Fighting in the Heart of Liberal Madison for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This blog will focus on liberal hypocrisy and the small, but significant victories of the right at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

26 January 2006

Update: Isthmus readers chime in

As many of you know, I was profiled for a cover story in the Isthmus last month. Well, Madison has responded...here's what they had to say and my response to each:

"I'm surprised this angry, contentious young man has such a bleeding heart for the Iraqi people." - Nicole Gruter, Menona

First, I'm not an angry person. The question that you should be asking is how can Ms. Vogeler turn her back on the Iraqi people. The "progressives" want to work with the UN and want America to be more active in world problems. If we sent troops into the Darfur region of Sudan, would you be okay with American foreign policy? I am proud to support a President that has given 25 million people the right to vote for the first time in their lives.

"...one look at Robert Thelen's pinched, angry-looking face should be enough to alert anyone that he is a rabid right-winger. Think about it: From Bill O'Reilly to Ann Coulter to Rush Limbaugh to Dick Cheney...there is a meanness in their persona..." - Keith Stephens, Monroe

Thanks Keith, I take it as a complement to be compared to Dick Cheney and Bill O'Reilly. We are not mean, we are passionate.

"Robert Thelen III maintains that Bush won 'a landslide victory' in 2004. I think he needs to bone up on his math." - Charles Tranberg

Bush had the largest vote total ever and was the first President since Reagan (correction: Since the 1988 election of GB Sr.) to get a true majority of the vote in one of the most competitive elections ever. So, it was an impressive, message sending victory.

"I was disappointed to see how slanted your story was. It's a shame that Thelen had to play the "limited-life experience" foil to Vogeler's hard-luck, blue-collar activist. Fortunately, Thelen doesn't seem the type to be driven from his cause so easily" - Zachary Wyatt
Thanks Zachary. I agree that the story was slanted, but I expected such from the Isthmus. The truth is, most of the anti-war folks in Madison are left-overs from the Vietnam era and the average pro-victory advocate is in college. BTW: this is one of two positive comments.

In one comment I was even compared to Hitler, another one called me bully. Yet another said my interview was full of "know-it-all, know-nothing, inane and erroneous, red-headed yes-man full of third-rate, two bit, first grade prattle?"

I find it interesting that most of the readers who responded used some sort of personal attack in their statement. This is how the anti-war left argues. First an attack, then some talking points they were fed by a Captimes article or a blog and because they don't understand the significance of the talking points, they end with another personal attack. Insecurity is rampant in the anti-war left.

5 Comments:

Blogger Rob said...

Thanks Zach. There are countless pro-victory folks here on campus, it is just we don't usually read the Isthmus...being the hyper-left wing publication it is.

Thu Jan 26, 10:47:00 PM CST

 
Blogger Cabe said...

Interesting blog you got here. James Madison is one of my few heros. It's great to see Federalists like yourself voicing their concerns, especially at the local level.

Fri Jan 27, 04:00:00 AM CST

 
Blogger Rob said...

Thanks Cabe. The blog is actually named after the City I am in, Madison, WI. But I am a huge Madison Fan as well and a Federalist.

Fri Jan 27, 11:49:00 AM CST

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A few points:

The last president to win a true majority of the popular vote wasn't Reagan, it was Bush Sr. Also, your "impressive, message-sending victory" had the most narrow margin, percentage-wise, ever for an incumbent president. In terms of the popular vote, it was the smallest since Truman.
So, I'm not sure 'landslide' is an applicable adjective.

For the love of God, please tell me you're kidding about Bill O'Reilly. Nobody on any side of the political spectrum should ever seek association with such an aberration of sense. He is not passionate, he is mean, and that's why people watch his show. They like that 'Five Minutes Hate' rubbish.

Your Darfur analogy is ridiculous. I don't see how you can compare an internationally recognized genocidal situation with Iraq. Tell me, in the process of spreading all that democratic love, did they happen upon any chemical or biological weapons? Am I insane, or was that the whole point, before it started going bad? All this bollocks about democracy is fine and good, but we'll see how the White House deals with a democratically elected Hamas government.

That is all.

Fri Jan 27, 12:32:00 PM CST

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know I'm a newbie to Madison, but since when is the Isthmus far left?

Sundown

Sat Jan 28, 06:58:00 PM CST

 

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