Tony Snow and the Tolerant, Compassionate Left

Warning. Strong Language.

Tony Snow, former White House Press Secretary and Fox News journalist dies, and how do the folks in the leftist blogosphere react?

With all the venom one might expect.

When looking at comments on liberal blogs, one has to note that many have the notion “Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules” (this from the Democratic Underground) or some such.

Which means that the post was so vile that a moderator removed it. Which means that to get the true flavor of the responses, one needs to move the the bottom of the discussion to see posts that the moderators haven’t gotten around to removing yet.

Just a sampling of comments from the aforementioned Democratic Underground.

• Meet your maker and all the people you helped kill Tony.
  
• Condolences to his family, good riddance to a fucking liar.
  
• We have no right to rejoice over this. But what about the man whose entire family was slaughtered by american bombings in Iraq ? Snow, as Bush’s spokesman, bears a responsibility.
  
• Mr. Snow, meet Mr. Fire. Another fascist bites the dust. None too soon.
  
• A fond farewell Mr. Snow ... If there is someplace you go after death, I hope George Carlin is there waiting to kick your ass.
  
• He (or his masters) paid image consultants a crapload of money to make him seem like a decent guy, but he stood for and supported everything that Bush and Cheney do, and I wouldn’t apply the term decent to either of them...
  
• My condolences ... to the Iraqis who have died because of the neocons.
  
• Why not just let him lie and say nothing, and save your pity for the people who have suffered and died because of Bush administration policies that Snow helped promote?
  
• I saw him on Bill Maher maybe back in January. And I remember being shocked at the time that someone battling what is usually a death-sentence illness . . . would not have learned anything about life. His illness and what he went through obviously not having taught him anything about compassion, humility or empathy. But there he was, Tony Snow. As hateful and arrogant as ever.
  
• that Tony was a filthy, lying bastard who devoted his later years to spewing propaganda for fascists and miscreants.
  
• Rest in peace, Mr. Snow. Just joking.
  
• He was a paid liar for the worst administration in our history.
  
• He was just one of the flacks. Media manipulators for hire. Spin machines. I have often wondered how they manage to sleep at night.
  
• he lied to me daily
  
• Isn’t that nice. A faithful Christian who enabled the slaughter of innocent Iraqis.
  
• sorry snow------- his bullshit lies and smarmy face caused the deaths of soldiers, the ignoring of global warming, the spreading of disinformation.
  
• Maybe he can now meet some of the people his lies killed.

We could, of course, cut and paste all night on this.

In all fairness, not all comments were nasty, although some posters pointedly said they were not going to say anything (presumably because they could say nothing good).

But the contrast to conservative blogs is stark. Comments gloating over Teddy Kennedy’s brain cancer were few, and sympathy was the norm there.

[Sunday Afternoon Update]

Some similar hatred from the Daily Kos.

• Question #2.Was Tony Snow part of a Goebbels-like propaganda machine allowing a cabal of pillaging, warmongering thugs to seize War Powers of an Industrialized “Democracy” allowing said Regime to unrepentently torture, maim, and kill civilians in foreign lands while rationalizing his patrons Police-State Powers at home via the comprehensive, calculated dissembly of the Rule of Law? . . . Yes.
  
• I feel horribly for the children, elderly parents...the wife I am more ambivalent about. I could not love or stay married to a man who enabled Bush.
  
• Isn’t it ironic. . . that a man who held onto and fed people the lies, the smears, the condescending attitude, who hurt so many should be overcome by the very thing that his own body was feeding and growing.
  
• Tony Snow I am sure was a nice man to those of like mind. And there is exactly the problem. “Those of like mind” do not give a damn about you or me or the rest of this once great country.
  
• Let’s talk about Tony Snow - I mean really talk about Tony Snow and what lies he spread to the world for profit.
  
• Standing in Puragtory’s line, behind 100k Iraqis
  
• It is fair and balanced to note what team he played for. How many Iraqis and Americans died so he could continue in his job?

It is ironic that the secular leftist types at the Daily Kos invoke God and the afterlife. But one poster explained the whole thing.

• Not a believer in an afterlife, but let me say that would be fitting; something like Marlow’s ghost from “A Christmas Carol”, here’s Tony chained to all of his lies, doomed to walk the earth seeing the destruction he facilitated...every military funeral, every Iraqi body laying in the street, every homeless vet...
  
  I can see why this whole “afterlife” thing is so popular.

The stunning thing about all this is not so much that liberals hate. Strong partisans have always tended to demonize the other side.

It’s that the liberals are so shameless in their hate. They think their views are the only decent ones, and therefore all who oppose them deserve to be hated.

They are, in other words, proud of their hatred.

Tony Snow: Liberal Hate Spews Forth

When John and his wife Elizabeth Edwards announced that her cancer had recurred, we saw nothing but best wishes from the conservative blogosphere. Righty bloggers don’t particular like the very liberal John Edwards, and won’t vote for him. But the universal reaction was to wish the couple well.

But when Tony Snow made a similar announcement, the lefty blogosphere reacted very differently. As explained by World Net Daily:

Moments after White House Press Secretary Tony Snow’s new personal battle against cancer became public yesterday, a vicious assault was launched at left-leaning websites, with some message posters hoping for a swift death for the presidential spokesman.

“Under the heading of ‘What goes around comes around’, the cancer in Tony Snow is removing the cancer of Tony Snow from the national scene,” wrote TDoff on the D.C. gossip site Wonkette.com.

Omnilation wrote, “Dear Tony, I hate you. -God.”

A contributor called homofascist stated, “It is a bitch that I wouldn’t wish upon even a smarmy, evil f---face liar like Snow. Because really, isn’t he OUR smarmy, evil f---face liar?”

Some readers at HuffingtonPost.com reportedly said:

“Sure holding all that bulls**t in your gut would make anybody sick . . . !”

“The growth in his abdomen is his head stuck up his a**. F**k him!! He is pure lying scum and should die ASAP!!”

Beccawalton was among those calling for an end to the venom-spewing:

“Stop these mean-spirited and hypocritical posts. Just because you don’t like his politics (and I don’t, either), don’t revel in this. It’s inhuman and cruel. I’m not going to waste space to prove my liberal cred, just stop it!”

And PghLori noted:

“There are freakin’ idiots on both sides of the political divide, and here you’re looking at the lib side. Aside from the fact that it is just ignorant to make jokes about cancer, it’s also self-defeating, as [Rush] Limbaugh, [Sean] Hannity, etc. will refer to these postings as examples of hate-filled libs, just as they did with the Cheney board postings. Thanks a lot folks.”

We just listened to Sean Hannity on the way home tonight, and the poster is right. Hannity did discuss the hate filled postings on his show.

But the last posting also raises the likelihood that there are many more liberals who are as hate-filled as those who posted, but are at least smart enough to avoid making their side of the ideological spectrum look like bigots.

If anybody thinks that this sort of rhetoric is limited to one lefty blog, they might check out what a blogger wrote on the Huffington Post:

I admit my bias shows with these stories. I hear about Tony Snow and say to myself, well, stand up every day, lie to the American people at the behest of your dictator-esque boss and well, how could a cancer NOT grow in you. Work for Fox News, spinning the truth in to a billion knots and how can your gut not rot? I know, it’s terrible. I admit it. I don’t wish anyone harm, even Tony Snow. And I do hope he recovers or at least does what he feels is best and surrounds himself with friends and family for his journey. But in the back of my head there’s Justin Timberlake’s “What goes around, goes around, comes around, comes all the way back around, ya..”…

Interestingly, this particular passage has been deleted from the Huffington Post, but reactions to it by readers remain. It’s hard to completely sanitize the record.

Check here for more details on the post.

Liberals constantly use the rhetoric of tolerance. So why do they (or at least so many of them) hate so much?

Tony Snow: More Liberal Hate

We posted yesterday about hateful comments on liberal blogs directed at White House Press Secretary, whose cancer has returned.

Since then we have found and archived two discussions on the Democratic Underground discussion board.

Almost two years ago, we posted about the vitroil on that board directed toward Marquette’s College Republicans, whose fundraiser for American snipers was shut down by Marquette bureaucrats.

While there are a fair number of solicitous comments directed toward Snow, there is a very large dollop of pure hatred.

Warning: Obscene Language Follows

One discussion was posted under the (sarcastic) title “God Bless Tony Snow,” and the initial post said:

I wish him talented doctors, a speedy recovery and peace to his concerned loved ones. I really do.

Even a lying shit shoveler like Tony Snow deserves decent medical care and emotional support in the tough times........

That pretty much set the tone, as comments such as the following were posted:

• . . . maybe he’ll get a glass bellybutton installed, so he can see with his head up his ass
• I like Tony Snow, and I wish him the best. He does his job. Unfortunately, doing his job means doing his best to put lipstick on a slobbering, slimy, festering pig.
• he does deserve it- and as for his job- he is just trying to be the best shit-shoveler that there ever was
• he gets rewarded for lying and enabling with the best that there is. . .
• Fuck him. He is a liar and a LOYAL bUSHIE
• I appreciate your sentiments but if he truly is concerned about his health he would quit his job. He lies to cover for a criminal and he has a nasty attitude to boot.
• being the Head Liar for the “MAN” means more than life itself...

A different discussion board at Democratic Underground is slightly more polite, perhaps because it is moderated. But it still contains comments like the following:

• I hope he gets well to, however i still have a fantasy about him that involves an open elevator shaft.
• maybe all that hatemongering hexed him! i cursed lee atwater....now i curse tony snow! do not ef with me you gop bastards!!
• Lately, poor Tony has been looking defeated & dejected, I think things aren’t going so well for his puppeteers.
• I think things aren’t going so well for his puppeteers. I assumed it was from having to lie, lie, lie every time he comes out there - that has to be hard on the body and the soul.
• Just because he’s a lying weasel doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be allowed lots of time to redeem himself.
• And I’ll admit that I don’t think much of Tony Snow. In fact, I really despise him. But I do hope that he recovers quickly and perhaps learns something from this that he obviously didn’t learn last time: life is precious.
• Get well,Tony . . . and get a conscience while you’re at it.

In Monday’s Washington Post, Howard Kurtz mentions the nastiness of the online discussion boards, but in a rather lame attempt to be even-handed, implies that it comes equally from both sides.

Kurtz mentions comments on the conservative blog Little Green Footballs, wishing that Gitmo prisoner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had succeeded in his claimed plot to kill Jimmy Carter.

The comments page in question is here, and readers can read the comments to see whether the are as nasty as the ones on Democratic Underground.

Hating Tony Snow: More

Frontpage Magazine has noticed the level of hatred that the left has lavished on Tony Snow since his recent death, something we blogged about Saturday.

You can, if you want, read the entire thing, which (if you read our post) won’t surprise you.

But we could not resist quoting the last paragraph.

He was a forceful exponent of his own views, which frequently clashed with those of the Bush administration. He is missed by conservatives who shared his views, moderates who enjoyed robust and respectful debate, and liberals capable of viewing a man as more than an embodied political platform. These last are too few, and their replacements disgrace American political debate.

British Left Looking Forward to Margaret Thatcher’s Death

While the left vilified Tony Snow on his death, the leftists in the U.K. are looking forward to the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with the same sort of raw hatred, and Lady Thatcher isn’t dead yet!

From the Daily Mail:

The Letters page of The Guardian, seldom the sanest of arenas, has this week descended to virulent venom.

In place of the customary corduroyed bores calling for unilateral disarmament, rainbow-nation multiculturalism or celebrations of Castro’s Cuba, there have appeared several letters which gloated at the prospect of Margaret Thatcher’s death.

Their vengeful tone, though hurtful about the still very much alive Lady Thatcher, has been instructive. It was a timely reminder that no one does viciousness quite like the Left. Far from the Conservatives being ‘the Nasty Party’, Labour’s preachy brothers and sisters have long deserved that title.

The author, Quentin Letts, then goes on about a lot of issues that are pretty obscure to Americans. But then he quotes some of the nasty rhetoric, which Americans can understand very well.

I don’t care what method people use to celebrate the fact that the bitch is dead. But for most people it will be a celebration. Dancing on her grave? Too bloody right, I will.

yeractual, Guardian online.

A 19-GUN salute? Only if they were all aimed at her.

imasmadashell, Guardian online.

I rather like the suggestion that whatever happens she is going to be buried at sea, by the time everyone has finished p***ing on her grave...

greymatter, Guardian online.

State funeral! She should be burned at the stake!

4danglier, Guardian online.

Thatcher should be allowed a state funeral only if the contract is put out to compulsory competitive tender and awarded to the lowest bidder. Any offers?

Rob Watling, Guardian newspaper.

‘The country owes her a 19-gun salute.’ Yeah, but we’re not cruel, she can have a blindfold as well!

BurgermaS, Guardian online.

I liken Thatcher’s rule to a surgeon finding gangrene in the little toe and amputating above the knee.

Green Lake, Guardian online.

The reminder that Charles Darwin received a state funeral underlines the grossly offensive nature of the proposal that Mrs Thatcher should be similarly honoured. Darwin’s magnificent insight liberated and broadened our thinking. Thatcher’s offensive bigotry destroyed much that was good in our society, narrowing our vision.

John Baker, Guardian newspaper.

A state funeral would be a farce. But how about nationwide street parties or perhaps auctioning coffin nails? I’d pay good money to hammer the lid down.

Ifweworkers, Guardian online.

The headline ‘State funeral planned for Lady Thatcher’ is deeply irresponsible. When it appeared, I honestly thought that the week had got off to the best possible start.

Chris Gibson, Guardian newspaper.

I’ll be there protesting and throwing eggs even if they promise to extraordinarily rendition me. Never. It’d be a crime to honour this self-serving, divisive politician who governed with minority support and who created the s*** we live in today. She did more to destroy ‘the family’ than a hundred Roy Jenkins ever could. No, no, no. Just throw some petrol on the corpse, chuck a match and let the wind do the rest.

bass46, Guardian online.

Just a couple of questions: ‘Does that include the grave/dancefloor combo?’ and ‘When is it booked for?’

Chris Hardman, Guardian newspaper.

I’d go along with it on three conditions: 1) The son Mark is stripped of his hereditary baronetcy. He has done nothing to deserve it and everything to lose it. 2) We can get it over with as soon as possible. Friday week would be good for me. 3) We do a special offer (Buy One Get One Free) with the current Prime Minister. The fact that both of them are still breathing should be no obstacle.

EastFinchleyite, Guardian online.

Announcing the Great Thatcher Awayday. On the day of her state funeral, I’ll book the Eurostar and Guardian readers are cordially invited to join me in Brussels to toast her passing with great Belgian beer. The famous bar Morte Subite (Sudden Death) will make a good starting point.

Roger Protz, Guardian newspaper.

She deserves the admiration and respect of every exploiter and authoritarian in the world.

Gegenbeispiel, Guardian online.

Since Thatcher is loathed and despised by a large proportion of UK citizens, may we suggest that her state funeral takes place at Port Stanley, where presumably her popularity remains undiminished?

Lucy Birot, Peter Mackridge and Jackie Willcox, Oxford, Guardian newspaper.

I cannot believe that I am alone in feeling total disgust that there are plans to honour Margaret Thatcher with a state funeral. I would also take issue with the view that she ‘reversed the decline in Britain’s post-war fortunes’. The fact that No 10 appears to have condoned the plans sums up how bankrupt this government has become.

Dr Terry Allcott, Guardian newspaper.

When Margaret Thatcher was Minister for Education, she took away free milk from schoolchildren. I created the slogan ‘Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher’ and put it on a wanted poster with her picture. When she became prime minister, we
wrote to her from the Chiswick Women’s Aid refuge and asked her what she would do for victims of domestic violence. A minion replied on her behalf and said that she was ‘not interested in women’s issues’. A state funeral would be an insult to this nation.

Erin Pizzey, Guardian newspaper.

Give her a nice marble tomb — in the shape of a public toilet.

anstruther, New Statesman online

State funeral? A televised public execution would be far, far too good for her.

RoyalFamily, Guardian online.

There should be a nationwide procession so the public can show their appreciation by throwing anything they like at her — and I do mean anything.

Carl Jones, New Statesman online.

I hope she lives long enough to see her son go to prison for his crimes in Africa. I hope she lives long enough to see ‘actual’ democracy come in the UK in the form of electronic democracy and local communities. I hope she lives long enough to see the mass ownership of companies by the people (not the feudal few). I hope she lives long enough to see Britain stop being the Americans’ poodle, and I hope she lives long enough to see the ‘New Labour project’ overturned by some REAL social democrats. Then I hope she comes back as a poor child in the Third World.

gnuneo, New Statesman online.

Why waste money when half the country will be having a party to celebrate her demise, anyway?

NemesistheWarlock, Guardian online.

Where’s she being buried? We could graffiti her tombstone.

RosaLuxemburgII, New Statesman online.

Letts concluded:

One of the Left’s great propaganda achievements over the years has been the idea that it was somehow kinder to support Labour than to be Conservative.

Think a little harder, though, and you may start to see that Left’s attitude depends on the suppression of tolerance.

It demands communal conformity rather than independent freedom. It seeks to dictate supply rather than allowing the market to find a level. It places the state above the citizen.

Here are the philosophical roots of the harshness of discipline which fuel the unpleasantness. Those Guardian letters spring directly from Left-wing orthodoxy. It is hard to imagine any Conservative worth that name rejoicing at the death of a Labour opponent. The Tory instinct does not work like that.

Alan Colmes Dies: Fox News Twitter Followers Respond

You might compare these to the liberal responses when Tony Snow died. Twitter login required (we think).

Fox News contributor @AlanColmes has passed away at the age of 66. pic.twitter.com/14LQUYqJ1I

— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 23, 2017

Update

In contrast, the liberal online journal Slate posted a nasty obituary just hours after Colmes died.