The ‘hitmen’ of SD Rostra need a “beer summit” with Two Cathedrals

The call to “civil discourse” was never anything more than a call to censorship of the right.

The local “progressive” blog Two Cathedrals objected to my use of “hitmen.”  I used it to describe the men of the left who are coming after Darrell Issa.  Never mind that the liberal allies of these particular operatives have bragged that Averell “Ace” Smith is like Michael Corleone.  The point is that liberals (the first to censor and the last to admit it) are on high metaphor alert after the Tuscon tragedy. In any event, after a few of us Rostrafarians ribbed Two Cathedrals for its fashionable hypersensitivity, we got this response:  “Suggesting that hitmen, left/right/up/down, are coming after a congressperson seems in poor taste.  An opinion.”

I would humbly submit that our friends at Two Cathedrals jumped the gun (is that OK to say? It’s a race reference, not a mafia one) with their accusation of “poor taste.”  I doubt they will ever admit they jumped the gun.  At the same time, I am going to hold my position that “hitmen” is a harmless, common metaphor.  So what do you do when reaching an impasse like this?  Have a “beer summit,” obviously. Since Two Cathedrals are the ones that levied the “poor taste” accusation at me (a la Obama saying the Cambridge, MA cops “acted stupidly” by arresting Professor Gates), they need to invite me for beer at their capital. I presume it is in Ocean Beach or some place where their ideas rule and fester.  Not only will I show up, but like the Irish cop James Crowley, I will actually drink my beer.  After all, I too, am Irish.  I noticed that Obama, Biden and the professor barely touched their beers at the famed beer summit. I hope it’s OK with Two Cathedrals to make jokes about Irish folks drinking.  It doesn’t involve violence, but then again we are known as the “Fighting Irish.”  Also, alcoholism is no joke, correct?  Alcoholism often leads to violence. Then there’s drunk driving… not so funny either. It leads to violent deaths.  I am still glad we’re the “Fighting Irish” though.  Being the “Peacemaking Irish” would probably only inspire your team to win a recycling contest, not a football game. I wonder who the Rudy of recycling is? Probably somebody in Ocean Beach.

On June 13, 2008 Obama said of the McCain campaign: “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” to a crowd in Philadelphia. “Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”  While this seemed like a very poor rehearsal for acting “presidential,” I understood it was  metaphorical talk.  A few months later in Philadelphia, of all places, the New Black Panther party showed up to a polling place brandishing nightsticks. I didn’t blame Obama.  Maybe I should have.  It turns out they do like a “good brawl”… and they bring nightsticks too! It may be absurd to pin that on Obama.  However, that is a much less embarrassing non sequitur than blaming Sarah Palin for Jared Loughner.  He is a nut job who developed pictures of himself  in a G-string holding a Glock the night before his murder-spree. Wait, maybe that’s the connection.  Loughner developed those pictures at non-union Wal Mart.  Sarah Palin does not support unions.  I am not quite there yet, but I am starting to understand. By the way, back in the land of reality, I do blame Obama for dropping the New Black Panther voter intimidation case. His Justice Department could have prevailed on that case by default.

Of course this isn’t about logic.  The left is fueled by emotion. To paraphrase a fellow Rostrafarian’s  question: so the common phrase “hit piece” is acceptable, but then the word “hitman” is not? That, right there, is the point.  Political Correctness is a labyrinth with no exit.  The folks who brought you the idea of a “living, breathing constitution” are naturally the best at re-routing the rules so you can’t escape their PC maze.  You can avoid using the phrase “job killing” one week (sadly that is a real example) or “hitman” the next.  However, if you don’t agree with them, everything you say will be insensitive, out of bounds or in poor taste. It’s about controlling the conversation—to the point of making it a monologue from the left.  Rahm Emmanuel said, “You never let a serious crisis go waste.”  In order to suffocate the First Amendment, folks on the left have been trolling for phrases like “hitman” and “job killing” after the Tuscon murders.  Apparently you never let a serious tragedy go to waste either.

Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to limit union members collective bargaining power and make them pay more for retirement and health benefits has been called an “attack on the middle class” innumerable times by liberals.  How is the word ‘attack’ not “violent rhetoric” here?  Is it because his proposal is a funny attack, like the bacteria that attacked the Playboy Mansion recently and caused Pontiac fever? The way union members are acting, you would think his proposal was an attack like 9/11. You can see one of the very classy, non-violent pro-union protester’s sign above.

When the folks on the left aren’t censoring or banning books like Huck Finn, they are busy removing cigarettes from iconic images.  When they aren’t replacing guns with walkie talkies in movies like E.T., they are apparently writing up an ever changing rulebook known as “civil discourse.”  Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Folks on the left look to our universities, not our founding fathers, for counsel.  There they must have learned, “Give me offense, or give me death.” Just as any person needs to be constantly availed of oxygen, folks on the left need to be constantly availed of opportunities to be offended.  I am happy to do my part to help them breathe.