August 02, 2006

Blogometer PM Extra I

BLOGGER VS. BLOGGER: He's Not Against Them But He Condemns Them

Lefty watch dog Think Progress objected to an 8/1 John Hinderaker Power Line post linking to audio of Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) on a MI television program. Think Progress points out that the Power Line audio cuts one of Dingell's answers short. Power Line reports the exchange in this way:

Asked, "You're not against Hezbollah?" Dingell answers, "No..."

The audio Power Line links to ends with Dingell's "No" and leaves out the rest of his answer which Think Progress provides:

Q: You’re not against Hezbollah? DINGELL: No, I happen to be — I happen to be against violence, I think the United States has to bring resolution to this matter. Now, I condemn Hezbollah as does everybody else, for the violence.

Think Progress provides video and a transcript of the entire exchange and chides: "Dingell was arguing that the United States should seek to maintain its historic role as an “honest broker” in the Middle East. There are legitimate criticisms of this position, but they should be based on Dingell’s actual views, not a dishonest caricature."

Later 8/1 Scott Johnson of Power Line later highlights parts of the exchange including this:

ANCHOR: Overall majority of your colleagues didn’t see it that way and some would suggest that if–even though there are obviously a lot of issues with Lebanon and with Palestinian cause wrapped up in this, that this largely boils down to israel against Hezbollah and Hezbollah is a group that the United States has deemed a terrorist organization, that there’s only one side for the Americans to come down on in this fight. DINGELL: Well, we don’t, first of all, I don’t take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel.

Johnson concludes: "If I have this right, Dingell's "actual view" is that the United States should be a friend of Hezbollah, though he condemns the organization for its "violence" even if he does not quite deem it a terrorist group. In other words, according to Rep. Dingell, the United States should serve as an "honest broker" between a murderer and the murderer's intended victim. Thanks to Think Progress for introducing the nuance necessary to appreciate Rep. Dingell's true view fully."

Hinderaker also replies to Think Progress: " I see now that the very silly far-left site "Think Progress" criticized me for posting an excerpt from Dingell's appearance. The excerpt was emailed to me by a reader; I considered the possibility that it might be misleading because of something that came before or after. I concluded, however, that Dingell had plainly declared himself neutral between the state of Israel and the terrorist group Hezbollah, and that nothing that preceded or followed could change that disgusting fact. The longer excerpt posted by the loons at "Think Progress" confirms that I was right."

Posted by Conn Carroll at August 2, 2006 01:38 PM