The NY TImes Lies and the Liars That Tell Them

It's the Jihad, stupid.

 

The usual excuses about "the public's right to know" ring even more hollow than usual in this case. The public was not dying to know the methods by which their lives were being safeguarded. Only the terrorists were helped by these revelations.

Americans may in fact be dying literally now because of what the terrorists have been told -- and ultimately because a jerk inherited the New York Times.  Thomas Sowell

 

It's a CHOY!.....NOT

 

 

Belgium Launches Investigation of SWIFT: We're starting to see the consequences of Keller's bad call: Last month the New York Times broke the story that CIA agents and US treasury officials have been secretly monitoring financial transactions routed through Swift, . . . Go

More excellent commentary from Podhoretz in today's NY Post;

By their enemies shall ye know them, and among the enemies of American conservatism are, unmistakably, 1) a judiciary that insists on drafting legislation from the bench and 2) a body of smug elitist opinion that seeks to constrain the United States through the use of external bonds imposed by the United Nations and "international law."

[...]

They also forgot, as much of the nation seemed to forget, that there is still a War on Terror going on.

Last month was the moment that Circe's spell was lifted. The New York Times' revelation of a perfectly legal and vitally important financial instrument deployed in secret against al Qaeda - following pleas and entreaties from the administration and Congress not to do so - sent a stark message: We in the media establishment are openly and unambiguously part of the political opposition, and now we're all but admitting it.

Read it all.

UPDATE: The Greatest Ebay Auction Ever.

Comments

[Pastorius]

I hope to God the New York Times ends up paying for this.

[elvis]

The self-loathing serial criminals at Times hope we all end up paying.

[nikkolai]

The self-loathing serial criminal anti-American pro-jihadist treasonous nytimes hope we all end up paying. I'm guessng kharma is gonna be crual to the slimes on this one....

[BHRC]

Atlas, keep your passion high but remember that revenge is best when served cold. Take time to breathe deeply then shoot the bastards, figuratively!

[J'hn1]

I believe that Mr. Pod's

We in the media establishment are openly and unambiguously part of the political opposition, and now we're all but admitting it.

is wrong. Change that to "part of the political opposition to Western Civilization itself.
It really does go that deep.

[BobTheBob]

Wow, guys. Just wow.

[You're nuts]

You're nuts.

[Gnopple]

Do you have anything substantive to say about this article? Have you read it? Did you read the article published on the same day on the same topic in the Wall Street Journal? What has been jeopardized? (in solid, concrete terms - not hysterical rhetoric).

[Montreal Jew]

At some point, I swear Pam started speaking in tongues (the bit about working parents...what was that?). I thought only the goyim did that.

Pam, m'dear? You are on the verge of a break-down.

[The Liberal Avenger]

Who put the Benzedrine in Pamela's Ovaltine?

[actus]

Maybe you should drink less coffee.

[john milken]

Bush said repeatedly after 9/11 that the US was going after terrorist finances.

What new information did the NYT add? How was it different to the WSJ's take?

This thing is a distraction from the lack of plan in Iraq. Our soldiers are hunkered down in the Green Zone waiting for...what? All Bush has is dreams.

[Robert]

Is this a comedy site, or are you just bat shit crazy??

She's batshit crazy

[djangone]

Woo hoo, hahahahaha! My god, I haven't laughed that hard in months.

Please, god, keep doing these, Pam; we're short on geek shows. But one question, can you pound nails into your nose?

[Eric]

Wow, talk about hysterical.

I'd forgive you for being stupid. That happens. But to spout this hatemongering bullshit when you don't know what you're talking about is somewhat less forgivable.

[db]

Keep making these films! America needs to see what the right is made of.

Ewwww.

[Jeff]

Love the part about "... who says this is the most secretive administration since Nixon?" Hmmm, I think the Energy Task Force, the restrictive policies on public statements by career bureaucrats in NASA, FDA, and a host of other govt agencies, the draconian rules on white house disclosures, and the general assessments of about a thousand political observers including John Dean of the Nixon administration .... these little facts suggest that this is the most secretive administration since Nixon. But that's ok. Just wrap yourself in your fear and anger, and everything will be alright.

[scarshapedstar]

If this video were in black and white, I'd have a very hard time distinguishing it from the Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci-Fi channel.

[Brian Coughlan]

As a non american, I found your shrill terror at the imminent collapse of western civilisation most instructive. So this is what is driving the 30% that simply cannot accept that GWB is the worst president EVER.

For the record, every time I do financial transactions, I use SWIFT, it's really not THAT big a secret.

[JoeW]

Truly unhinged from reality. But I have to admit that complaining about making this a political issue, while making it a political issue, is rich.

The NYT publishes information that the Bush admin bragged about in the days after 9/11, but as with most manufactured outrage, facts don't enter into it.

Please do more of these. I don't think it would be possible to mount a more accurate lampoon of conservative 'thought'.

[have skunk]

CNN rocks. You're fairly ignorant of how the mainstream media works, despite your big tits, toots.

[Kip W]

Bush announced the program in 2001. What was the secret part?

[thunk]

Slight correction, Pamela: What the U.S. got after Nixon resigned -- because he was, you know, a criminal -- was Gerald Ford, not Jimmy Carter.

[RCC2]

An incoherent rant to end all incoherent rants.

What kind of drugs is this woman on, anyway?

When Keller says "this is an election year", his actual point is that the news story he published has nothing to do with the election, but that the Republicans are trying to make it into an election issue.

I've never seen your site before, and probably never will again.

Calm down and think.

[Dan D]

What is the point of this video, other than a transparent attempt to capitalize off your looks hoping your largely male audience won't realize how uninteresting your ranting is? A line by line rebuke of a transcript would be appropriate if you were at all serious about this.

It also makes it a lot more difficult to reubt your statements since I would have to generate my own transcript of your statements to do so.

I will say Stephen Colbert has a thing or two to learn from you in parodying conservatives.

Post it to youtube under "satire", I'd recommend it then.

[Slideguy]

Irony is dead, and satire is no longer possible.

[Dan D]

Jimmy Carter was completely right about energy and was decades ahead of his time. If he'd won a second term, America might not feel constrained to fight wars in oil-rich countries to guarantee their supply.

The conservative oil indepencence plan? I think it has something to do with hoping Jesus will show up and turn water into oil. There's a lot more water these days now that they've got the polar ice caps cooking good and hot.

[horndog]

You need a lower-cut dress:
Then I might not notice what you're saying as much.

[The Venerable Ed]

Don't worry Pam, we're not laughing at you ... aw hell, who am I kidding, yes we are.

[robtheheartthrob]

This woman is one of the biggest idiots I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of idiots.

[benjoya]

oh, my sides. i feel like i'm being tickled to death.

[ronjazz]

Yeah, they had to chase down the Whitewater DNA for $70,000,000. If your brains were anywhere as big as your tits, you might have something here. Treason? wingnut projection at it's finest, and shrillest. What a tool. Get your meds adjusted.

[connorfc]

I feel really, really, really sad for you. Please get some help. You are very close to delusional.

[Bryant]

"That fat Jewish girl's underwear."

Charming.

[Mysterious Traveler]

Crystal meth has become a problem, clearly.

[Gary Sugar]

Great rant, Pamela. Of course, you are insane.

[Joe Boudreaux]

Good lord, woman. I used to support George W. Bush, but if the 30% of nation who still supports that man is like you, I don't want to know them.

[yuda99]

Oh my God! It's Michael Savage with big tits!

[Christian in NYC]

Ah, we need more Republicans to go on national TV and act like this. Show your true colors! Wipe the foam from your mouth and yell louder! Yes, we all need to see just how delusional and borderline mental you are all.

[joeschmoe]

The newspapers publicised this story 3 years after Bush did

Get your facts right...and why didnt you mention that the LA Times and Wall Street Journal also had the same story on the same day as the NYT?

[David Vance]

Pam,

Your VLOG is on the button and the pathetic comments from moonbats emphasises this. Logic and reason mean nothing to the dhimmicrats out there - hence they descend to the gutter for their inane comments.

[Beef]

Pam honey… Hello…. When was the last time you got laid?

Oh my God, don’t answer that.

Babe, despite what the DHS recommends, forget wrapping your apartment in plastic and duct tape. You really need to concentrate on getting yourself stocked up on some Midol.

P.S. you look cute in your little super outfit Super Scrub.

[nerdbot5000]

WOW. So much to take in all at once. I like the image of Hillary being in charge of "releasing staple[s]" from the Whitewater investigation.

I would pay my last nickel to see a tag-team Lincoln/Douglas style debate between this chick teamed up with Anne Coulter vs. Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky.

[W. Smith]

"A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge-hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp."

Thank you for making Orwell look like a documentarian. Unbelievable.

[John Galt]

You give "batshit crazy" a bad name...

[Innocent Bystander]

What a fascinating video. Two suggestions. Try showing a little more cleavage. It won't make your points any more clear or coherent, but I'd return for the eye candy. You might also want to throttle back on the glue huffing before you tape these screeds. You don't want to end up like Ann Coulter, do you?

Thanks for the entertainment; I really think you deserve prime-time consideration....you might be totally clueless about the world around you, but that would make you well qualified to be a political analyst on Fox.

[Innocent Bystander]

joeschmoe-

Let us know if you get to 1st base. heh.

[marcus]

I hate to drive traffic to your blog but your video is priceless and I just had to share it with friends.

Cheers

[cannybruce]

After watching your video, one question came to mind. Does your father still call you Princess?

[roberto]

My favorite part is the delightful irony of your calling Bill Keller "shrill".

Honey, I am betting that you will soon be a regular on the cable news shows. You're the brunette counterpart of Ann Coulter, but with tits. And great ones at that. And a word of advice along those lines... If you want even more traffic on this site and guarantee the aforementioned cable spotlight, not such a tight shot with the camera.

Here's hoping to see more of you.

[citizenme]

The silicone from your implants seeped into your brain which probably enhanced it.

[Webster Hubble Telescope]

FACT:
The Internet is not a Truck.

[m!]

Why waste chomsky and vidal on pam . . . also, there are plenty of ladies who can take on the rank and file misinformed individuals regardless of gender . . . But, Glenn and direct observation seem correct . . .

Certain people live in totally reality-free zones . . . where the intracies of governments . . . say Dafour and the Sudan and the Janjuweed (sp?) and the fact that we are now supporting Sudan (and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and so many others for that matter) . . . where we are consciously avert our eyes because we believe in "any means necessary." So, one day they are our best friends . . . Osama was a very handy ally in the 80s.

It was these same guys who made Saddam their buddy when Iran was irking us in the first place in the late 70s and early 90s . . .

now's it's Mussharif as we play games about nuclear India . . .and osama is still out there . . .

But . . . I digress . . . the point is--they are not proud members of the reality based community . . .

It just isn't part of their framework . . . even the super smart ones (if that isn't oxymoronic).

It is startling because in fact, it is that mindset that is a thread away (only one seat left on the supreme court) now runs every branch of government.

I fear for us all.

[zerohundred]

Why do you have a pro free speech button on your Left column, yet criticize the NY Times free press...

Also, when making a v-cast, you might want to specify which manufactured outrage against the NYT you are referring to in the video...

I have no idea if you are referring to the Cheney/Rumsfeld Travel section or the SWIFT artcile.... both of which in no way compromised any security, troops, or information...

[Thomas J. Herling]

This is someone trying to do a Gilda Radner character?

[mcair]

You have an absolutely stunning pair of tits, my dear. Functioning ability to reason - ah, not so much.

[Albertanator]

Wow Pam, keep up the good work and ignore the droves of braindead moonbats you seem to have attracted to this thread.....they are sadly nothing but blind fools!

[Palolo lolo]

You need to up your Thorazine dosage. As others have noted, you give "bat-shit crazy" a whole new level. Isn't there any adult supervision around?

[Doug]

Ever heard of video-editing software?

Or Ritalin?

pammy the pincushion

[joeyess]

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGNUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joeyess]

I'm guessing if your ex were to ask for custody of your kids, the judge, after viewing this vblog, would grant his request and issue a restraining order at no extra charge.

[Glenn]

Classic! Just classic ignorance on display! I can't decide which is my favorite part. Is it where Pam says a bunch of Americans would be dead if we didn't attack Iraq? Where she implies Carter came after Nixon and scolds the NY TImes (hint Pam, it was actually the Washington Post) for exposing Nixon's corruption? Where she exclaims that the Clinton's forced poor Old Ken Starr to look into "some Jewish girls underwear" because they were so secretive, implying that the fact Clinton wouldn't reveal details of his sex life is somehow comparable to Bush starting up several secret surveillance programs Conservatives would despise with a passion if they were conducted by a Democratic President. This stuff parodies itself.

[Clams Casino]

Wow. I guess this explains the 30%. This is clearly a person who never stops talking long enough to think. If you just keep babbling non-stop, you won't let any pesky facts to get in the way of your insane ranting. This is the internets equivalent of the crazy old bag lady on the corner.

And what's the story with the nonsensical headline? "The NY TImes Lies and the Liars That Tell Them"? I guess you were attempting to reference Al Franken's book, but couldn't pause long enough to come up with a sentence that made any sense at all?

[mitch]

Actually, my favorite part is how these people think they are in the mainstream and don't believe the 30% approval ratings yet there are about 4 comments on this entire thread supporting this nutcase and 60 against. But, I'm sure it's just some sort of liberal conspiracy. Traitors, all of them.

[Owen Meany]

Wow. That's all I can say. Thank you for being the brain-dead, right-wing, Bush-supporting backwash poster girl.

[J Swift]

Irony Shrugged.

[Undeniable Liberal]

The tits have to be the only reason this site has had so much traffic. I couldn't get through that meth induced foaming at the mouth ranting. She can't actually believe that shit.....but some people here pretend to. MUST be the tits

[Slippery Pete]

I've heard people call this lady crazy before. I didn't take that seriously, of couse - part of the rough and tumble of debate over the war.

Well, holy crap, she really is crazy. Flying-monkey, moonbat, wild-eyed, keep-her-away-from-the-forks certifiably stark raving mad. This is the type of incriminating material most people would work hard to keep out of the public eye.

I mean, she actually calls the oil-for-food scandal the "biggest scandal in human history" - forgetting, for the moment, the holocaust and 50 million killed by Stalin, 9/11, and oh jesus where do you stop?

Put her in a padded cell before she hurts herself.

[Pamela aka Atlas]

The holocaust was a scandal? The gulags? A scandal? Who's the moonbat?

[Mick]

This site is awesome!! Is it affiliated with The Onion or The Daily Show? It's that funny! This isn't for real is it? Is it? It can't be for real...right? Anyone? Cricket...cricket.

[Major Mike]

Pamela,

You really hit a sore spot. Atlas Shrugs, VLOG, radio - they are trying to put a lid on your rapidly growing influence and popularity. Anytime so much vitriol flows from the Left, with so much mammary obsession – their comments all seemed to come from the same talking points paper - it is obvious they are scared. As the New York times dithers, and messes all over itself by contradicting the importance of what a week ago they considered a front-page, top of the fold administration scandal, the Left has released their Disaster Recovery team. In defending the Times, they are as much as admitting that the initial bally-hooed disclosure was a big mistake - they just haven't settled yet on an explanation why.

I feel their pain. And I feel good. Thanks for opening the Left’s anxiety closets.

The Lefties did get one thing right in their comments. You look great. Really great.

[Jimbo]

Kinda fucked up in the head, aincha Pam?

[Jeezus H. Xrist]

This may be only wishful thinking, but,
any chance the next one will be nude?

[happy5]

You really believe all that stuff you are saying? Keep making the videos! Just to laugh, and just to watch you - with no volume - 'cause she is hot! Who cares if you are crazy, when you are smoking! Ha!

[JIM BAILEY]

You are young enough...go enlist/re-enlist, if you don't we'll know that you are just another pandering, chickenhawk keyboarder who needs LOTS of medication.
Poor thing.

[yikes]

Actually, the last few years have vindicated Jimmy Carter's presidency. If we had followed his lead and invested in alternative sources of energy (especially solar/wind), we would not be in the bind we are now, waging war over control of natural resources under false pretexts which have changed like the weather (WMD, 9/11, and the latest - a desire to spread Democracy across the Middle East)

Carter will likely be viewed by future generations as a visionary - way ahead of his time - and George W Bush as an ignorant relic of the McCarthyist, fear-baiting 1950s.

[llad12]

The worm turned when Pam went after Clinton:

http://www.thefreedomtoast.com/audio/clip_blameo.mp3

Can you lean forward and squeeze your chest together?

[RightToKnow]

Wow. I'm actually a registered Republican, but man oh man, this woman takes paranoid insanity to the level of a martial art.

Barely disguised racism, intense self-love, no filter whatsoever, and a total lack of willingness to look at the facts don't make me want to associate with people who think this kind of rant is acceptable as public discourse. Honestly, I'm no fan of the Democrats, but I'm not an idiot - I remember Bush talking about the SWIFT program several times over the years, so when my side begins indulging in this kind of bull, it's time for me to pull up stakes.

Politics isn't sport. You don't cheer for your guy no matter what he does. Eventually, you have to say "this isn't right", and people like the woman who posted this diary will just never admit her side is wrong, no matter what.

I will. Because it is.

[shadrivers]

This satire competes successfully with Monty Python's "Personal Best" series.

I wonder what you think of Thomas Jefferson's preference for "newspaper with no government over government with no newspaper".

[marcus]

To the disgusted Republican above.

It warms my heart when I hear of a Republican that comes to terms with the fact that their party has been hijacked by a bunch of radical loonies. I hope that you'll vote with us Democrats to rid the country of this bunch of opportunists. Then maybe we can return to some semblance of bipartisanship and get back to the business of running the country.

[Chris]

Wow, what drew the locusts to this blog? What are you guys going to do next, throw a pie at her and run away? Your like a bunch of hyenas.

[Betty Cracker]

Wow. Just wow. It's not the wrong-headed, ill-conceived opinions that are remarkable; that's common enough. It's not the manic, incoherent delivery -- there are people wandering the streets muttering similar thoughts to themselves and unlucky passersby in every city on earth.

No, what's surprising is that someone would actually publicize such humiliating proof of her incoherence. The remarkable thing is that this person is so far removed from reality that she could watch that video of herself braying like a jackass and actually want others to see it. The sane reaction to viewing oneself in such a state would be horror and shame, following by erasing the video and vowing to refrain from ever making a video again.

[Irish Guy]

Aaah, the immediacy of the Net. I've been reading about this matter since last night (i.e. the fact that Rumsfeld gave his permission to take those pictures) and have come to the conclusion that, had this lady waited a couple of days for the facts to come out (it was printed in the NYT on 30/06 and she posted 03/07 - after the fact that Rumsfeld had given permission for the pictures came out!) the commenters would not have had such an easy opportunity to be as nasty to her as they have been.
I'm Irish, so I'm not defending her out of some political allegiance - Bush is scum beyond description, but I don't think anyone should be talked to the way some of you have talked to this lady. She may be a little misguided regarding your political system - so offer her help and advice, not retarded abuse [why are Americans always picking on the weak? Abu Graib anyone?]. To my (admittedly foreign) eyes, it seems as though this lady, like many of the commenters, are guilty of the same short-sighted hostility as your President. The apparent absence of an ability to calmly assemble and collate the FACTS (which takes at most a couple of google searches and click-throughs) BEFORE ATTACKING is symptomatic of the pace at which you live your collective lives. A word from a simple Irish guy - don't forget to stop and think about SOMETHING, ANYTHING, at least once a day to keep your brain functioning. This is your last weapon against a corrupt government and media. To those of you that have obviously already engaged your critical-thinking mechanism, you have my sympathies on another term in Hell, but remember not everyone has the benefit of your reading and understanding of the situation. Talk to each other rather than simply attacking those that haven't accumulated all the facts just yet. Look after, and out for, each other, because your administration certainly isn't going to start caring about you now.

Why is everyone after the NY Times, when the Wall Street Journal reported the SWIFT story on the front page on the same day?

[priscianus jr]

Irish Guy,
Under ordinary circumstances, you'd be right. But I don't think you really understand what things are like in this country just now.
"To my (admittedly foreign) eyes, it seems as though this lady, like many of the commenters, are guilty of the same short-sighted hostility as your President."
Foreign eyes indeed. No... sorry. This country has really gone off the deep end -- on the FAR-RIGHT end of the pool. We're way beyond moral equivalence. We're way beyond "he said, she said." There are plenty of great blogs that do exactly what you want, we need them and they do a great service. Try for example
http://www.dailyhowler.com/

The trouble with being 100% rationalist, is that you have NO resources to deal with total irrationality that is driving the 30% that still believe in Bush. And surely, commenters ARE being objective in pointing out that the lady has a very fine pair of jugs. I haven't seen a single comment suggesting otherwise! Since my connection loads slowly, I noticed the tits long before I got to hear the brainless rant.

[CenterCourt]

RE: "To the disgusted Republican above.

It warms my heart when I hear of a Republican that comes to terms with the fact that their party has been hijacked by a bunch of radical loonies. I hope that you'll vote with us Democrats to rid the country of this bunch of opportunists. Then maybe we can return to some semblance of bipartisanship and get back to the business of running the country."

Just because we Republicans don't stand behind the crazy right of our party doesn't mean that we are going to joint the left-wing Naderite nutjobs of your party who want to shut down commerce, accept terrorism as a way of life and engage in bigoted moral relativism. Look at what you guys are doing to Joe Lieberman, a socially liberal Democrat who nonetheless supports a backbone for this country. You are sacrificing him on the altar of Cindy Sheehan and calling him a traitor, a RINO, etc. When you can live with Lieberman as a leader, and not a pariah, of your party, then, maybe, I'd consider joining you. As it is, I'm sticking with those who won't crucify me for driving an SUV.

And Pamela, what is with this particularly hysterical tirade against the Times? This is not the release of atomic secrets to Iran or North Korea. This is the independent press in this country doing its job. I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that our government is investigating where terrorists get their money (hello Iran and Saudi Arabia, duh!). Frankly, I would be shocked to learn that no investigation was occurring - sometimes I need these Times' reports to confirm that our government is not as incompetant as the Times would make it seem to be. Now, I don't like the Times opinions any more than you do, but I do read the Wall Street Journal and the same story appeared there. The NYT is anti-Bush and anti-War and I don't lean that way, but they are not treasonous or traitorous and to say so just diminishes the rectitude of any argument we make to support such investigations.

[masturbator]

If I had a time machine it would be really hot to have you Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin do a show together on Channel J.

[bill]

You left me hanging. I really wanted to hear the Carter comments. Nobody could do it better.

[bill]

You left me hanging. I really wanted to hear the Carter comments. Nobody could do it better.

[Keith Irwin]

I love how you blame the NY Times for soldiers dying in Iraq. Obviously it's the fault of a newspaper for revealing the Bush administration's violations of American's privacy, and not the fault of Bush for invading Iraq. You talk about being all logical and thoughtful, but you can't see the obvious causes and effects which are right in front of your face because you're not willing to consider anything which will ever cast a bad light on the President. Even launching a costly and useless war which has now cost almost as many American lives as the 9/11 attack isn't enough to make you question your leadership.

I've read a lot of conservative blogs over time, but what strikes me most about you is how afraid you are. You're willing to do anything to protect your own safety, even send our boys to go die in Iraq. You'll let them tap your phone, look over your bank records, anything they want, so long as it means that terrorists don't kill you. And you call that sort of cowardice American.

If terrorists kill me, so be it, but I'm not giving up my freedoms just because Bush says so. I'd rather be free and dead than live in the shackles of oppression and fear. And I applaud the New York Times for revealing every time that Bush tries to steal our freedoms away in the name of fighting terrorists. That's fighting for freedom.

[Irish Guy]

Hi Priscianus,

I do have a pretty good idea of what's going on in your country as I travel there quite frequently, have a number of close friends from University who are from, and currently live, there and we receive fairly untinted media coverage of events on your shores here in Ireland/Europe (which I no longer take for granted after witnessing the brainwashed ignorance of a middle-aged pro-Bush couple I met in Vegas recently!).

My point, however, remains - why be nasty to this lady? She simply hasn't engaged the issue satisfactorily, didn't carry out sufficient research, and has unfortunately been unable to restrain herself from broadcasting her conclusions to the world prior to any form of critical analysis, or even input from a rational sideliner [hence my first line re: the immediacy of the Net]. She may, indeed, possess some form of learning disability (common in pro-Bush supporters). All of this, however, does not make this lady a fundamentally bad person. Please don't get me wrong here - you definetly have the next Adolf Hitler on your hands there in Dubya - but this girl alone didn't put him into office. Why debase your debate with silly personal insults when you have the opportunity to enlighten this slightly muddled lady, setting her straight on the big issues? Whilst I realise that both sides will say that they can't reason with the other, at some point patient logic and prudent discourse can shed light on the darkest of subject matters. And whilst a given point could take a month, or a year or more to sink into a person's head, once the knowledge bubble pops inside them, and the realisation spews forth...well, there's just no putting it back in there, is there?
Basically, it can take some people longer to realise they're wrong than others.

In fact, something's just occured to me. This lady, although misguided, probably has more of an interest in your political system and the issues surrounding it than a lot of the people hurling abuse at her! As far as your last point regarding objectivity is concerned, I would suggest that it is not so much their objectivity that concerns me as their overt hostility toward an obviously ill-informed fellow citizen. Honestly, is there no compassion left on that continent?

If I seem a little naive please don't attack me. Please explain it to me, and help me better understand the world I live in with you.

[Heretic]

Pay close attention kids.... this is what happens when you read Ayn Rand's idiotic dreck and then your body matures but your mind retains the functionality of a 12 year old.

Btw, nice pic there WONDER PAM! Too bad it only magnifies your inner ugliness.

I pity you and your ilk, I truly do.

[getplaning]

Pam, do us all a favor and go back to doing porn- you were so much better at that.

[sally]

You parrot the anti-NYTimes points this administration and other conservatives have been espousing for the past week really well!

[Betty Cracker]

Irish Guy, have you been reading this blog long? My guess is no, because if you had, you would realize that there's no reasoning with its author. You're right -- some people do take longer to realize they're wrong than others. We have an example of that phenomenon in action in the shift of majority attitudes towards Bush and the Iraq war; most Americans now realize Bush is doing a crappy job and the war was a huge mistake.

But some people will never admit they are wrong and are impervious to arguments and even facts that don't square with their world view. Ms. Shrugs is one of those people. You might as well try to teach your dog chess than to present rational opposing points of view. She won't get it.

As for the personal invective being hurled her way, well, I've observed that in most cases, you get what you give. Ms. Shrugs doesn't offer her opponents reasoned critiques of their opinions; she calls them traitors, anti-Semites and worse. So it's really not that surprising that they respond in kind. Personally, I find all the "nice tits, babe" comments over the top, but again, Ms. Shrugs invites that sort of thing with her own behavior.

Is there any compassion and reasoned debate left on our continent? Certainly, and you'll find it all over the web. Just not here. Actually, I see much reason for hope in the fact that people like Ms. Shrugs are no longer aligned with the majority. That may herald the end of a long national nightmare.

[Irish Guy]

Sorry, I know it's silly, but it made me search as I quite enjoy Chess and love dogs:
http://www.dreamstime.com/dogplayingchess-image750025

Thank you for your explaination Betty, although I had read the entire blog and, whilst Pam certainly wasn't in line with my thinking, I felt the 'archaic-tug' of chivalry dictating my subtle intervention. I simply do not like to see a lady spoken to in this manner, whether that lady is 'guilty' of the outrageous or heinous political rantings she's charged with or not [in this context guilt requires a knowledge of the subject matter].
However, I think you're probably right Betty, I am in way over my head. So, I'm off to locate some of that rational and compassionate discourse at another blog (this is the first blog I've ever posted to, so I may check back in sometime). For now, adieu, and maybe see you around (in a more friendly environment) someday.
Bye everyone
[p.s. Pam, don't forget the analogy of the reed being stronger than oak through its flexibility - we ALL get it wrong sometimes, and you don't have to explain your mistakes to anyone but yourself in the end. If, however, you continue lying to yourself after you realise you're wrong, and acting in, as Sartre called, Bad Faith...well, no good will come of it. Keep yer chin up and eyes open. Bye]

[Major Mike]

After plowing through all the snide and personal remarks, the ad hominem attacks, allusions to drug use, the whole litany of put downs that seem to have been brought intact from your last attack on Michelle Malkin - OK, you left out the Asian whore remarks, substituted Jewish Princess and porn star - the bottom line is the New York Times is incoherent.

Go to Strong As An Ox And Nearly As Smart for more.