The Arguments of the Left

And a big Dave disappointment...

Honestly, I expected more from Dave Letterman. Last night on the Late Show he hosted Bill O'Reilly (and I have no idea why). Dave attacked Bill on a number of fronts in a very serious and un-Dave way, which made the whole exchange just goofy.

Part way into it Dave made his most poignant and most idiotic argument:

Letterman: “See, I’m very concerned about people like yourself who don’t have nothing but endless sympathy for a woman like Cindy Sheehan. Honest to Christ.” [audience applause]

O’Reilly: “No, I’m sorry.”

Letterman: “Honest to Christ.”

“O’Reilly: “No way. [waits for applause to die down] No way you’re going to get me, no way that a terrorist who blows up women and children.”

Letterman: “Do you have children?”

O’Reilly: “Yes I do. I have a son the same age as yours. No way a terrorist who blows up women and children is going to be called a ‘freedom fighter’ on my program.” [mild audience applause]

Letterman: “I’m not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling, I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap. [audience laughter] But I don’t know that for a fact. [more audience applause]

Dave admitted never watching Bill's show, but saying that he had "heard" things about it. Bill of course mocked this analysis by asking Dave if people should believe what the press says about the Late Show.

Dave's argument is one that I hear often in my classes. "I don't really know for sure, but I've heard..." or "Well, I'm no expert on this, but the way I see it is..." We're talking about the war on terrorism here - it's a bit hard to miss it. If you don't know the facts research them! We're in the Information Age for crying out loud...

For those of you who feel endless sympathy for Cindy Sheehan, here are some quotes from the grieving mother:

"That lying bastard, George Bush, is taking a five-week vacation in time of war""You get that maniac out here to talk with me in person."

"And the other thing I want him to tell me is 'just what was the noble cause Casey died for?' Was it freedom and democracy? Bullshit! He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East. We're not freer here, thanks to your PATRIOT Act. Iraq is not free. You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism," she exclaimed. "There, I used the 'I' word - imperialism," the 48 year-old mother quipped. "And now I'm going to use another 'I' word - impeachment - because we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail."

"My son was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed my son, George Bush, and I don't owe you a penny...you give my son back and I'll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we'll put this war on trial."

Cindy Sheehan lost my sympathy when she used her son's death as a shameless bid on political publicity. It's shameless and wrong, and the only sympathy I feel is for Cindy's delusions and the fact that the left has used her and now dropped her as one of their anti-Bush attack dogs.