Before Nancy Pelosi introduces an amendment condemning Stark for telling the truth--like she did with MoveOn; and before Harry Reid has a chance to praise Stark's attackers; I thought I'd compose a short list of a few things that the other side said in the Halls of Congress that they should apologize for before we shoot one of our own:
- Dick Cheney: For telling Senator Leahy to go F*** himself in the chamber. And then for saying later he felt "good about it".
- Rep. Jean Schmidt: For calling a war hero, Rep. Jack Mutha, a "coward". We don't slam war heroes or generals (unless you oppose Bush).
- Rep. John Boehner: "I listen to my Democratic friends and I wonder if they're more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people." He's still at it, by the way.
- Rep. Steve King, for outright lying when put a sign on the floor of the House chamber: "SCHIP: Socialized Clinton-style Hillarycare for Illegals and their Parents." Steve knows that non-citizens are not eligible for SCHIP.
- Former Senator Rick Santorum for comparing Democrats to Nazis. (I'll let this one slide since Rick was admonished last year--by the voters.)
I can't even begin to talk about the antics outside of Congress that the GOP either supports or ignores--such as Rush calling soldiers who disagree with him "phony", or Ann Coulter calling Jews "imperfect", or Schlussel for saying "True religious Jews" shouldn't be offended by anti-Semitic remarks, or Stalkin Michelle Malkin, who stalked the family at home and at work, and other right-wingers who are not above harassing a 12-year brain damaged boy, or the White House for ACTUALLY SUPPORTING THE SMEAR -- including giving an official White House posting to a blog that called on the Frost kids to die and their lives to be destroyed!
There is no one, NO ONE, on the left-wing who can come close to vitrolic hate on the right. O-Reilly condemns this site for a photoshopped picture by one commenter, but the right-wing features Rush, Coulter, et al, as HEADLINERS for conservative conventions and fundraisers. They are invited to the White House and embraced by top tier GOP candidates. The GOP actually fosters a culture of hate and intolerance, and it is embraced by their core supporters who buy their books and encourage their rhetoric.
And YET, they cry crocodile tears over a representative who suggested the president is cavalier about sick children and dead veterans. How outrageous. It's not like Bush would ever mock someone about to die, nor would he ever joke about the sacrifice of thousands for other's amusement. Where would Stark ever get such an idea?
Mr. Stark, I would tell Nancy and Harry that you will offer an apology only after the Rethugs offer just one apology for anything they have said, or worse, done. If you wait for that, I guarantee that you will not have to apologize for anything.