Lefty Meanies.....

I have a masochistic streak, so on a recent road trip I forewent my standard Grateful Dead and Reggae stations to listen to AmericaLeft (channel 167 on XM radio). I listened to the station for about six hours.

The most significant difference from conservative talk radio hosts that I noticed, beyond the obvious difference in political perspectives, was their mean-spiritedness. The lefty hosts were unrelenting in their negative and derogatory comments about their political foes. Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann were particular targets while I was listening.

Now conservative talk show hosts are not innocent when it comes to negative and derogatory comments, but their comments are usually quick and short. When Rush or Sean Hannity say something mean-spirited about Obama or Pelosi or Reid, they usually quickly move on to a substantive discourse on the issue at hand. The lefty hosts I heard just went on and on and on with personal putdowns. It was ad hominem ad nauseam!

Are these lefty commentators just naturally nasty and mean? Or is it that they lack the ability to rationally and clearly articulate their opposition to another person's particular policy or decision? Or is it that their positions are so weak that ad hominem attacks are their only refuge?

I do not have the answers, just the questions. Think I'll stick with Reggae next road trip!