Local progressive columnist Don Burnard wrote a piece recently in which he decried the Republican Party as having “recently become the home of every outrageous, irrational and irresponsible thought process that can (im)possibly be thought of.”

I’ll begin by touching briefly on the author’s speculating pessimistically on former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s chances of competing on “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” – then observing, “From basically 1933-1994, the Republican Party was more or less a permanent minority.” Mr. Burnard, Jeff Foxworthy is waiting for you to match your definition of “permanent” with what his young scholars know.

But enough of that. If he wants to talk outrageousness, irrationality and irresponsibility, let’s get it on. Try to match, by those criteria, these actual quotes (a feature usually missing from progressive commentary) from modern progressive Democrats with anything uttered by any contemporary Republican – or any Libertarian, for that matter.

“Sharron Angle . . . thinks anyone who doesn’t agree with her narrow view should be shot” – Don Burnard, ibid. Okay, I’ll stop picking on him and just let that utterly irrational assessment of Senator Harry Reid’s Republican opponent stand on its own.

“One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown” – Misrepresentative Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), comparing Osama bin Hidin to the Green Mountain Boys after the 9/11 attack. Rich Iott, are you paying attention?

“It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that” – Misrepresentative Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), July 2007, also referring to 9/11. The Reichstag, the German parliament, was burned in 1933, evidently by Nazis wanting to legitimize Hitler’s seizure of power. Mr. Ellison also likened then-President Bush to Hitler and called then Vice-President Cheney “the very definition of totalitarianism, authoritarianism and dictatorship” for refusing to answer questions from Congress.

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” – then Senator Joe Biden commenting in August 2008 on then-presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama. And Republicans are considered racist?

“You know, education, if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you — you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq” – Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), sharing with a college audience in October 2006 his assessment of the intelligence of American servicepeople.

“The federal government can do most anything in this country” – Misrepresentative Fortney Pete Stark (D-California), town hall meeting, July 24, 2010. Constitution? What’s a Constitution?

“I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque is being funded.” House Speakerette Nancy Pelosi, calling for investigation of anyone who speaks out against the Ground Zero mosque.

“The fact of global warming is unequivocal. The certainty of the human role is now somewhere over 90 percent. Which is about as certain as scientists ever get . . . I would like to say we’re at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let’s just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers, though one denies the past and the other denies the present and future” – Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman, executing a magnificent Burnard Trifecta in February 2007.

“Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals . . . Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable” – Ted Turner, predicting in April 2008 the consequences of “global warming” in thirty to forty years. Remember, you’re a Holocaust denier if you disagree.

“We will keep . . . our boot on the throat of BP to ensure that they’re doing all that they — all that is necessary . . .” – White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, May 3, 2010. Another Burnard Trifecta in one fractured sentence, as the President’s spokesman chillingly employs the direct language and imagery of tyranny.

Okay, there’s your sampling of progressive outrageousness, irrationality and irresponsibility. Republicans, perhaps even Libertarians, can say some wild things as well. But if the advocacy of liberty is an outrage, then the one who is outraged is proven a friend of tyranny. Please – if you are inclined to embrace the modern progressive position, as stated by these people, think carefully of the implication of what your tacitly approve.

Thomas Berry, for the Children of Liberty.

Tags: Children of Liberty, Don Burnard, The Hot Corner, Thomas Berry

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 26th, 2010 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Children of Liberty, Opinion.
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