Spare me: Facts checked. Buh bye!
Sammy: As far as taking this blog seriously, you and the other moonbats sure do! If you are truly in search of an asshole – look in the mirror.
Johnny: The left only caring about the tsunami victims as a way to bash Bush was the model. So, it must suck even harder to be you.
Ignoto: When you and the other nuts throw mud, don’t act shocked when it splashes back on you. As far as it being the worse disaster in human history, it isn’t. If you weren’t so petty and ignorant, you would have known that unfortunate factoid. We have done everything but overlook this. That you use it to bash Bush and the US makes you look like sorry losers once again.
Geeno: Don’t you know? John List was a pwogressive democrat. 100k dead and we say get off your butts and do something . 100k dead and you say wah! Wah! Bush! Wah! Self! Wah! Responsibility! Wah!
MM: Well stop shitting on him, for crissakes!
Simply unbelievable. The conservative, supposedly “actions speak louder than words” crowd takes a pot shot at liberal compassion by doing what? Counting blog posts. Now that’s intellectual honesty for you.
errata:
Pinky: Read Paul’s post, borrow blof’s calender, and post a retraction.
frameone:
If you are looking for intellectual dishonesty try Bush bashing for not committing a gazillion bucks for the UN to squander. Combine that with a low number of posts to encourage the support of relief work and it’s fairly indicative of lack of interest of anything beyond yourselves.
You put lots of effort into this, I see.
Julie, actually the post wasn’t much trouble at all: Search, copy, paste. But I can certainly see why you’d have such difficulty, and why you might not be able to do that and hold down a job. The old Gerald Ford phenomenon. Well, good luck with that.
In the meantime, congrats on getting through at least one post without profanity. Glad to see you renewed your prescription. Even so, I’d recommend you not try to operate any heavy machinery or drive for the next twelve hours, given that you confused Kevin’s posts with Paul’s and all. It must be positively dizzying for you.
Julie:
Way to attack the UN. Nice way to avoid the charge that your original post is utterly meaningless. Counting blog posts? Come on. That’s specious and lazy. Proves nothing and says nothing.
If the average right-winger needs to be told by their favorite blog where and why to donate to this relief effort that’s a pretty sad commentary on right wing compassion in and of itself.
“Gee, the pictures on Fox News sure do look bad. I wonder if I should do something? I better check with Whizbang and LGF and Hugh Hewitt to find out what the correct conservative position on human tragedy is.”
I’m right with Waldo — I had no idea. From my regimen of (uncompassionate liberal) blogs including Kos, MyDD, and Atrios I’m clueless that it even happened! And now especially since they’ve only been giving links to donation agencies and not posting more frequently on the matter, I’m going to play my part as a subhuman liberal zombie and not donate at all.
Honestly guys, politicizing 130,000 lost lives? Well I guess some people think it’s a worth it…
OK kids…
My mailbox is overflowing with you guys throwing sticks… SO here is what I’m gonna do…
I am NOT going to turn off the comments
I’ll give you 3 posts each to tell each other how much the other one sucks then it is time to say goodnight.
Go ahead– 3 posts each, make them count.
Then can we move on?
thanks
Paul
And the rift widens. There’s simply nothing Bush/U.S could do that would make the Liberals happy, the bashing/hate/spin will continue to their own detriment.
“Unofficial” # of dead in Indonesia alone may reach over 400,000…so sad.
Goodness – I went to a boxing match and a blog broke out!
Staring at the American political landscape from outside it’s borders – there is a simple thing to remember. On both left and right there will be compassionates and assholes. How you define and count it is your business. And frankly in a case like this how many there are of each is irrelevant.
Now for goodness sakes can the red/blue pissing match please end and the real Americans please rise above this pettiness?
Thank you and a Happy New Year – to a purple America.
I don’t link to — or watch — the videos of the disaster relief because I don’t get off on look at lots of dead bodies. If you do, fine. But don’t pretend that there is any kind of moral superiority associated with it.
Has our country always been engaged in such a pitched battle between the smart people (a.k.a. “liberals”) and the absolute morons (a.k.a. “you”)?
I’m sure the families of the deceased in the Indian Ocean region will fine great comfort in knowing that morbidly obese bloggers of one political party have posted more links about their plight than their counterparts from the other political party.
Heh, I think you truly hit a sore spot there Paul.
Good luck in what appears to be your attempt to dethrone LGF as the most disgusting spot in the blogosphere. Criminy.
yeah, good survey.. pffft!
your post is more of the same… the link explains what you are up to;
The contestation over values and culture reflects a stronger awareness of the emotional and cultural aspects of politics on the Right than on the Left. While the second wave Feminist slogan “the personal is the political” may have heralded in a politicisation of culture and values from the 1960s, the winners in the culture wars have been on the Right, partly because the Left continues to argue in terms narrowly rationalistic.
so textbook, so shallow.
here’s a couple more…
one – Few recall it now, I’m sure. But at a time when the U.S. Geological Survey is truly proving its worth–and when we should thank our stars that unlike poor countries, we have a way of tracking earthquakes and their consequences–it’s worth recalling that the Gingrich Republicans actually wanted to dismantle this agency.
two – Good point. While we worry about “global warming”, the poor are killed in their thousands by an actual menace. Meanwhile various entities campaign against the free trade that would make the poor richer … and safer.
now, do us a favour, murder to maintain your position.
Fuck you.
Moving on.
Kind of funny, that this horrible tragedy makes you think about….American right vs. American left?
Huh? Grow up, Wizbang.
The right-wing’s reaction to the tsunami was to say that it was a good thing. Don’t believe us? Check this out: http://progrev.blogspot.com/2004/12/breaking-right-wings-appalling.html.
To modify another person’s comments at a different blog,the rapture can’t come soon enough for you right-wing jackasses.
First,it’s not a morality contest.Secondly,please give what you are able.I do think there is a dichotomy in how the blogs approached this tragedy,but that may be based on the various political sub cultures .Moderates and conservatives are more likely to take direct action while liberals may look to government for a response.Finally ,I hadn’t given,so I just sent something.I’d like to thank the folks at Wizbang for spurring this.