Bush Speechwriter David Frum Chides Rachel Maddow for Her Tone

Did you see the Rachel Maddow Show tonight?

Talk about gall - and poor logic. Former Bush speechwriter David Frum, invited on the show to talk about his criticism of the McCain campaign for stirring up "fury" in the populace, took Maddow to task for contributing to the problem with her own sarcasm and ridicule of Republicans and their policies.

Now, I have no problem with a guest blindsiding a host or a producer - comes with the territory. But equating the sarcasm of a TV host with the vile rhetoric of a Presidential campaign is absurd. Surely, Frum doesn't think that Americans pay as much attention to a TV host as to a Presidential campaign?

Indeed, I think it's good for commentators to be sarcastic. Not that I agree with them, all or even most of the time. I certainly don't agree with most of what I hear and see on Fox. And, as I've pointed out here, I think Keith Olbermann on MSNBC has on more than one occasion been over the top (though he's been right on key the past few weeks). But sarcasm, satire, and other kinds of political lampooning have been and always will be an important part of the political process - they help keep us focused, and, on occasion, awake.

Totally unlike the vicious attacks on Obama - not just by rank and file, but by party leaders, including and in particular their VP candidate - which do nothing but divide us.