Caught in the middle of Senate shouting match

You must be doing something right when you get criticized from both sides for the same article.

Today on the website of the American Thinker — a right-leaning site with a variety of articles, columns and blogs — writer Lee Cary made much out of a single word in a recent Review-Journal headline, "zeal." The word appears only in the headline, "Angle's religious zeal criticized" and never in the story. It accurately describes the issue, her zeal, not merely her beliefs.

Cary, in full ah-ha mode, writes, "Note the language in the article's title, where the reference is to 'Angle's religious zeal' and not merely her religious beliefs. 'Zeal' is code for 'extremist.' Terrorists are zealots. And so are those wild-eyed Tea Partiers."

OK, since Democrat fliers supporting Sen. Harry Reid have called Sharron Angle "extreme" and "dangerous," I'd say that is the accusation.

But then Cary assigns motive for the use of that certain noun. "The gaming business has been good to Harry and to Vegas. So it's no surprise when the Review Journal tags Angle with the zealot label," he writes

From the opposite side of political spectrum today comes an e-mail blast from Jon Summers, formerly on Reid's publicly funded payroll but now working for the campaign, calling the same and another R-J article "shamelessly biased" in favor of Angle.

About a Sunday article on the topic of religion and its role in the campaign, Summers writes, "The piece equated Sen. Reid's public comments regarding religion with Angle's, ignoring the critical difference that Angle's agenda involves legislating her Christian Reconstructionist beliefs on others, something that Sen. Reid has long opposed."

Never mind that Summers is quoted in the story saying, "Angle doesn't believe there is a separation of church and state. She is trying to legislate her faith onto others, and the comments that she made on the radio make that very clear." We quote him making the point and still he complains.

On the other side of the argument, Cary links to a speech Reid gave at BYU in 2007, which has been quoted in the R-J, in which Reid said:

"It is not uncommon for members of the Church to ask how I can be a Mormon and a Democrat.

"Some say my party affiliation puts me in the minority of our Church members.

"But my answer is that if you look at the Church membership over the years, Democrats have not always been the minority, and I believe we won't be for long.

"I also say that my faith and political beliefs are deeply intertwined. I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it.

"Growing up in Searchlight, my mother always had on our wall a small pillow case — royal blue with gold fringe, with the words, we can, we will, we must.

"And the name on the bottom in large gold letters — Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

"President Roosevelt was the closest we had to a worshipful figure as I grew up.

"For my economically challenged parents, even though a man of great wealth and privilege, Roosevelt represented them.

"He fought for the workers of America. President Roosevelt is the basis of my political direction.

"Social security is the most successful social program in the history of the world."

Cary remarks, "So Harry grew up worshiping FDR," and then calls Social Security a Ponzi scheme and notes that it now pays out more than is paid in each year.

When there is a political shooting and shouting war going on, sometimes you get caught in the middle.