At a national press club event, WH Reporter, and wanker, Dick Gregory claimed that the polarization in the national dialog was a function of the internet. Blogger Richard Power (love that pseudonym) eloquenty responds, and reminds Mr. Gregory of the words of I.F. Stone and Tom Paine, and then sums up (some) the events that really led up to this polarization:
- Rich pigs like Richard Mellon Scaife dropping tens of millions of dollars on attempted coups like “The Arkansas Project”.
- The impeachment debacle.
- The incompetent handling of intel by Bush and His Evil Minions™ leading up to 911
- The deliberate and premeditated minipulation and deception on intelligence by Bush and His Evil Minions™ leading up to Iraq.
- The Swift Boating.
- The theft of the election in Florida in 2000.
- Voter suppression and intimidation.
- The Jamming on Democratic phone banks on election day.
- The US Gulags.
- The politicization of the Justice Department.
- Terry Sciavo
- Valerie Plame
He makes the point that if Tom Paine were alive, he’d be blogging. Go read it.
The thing that really bugs guys like Mr. Gregory is not the “polarization”, it’s that some guy sitting in front of his screen can fact check him using 15 minutes with Google, and show that he’s doing sloppy, poor quality work.