Friday, June 05, 2009

Rhetorical Aside is an Actual Truth

So I was reading a commentary on Salon or something (probably Salon) and they used a term I hadn't heard before but suddenly made sense.
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They referred to Rush, Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reily as the "Entertainment Wing" of the Republican party.
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I kind of like that, and not just for the reasons you might think.
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I think the term "Entertainment Wing" signifies, truthfully, that these figures are NOT out to make policy - although they obviously try to influence it - but to entertain.
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So you can't really take what Rush Limbaugh says as the equivalent of what "The Republicans" say.  And that is fair.
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By the same token, a Republican shouldn't parrot Rush (a drug addled, blowvating liar) without being called on it.
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One wishes, in a way, that there was a Democratic antithesis, but there isn't.  Keith Olberman comes close, but when a Democrat screws up - he pounces on that.  
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It isn't that Democrats are less petty (we are PLENTY PETTY) - we just aren't funny about it.  We take ourselves way too seriously.
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Honestly I don't think Ann Coulter really believes that the 9-11 windows are "self-obsessed" women who "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much.".  It is just that she has the balls, utter lack of shame and desire to make money that she is fine in making fun of these widows of a national tragedy.  And, for the "Entertainment Wing of the Republican Party", it is acceptable behavior. 
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Just like it is acceptable that Rush Limbaugh wants our President to fail.
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I don't think the Political Wing of the Republican Party would agree with many of their statements or concerns.