Jane at her understated best...

I wish Jane at FDL could just tell us what she really thinks. In an posting with the wishy-washy title Why Kate O'Beirne is a Dangerous Bitch, Jane opines:

Some people have been wondering why I don't just ignore Kate O'Beirne, as if paying her no mind will just make her go away. The argument seems to be that to acknowledge her is to empower her.

Not going to happen.

It is a dangerous time to be an American. We live under virtually unchallenged one party rule, and that one party is on a rampage to make torture morally acceptable. Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman invite screaming racist Michelle Malkin to lunch, and today Peter Kirsanow is paraded before the Senate by the GOP as an "expert." Both of these people applaud rounding up American citizens and putting them into concentration camps.

[..]

These people are given air time far in excess of anything their extreme views justify. And ordinary people who don't think too hard tune in and watch them and are lulled into thinking that these positions are reasonable and that these people are reasonable, because they see them all the time and they are continually granted a legitimacy they do not deserve.

[...]

Women's rights are under attack in this country, a man is being put forward to sit on the supreme court who will very likely take us even further into the dark ages if given the chance, and it all seems "reasonable" because some asshole who actually knows better doesn't want to sully their fine manicure to scrap with the likes of Kate O'Bierne.

Being virtually manicure-free, this is not a problem for me.

[...]

It is not okay to have this foaming fascist omnipresent in the public consciousness, and I'm making it my personal crusade to kick up a stink about it. So I'll say it again for those who weren't offended enough the first time: The bitch is dead meat.

Whew...! I don't mind it when people are passionate about their convictions... as long as their convictions are based on the consistent application of principle, evidence and logic, as I have come to understand that Jane's are. The fact that she's delighfully articulate too certainly adds to my reading pleasure. However passion is no substitute for reason, as was deliciously illustrated in one of my favourite quotes from the movie A Few Good Men:

Lt. Weinberg: "I strenuously object?" Is that how it's done? Hm? "Objection, your Honor." "Overruled" "No, no. I STRENUOUSLY object." "Oh... You strenuously object. Then I'll take some time and reconsider."