Flags; Fags

Whenever a corporate media outlet wants to profile someone who "talks back" to the consensus, who displays what the mainstream considers political or cultural "courage," that person is usually shown holding or wearing an American flag. In the case of reactionary bad boys and girls, this is understandable. Part of the rightwing "rebel" appeal is an unapologetic embrace of nationalist symbols like Old Glory. But when it comes to liberals, or even "progressives," the need to clutch the flag is even more imperative, for anyone to the left of Joe Lieberman must show their allegiance immediately and without ambiguity. And in most cases, the liberals happily go along.

A recent example of this pandering can be seen in the current Rolling Stone, where lib hero Keith Olbermann is shown doing his duty, as a prelude to yet another gushing profile:




As corporate media figures go, Olbermann is admittedly easier on the senses, his smooth delivery honed over 30 years of broadcasting experience. That he mocks the prevailing rightwing trogs of our time is entertaining, but ultimately shallow, as Olbermann doesn't seem too put off by the information and political structure that employs his talents. At bottom, Olbermann is just another propagandist, someone who helps define the permissible "left" position in mass media. And because he attacks Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter, and Hannity, online libs fairly faint at his feet and help spread the fiction that Olbermann is somehow talking "truth to power." If that were actually true, Olbermann wouldn't be on the air, certainly not on a Pentagon-affiliated network like MSNBC.

If one of these "truth tellers" were to rip apart the flag, burn it, stomp on it, wipe their ass with it, then we'd be getting somewhere. Desecrating nationalist symbols is a feature of actual freedom, and not the kind that merely helps to sell more useless products to dazed consumers.

Take the first step, Keith! Shove that flag up your ass!

Libloggers have been piously milking Ann Coulter's use of "faggot" to describe John Edwards at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.



What an absolute waste of time and energy, especially since Coulter and her fans lap up liberal outrage and push for more. If you're going to attack Coulter for saying "faggot," then simply point out that Coulter is a well-known social fag hag. I've seen her twice in person at private parties, and each time she had an openly gay man on her arm. And friends who've seen her elsewhere have told me the same thing -- Coulter likes the company of queer guys. Now, they may be reactionary, Roy Cohn-type queers, given Coulter's professed love for Joe McCarthy, but that's another topic. If liberals want to respond to Coulter, just ask what her gay male friends think about her use of "faggot." I'm guessing they don't mind. After all, they hang with the bitch.