The Right Wing Turns on Greenhut

April 30, 2007 Uncategorized 33

The predictable “you’re with us or you’re against us” mentality of those on the right wing is rearing its head in the form of backlash against Steve Greenhut.  On Sunday, Greenhut announced his decision to leave today’s GOP borrowing a line from Ronald Reagan on “I didn’t leave the party, the party left me.”
Matt Cunningham suggests that Greenhut could stay to help repair the party.  “…there are essentially two responses one can make when one’s political party drifts from its philosophical moorings: abandon ship, or stay and fight to steer it back to its proper, principled course.”  But what Matt suggests is not the role of a journalist or even an editorial writer like Greenhut.

While I don’t expect to see Steve enroll as a Democrat, I do believe the reaction from the right wing means more even handed coverage.  As the saying goes, “never piss off people who buy ink by the barrel and newsprint by the truckload.”

Here’s a sampling of some of the comments on OCBlog.net about this move; I have deleted the names:

  • Thank God he is gone. Good riddance.  Who would of ever have thought that liberal, cop-hater is a member of the GOP.
  • So is Greenhut accepting a position and the Orange County ACLU branch? Or better yet perhaps he is going to get jumped in to a local street gang to fight the law abiding citizens and police! Maybe he can open a new propoganda publication for a prison gang. Wow Greenhut the possibilities are endless. Sail on and dont forget to take your keyboard so you have cover to hide behind!        
  • How about Greenhut leaves for Iraq while he’s at it. Im sure the terrorists would love his views against law and order. Are things that bad for Greenhut that he needs to try to hype up his articles in hopes of selling more advertisment and papers? Things must be getting worse and worse for that man. What party is left for him…..the Democrats (wont have him), Independant, Peace and Freedom (he’d fit in), Green (not sure Gore and Greenhut’s head would fit in the same room) or ???? Any more ideas?
  • After reading his column, several times to be sure not miss anything he might have said. It appears he has the current disease of most in America today. Instead of fighting for what he believes in and wants, he turns tail and runs away?  Why is it so hard to stand and fight for what you believe?
  • Did Greenhut think that much of himself that he had to anounce his departure? First Greenhut states he wants more government in certain areas and then out the other side of his mouth he states the GOP is for more government so he is leaving. You cant have it both ways Greenhut! Talk about flip flop! I wonder what his big announcement will be next week. Can’t wait!
  • I heard Greenhut is going to do a piece next week on the jackbooted thug cops in Garden Grove for outing the child molesters that moved into a local hotel. Greenhut is angry that the cops are using Megans Law to hide behind. I think Greenhut is going to propose a civilian oversight committee to oversee the protection of child molesters and their rights to live wherever they want without being outed!

33 Comments

  1. Dan:

    You are waaaaaaaaaay off the mark characterizing those comments as being from the…[cue ominous drum roll]…Right Wing.

    I know Red County/OC Blog commenters pretty well, and almost every one you posted come from a a few Greenhut haters how don’t like his regular criticisms of law enforcement and county government. They definitely do not constitute “the right wing turning on Greenhut.”

    And since when is it “not the proper role” of an opinion writer to try and steer one political party or another toward his or her favored political philosophy? Did you just make that one up right now?

  2. So you’re saying that these posters are liberals? I know there area few who post comments to your site, but its a pretty red readership wouldn’t you say?

    Opinion writers are supposed to sway readers, not political parties, but individuals, to consider another line of thought. Wouldn’t you agree that if an opinion writer has the ability to sway an entire political party one way or another, then the party’s core value system is hardly steadfast.

  4. Dan:

    Jubal is right here. Most of the nasty email I have gotten is from people who are angry at me about my criticism of the lack of oversight of law enforcement. Anything I write, they take it back to their pet issue. It’s hard to call these folks right-wingers, given that they have a union bent, and cop unions, like all unions, tend to be very Democratic.

    Most of the Republicans I have heard from are quite sympathetic and share my frustration at the drift of the party. I have noticed over the months that many folks who post on the OCBlog are not even remotely conservative. Just as I read your site to see what liberals have to say ( a good site, by the way) and make an occasional comment, many liberals make comments on the decidedly non-liberal OCBlog and our own Orange Punch blog. All of these blogs are important county forums, so it’s wrong to suggest that posters necessarily share the views of the blog.

    Steven

  6. Take my word for it, Dan. They’re not. Steve has a “fan club” of public safety union-types who regularly bash-away at him on Red County/OC Blog.

  7. What ever the fall out of this I applaud Mr Greenhuts decision to distance himself from the GOP. The GOP has long ago morphed into something that would make Ronald Reagan sick to his stomach and Barry Goldwater would die again if he knew what the GOP was up to these days.

    I recall the quaote from Barry Goldwater when he said

    “many years from now they will probably consider me a liberal”
    I heard that on the recent HBO special on Barry Goldwater entitled Mr Conservative if i am not mistaken. And that quote might not have made sense back in his day but it sure rings true today.

  8. So let me get this straight; there’s a Red County blog and mostly Liberals post comments!!!!??>???

    Let’s drop all pretense here and call it Purple County. Grape soda for everyone.

    I realize the comments section drips with sarcasm Matt; but the Republicans threw Art Pedroza under the bus when he left. And I recall a Flash Report posting cheering a primary victory of a conservative over a “liberal” Republican. Chuck DeVore lets slip he’s deliberately effing with the Democrats but hangs on to the statement because he “believes” it (he got caught).

    It seems to me that criticism of the “right wing” morphs into “It’s not Republican” and criticism of Republicans morphs into “It’s not conservative” and Conservatives can’t seem to take any responsibility for the mess W has led the nation into.

    One of my really conservative buddies recently actually tried to tell me the Clinton/TravelGate scandal was on par with outing Valerie Plame. Didn’t I read that the Republican candidate for Governor of Louisiana just jumped parties to enroll as a Dem? It must be tough to be a right winger these days. Or a Republican. Or a Conservative for that matter.

  9. Dan I post HERE and I am not a liberal. We threw Art under the bus because he is a gossip, a pain and quite frankly, somedays that is where he belongs. Most of those comments were anonymous…probably posted by the same person and a few comments certainly do not make up nor speak for the majority.

    But I do like grape soda!

  10. Oh no – you don’t want to call Steven Greenhut a liberal Cop Hater!

    I’m the Liberal Cop Hater in this County my friend, and I’m not about to let anyone steal that honor and privilege.

    The meathead Cops in this county have earned their reputation with honors and I’m going to make sure that information is widely available on my website, and on any Blog that I can get my keyboard on.

    I use my keyboard like shooters use their automatic weapons, but my keyboard sprays a lot better that a 45 or a nine, or even two nines

    I don’t run out of bullets as fast either.

    So if you please, from now on, when you refer to the liberal Mother Frickin Cop Hater in this town – please refer to me by name –
    David S. Harvey, because I’m even meaner than a Cop Hater, I hate the Frickin Fat Ass Overpaid Cry Baby Lazy Firefighters too.

    I’m only sorry that 911 didn’t get a few more them off of the Frickin payroll.

    Does that about cover my perspective for ya….

    David S. Harvey

  11. P.S.

    I really like the Anti-spam word selections.

    Sometimes it’s the little things that can put a smile on your face at the end of the day – when you feel like “you” were the character inspiration for the movie “Falling Down”.

    My name is Dave Harvey – and my Anti-spam word was Civil Union.

  12. Flowerszzz,

    The way I see it, it is my job to be a pain – as a blogger that is. I call it like it is and the fat cats in the OC GOP don’t like that. Good. That means I am doing a great job.

    Congrats to Greenhut on leaving the GOP. Wise move. I am sure he won’t be the last to do so.

    As for the posters at OC Blog – give me a break. Of course they are mostly Reeps. Some are Dems – but not many. The Dems in this county have other places to vent, such as this blog and my own.

  13. Tony – you have to join the union as part of your job. The only union in oc that is volutary is the County employees OCEA.

  14. Much of the Orange County Republican team had long ago dismissed Greenhut because of his apostasy on the War in Error and his emphasis on civil liberties in an age when their national leaders are actively subverting not only our constitutional rights but also the very concept of divided government.

    The right wing has been an uncomfortable coalition, primarily united by hatred of liberals and Greenhut’s defection is just part of a growing national consensus to abandon a party that seems little more than a criminal conspiracy masquerading as a political party.

  15. Flowerszzzz. To quote Ronald Reagan, “There you go again.” This is yet another urban legend.

    There are firefighters in the OCFA who are NOT union members. Membership is VOLUNTARY.

    And before you start claiming union aggressiveness, there are several on this thread (including Steven Greenhut) who have met me that will confirm I am hardly an intimidating presence.

  16. So you’re saying that these posters are liberals?

    No, I didn’t say that. Not even close.

    ???

    You don’t have it straight, Dan. I haven’t said anything remotely close to that.

  17. So let me get this straight; there’s a Red County blog and mostly Liberals post comments!!!!??>???

    You don’t have it straight, Dan. I haven’t said anything remotely close to that.

  18. …but the Republicans threw Art Pedroza under the bus when he left.

    Art left…how could he be thrown under the bus?

    And I recall a Flash Report posting cheering a primary victory of a conservative over a “liberal” Republican.

    Proving what point? What would you expect to read on a conservative political site?

    Chuck DeVore lets slip he’s deliberately effing with the Democrats but hangs on to the statement because he “believes” it (he got caught).

    I’ll stay tuned for ongoing outrage from you next time a Democrat “effs” with Republicans.

    It seems to me that criticism of the “right wing” morphs into “It’s not Republican” and criticism of Republicans morphs into “It’s not conservative” and Conservatives can’t seem to take any responsibility for the mess W has led the nation into.

    Huh?

  20. Tony I never said you were an intimidating presence. OK so Orange County has 2 voluntary unions….what bout the rest of this state….are they voluntary?

    Dan = you need to fix the site – takes upwards of 15 times to post – says site too busy.

  21. Doesn’t take me 15 minutes and I don’t have management access to the site to fix it…you might want to do some system maintenance on your own machine (defrag, clear out the cache etc….).

    Matt — sarcasm gets lost sometimes….you claimed the posted aren’t right wing but they’re not liberals either. I know you’ve haven’t said that, but c’mon, its the path you’re leading us down.

    Yes, Art left..but the comments from the right wing , er…posters on your blog, did throw him under the bus.

  22. Hmmm, maybe it is on my end.

    BTW, the Art bashers bashed Art just as much – if not more when he was a “republican”.

  23. I know you’ve haven’t said that, but c’mon, its the path you’re leading us down.

    No it’s not. Like I said, Greenhut has a little “fan club” of people who blast him in comments on Red County/OC Blog. I don’t know their party affiliation, but they can’t stand Steve’s criticisms of county government and law enforcement, so I assume they are county and public safety employees. They may not be liberals, but to judge these comments as evidence of “right wing” blowback is mistaken.

    Yes, Art left..but the comments from the right wing , er…posters on your blog, did throw him under the bus.

    I think you’re misusing the term “throw under the bus,” which means to sacrifice someone as a scapegoat and throw them to the wolves. That’s not what happened with Art. He just left, and did so calling Republicans names all the way — so go figure Republican commenters reacted negatively.

  25. I would argue Art was thrown under the bus long before he decided to leave the party.

    “I know Red County/OC Blog commenters pretty well” morphed into “I don’t know their party affiliation”

    so which is it?

  26. Dan – on Art….he threw himself under the bus as you put it, and ostracized himself. I do not know ONE politician (even ones he ‘likes”) that takes him seriously – nor have the ever. He thrives on negative attention and has been provoking it for upwards of 20 years now.

  27. I will take people like Art any day over those who will march in lock step. Frankly, the GOP needs more troublemakers. That’s one of the joys of being a Democrat; we do squabble and we do fight.

  28. There is a difference between a squabble and flat out making stuff up…..The GOP has plenty do squabble and fight as well – nothing wrong with that. Look at the last BOS election, we had 3 different candidates with big supporters behind them all, no one was on the same page.

  29. actually Flowerz what you saw there was the last gasp of a mighty Republican machine losing to the will of the voters.. Team Schroeder has been winning races but hasn’t been in the clear cut majority. He loses more ground with each election.

    Which reminds me, we have to stop calling him “Darth Schroeder.” Darth Vader was an evil chracter who came into the light. His sacrifice restored peace and Democracy to the Galaxy. Mike Schroeder is no Darth Vader.

  30. Careful your starwars geek is coming out. As for schroeder, you give him too much thought….why do you care what he does or doesnt do? And if he is truly losing his power as you say, I can name some “top” Democrats that have fallen from grace over the past few years myself….some that I thought were evil as well….let’s just start with Nativo Lopez.

  31. I don’t really follow Mike … and my son, the true Star Wars geek, would freak to think I’d be any sort of Star Wars geek as I throw awful lines from the movie his way to taunt him.

    Look how hard Mike is fighting to score a win for Team Trung; if he truly cared about the party, he’d move on and work on healing rifts. This effort to save Trung is as much an effort to score anyother win.

  32. And….so what? Why do you care what members of our party do or if he “scores another win”? It is a republican seat nonethless. What with all the compassion/concern for our party? (not meant to sound snyde – really just curious)

    If you really dont care about Mike – what with all the hostility towards him? What beef do you personally have with him or Trung for that matter? Don’t believe all that Art tells you, he thinks everyone who does not give him the time of day is evil.

  33. “I know Red County/OC Blog commenters pretty well” morphed into “I don’t know their party affiliation” so which is it?

    Dan, those aren’t mutually exclusive statements.

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