Film critic Roger Ebert, although outspoken about his anti-torture views, is not particularly consistent in his pacifist rhetoric.
In his review of the movie “Taxi to the Dark Side,” Ebert criticized Dick Cheney for the torture that is ascribed to the Bush administration in the film.
At the same time, though, Ebert called for talk radio host Rush Limbaugh to be horsewhipped for questioning President Obama’s push of the White House government Web site as the way for a caring public to make donations to help Haiti.
Ebert penned an open letter to Limbaugh in the Chicago Sun Times, writing that “having followed President Obama's suggestion and donated money to the Red Cross for relief in Haiti, I was offended to hear you [Limbaugh] suggest the president might be a thief capable of stealing money intended for the earthquake victims.”
Limbaugh made no such suggestion. Ebert instead pulled the inflammatory words from his posterior but went on to reference a conversation that Rush had with one of his callers on his radio show.
In the discussion, Rush questioned whether donations intended to benefit Haiti that were made via the Obama-directed Web site would be the best way to hasten assistance to the beleaguered country.
Rush wondered aloud whether names going through the government Web site might end up on a mailing list, which could later prove useful for obtaining donations of an altogether different kind.
Wild speculation? Not really, after a yearlong observance of the way in which the Obama administration operates.
Ebert continued to whinny in his diatribe, “You should be horsewhipped for the insult you have paid to the highest office of our nation,”
He claimed to have gone to the Obama suggested Web site, proceeded to click on a link and was routed “directly to the Red Cross.”
Which begs the question of why the president, instead of funneling people through the government Web site, wouldn’t have just advised people to go to the Red Cross site in the first place.
Guess if anyone dares to question the current administration, according to Ebert, torture is A-OK.
Well, that is, if they’re a conservative.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A. in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, commentator, media analyst and law professor. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and has made several appearances there on various landmark decisions. Hirsen is the co-founder and Chief Legal Counsel for InternationalEsq.com, a legal think tank and educational institute for the study of law in the media. Visit: Newsmax TV Hollywood
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