Malloy on Cheney: Dead Man Writing

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Mike Malloy on the Time of Cheney

Hard-left progressive talk show host, Mike Malloy, has been hurling invectives at Cheney for years.

Mike Malloy is so hard-core left that he makes Randi Rhodes seem like a delicate flower. His broadcasts are often brilliant, thought-provoking, and engaging. Sometimes, however, his rage overtakes his reason. Then again, the hard-core right are no different.

Malloy vs Cheney

His latest Cheney rant started with a comment the ex-VP made in his book, In My Time: President Bush felt he had a better chance to win with someone else as his running mate, I wanted to make sure he felt free to make the change. Malloy stated Cheney further revealed that he offered up his resignation to Chucklenutz three times, one for each heart attack, I guess… He then deftly attacked Liz Cheney.

You ought to be out there planning your father’s funeral, Liz, because I’m sure all the nation’s bigwigs, especially the Republicans, are gonna fall all over themselves to worship in front of his coffin. That’s what you ought to be doing instead of making your filthy, insane, gratuitous statements about what the president or administration that people expect their president to do—or the administration to do—to protect us from terrorist attacks. Shame on you! Go plan your father’s funeral. Just go do that. Do at least one thing in your useless life that will have some meaning. Go plan his funeral.

Conservative website Newsbusters rightly questioned his comments, but ascribed Malloy’s coments to all liberals: Is there any limit to the hatred liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy is willing to express on the air about conservatives? Have we as a nation really degraded to a point that it’s acceptable to verbalize over the airwaves one’s hope that a fellow American dies?

Newsbusters then provided a partial transcript of Malloy’s blistering comments [in which Malloy did not exempt himself].

Cheney has had five heart attacks, and history of heart trouble. Well, I guess they’re one and the same. The cause of his latest health problem is not clear. I think I know, but (long pause) he’s done too much cannibalism, drunk too many cups of blood! Cheney’s in the hospital. Ah, the first good news all day… I’m sure on a much lesser scale when I die, there will probably be some of you right-wing flip tops who will feel the same way—I frankly don’t give a damn! Cheney is a murderer. He’s a killer. He’s a torturer. He is evil personified! He is a walking mass of horror and when he’s gone, this planet will be cleaner!

The conservative site asks, Honestly, what causes all this hatred from folks on the left? Conservative talkers might dislike President Obama and Vice President Biden, but they don’t go on the air hoping our political leaders die..

When civility becomes hatred

Conservative apoplexy about the talk radio host’s almost poetic rant is not completely without merit; nor is Malloy’s. Let’s start with the hard left.

Bill Maher stated he was sorry that the attempted assassination on Dick Cheney and Glen Beck failed. Commentator Dan Savage stated, I wish [Republicans] were all F&*@ing dead. But many liberals did not wish Limbaugh dead. Rachel Maddow stated, All best wishes to Mr. Limbaugh tonight, for a full and speedy recovery Salon’s Joan Walsh wrote, I can’t enjoy the news of Rush Limbaugh’s illness. Is there something wrong with me? He has a family. Aren’t we better than that?

Yes, we are. Or, at least, we should be.

Moving to the right, note that Rush Limbaugh was not “better than that”: I tell people don’t kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus —living fossils—so we will never forget what these people stood for

Despite Newsbusters protestation to the contrary, there have been enough comments to disprove their assertion that conservatives don’t wish liberals dead. In 2007, the Orcinus quoted many of the hard right that expressed the same sentiment about liberals.

Ann Coulter: “We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens’ creme brulee. … That’s just a joke, for you in the media.” [Ha, ha…]

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.: “I say we tell those liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else… [it’s] too damn bad we didn’t buy them a ticket” to become human shields in Iraq.

Bill O’Reilly: They ought to hang this Soros guy.

The site is so littered with ugly comments from the right, there is not enough room to post them all. Unfortunately, intelligent, articulate, well-informed Mike Malloy sometimes falls into the same hatred trap. On Cheney:

Are his other organs actually functioning, other than his heart? I vaguely remember one time his foot was sloughing off in a desperate attempt to escape from his disintegrating body, but I digress… Are his other organs actually functioning, other than his heart?… Better crawl back into that sacred box of dirt, plug in your organs, and wait. The sun is rising soon.

Let’s be honest: more than a few of us have felt the same. I utterly loathe Dick Cheney and, admittedly, I will still listen to Malloy whenever I get a chance. He’s more often than not on point. Yet, the hate speech spewed by both sides has reached frightening proportions. When lack of civility reaches a tipping point and becomes hatred we all lose.

When lack of civility becomes hatred

If we expect civil dialogue from the right, then we on the left must practice what we preach. Whether we call ourselves liberals or conservatives, it’s important that we band together and find commonality with centrists on both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, we will always have to live with the lunatic fringe on both sides spewing hate speech.

Let’s hope one day, most of us will be better than that.


Mad Mike’s America thanks Mike Malloy and Newsbusters.


What are your thoughts on Mike Malloy, and the increasing viciousness between the hard-right and hard-left?

About Post Author

Dorothy Anderson

I want to know what you think and why, especially if we disagree. Civil discourse is free speech: practice daily. Always question your perspective.
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12 years ago

I just listen to this podcast today on On Being.

Being.http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/ccp-kissling/

“Frances Kissling is known for her longtime activism on the abortion issue but has devoted her energy more in recent years to real relationship and new conversations across that bitter divide. She’s learned, she’s written, about the courage to be vulnerable in front of those with whom we passionately disagree.”

Right on point with this post, and the topic of reaching across ideological divides.

12 years ago

Agreed Dorothy, but what gets me more than anything about all this incivility, is the left attacking the left, if not attacks, continued pot-shots and name calling aimed at supporters of President Obama and not offering alternatives to go with the barbs, but there again I am guilty of firing back at their incivility. The democratic party is in disarray because they cannot tolerate each others opinion, and we are supposed to be on the same side. It all spells doom for the country in 2012 and the democrats are to blame.

12 years ago

Hear, hear. Well said, Dorothy.

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