In 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney told
Senator Patrick Leahy to “Go fuck yourself” in response to Leahy’s criticisms
over Cheney’s Halliburton war profiteering.
Later the same week, Cheney said he didn’t regret cursing at the
Senator on the Senate floor, and even as recently as 2010 said of telling off
Leahy, “That’s sort of the best thing I ever did.”
I think Cheney set a pretty low bar for “best
thing ever,” but sadly, given his record, he might be right.
But I digress.
Dan Bidondi (to be played by Michael
Chiklis in the movie version of this story) posted a video on Info Wars where Rhode Island State
Senator Josh Miller (and a local photographer) told him to “Go fuck yourself.”
Bidondi is a member of the press, and he has
the First Amendment right to free speech. So does Senator Miller, of course,
but Miller is also a better person than Bidondi (or Dick Cheney, for that
matter) because after due consideration, Miller apologized for his behavior, saying,
“Regardless of the emotions and atmosphere of the moment, it does not justify
the language I used that day. Out of respect for the decorum of the State House
and the constituents I represent, I offer my apologies.”
No such apology seems forthcoming from
Bidondi.
Info Wars and Bidondi represent the very worst
of the right wing Internet. Comments on Bidondi’s Josh Miller post number in
the hundreds and are filled with anti-semitism, thinly veiled death threats and
racism. Reading them is stomach churning.
BR549 said, “I thought this clown looked
Jewish, ……. and sure enough, after a bit of digging, there it was. So we have
yet another arrogant Jewish leftard progressive in office, who has to lie
through his teeth on his FaceBook page to try to convince everyone that Dan
BiDondi is a basher of elderly veterans.”
Earl Scheib said, tactfully, “He needs to
be Trotsky’d” by which I assume he means “hit in the head
with an icepick.”
Joel Bensonetti observed that, “Josh Miller
looks a lot like Pol Pot, only white.”
These are some of the tamer examples.
Anyone who has dealt with Dan “false flag” Bidondi knows that he is not a honest
player in the public debate, that he intentionally mocks and goads the people
he stalks for impromptu interviews, that he espouses any inane conspiracy
theory that pops into his head, and that he actively courts exactly the amount
of respect he deserves.
Senator Miller may have lost his cool but he
apologized to his constituents and the citizens of Rhode Island, not to Bidondi
and not to that hotbed of racism, misogyny and anti-semitism called Info Wars.
I think that’s appropriate.
Steve Ahlquist is a writer, artist and current president of
the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group dedicated to reason,
compassion, optimism and action. He also maintains the blog SteveAhlquist.com
where almost all his writing can be found. The views expressed are his own and
not necessarily those of any organization of which he is a member.