John Avlon, the centrist writer and former speechwriter for New York Mayor Giuliani who believes the center is now under attack and needs to defend itself, has announced two more coveted awards for Wingnut of the Week on his weekly CNN morning segment — abortion foe and Notre Dame protester Randall Terry and the far left group Code Pink:
On the CNN site Avlon further explains, starting this way:
When President Obama gave the commencement address at Notre Dame earlier this week he called for a constructive pursuit of common ground, even on difficult social issues. It was a welcome attempt at forging a respectful ceasefire in the culture wars that have divided and bedeviled American politics since the late 1960s.
But wingnuts aren’t interested in finding common ground. Armed with ideological certainty, they come to protest and polarize. They are addicted to their drug of choice – a righteous indignation that makes them unable to see any perspective other than their own. Alternately strident and silly, callous and clueless, they become caricatures. They are unwittingly their own side’s worst enemy.
With this week’s wingnuts we’re shining a light on protesters from the right and left who were in the news this week – Notre Dame protester Randall Terry and Code Pink.
Go to the link to read his explanation.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.