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The Hamster links to a very interesting piece on Al Franken's new book. The writer is a former senior aide to Bill Sizemore, president of Oregon Taxpayers Union.
In case you haven't met Bill Sizemore, he is a conservative lobbyist, agitator, and gadfly buzzing around Oregon trying to do things like this and this.
I think Sizemore thinks he's doing the right thing, but it doesn't help when one is found to have engaged in a pattern of racketeering activities including fraud, forgery and conspiracy.
Becky Miller, formerly Sizemore's aide, has this to say about Franken's book:
It is an amazing book, and -- if you're a decent, honest, hard-working, patriotic, true-blue conservative who listens to Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly and watches Fox News -- an earth-shattering book.
But Miller doesn't believe the book is for everybody.
The other day on talk radio, I heard a guy tell an incredulous Lars Larson that he wouldn't believe Rush Limbaugh was a drug addict involved in a drug ring even if Limbaugh himself admitted it. If you're that guy, don't bother reading Franken's book. You will really just drive yourself even more crazy.
I am generally a centrist: the dogmatic left infuriates me just as much as the dogmatic right, if not more so. But I must ask our inhouse righties: doesn't the conduct of Sizemore, Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Coulter give conservatives everywhere a bad name?
I love that you build your case around Becky Miller, a woman who tells us over and over in 640 words that she's a gullible idiot.
Posted by: Matthew on October 17, 2003 08:11 PM"I love that you build your case around Becky Miller, a woman who tells us over and over in 640 words that she's a gullible idiot."
Au contraire--- if, like me, you are willing to spend about half an hour reading the fascinating story of the racketeering case in which Becky Miller testified (Sam provided a link to it in his article) I absolutely guarantee that you, like the Oregon jury last year, will find Becky Miller to be an extremely credible and persuasive witness.
This article will also give you an excellent insight into the kind of dishonest and even downright criminal tactics that some rightwing ideologues find acceptable these days.
Both Ms. Miller's self-identification as a fervent conservative and her experience as a co-conspirator makes her eminently qualified to testify to the use of deliberate political falsehoods.
Just because you do not agree with her does not make her a "gullible idiot".
Posted by: glenstonecottage on October 18, 2003 04:17 AMDoes anyone know a reliable e-mail address, website, or such where one can contact Ms. Miller? As an amateur book reviewer she's okay, but as a principled conservative who can rise above demonization and say so, I think she's a freakin' hero. (And yes, we liberals could use a few more like her too.)
If anyone has found a better way to reach her than going through the editor of her local newspaper, I'd appreciate an e-mail or response here. Thanks.
Posted by: Matt on October 19, 2003 09:08 PMI don't understand all this hype and her calling herself a conservative. Above is the comment "I am generally a contrist and she states the Right infuriates her even more than the left. Doesn't sound like a true blue to me - at least not enough to fill her review of a liberal's book, with all the hype about a true blue conservative.
Posted by: Glen on October 21, 2003 02:56 AMScuse me Glen, but you're a little confused. I wrote that quote, not Miller.
Best wishes to the MemeFirst crew. Really like the "form" today, Stefan.
Posted by: Sam on October 22, 2003 04:21 PMOh, I lied about the form. It was those links with underlined spaces after the words that really bugged me.
I can see why Glen was confused. Won't happen again.
Posted by: Stefan on October 22, 2003 08:46 PMYes, it is rather difficult to distinguish between the body text and the block quotes. I have that problem all the time. But then again, I never was very skilled at "form."
Glad to know you're defending Link Protocol Integrity (LPI) of the site, Stefan. Being an enforcer is a thankless job, but something tells me, you're just the man for the job.
Posted by: Sam on October 22, 2003 10:11 PMAs someone well acquainted with Ms. Miller, I could give you all the info you would need to reach her, but I won't. We both value her privacy. I will, however, tell you that she's a deep thinker, intellectually honest, a hard worker, committed to her ideals, and willing both to explore the ideas of those on "the other side" and to change her mind if there's a preponderence of informational weight on the other side. She does not stoop to name calling; she deals with the facts as she sees them and wishes that name calling could be deleted from the rhetoric of debate and politics. I am delighted with most of the quality of the debate she raised with her comments about Franken's book.
Posted by: Nancy on October 25, 2003 10:09 PM