On a day when most normal Americans are relaxing and celebrating the Fourth of July with family and friends, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg is giving full vent to his Liberal Rage Syndrome by angrily lashing out at Republicans by labeling them as the "treason party." Oh, he pretends he COULD be labeling them as such but won't. However, this disingenous denial is belied by the fact that reading his column leaves no doubt that he is most definitely making that accusation. And for those few people who are actually fooled by his lame denial, there is the very title of his column as proof of Steinberg's intolerance of political opinions at variance to his own beliefs:
Happy Fourth of July to the Treason Party
Steinberg starts off by comparing the Loyalists in the American Revolution to Republicans and quickly goes downhill from there to a state of pathological accusatory bitterness:
When I look at the Republicans, I am tempted to dismiss them as the Treason Party. Seriously, were a band of traitors to concoct a series of positions deliberately designed to weaken America, they would be hard pressed to beat the current GOP dogma — hobble education, starve the government by slashing taxes to the rich, kneecap attempts to jumpstart the economy by fixating on debt, invite corporations to dominate political discourse, balkanize the population by demonizing minorities and immigrants and let favored religions dictate social policy.
See, he is only "tempted" to dismiss them as the "Treason Party" but he is not actually doing it...or so he lamely claims. Wink! Wink!
In a classic case of projection, Steinberg makes this accusation:
What gave me pause, however, is that they beat me to it — for 15 years the Republicans have been treating Democrats as if believing in a government that addresses our common public problems is a form of sedition. Given how uniformly wrong they are, I’m loathe to use any of their tactics, even one that has been so stunningly effective, convincing millions of Americans their best interests lie in coddling the rich and their champion is a stiff, dressage-riding multi-millionaire.
Yeah, Neil, you are sure loathe to use such tactics except you are most definitely using those tactics that you accuse the Republicans of doing. Oh, and I see "Mr. Compassion" took a gratuitous shot at a multiple scleroris victim who is using dressage as therapy for her condition.
Steinberg is no novice in the art of extreme political intolerance. Three years ago, Newsbusters' Ken Shepherd chronicled Steinberg's labeling of political opponents as a fifth column:
I don't know if it's 40 percent, but a considerable minority -- who voted for John McCain are galvanizing into, not just an opposition party in exile, but a kind of fifth column, an enemy within trying to undermine the operation of our government, opposing the president at every turn for purely ideological, if not pathological, reasons.
Rural Americans are also targets of Steinberg's totalitarian rage:
God bless Chicago. Having just driven across the country and back, I can tell you that most places are bumps in the road, and it's chilling to see the kind of undiluted reactionary opinion they marinate in. Every roadside diner's TV is tuned to Fox News, every radio station serves some right-wing nut grimly insisting on the reality of utter fantasy.
After reading the following bit in his "Traitor Party" column, the Sun-Times better have a medical team on hand this November to administer a tranquillizer shot to Steinberg in case the election doesn't go the way he wants:
To be honest, I have no concern that Republican ideology will prevail. It can’t. The 11 million illegal immigrants will not be expelled. Gays will not go back into the closet. Religion will not trump science. In fact, the only thing that worries me is the triumph of corporate power — then again, wealth always seems near triumph, but government usually has been a dog yipping at its heels, woofing business in a more humane direction, a little bit. We seem in danger of losing even that.
On second thought, better make that two shots...with a tranquillizer dart chaser.
