On his show earlier this week, Bill O’Reilly spoke about the odious discourse in American life, particularly on social media sites and internet blogs. Although his monologue was brief, it was refreshing to see the issue yanked out of the darkness and exposed: armies of vile and vulgar hate-mongers, seeking unsuspecting targets to demean, ridicule, incite and malign.
Add politics to the mix and it becomes a venomous cocktail. The ad hominem attacks know no bounds: women, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, ethnicity. All of it is fair game and it goes largely unabated.
Yes, some of the attackers come from the right, but it pales in comparison to what’s happening on the left. But don’t take my word for it. Google “Daily Kos,” “Media Matters for America,” “Talking Points Memo,” “MSNBC,” and “Newscorpse.”
Read what the leaders of the left are saying and then peruse the remarks from their loyal minions. It’s frightening.
As the administrator of a Facebook page that discusses cultural and policy issues from a conservative perspective, I’ve seen firsthand the disturbed comments. Colonel Allen West has been called an “Uncle Tom,” “n****r,” “white man’s puppet,” and more. Not once, not twice, but dozens and dozens of times. Racial epithets mixed with misogyny and threats of rape have accompanied our Michelle Malkin posts.
But believe me, we at Flyover Culture are not alone. This stuff is typical fare for a conservative on Facebook.
The site does have a policy against hate speech, but in its defense, the sheer volume of disgusting rhetoric would be impossible to police. Having said that, however, Facebook seems to be much more diligent in ferreting out misbehaving conservatives, as the popular “Chicks on the Right” found out several months back when they nearly had their page removed for saying “Jay Carney can kiss my assular area.”
Yeah, like that’s inflammatory?
Social miscreants have always existed, but until recently, they didn’t have the irresistible tool of the internet. The cover of anonymity, coupled with opinion leaders whose bread and butter is mocking people they consider inferior, has fed the epidemic of execrable public rhetoric. Ask Sarah Palin, whose children were despicably targeted by David Letterman and the animated TV show, “Family Guy.” Even our President is guilty: In 2010, he called Tea Party activists “tea baggers,” an anti-gay slur for oral sex.
Classy.
It’s time to stop accepting the unacceptable. Unfortunately, it won’t happen anytime soon from progressives. Fear and loathing is ingrained in their public DNA. It’s up to the rest of us: Outing the far Left (and yes, right-wing) haters is the only way to drive them back into the gutters where they belong.
flyoverculture.com 