You just knew that when President Obama issued his call for a return to civility last week in Tucson, folks on the right would happily embrace the simple standard he elucidated -- "It's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we're talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds" -- to everyone but themselves.
Sure enough, there was Bloviating BillO last night on Fox, complaining because that evil liberal Richard Cohen had called Sarah Palin stupid, and Bill Maher said that the Founders would despise the Tea Partiers:
Delightful. Now, I don't hold Mr. Maher to the same standard as The Washington Post because he's a comedian, a man who makes a living expressing a point of view. But apparently the president's point of view, more civility, is not being embraced by Mr. Maher.
Also, I've gotten a lot of mail asking me why I don't come down on right-wing talk radio, and it's the same thing: Talk radio is entertainment. People on there make a living expressing opinions. It's not a news forum; therefore the standards are not the same.
Of course not -- they exist in the zone known as the Fox Double Standard: If it attack liberals and Democrats, it's OK. Otherwise not.
And then he gets into outright projection:
Immediately after President Obama's speech last Wednesday, "Talking Points" said that the call for civility would most likely not be answered, and we pointed to the money train as the primary reason.
Once again, there is big money in the hate industry, and it's easy to attack people.
Indeed there is -- after all, look at all the dough Fox is rolling in.
And he's right: Obama's call to civility most likely will not be answered ... by ANYONE on the Right. They're too busy pretending their vicious, violent and eliminationist rhetoric has no effect on people.
Especially rhetoric that singles out people for demonization and elimination. Rhetoric like this:
O'REILLY: So you would like to see the same kind of situation that happened after 9/11 attack now, where they would all come out and say, "Enough with this crap"?
BECK: Of course.
O'REILLY: Right.
BECK: Every American wants that. What I...
O'REILLY: Not every American. George Soros doesn't want that.
BECK: Frances Fox Piven doesn't want that.
O'REILLY: Who is Frances Fox Piven?
BECK: Cloward-Piven, from the 1960s. That's a theory that was inspired by the Watts riots and is being used right now. And she is actively, actively -- Columbia University professor used to be. I think she's -- at CUNY now. But she is actively saying, "Rise up, embrace your anger. Turn on your bosses, turn on the politicians."
O'REILLY: All right. She's Black Panther. Overthrow, kill the pigs.
BECK: She is -- she stands with the Clintons. Signing. She's very...
O'REILLY: Still around?
BECK: Oh, yes.
Yeah, that's some civility standard. Oh, but I forget -- O'Reilly obviously operates inside the Fox double Standard Zone too.
