# Why I reegard many conservative pundits and politicians as reprehensible. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 24, 2007, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715 "2007-08-24T01:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/21 "2007-08-24T10:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] Someone learns that Obama’s middle name is Hussein. In a flash conservative columnists and politicians. . . [/QUOTE] Like who? If you’re using this to tar all conservative columnists and politicians, you’d better be naming (and quoting) some of the leading ones in each category, and not some fringe types. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/22 "2007-08-24T11:34:07Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to The BBQ Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/23 "2007-08-24T11:37:27Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Like who? If you’re using this to tar all conservative columnists and politicians, you’d better be naming (and quoting) some of the leading ones in each category, and not some fringe types. [/QUOTE] I’m missing the part where the OP said all conservative pundits and politicians are condemned. If you read the title of the thread, I think you’ll see that the OP isn’t making the allegation that you’re claiming he is. In terms of cites, [look](http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/12/barack_hussein.html) [right](http://www.wonkette.com/politics/barack-obama/barack-hussein-obama-democrat-217999.php) [here.](http://www.slate.com/id/2155434/) There’s plenty more out there. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/24 "2007-08-24T12:28:05Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] Someone learns that Obama’s middle name is Hussein. In a flash conservative columnists and politicians are dragging Obama into every column and speech, reciting the full name and stressing the “Hussein.” [/QUOTE] It’s just astounding that Shrub and his [Repugnitards](http://blamebush.typepad.com/blamebush/2007/07/bush-spares-sco.html) would use wordplay for partisan purposes. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/25 "2007-08-24T15:19:47Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] It’s just astounding that Shrub and his [Repugnitards](http://blamebush.typepad.com/blamebush/2007/07/bush-spares-sco.html) would use wordplay for partisan purposes. [/QUOTE] None of those refer to tyrannical leaders or to leaders of terrorist groups. Using such names to belittle isn’t a good thing but it isn’t the same thing as attempting to poison minds by association with scoundrels and possible radical Islamists. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/26 "2007-08-24T15:25:32Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] In terms of cites, [look](http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/12/barack_hussein.html) [right](http://www.wonkette.com/politics/barack-obama/barack-hussein-obama-democrat-217999.php) [here.](http://www.slate.com/id/2155434/) There’s plenty more out there. [/QUOTE] Well, to be fair, you’ve linked to two people using it. Ed Rogers, of whom I have no doubt it was a calculated political move, and Deborah Schlussel, who seems to have some bug up her butt regarding Muslims, from reading other stuff she’s written. So for her, I think it’s “He’s a Muslim so he’s evil”\*, not “He has the same name as Sadaam Hussein, so he’s evil.” \*Obama isn’t a Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/27 "2007-08-24T15:34:50Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] Then the scary thought comes, what if they are right? [/QUOTE] They are. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/28 "2007-08-24T15:55:29Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] None of those refer to tyrannical leaders or to leaders of terrorist groups. Using such names to belittle isn’t a good thing but it isn’t the same thing as attempting to poison minds by association with scoundrels and possible radical Islamists. [/QUOTE] It honestly sounds like you’re just sore that you don’t have that tactic available. Otherwise, you wouldn’t minimize associations made with pubic hair and repugnant retards. From where I sit, neither side has any moral highground when it comes to disparaging and ridiculing the other. I can understand why you would think otherwise, since you’re personally and emotionally invested in one over the other. Your side has lamented for years about the ability of Republicans to formulate catch phrases and slogans that draw people in. And the best you’ve come up with is making fun of how Bush pronounces words — as if Joe Schmoe gives a shit. And some of you (not all, but some) have gone so far as to poke fun at his faith, thus alienating people who otherwise would have sympathized with you. Honestly, your party is quite incompetent at all this. Aim your ire at your leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/29 "2007-08-24T16:09:09Z")
I’m knocking about 30 points off the OP simply because of the way you complained without naming names. If Bill O’Reilly tries to make an issue out of Obama’s name, then pit Bill O’Reilly or whoever. Don’t pit “many conservative pundits”. That’s lame. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/30 "2007-08-24T16:41:20Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] The error you are making is thinking that politicians and pundits are mature, rational adults. They’re not. They’re just like little kids, but paid more. [/QUOTE] If that were the case they would never be successful. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/31 "2007-08-24T17:11:20Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] From where I sit, neither side has any moral highground when it comes to disparaging and ridiculing the other. [/QUOTE] So no one should ever point out a particularly vicious political slur because, hey, everyone does it? [This OP’s for you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341527). Oh, and my recent reason to be pissed at some conservative pundits? A clip from Karl Rove on the Rush Limbaugh show, in which he says that the people currently criticizing Bush are “elites”. He may have used the word “effete”. Yes, 70% of the country is elites. It’s only those ivory tower probably homosexual eggheads who are agaisnt our leader. Shee-eesh. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/32 "2007-08-24T17:33:44Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] Am I missing something here, or are you actually judging a presidential candidate by his ethnicity, the name he was given at birth, and his ability to dance? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Enginerd] Because it’s his name? People get their names for all kinds of reasons, many of which hold a strong significance for their families. The “Hussein” on his birth certificate is no more an endorsement of Ba’athist Iraq than the (hypothetical) “Michael” on mine is an endorsement of dogfighting. [/quote] Whoosh! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/33 "2007-08-24T17:42:06Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] I’m knocking about 30 points off the OP simply because of the way you complained without naming names. If Bill O’Reilly tries to make an issue out of Obama’s name, then pit Bill O’Reilly or whoever. Don’t pit “many conservative pundits”. That’s lame. [/QUOTE] This thread was started in IMHO, but some specifics still would have been useful. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/34 "2007-08-24T17:46:17Z")
Speaking as a white guy, with a lifelong affliction common to us, that is, discoordinate arrhythmia, I am frankly reassured by a candidate who cannot offer a passable rendition of the funky chicken. Have you seen Colin Powell dance? It’s like each part of his body is responding to a different metronome: his right leg is waltzing, his left leg is rhumba, and his butt is doing the tango. Very presidential! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/35 "2007-08-24T18:00:19Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] Whoosh! [/QUOTE] I’m willing to admit that I may be gravely mistaken about **Shagnasty** ’s comments, and they really did confuse me, but I’m curious as to what humor you might have found in the comments. Unless I’m really missing something, the only possible levity I can strain to detect is some kind of Andrew Dice Clay “look at me I’m saying naughty things that involve racial stereotypes because some people don’t like it!” sort of “joke.” If there’s some other meaning that is too clever for me to pick up on, I’d like to be clued in. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/36 "2007-08-24T18:39:36Z")
Am I the only one who hears “Hussein” and thinks of [this guy?](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june99/hussein_index.html) ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/37 "2007-08-24T19:12:56Z")
You’d be an idiot if you didn’t admit that Hussein was an unfortunate name for someone running for office in the United States. Making fun of someone’s name is\* infantile\*, but I wouldn’t go so far as saying it’s reprehensible. That’s overly dramatic, especially considering how much farther down the path of despicability politicians have been known to sink. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/38 "2007-08-24T19:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] So no one should ever point out a particularly vicious political slur because, hey, everyone does it? [/quote] Don’t know. Ask the guy who said that. > [@](#): > > [This OP’s for you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341527). Very nice. I liked it. But I’m not an independent, and the only equivalence I see between the left and the right is that each is authoritarian. They are therefore \*ethically \* indistinguishable to me. I am equally put off by the man who can’t keep his mind off my wallet as I am by the man who can’t keep his mind off my zipper. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/39 "2007-08-24T19:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] I am equally put off by the man who can’t keep his mind off my wallet as I am by the man who can’t keep his mind off my zipper. [/QUOTE] So you admit to paying for gay sex. Interesting factoid. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715/40 "2007-08-24T20:05:29Z")
There were originally going to be six members of the Village People, but no one could come up with a costume for a libertarian Christian objectivist. That’s a true fact, you could look it up! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-reegard-many-conservative-pundits-and-politicians-as-reprehensible/416715.md?page=3)