An emerging defense of Helen Thomas's "Jews go home" comment is that either what she said really was not that bad, or that others occasionally say worse things without the same level of reproach.
Richard Greener, writing at the Huffington Post on Monday, was so close to making a good point. He noted that a number of other public figures have said things that could reasonably be interpreted as more offensive than Helen Thomas's comment, and have not been forced into retirement.
Though Greener neglected to note the higher standard to which White House correspondents are inevitably held, his credibility was instantly reduced to ashes when the only example of vitriol from the left he could come up with was Keith Olbermann saying Sarah Palin is "an idiot." And he even followed it up with a pathetic attempt to satiate his readership's intense hatred for Palin (and Olby affection) by noting that "perhaps truth is an absolute defense."
Either Greener is completely oblivious his political cohorts' steady streams of venom, or he opted to score some political points by ignoring the plethora of offensive statements. Either speaks volumes both about his argument and his credibility as a political commentator.
Let us review some of the more colorful instances of leftists going overboard so the next time Greener plays pundit he will be well-versed in his own side's hateful rhetoric.
Just last week, libtalker Mike Malloy called Sarah Palin a "whore," a "streetwalker," and a "crazy bitch." This is the same Malloy who called on Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O'Reilly to kill themselves and suggested that Republicans orchestrated the Christmas day bombing attempt to damage the Obama administration.
Or how about Bill Maher in 2007 lamenting that the assassination of Dick Cheney had failed. He has also wished for the death of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
Rosie O'Donnell has quite a colorful history as well. Aside from being a 9/11 truther, she has called compared the Catholic Church to the Jonestown suicide cult, crudely mocked Chinese people, and has called American troops "terrorists." She is slated to get her own talk show next year, by the way.
And of course we have Olbermann, who called Scott Brown an "irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, sexist, ex-nude model, tea bagging, supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees" and Michelle Malkin a "mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it."
In fact, the latter Olbermann quote made the Culture and Media Institute's list of the top 10 most disgusting attacks against conservative women. The list is replete with extremely offensive statements made by prominent liberal commentators, and NewsBusters has documented scores more.
As I said, Greener could have made a valid point. Granted, Thomas was a White House correspondent and was therefore held to a higher standard. But his willingness to ignore the multitude of offensive and derogatory statements from the left illustrates that he has little concern for "free speech," as he claims. His political agenda is what drives his commentary.
