As the Washington Post continues its shameful drift farther and farther to the right, it has long demonstrated the inability to use the “L” word, no matter how appropriate, and even seemed to support rightwing propagandist Andrew Breitbart’s deceptively edited hit-video on Shirley Sherrod last week, long after everyone else had come to realize it was a hoax. So it was nice to see E.J. Dionne’s column in WaPo on Monday in which he actually used the correct words to identify the facts of the matter.
He used the words “right-wing propaganda,” as in the headline for his column: “Enough right-wing propaganda.” That’s right. What Andrew Breitbart and his ilk do is not opinion, it’s not “conservative journalism” or even “activism.” It’s propaganda. And it’s certainly not “conservative” by any stretch of the imagination. It’s right-wing. There is nothing “conservative” about it.
Using a phrase akin to the ones we’ve applied to Breitbart for a very long time, Dionne went on to refer to him, accurately, as a “right-wing hit man,” as in: “The administration’s response to the doctored video pushed by right-wing hit man Andrew Breitbart was shameful.”
And then, the “L” word appeared in the pages of the Washington Post. Finally. As Dionne appropriately used the word “liars,” as in: “When an outlandish charge for which there is no evidence is treated as an on-the-one-hand-and-on-the-other-hand issue, the liars win.”
Good for Dionne. I suspect he’ll be fired immediately.
I’ve spent a lot of time looking for ways to explain to people that Republicanism and conservatism don’t mix — that no conservative would ever associate himself or herself with today’s Republican Party. I tried to explain that no conservative would ever associate himself or herself with torture, domestic spying, or corporate imperialism.
That’s what strikes me about this story — that people still associate people like Andrew Breitbart with the word conservative.
There was a big change in political spectra after the Eleventh of September. The American right was replaced by the authoritarian right. Instantly.
The authoritarian right, once very popular in Europe, is somewhat new to the United States. I guess Americans will have to learn to understand it before they’re able to properly identify it. And hopefully reject it.
Is it just me or does this pr!ck have a perpetual snarl on his face. He oozes poison from every pore.
As Jon Stewart pointed out, Breitbart has been “honest” this whole time. He wants to be remembered as the man who destroyed “left wing” institutions–like the NAACP. He declared war on everything decent in the world and we should take him at his word.
Fortunately this SHOULD be the last time anyone takes this cowardly bigot seriously.