Left and Right - Wing Nuts

It's obvious, at least to me, that we have a left wing fringe as well as a right wing fringe. But it seems that the right wing "fringe" isn't actually a fringe. It's far more mainstream than the left wing fringe.

There is lot's of evidence for this difference. How much mainstream media attention do members of Code Pink and 911 truthers get? Who is the liberal equivalent of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh? Keith Olbermann? Please, Olbermann doesn't hold a candle next to Beck and Limbaugh.

Who on the liberal left is the equivalent of Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Christine O'Donnell, Rand Paul, or Joe Miller? Maybe there is someone, but I haven't seen them interviewed on the talk shows.

Kevin Drum has an interesting post comparing left wing crazies with right wing crazies.

(1) Conservatives go nuts faster. It took a couple of years for anti-Bush sentiment to really get up to speed. Both Clinton and Obama got the full treatment within weeks of taking office. (2) Conservatives go nuts in greater numbers. Two-thirds of Republicans think Obama is a socialist and upwards of half aren't sure he was born in America. Nobody ever bothered polling Democrats on whether they thought Bush was a fascist or a raging alcoholic, but I think it's safe to say the numbers would have been way, way less than half. (3) Conservatives go nuts at higher levels. There are lots of big-time conservatives — members of Congress, radio and TV talkers, think tankers — who are every bit as hard edged as the most hard edged tea partier. But how many big-time Democrats thought Bush had stolen Ohio? Or that banks should have been nationalized following the financial collapse? (4) Conservatives go nuts in the media. During the Clinton era, it was talk radio and Drudge and the Wall Street Journal editorial page. These days it's Fox News (and talk radio and Drudge and the Wall Street Journal editorial page). Liberals just don't have anything even close. Our nutballs are mostly relegated to C-list blogs and a few low-wattage radio stations.

Basically, it seems to come down to the fact that Republicans don't think Democrats have the right to govern no matter how many people vote for them.