The Godwin’s Law Of The Post-9/11 World

Ed Morrissey writes:

I’ll stipulate that anyone who calls their political opponents “terrorists” have violated the Godwin’s Law of the post-9/11 world, regardless of which side they’re defending or attacking and have surrendered the argument.  Terrorists blow up innocent civilians; radio commentators, pundits, and comedians exercise their First Amendment rights to criticize people.  Those who can’t tell the difference between the two indict themselves with their idiocy, not anyone else.

I find it fascinating, though, that the media world and the White House shrieked when Rush said he hoped Obama would fail, but laughed at Sykes’ calling Rush a terrorist last night, including the President who felt so threatened by Rush that he criticized him by name in the first days of his presidency.  If Rush had called Sykes the “20th terrorist” and wished kidney disease on her, I doubt that Obama would be laughing, and the media would fall all over themselves to rip him to shreds.  But honestly, does the news of a double standard for conservatives really surprise anyone?

That’s a topic that Jonah Goldberg explored in depth in a column from January of 2001. More from Ed:

Sykes, who can be funny in movies, said something stupid.  If we’re still talking about it tomorrow, the only person that benefits is Sykes.  It makes the WHCD a lot more newsworthy than it should be, and perhaps by tomorrow we’ll all realize that nothing much happened there that affects anyone’s life a single iota.

Oh I don’t know, I suspect there’s at least one person who will be talking about this tommorrow…

Related: Right next door, fellow Pajamas Express Blogger Richard Fernandez explores “A laughing matter”, noting the large number of professional journalists who laughed at Sykes’ shtick and asks, “BTW, is Rush Limbaugh a member of the press? And if not, how does he apply?”

He’s got his own dead tree monthly newsletter, a Website he and his staff update daily, has done plenty of TV, all addition to hosting the number one opinion and news radio show. I’d say he qualifies pretty darn easily. Being a member of the press isn’t a matter of being credentialed from on high, it’s a matter of getting in the game and doing it. Or as Rush’s former TV producer once told Matt Drudge, ” you don’t need a license to report. You need a license to do hair.”

Of course, the guild socialists at the White House Correspondents Dinner last night would be eager to change the former half of that equation as well.