Is there anything sadder than a prominent EX-liberal you once admired...?

[regnaD kciN]

As an example, ladies and gentlemen, I give you...Mike Silverman.

For those in the early days of the Internet, few places were more worth visiting than Silverman's TurnLeft.com. Featuring an outspoken defense of liberalism, TurnLeft also included frequently-updated lists of liberal and conservative places to live, coverage of liberal popular culture, tons of links to political organizations, and, best of all, a "gallery" of right-wing hate mail that was some of the funniest (unintentionally, of course) material on the net. TurnLeft was a "must-visit" site for me every morning.

Alas, around 1999, TurnLeft went "inactive," although its old material is still available for viewing. Mike Silverman disappeared...or so it seemed.

As it turned out, he never really went away, merely moved out of our orbit. You see, Mike got hit hard by 9/11, and quickly morphed into a PNAC crusader (albeit a militantly gay one). He claimed to "stand proudly with Richard Perle" on so-called "national security" issues, and became a frequent poster on far-right sites like LittleGreenFootballs, ranting against anyone who questioned the Iraq invasion ("whacko-leftists") or Bush's knee-jerk support of Ariel Sharon ("anti-semites"...as if you couldn't guess), posting admiring comments on the latest ravings of David Horowitz, claiming that he could never vote for a Democrat who would "back down" in Iraq, etc., etc.

A look at his current blog, www.mikesilverman.com, shows that he continues on his neo-con path, while still claiming to be a "social liberal" (which, in his case seems to be restricted to the self-serving cause of gay rights). In particular, check out the selections in his "Blogs I Read" section. No sign of a single liberal entry like DailyKos, TalkingPointsMemo, or MyDD, but plenty of neo-con picks like Roger Simon (another rabid "ex-liberal"), Classical Values (which attacks "left-wing McCarthyism" for the Gannon outing), Common Sense (free-market worshipers) and something called Right Side of the Rainbow ("news and commentary on law and politics by a right- of-center, gun-owning, gay Texan").

Sad, indeed...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

1. pathetic - I'm still stunned by Dennis Miller, too

his HBO years were truly insightful with guests ranging from tim robbins to jerry brown to jesse jackson jr

and now he's tuned into this sad, spiteful unfunny mess on CNBC

ever notice how a lib turned rightwinger gets tos of publicity-miller, horowitz, zell, etc

but a rw-er turned progressive is virtually ignored by the MSM (brock)?

[ClayZ]

3. Me too, I keep watching and hoping he will

wake up. When he does he will find out that Sleepy Hollow has changed. I feel like we are in BIZZARO Land! I wonder if it is something in the water. My own nephew blocked my email today because I sent him the Poem "A Moment of Silence" by Emmanuel Ortiz. http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/silence.html

Dennis Miller's rants used to be so RIGHT ON!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

4. when he first came out as a rw on leno

i expected him to suddenly stop and be like:
"I'm just shitting you. bush is anidiot"

by the end of the segment, but, much to my amazement, he didn't

[ClayZ]

7. We too were amazed!

He turned real ugly real fast. I have watched hypnotists on stage and have also been hypnotized myself, and it seriously seems like they have all been hypnotized. I guess fear must cause that reaction in people. I too was very afraid. However they are frozen in time and ideas. It is like they can not think further. It did not take very long for us to realize, "so that is how it feels" after the 9/11.
Notning in me, made me want to do that to someone else.

Maybe is was because I have thought much about forgiveness in my 55 years, that I could first begin to ask the all important, "WHY"?

I am about to start looking for some ruby slippers, here pretty soon in hopes of getting back to Kansas. I am freaked!


:kick:

[Hissyspit]

2. A whole country I once admired. A whole journalism media I once admired...

I will admire the country again someday.

[MADem]

5. Their "conversions" say nothing about the power of the IDEAS

...that they are turning their backs on. You know, the taking care of the poor, the elderly, the weak, giving dignity to all, taking care of the sick...wow, for a second there I thought I was paraphrasing the BIBLE? But I guess lefties aren't allowed to do that!

What it tells me, when someone does a right turn like that, is that they are AFRAID. Rather than engage in hope, and use tools like compassion (the real deal, not the fake type) and diplomacy, and do things that better the entire world (rising tide lifts all boats), these guys are FEARFUL that their STUFF will be taken away. They have theirs, and screw everyone else. They're making a last stand, and it's all about greed and fear.

They use machismo, boasting, tough talk and testosterone to make their points, but they are really just a bunch of very frightened little bullies. They're pathetic!

[regnaD kciN]

8. A good point...

Although, as I pointed out, Silverman's claim to be a "social liberal" seems restricted to gay issues, what seems to happen in most of these cases is not that they unequivocally turn their backs on the social issues you mention ("taking care of the poor, the elderly, the weak, giving dignity to all, taking care of the sick"). It's just that they become so obsessed with "terrorism" or "national security" matters (generally translated as "we need to go out there and mercilessly kick the crap out of anyone who looks at us funny, or else we'll be attacked again") that everything else fades away into irrelevancy.

:-(

[MADem]

9. Yeah, they're a bunch of frightened chickenhawks, basically!!!

As well as a bunch of selfish pricks! If it affects THEM, they're compassionate, but if it affects us, but not them, then we can get in line with the rest of the great unwashed!

Buncha bums, if ya ask me!!!

[begin_within]

6. Money and power do bad things to people.

[MADem]

10. To weak people, anyway, for certain! n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Those Gay Republicans Sure Are In For Some Surprises, I Think..

When They Discover The Friendly Treatment The "Left Behind" Kooks Have Planned For Them.

[Jamastiene]

13. I still don't get them.

How can they be on the same side as a bunch of people who say things like they are "biological errors" and "perverts". I don't get it. Maybe it's because I have seen the true face of the Republican party and know it has horns, the evil kind. I'd rather stick to the party lets the "other" horns have fun, instead of repressing them and making them stick out the top of their heads like the repugs do...

[Warren DeMontague]

14. I don't get it either- the only three words I can come up with

are "Cognitive Dissonance" and "Wallet"

[Jamastiene]

12. It makes me nauseated

Dennis Miller used to be a good guy, but I now realize he was obnoxious all along. I only seemed to notice when he started talking about Bush in a way that turned my stomach. I quit watching him after that. <Jamastiene inserts finger in mouth to express sentiment>

[Warren DeMontague]

15. Yeah, he's really awful now, isn't he?

I think he's another one of these "9-11 turned me into a pathetic GOP sycophant" (and why wouldn't it, after all, it happened on your boy's watch) ...he's completely, utterly gone-- and he's a useless sellout, to boot. What does he do for work aside from his RW punditry these days, Razor commercials or something? Classy.

I don't know if Janeane Garofalo is still tight with him, but if she is, it's long past time she put a boot up his ass and straightened his head out. Metaphorically speaking, of course.