Chicagoist: Remembering the Real Meaning of Independence Day

guest

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 03:52:34 -0600

It's really not about righty or lefty (this isn't a bullpen decision for a baseball team). It's about the team, and in this case this Democracy (notice the use of the big D) that is in peril. Yes, Olberlmann is over-the-top in the segment, and the proverbial hyperbole is flowing, but it doesn't negate the message. Apathy is still alive and well in this "democracy;" what better example of this then a president that chooses to expedite what most people figured he was going to do anyway, "pardon, commute, free" Scooter. It's not so surprising really, and Keith Olbermann probably was a bit excessive in his outrage. Is this not par for the course with this administration? I was surprised this was the spot he chose to take a stand on. Oh, the war, the suspension of various civil liberties, and questionable policy making decisions weren't enough? This is the boling point, the rubicon? Maybe Olbermann and his bully pulpit should have taken up shot several years prior, back when patriots and freedom fighters should have voiced their concerns and dissension with the same kind of fervor as this convenient commentary. Outrage over this? I don't know but it seems like journalistic silence was far more deleterious when this president decided to steamroll this country into war. Where was the excessive hyperbole and journalistic outrage then? No, back then a lot of journalists were sipping from the patriotic fervor cup, and blindly following a leader they now are only to quick to castigate and denounce. Too bad it came too little too late.

guest

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:01:28 -0600

I started reading that article thinking that it was going to be about the Fourth of July, the Declaration of Independence, or the importance of our democracy. Instead, what we got was an article that spun down the toilet as a load of sanctimonious Democratic Party teachings. A sad demise for what could have been a decent Fourth of July article. You lefties just don't get it.

guest

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 21:28:39 -0600

Hey fishunderice, Two things to take you out of pollyanna land: 1. Clinton isn't president and hasn't been for many years. 2. The elite, republican and democratic (ahem where is we live?) alike take care of their buddies. Some are just a little more corrupt than others.

guest

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:29:36 -0600

This is exactly why the most a president can serve is two terms. So whatever 'harm' you guys consider Bush to be doing can be erased in a few years. Our country always goes back and forth between Liberal and Conservative. We get too much of one and call for the other. It's a nice balance.

Chuck Sudo

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:08:00 -0600

fishunderice: You're referencing Hot Air? The site founded by Michelle Malkin? An anchor baby who advocates the deportation of undocumented workers, internment camps for suspected ethnic groups associated with terrorism (profiling, if you will), and consistently distorts fact and gets her own "reporting" wrong in order to further her - and the GOP's - own agenda. You're referencing that? Whatever floats your boat. I'll just make sure to avoid your jackboots as you march past. The reason you won't find Olbermann comments on the Clinton pardons is because he was at Fox Sports Net from 1998 to 2001 covering, um, sports. This was after he left MSNBC in 1998 when he said that the network's insistent, sensationalist approach to the Lewinsky scandal "make me ashamed, make me depressed, make me cry." Olbermann is just as quick to give it to the Democrats as he is the GOP, reference his rant on how Congress gave the Bush Administration carte blanche for the surge in Iraq. Bottom line, whether you think he's arrogant or a shyster, he's also one of the few who will speak up and out against both major parties.

guest

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:29:43 -0600

Uh, Chuckie, one can disagree with Dems and Dem-leaning newscasters and not be in any way a Republican. Are you people really this sheltered and narrow-minded? Sometimes, you leftists are as bad as the people on the right. Granted, specifics should have been offered, but this knee jerk reaction you people have is really amusing.

fishunderice

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:13:43 -0600

TonyB- The vast majority of his self gratifying rant is under blind hypocrisy. I searched for a while and didn't find a single qoute from Olberman on the Clinton pardons.-Yet Bush's Libby pardon is serving the party over the country and he should be impeached! what a joke http://hotair.com/archives/2007/06/30/video-olby-and-larry-johnson-shrug-at-the-non-event-in-london/ A few days later and we have a better perspective of the depth of this, and Olberman prematurely believes its no big deal. The guys an idiot.

Chuck Sudo

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:32:34 -0600

You know what they say, TonyB? IOKIYAR.

TonyB

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:13:02 -0600

fishunderice - Awesome how you discounted what Olberman said without backing it up with a single fact.

fishunderice

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:02:50 -0600

Of course, I don't know why I would have expected different. The first half of you'r post was a well written praise of our great nation and democracy. I thought it was going to be a well researched bit on the intricicies and debate of how the founding fathers thought it out. But of course Chicagoist turned it into a drooling diatribe against the president; as good as the constitution was, the republicans and Bush have destroyed it. Real cute attempt at relevancy with with a clip from Olberman. He's been lambasted with true debate so many times its not funny. Next time you want to pat yourself on the back, try to use somebody with a little more credibility than Keith Olberman.

guest

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:17:12 -0600

Nice article, but wouldn't something about the real meaning of 4 July actually talk more about the Declaration than the Constitution? After all, the Declaration at that point was unique. As well, what's the deal with so-called revolutionaries using vaguely communistic stars (see the album cover)? I'm no right-wing reactionary, but that star was the symbol for governments and movements that did kill tens of millions of people in the 20th Century. Certainly those who wish to change things can come up with better symbols.

guest

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 01:44:35 -0600

guest

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:37:15 -0600

This piece of yet another example of Chicagoist spouting the agenda of its uniformly liberal contributors. Try, every once in a while, to avoid acting as the website of the Democratic Party.