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10:31 a.m. - March 21, 2007
Katie And Kristin - Pundits?
I am sure that Katie and Kristin will be able to do anything they want to do when they grow up.

They can be firefighters, astronauts, Supreme Court Justices, rock stars, engineers, construction workers, writers, stay-at-home parents, ditch diggers � whatever. They can choose their career paths and Liz and I will support them 10000000%.

Or more�

All I ask is that they do their profession to the best of their abilities, and with professionalism and decency.

So, there�s one career that if they do pursue, I hope they do it with respect and dignity, and not be an embarrassment to themselves.

That�s a political pundit on television, newspaper columns, the internet, or radio.

Now, I know there are wing-nuts and kooks everywhere, and a lot of them are in the US Senate, like Ted Stevens (�The internet isn�t a dump truck. It�s a series of tubes.�), but being a political pundit at times means that I would assume you conduct yourself with decorum and respect.

And most of them do, but I want to look at four of them that may or may not be following that principle.

(OK, all four of them are quite conservative (I�m guessing on one) but they seem to be the ones that generate the most �buzz� � and I�m sure that there are loony lefties that also would make me cringe, but they�re not out and about. I guess working at the The People�s Worker World Forum Weekly probably isn�t a big cache anymore into national politics.)

First there�s Laura Ingraham.

Ingraham is a very partisan, conservative, right-winger, sure, but on occasions that I�ve seen her she�s made some very lucid points without bomb-throwing, insults, or grinding personal axes. She�s stuck to the issues, for the most part.

She has a daily talk show, and while it�s not as over-the-top as Rush Limbaugh�s, she has some moments where she goes off the deep end.

In November 2006, she encouraged her listeners to call a toll-free line set up by the Democrats as a hot-line for voter fraud schemes.

She accused journalists in Iraq of �reporting from hotel balconies while IEDs are going off�, this after Bob Woodruff was critically injured and Jill Carroll was a hostage.

Back when she was in Dartmouth, she was noted as the most vicious anti-homosexual activist, calling them sodomites and avoiding a local restaurant because she feared the gay waiters would spit on her food or touch her silverware, exposing her to AIDS.

But it�s funny how things change, as her gay brother struggled with the illness of his partner. She wrote an article in the Washington Post on how her views on homosexuality had been tempered because of how she saw her brother and her partner.

If only�

Ingraham is probably a good role model, because she stands up for what she believes and only a few times has gone off into wing nut territory. Haven�t we all?

Nancy Grace, though, is not a wing nut. I don�t think she�s an avowed conservative. What she is, though, is a shrieking harpy.

She badgered a woman, Melinda Duckett, on national television and just a day later she committed suicide. Now, it�s not Grace�s fault, per se, but, her treatment of Duckett was harsh and probably beyond the pale.

She badgers guests, and accuses everyone of being guilty before proven innocent. This was most notable in the case of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping, where she publicly proclaimed an innocent man guilty. Later, she badgered Smart to talk about her abduction, which caused Smart to rebuke Grace.

Oh, and she also plagiarized a few section of her book �inadvertently�.

I don�t watch her, and when I see her, I run run away.

One that�s not a TV or radio star, per se, but she�s a frequently cited blogger and writer is Michelle Malkin.

Now, I know that you need to make good copy in order for your stuff to be read in newspapers and online, but ever since I first saw her articles, I was disturbed by the out-and-out hatred and bile against anyone or anything that disagrees with her.

She uses the worst language possible to describe her �enemies� and has for years. She claims to be a journalist , but is mainly just a columnist and a blogger � providing criticisms and not doing any actual reporting.

What sticks in my craw is that she wrote a book DEFENDING the heinous internment of innocent Japanese-Americans during World War II. Of course, she�s an Asian-American whose parents were here on a work visa, thus granting her instant citizenship. And of course, she opposes that now.

I don�t mind people who have different views, but name calling, sloppy fact checking, and the inability to admit when they are wrong and just blithely going along causing trouble is disturbing to me.

And I do realize that some left-wingers are in the same boat, but being stuck here in BFE land it seems that all we get is the right, and then despite the �bias� that people say all I hear on the radio is the right. Thank goodness for Olbermann � while some slam him as a lefty he makes fun of EVERYONE.

Ah, yes, speaking of making fun of everyone and an easy target, you know who I�m going to next.

Ann Coulter.

Do I need to say more?

It�s bad when conservatives denounce her for being mean-spirited and conservative newspapers pull her columns because of the asinine things she has written.

If anyone needs a seven second delay on her mouth and pen, it�s Coulter.

Of course, there�s a chance that she may not mean most of the things she says. But if she does, then that�s scary.

So mark me down for a Godless Heathen, according to Coulter. I think the pastor at my church will be surprised.

I write this in an effort that if Katie or Kristin ever decides to be active in politics, they do so with decorum, grace, wit, and respect for those who hold opposite views. I know that us male folks have a lot of idiots out there, and we all know who THEY are, too.

Michael Savage, I�m looking right at YOU.

 

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