After listening to Rush Limbaugh's non-apology to US soldiers who don't support the War on Terror, and after listening to Ann Coulter's non-defense of a type of antisemitism that hasn't been part of mainstream thought since about 1590 or so, I have come to the following conclusion: Everything the right says to tear down the left actually more closely reflects the conservative mindset.
For my first exhibit, I respectfully submit the entire Petraeus/betray us debate. Despite Rush Limbaugh's protestations to the contrary, it is apparent to anyone who had heard Rush's version of the excerpt that the word soldiers was clearly pluralized, meaning he could not be simply talking about one particular "phony soldier" as he claimed.
Apart from that, the "betray us" phrase was introduced to the public airwaves by a loyal Limbaugh listener who wanted to place that tag on a Republican lawmaker who had expressed opposition to the war in Iraq.
Now Limbaugh will be the first to tell anyone that Republicans value the free expression of ideas and that liberals want to impose thought crimes. But if that is the case, then Limbaugh ought to have corrected his listener when the listener called the Republican lawmaker a traitor.
Freedom of speech exists only when unpopular views are given the opportunity to be heard. Let's not forget that it was the conservatives who transformed Dixie Chicks from proper noun into a verb.
The second part of the whole Petraeus/betray us fiasco that intrigued me was the notion that General Petraeus required assistance in defending himself. Remember now, that the General is a trained military officer who previously commanded the 101st Airborne Division, one of the most storied divisions in Army history. This is a guy who needs help defending himself? I suspect that the General's training was such that he would be more than capable of defending his honor against juvenile word play.
Of course, Limbaugh being Limbaugh it wasn't more than a few days after the Petraeus incident died down that the voice of EIB was mocking former Clinton administration official Sandy Berger as "Sandy Burglar." Yeah. Sandy Burglar. That's much funnier than Petraeus/betray us.
And of course, let us not forget that while a decorated military commander required help in defending himself, it apparently was open season on Graeme Frost who spoke on behalf of Democrats regarding expansion of the SCHIP medical coverage plan for middle-income children. True to form, Limbaugh could be heard mocking young Graeme's speech patterns – speech patterns that have been affected by brain injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident.
Mocking the speech of someone with a disability. Can you say compassionate conservative?
If the Republican viewpoint on free speech has not confused you sufficiently, gentle reader, let us ponder the public notion (I'd say RepubliCAN notion but conservative commentators appear to share a malady which prevents them from pronouncing the fourth syllable of the word "Democratic", particularly when that word is used in connection political opponents) that the only way to support US soldiers is to keep them in a part of the world where they are constantly facing enemy bullets and bombs.
This odd notion that keeping US forces at war is positive is a strange one. What makes it particularly strange is that those of us on the home front are asked only to continue our habits as consumers: "If you don't shop at Wal-Mart, Al Qaeda wins."
Because no sacrifice connects us with those serving on the front lines, those of us on the home front are reduced to being cheerleaders. "Push em back, push em back, harder, harder!"
There is a lesson to be gleaned from all of this. Simply put, when a right-winger points a finger at a liberal, fingers still remain pointing in the right-wingers direction.