Posted 9:52 AM by Scoobie Davis

The Unexamined Life. . .

As I pointed out, the most important thing about this election is getting the 15+ seats in the House (thus, giving John Conyers subpoena power). That will occur because, to paraphrase Hugh Hewitt, it ain't close so the Republicans can't cheat enough to prevent at least a 15-seat Democratic gain.

The one thing that never ceases to amaze me about the radical right is not that their meanness is earthshaking--quite the opposite: it's the utter small-mindedness that gets me. Take for instance Rush Limbaugh, who recently had two major crises--loss of hearing and drug addiction. After emerging from these crises, Limbaugh has, remarkably, become a bigger asshole than before. This increase in assholiness is not because his behavior has changed, but because it has stayed the same. For normal people a major illness tells them that life is too short to be petty and Limbaugh continues to be nothing but petty. The mocking of Michael J. Fox's illness is just one example--I could go on.

Then there's Laura Ingraham. Just to give you a indication of where she's coming from: as an editor of the right-wing college paper, the Dartmouth Review, Ingraham sent a "reporter" into
a meeting of the gay student association and then sent the tapes of the meeting to the parents of the students. Recently, Ingraham was diagnosed with breast cancer. Did her illness cause Ingraham to turn over a new leaf? No. Soon thereafter, Ingraham impugned as cowards, reporters who risked their lives in Iraq.

Today, Ingraham encouraged her listeners to jam the phone lines of the voter protection hotline with crank calls. This woman has no soul.

Addendum:

"Assholiness" is a word. I heard it used in the classic film Flesh Gordon (at a midnight showing when I was a student at Miami University).