Aaron Brown Makes The Case

Aaron Brown, the former anchor of CNN's NewsNight said he is shocked "by how unkind our world has become." E-mail and talk radio appear to have given people the license to say anything, regardless of how cruel or false it may be, he said.

Now check out the two examples Brown provides, one from the left and one from the right.

He cited the example of an e-mail faulting what the sender considered to be NewsNight's inadequate coverage of an anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. The note ended with, "I hope the violence visited on the people of Iraq will someday be visited on your children."

Those on the opposite side of the political spectrum are no more tolerant, Brown said. "Any criticism of the administration is regarded as hatred of the president and hatred of the country itself," he said.

Brown provides a specific “say anything” example from the left and without a doubt the sender’s message was uncalled for, viciously personal and cruel. The example he provides from the right is not specific, and whether true or false, amounts to the opinion of some viewers. For all we know, Brown’s correspondents from the right may have been responding to the anchor’s willingness to “say anything” about President Bush and the country “regardless of how cruel or false it may be”

There’s a big difference between the examples, no?