Phony Listeners

Concluding a rant about gutter level political discourse, Dan K. Thomasson states:

Unfortunately, all the intemperate language and false pronouncements offered as intelligent discourse have dropped the political debate to its lowest level in modern history. One yearns for the days when arguments could be passionate without the slanderous vilification of those who might disagree.

One would think, then, he would have avoided "false pronouncements" and "slanderous vilification" in the same piece, however, check what he wrote only six paragraphs earlier:

Then there is Rush Limbaugh, whose rich baritone pervades the midday airwaves from coast to coast. Limbaugh's latest attempt to satisfy his addiction to irrational knee-jerking and to the cadre of those who hang on his every word and smother him with fatuous compliments has libeled a great chunk of America's Iraq veterans by contending they are really not soldiers if they now question the war in Iraq. This has produced an angry letter from Senate Democrats who believe the bellicose Limbaugh has finally crossed the line.

Having listened to the segment Thomasson alludes to, one quickly discerns Rush is actually talking about phony soldiers: people who claim to have served but either haven't or lied about their service. In this case Rush specifically refers to a man who didn't even make it out of basic training but was paraded by the left as one who claimed to have served in Iraq and committed atrocities. What's not phony? But Thomasson perpetuates the slander to underscore his point when he just as well could have pointed to his own ravings as exhibit "A" on lowball political discourse.

Unfortunately for Thomasson, the only advice from his column he demonstrably heeds is: "The only cure for their poison is not to listen".

Sound advice - unless you want to write rational commentary about said poison.