January 18, 2022

"Maybe Democratic voters could hate Republicans if the media, including the Post and Waldman, were not always pointing the finger at 'Democrats' for not passing the things that people want."

"All Republican politician[s] are united in blocking any constructive things proposed by Democrats, and of course they are joined by Manchin and Sinema. Those people, not Biden or the majority of Democratic legislators, are why the program is not advancing. What if the Post and other papers ran true stories about how Republicans are preventing anything from getting done and encouraging Trumpism, instead of stories and columns about Democrats failing to remake the government without a real majority in the Senate?"

That's the top-rated comment on "Opinion: Democrats are being dragged down by their discontent" by Paul Waldman in The Washington Post.

Isn't that amazing — though, paradoxically, not surprising — that a WaPo reader perceives the newspaper as biased against Democrats and in need of a strong correction toward blaming Republicans? 

Only "true stories" are requested, so I presume the commenter feels centered on principles of good journalism.

The saddest part of the comment is the beginning: "Maybe Democratic voters could hate Republicans...." That seems to mean that the goal is hate. The Post needs to stop interfering with the flow of hatred. The commenter thinks that Democrats have a capacity for hate, but it's underdeveloped — underfed by The Washington Post.

134 comments:

Achilles said...

The only people who read the WaPo as a source of information are people who want to be misled.

MadisonMan said...

The letter writer seems to want people to hate Republicans -- fellow citizens! What a very bitter way to live. They must be swimming in disappointment 24/7 to get that way. Wow.

Jake said...

“It’s all about getting things done.”
https://youtu.be/qB5pwX2IR0k

What's emanating from your penumbra said...

I would be shocked if that exact sentiment isn't flowing like a river in the editorial rooms of WaPoo and NYT among others. These institutions act as if they believe stoking hatred is their raison d'ĂȘtre.

hawkeyedjb said...

"Republicans are preventing anything from getting done..."

I think you've got a pretty good handle on why so many more people now identify as Republicans.

Gahrie said...

The commenter thinks that Democrats have a capacity for hate, but it's underdeveloped — underfed by The Washington Post.

Which only proves how delusional the Left has become.

Jamie said...

I haven't seen the article that the comment is commenting on, but my husband was telling me last night about an op-ed in some paper I don't have my own access to saying that the problem with Democrats' not being able to enact their agenda more effectively was that people just... needed to elect more Democrats, darn it. I'm thinking this might be the same piece.

A bit of family lore: once we were at a golf driving range and I was, as usual, completely sucking wind, topping the ball every time. An acquaintance happened to be there, saw me, and (thinking he was being helpful) told me, "What you need to do is just brush the grass."

Gosh! Thanks, mister! I never thought of that!

TreeJoe said...

Hate has a home there.

Leland said...

The desire to hate is very apparent. However, I do believe it is Democrat leadership, rather than the media, of making the point that only 2 Democrats stand in the way of democracy and the majority. Republicans have pointed out that it is actually 52 Senators that stand in the way of the minor 48.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Ann said..
The saddest part of the comment is the beginning: "Maybe Democratic voters could hate Republicans...." That seems to mean that the goal is hate. The Post needs to stop interfering with the flow of hatred. The commenter thinks that Democrats have a capacity for hate, but it's underdeveloped — underfed by The Washington Post.

I also note the standard of hate on the left is all things Trump. The holy hatred on the left must be tethered to Trump at all times.

Mike Sylwester said...

Democracy Dies in Darkness!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Mike S.
That never stops making me laugh my ass off.

rehajm said...

So much pent up hatred we used to project at Trump…

For some reason this is the week Democrats reveal they are more confused and disoriented than their President.

rehajm said...

Last week was a pretty bad week for Democrats wasn’t it…

retail lawyer said...

Why do I assume that commenter is a woman?

rcocean said...

For what I can tell, that's the true motivation of most Liberals/Leftists. Hatred of Conservatives/Republicans. That's what annimates them. Its certainly isn't making the USA a better country or love of "The Poor" or whatever.

Notice how the D's have given up on national health insurance? Or taking down those evil Corporations? Or income equality? Nope, that was boob bait. And if Corporations are outsourcing American jobs or we have bad trade deals, do Liberal/Leftists care? Of course not. Doesn't affect them Bro. So who gives a damn. Same with Immigration. They aren't hurt by immigration. Crime? Who cares. Homeless tent cities? Doesn't matter.

Nope. Its hatred of those damn Christian Republicans. That's their motiviation.

Sebastian said...

"The saddest part of the comment is the beginning: "Maybe Democratic voters could hate Republicans....""

Why sad? Honest and rational. It's Dem MO.

"That seems to mean that the goal is hate."

Slight overstatement. Hate is the natural response of all enlightened people to the evil GOP and a tool to energize the Dem base.

Stemming the free flow of hate, by pointing to Dem problems and failures, causes emotional distress and hurts the cause. Bad, bad WaPo.

Jersey Fled said...

Strange how in the addled mind of Democrats, what "the people" want is always really what the Democrats want.

Big Mike said...

"Maybe Democratic voters could hate Republicans...."

They don’t already?

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Hate of the other is the very core of neobarbarism. Joyless Reid's rants against Republicans who she believes will impose a dictatorship, Hillary Clinton's basketful of deplorables, the Russiagate hoax with all the ex-Obamanites spreading lies about it.

Progressivism is neobarbarism. Don't punish the criminal but make the non-criminal's life a living hell is their goal.

Daniel12 said...

Many liberals see the tentpole media institutions as very clearly anti left. Perhaps you disagree (or think they are anti right, maybe also true) but your position is not so self evident as you think. The legacy media, especially those that cover politics, are traditionalist in their policy positions. Free trade is uniformly good. Abortion is nasty. Full employment is bad. Inequality motivates. Billionaires are innovators. The social safety net makes people lazy. It's all 80s/90s legacy crap. These people, who run all the editorial departments and write the headlines, are anti left. They are also anti Trump! (Though not so anti Trump taxs...) The two are not in conflict. If you're curious, you could learn more about why these opinions are held, and maybe even find common ground.

Daniel12 said...

Rcocean, I would say the same about the right -- that there is no unifying principle beyond own the libs.

Maybe we're both right.

Bilwick said...

" . . . constructive things proposed by Democrats. . . ." I'll go out on a limb here and guess these "constructive things" entail more statism, less liberty, and more legalized pocket-picking?

Gahrie said...

Billionaires are innovators.

Jobs - personal computers. cell phones
Gates - microsoft (computer software)
Bezos - Amazon (online shopping)
Walton - superstores
Musk - paypal, electric cars, reusuable rockets

Seems like innovators to me.

Joe Smith said...

The Dems that read the WP have no problem hating Rs...they don't need any help.

Rollo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gilbar said...

Maybe Democratic voters could hate Republicans....

They just need better organizational skills!
If high tech companies would Just set aside a minute (or Two), for GROUP HATE each day
i think it would be doubleplus good, at FINALLY Getting Things Done

Daniel12 said...

Not denying billionaires innovated. It's the free pass on all things, and the sense that these unelected people working for their own profits are the true saviors of society.

But anyway, the WaPo and NY Times agree with you. See what I'm saying?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

LOL Republicans and their famous unity! The truth is that the Country sits up and takes note of Congress when inexplicable things happen. Republicans rarely agree in unison and when unanimity appears it’s a sign that Democrats are overreaching. That draws attention because like a dog walking on its hind legs Republicans sticking together is a temporary spectacle, not business as usual. Very similar is the rare phenomenon of a small number of Democrats opposing a law pushed by their side, especially in face of such ugly coercion. The more attention dishonest columnists and veeps heap on this issue the more the public sees through the BS. Quiet negotiations would have served Biden better but the rage-fueled Marxist twentysomethings running him now have zero common sense or knowledge of Congress. They are even younger and stupider than the journ-o-lists that Ben Rhodes famously pegged as knowing “nothing at all.”

Keep it up elected motards!

Iman said...

Buncha goddam dog-faced pony soldiers if ya ask me…

Amadeus 48 said...

Well, Althouse, that is the top-rated comment. It tells you a lot about the WaPoo commenters, and perhaps their entire readership. These folks make it pretty clear where they stand: they want what they want, and consensus across society does not mean much. In fact, they hate their opponents.

Many of us struggle our whole lives not to be like that.

Kevin said...

preventing anything from getting done and encouraging Trumpism

Define your terms.

Wa St Blogger said...

Lest we miss the descriptor... This was the most upvoted comment, so it is not just this author but many of the readers as well.

In a previous post we talk about unjust laws. The idea of this country is that freedom to do what you want as long as it does not impact the freedom of other people was the ideal Thus it seems to me that our view should be no law should be enacted unless it gets 2/3 of the people on board. If you can't convince 2/3 of the people, then it is probably not so good a law. The left seem to want to make a lot of laws lately, mostly to restrict or punish those whom they hate. That does not let the right off the hook. Plenty of bad laws can come from that side too. We seem to have a lot of contention when laws are foisted upon us either with slim majorities, some sort of legislative shenanigans, or through courts over riding popular votes.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Maybe they could hate? Maybe? They could?

How much more hate does she want after our President called half the country unamerican traitors?

Mark said...

Those on the left are utterly blind to the malice and animus and hate that spews from them and their fellows on a non-stop basis.

Iman said...

The WaPo is where the Party of Whiners gather to do what they do best: WHINE at their watering hole.

Rollo said...

Before saying what you think "the people" want, ask yourself if you live in a bubble of like-minded people, and how big it is and what's outside of it.

One cheer for hate, though. Without it Americans would have nothing in common.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Daniel12 sounds delusional. That hate comment is the most upvoted one by WaPo readers. They agree with her.

Conservatives are unified in the desire to be left alone, to keep good traditions (like a day to vote not a season of voting) and teaching the critical 3 Rs instead of teaching racial hatred based on skin color. Both parties make the pitch to save their voters from schemes of the other. But what schemes are causing the public to take notice now and yell “STOP”? And why would a few D senators join our side in stopping it?

Gahrie said...

the sense that these unelected people working for their own profits are the true saviors of society.

This is capitalism, and has produced a higher standard of living, by more people, than any other system is human history.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I agree with Amadeus 48.

The saddest part of the comment is not that one person feels this way but that the readers of WaPo made it their number one comment.

These are the ugly hate filled people Althouse supports.

tommyesq said...

instead of stories and columns about Democrats failing to remake the government without a real majority in the Senate?"


So setting aside the goal of increasing hatred of Republicans, she also has the goal of "remaking" government against the wishes of the majority of the Senate? Sounds like a true American to me.

tommyesq said...

I'm so old, I can remember when we were pointing the finger at "Republicans" for not passing things that people want (like doing away with Obamacare)!

Real American said...

Since there are no "constructive things proposed by Democrats", Republicans can't be blocking them.

jim5301 said...

That's right; the best way to respond to the non-stop hatred/violence of the right toward Democrats (exhibit 1 is this blog) is with love and kisses. Works like a charm every time..

narciso said...

you won't let us entirely destroy this country, how dare you 'thunberg expression, inserted here,

mikee said...

I recall those many, many, many bipartisan, across-the-aisle, nonconfrontational unity actions the Democrats have taken in my lifetime to pass Republican proposed laws.

No, no I don't. I was kidding. It is unimaginable that Clinton, Obama or Dementia Joe could ever have started their administrations by deferring to a conservative to pass major legislation (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act by GWBush and Ted Kennedy).

Skeptical Voter said...

None so blind as those who will not see. Swift was talking about life long Democrats.

robother said...

Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary, written just after the Civil War, defines politics as the organization of hatreds. Seems about right.

As befits their nom de guerr ("Progressives") Leftist institutions have progressed much further down this road of open hatred than the conservative Right, which keeps assuming some good faith common ground in the opposition.

Rollo said...

The legacy media, especially those that cover politics, are traditionalist in their policy positions.

In a sense, but they really direct their ire at conservatives and Republicans, and the left and progressives enthusiastically support them in that. You can see that in the feeling that the paper ought to do more to stoke hatred of the right. The assumption behind that is that the paper is already doing a lot of that already and should be doing more, not that it is a conservative institution.

The "80s/90s legacy crap" is simply the current consensus: a government is going to be a bureaucratic regulatory welfare state and an economy is going to be capitalistic and market-driven. Within that consensus, though, the legacy media chooses the liberal or progressive alternative represented by the Democrats. This alternative generally represents upper middle class values and interests.

Those further left, who think themselves more radical may well be more radical or they may simply be deceiving themselves. There is another consensus on social and environmental issues that the left shares with big business, and that can be hard for those on the left to escape.

I get no sense that the Post and its peers oppose abortion. If they don't celebrate it more than they do -- if you think they find it "nasty" -- that could be because it is, and that seeps through coverage that is intended to be positive, or through your own reading of it.

guitar joe said...

I think the commenter at WaPo is a dope, but I'm a little surprised that some of the folks here seem to think that kind of dislike of the opposite side is unique to the left--unless they don't read their own comments here.

Daniel12 said...

"It is unimaginable that Clinton, Obama or Dementia Joe could ever have started their administrations by deferring to a conservative to pass major legislation (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act by GWBush and Ted Kennedy)."

End welfare as we know it?
Deregulation of financial markets?
A year of futiley negotiating Obamacare with Chuck Grassley and Susan Collins, to get support for a mechanism for universalish insurance that was developed by the right?
The bipartisan infrastructure bill?

I mean, there are a million. Obama negotiated endlessly with republicans when he had 60 votes in the Senate!
BIF just happened!

Sorry but your narrative is not supported by what actually happened. Which is why it's hard for you to see that the left has fundamental complaints about the media, their fetishism for bipartisanship and status quo, and their "hippy punching" as it was called on the blogs in the olden days.

Daniel12 said...

Hey FYI the like votes of anonymous internet commenters, even on such illustrious and distinguished forums as the Washington Post, do not constitute a representative sample of public opinion.

Iman said...

Gee… what does Brooklyn think…

Michael K said...



Blogger jim5301 said...

That's right; the best way to respond to the non-stop hatred/violence of the right toward Democrats (exhibit 1 is this blog) is with love and kisses. Works like a charm every time.


jim comes here for his two minutes of hate. Feel better now, jim?

Daniel12 said...

"Within that consensus, though, the legacy media chooses the liberal or progressive alternative represented by the Democrats."

My perspective is that they are fundamentally opposed to liberal or progressive alternatives. And that they fundamentally support old school conservative centrism (maybe call it socially liberal economically conservative). And that they love to hate on Trump (which means they are infatuated), while supporting what Congress did during the Trump years, and are perfectly happy to hate on Biden, while opposing the leftward push and champion fools and morons like Gottheimer and Manchin.

CWJ said...

If the people really want these "things," then the Dems should package them more or less individually in separate bills. Then we'd discover what has broad support, and what does not. That they roll everything into 3000 page monstrosities tells you there's a lot in there that they don't want the public to see, much less think about. This is how you get infrastructure bills where only 14% of the money is to be spent on what the public would recognize as infrastructure.

No impartial responsible person could sincerely support the entirety of any such abomination. That the comment writer and his/her supporters seem to think such bills contain nothing more than the things people want, and that opposition to the whole means opposition to each and every one of it's parts, then those people suffer from major intellectual and moral defects.

Iman said...

Jim Crow2.0… anyone who doesn’t support what Dems want to inflict on the country is “racist”.

The “POTUS” appears to want to let loose the Dogs of Race War. Hugs n’ kisses?

Wouldn’t be prudent.

Iman said...

Be honest for once, corksoaker Democrats… your “Voting Rights” bill is in reality a Voting Changes or Voting Rules piece of legislation.

farmgirl said...

There is no dirty trick a Lib Will not use to get their own way.

Point in case: RussiaRussiaRussia. Fabrication of material evidence, fabrication of language, fabrication of testimony: under oath!!!
What is the penalty for lying under oath- for God’s sake?!

All the Dems that think they’re so “above it all” compared to Republicans- work w/in the f/king laws, yes? Yes.

Til then- p-p-p-piss off, Lou…

Kumbaya

tcrosse said...

You've got to be carefully taught....

robother said...

I mean, its not like President Biden went down to Georgia last week and called anyone opposed to his Voting Rights Act a racist and a domestic enemy.

Joe Smith said...

'I mean, its not like President Biden went down to Georgia last week...'

So the devil really did go down to Georgia?

Clyde said...

The Democrats are being "dragged down" because they chose to try to rule in a strictly partisan manner despite having a majority of only a few votes in the House and an evenly split Senate with Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker vote. Had they chosen to work across the aisle and find some things that were popular enough with some Republicans to gain 60 votes in the Senate, they could have done so. However, the fact that they can't even peel off Republicans like Collins, Murkowski and Romney to side with them speaks volumes about the extreme nature of the things that the Democrats want to do. They needed a lot bigger majority than they have to try to make radical changes to the country; it was a bridge too far. Now the Democrats are standing on the beach, watching the water being sucked out into the bay as the tsunami alerts are starting to blare.

MikeR said...

I can never understand the attitude that Republicans are somehow obligated to cooperate with Democratic programs. If they want Republicans on board (or Manchin and Sinema), radically alter the programs so that Republicans will agree with them. Maybe they're not obstructing, you're just trying to do things that they don't want done.

narciso said...

they have already damaged this country, in a hundred different way, some irrevocably and yet some pretend there should be any cooperation,

mikee said...

Daniel 12:
I know that ending welfare as we know it was shoved down the throat of Clinton, as he kicked, screamed, and vetoed it several times before facing the reality of it happening.

Deregulation of financial markets - 2007 and 2008 sucked for mortgage companies, right?

Obamacare was passed without a single Republican voting for it, and only by bribing senators from Missouri and Nebraska with huge amounts of earmarks.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill under Obama was a waste of money, unless you were a recipient of the slush fund money that bill fed into teacher's unions, ACORN and other groups. I understand it was about a 30/70 split for wishlist items, Republican/Democrat.

Name a bill that Dems let Republican minority write, and then passed with overwhelming Dem support.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

"A year of futiley negotiating Obamacare with Chuck Grassley and Susan Collins, to get support for a mechanism for universalish insurance that was developed by the right?"

Wow, that is the most impressive re-write of the Obamacare fiasco I have ever seen in a comment. Obama DIDN'T negotiate with Republicans, he dictated. What he did negotiate for a year was with DEMS who knew that passing Obama's ideal bill would result in their being thrashed at the next election.

And yes, the old canard that somehow the substance of Obamacare was "invented" by the Right. That little nugget applies specifically and only to the insurance mandate as formulated by the Heritage Foundation in a single policy paper. Dems adopted that little bit of policy because they AGREED with it, not because it was some magic wand that would get Republicans on board with a federal take over over of health care.

Daniel12, do a little more work on your own instead of repeating Dem talking points. We've seen them all before.

narciso said...

that was pretty weak tea, the framework of obamacare was devised by robert creamer, while he was in fraud for embezzlement, and the apollo foundation, it was sold by peter gruber, while obama jacob hacker and barnie frank, explained the real purpose,

the CRA revisions that were pushed back in 1994, along with regulatory pushes by HUD and Justice, led to the sub prime bubble, an attempt at honest accounting was defeated in 2005, and the likes of Chris Dodd, took the Senate back thanks to money from Angelo's minions,

cubanbob said...

If the Republicans are going to do the time then they should commit the crime. If and when they win the trifecta they should abolish a large part of the government. The rest other than Congress and the White House should be moved to the most bumble fuck areas of the least hospitable states in the union. And while they are at it, abolish the civil service and revert to the old patronage system. It was more honest than anything we have now and ultimately less political so the remaining bureaucracy will swing with the pendulum. Unfortunately I have better odds on becoming a multi-trillionaire than that happening.

tim in vermont said...

Anybody else notice that our hit and run trolls, not the regular contrarians we all know and love, but the hit and run trolls seemed to have MLK day off? Almost like they work at the troll farm. Here they are again, back for a short week.

Well I guess they feel like without their efforts, Biden's numbers would be even worse. That's a sad thought.

tim in vermont said...

Let's see

-Take away the secret ballot: Ballot harvesting
-Take away VoterID
-Flood the country with live ballots for vote by mail
- Prohibit removing people from the voter rolls
- Remove any and all legal means to challenge the results of any election

That's how we are going to finally get fair elections.

tim in vermont said...

" Prohibit removing people from the voter rolls"

Even if they have moved or died, I should have added.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Close down the Dept. of Education. Sell all the loans back to the colleges & universities with a 5% origination fee added on. Mandatory sell. Then make education loans dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Add a ten year limit to civil service and a 70-yo age limit. Ten years and out, don't come back.

I'm sure there are other departments and bureaus than can be sh*tcanned.

Kevin said...

I'm a little surprised that some of the folks here seem to think that kind of dislike of the opposite side is unique to the left--unless they don't read their own comments here.

There is an ocean of difference between wanting your opponents to embrace reality and wanting them dead.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Mrs. Slothrop and I were on a road trip in northern California yesterday. Hitting the "seek" button on the radio, it stopped at a station where the talker praised MLK. He began reading excerpts from "Letter from Birmingham Jail". King's words were moving, logical, gentle, and passionate. Then the commentator took a break to take some calls. The first caller started out by saying Republicans were fascists for standing in the way of the federal takeover of elections. No, said the commentator, Republicans were worse than fascists for standing in the way of the federal takeover of elections. In other words, neither caller nor commentator had learned a single thing from Dr. Martin Luther King. It was very important to them to keep the hate alive, because hate is the spur that keeps progressives motivated

rehajm said...

I can never understand the attitude that Republicans are somehow obligated to cooperate with Democratic programs. If they want Republicans on board (or Manchin and Sinema), radically alter the programs so that Republicans will agree with them. Maybe they're not obstructing, you're just trying to do things that they don't want done.

Legacy media does a great job for Democrats. Boy, the shit they spread that seemingly reasonable people believe...

Given that context it is understandable why Democrats swing for the fence on every pitch...

Daniel12 said...

"Dems adopted that little bit of policy because they AGREED with it, not because it was some magic wand that would get Republicans on board with a federal take over over of health care."

The left wanted single payer. For decades.

"Name a bill that Dems let Republican minority write, and then passed with overwhelming Dem support."

Name anyone ever who would do that? No idea what this would prove, other than political malpractice. Your voters don't elect you to hand policy over to the opposition.

"Anybody else notice that our hit and run trolls, not the regular contrarians we all know and love, but the hit and run trolls seemed to have MLK day off?"

Some of us just read the blog. And were not the reason Ann stopped allowing unmoderated comments for a time.

Gahrie said...

That they roll everything into 3000 page monstrosities tells you there's a lot in there that they don't want the public to see, much less think about

The Democrats' new trick is even worse.

A bunch of Republicans and Democrats wrote a bill allowing NASA to lease federal property to private companies. This allows NASA to make a little money, and allows private companies to exploit space. The bill was passed by the House, went to the Senate where it was amended and then passed. When it went back to the House for reconciliation, the House instead erased everything but the bill number and inserted the text of their federalize elections bill instead, in a blatant attempt to circumvent the legislative process.

Drago said...

Daniel12: "Name anyone ever who would do that?"

Bush The Lesser let Teddy Kennedy write the Education bill.

But that seemed odd only beause the Bush's hadnt yet come out of the closet as proud democratical-Lite types.

Freder Frederson said...

And while they are at it, abolish the civil service and revert to the old patronage system. It was more honest than anything we have now and ultimately less political so the remaining bureaucracy will swing with the pendulum.

These two sentences are completely nonsensical. How, by reverting to the old patronage system are you going to have something more honest and less political? By definition, hiring and promotion in a patronage system is based on who you know, not what you know or how good you are at your job. It is the fucking definition of patronage.

Drago said...

"A year of futiley negotiating Obamacare with Chuck Grassley and Susan Collins, to get support for a mechanism for universalish insurance that was developed by the right?"

The One Who is Not Obeyed: "And yes, the old canard that somehow the substance of Obamacare was "invented" by the Right. That little nugget applies specifically and only to the insurance mandate as formulated by the Heritage Foundation in a single policy paper. Dems adopted that little bit of policy because they AGREED with it, not because it was some magic wand that would get Republicans on board with a federal take over over of health care."

More precisely, a SINGLE Heritage Foundation contributor and the outline was a SINGLE page long...and endorsed by...NO ONE else!

Since obamacare legislation was 906 pages long and this 1 guy's little idea was a single age long, what was on the other 905 pages?

Looks like Daniel12 is bucking to be the next gadfly/Left Bank.

Rollo said...

The "like" votes of commenters do represent a segment of public opinion. Just how large that segment is is open to discussion, but look, readers of the Post think of themselves as educated and influential. People are always finding lone nuts online and making them into typical representatives of the other side. Without assuming that the comments and likes represent all Democrats or progressives, I think they are not without significance.

Drago said...

Daniel12, you and Freder need to up your game! According to democratical insiders you guys are failing your Dear Leaders!

Tsk tsk tsk

Lets pick up the pace you Non-Hacker Dog-faced Pony Soldiers!

Fat!

Freder Frederson said...

In other words, neither caller nor commentator had learned a single thing from Dr. Martin Luther King.

Apparently, no more than you learned from Dr. Martin Luther King. Because if you think that he would approve of the voting restrictions being passed by some states (including his home state), you are seriously deluded.

Freder Frederson said...

the CRA revisions that were pushed back in 1994, along with regulatory pushes by HUD and Justice, led to the sub prime bubble,

The greed of the bankers led to the sub prime bubble. To claim it was all the fault of the CRA revisions and HUD is to ignore it happened all over the world (I didn't realize banks in Iceland and Ireland were forced to make loans because of American laws and agencies).

Freder Frederson said...

Had they chosen to work across the aisle and find some things that were popular enough with some Republicans to gain 60 votes in the Senate, they could have done so.

You keep pushing this meme without providing any examples of "some things that were popular enough with some Republicans". Heck, they just got 19 Republican votes for the infrastructure bill.

hombre said...

Althouse’s comments pretty much say it all.

Iman said...

“Because if you think that he would approve of the voting restrictions being passed by some states (including his home state), you are seriously deluded.”

Rolling back the moronic, easy to cheat, catch-as-catch-can changes made ostensibly to mitigate the Covid situation is the right thing to do.

Daniel12 said...

"Bush The Lesser let Teddy Kennedy write the Education bill."

That's weird because I remember Bush running on uniform national education standards, including with his use of the brilliant phrase, "the soft bigotry of low expectations".

Also Bill Clinton ran on ending welfare as we know it. Nobody dragged him kicking and screaming.

And yes, Obamacare is based on center-right principles, including very fundamentally the mandate and ideas put forward by the Heritage Foundation and others on the right that came before them, and the near opposite of the 40 year push for single payer from the left.

To the original point: many on the left opine that tentpole media skews centrist establishment on foreign policy, center-right on the deficit (but only when Democrats are in power, not an issue when Republicans are), right on taxes, center right on abortion (safe, legal, and extremely rare and inaccessible), centrist on immigration (more skilled immigration, more temporary workers to pick crops, all for the economy), center-left on climate (it's URGENT! but solutions can only tinker around the edges), etc etc etc. Oh and they have fainting spells about Trump's behavior.

This all pisses off the left, which is CONSTANTLY complaining about the Times, WaPo, Politico, etc. Take this as a view into the perspective. You can argue with it! But that doesn't mean these opinions are rare or not held on the left.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Freder Frederson said...

Apparently, no more than you learned from Dr. Martin Luther King. Because if you think that he would approve of the voting restrictions being passed by some states (including his home state), you are seriously deluded.


King opposed actual barriers to voting, poll taxes, literacy tests, etcetera, that were expressly engineered to prevent blacks from voting. Voter integrity laws as proposed by Republicans have no connection whatever to race. Perhaps you can explain to me why liberals believe these laws disproportionately affect blacks. Is it because you believe blacks are somehow culturally incapable of obtaining no-cost voter ID's? Do you believe that they are too stupid and lazy to fill out the necessary forms? Dr. King would be outraged at liberals' harboring such racist, supremacist thoughts. He would be agreeing with the 69% of blacks who support voter ID laws.

tim in vermont said...

Oh cripes.

"Stop! No! Don't!": Ashli Babbitt Tried to Stop Attack on Capitol Speaker’s Lobby, Video Analysis Suggests

Babbitt then climbed through the window to escape violent instigators, says husband

Freder Frederson said...

Voter integrity laws as proposed by Republicans have no connection whatever to race.

Bullshit, the Georgia law allows the state election board to temporarily replace election boards.

Jim at said...

This all pisses off the left, which is CONSTANTLY complaining about the Times, WaPo, Politico, etc.

So in short, the far-left media isn't far enough left.

Got it.

Spiros said...

The Democrats believe that they are being oppressed. They react to this oppression the way an adolescent rebels against his parents. Some of these people are more extreme than others, but they are all practice self aggrandizement, lofty idealism, delirious passion, megalomania, rage and violence (especially against elderly Asians and Jews).

Michael K said...

The greed of the bankers led to the sub prime bubble. To claim it was all the fault of the CRA revisions and HUD is to ignore it happened all over the world (I didn't realize banks in Iceland and Ireland were forced to make loans because of American laws and agencies).

Hedge fund giant Freder explains all. I distinctly remember Bush officials before the Maxine Waters- Barney Frank committee in 2007 after the Dims took over Congress telling them this had gone too far and it was time to stop the party of mortgage backed securities. Barney said, "No, let's keep it going longer." The real villain was the bond rating people who sold their rating service. Junk bonds were getting AAA ratings.

Putting Democrat politicians like Jamie Gorelick and Franklin Raines was part of the problem.

The Vault Dweller said...

The scary thing about that comment is that implicit in it is the idea that the role of the media is shape and control what people think, not to try and give important information in an objective and fair manner.

Big Mike said...

It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Jeff Bezos pays people to write in to the Post to complain about its (nonexistent) “right wing bias.” Then periodically the Post’s editors pen an editorial saying, in so many words, that they receive complaints about left-wing bias from right wingers and complaints about right-wing bias from left wingers so therefore they must be directly in the center.

Suuuurrrrre they are.

tim in vermont said...

Keep slinging the bs Freder, nobody is buying it.

hombre said...

“Because if you think that he would approve of the voting restrictions being passed by some states (including his home state), you are seriously deluded.”

Freder thinks MLK would approve of ballot stuffing and that, like white progressives and Black race baiters, he would claim Black people are too stupid to acquire IDs.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Pelosi & co won't release the footage of Jan 6th.

why?

Paul A. Mapes said...

In short, the Washington Post needs more cowbell even though its editors and writers are already in the midst of a giant herd of dairy cows.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

The saddest part of the comment is the beginning: "Maybe Democratic voters could hate Republicans...." That seems to mean that the goal is hate.

No, the goal is to hate Republicans, rather than just hating Manchin and Sinema.

You can't be a Democrat without hating the Other, because that's the whole point of being a Democrat.

Those commenters just want the "right" people hated. Because hating other Democrats won't get Democrat voters to the polls, but hating Republicans might

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

DC locals praise vaccine mandate and ID requirements while staying quiet on voter ID.

ID for everything BUT voting!

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Daniel12 said...
Many liberals see the tentpole media institutions as very clearly anti left.

Only if they're completely delusion morons

The legacy media, especially those that cover politics, are traditionalist in their policy positions. Free trade is uniformly good.
Trump opposed it, the Democrats supported it. To claim that's a "right wing position" is to demonstrate a complete separation from reality

Abortion is nasty. Full employment is bad. Inequality motivates. Billionaires are innovators. The social safety net makes people lazy.

WTF? Please provide some articles in NYT, WaPo, or on ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, or CNN claiming that "Abortion is nasty".

The Left loves the Tech billionaires who are supporting them and censoring conservatives, and the parasitical billionaires funding them, like Soros.

Are you the new Robert Cook?

Let's ask you the same question he won't answer: Who, in American media and politics, is "on the left" by your definition?

Clyde said...

Freder Frederson said...

You keep pushing this meme without providing any examples of "some things that were popular enough with some Republicans". Heck, they just got 19 Republican votes for the infrastructure bill.


It's not up to me to figure that out, it's up to the Democrats. The filibuster isn't going away, and the game is "get to 60 Senate votes." If they want to accomplish anything, they need to talk to the Republicans and find out where they can find common ground. Otherwise, they can continue to whine until the red tsunami takes them out in November.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Daniel12 said...
"It is unimaginable that Clinton, Obama or Dementia Joe could ever have started their administrations by deferring to a conservative to pass major legislation (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act by GWBush and Ted Kennedy)."

End welfare as we know it?


Clinton only did that after the 1994 election smoked teh Democrats in Congress, and he had no choice.

A year of futiley negotiating Obamacare with Chuck Grassley and Susan Collins, to get support for a mechanism for universalish insurance that was developed by the right?

You people are so pathetic.
Yes, someone at the Heritage Institute developed the "Individual Mandate". So what?
Is the entirely Left responsible for everything that comes out of the Brookings Institute? No?
Then the entire Right is not responsible for sh!tty ideas that come out of the Heritage Institute.

Please, pull your head out of your a$$

Now, "Oh, the Democrats had 60 votes, and still tried to get some Republicans to give up all their claimed principles to support the Dems sh!tty takeover of healthcare."

Up until ObamaCare, there was this concept called "bipartisanship". What that means, you drooling buffoon, is that BOTH sides ideas get incorporated, and the BOTH sides lose out on things their side wants, and the other side hates.

No, pulling in something some wanker on the Right wrote 15 years ago does not count as "BOTH sides ideas get incorporated".

As it was, you scumbags went out of your way to destroy Republican health care ideas, cutting the amount people could put tax free into the Medical Flexible Spending Accounts in half, because you wanted to make sure you took income tax out of the money people spent on their own health care.

Obama had 60 Democrat Senators in the Senate for about 6 months. He didn't negotiate jack sh!t with the Republicans in that time period. For you to pretend otherwise just shows how delusional and dishonest you are

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Speaking of hate. anyone hear about the owner of Penzy's spices?

He said - and I paraphrase - 'All Republicans are racists who want to murder blacks'

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Freder Frederson said...
Voter integrity laws as proposed by Republicans have no connection whatever to race.

Bullshit, the Georgia law allows the state election board to temporarily replace election boards.


Pretty much what I expected from you, 2F. Focus on an arcane detail without any explanation about how it disenfranchises blacks, meanwhile ignoring the salient points of my comment:

1)Blacks are strongly in favor of voter ID laws. (I provided a citation while
you rely exclusively on assertion)

2)The position of white liberals on voter integrity laws is based entirely on a
perception that blacks are inferior.

The first is incontrovertible. I am looking forward to your explanation for the second. Why, in your opinion, are blacks as a group unable to comply with voter ID laws while whites will have no problem?

Amadeus 48 said...

Clarence Thomas was confirmed with the votes of 11 Democrats in the Senate.

Are we better or worse off politically than we were in 1991?

Discuss.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

so - OK to VAX ID - but not Vote ID?

RonF said...

I also find problematic the presumption by the writer that the things that the Democrats are proposing (and that a bi-partisan majority in the Senate is blocking) are constructive. Apparently people who don't believe that are valid objects of hate, not debate.

RonF said...

I see several comments on here proposing that the Democrats could actually get bi-partisan support for their bills if they would put things in them that the GOP could support. I think you're all missing the point. These bills are not failing to get GOP support because they lack things in them that the GOP wants. They fail to get GOP support - and the support of Sens. Manchin, Sinema and probably others - because they already include things that the GOP cannot stomach, and the Dems want to force those things on us whether either the GOP or the public wants them or not.

Freder Frederson said...

Pretty much what I expected from you, 2F. Focus on an arcane detail without any explanation about how it disenfranchises blacks, meanwhile ignoring the salient points of my comment:

This is rich. The whole big lie is based on the premise that corrupt officials in 4 or 6 large cities committed massive fraud. But of course you would never claim that the demographics of those cities has anything to do with the fraud, that would be racist, and to even imply that black folks cheat (which just goes to prove that blacks are genetically predisposed to crime) is an egregious insult.

Drago said...

drago: "Bush The Lesser let Teddy Kennedy write the Education bill."

Daniel12, the Helpless: "That's weird because I remember Bush running on uniform national education standards, including with his use of the brilliant phrase, "the soft bigotry of low expectations"."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Yes, Bush DID run on creating a uniform national education standard......which he allowed Kennedy to lead!!

Are you really this obtuse, or are you attempting to pull another Freder/gadfly lefty lie?

Here's some helpful background from a lefty source, Politico" so you'll feel better about reading it:


"The law known as No Child Left Behind is perhaps the most controversial education law ever passed—a sweeping overhaul of Lyndon Johnson’s education act that promised a new era of accountability in schools, but which opponents today blame for infecting education with testing mania.

In the moment it passed, though, NCLB was a unique achievement: a bipartisan reform pushed by a Republican president, shepherded by Ted Kennedy, and signed in the wake of the national tragedy of 9/11."


Seriously, do you think you lefties could take just a single day off from the non-stop lying and rewriting of history?.......we won't hold our breath.

Drago said...

Field Marshall Freder: "This is rich. The whole big lie is based on the premise that corrupt officials in 4 or 6 large cities committed massive fraud. But of course you would never claim that the demographics of those cities has anything to do with the fraud, that would be racist, and to even imply that black folks cheat (which just goes to prove that blacks are genetically predisposed to crime) is an egregious insult."

No no no. Perish the thought.

It's simply a coincidence that in the 6 key battleground states those cities that are under the greatest democratical control all simply made the "independent" decision to stop counting votes at the very same time across the nation, in addition to kicking republican election monitors out of the buildings, and then restarting the counts at the same time across the nation without any oversight after having changed voting safeguards across the nation and allowing massive unregulated ballots into the process....with every one of those states having the same magical "leader changes" at the same time.

Yep. Happens every presidential election, doesn't it?

And now those same democraticals seek to federalize all state elections under national democratical control to make permanent mass "mail in ballots" with no chain of custody requirements, no ID required to vote in any state, etc etc etc.

Well, nothing strange about any of that, is there?......

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Freder Frederson said...
"Voter integrity laws as proposed by Republicans have no connection whatever to race. "

Bullshit, the Georgia law allows the state election board to temporarily replace election boards.


Well, they get to replace failing election boards, that don't do their job, and often screw over the voters in the process.

How bigoted do you have to be to, like Freder, believe that competence is "racial"?

Drago said...

Greg The Class Traitor: "How bigoted do you have to be to, like Freder, believe that competence is "racial"?"

It is astonishing, isn't it, how loud and proud the liberals/lefty democraticals are about their racism.

No wonder so many latinos (sorry Freder, no one bought into the lefties BS "latinx" woke nonsense) and black working class citizens have flocked to the republican party.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Freder Frederson said...
This is rich. The whole big lie is based on the premise that corrupt officials in 4 or 6 large cities committed massive fraud. But of course you would never claim that the demographics of those cities has anything to do with the fraud, that would be racist, and to even imply that black folks cheat (which just goes to prove that blacks are genetically predisposed to crime) is an egregious insult.

They didn't cheat because they were "black", they cheated because they were Democrats.

Detroit, Philly, Milwaukee, Atlanta:
1: Blocked Trump campaign poll watchers from being able to monitor their work (see video of press and poll watchers in Fulton County kept so far away they couldn't see anything. See video of poll watchers in Philly using binoculars to try to see what's going on
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2020/11/05/election-watchers-philadelphia-vote-count/
2: Stopped counting election night while there were still votes to count, and kicked out all the poll watchers and press

These are all matters of public record. Only a fan of vote fraud would object to States working to make sure that never happens again

Drago said...

Greg: "Only a fan of vote fraud would object to States working to make sure that never happens again"

That completely sums up where Freder is coming from.

jvermeer51 said...

If I wasn't so busy poisoning the air and water, starting WWIII, putting black people back in chains, reducing taxes for my rich buddies, slashing medicare so old people die in the gutter after living on catfood, being the enemy of Amy Schneider, I would give WaPo a piece of my mind.

Freder Frederson said...

It's simply a coincidence that in the 6 key battleground states those cities that are under the greatest democratical control all simply made the "independent" decision to stop counting votes at the very same time across the nation, in addition to kicking republican election monitors out of the buildings, and then restarting the counts at the same time across the nation without any oversight after having changed voting safeguards across the nation and allowing massive unregulated ballots into the process....with every one of those states having the same magical "leader changes" at the same time.

This is simply a lie, the big lie of course. You have zero evidence to back up these ridiculous assertions.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Freder Frederson said...
This is simply a lie, the big lie of course. You have zero evidence to back up these ridiculous assertions.

So says Freder, who ignores the evidence I posted because he can't dispute it

babs said...

My husband and I have lived in our house over 25 years. We cannot afford to retire here.
In short, we are being forced to move by property taxes. We are paying $21,000/yr to the gov't to inhabit our home.
While I write this it sounds absolutely insane.
Our home is on the market. Anyone want to buy it?

Drago said...

Field Marshall Freder: "This is simply a lie, the big lie of course. You have zero evidence to back up these ridiculous assertions."

Russian Collusion Truther Freder has reached the point in his Big Lie "Big Lie" where he is denying what the democraticals claimed was perfectly ordinary and no big deal.

Because of course he is.ds

Of course.

Drago said...

Interesting historical note: Field Marshall Freder also claimed the Clinton hoax dossier was proven and that Hunter Biden's laptop was russian disinformation.

It's been nothing but "Big Lies" from the lefties for over 6 years running and its not slowing down at all.

Nothing but.

Jim at said...

This is simply a lie, the big lie of course. You have zero evidence to back up these ridiculous assertions.


What he described is exactly what happened.
We watched it in real time, fuckwad.

Dude1394 said...

Duh, compromise and quit throwing out radical left wing drivel. Romney/graham are itching to agree with you, but democrats are such ideologues that they can’t fathom a compromise.

That’s why they want to get rid of the electoral college and stack the court.

They are tyrants and don’t think they should have to compromise on anything.

Tom said...

We’re getting to the point where half the country doesn’t want to he in the same country as the other have and vice versa.

Is that legit, original feeling or has it been manufactured?

I think it’s been manufactured over the past could of decades. And who benefits I’d Americans are at each other’s throats over basic issues like equal rights?

We’re going to weaken ourselves that China is going to gain control without ever firing a shot.

LesLein987 said...

Orwell had the two minute hate. Dems view 1984 as a guidebook.

Freder Frederson said...

Interesting historical note: Field Marshall Freder also claimed the Clinton hoax dossier was proven and that Hunter Biden's laptop was russian disinformation.

Liar. Show where I said this.

Michael K said...

How bigoted do you have to be to, like Freder, believe that competence is "racial"?

This is pretty standard among modern leftist Democrats. Look at what colleges are doing . Stanford now has a Physics program for POC. Why ? Because they would hog all the As in a regular class?

Here it is in all its glory.

Low expectations is the basis for all Democrat policies toward blacks.

Drago said...

Field Marshall Freder now attempting to disassociate himself from the Clinton hoax dossier which was the basis for the corrupted FISA warrants and russia hoax collusion "investigation", a hoax collusion which Freder to this day believes actually occurred.

Its hilarious attempting to walk away from the Clinton hoax dossier now while clinging tightly to the hoax collusion lies.

Good luck with your certain-to-fail brand new limited modified hangout Freder!

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Tyrone Slothrop said...
For the third time, Freder. If you fail to address this now, I'll just assume that I'm in the right and you have no answer.


I love quoting myself. I win Freder. You lose. It was foreordained.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

So, Freder claims there's "zero evidence". I point out to him where I posted the evidence.

He responds to others, but makes no attempt to refute my evidence.

Like Tyrone, I will graciously accept Freder's admission that we're right, and he's wrong