In a post this morning on Illinois GOP Network, conservative blogger Warner Todd Huston really outdid himself: comparing Rep. Melissa Bean to African tyrant Robert Mugabe. To make sure readers don't get lost in the nuance of his vile argument, Huston even says it twice: "US Congressman Melissa Bean is beginning to act like the murdering tyrant, Robert Mugabe."
And what did Bean (or in Huston's words, "Beangabe") do to earn this comparison? Well, she introduced a bill this week to prohibit annoying political robocalls during dinner time. The Daily Herald offers a concise summary of what HR 5747 would accomplish:
- Prohibit such calls between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.
- Ban more than two calls per day to the same phone number from the same candidate, party or interest group.
- Require the sponsor of the call to be clearly identified at the beginning of the call.
- Require the caller's phone number be displayed on the voter's caller ID system.
Huston posits that if the Founding Fathers were alive today to see Bean's legislation, they might "even have a hankering to tar and feather her as a tyrant. And I can’t say as I’d blame them."
Huston -- or whomever runs Illinois GOP Network -- probably should have checked on HR 5747's co-sponsors before running his inane, offensive diatribe. If they'd done so, they might have noticed that rank-and-file California Republican Rep. John Campbell has also thrown his support behind the bill. Somehow I doubt Campbell's going to get the same treatment anytime soon.
ILGOPNET on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 00:15
Mose:
I run Illinois GOP Network. Warner is a poster as it is a group blog. Thanks for the link and if Warner would register to comment I have a firm belief he would be just as critical of Rep Campbell who is a Republican.
While not speaking for Warner it seems the principle in play here is freedom and defending free speech. A government that passes laws that begin to curtail those things need to questioned and by extension compared to it's opposite.
In this case it's tyranny.
I would think a blog that goes by the moniker Progress would agree with the principle of defending free speech. I guess I'm mistaken. Bi-partisan bills that curb free speech still have the effect of curbing free speech. Our blog is for commentary on Illinois political happenings. Melissa Bean is an Illinois politician. Hence commentary on her actions as opposed to a Representative from California.
Thanks again for the link and have a nice weekend.
Mark W. Johnson
Founder
IL GOP Network
Josh Kalven on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 17:13
Thanks for writing in, Mark. However, your response seems to focus a bit too much on the merits of Bean's proposal, rather than the merits of Huston's approach to criticizing it, which you seem to endorse.
I'm not sure I agree that regulating robocalls in this way represents the free speech violation that you and Huston suggest it does. And that's a discussion we're willing to have with you guys, assuming it proceeds in a somewhat civil fashion. But branding Bean as Mugabe-esque and evoking the idea of her being tarred and feathered doesn't really strike me as the best way to start that dialog -- assuming a dialog is what you actually want.
As for the link, you're most welcome.
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