OK, who sent Richard Cohen all the 'raw...disease-laden verbal sewage?

[Rose Siding]

A few days ago, Cohen wrote about Colbert's "unfunny performance at the White House correspondents' dinner". Thousands responded and now he's gone and gotten all huffy about the "digital lynch mob" that went "roaring" after him.

Fun treat for us: he provides an example of that humor he warned us about last time. Now be careful. You may have to clean off your puter screen-

"I was -- as was most of the press, I found out -- George W. Bush's lap dog. If this is the case, Bush had better check his lap."

Oh, hahahahaha. Hahahahaha. Can you stand it? No wonder the teacher always turned to Richie.

Now this part is writ big because it's really really really important in determining if our spanking is deserved-

"Truth to tell, I peeked into only a few of the e-mails."

From those few, the Amazing Cohen-dini was able to conclude that "it marks the end of a silly pretense about interactive media". Dang! An end to a whole aspect of the internets. Just like that. *sniff*

"The e-mails pulse in my queue, emanating raw hatred. This spells trouble -- not for Bush or, in 2008, the next GOP presidential candidate, but for Democrats.....The hatred is back. I know it's only words now appearing on my computer screen, but the words are so angry, so roiled with rage, that they are the functional equivalent of rocks once so furiously hurled during antiwar demonstrations."

He supported the war and, having no idea why a few of his readers are out of sorts, is willing to place the blame for all future failures at their feet. So fess up! Who broke interactive media and destroyed our future by writing to poor Richard?

[Hissyspit]

1. Um, disgusted intelligent people?

Just a guess.

[tanyev]

2. He just now figured out that people are really angry?

Not the brightest bulb, apparently.

[lonestarnot]

3. Richard Cohen, you know the email was there. That's all that's necessary!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. He should thank his lucky stars anyone still reads his column.

He's one of those second-tier syndicated space fillers who values his cocktail circuit access more than doing his job as a journalist.

[Rose Siding]

5. He even admits he only read those from people he thought he knew

He wasn't even going to read ANY of the others. What a waste he is.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[reichstag911]

11. LOL!

[NoPasaran]

7. He writes for what, a newspaper?

Do people still read those things?

[UTUSN]

8. Me, for one. n/t

[marylanddem]

9. The most pathetic thing about lapdog Cohen

-and I'm old enough to remember - is that once upon a time he was sort of a real investigative journalist, specifically ferreting out the shit on Spiro Agnew. I think at some point he had an affair & ran off with Peter Jennings' wife - I just throw that in because it's kind of interesting. Someone said somewhere I read that he also was involved in a sexual harrassment thing at the Washington Post in DC & consigned to NYC bureau...Anyway, the years have rolled on and he became the piece of writing shit he is today.

[Rose Siding]

26. I didn't realize what a total bushbot he'd become. Digby has this-

snip>
Where on earth would anyone get the idea that Cohen might be one of Bush's lapdogs?

Given the present bitterness, given the angry irresponsible charges being hurled by both camps, the nation will be in dire need of a conciliator, a likable guy who will make things better and not worse. That man is not Al Gore. That man is George W. Bush."

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_digbysblog_ar...

[Catrina]

40. Omg, he IS a funny guy!! 'the nation will be in dire need of a

conciliator, a likable guy who will make things better and not worse. (here comes the funny part) That man is George W. Bush!

Was he kidding? Maybe we misjudged him! If he had stood up and said that at the Correspondents' Dinner, he would have gotten more laughs than Bush's twin!

[reichstag911]

10. Oh, oh!!! I did! I did!

To: "Washington Post Letters to the Editor" <[e-mail] >
CC: [e-mail]

Dear Sirs:

Since Mr. Cohen has chosen to fulminate on Stephen Colbert's comedic performance (and the rudeness thereof), I choose to respond.

First, contrary to Mr. Cohen, I found Colbert's performance brilliant. It was hysterically funny to those of us, unlike Mr. Cohen, who recognize the harm being done to this country by Bush and his cronies. For those of us who've recognized Emperor Bush's nudity since before his selection by the Supremes, it was immensely gratifying and hugely entertaining to see and hear someone speak the truths that Bush is an incompetent fool, and the press corps have served as stenographers for administration talking points. As soon as someone pays Mr. Cohen for being so funny -- as he so humbly describes himself -- I will consider his criticism of a professional's comedic performance relevant.

Regarding rudeness, I cannot imagine anything more rude than Mr. Bush's foray into comedy at the Radio and Television Correspondents event at which he unveiled the high hilarity of his "Where are the WMDs?" skit. Never mind that thousands were dead -- and continue to die -- because of his administration's fabrications about the imminent danger posed by Saddam's fictional WMD stockpiles, the complicit press laughed along and lauded Bush for his genial simulacrum of bonhomie. That's rude.

And Colbert was hilarious.

Best,
--me--

[Rose Siding]

12. Sewage! Clearly raw and disease laden-

Well done!

I wonder if ANY of his mail deserved the characterization he gave it. The Post has done this before, when reasoned comments were there for all to see at the blog.

[marylanddem]

19. I wonder if yours was the one that set him off?

It kinda woulda spun my head around if I'd gotten it - Good work!

[reichstag911]

22. I've been told...

...I can be condescending. However, I'm usually told that by people I've bested in a debate. As for spinning someone's head around, I only wish my rhetoric could have that effect; there'd be a lot of broken necks in the pundit and political classes in this country.

[otohara]

13. We'll See Who Loses Come November

If that's going to be the case, then Iraq is a war its critics will lose twice -- once because they couldn't stop it and once more at the polls.

ASSHOLE

[demnan]

14. I'm so old . . .

I remember when RC was a liberal, not a half-backed lapdog to George the II.

Of course he was on the metro page of the Post then, when the Post was a good newspaper.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

15. Here's the e-mail I sent him...

Mr. Cohen:

Earlier today I read your opinion piece in the Washington Post regarding Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents dinner on Saturday last.

I have one question for you Mr. Cohen. Have you ever seen the performance that George W. Bush did for the same occasion in March, 2004?

I really do believe that you were a little hasty describing Mr. Colbert as "rude". Please do yourself a favor and try to get a tape of Bush's "skit" from 2004. The word I would use to describe his performance is "disgusting".

I didn't think then and I still think today, that Bush's running around the Oval Office looking under furniture, etc for "WMD", when at the time over 500 Americans were dead because of the Iraq War; was in anyway "humorous", as most of the people in the audience at the event and many of the "talking heads" in the corporate media did in the days after.

But then again what would a 52 year old housewife from the suburbs of Chicago know? Mr. Cohen, wake up and smell the coffee. Mr. Colbert ripped not only GWB a "new" one Saturday night, he also ripped you and the rest of your ilk in Washington, DC the same.

Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxx

I don't know maybe Cohen thought being ripped a "new" one is hateful. I could have been much more rude and crude, but I figured he'd never read it either way...

Mr. Cohen, you get no sympathy from me..

[reichstag911]

16. Getting ripped a new one...

...may in fact be the height of "funny" little Richie's day. He expects us to enjoy getting reamed, though, and in that, he is sadly mistaken.

[Hamlette]

17. rocks thrown during Vietnam protests? Once again, inventing history.

these guys are starting to piss me off. I was at many of those protests and saw no rocks thrown. Nor did I see anyone spit on a returning vet. We were about peaceful protests.

And its OUR fault Nixon was elected? The protestors, the people angry about the war? Maybe not. Maybe it was the media who even then portrayed us as rock throwers.

These guys are starting to piss me off.

[NJCher]

18. Can't do that

This guy is way out of line for making such assumptions based on his statement that he only peeked at a few e-mails.

And the poster who pointed out that the Washington Post has a history of exaggeration over "hate" from the left is entirely correct--many of us remember the disgraceful episode with their ombudsperson.

Shameful. How low standards have dropped.




Cher

[wryter2000]

20. It sounds like a bad romance novel

I write romance novels, and I love romance novels, but this sounds like a very bad example of the genre. "The e-mails pulse in my queue, emanating raw hatred.....The hatred is back. I know it's only words now appearing on my computer screen, but the words are so angry, so roiled with rage, that they are the functional equivalent of rocks once so furiously hurled during antiwar demonstrations."

Hey, I think I'll make a separate thread so we can have some fun with this passage.

[Rose Siding]

38. Wonkette's snark seems to lean that way-

Then We’ll Turn the Digital Firehose On Him. With, Like, IM or Something

...The minute we saw the words “Richard Cohen: ‘Digital Lynch Mob’” on Post site, we knew we were in for a real treat. We felt, even before we saw that column, that we’d perhaps known it all our lives, that we’d spent years getting to know it, rolling its deluded self-righteous points around in our heads, learning to love its non-sequiters and celebrate its failures at even imitating anything resembling effective methods of persuasion.

~snip snip~

Readers: Will you please send Richard Cohen a very polite and friendly email that says something along the lines of:

TOO MUCH EMAIL DOES NOT EQUAL DIGITAL FUCKING “LYNCH MOB” YOU INSENSITIVE, UNFUNNY JACKASS.

Only, like, uh, without the italics, caps lock, or swear words (unless it’s “cocksucker,” which is always called for). We’d do it, but, you know, we’re getting our digital rope and going after a guy who digitally looked at a white woman. With email!

http://www.wonkette.com/politics/richard-cohen/then-wel...

[wryter2000]

39. That's great

Thanks.

[Arugula Latte]

21. This is good.

The right wing used their anger to get into power. This is a taste of the fury that's out there. Sometimes rage can be used to good effect.

~ Proud Sewage Sender

[gratuitous]

23. "Disease-laden"?

For someone who allegedly writes for a living, Cohen is apparently unversed in disease vectors. One cannot catch a disease from an e-mail. Shocking that he would use such imprecise language.

[reichstag911]

24. What,...

...you never heard of computer viruses??? Oh, I crack myself up!

[Ganja Ninja]

25. If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.

People have as much right to respond to his columns as he has to write them.

[grasswire]

27. I keep saying SHOW US THE EMAILS..

..or stop telling us they are hate mail. I don't believe these pissy-pants WaPo writers who keep complaining about barrages of hate mail from Dems.

Just freaking post the e-mails. Prove what you're saying. Prove it.

[Rose Siding]

28. He's got nothin'. Look at the examples he did use-

The Colbert messages began with Patrick Manley ("You wouldn't know funny if it slapped you in the face") and ended with Ron ("Colbert ROCKS, you MURDER") who was so proud of his thought that he copied countless others.

Then he directs the very same method of dimissal (NOT "sewage") used by those e-mailers back at them ("Ron, you're a genius") as though it's only not sewage when HE does it.

[grasswire]

37. I urged Dan Froomkin to check it out.

I told him that 70,000 members of DU would like to see the evidence and we trust him to verify the hate content. Maybe he'll do some checking.

[blogslut]

29. For heaven's sake Cohen

...whatever you do, don't let those diesease-laden, verbal spewing, hate mongers get a hold of your picture:

[reichstag911]

30. My kingdom for the right software and stylus! n/t

[reichstag911]

31. Here are the LTTEs they published today:

Critiquing Stephen Colbert and the Press

Tuesday, May 9, 2006; A22



Richard Cohen's scold piece about Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner <"So Not Funny," op-ed, May 4> reminds me of the adage about the professional lady who complains about bedbugs in a brothel.

The indecorous comments of a speaker pale in comparison to the rank sight of establishment reporters gussied up in black tie and gowns to share an evening of bonhomie with Washington officials they are supposed to cover.

The Bush administration has done a masterful job of reducing its critics to passed-over employees, out-of-the-loop minor players, traitors aiding the enemy in a time of war and shrill Bush haters, to name but a few of its slurs.

The administration doesn't need further help in the form of a commentator tut-tutting about manners like some old maiden aunt.

MARTIN LAWSON

Arlington

......................

Richard Cohen's critique of comedian Stephen Colbert as "not funny" and "rude" made me laugh.

Mr. Colbert wasn't "funny" because nothing is "funny" about the Iraq war, this administration or a press corps that has, for the most part, eaten what the administration has fed it. The journalists at the dinner sat tight-lipped and uncomfortable; it's hard to laugh when someone is reminding you of hard truths.

Mr. Colbert's presentation may not have been intended to be "ha ha" funny. Maybe his intention was to be ironic and truthful. That was painful for President Bush, his cronies and the media, and rightfully so.

TONI M. ANDREWS

Alexandria

.........................

Richard Cohen said that Stephen Colbert wasn't funny at the White House correspondents' dinner. He also said that Mr. Colbert wasn't courageous because in this country anyone can insult the president and not suffer consequences.

It is pointless to debate funniness, but Mr. Cohen was wrong about entertainers suffering no consequences for taking on the president. Ask the Dixie Chicks.

Comedians and other artists often cannot get mainstream acceptance if they are too biting. Someone such as Mr. Colbert, who recently got a small cable show and who seeks to book conservative and liberal mainstream figures for that show, did risk consequences by confronting the president.

Most entertainers go along with what's tacitly expected of them for such high-profile events. Mr. Colbert didn't. We should recognize the courage in what he tried to do, whether or not we think he was funny.

LEON DAYAN

Washington

[Rose Siding]

32. Those are great. Thank you. No wonder he's so pissy.

Were there no letters supporting Cohen's position?

[reichstag911]

36. If there were,...

...I don't see 'em: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinions/f... .

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

33. Here's the e-mail I sent him. And I don't think it's hateful or vile.

Dear Richard Cohen,

I could not agree with you more re your column today, So Not Funny.

Stephen Colbert was not funny.

He was telling the truth with a healthy, heaping dose of biting satire.

I'm glad Bush and his cronies and the press had to sit there and squirm.

If The Decider decides to go to Camp David next year so be it. Let the

tradition end. He can add that to his miserable legacy.

There is absolutely nothing funny about this administration or the
press corps.

I am a 56 year old white woman. I am not a member of the lunatic left
fringe.

This country is in serious trouble and you know it.

I am so furious with the Bush Administration and the way they have taken
this country down to the depths of debt and disrespect. I don't think we can ever recover from our loss of value and worth in the worldview. The heydays of a great United States of America are gone.

It's about time someone burst Bush's bubble. Stephen Colbert is a hero
to the approximately 70% of the people who think this country is going in
the wrong direction.

Finally, there was nothing Stephen could have told Bush and the press
corps that they don't already know. They know it and they don't care.
And they wouldn't have listened anyway.

Best Regards,
/me


p.s. I had a co-worker stop me in the hallway yesterday. Nice guy; very
blue collar, fundamentalist and a conservative republican, lives in Wayne Co.
Michigan.
He wanted to tell me, "I am a Reagan republican. Not republican. I am a
Reagan republican."

If Bush has lost this fellow, he's in more trouble than you guys could
possibly ever know.

[TexasLawyer]

35. WOW!!! I love that!

Excellent e-mail. Too bad Mr. Cohen chose to smear, with one broad, dismissive brushstroke, everyone who responded back to him about his Colbert review.

[NightOwwl]

34. Pompous, pontificating and pretentious.

He and Peggy Noonan would make a great couple.