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Oops!
A new poll from Qunnipiac University shows the left’s attempt to blame conservatives for the Tucson shooting has been an epic fail. Only 15 percent are buying into the bushwa–and even though they express the opinion that “heated political rhetoric” does drive unstable people to violence, by 36-32% they blame the left for the heat!
The way the left usually behaves when one of their narratives tanks like this is simply to pretend that everyone believes it. Watch for news story ledes that say things like, “Does repealing the health care bill add to our overheated political climate?” Or headlines like, “In Spite of Calls for Civility, Republicans Continue to Exist.” You know the drill. Every time they blow up another trial balloon, we have to pop it.
h/t Instapundit
Published in General
Andrew, The sure sign that the left has failed in an argument is not a poll. It’s when they start beginning their sentences with “Both sides are guilty of [fill in the blank].” That’s usually liberalspeak for “we got caught.”
The problem is that “our” politicians– the Republicans– also buy into the hype. Those of us who are more politically active also fall into that trap. They (and we) are too influenced and cowed by the drumbeat in the media. I’ve kept thinking this past week– “Why can’t our commentators talk about something else? Why do we have to drop our agenda and get all defensive? We’re in the right, so start acting like it.”
Even Rush Limbaugh has been covering this topic so much I had to turn the radio off. Aren’t there better things he could talk about? Or does he feel he has to defend himself ad nauseum because his name was brought up?
Bill McGurn: Andrew, The sure sign that the left has failed in an argument is not a poll. It’s when they start beginning their sentences with “Both sides are guilty of [fill in the blank].” That’s usually liberalspeak for “we got caught.” ·Jan 14 at 10:41am
“Both sides” is an essentially meaningless statement unless it’s refering to some defined demographic that does in fact have two sides, like GOP vs dem. Sure, we know what people mean when they say it, but it’s such a curious state of affairs in our language. It’s as if every individual person has some sort of intrinsic unchanging loyalty to one of two broad political philosophies.
I’m sorry, Andrew, but when you title a post “Oops!”, that simply cries out for Britney Spears — especially on a Friday.
If you’re a zealous Progressive, and Progressivism is so important to you that it’s practically your religious faith, then I can understand how Progressives get very upset when people in the media attack their “religion.” It would almost be like, if some important segment of the media, like the New York Times, attacked the doctrines of the Catholic Church, over and over again….oh, that’s right, they do….. Oh, well.
Andrew,
The desired end never changes (as you know so well):
“Shut up!” the progressive argued.
“Shut up!” the liberal reasoned.
Mr. Klavan (does anybody ever accidentally call you Cliff?),
I agree with all the above, but my point in writing here is PLEASE, PLEASE, DO NOT FEED THE GRAMMATICAL ATROCITY REPRESENTED BY “EPIC FAIL”!. It is not a “fail”. It is a Failure.
We now return to our regularly scheduled enlightened commentary…………..
Heh… I think the phrase “epic fail” has been fed enough that you are basically fighting the Amazon with a watergun.
Words change. Phrases get invented. I’m more favorable to the descriptive camp of grammar than to the prescriptive camp. Both approaches have their uses– I certainly would prefer a prescriptive approach in school– but the real world doesn’t always follow our nice little rulebooks.
The best antidote to truly horrific grammar is to read plenty of good books. (If you have kids, turn off the TV and the computer for a few solid hours a day. And take them to the library often.) The mind picks up on the rules subconsciously (like the descriptive approach) far more easily than it can learn the rules from a rulebook (the prescriptive approach).
But never underestimate the sheer perversity of the Left. The latest example to cross my desktop (from the Daily Kos): the Stochastic Terrorist. It’s kind of a cross between the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and CRU statistics, and puts forward the theory that the Evil Right turns up the heat in order to pop a few more nuts into terrorists who then carry out random killlings on the sacred left. It was put out before the iWon’s speech, and I don’t know how they reconcile His words with their “science”, but the fact that anyone gives it any credibility at all is perturbing.
Honestly, Mr. Klavan: “blow up”? Stop peddling the eliminationist rhetoric of the far-right already! Isn’t the body count high enough yet?
The most important thing to remember about any of the arguments the Left puts forward is that the Left doesn’t believe them.
They don’t believe anything, except that they should boss you around.