alternative hippopotamus

Wingnuts are Funny

8 Responses to “Wingnuts are Funny”

1. vastleft Says:
   November 19th, 2008 at 7:43 pm

   In response:

   http://www.correntewire.com/content/im-blogging-fast-i-can

2. AltHippo Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 12:28 am

   Thanks, I’m glad you posted.

3. vastleft Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 2:05 am

   BTW, I was planning to post something to that effect about Holder regardless of your concern over the lack of such a post, having read Glenn’s post in the afternoon and finding it encouraging and worth blogging about.

   However, I was busy responding to an accusation from one of those “better bloggers,” to the effect that I copulate with crickets.

4. AltHippo Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 2:46 am

   “I was planning to post something to that effect about Holder regardless of your concern over the lack of such a post, having read Glenn’s post in the afternoon and finding it encouraging and worth blogging about.”

   Glenn has raised all of our consciences on these issues. I find myself continually amazed at what I’ve missed when I read his salon blog.

   I do believe you need to take the measure on what you’ve written thus far concerning the Obama presidency. You’ve been pretty negative. I question whether your criticism is deserved

5. vastleft Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 3:17 am

   Unlike “better bloggers,” I don’t make a habit of telling other bloggers what they “need to” do.

   Though you don’t “need to,” you might reconsider offering STFU to progressives who — after, for example, the woeful performance of the 110th Congress — are properly skeptical about the Democratic Party’s performance and intentions.

   All this pearl-clutching about harshing the mellow. Are we all Sally Quinn now?

   For two years, I looked very closely at Obama’s campaign (and pre-campaign) and found much of it disconcerting, beginning with his fundamental way of framing the state of the nation.

   The story of America under Bush is, obviously, as follows:

   * The corrupt, authoritarian Republican Party espoused and enacted a literally bankrupt agenda, and more than enough Democrats went along with it so they ran roughshod over our nation and its Constitution almost completely unimpeded.

   Obama’s frame is:

   * The problems in Washington are caused by a partisan food-fight.

   There is only one hopeful explanation for this.

   Thus, it is with skepticism that I await signs that the new administration will provide the kind of progressive reforms that we need and that the country is (or could be made) ready for.

   When Obama does right by progressives and progressive issues, I’ll say so and happily. I’m going to hope and cajole for the best, but I’m not required to believe that the best will happen… especially if we go around biting our tongues rather than challenging Obama to stand and deliver.

   Again, I direct you to Chris Bowers’s correct intepretation of where I’m coming from.

6. AltHippo Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 1:12 pm

   Indeed, you may not give advice, but you’re pretty quick to throw out things like: “All this pearl-clutching about harshing the mellow. Are we all Sally Quinn now?”

   I get it. You’re not negative, I’m a pearl clutcher. That’s cool. At least you didn’t suggest I have sex with bugs. So that’s classy. And, you didn’t call me an Obot or infer that I’ve ingested a sweetened psychotropic beverage.

   I read Chris Bowers piece. That’s not what I’m talking about. He’s talking about folks who are upset about any criticism of Obama. That’s hardly what you and others at Corrente have been involved in. If anything, you seem to have a hard time saying anything positive about Obama. Out of curiosity, when’s the last time you did say something positive about Obama?

7. vastleft Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 2:03 pm

   IIRC, you took it upon yourself to write a couple of posts shaming Corrente for divisive incivility. So, going from zero to throwing-around seems more like your métier.

   I’ll be sure to file regular reports with you about how many positive things I’ve written about Obama. Apparently the blogosphere isn’t producing enough. Plus, I’m a known heretic, and it’s for the best that I pass inspections from alert citizens to ensure I’ve engaged in appropriate and sufficient happy talk.

   Of course, everyone’s telling us to reserve judgment because he hasn’t done anything yet (and I’m mostly agreeing), but why should that be a hindrance?

   “Pearl clutcher” seems like an apt description of one who writes posts complaining about other bloggers’ incivility and their failure to write certain posts in a time-frame of your choosing. If you’d like to pretend that I’ve called you an “Obot” or “Kool-Aid” drinker, please don’t let reality stop you, since it would bolster your case.

   Oh, and if I may, here are couple of arguments for staying off the fainting couch when some progressives seek to hold Obama’s feet to the fire…

   Cornel West about Barack Obama: “I hope he is a progressive Lincoln, I aspire to be the Frederick Douglass to put pressure on him.”

   FDR: “I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.”

8. AltHippo Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

   I’ll try to stay off the fainting couch. Thanks for playing!

Leave a Reply