I Don't Think Donald Douglas Likes Me...

My corpulent conservative counterpart Donald Douglas of American Power finally stopped moderating his comment sections the other day so I promised myself that I'd leave something witty and brilliant on his doorstep as soon as he said something hateful and/or ignorant. I didn't have to wait very long for his post "BUSH = HITLER: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same...":

When it comes to the Democrats, I'm ashamed for my country. But I'm not resigned. The tea parties are the salvation of democracy.

And since I know lefties will say "both sides do it." .... No, sorry, there's nothing -- absolutely nothing -- comparable to the secular demonization and violent rhetoric against the GOP during the Bush years, and it contiues today.

Yes, it appears rather innocuous despite its hyper-partisanship but since it continues Don's "Conservatives are always super cool and civilized while liberals are always a bunch of evil meanies" blogging meme I took exception to his argument that his side of the aisle is somehow exceptional:

...both sides do it Don, no matter how many times you tell yourself and others how much better your side is for doing so. Ah, hypocrisy...

To which he replied with his usual cries of persecution and victim hood:

The difference is the leftist-progressive media never report the left's extremism. All you hear about is the "racist teabaggers" ... blah, blah.

Of course, the Democrats embrace their extremists, while genuine tea partiers repudiate those you focus on.

So, sorry, and I repeat, nothing, nothing is comparable to the left's demonization and double standards. You guys win, hands down.

As refreshing as it was to see him finally admitting that he was a loser I always have a problem letting dumbassery go unchallenged:

"Blah, blah" is right, Don. "The leftist liberal commie pinko media is so totally against us and there's a conspiracy to smear teabaggers and Sarah Palin must be destroyed because they're so scared of her and you guys are so incredibly evil while we're just patriotic Americans who bring guns to presidential appearances and compare him to Hitler, for Christ's sake".

Yeah, you're so evolved. If what you say is so then answer the question I asked on my site last week: Why don't I see other tea partiers trying to eject the racist and violence advocating assholes from your little rallies? Yeah, you claim to repudiate these idiots and their ideas but I don't see anyone amongst you actively doing anything to distance your movement from them or them from your movement.

...If I were at an anti Iraq war march in 2003 and some idiot was standing next to me with a "BUSH = HITLER" sign I'd give the guy shit and tell that he should get lost because he's hurting the movement, yet I see tea partiers blithely standing next to someone holding a picture of Obama dressed as an African witch doctor with a bone through his nose not saying shit to them.

Even here, your post decries "leftists" holding signs comparing Bush to Hitler and one of your frequent commenters calls Obama worse than said Hitler and you also don't say shit, because he agrees with you and hates the same "leftists" you hate. As I commented on another of your threads, you and your side put up with extreme haters because they help your cause.

And before you retort: yes, the left does this too but I don't inanely spout off phrases like "nothing, nothing is comparable to the [side I don't agree with]'s demonization and double standards" because I'm not a myopic hack with no sense of self-awareness. Again, both sides do it and if you weren't a hypocrite of the first order you'd be able to see that.

Per his usual M.O., rather than answering my question and refuting my points he countered using the brilliant rhetorical tactic of simply calling me an "idiot slob" at the end of a couple of posts as if calling someone names actually substitutes for intelligent debate. When I tried to politely remind him that he was still wrong...:

Both sides do do it, Don. You're no more of a saint than I am. And "slob" was a nice touch but please come up with something a little more varied than "idiot" every time you mention me. I'm sure your readers would appreciate some variety in your ad hominem insults and name calling. Tubby.

...It appeared that I might have upset the old boy. I'm pretty sure it was the "Tubby" remark (Don's been a little sensitive about his weight ever since his genitals permanently slipped below the horizon of his expansive waistline). First he responded with this timeless classic:

That's fail, JBW. YOU. ARE. FAIL.

But apparently Don thought that a wholly monosyllabic response just wasn't persuasive enough so 45 minutes later he decided to type the word "fail" several more times in order to expound upon his argument. Enjoy "April Fools: Fail Blogger James B. Webb on Fail President Barack Obama":

From fail blogger James B. Webb, last November ...

... I plan to hold our new president's feet to the fire for the next four years; having defended him on many different levels and issues over the past few years I now fully expect him to follow through on his promise of trying to build a better tomorrow for the citizens of this country ...

Okay. Right.

...JBW fail and Barack Obama fail. Separated at birth?

From April Fool's Day approval ratings at Rasmussen:

Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove ...

Fail.

And last week at CNN: "Majority Disapprove of Obama for First Time."

EPIC. JBW. FAIL.

If you go there to read it don't bother trying to leave a comment because Don disabled them for that post alone, presumably because he obviously "welcomes comments and debate". A few things: my post he took the above quote from isn't from last November. Not only is it clearly dated as November 5, 2008 but it's also featured in the sidebar to the right with the words "Read My Post-Election Essay". I don't blame Don for the mistake though; I've been told that when older folks reach a certain age it becomes rather confusing trying to keep track of which year it is. At least he can take heart in knowing that Reagan had the same problem at one point.

He also quotes two polls concerning Obama's approval ratings that seem to definitively prove that the president is also subject to this bout of "epic fail", except of course that they don't. The most recent RealClearPolitics accumulation of polling data shows the Rasmussen poll to be a statistical outlier (there is a consistent right-leaning bias in Rasmussen's methodology; pay attention to how often the right points solely to this organization's polling data to back up their talking points) while every other major polling firm shows Obama's approval rating to be either positive or within the margin of error (he's +2 overall). And the CNN poll Don cites from last week?:

The new poll was conducted before the House on Sunday narrowly approved the Obama administration's signature domestic policy proposal: health care reform.

Their most recent numbers put Obama up by +3. DON. TUBBY. DOUGLAS. EPIC. FAIL. WRITING. IN. ALL. CAPS. MAKES. ONE'S. ARGUMENTS. MORE. CONVINCING. ISN'T. THIS. ANNOYING? HE'S. ACTUALLY. A. COLLEGE. PROFESSOR. YOUR. TAX. DOLLARS. PAY. HIS. SALARY. PERHAPS. I. SHOULD. PROTEST. THIS. BY. SPITTING. ON. MY. CONGRESSMAN. LIKE. A. GOOD. AMERICAN.

If however Don is so certain about Obama's dismal approval ratings translating into epic failure then I'll offer him this meager yet serious wager: $100 says that the Republicans fail to gain a majority in either house of congress this November. I'm making the offer publicly so that every one reading this will be privy to it. I think Obama's a chess master of the highest caliber Don, and he's moved his pieces into position to retain his party's majorities through the remainder of his first term. Care to put your money where your mouth is, Fat Boy Slim?

Of course the larger point I've been trying to make to Don over all the noise of constant capitalization and funny fat guy nicknames is that in American politics there are people from both sides of the aisle who say and do things that are morally and ethically reprehensible. Sure, one side's arguments may be more cogent, better articulated and better for the country (hint: I'm not talking about Don's side) but it has become exceedingly clear that the current atmosphere of partisan antipathy seems to bring out the worst in people from both political parties. Neither side has a sole claim to the practice of civilized discourse, and conversely neither side is free from uncivilized behaviour.

Ask yourself this question: knowing what you do of humanity, do you trust a man who constantly insists that he's morally superior to anyone who disagrees with him to be intellectually honest with you about anything? Don seems to believe that he's on the side of the angels, and in order to prove it he must frame everyone he hates as devils. It's a belief system that's as delusional as it is myopic and no amount of persuasion or logic can sway people like him from their illusions. Should I write "fail" here one more time for emphasis?