Hi everybody, first-time diarist here. I've been a member/reader for about a year and a half now, and a DNC donor & infrequent volunteer for Dem campaigns here in Ohio for about the same amount of time or longer, and have been meaning to start to contribute to the site more by writing a diary or two on subjects important to me for a long time now. Have not done so until now mainly due to lack of time, but this morning I finally saw something that made me so mad that I just had to make some time to write a diary on the subject.
I'm referring, of course, to DLC Chairman Harold Ford's ridiculous and extremely offensive assertion this morning on MTP that this site is anti-semitic.
I know, I know..........THIS is what finally gets me mad enough to make time for a diary? After all of the instances of blatant disregard for the Constitution we have seen from this "administration"?
- After Dick Cheney gave an old dude a facefull of buckshot?
- After BushCo. attempts (successfully so far) to assert the power to render Congressional subpoenas meaningless, in essence destroying the system of checks and balances that our form of Constitutional government is based on, and depends upon for survival?
- After Bush disregarded a law overwhelmingly passed by Congress banning torture with a simple signing statement (this administration DOES torture, by the way, in case anyone was still unsure about that)?
- After Bush threatens to veto an expansion of the hugely successful SCHIP program (I pray to God his veto is overturned so: 1)those kids get insured, and to a mush lesser extent 2)so he calls a press conference just to throw a temper tantrum for not getting his way - I don't think Lil' George has ever NOT gotten his way in his entire life) based on petty ideological reasons?
The answer is because of all of the ridiculous, illegal and destructive things Bush and Cheney have perpetrated upon this country due to their incompetence and utter contempt for the rule of law, I have come to EXPECT these things from them because they are Republicans. In fact, they are the worst kinf of Republican - NEOCONSERVATIVE Republicans (a particularly nasty subspecies of your more common republicanus rodentius).Simply put, nothing they do surprises me anymore(OK, except for Cheney claiming that he is not part of the executive branch - even I was amazed that he would try to get away with something so laughable, so incredibly stupid).
But, until this morning, I had never really heard anything both so stupid and offensive come from a DEMOCRAT'S mouth.
(Before anyone says it - Lieberman dosen't count. He's a bona fide CFLer, or independent, or Dem-indie hybrid, or whatever the hell it is he's calling himself these days in order to skirt CT election law)
This morning Harold Ford Jr.(a man this community supported whole-heartedly in his Senate bid less than a year ago) made a choice to make false accusations against this site b/c he was getting his ass handed to him in the debate by Markos. He chose to label this site as "anti-semitic" b/c a few random individuals have posted comments that can be interpreted as anti-semitic - on a site with about 130,000 users and over half a million visitors a day.
UN-FUCKING-ACCEPTABLE!!!
Now, other diarsits have already made the case (very eloquently, I might add) as to why Ford's accusation is categorically false and without merit, so I will spare everyone my personal deconstruction and smackdown of Ford's statement. We're all well aware that what he said is bullshit.
Rather, I'll get into why what Ford said pissed me off so damn much that I'm publicly blowing my lid about it.
Now, I'm sure a lot of you will agree with me when I tell you that I personally believe that calling someone anti-semitic or being called anti-semitic is something to be taken VERY seriously. I would be mortified if that charge was ever lobbed at me. Calling someone anti-Jewish is not and should not be something that one just casually throws around, as Harold Ford did. The particularly depressing and tragic history of the Jewish people is the obvious reason for that. Same principle for calling someone racist, a homophobe or sexist - you'd better have something to back it up if you make serious accusations like that. It's important how much everyone realizes why what he did is so wrong in my mind b/c of the question I ask at the end of this diary. His comment was way over the line and inappropriate.
What Ford did this morning, besides lying, was to reinforce certain Fox Noise memes about this site, drive an even bigger wedge between the netroots and the DLC, and in general to just create more distrust and animosity between the netroots and establishment Democrats. In short, he helped no one but republicans with his idiocy and carelessness with the facts.
Now, earlier in the MTP debate, Markos had noted that at the Yearly Kos convention, all of the Democratic interest groups and constituencies were represented on the panels - save the DLC. After a promp from Gregory, Ford then invited Markos to the next DLC convention and Markos invited Ford to next year's Netroots Nation.
AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW......GROUP HUG!
Alas, the unity was short-lived as not too long after that was when Ford chose to take the warpath and smear this site and it's users.
I ask this question b/c I just don't see how the netroots and the DLC can ever work together for the good of the Democratic Party when the Chairman of the DLC spreads lies about us the way he did. Markos and Ford had, for a moment in the debate, touched upon the fact that we are stronger working together against republicans that working against eachother. Then Ford said what he did, and I wondered to myself (after cursing my Irish head off) if Ford was just full of it when he talked about coming together for progressive values. A precedent needs to be set here, people. A line needs to be drawn in the sand. One Democrat does not go on the teevee and publicly smear another group of Democrats out of spite b/c he is losing a debate. That's childish and petty, and it's not how you treat someone you are supposedly trying to mend fences with.
My question is: Should Harold Ford be uninvited from next year's Netroots Nation if he does not apologize for his outrageous statement?
By the way....my personal vote is "Yes", if you hadn't guessed.