The reaction on Morning Joe to Chris Wallace's "flake" comment is, naturally, to play the victim card. Liberals and the "liberal media" have a horrible bias against Republicans, who are portrayed oh-so-falsely as being stupid.
True to the gospel of conservative punditry, Scarborough obeys their third commandment: "Nothing shalt have happened after the Reagan Administration." Joe uses examples of Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and Reagan himself as victims of this "stupid Republican" media bias.
Because who would want to add George W. Bush or Sarah Palin, or the extreme anti-intellectualism of the leader of the GOP, Rush Limbaugh, to the argument?
Scarborough's so-called "argument" falls apart at the mention of anti-intellectualism. Republicans promote candidates who are aw-shucks plain folks to run the free world. Remember that the argument FOR voting for George W. Bush was that you wanted to have a beer with him. Sarah Palin's complete disinterest in....how shall I put this? ...READING... is a charming attribute to her politically illiterate and sometimes functionally illiterate following.
As Heather said to me in an email: "The other thing that kills me watching the coverage of Bachmann today is the media already has their talking points on her. She's now officially declared "serious" because she managed to respond to Wallace without looking like a complete idiot. And now that she's played the victim card like Palin and mean old Chris Wallace treated her unfairly, no one else in the media is allowed to ask that same question of her. So they've declared her now insulated. Unfriggin' believable."
The beltway punditry that passes for journalism in this country is now fawning over Michele Bachmann because she paid big bucks to a political consultant -- Ed Rollins -- and is doing what her handler tells her to do.
We've got serious problems and hard times ahead in the United States and the world. Bachmann's answers to those problems include defunding "Obamacare" without a single idea to replace it, except voting for the Ryan Budget to turn Medicare into a private insurance voucher program. Then when it became obvious (even to her) that the Ryan vote was a political disaster, she put an "asterisk" on her vote.
Perhaps she can put an asterisk on her comparison of taxing the young to the Holocaust. And another asterisk on the tireless efforts of the founding fathers to end slavery.
The Beltway is erasing all memory of Bachmann's crazy statements because those were made before Ed Rollins put his magic collar on her. Remember when Karl Rove was Bush's Brain? Ed Rollins, who also worked for stellar candidates Ross Perot and Katherine Harris (before he quit), is now Bachmann's Brain. Why? Because in the anti-intellectual cloister that is today's Republican Party, a hired brain is the best you can do? When is the Republican Party going to admit you need a brain of your own to be qualified to run for President?
but it has that familiar, whiny "beltway media conspiracy" crust to it.
Thanks for reminiding us what a great job Rollins did for President Perot and Senator Harris. Almost as good a job as the headline did for Presidents Palin and Limbaugh.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
Boy, Joe sure is thin skinned. I guess that's why they call him ... 'Scar Borough'
Snerd
this guy is in full denial of his past.the quicker and longer he talks,he knows no one has a chance to ask him questions.he is a whiner,i ask msnbc every day,"is this all you got".they have a pretty good evening lineup.but their mornings just suck.and all because joe whines constantly.its everyones fault that bachman is a flake.she is not just flaky joe.she is a total idiot or fool or something.please quit trying to defend idiot george and palin and bachman and limberdich limbaugh,and the goofy looking guy at faux,that tried to take on jon stewart.if thats not idiocy joe,what is..good posters here at c&l
the actor, with John Wayne Gacy - a serial killer.
Calling her a "flake" is a compliment!!!
And an understatment.
"Sweet dreams are made of these..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IudPPlBmJs4
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
no Morning Joe they are dumb, but you can definitely
count on them being corrupt and/or a criminal....
and morally bankrupt.
a Republican who is intelligent, sophisticated, and has an agenda that shows he or she really cares about others, including the poor, disenfranchised, non citizens and the environment....
well then...respect will certainly be granted...
....republican'ts' genes.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
No, there are some frightfully intelligent ones. Not moral at all, but definitely intelligent.
have a certain skill set which can make themselves rich, but most of their skills are sociopathic. And yes, they are stupid.
It's people that don't believe in evolution, climate change, think 5000 year old books are literal truth, believe in Austrian Economics, can't do math, don't consider Nazi practices like waterboarding torture, and sell themselves as upright Christians while having affairs. There's a word for . . . . oh snap, I guess I *do* think Republicans are dumb.
JW
Excuse me if I sound arrogant but the oldest books in the bible are more like 3500 years old. But your point is well taken. People need to remember that the bible is not the word of God it's man's version of the word of God. Neither God or Jesus contributed any writings in the bible.
is intended to be a factual statement
the bible, the first truly ghost written book(s)
...man created God.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
I caught this bullshit this morning and it didn't take long to figure it out. It's not that they're stupid (yes it is) it's the policies they promote and the things they say. I'm sure most of these people are intelligent when it comes to book learning but let's throw out a few examples. Bachman...Obama has anti american beliefs. Santorum...there is no such thing as Global Warming. Newt...we have to stop Sharia Law in America. Sure they can figure out what 2+2 is but the shit they say is the reason the media portrays them as stupid and it is stupid.
They deserve the label.
is intended to be a factual statement
He described the stereotype that MOST describes himself.... Look in the mirror Joe.... You will NOT like what you see, as we don't.
More a conclusion than an assumption, I'm thinking.
Rethugs are stupid. And greedy, hypocritical, cruel, ignorant, ethically challenged, etc.
The list of Rethug negatives is endless, the list of positives........well, that list does not exist.
the Republicans count those qualities you listed as positives.
It's worse than that. She's officially declared "serious" because she SAID she was serious. This is why that "flake" question was actually a softball disguised as a confrontational question.
As for media bias, let's ask Joe Scarborough's good friend Rush Limbaugh why he never has a good word to say about liberals. I suspect his answer would be "because they ARE scum of the earth." Somehow, that answer isn't allowed for talking about stupid Republicans as though they are stupid.
Politicians have always been dumb to what working people have to do to survive. What has happened is that TV pundits have become ignorant to investigating what politicians do. Any moron can read the news off a TelePrompter or espouse flippant crack pot beliefs. Just look at that moron on MS-NBC in the morning, he is more bombastic then Imus was but not even close to being as smart. but with 500 channels and nothing but shit on 200 viewers makes them a star, some of them think they can mail it in and their employers and corporate masters call it a days work.
But lost in all this controversy, the fact remains, Bachmann really is a flake.
Representative Rush D. Holt Jr., a New Jersey Democrat beat IBM's "Watson" on Jeopardy.
All of the Republican contestants lost.
are attractive to stupid people. It's understandable though as to why Scar [r] wouldn't get it.
me-oww!
...in the anti-intellectual
cloistercluster that is today's Republican Party, ...There. Fixed.
Morality is the basis of truth and truth is the basis of all morality.
Gandhi
if it is true?
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Shut up Joe, you miserable excuse for a TV host. you're a shill, an actor, like a seal performing for a fish dinner. MSNBC should be ashamed.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Scarborough playing the victim card..........wow, sure didn't see that one coming.
'Talk to the hand'
Being a victim is a useful manipulative tool and also good for justifying pretty much any wrong sociopaths commit against others.
Joe still has a dead intern issue that has never adequately been explained.....I'm sure that it was somehow her fault for getting killed.
palin was chosen to get limbaugh behind mccain and the whole party is now hostage to the RW talk radio blowhards and their handlers/feeders.
increasingly you have to channel limbaugh and sons to get ahead in the GOP primaries, and you won't get far if you cross him.
no one else in the GOP has that much power.
"I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it."
- John Stuart Mill March 1886
though supposedly not conservative, this yoyo makes such a big deal out of bachmann on his show.....this woman is just not right
She is a big deal in the Republican party right now believe it or not . I've heard Matthews refer to Bachman as the crazy lady many times , he's not a fan of hers . She doesn't have the brightest bulb that's for sure , I don't know if she's nuts , she definitely knows what the Tea party morons want to hear , plays them to the hilt . She is a snake .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
She's a psychopath with megalomaniacal narcissism.
...religious zealot but perhaps e) all of the above applies here.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
if the shoe fits!
Unfortunately they are the ones that are proposing the same things they have been proposing for decades now. Stuff we actually tried and have empirical evidence on. Trickle down, tax cut, deregulation. The fact that they propose 1950s economics in 2011 verifies they are slow to change or adapt. That's not real smart if one wants to continue to lead the way to tomorrow or even survive.
We just had an economic global meltdown. It happened when we found out that the banks had been making bad loans that they pawned off on somebody else. AIG sold insurance to holders of questionable securities and many people who knew about the whole thing bet on it to fail and made fortunes. There were so many dodgy derivatives out there that it exceeded the GNP of the entire world.
All this has been documented and verified widely. While all economies have many factors, the timing and facts of the economic collapse make it clear that the super rich do as they please and make us give them whatever we have left.
Yet the smart, sharp, visionary republicans won't change a thing, oppose regulation and still worship the wealthy as their trickle down tax cut achiever class.
That's stupid.-And as you know there is much more where that came from.
...a 90% tax rate on the wealthy. I'd like to see that for awhile again.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
I agree but the world is a wildly different place now and the demands and solutions are not all the same. That is my point. Quit doing what hasn't worked in the last 50 years and try a new direction.
Right. Got it. The corporate airwaves are absolutely corrupt. Any-and-everyone on it (including Rachel Maddow), is compromised.
So what else is new?
No doubt the corporate airwaves are corrupt. The fact that the entire social discussion comes from a conservative starting point is proof of that. I wouldn't say everyone is intentionally doing it though. The oligarchy wants conflict and division. It's a lot easier if there are two sides out there. You just have to make sure the opponents don't get the upper hand. No worry of that. Just make sure you dominate the media and the discussion and the way things get framed.
That's not true. Some of them are gullible or masochists.
By the way? She answered his questions without looking stupid?
What the hell? She didn't answer his questions at all. She just did the ol' Palin switcheroo. "I don't wanna talk about that, so lemme go off on my own rant about something else."
What? No comment(s) about the dead female intern found under Scaboroughs desk as of yet?
Let me be the first to invoke the Klausutis Rule*.
Beer-i.e., God's Sweet Nectar- is a magic drink that makes you smarter, stronger, and more sexy.
-S. Colbert
to be intelligent and stupid at the same time.
Think about it.
Religion will be the downfall of Humanity.
David St. Hubbins: It's such a fine line between stupid, and uh...
Nigel Tufnel: Clever.
David St. Hubbins: Yeah, and clever.
Yep , intelligent fools .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
I posit two scales to rate people's mental abilities. One is (Intelligent <-> Stupid) and the other is (Smart <-> Dumb). The former is innate, and subject to limited change and the latter is situational and able to change.
Here are some examples - think of the idiot savant, whose mental faculties are demonstrably limited (i.e., stupid), yet can display brilliance in a single restricted area (i.e., smart). Consider Anthony Weiner, a demonstrably intelligent and accomplished man, who still managed to plumb the depths of dumb when it came to his Twittery. I consider myself intelligent (and have degrees that agree with me), yet I am quite dumb when it comes to matters of basic survival without the trappings of civilization (if I was stranded in the wilderness, I doubt I'd last very long). People also speak of "street smarts", and the people who display these in abundance often also show shocking stupidity. I hope that conveys my meaning.
Except in the novelette "Flowers For Algernon", you can't take someone who is stupid and make them intelligent. But not only can comeone who is dumb be educated to become smart (I could, for instance, be taught survival skills, but idiot savants cannot be educated outside their particular areas), but it's also possible for people to choose to remain dumb, a combination of cognitive dissonance and willful ignorance.
Some Prominent republicans are, indeed, stupid, but I think most of them really are fairly intelligent but are, or choose to be, dumb. Michele Bachmann is intelligent but dumb as a rock. Sarah Palin is both stupid and dumb. I'm not sure what to make of his holiness Rush Limbaugh, but people like Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove are, indeed intelligent - as well as cold, calculating and downright evil - but are frequently frightfully dumb.
I know in my heart that I can rile the right wing - especially here in East Tennessee.
All I have to do is, for a start, bring up the possibility that Rush may have been doing something morally wrong with that Viagra in the Dominican Republic, and that will set them off!
Similar deal with Hannity. All I need to do is ask whether or not he and his best buddy Lee Greenwood are lovers - not of the country, but of each other. That ought to set them abuzz!
Finally, I can say that Palin is an idiot - because she has no grasp of common knowledge of history - and they will see red!
have fun George.
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
They need to lay off of the coffee, it's frying their brains.Bachmann is a certified "Flake" and a genuine "Moon Bat" as well.I have also heard that the ratings for Joe's show is going down hill.I wouldn't watch that show if they paid me.
I suppose we could argue over the use of the word "qualified" in this context, but frankly, you don't need a brain of your own to qualify to run for president.
Running for president has nothing to do with actually being president. Running for president involves having professional operatives stick their thumbs in the wind so that you can smile and avoid saying anything that might alienate a potential supporter. Come up with a persona, tell a narrative of your life, and don't assert anything controversial. I think the most qualified people to run for president are professional actors who are great at taking direction.
I'm not worried too much about Ed Rollins' joining the Minnesota Moron's brigade. He takes a lot of these jobs. They pay him to. Then he tires of them, and leaves to make money writing about how stupid his former candidates are. Anyone remember Michael Huffington? He's the sad sap who gave Ariana her surname for her liberal blog. When she was married to Michael, she was a crazy wingnut. Heh, Rollins worked on that guy's ill-fated campaign too. He said of Michael and Ariana, "Perot was a paranoid lunatic on an ego trip, but at least he believed in something. The Huffingtons didn't believe in anything. They just played the political game, and didn't care who they hurt."
Or something close to that. I remember it from long ago in a book Rollins wrote entitled Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms.
Anyway, decades ago, Bob Newhart summed up the kinds of candidates we see today. It's simultaneously hilarious and horrifying in retrospect.
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
has been (with the sole exception of Dwight D. Eisenhower) a sub-normal intellegence, highly corruptible and amoral stooge who could be remotely operated by those who install them in office. An empty-headed cretin who looks the roll and is easily disctracted by the trappings and shiny baubles of the office, who can be counted on to do whatever they're told. Come to think of it, that pretty much describes the latest crop of Democratic presidents, too... not stupid, but still owned, completely controlled and largely unprincipaled.
The first is that you are incredibly stupid. The second, is that you are a greedy bastard and only care about your self interests.
Ditto .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
UH, Joe? You might want to read this latest piece regarding the GOP's latest Great White Dope:
http://beta.news.yahoo.com/white-house-hopefu...
Liberals keep saying Republicans are dumb because they keep proving, time and time again, that they are.
If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders.
George Carlin
The essence of the problem...it is self created. What else are people suppose to think after repeated exposure?
For Fuck Sake! Mornin Slow, just shut yer fricken pie hole. Quit your dumbass questions. Whiny Ass Titty Baby..
WTF was that? Pickin on the poor little republicans. Gawd damn you Slow. Just get the fuck off the air. You're an insult to air.
You smarmy little piece of shit.
Slow, you suck at what you're doing. Get the fuck off the air.
And Slow, Don't you dare mention Dwight D Eisenhower. You don't deserve to be able to mention his name. You and your fan club wouldn't elect him right now because he'd be perceived as being a leftist. You and those miscreants the teabaggers would turn on him in a heart beat. Ford? same. Reagan? same. Nixon?. You'd take him back in a heart beat.GHWB? Nope. You clowns turned on him. W? yeah, you sure as hell would. Cheney? oh yeah, that right there, you shit for brains rejects would sure as hell take that spawn of satan.
Hey Slow, GFY!
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Good one Mud !
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
Comes off as a petulant little child.
How he stays on the air, is proof, that there is no God.
And this asswipe has his own tv show? Why?
He literally sucks at what he does. He's a waste of oxygen. And toilet paper.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
No other reason.
Tel it like it is!
If you're a Republican you are either a dunce , ignorant as can possibly be , you're greedy to the point of being completely mad , and / or you're a friggin fascist , a traitor and saboteur , a criminal out to destroy this country . Fools and liars all .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
Scarborough , Is Bush an idiot ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whhbPVrb5KM
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
The answer? A Resounding Fuckin A Right!
Hey Slow, I know you're gonna check these comments.
Go fuck yourself you blithering idiot.
Thanks Kreskin. Great catch.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
A pretty convincing argument can be made (if you are a Republican politician, party official, organizer and for most of the Republican voters) that you are all to a large degree moral cripples and sociopaths, while very many of you (like Bachmann) are psychopaths. The stupidity part comes from habitual and pathological intellectual dishonesty, which has the same debilitating effect as natural stupidity..it dumbs down every thought, word and deed. When these flaws are added to the pre-existing pathological personality defects that underlay the choices to affiliate with the Republican party, you end up with people who are unthinking, unmindful, uncritical, controlled by nebulous, undefined angers and resentments that manifest as various forms of bigotry and racism. It's no wonder that you Republicans are generally thought of as being droolingly stupid morons, especially Republican propagandists such as yourself, Joe. Profound estrangement from reality comes across like that.
Sometimes I think these idiots actually believe what they are saying . That's scary .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
"God's first punishment for unrepentant liars is letting them believe their own lies"?
For the past year and a half I have struggled through my morning TV watching by tuning into Morning Joe. I like MSNBC and I figure that as long as the guests were current and not part of the GOP talking points team, I could filter out Mr Joe's inane banter. I think Mika is pretty hot, and I've put up with much worse jack-asses in order to be around beautiful women before. Not new territory.
But this is just too much for even me. I could care less about which republican candidate is on the hot seat or what have you, they are all pretty much full of it anyway, and it takes more than a half-morning's worth of thoughtful (or thoughtless) commentary to change anyone with a brain's opinion about that. but Mr Joe has been letting his conservative background control his mouth a bit too much for me to stomach lately. People, and not just libs, all over the world know what to expect when a republican talks. Lies and deceitful pandering to the God-crowd.
I'm no fan of Chris Wallace, but he could have asked much tougher questions of Ms Bachman that would have made her less of a "victim". so now we are supposed to empathize with her because a mean journalist made a remark that, believe me, would not even register on the mean scale if the questioning were up to me. To as her if she is a flake? WTF? What kind of answer was he expecting.
But this is about Mr Joe and his perception that republicans are portrayed as idiots by the liberal media. It's not just the liberal media though is it? It is anyone with common sense enough to tell left from right, or right from wrong for all that that matters. Joe is a throwback to the 90's always taking the credit for Clinton's achievements and none of the blame for the disasters of his own decisions.
I can no longer watch Morning Joe. I would like to start my mornings off without the general Ire that Scarborough provokes in me. His true colors have been leaking through little by little, especially over the past 8 months, and for me at least, it's too much to bear. If I wanted that kind of propaganda, I would unblock FOX NEWS from the remote. Luckily I have a DVR and I can watch the previous evenings 'Arrested Development' episodes.
www.louiemcneal.com
moments of "okayness", but they're few and far between. He often acts like a complete jerk, and is a total apologist for his Party of Republicans run amok. I've seen him "go off" on people of few times, which totally turned me off. It always looks like Mika is playing the motherly role when she gently puts her hand on his arm trying to calm him down when he has one of his little hissy fits.
"a hired brain is the best you can do? When is the Republican Party going to admit you need a brain of your own to be qualified to run for President?"
Beautifully said. Nail on the head.
politicians and media figures out there making public dunces of themselves it wouldn't be so easy to make fun of them. It's not the so-called "liberal media". Lunacy tends to get attention, especially when it's coming from high profile people.
I think their leadership is smart, shrewd, conniving, prevaricators.
The rank and file Republican, well, yeah, they're stupid beyond measure.
QUAYLE
Are you a
F anatical
L unatic
A sinine
K ooky
E goist
?
Sounds like a fair and relevant question to me...
Republicans have a plethora of flakes. Male flakes. Nobody has ever called them on it.
Fergaawdsake, find some female candidates who are qualified on the issues. They probably won't be pretty but politics is not a beauty contest, however much the GOP may try to turn the legislative and electoral branches into one. Hmmm...John Roberts and John Edwards do look so much alike. Were the Dems being set up? Does King John have a $400 haircut? Does the wild bear eschew commercials?
If it bothers you Joe, then stop nominating morons as your candidates running for President of the United States.
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