Angry in the Great White North

On August 22, Pat Robertson stepped in it:

Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has called for the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him "a terrific danger" bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

The media asked many people on the right for a responce:

"His comments are inappropriate," [State Department spokesman Sean McCormack] said. "Allegations that we are planning to take hostile action against the Venezuelan government are completely baseless and without fact."

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who ran against Robertson for the GOP presidential nomination in 1988, called the comments "stupid" and "ludicrous" and suggested Robertson apologize "very quickly."

[Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld] also dismissed Robertson's comments Tuesday, telling reporters at the Pentagon that "our department doesn't do that kind of thing."

Cindy Sheehan, at least as far to the left as Robertson is to the right, makes an inane comment:

George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power.

The reaction from the left was distinctly muted.

In fact, I have heard no mainstream criticism of this bizarre remark, or any of her other remarks, by any major political figure on the left.

There are several reasons, but a major one is the liberal attitude of the media. If no notable figure on the left has made a statement, it is because no one in the media has asked for one. Figures on the right are challenged by the media when Robertson speaks, but when Sheehan makes a foolish statement, the media rarely tries to corner someone like a Ted Kennedy for a reaction.

This is hardly fair, but I don't mind. In this harsh Darwinian environment, in which conservative figures are under constant pressure from a predatory press looking for a way to embarrass them, only those who can maintain their wits and their calm survive. But the liberals get a pass, and so success is determined by such factors as their photogenic quality or their wealth. The left doesn't seem to be tested in the same crucible as the right.

At election time, the difference is often quite obvious. I recall the Cheney-Edwards debate, and how John Edwards thought it would be a good idea to bring up the fact that Dick Cheney's daughter was a lesbian. That was, in fact, a stupendously dumb idea, but he didn't think so at the time. He might not even think so now. Nevertheless, Edwards was roasted for that low blow afterwards.

The liberal media is out to get conservatives. And for that we on the right should be grateful.