Specks and Beams

Thanks for the Memory to Drudge via Blogs for Bush.

One of the responses you'll get when you take the time, like I have, to point out the kind of oppressive behavior exhibited by leftists to stifle conservative voices, is that these are isolated incidents, by extremist elements who do not reflect the majority of liberals, and that not all Democrats think that way.

Oh, really? Let's put aside for a moment the fact that the leadership of the Democratic party is increasingly inclined to embrace those elements and even use them for their ends. Let's set aside the fact that the Democratic party recognizes that without the support of that extreme but growing element, they cannot compete politically. Let's even set aside the fact that the rhetoric of some of those extreme elements is not only not decried by Democratic leadership, but actually affords those who utter that rhetoric celebrity status in liberal circles.

Let's for the moment and for the sake of argument take only the words of a mainstream, and quite influential member of that Democratic leadership. Like, oh, say, their Vice Presidential cadidate:

Dem vp hopeful John Edwards cut to the chase last night on ABCNEWS NIGHTLINE:

ABC'S BOB WOODRUFF: "He has avoided the kind of negative attacks that can make national news, although recently, he has stepped up his rhetoric."

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC) (clip of a speech): "I'd say if you live in the United States of America and you vote for George Bush, you've lost your mind."

WOODRUFF: "There's been criticism that you have been too soft."

EDWARDS: "Do I seem soft to you?"

So apparently that's the kind of tolerant rhetoric the left is about, huh? And yet we're told that Republicans are the ones stifling dissent. In fact, in a comment on the blogs for Bush Blog post about this, one liberal said, This is a thoroughly ridiculous article considering the way the Republicans and the Bush Administration has demonized dissent.

My response then, and now, was to point that person to the articles I've documented regarding this issue (Here, Here, and Here for starters), and suggest that perhaps the liberals need to do a little beam removal from their own eyes.