Betsy McCaughey Gets Owned by Dylan Ratigan and Anthony Weiner
By Heather Wednesday Oct 07, 2009 2:00pm
This was truly a thing of beauty. Betsy McCaughey gets smacked down by Dylan Ratigan and Anthony Weiner on MSNBC's Morning Meeting.
From Think Progress:
Throughout the interview, McCaughey was constantly on the defensive, complaining that she was being shut out of the debate. “Anthony, you are ignorant about health insurance,” she said, before insisting to Ratigan that “this will go down in history as one of the most browbeating interviews in television history.” “I hope that it does,” Ratigan replied. “And maybe you’ll learn at that point then to answer questions as opposed to go on television and cast accusations.”
And Bob Cesca noted:
Jamison Foser makes a good point: why is McCaughey on television in the first place? While it's frustrating that cable news continues to elevate wingnuts and crazies, there's actually an upside to bringing in people like McCaughey. I'll explain. In the case of this Ratigan segment, he's doing the opposite of what Fox News does all the time. Fox News claims "balance" by including occasional liberals. Weak, barely articulate, outnumbered liberals who are way out of their depth. So the debate is automatically stacked in favor of the conservatives, while Fox News can claim "balance" in a very superficial way. Ratigan, today, lined up a strong liberal against a weak wingnut, and Ratigan is clearly more sympathetic to Weiner's position on healthcare. That meant two pro-reform voices against one weak anti-reform voice. It's a start.
Yes it is.
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I love Anthony Weiner but god damn can't Dylan Ratigan ever just shut the hell up? I just find him so overbearing and boorish.
I much preferred watching Jon Stewart best McCaughey through civil discourse.
While exchanging pleasantries might be better for the decibel level, giving someone like McCaughey a platform to go unchallenged adds nothing to the debate. Yes Ratigan was browbeating, but McCaughey got rattled by it and was unable to cope or form coherent responses. Sometimes you do have to take the gloves off with these people and it isn't always pretty but it is necessary.
That counts for a lot. You're not going to get someone like Ross to give anything up because they're not debating. They're using the platform to disseminate misinformation. The best you can do is show that all their information is worthless.
On the other hand, how many idiots who believe Obama is hitler watch The Daily Show?
Did you notice how he glossed over "Single Payer" in the discussion and instead trumpeted the value of "The Public Option"?
Do you know why?
Because he got the memo from Obama and the DNC.
STFU about "Single Payer" and get with the program...
Otherwise we may not "endorse" your re-election campaign...$$$$$$$$$$
I wouldn't be one bit surprised to see Weiner WITHDRAW his bid to have "the historic" debate/vote on Single Payer within the next few weeks.
I hope I am wrong.
But "going along to get along" is the battle cry of the DNC.
Just a fact of life folks....and politics as usual.
The "Progressives" can just go take a freakin' hike.....
He seemed to gloss over a single payer question on MSNBC a few weeks ago, too. I thought it was my imagination, but this time proves it for me.
Seems like they get their 15 minutes of fame, then they get bought by corporations and screw integrity.
You've got a guy who is zealously advocating healthcare reform, but he's not pure enough for you?
Weiner specifically mentions single-payer everytime he's on television.
i commend dylan for his moderating. This is the most debate i've seen coming from the right and yet it's as dylan stated: "no answers and a load of accusations." if you're gonna make a list of accusations and not back it up then really you're just a waste of air time and quite frankily there's too many of that in todays 24hr news networks.
That was her hidden point. But they got her to come out.
This was a thing of beauty.
I thought that was the most interesting moment as well: "we can save Medicare by taking away Medicare."
That will go over great with people to learn that we will have to survive until 70 to get Medicare. What a compassionate conservative position.
How can she sit there and defend the position that they're saving Medicare, when the way they're "saving" it is by cutting it to more people?
Getting people to believe that they're fighting for Medicare all the while they're fighting to eliminate it completely. (A similar tactic they use for ALL public services, BTW. "Education sucks, so let's privatize it.")
That goes to show you how Republicans think. They are EVIL GENIUSES.
So even less people will have insurance, but we'll have made it more expensive and increased insurance company profits! Hurray!
"They want to take away healthcare for seniors!!!"
What a freaking moron. It's about time a "moderator" asked a guest to answer the freaking question, and tells her she is full of shit when she is.
Betsy's cunning plan is to retain current health care standards for seniors while reducing costs by redefining the term "seniors". Anyone aged 66-70 is to re-classified as a spring chicken.
Oh, and if they eat well they won't need any medical treatment anyway.
Don't get sick and die quickly if you do; and, if you must linger, at least have the decency to kick the bucket before your benefits kick in.
are the strong, articulate voices on the other side?
on my attempts at filibustering, or my attempts to change the subject or my outright lies!"
It's sooo unfair! Heh.
Like Muddy sez: A thing of beauty.
Until this happens continually, i disagree with Bob Cesca that it is a start. Currently it is nothing more than an anomaly.
Just curious.
I saw it; I loved it; I tweeted about it. Then I e-mailed MSNBC. You get a trend going by making noise.
I would really like to get away from this two sided panel discussion and just have someone on who can explain the bills and what they mean without having an agenda on the right or the left.
Maybe those days will never come back, but that's kinda what I wish for.
How about someone from the League of Women Voters? They've made health care reform an action item and they have a lot of information on their site, including a link to the Kaiser side-by-side of the bills now in play.
Thanks for the info!!! Of course, they're one of the few organizations I still trust. I wish they were still moderating the Presidential Debates.
The video isn't working for me.
Michael Moore and this one weren't working for me either. I had to download it to watch instead of simply playing as usual.
...took a hell of a long time. Same with this one.
one of the most intelligent people that I have heard to articulate and advocate for the public option.
Naybe it is an East coast thing... a NY thing... but he does more than keep up with the rhetoric, he blows right past it. His catch on eliminating Medicare for ages 65-70 was very poignant, and the the fact that he was able to get it the thought onto the screen so quickly was great.
I have 2 points I would like to make.
First. A room full of wingnuts should be no match for one well versed Liberal. No match, so bring-em on.
Second. Since when did 60 votes become necessary? I always thought 51 was all that was needed to pass a Bill. I being snarky of course, but my point still holds. This fillabuster proof 60 votes is a slap in the face to every person that worked their ass off to get a majority. Even a 1 seat majority is still a majority. Someone should remind the Senate Democrats of that fact I guess.
It depends if the well-versed Liberal is allowed to say anything.
Bought and paid for. She doesn't even try to hide it. You can see the dollar signs in her eyes.
Weiner and Grayson should tag team it on talk show circuit. Smack them all down.
Weiner and Grayson hit on the exact right tactic: aggressively intelligent debate.
....probably taking their cues from Rachel Maddow... :)
He said it...
CORPORATE COMMUNISM!!
That's the American system...
Finally someone besides Michael Moore said it.
I guess the Right will have to attack Ratigan's patriotism like they constantly do to Moore.
Yep. Just like when all the Fox neocon patriot's were trashing Chicago and cheering for Rio, so that the U.S. hating Obama wouldn't succeed in destroying America and..........., hey wait, that's not patriotic!
Conservatives are the suckiest sucks, whoever sucked! They even suck worse than my Detroit "choke-ass" Tigers.
Just what we need, these assholes trying to play word games to stick this one on the left too.
Why don't they call it what it is? Corporatism (nee Fascism)
No need to try to subvert previous words when there are at least 2 terms that describe our current situation to a T. What is why Americans and needing to rape language to serve their agendas?
It's inaccurate to characterize the insurers' behavior as "corporate communism" or "corporatism" or "facism," because there's no formal wedding of the government and the private sector. Instead, the insurers' behavior is an exercise in the power of a monopoly or oligopoly, similar to the Robber Barons of the 19th Century.
The anti-trust exemptions, the lobbying dollars to align political and corporate interests, the idea that we might get a mandate for insurance but not the cost controls... We sure as hell have creeping Fascism.
However... most people get that 'communism' is a bad thing... But they don't know that it is necessarily a leftist thing. Many are not really even aware of the concept of 'left' and 'right'. Just good and bad. Communism is bad. So while it is a lazy bit of commentary, and techincally incorrect... even tantamount to Newspeak type of propaganda... the label of Corporate Communism is effective for the sake of sound-bite TV.
I doubt that Ratigan would want to spend air time educating viewers on what Fascism really is, how it works... and that U.S. corportism is THAT. Most people don't know what the hell Fascism really is. They just think of Hitler and killing people on ethnic grounds, for starting wars, and seeking World domination. How is U.S. corporatism THAT??? Well, now that I think about it... I suppose that U.S. Foreign policy is THAT. But the 8th grade level of maturity and intellect that permeates America just isn't ready to take that concept on.
Besides the aliteration of Coporate Communism just rolls of the tongue.
Just call them Insurance Industry Robber Barons, and be done with it.
When did the party of cowboys and neocons become such a bunch of whiners? All I hear from the GOP is that the left is picking on them and they are not being nice about it. STFU, after all the shit that was heapped upon EVERYONE that disagreed with them on anything, now they want a civil discourse on the issues; BITE ME GOP and suck up the fact that you are now in the small minority.
Sorry about the caps but they really piss me off with all the "were a victim of the left" bs. Thanks for the vent site manager.
.
Ya, Republicans are a bunch of sissies or else they can shut up now.
Bitch got pwned!
"Corporate Communism"? Ooh, Betsy, ya just got OUT-FRAMED!
The corporate community vs. the general population.
Since the corporation is now considered a person, not withstanding the right to vote, then perhaps we should consider that they have become the aliens that are unduly influencing American life and politics. If the tea baggers only realized this they might be on our side.
SCOTUS has heard the arguments in the above cited case, and will hand down a decision probably before the end of the year. It could and probably will give corporations the right to "vote" in that they may contribute to political campaigns without limit. Corporations have free speech and money equals free speech. This is what you get when the Court is corrupt. Especially when it is corrupted by corporations. See a pattern here?
It was called "Betsy Wetsy"
Fix your video server. Nothing is playing.
handed her her sorry ass. Not that it matters to the villagers. They will continue to treat her as if she is a rational honest voice.
This shouting match (though I have no sympathy or sorrow for that harpy) is a poor excuse for political debate. It reminds me why I don't let my television set get infected by a cable connection.
Video no worky.
She really should get fitted for a better set of dentures! Wow, I was afraid they would land on the table in front of her, during her series of whines and lies! She is a disreputable character like Bill Bennett, who should be summarily banned from every network. She offers nothing except for disinformation and accusations. What a disgrace she is!
Presenting a whackaloon or partisan hack on an equal basis with a serious commentator on the issues is inherently unbalanced because it falsely equates the two. By merely giving the whackaloon a platform, you've advanced their cause beyond its merits.
But lets face it, there are NO intelligent, rational, well-spoken, non-ideological supporters of status-quo healthcare, so sadly, because journalism is crippled by a flawed understanding of 'bias' you gotta go with the whackaloon or hack.
The best you can do is show the hack or whackaloon to be the hack or whackaloon that they are, and thats what is starting to happen in certain circles.
You could just see the desperation in her eyes trying to preserve the rigged system that let's her live her lavish lifestyle while poor and middle class people are dying. The gravy train's over honey.
...to characterize this as "two guys bullying one girl etc."
...a year until it reaches 70 in 2043.
Hmmm?
If the eligibility age goes up one month a year, then in twelve years it will go up one year. If we start counting right now, that means in 2043 (the year McCaughey said it would reach 70) the eligibility age would reach 68, and in 2063 it would reach 70. McCaughey needs to get her math -- or her explanation -- in order.
Under that plan, between now and 2063 lots of people younger than 70 will be eligible for Medicare (so Weiner's claim that the plan takes Medicare away from everyone between 65 and 70 is only literally true after 2063) -- only in 2063 will Medicare have been taken away from everyone between the ages of 65 and 70. Of course, during that time an increasing share of the population will be forced to seek insurance from private insurance companies -- unless there is universal access to a public option -- so someone had better put an end to private insurers' abuses or we will have a health care disaster for people in their mid- to late-sixties, which is what Medicare was originally designed to prevent.
This country is screwed. We could solve all these problems in the simplest way possible, at the lowest cost, with the fewest victims by simply moving to a single-payer system. What a bunch of idiots (idiotic ideologues) we are.
I thought Ratigan's repeated calls for restoring "capitalism" were cheap theatrics. Capitalism is not the solution to our health care problems. Capitalism requires profits and profits are inconsistent with providing the best care at the lowest cost. Pretending to love capitalism just because Wingers are hypocrites is not a reasonable way to discuss health care. It's posturing for effect, not proposing sincere solutions.
I love the way she hisses "Preposterous..." Just like a snake.
she's possessed.
Politicians have for years answered questions by ignoring the question and making a prepared speech. Palin at the VP candidates' debate raised it to an art form, and Betsy was using it as her standard tactic in this interview.
When she was actually forced to answer a question, she came up with the brilliant plan to preserve Medicare by cutting Medicare.
If more interviewers had the patience and nerve to insist on answers to their questions, more fools would be exposed for what they are.
I hadn't realized how haggard and unappealing she looks phyusically. What an unpleasant person.
She is a hysterical harpy.
That is the first interview I have watched in more then 8 years where the host really tried to get answers to questions! Even russert before he died was just asking and letting the right wing nut spew without rebuttle. But yes I think it is just a fluke.
The corporate msm has it's own agenda and will not allow some pesky person get in the way of more profit.
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness!
He used to be an international marketer for a hospice that folded this past January. (Their financial backer was an AIG subsidiary that folded.) When I showed him a video a couple months ago, immediately on seeing it he said, "I've met her! I know her... Betty?".
I explained the Evil Death Panel game, and he cut me off and said, "That's not her idea." I pointed out video of her saying it. He went on to explain, in so many words, that she's "dumb as hell", but a very shrewd and talented marketer, and very skilled at "appropriating" and benefiting off other people's work. He said he can't imagine her reading something over a few pages, or understanding something as complex as the health care legislation. He thinks it's far more likely that someone shared personal opinions with her, and she realized she could make a buck off it. Seeing her in a debate (actually, after seeing her get trounced by John Stewart), it's pretty obvious her head is just an echo chamber, and her debate skills are just badgering and cajoling people to do what she wants.
do conservatives have the most incredible persecution complex in the world? From her "you're acting like a partisan!" to "this is the most brow-beating interview ever!" Betsy McCaughey comes across as a spoiled child who feels the world is out to get her simply because an adult told her that she could not get away with the same things she usually gets away with. The rules have changed - Ratigan is not rolling over and playing inetellectually dead like the usual tv talking head she encounters - and Ms. McCaughey simply cannot adjust . . . so she pouts like a spoiled child. Good for Dylan Ratigan for exposing her for what she truly is: a right-wing hack whose evidence not only does nothing to back up her own claims, but a right-wing hack whose evidence actually works on behalf of her opponent!
Is it just me, or has Dylan Ratigan been taking a few lessons from my favorite tv interviewer of all time?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCo7qbzEX3c&fe...
God, I wish Mr. Paxman worked here in the U.S.
out all the overweight people, has she looked at her own big fat ass?CEO,citizens eyes open
corporate communism - quality.
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