Why do you think extremists on either side of the political spectrum are given different labels?

Question

Take an extremist like Michael Moore, a bleeding hearted liberal. The labels I've seen are "visionary", "talented", and "activist". Or Al Franken..."extremely intelligent". Or Al Gore..."intelligent" (ha! look into his college grades!), "thoughtful", "passionate", etc. You get the picture.

Now for some poor-people-hating conservative extremists, like Pat Buchanan. I've seen "Hitler", "dictator", "hate monger", etc. Rush Limbaugh is many things, including "blowhard", "controversial", "hate monger", "divisive". You get the picture?

Now, given that a out of 79 journalists working for the three major networks, 78 of them are registered Democrats who are either now active or were active in Democratic campaigns at some level, can we see a pattern emerging? The exception is Diane Sawyer, who was Nixon's press secretary.

Bias? Not this media, no way! The labels given by the bleeding hearted liberal media are deserved, not biased...

what do you think?

The above is MY opinion on why this happens...I'm curious about your opinions. The facts I'm stating I recall the sources, but if you want to you can find them. Just as everyone heard about George W Bush's C average at college and NOBODY heard about Al Gore's C average at college as well as him flunking out of grad school, so now we hear only what the media puts out unless we dig into things ourselves.

I looked into who is reporting these things and found a staggering 78 of 79 "journalists", ranging from Couric to Rather to Rivera, as all registered democrats. The one was Diane Sawyer. It's chilling to think so many of our citizens think the "news" is put out by those who only care about the truth.

by the way, to those who object to my use of "bleeding hearted liberal", I heard it once and still love it. It describes the extremists so well. I also use "poor-people-hating conservatives" or "homeless hater conservatives". The comedy that is our dominant media culture gives out a never ending source of labels from which to choose.

To Illicit: no, I don't visit web sites nor even watch television anymore, your claims are groundless...much like your opinions.

Answer 1

President Clinton was treated atrociously. We all know it. He had his faults, and failings. So does President Bush.

It's still contemptible how much political bigotry they both put up with.

I fought it when President Clinton was in office (I am a democrat).

I have ethics.

I fight it now when President Bush is having to deal with it.

It's the last bigotry we tolerate.

I don't. Do you? One way, yes, one way, no?
I hope not. I hope you're like me, intolerant of it even in your own party.

We need more patriots, not more party puppets.

Answer 2

I agree completely, seems like several above me don't quite get what you mean though. Until Fox came along, the libs had television locked up and there WAS no dissenting opinion on the tube. The only conservative reporting you will find is on Fox now, and of course the libs are up in arms about what they report while all along they swallowed the lies and distortions of ABC, CBS, and NBC without blinking an eye. If you want the truth, you have to look elsewhere, not on the television. It's staggering how many people really think what they see on there is news! It's high comedy, not news.

Answer 3

Caeserlives comments a few places up made me laugh. Carl Rove tactics? Our friend Caeser is doing what all liberals do when they are revealed for what they are, and that's smearing labels on dissenters. Reveal their double standard biases and you get a selection of labels, pre-approved and ready to apply depending on the politically incorrect offense.

People that give their opinions that are conservative, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter etc are labeled haters, neocons, and all kinds of disgusting rhetoric from the left. The Dixie Chicks or the pretender Sean Penn does the same thing, stating the truth gets them in all kinds of trouble, and the libs praise them and cluck their tongues about how mistreated they are for merely stating their opinions, which is a right in this country. A conservative stating his/her opinion is divisive, a liberal doing the same is just celebrating their freedom to do so.

Answer 4

You fall into the same trap as about 80% of the people on this forum, and at least that much in normal life. Go ahead and take a look at what most of the news media reports on Michael Moore, or even Al Gore. You wont see the words you posted very often. More likely, you'll see "socialist," "communist," "anti-American," "agaisnt the troops," and, my personal favorite, "supportive of terrorism." Those are what I see, especially when I log onto this forum and look down the pages.
Do not misunderstand. That 80% is not even close to being entirely composed of people who make these remarks. I'm with you when you provide the lines about Pat Buchanan. Plenty of liberals fall into this trap too, and what they say is no better than what the conservatives say.
My point is that this is a 2 way street. Don't make your side out to be so free of guilt on this issue. Both sides would rather lob names at each other and demonize their opponents rather than support their own arguments. I'm not being supportive of either side here, I'm not trying to be biased on this issue, nor does it matter what my political preference is. All that matters is the truth about the majority of political speakers around today.

Answer 5

78 journalists out of how many?You really think that the entire payroll of the three major networks is 79?

And every pejorative you used to describe conservatives,I have read,seen or heard being used to describe the left by the corporate media the right falsely label"liberal".

The whole"liberl media"meme is classic authoritarian propaganda,designed to make the rights adherents feel as if though they are part of a special,yet persecuted minority.

Hitler used it,Franco used it,Mussolini used it and so does the American right.

Edit-Your claim that you looked into it and discovered that 78 out of 79 etc,.etc. is hogwash,This entire "question" is almost entirely verbatim recitation of "reports"on Limbaugh's site,or Malkin's,or Hannity's,or Fox News,or WND and on and on.You didn't "discover' anything,you're repeating right wing propaganda.

Edit-So where did you come across this astounding "discovery" of yours?
Seeing how this has been a mantra of the wingers for months now,I'm more than a little disinclined to believe this hogwash about your "discovery".

Answer 6

Maybe being a journalist causes them to move to the left. Maybe through their investigations of politicians, they see first hand the level of corruption and greed of the Republican apparatus.
I've heard Gore, Clinton, Moore, etc. labeled every negative thing imaginable. You know this since you're a Republican using Rove tactics.

Answer 7

The extremists of both groups are labeled to try and get the middle of the road crowd to denounce them and remain more in the manageable gutless group.

Answer 8

You certainly make some points there, but you should provide a link to back up your statements.

Answer 9

I agree with you, but you answered your own question, thus wasting everyone's time.