Oh gag me

So after choosing to print an op-ed from a concerned citizen (who also happens to be a *vomit* conservative columnist on Townhall.com, not that they felt the need to share that tidbit) whining about protestors carrying "Impeach Bush" signs at the Inman Park parade, how does the AJC allow the rest of the thinking world to respond to Mary Gabar's garbage?

They print a nonsensical demonstration of exactly why most people hate hippies, from 2 of the "Dancing Flowers for Peace" who also marched in the same parade.

Read it and tell me how long you can go before the involuntary eye-rolling sets in. I made it through the first paragraph. And I'm against the Iraq war and in favor of impeachment! But all the patchouli-filled flower talk just reinforces exactly what people like Mary Grabar and her target audience can't stand about hippies--their "response" makes no sense. Perhaps if you're high it might make perfect sense, but otherwise...what the hell was all that mumbling about mulch and flowers all about? Huh?

This is a rhetorical strawman tactic, to give someone like Mary Grabar the podium while pretending to just be printing a letter from a concerned citizen, and then to allow the "other side" to "respond" while seeking out the lamest possible response you can find. The FLOWERS ARE RESPONDING. What about the people who actually have principled explanations of why engaging in political speech is perfectly appropriate at a parade? What about the people who pointed out Gabar's hypocrisy in being upset about the Impeach Bush signs but apparently not bothered at all about the people pushing harsh religious invective at the same parade? What about the people who have actual legitimate and persuasive arguments against Gabar that don't involve the painful repeated invocation of gardening imagery?

C'mon, AJC. I saw you ping my site yesterday as someone over there searched for reaction to the Gabar story. You know about the storm in the Georgia blogosphere resulting from Gabar's "poor little wounded conservative" whining and your decision to run it, and yet you chose to allow the flowers to provide the sole response. That's weak.

That's also how intelligent, articulate and powerful dissent is stifled every day by not-so-neutral traditional media outlets like the AJC. I'd equate it to Fox News allowing Alan Colmes to be the sole banner carrier for the opposition to the otherwise rampant conservatism, but frankly that would be giving the flower children too much credit and Colmes too little.