Its important for the bigger blogs to get call attention to rescue efforts and the like, because they are the ones that people look to for news. If a major site (in my terms 2000+ hits a day) doesn't broadcast some sort of news regarding how to help these people, how do those readers find a way to donate? Most people, if not given the link (like A Small Victory has done, top corner of her page) can't be bothered to look up a place to donate. It's irrisponsible.

Eh, as loathe as I am to defend the Kos' and Atrios' of the world, it's awfully hard to add anything substantive to such a story.

If you want to fault them for not pointing their readers to places to donate, fine. But a simple bean-counting of the number of posts doesn't really seem fair--for either side.

I can't agree with your analysis here. Although I did manage to find a polititical angle in the coverage of this story, this isn't primarily the type of story that most blogs cover. The fact that so many people died doesn't necessarily make this part of the political blogosphere's beat.

Chris, I gotta disagree, Wizbang has links to video, stories about how the warning system failed, stories about a whole village that may be gone, a story about a baby that was miraculously saved, how to donate etc. PLUS we covered the politics of it.

Many of the other righty blogs have the same. The left largely ignored the story.

it's awfully hard to add anything substantive to such a story

Let's be honest, what do blogs ADD to most stories? Not a whole lot. We act as aggregators mostly.

AND the pure bean counting DOES say something. It shows the level of interest the respective blogger has.

As I said, the left always talks about how much more they care about their fellow man than conservatives...

This measure at least, doesn't bear that out.

Well, that's because Wizbang is a very very good blog.

But as to what blogs add...generally speaking, commentary. I can't fault lefty or righty blogs for failing to link to stories that while informative on their face, the blog's commentary tends to add little to the issue (inasmuch as a tsunami is an "issue")

For my part, I think that unless you're going to act as a sort of clearinghouse for information on the tsunamis (as Wizbang is and has done for other events), then it seems something of a futile exercise to link to stories about the event.

As for the hypocrisy of the left re: caring for humanity, I agree. But I'd rather find evidence for that in what they DO say, than what they don't say.

I'm not saying it proves they are rotten SOB's...

I just find the contrast interesting.

I disagree with that statement that the left arent' blogging this. Seems you only looked at the big boys, but many of the smaller lefty blogs are discussing it, and linking to the videos, and updating the stats.

I only have a single post, though I updated it to emphasize how Michele is keeping up on relief efforts at The Command Post.

I think Chris is right, though -- this isn't the kind of story where the blogosphere, particularly political blogs, are going to excel. Wizbang is certainly an exception, but we all knew that months ago.

McGehee, I mentioned that some of the smaller righty blogs were not covering it as much... but let's face it...

If the numbers were reversed, some asshat on the left would say it was because the dead people had brown skin or that there was no oil involved.

And that horrible Oliver Willis hasn't posted ANYTHING!

Sure, he's on vacation, but still... unless he's vacation in Sri Lanka, washing up on some (RACIST!) beach, you'd think he'd break silence to say something.

From what I have seen, progressive bloggers are, among other things, seeing this relief effort as a fine chance to drop the grand illusions of separation and ego, and focus outwardly...toward those who are crying for help.

Playing left against right at a time of crisis is petty and counter-productive.

-Dave

Instead, the "pwogressive bloggers" are using other people's blogs to bitch and moan and spew their same b.s. What have the left or pwogressives as they now call themselves done that is productive in terms of this disaster? Anything? I'll believe it when I see it.

Do your homework, hun, and venture out beyond the Wizbangs of the world.

I could post dozens of links, but history tells me they would go unheeded anyway.

You may find yourself playing catch-up soon...

Post 'em if you got 'em, deary. It is the topic of the thread.

Paul:

I'm going to have to take exception to your contention that because my (liberal) blog features few posts about the tsunami, I don't care about it.

I've posted once about it, but I have a few reasons for not following every jot and tittle of the casualty increases, DU nutcase theorizing, "stinginess" comments, and the dispatch of aid:

* I have nothing new to add to the coverage. I was not in Thailand or Indonesia. I have no family there. I have no first-person accounts. Most of what I could say -- expressions of sympathy, etc. And pure facts and figures are already reported in-depth by other bloggers.

* I don't have time to be on it like white on rice; like many other bloggers, I have a day job.

* Natural catastrophes are outside of my usual subject area. I usually cover politics, with a smattering of law, religion, and social policy.

* I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the enormity of the thing. 100,000 dead.

--|PW|--

I think what's being overlooked here is the way that the American "right" always finds a way to do wrong. Blogs have no business covering this story. Unless you have some kind of first hand experience you're just piggybacking onto catastrophe. Of course this isn't a new phenomenon. Conservatives have a real knack for profiting from other people's fear and misery.

So, with tens of thousands dead and many more who will soon fall ill with cholera and other nasty diseases, what do you do? Of course: Turn it into an opportunity for partisan sniping. Please. If that's not the very definition of self-righteous, then I don't know what is.

In a time when charity and selflessness is called for, you clearly are not up to the job. For shame.

(Not to mention that is the most half-assed analysis one could imagine to test this hypothesis.)

So the deaths of (likely) 100,000 people are used to club a political faction in a nation far from the catastrophe? I doubt a more self-centered and elitist response is possible. For shame.

This is the 2nd time I've seen something like this, a right-leaning blog trumpeting its philanthropy and pointing fingers at left-leaning blogs. If charity should be done out of the goodmess of one's own heart, why is it so often used as a cudgel? Believe me, the left doing it isn't right either. But as long as God knows the good in one's own heart, who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

Isn't that what Jesus did?

I don't agree with your implication that right wing bloggers are more compassionate than left wing bloggers (if that is your point, I couldn't really tell.)

As for your suggestion that the blokes at Crooked Timber are a bunch of pathetic, wimpy, lame-brained losers, I agree with that.

Robert Samet: Okay. Unless you have first hand experience with tsunamis you should not cover the story or encourage people to be generous? And you call this profiting? What a piece of shit you are. Truly a piece of shit.

Buffo: You ask, facetiously, What do you do? You give money, you cheap bastard. Oh, and your post alone proved Paul's hyposthesis.

Bloomsday: No, shame on you! You are the self-centered and elitist one here. You do nothing to aid the relief work and snipe at people who do.

Nikki: Since this is the second time the left has exhibited itself to put politics ahead of charity, they should be doubly ashamed. Charity should be done to relieve the suffering of others less fortunate than us. It's not to make you feel all touchy feely good.

PW: It's your blog but I can't see the harm in keeping your readers at least minimally updated and encouraging them to donate what they can for relief. It might not be your usual subject area but these aren't usual times. The death toll is now expected to hit 250,000. Who can't find at least one person or story to identify with in this tragedy?

AND the pure bean counting DOES say something. It shows the level of interest the respective blogger has.

This is such a blatant logical fallacy, I'm surprised someone posted it. If a blog's about all news stories you might have a point, but I, for example, blog about physics, so no, despite being a conservative and thus a compassionate person by your argument, I didn't and won't post about the tsunami. It doesn't mean I'm not interested; however, it's not on topic on my physics blog any more than it's on topic on a politics blog, so I'll discuss it elsewhere.

I can't think of anything more political than humanitarian relief work. It's an area of study with books and treatises which can be found at any public library.

I find the suggestion that we leftists care less about other human beings profoundly disingenuous. Moreover, the 'argument' by which the author of this post arrives at such a silly conclusion is either (1) the expression of political pusillanimity, or (2) the height of contemptible analytical naivete.

"Bloomsday: No, shame on you! You are the self-centered and elitist one here. You do nothing to aid the relief work and snipe at people who do."

The ridiculousness of such a response to an anonymous comment (How would you know what I've done to help?) is clear, and embarrassing. Was that really the best you can do? Were you jumping up and down and wagging your finger as you thought of it? Would you like another try?

My original comment stands. Using such a natural disaster and the deaths of so many people as a lever for partisan point scoring is the worst kind of pseudo-intellectual posturing.

Robert Samet: Okay. Unless you have first hand experience with tsunamis you should not cover the story or encourage people to be generous? And you call this profiting? What a piece of shit you are. Truly a piece of shit.

Buffo: You ask, facetiously, What do you do? You give money, you cheap bastard. Oh, and your post alone proved Paul's hyposthesis.

Bloomsday: No, shame on you! You are the self-centered and elitist one here. You do nothing to aid the relief work and snipe at people who do.

Nikki: Since this is the second time the left has exhibited itself to put politics ahead of charity, they should be doubly ashamed. Charity should be done to relieve the suffering of others less fortunate than us. It's not to make you feel all touchy feely good.

Bravo!

Oh, pardon me, that wasn't a parody?

Just like clockwork, the thin sheen of self-righteousness is washed away to expose a deep, volcanic hatred. I would generalize about the right, like the original post did about the left on the basis of a handful of blogs, but it could just as easily be that someone's off her meds.

oh for goodness' sake. You capitalize on a human tragedy in an utterly shameles fashion, hoping to score a cheap point, while making claims to compassion.

I'd say all it does is substantiate suspicions that you are a petty and puerile lot.

It never ceases to amaze me how much the right wing of the blogosphere can politicize anything. . . . First, Christmas, now this. You've figured us lefties out --- we hate Christmas and support the tsunami.

You know sometimes a tragedy is so horrific that there really is nothing to say other than donate and do what you can. Does everything have to be partisan?

You may want to remember this quote from none other than that great liberal, Jesus Christ: "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." - MATTHEW 6:1

Bloomsday:

(How would you know what I've done to help?)

Because an ego like yours would be telling everybody instead of taking cheap shots at other people.

Using such a natural disaster and the deaths of so many people as a lever for partisan point scoring is the worst kind of pseudo-intellectual posturing.

Well, then maybe you should stop doing it. And your're still a cheap bastard.

Boffo:

Just like clockwork, the thin sheen of self-righteousness is washed away to expose a deep, volcanic hatred.

Hey, it's you BSD people who are so full of hatred you will never give to a charity. Oh, and your prose sucks.

I would generalize about the right, like the original post did about the left on the basis of a handful of blogs, but it could just as easily be that someone's off her meds.

The generalizations are based on the specific examples of people like you. You consider being uncharitable a virtue because of your hate-filled politics. If there was no merit in what is being said, you wouldn't have ran over here and whined about the bad people saying mean things about you. And of course, you don't deny that you are too cheap and selfish to contribute to any relief effort.

"Because an ego like yours would be telling everybody instead of taking cheap shots at other people."

And the narcissism continues.

I'm afraid all this bickering is rather undignified.

Now GET TO BED all of you, before I give you a good spanking.

What a fascinating post. Partisan politics at its best. I have two points:

1) when the "left" (and it's not only the left that's saying this) says that America isn't giving enough for this disaster, when the inaugural celebration itself is costing $40 million dollars, it's not only an attack on BUSH. It's American people saying we think America can do better as a NATION. If Kerry were president and committed a measly $15 million for a disaster that has already claimed so many lives, I as a lefty American would be saying WE CAN DO MORE. It's not a left-right issue. Something like this disaster should be bringing us TOGETHER instead of ripping us apart, as red and blue folks, or purple folks.

2) There really is no logic behind an argument about how many posts deal with the tsunami. And if you even want to look strictly at numbers, several right-leaning blogs' posts on the tsunami deal with how the left is making wrong claims of Bush administration "stinginess". I wouldn't say that is a charitable post on the tsunami. That's USING the tsunami to create partisan politics. AND...that's COMPLETELY belittling the suffering that's going on. By saying that America's donation of now $35 billion isn't stingy, I'd argue that those posts on the tsunami are counterproductive. With over 60,000 dead and 60,000 more to possibly die from the after-effects, can we even comprehend that? Though there are different psychologies of disaster involved in these two situations, this is like FORTY world trade center disasters. More than the number of American casualties in Vietnam (55 or 58,000) have already died. This is our chance to stand out as the wealthiest nation on this planet and pledge more than the initial $35 million.

3) I think a real test of how wonderful we Americans are, both right and left (because we all are wonderful), would be to see how much we can all dig up to give, and for how long we can give. We are quick to pay attention to international disasters, and then lose attention quickly as we go back to our daily lives. I hope that the left AND the right together will keep thinking of and contributing to to the disaster relief efforts, months to come.

PW: It's your blog but I can't see the harm in keeping your readers at least minimally updated and encouraging them to donate what they can for relief. It might not be your usual subject area but these aren't usual times. The death toll is now expected to hit 250,000. Who can't find at least one person or story to identify with in this tragedy?

Julie:
I would note, first of all, that I've followed the story on other blogs, even if I didn't post all the time myself. I would also note that I put up a link to the Tsunami Help Blog.

But if I might, I think that you and our host are both buying into an old media paradigm here. In the old media, you assume that your audience gains all, if not most, of its news from you. In the new media, everybody fills a niche; you assume that your readers get the majority of their news from elsewhere, and come to you only for specialized content.

--|PW|--

Nikki: Since this is the second time the left has exhibited itself to put politics ahead of charity, they should be doubly ashamed. Charity should be done to relieve the suffering of others less fortunate than us. It's not to make you feel all touchy feely good.

No, julie, this is the second time that the right has felt the need to, as others have stated, use their partisan leanings to score cheapshots about humanitarian efforts.

I would hate to believed that charitable efforts are so foreign to the right that the simple pleasure in giving is overshadowed by the need to gloat.

Bloomie: And the narcissism continues. Yours, cheapskate!

James: You're looking for alt.blog.spank.spank.spank!

Crazy:

What a fascinating post. Partisan politics at its best. I have two points:

Cool! I'll calling yours: Another Cheapo Leftist Defensive Response. Here's my rebuttal to your three, not two, points:

(1) The BETTER INFORMED American People know that you don't just commit unlimited funds to one organization and before you know the full extent of what is needed. Better informed AMERICAN PEOPLE would know that even the initial commitment of 15 mil encompassed much more, ie troops to help in aid distribution, heavy equipment, doctors, nurses, hospitals, medicines, food, planes, ships, etc. You think that doesn't cost $$? Better informed American People also ACCEPT THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES to help in the relief effort and donated close to $ 34 million in one day. I am sure that has grown and will continue to do so. Better informed American People know there will be a need for long term economic help in these regions. And GUESS WHO WILL BE FUNDING THAT? Better informed American People already know our commitment has approached one billion dollars. IF YOU WEREN'T SO BUSY BASHING BUSH, MAYBE YOU WOULD BE BETTER INFORMED. [Okay. I've had my fun mimicing your capitalization issues.]

2) What you wrote here is really symptomatic about the left: IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU! You write I wouldn't say that is a charitable post on the tsunami. The charity is for the victims, not you. The posts on the tsunami are only counterproductive if people hold onto the false belief that the left is charitable or can be shamed into being charitable. It is productive in showing how the left will once again lie to make America, Americans, and Bush look bad because the left is so damn petty. Don't give me this esoteric bullshit about the psychologies of disaster. The bottom line is whether you and the left are going to contribute money for the victims. It is clear, you are not.

3) Put you money where your mouth is. Urge your fellow lefties to put their money where their mouths are. But you won't. They won't. What good are you? Bleh! And far as the remark that we are quick to pay and lose attention blah blah blah – speak for yourself. As far as the left contributing, all I see is people bitching and moaning and blaming Bush. Nothing changes with you people.

"Bloomie: And the narcissism continues. Yours, cheapskate!"

Have the nurse wipe the drool from your mouth, dear. You'll be much more intelligible after.

PW:
Who implied that you weren't aware of what was happening? And good for you for putting a link on your blog. Re: your you and wizbang buying into old media comment -- I can only speak for myself here: Absolutely not. It's not what I do, so why would other people? Frankly, I don't care where people get their news. I only want people to contribute cash wise what they can and stop the US bashing because frankly, it's the same old bullshit and it got tiring 8 years ago. It cost the dems two elections, are they already working on losing 2008? Yikes!

Nik: Maybe it's in response to the second time the lefties have shown how really really cheap they are when it comes to humanitarian efforts. And I would hate to think that what could mean life and death to someone in a disaster area, you and the leftists consider only a "simplistic pleasure" to fulfill your own narcisstic needs.

What's wrong, Bloomie? Your children couldn't stand your exceedingly bitter and cheap self and stick you in a nursing home? Smart kids!

This is an appalling post. Is this about as low as you are willing to go in an attempt to make your side look morally superior? You are not fooling anyone but your usual synchophants.

What's so "appalling?" The truth hurt?

All I did was round up what people said... If you don't like what your side said, then you just have to grow up and face the music.

[BIG YAWN]

"What's so "appalling?" The truth hurt?
All I did was round up what people said... If you don't like what your side said, then you just have to grow up and face the music."

What's appalling is that you saw a great natural disaster and the deaths of tens of thousands as a way to score political points. That you do not understand why this is a problem simply underscores the problem.

As for julie, the fact that from the beginning all she could summon up as a response was personal invective is quite remarkable. That "Bloomie" was the height of that invective is remarkable in a different way.

Liberal Christian:

You've figured us lefties out --- we hate Christmas and support the tsunami.

Apparantly, so . . .

Does everything have to be partisan?

Since, you leftists always insist on it, yeah.

You may want to remember this quote

And you may want to remember another quote: “The right was busy publicizing the disaster and soliciting donations for the victims when the lefties, aka the Spoilers, who never seem to learn from their mistakes, turned it into another Bush/America bashing session. So, in the words of one of your saints: Shove it!” - ME

What's so appalling is that you are too stupid to see that I did not seek to score political points, I POSTED THAT OTHERS DID.

Another nitwit.

Bloomie:

Just matching invective with invective. You are the people who took this tragedy and turned it into another bash America session. You are the people who can't get it together and actually do something productive and helpful for a change.

That does it, I'm convinced. It is a parody. Paul and Julie, you are just too much!

And Julie, you must be right about me not donating any money. How could you possibly be wrong? Nor would I consider doing so. No, the links I put on my blog to lists of charities were purely for amusement. Yes, we liberals had a good laugh over that one. Or we would if we weren's so dour and humorless.

Surely my not denying it had nothing to do with the invective spewing from your ideology-addled mind. Not to mention the assumption that any caring person, no matter their ideology, would do what they could. How naive we liberals can be sometimes!

We liberals hate America and love tsunamis. Oh yes we do.

And while we're into half-assed hypothesis testing, let's try this one on for size: Perhaps the reason the liberal blogs mentioned the charities only once but the conservative ones mentioned them many times is that liberals have longer memories and attention spans that conservatives. When we are told once, we take heed, whereas conservatives -- minds like sieves -- have to be reminded repeatedly that a very bad thing happened in the Indian Ocean and people far away might need our help. Yes, I think that's a hypothesis that has some legs. What do you think?

Paul, where in your post do you claim that others seek to score political points?

As far as I can tell you argue that your tiny sample of blogs indicates that the left is less compassionate than the right.

Your argument is weak to say the least.

finally, some proof positive that liberals are a bunch of hypocrites. Only 1 post? You should see rightwingpeoplewhocare.com. 60,000 posts and counting! Nuf said.

Does everything have to be a competition about whose better righties or lefties. As a liberal I read most of the liberal blogs listed and had no trouble finding a link to make a donation. Surely providing relief in the face of this tremendous tragedy is one thing both sides can agree on.

This is pathetic and disgusting.

I like to peruse liberal blogs. I do it to get political news, opinion on the state of politics and so on. I read them to find out about controversial issues.

There is nothing controversial about the tsumani. No one is for it. It is not a left/right issue. If I want news about it, I'll read a newspaper watch CNN.

I haven't seen any discussion of the tsunami in automobile commercials. Obviously car makers are heartless bastards. I haven't seen any discussion of it on ESPN sportcenter - those bastards! The back of my cereal box had no mention of it! Has General Mills no decency!?

I couldn't reach rightwingpeoplewhocare.com. It down due to so many posts? Or was that made up? Well, if nothing else Paul, you got people talking/posting about the Tsunami.

I take the silence as awed humility. I take the discussion as compassionate concern. Neither deserves reproach.

Julie, a little face to face contact with some one of the liberal persuasion might do you some good. There's a good chance he wouldn't tear out your eyes and eat your children.

It must be nice to find something to blame the left for, since you can't exactly blame them for the faultline moving.

And here I was, thinking that all the small ways in which lefty bloggers like John Holbo and Teresa Nielsen Hayden were good things. Now I discover that they're just the widow's mites and that they should have been dropping their big golden coins into the temple baskets.

Hey Mavis, I live in the belly of the beast. I know first hand the damage they have and can do. So please can the lecture.

Once the left began labelling conservatives and Republicans as "neo nazis" and "bushistas" and "bushnazis" and, not to be omitted here, "fascists," they lost any shred of crebility with me.

Such that there is no reason any longer to even consider spending any time with liberals or even trying to interact with them about much of anything -- they've proven themselves time and time again to be unreliable and often quite threatening to the United States as to their dedication to oppose most of the country and most of us citizens in the country and worse...-- and the very idea in these times that there's some need for conservatives/Republicans to somehow protract liberals' abuses as entertaining or good socialization or whatever, is just plain wrong. Also unproductive. Also a waste of time.

I was just perusing the Yahoo message board that accompanies the Washington State election issue and the messages are fraught with incredibly inflexible, didactic and quite condescending liberals lecturing everyone else about the "nazi" and "fascist" "conservatives" and pretty much threatening anyone who provides any suggestions, information or questions that doesn't meet with a handful of liberals' laid in concrete approach toward 'victory' and such. All one hundred or a few more eeked out hand counted by prying Democrats' eyes ballots suddenly found in King County seems to equate to liberals as some sort of message from beyond.

I always think it's interesting how truly autocratic individuals think that any idea of any change from their own perceptions equates with "naziism" and "fascism" and such, while, in actuality, it is they who demonstrate and fully embody true fascism. Today's DNC, and all that disdain for everyone else not a liberal, is the actual conformity for conformists insisting on conformity from everyone else, under threat of "or else." To wit: the very idea that Nature is striking out at human beings simply because the Democrats lost the Presidency (and have before, so I guess natural disasters were because of that in times past, too, if you reason as some liberals do today).

You know, the storms, all these natural disasters, maybe they would happen MORE if Democrats won the Presidency. And then the Democratic President could just do what Clinton did for eight years and say things were great, instead.

Seriously, folks, by the time conservatives, Republicans get to a keyboard, we are usually in need of time away from liberals, not more time listening to/reading about how bad liberals think everyone else is.

And, God doesn't inflict storms or disasters on people. And certainly not because the DNC is resentful about conservatives. Which I find to be the epitomy of liberal insanity, that the very world trembles because liberals lose elections, that liberals consider everyone else to be "soulless" and such.

Once the left began labelling conservatives and Republicans as "neo nazis" and "bushistas" and "bushnazis" and, not to be omitted here, "fascists," they lost any shred of crebility with me.

So did the right lose credibility with you when they began labeling liberals and Democrats as "traitors," "cowards," and communists? Remember when the religious right blamed 9/11 on the wickedness of America? As much as I'd like conservatives to be better, partisan hatred and absurd claims about God being on one's side are equally common on both sides of American politics. Both Republicans and Democrats have their share of wingnuts and idiot commentators who will say anything to create controversy to drive up their ratings/sales. It's a serious problem, and one which we need to acknowledge on our side too if we're ever going to fix it.

Julie's been eaten by Ted Kennedy!!!

God, help me! (Oh, well, it's a better way to go then going for a drive with him. )

So did the right lose credibility with you when they began labeling liberals and Democrats as "traitors," "cowards," and communists?

You forgot to include criticizing their patriotism. Considering all the talk about leaving the country after losing in a democraticaly held election, the charge has been substantiated. And people like ANSWER are communists.

... and people like Paul and Julie are idiots, lunatics, and simpletons.

For those of you who haven't been able to keep up, let me summarize the elevated discourse from Julie:

"... using other people's blogs to bitch and moan and spew their same b.s. ... deary ... What a piece of shit you are. Truly a piece of shit ... you cheap bastard ... You are the self-centered and elitist one here ... you feel all touchy feely good ... an ego like yours would be telling everybody instead of taking cheap shots at other people ... And your're still a cheap bastard ... it's you BSD people who are so full of hatred ... your hate-filled politics ... ran over here and whined about the bad people saying mean things about you ... too cheap and selfish ... You're looking for alt.blog.spank.spank.spank! ... the left will once again lie to make America, Americans, and Bush look bad because the left is so damn petty. Don't give me this esoteric bullshit ... What good are you? Bleh! ... it's the same old bullshit ... really cheap ... narcisstic needs ... Your children couldn't stand your exceedingly bitter and cheap self and stick you in a nursing home? ... another Bush/America bashing session ... Shove it! ... another bash America session ... I live in the belly of the beast ... God, help me!"

That's comedy gold! Over New Year's she'll be playing the Sands at Tahoe and The Laff Factory in Petaluma.

Make sure to tip the wait staff on your way out.

OMG, Boffo is my first stalker! You put lots of effort into this, I see. Anyway, since everything you cut, pasted, edited, and took out of context was in response to an equal or greater insult initiated by the other party, once again, you lose.

And Boffo, since you obviously have no real job, when I'm playing the Sands, I'll check to see if they need busboys and put in a good word for you. :-)

Holy shit -- a tsunami? Why didn't anybody tell me about this? As a progressive Democrat, my only news source is progressive Democratic blogs, so, of course, I'd heard nothing. Thank the Lord for Wizbang!

Your statement that Kos personnaly put up no posts on the subjects is factually incorrect:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/29/202425/20

Nice slander, though. It must make you feel good inside to know you can slander people simply because you disagree with them on political issues.

Next time, look before you leap. Unless you're leaping into the grand canyon -- in which case -- please leap away.

Hey dipshit, Dailykos has been obsessed with the Tsunami tragedy since it happened. Every aid agency imaginable has been given and people have donated alot of money to help. Quite playing politics with a tragedy, especially when the guy who should be at the lead is vacationing. Geezus.

Keven, don't follow our lazy press' lead. As a blogger, you need to research your statements before posting them. As blof pointed out, Kos did post about the trajedy.

I'm sorry, it's Kevin (typo)

You've convinced me! Because of the difference in the number of posts, I'm going to start fearing niggers and try to abolish all taxes.

Fact checking is your friend, unless you like to look foolish. I might add that to make assertions like this in lieu of the horror is beyond bad taste and says more about the author than it does the accused. Guess I won't have to come back here every again.

Paul and Julie: if you two aren't a couple of assholes, you'll do nicely until the real thing comes along.

How anyone can take this piece-of-shit blog seriously is beyond me.

Conservatives are incapable of feeling empathy. Your brains are abnormally wired, and you are incapable of feeling or acting in any way that isn't self-serving. You only care about the Tsunami victims to the extent that you can brag about caring. Sucks to be you.

julie: everything you cut, pasted, edited, and took out of context was in response to an equal or greater insult initiated by the other party

You don't have to use the they-did-it-first defense any more, Julie. Just call your genuinely loathsome behavior a pre-emptive strike, and maybe your troglodyte pals will overlook how the worst disaster in human history was just an excuse for you to shit on liberals.

Right-wingers always remind of that minister in NJ who muredered his entire familiy back in the seventies, because they had turned evil. They say and do the most vile things and then say they have to because "the LEFT" makes them. The lack of self-responsibility and shear self serving malignity of the right is disgusting. 100,000 dead and all they can say is "we talk about more than the left that makes us better". You people really are less than human.

Your statement that Kos personnaly put up no posts on the subjects is factually incorrect:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/29/202425/20

Nice slander, though. It must make you feel good inside to know you can slander people simply because you disagree with them on political issues.

Next time, look before you leap. Unless you're leaping into the grand canyon -- in which case -- please leap away.

SPEAKING of not looking before you leap... you might want to check the time stamps on the post...

Then apologize for being a jackass.

The guy in NJ was not a minister. His name was List and he was an accountant. He was obviously more than a little unbalanced and there is no proof he was a Republican. Nah nah na na nah. But he was Lutheran. So obviously Lutherans are all bad. How else could someone so evil come from their ultra-religious right holy roller red-neck scary church?

The only basis for this silly discussion comes from the fact that the left has to start bashing Bush 24 hours after the tsunami because he picked the week between Christmas (can I say that?) and New Years to go back to Crawford where by the way it is set up like a WHITE HOUSE with all the communications, staffing and presidential shit so he can still do business if the need arises.

How do you guys feel about the bastard Kofi Annan being on vacation too? He came back to NY as well he should after the shit he's pulled at the UN. A lot he cares about people dying...like in Dafur, Kosovo and starving in Iraq from 91 to 2003. But I'm sure glad he's back taking charge of UN relief (now there's an oxymoron if I ever saw one)in this moment of crisis. Now tell me again, besides coordinating a few conference calls, setting up a few committee meetings since Sunday, what HAS the UN actually accomplished this week in south Asia? I mean the US military is all over this mess with supplies, medical personel, logistics, helicopters, ships...you name it. Oh, and by the way, the White House doesn't have the descretion to put up any more than $35 million without Congress's approval. Bah. Clueless jerks. Before its all done, the US will have kicked in a few billion no doubt. Quit reading kos and maybe you'll learn what's really goin' on.

Paul in his original post:
Still I have to wonder... We are continually told how much more liberals care about their fellow man than conservatives, yet 60,000 people are presumed dead and many of the liberals hardly mention it...

Paul in comments:
What's so appalling is that you are too stupid to see that I did not seek to score political points, I POSTED THAT OTHERS DID.

Oh please, Paul. That's exactly what you did. It's a "Has the left stopped beating its wife yet?" argument.

BY the way, the Volokhs and Prof. Bainbridge have been posting pretty sparsely about the tsunami, and they certainly haven't been screaming about THEIR AMAZING COMPASSION AND BOTTOMLESS HEARTS, even though I bet they are the types to donate whatever they can.

Why do they hate America, Paul?

Julia?

By the way here's one of the compassionate commenters from LGF opining on the tragedy:

I won't be giving a dime for aid and I wish our whole country wouldn't either. We're at war and a large chunk of the world would love to see us lose. Fuck them. Make countries come begging on their knees for money. Make the prime ministers of these shit hole 3rd world countries come to the US, get on their knees, denounce terrorism and then plant a big smooch on Bush's ass. I'm tired of getting shit on after we as taxpayers dole out large sums of hard earned money.

Waldo: Glad to help!

blof: Next time, learn to read a calendar before you open your dumb mouth.

BigFatFibTeller: No, he hasn't. But you are right that even tho Kos was on vacation, it was no excuse for him to post all his usual political crap but have no time to post about the relief effort.

Pinky: Read Kevin's post, then borrow blof's calendar. Feel free to post a retraction.

Now-Lefty: You're disgusting.

Spare me: Facts checked. Buh bye!

Sammy: As far as taking this blog seriously, you and the other moonbats sure do! If you are truly in search of an asshole – look in the mirror.

Johnny: The left only caring about the tsunami victims as a way to bash Bush was the model. So, it must suck even harder to be you.

Ignoto: When you and the other nuts throw mud, don't act shocked when it splashes back on you. As far as it being the worse disaster in human history, it isn't. If you weren't so petty and ignorant, you would have known that unfortunate factoid. We have done everything but overlook this. That you use it to bash Bush and the US makes you look like sorry losers once again.

Geeno: Don't you know? John List was a pwogressive democrat. 100k dead and we say get off your butts and do something . 100k dead and you say wah! Wah! Bush! Wah! Self! Wah! Responsibility! Wah!

MM: Well stop shitting on him, for crissakes!

Simply unbelievable. The conservative, supposedly "actions speak louder than words" crowd takes a pot shot at liberal compassion by doing what? Counting blog posts. Now that's intellectual honesty for you.

errata:

Pinky: Read Paul's post, borrow blof's calender, and post a retraction.

frameone:

If you are looking for intellectual dishonesty try Bush bashing for not committing a gazillion bucks for the UN to squander. Combine that with a low number of posts to encourage the support of relief work and it's fairly indicative of lack of interest of anything beyond yourselves.

You put lots of effort into this, I see.

Julie, actually the post wasn't much trouble at all: Search, copy, paste. But I can certainly see why you'd have such difficulty, and why you might not be able to do that and hold down a job. The old Gerald Ford phenomenon. Well, good luck with that.

In the meantime, congrats on getting through at least one post without profanity. Glad to see you renewed your prescription. Even so, I'd recommend you not try to operate any heavy machinery or drive for the next twelve hours, given that you confused Kevin's posts with Paul's and all. It must be positively dizzying for you.

Julie:

Way to attack the UN. Nice way to avoid the charge that your original post is utterly meaningless. Counting blog posts? Come on. That's specious and lazy. Proves nothing and says nothing.
If the average right-winger needs to be told by their favorite blog where and why to donate to this relief effort that's a pretty sad commentary on right wing compassion in and of itself.

"Gee, the pictures on Fox News sure do look bad. I wonder if I should do something? I better check with Whizbang and LGF and Hugh Hewitt to find out what the correct conservative position on human tragedy is."

I'm right with Waldo -- I had no idea. From my regimen of (uncompassionate liberal) blogs including Kos, MyDD, and Atrios I'm clueless that it even happened! And now especially since they've only been giving links to donation agencies and not posting more frequently on the matter, I'm going to play my part as a subhuman liberal zombie and not donate at all.

Honestly guys, politicizing 130,000 lost lives? Well I guess some people think it's a worth it...

OK kids...

My mailbox is overflowing with you guys throwing sticks... SO here is what I'm gonna do...

I am NOT going to turn off the comments

I'll give you 3 posts each to tell each other how much the other one sucks then it is time to say goodnight.

Go ahead-- 3 posts each, make them count.

Then can we move on?

thanks

Paul

And the rift widens. There's simply nothing Bush/U.S could do that would make the Liberals happy, the bashing/hate/spin will continue to their own detriment.

"Unofficial" # of dead in Indonesia alone may reach over 400,000...so sad.

Goodness - I went to a boxing match and a blog broke out!

Staring at the American political landscape from outside it's borders - there is a simple thing to remember. On both left and right there will be compassionates and assholes. How you define and count it is your business. And frankly in a case like this how many there are of each is irrelevant.

Now for goodness sakes can the red/blue pissing match please end and the real Americans please rise above this pettiness?

Thank you and a Happy New Year - to a purple America.

I don't link to -- or watch -- the videos of the disaster relief because I don't get off on look at lots of dead bodies. If you do, fine. But don't pretend that there is any kind of moral superiority associated with it.

Has our country always been engaged in such a pitched battle between the smart people (a.k.a. "liberals") and the absolute morons (a.k.a. "you")?

I'm sure the families of the deceased in the Indian Ocean region will fine great comfort in knowing that morbidly obese bloggers of one political party have posted more links about their plight than their counterparts from the other political party.

Heh, I think you truly hit a sore spot there Paul.

Good luck in what appears to be your attempt to dethrone LGF as the most disgusting spot in the blogosphere. Criminy.

yeah, good survey.. pffft!

your post is more of the same… the link explains what you are up to;

The contestation over values and culture reflects a stronger awareness of the emotional and cultural aspects of politics on the Right than on the Left. While the second wave Feminist slogan "the personal is the political" may have heralded in a politicisation of culture and values from the 1960s, the winners in the culture wars have been on the Right, partly because the Left continues to argue in terms narrowly rationalistic.

so textbook, so shallow.

here’s a couple more…

one - Few recall it now, I'm sure. But at a time when the U.S. Geological Survey is truly proving its worth--and when we should thank our stars that unlike poor countries, we have a way of tracking earthquakes and their consequences--it's worth recalling that the Gingrich Republicans actually wanted to dismantle this agency.

two - Good point. While we worry about "global warming", the poor are killed in their thousands by an actual menace. Meanwhile various entities campaign against the free trade that would make the poor richer ... and safer.

now, do us a favour, murder to maintain your position.

Fuck you.

Moving on.

Kind of funny, that this horrible tragedy makes you think about....American right vs. American left?
Huh? Grow up, Wizbang.

The right-wing's reaction to the tsunami was to say that it was a good thing. Don't believe us? Check this out: http://progrev.blogspot.com/2004/12/breaking-right-wings-appalling.html.

To modify another person's comments at a different blog,the rapture can't come soon enough for you right-wing jackasses.

First,it's not a morality contest.Secondly,please give what you are able.I do think there is a dichotomy in how the blogs approached this tragedy,but that may be based on the various political sub cultures .Moderates and conservatives are more likely to take direct action while liberals may look to government for a response.Finally ,I hadn't given,so I just sent something.I'd like to thank the folks at Wizbang for spurring this.

yhbt! yhl! hand! ror! nt!

"AND the pure bean counting DOES say something. It shows the level of interest the respective blogger has."

No, not "level of interest." Level of bloodthirsty Armageddon interest.

The liberal blogs posted their anguished cries of disbelief and IMMEDIATELY posted links to international aid sites. What more did they need to do? Post horrible pictures of the drowned, bloated, bruised bodies? Make tacky statements? I think not.

i'm laughing so hard.. i cry.

pure evil. stand down. give up the blog posting and do something constructive.

donate $.

compell your Gov't to do more.

go man the Red Cross donation phone lines.

and make sure you shut the f*ck up and don't say a word of what you're doing. there is no need to gloat and publically pat youself on the back.

now get to it!

From a Small Victory -

"All you people - from both sides of the political alley - who are using the disaster in Asia as a springboard to frothing at the mouth about people/politicians/religions/organizations you hate - are big, giant, fucking assholes."

Don't bother to defend it - move on, and do something to inspire others, rather than try to tear them down.

Your motives may have been noble, but you've ignored a lot of good people when you started keeping score over the dead.

Sorry, guys, but this is one of the most insulting and ridiculous blog posts I've ever come across.

Yes, gawking at a road accident is always a great indicator of compassion. And those people who drive on by, but actually concern themselves with doing things, ridiculed by the gawkers as expensive and statist, to prevent such accidents in the future, are heartless brutes.

The right is talking about this more because this has shattered everything for the right. How could God do something like this?! At Christmas?! How could the UN be out dealing with the tragedy, saving lives and starting reconstruction, whilst the US dithers?! How could the government departments and NGOs be the only hope, why isn't their a big corporation that could make this disaster all better and turn a profit at the same time?! Curse you, reality, why have you failed conservatism again?!

The left is just getting on with it, raising cash, volunteering, supporting, doing the neccessary. People are suffering all over the world every day, and the left is always trying to help. The scale is unprecedented, but the left know these people aren't the first people in history to be suffering. The left has been dealing with tragedies like this, day-in day-out, for generations. It takes something this big for right-wingers to notice the world around them, to realise not everyone lives on cloud nine - like it took 9/11 for the right to notice that their old allies, the Taleban, were evil, while the left had been working to help the oppressed in Afghanistan for a decade before that.

So the right gawks, tries to find an emotive story, a victim to "identify" with, wrings its hands and sheds a few false tears. And the left deals with the tragedy and starts to re-build.

Things don't change. Right and left don't change. Right-wingers will always be self-obsessed creeps. Left-wingers will awlays be compulsive heroes. Right-wingers will always have their ivory towers and their servants. Left-wingers will always have their knees dirty and their sleeves rolled-up. At the end of the day, left-wingers are good and build stuff, right-wingers are evil and ruin stuff. It's always been like that. Blogging isn't going to change it.