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Redstate’s Erick Erickson Gives As Good As He Gets With Stephen Colbert

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by Tommy Christopher | 10:16 am, January 5th, 2010

» 6 comments

When I heard that Redstate Chief Editor Erick Erickson was going to be on The Colbert Report (4 minutes before the show), I tuned in expecting to see copious nailage. The mixture of master satirist Stephen Colbert and hard-right loose cannon Erickson is a match made in nail heaven.

The outcome wasn’t what I expected, and at one point, I even found myself in agreement with the face of conservatism’s Markos Moulitsas.

Full disclosure: I am not the world’s biggest Erick Erickson fan, nor is he likely to send me a Happy Inclusive Omnidenominational Holiday card. That said, I went into watching this interview with a fresh set of eyes.

Erickson made an excellent point about purity tests, arguing against them while arguing for purity. On either side of the aisle, the voters are the true crucible for any politician. Any dolt can sign a pledge.

I thought Colbert really had him on the ropes, though, when he went to Erick’s twitter feed for 3 choice nuggets.

“You said of Justice Souter that he was a goat-f***ing child molester,” came the first volley. “You said that Linda Douglass was the Joseph Goebbels of healthcare, and you said of Nobel Prize winner Barack Obama ‘I did not realize the Nobel Committee had affirmative action quotas.”

Colbert never did circle back on the affirmative action thing, but Erickson handled the other two well. On Douglass, he actually provided context that changed the meaning of the offending tweet, saying that he was responding to Douglass’ statements that opponents of healthcare reform were like brownshirts. While I wasn’t able to find any record of Douglass having made such a remark, his larger point, that Godwin-esque rhetorical excess reigns on both sides of the aisle, stands. Basically, he wasn’t calling Douglass a Nazi, he was satirizing other people’s Nazi comparisons.

On the Souter tweet, he did something truly remarkable, something that not even Arthur Fonzarelli could do: He said he was wrong. That’s something we could use a little more of these days.

Finally, Erickson’s point about the Tea Party movement was dead on, and one I’ve been trying to make for a long time. The people who show up for Tea Party protests are a far cry from the umbrella groups who are out to exploit them.

Here’s the interview:

barack obama, Colbert Report, Erick Erickson, Joseph Goebbels, Linda Douglass, Markos Moulitsas, redstate, Redstate.com, stephen colbert, Tommy Christopher

http://lnsmitheeblog.blogspot.com LNSmithee

Tommy Christopher wrote:

On the Souter tweet, he did something truly remarkable, something that not even Arthur Fonzarelli could do: He said he was wrong. That’s something we could use a little more of these days.

I agree, Tommy. We could use a LOT more of that. Hey, y’know what let’s do? Let’s start here at Mediaite!

Editor Glynnis MacNicol, in the process of partying about PolitiFact calling Sarah Palin’s “death panel” remark 2009′s “Lie of The Year,” wrote here that “Glenn Beck … once asserted that the government was putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population.”

Beck has NEVER said such a thing, and I proved it. Glynnocchio has not corrected what could have been simply an error, but cannot be characterized so innocently after I have pointed out her inaccurate statement for the past thirteen days.

Many of Mediaite’s writers actually engage their readers on the threads, to the credit of Colby Hall, Kevin Gotkin, yourself, and others. Glynnis? She hits and runs. So I fully expect you to address Glynnocchio’s reckless disregard for the truth.

That is, unless you’re scared.
http://lnsmitheeblog.blogspot.com LNSmithee

Regarding Erickson’s remark ‘I did not realize the Nobel Committee had affirmative action quotas” – what’s the big deal, liberals? You all want to go back to 1991 and read what many of you wrote (and continue to say) about Clarence Thomas’s nomination to the Supreme Court?
Agent Orangutan

LNSmithee…. you are soooooo right here. Way to go! Highfive!!

When someone else does something stupid, that gives everyone else permission to do it too. And when it is pointed out to you that you did a stupid thing, simply point to the previous person who did it and say, “But he did it too!!!!1″

Problems solved.
http://lnsmitheeblog.blogspot.com LNSmithee

Agent Orangutan wrote:

LNSmithee…. you are soooooo right here. Way to go! Highfive!!

When someone else does something stupid, that gives everyone else permission to do it too. And when it is pointed out to you that you did a stupid thing, simply point to the previous person who did it and say, “But he did it too!!!!1″

My statement is made considering the source of criticism of Erickson. Mr. Smarmy gives the left a pass and participates in such schtuff himself. Wake me when Collbare stops hiding his mean streak through his O’Reilly caricature and takes his fellow lefties to task for schtuff as vicious as, for example, talking about a Republican congressman’s grandmother “[f**king] an alligator” for the crime of proposing a bill requiring POTUS candidates for proof of citizenship.
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