Lefty review of right wing blogs

I thought this write-up of a lefty experience trolling right-wing blogs was interesting. It's a Daily Kos "diarist" who spent six months on sites like Instapundit and Little Green Footballs. Posts and comments were monitored, and reasons for getting kicked off were listed. The writer also made comments to test the water.

The purpose, it seems, was to inform other lefties about how right-wingers think, and what they're up to. But it also had the reverse effect. I learned a lot about how they think from reading the write-up. (And please be mindful that old Donnie Long is not a conservative or a Republican; he's a practical libertarian who leans right -- thanks.)

Here's a selection:

RWBloggers often write comments in long threads and threaten to kill Michael Moore, suggest that Gore and Kerry be jailed, Barbara Streisand should be pilloried. Attacks on RWB are rarely just on principle. The attacks are on people, and/or groups of people who should all be jailed and tortured by Keifer Southerland. It’s vitriol maximus on RWB. Not much decency and almost no actual discussion unless it’s just an agree-a-thon. Ann Coulter could shit in their dinner plate and they would eat it.

And here's something interesting. Note the phrase, "their corporate press."

FDR caused 9/11, Clinton caused 9/11, the press caused 9/11, liberals caused 9/11, Gays eat feces, the world is only 10000 years old. As one state representative said "it’s either America...or it’s Al-Quaeda." Also they hold dear other false memes that once repeated are believed to be true. Reagan defeated the Soviet Union is one of those overly simplistic, mostly untrue notions that they and their corporate press like to fan.

Corporations are evil; ask any socialist. Another interesting bit was global warming. Apparently the "diarist" doesn't realize that when nobody was biting on the catchphrase, it was changed to "climate change". This was to thwart North Dakotans from questioning "warming" in the winter, when the mercury falls well below zero.

All the climatologists in the world are wrong about Global Warming when compared to the paid-critics who deny it. Valerie Plame sent her husband to Niger and she really was not a secret agent.

"All the climatologists in the world" do not believe in global warming. Just because Miles O'Brien has been ramming it down our throats, does not make it so. The "diarist" even used initial caps for Global Warming, as if it was a proper noun. Besides, anyone who doesn't believe in "global warming" is a fool. That part of the issue is factual. Intelligent right-wingers understand this. The anthropogenic facet is where the debate lies.

As far as "paid-critics", it's well understood now that climate change enthusiasts are scientists in receipt of hefty grants. As this ABC weatherman said, "Always follow the money trail and it tells a story."

The conclusion of the experiment has some redemptive value, and humor:

I purposely pulled out the worse stuff and wrote about it.

But not all is terrible or the same on RWB.

It is impossible to summarize all of the stuff I read. Anytime I spent more than ten minutes on Michelle Malkin or LGF I had to take a shower. (Michelle, by the way, has an anger management problem.) But there were some high notes. RWB are places where libertarians often try to find solace or logic. Or true Conservatives. Also, not everyone on the RWB were vicious. Many were looking for a small government, more accountability, or even a good argument. I agreed with he analyses of a lot of RWB posters. So, no, it wasn’t all the same stuff. I just felt that real conservatives, not the neocon extremists or christianists, have a hard time finding a home on the blogosphere. Which why we should be more open to disagreement here.

Christianists. Christianists? I'm an atheist, and I find that term truly strange.

Zeroing in on blog commenters is not a terribly useful thing to do, although it is interesting. I think Kos and LGF spend too much time getting excited about what the enemy commenters are saying. These are mostly kooks hiding behind the internet's curtain of anonymity. Just as these types shouldn't be taken seriously, the posts about them shouldn't be, either.

I'll get into the act. Here are some comments on the diarist post itself. You decide if they're representative of mainstream liberal thought:

"I could not even read all of your post here. They sicken me."

"would've sent me into a deep depression of equal duration. You must have a strong mental constitution."

"the Bush admin & Repubs create their own reality and PAID rightwing pundits carry the lies 24/7/365. Americans voted for sanity - STOP FUNDING THE WAR!

"Their worldview is depressing and horrifying, and they attack every slightest dissent or even questioning of their beliefs with the speed and ferocity of a school of piranha."

"I sometimes frequent these infested waters as well and my (own) take is that you are absolutely correct, and I may add one disturbing fact: it is a crime to be poor, in their twisted, under-i-qued little minds. It feels good though to be able to destroy their creationism crappola with a well delivered fact! Chimpee is an embarrassment to stupidity! GTFO ASAP! AAF

"Was a shower enough after Malkin or LGF? I find myself wanting to engage in some Keith Olbermann style puppet theater after just a couple minutes at either of those blogs."

"Just keep on taking multiple showers a day for the next six months. Also, I don't want to sound goofy or new-agey (I am a scientist by profession), but when you want to cleanse your mind of unpleasantness, Buddhist chanting (many repititions, done silently) seems to work (at least for me)."

"Is it OK for me to describe winger blogs as dead-enders in their last throes?"

"I have a rwinger friend who I argue with all the time, our latest topic is how people "choose" to be poor (yes, he really believes that.) So, during this last conversation I reminded him of all those who are either poor or struggle because of mental illness (most of whom can't get the health care to take care of the issue), and how those who do succeed are lucky enough to have families to help them."