I have no qualms, though, using the "fake but accurate" defense here. The MSM put it into my hands…

Actually, Drudge – and to a lesser degree – FOX and FOX's John Moody were the ones who kicked the whole thing off, while other outlets were still establishing things known as 'facts,' or reporting on more newsworthy material. Drudge and FOX gave it the most exposure. As far as I know, very few of the main stream news sources really touched it, and if they did it was only given a quick mention. As far as I can tell, The NY Times, for example, has yet say anything at all – at least online, anyway.

Originally Posted By TomYou certainly are angry. I akso think you are giving away your integrity for a liar.

If you want to say, "I want to emulate people I find hateful liars" as you seem to illustrate with your attack on Mapes, you are arguing that YOU are a theoretical liar, who uses lies as your weapon. Marxists and Stalinists and Leninists do that.

There were so many people who lost their bearings by adopting a standard that they do not believe in. I am not a conservative, but I trust conservatives to tell the truth, and I deplore when people on my side tell lies.

I mentioned my liberal college with its "Time for Healing" and Candle light vigils over two separate "attacks" by so-called "right wing hate-spouting bigots". NO ATTACK HAPPENED> Each girl injured herself.

Susan Smith murdered her children; the Duke stripper was not attacked.

Truth is not something any of us can give away because "you did it first".

Very well put..

According to you, there were at least nine instances during the last month or so in which Obama supporters did something stupid or violent. That's nine. Not 9000 or 900 or even 90, but only nine out of about 70 million registered democrats. That kind of number does not support your theory that the democrats are violent thugs. That kind of ratio, scientifically speaking, would actually prove that there is NO correlation between progressivism in the US and violence towards conservatives. Considering there are about 20 million less registered conservatives than democrats, I'd only have to find about five or six instances of violence or thuggery commited against the democrats to accuse the republicans of the same thing you have accused the democrats!

You're looking for a correlation where there are only anamolies, and anomalies are non-partisan.

It didn't happen. The Secret Service actually investigted it. No one said "kill em". The agents at the rally never heard it. No one the agents interviewed heard it. The only one who did was one reporter from one Pennsylvania newspaper. His report was picked up and repeated by bigger outlets.

And no one seemed even a litle bit skeptical about that, even when the Secret Service completed its investigation and made the results public. Not even you.

So, please, don't tell me how I shuold always be skeptical. Like I said, you don't get to lecture me from the left side of the room on propriety or prudence. You don't have the standing to do so.

As for abortion bombings, well, you're going to love one of my posts this weekend. I'll give you a hint. Guess how many people have been killed related to abortion clinics in the last ten years?

Look, the extreme left and the extreme right BOTH have a history of violence. Extremism tends to also make people extremely angry. Just as not all Muslims are jihadists, not all liberals are violent revolutionaries.

Your belief that the left are somehow more violent than the right only makes sense to you because you completely disregard the various shades and degrees of progressivism and simply lump the whole lot in one pile of negatives, while at the same time you gloss over the violence that has been perpetrated by the right. If I looked at the world the way you do, I'd have been calling you a Nazi this whole time and wondered when you were going to blow up some abortion clinics!

ALL CONSERVATIVES WANT TO BLOW UP ABORTION CLINICS!

Silly, innit?

Actually, I posted a pretty long post, in which you're commenting, with the simpler explanation.

No, yours was not the simpler explanation. The initial facts did not add up. It was highly dubious from the beginning. Her statements contradicted the evidence. The story practically screamed HOAX.

Your suggestion that conservative bloggers were taking the skeptic route for fear of a backlash is quite ridiculous. The simpler explanation in this case would be that they were genuinely skeptical. If they were worried about gotchas then why bother saying anything about it at all? Just ignore it and if it turns out to be a hoax then no harm done. After all, if a couple of bad McCain apples aren't newsworthy ("kill him" etc), then why would a bad Obama apple be newsworthy? Considering that the right has complained about the non-newsworthiness of the occasional idiot at McCain rallies, I have to say it's a little hypocritical that people like Drudge etc jump at the chance to do the same thing when the boot is on the other foot.

Like I said earlier, criticize me for what I said.

And I specifically said that the other nine crimes had a direct influence on how I thought about this one. In fact, I said that I was not leaning toward skepticism because the other nine crimes happened.

I'm not changing the subject. The other nine crimes are very relevant, as I've said repeatedly. You are the one who is narrowing the focus to a position more comfortable for you.

You should ALWAYS lean toward skepticism. Your statement doesn't show you're rational, but it does show that you're rather biased.

Well, it is a competition, for public opinion. For at least the past two weeks the MSM has been telling people how the right is growing more violent, how we are close to exploding with rage and hate. In fact, it is the left where the vast majority of the political violence has been happening, not just in the last month since Barack Obama told his followers to "get in their faces" but for decades upon decades. It's important to me that the prevailing MSM narrative, which is unadorned poppycock, be refuted for the lie it really is.

No. Neither side is perfect. But one side is definitely closer to it on this matter than the other.

Oh, god.