Lawrence O'Donnell to Pat Buchanan: The GOP Embraces Ignorance
By Heather Saturday Nov 08, 2008 6:30am
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From MSNBC's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Nov. 7, 2008 while discussing Sarah Palin's future, Lawrence O'Donnell slams Pat Buchanan for the GOP embracing ignorance and asks him if he believes in evolution and Buchanan's retorts that if O'Donnell believes he's descended from a monkey he would understand it. When you're losing an argument, resort to insulting the other guy and call him a monkey. Class act there Pat.
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I guess calling someone ignorant isn't an insult.
When a VP candidate can't name the countries that comprise North America, the truth is that they are ignorant, and choosing someone that ignorant is an insult to all Americans.
Yes, but you shouldn't act surprised when after you insult someone they insult you back.
calling someone ignorant is only an insult when its a lie. but calling a human a monkey is always an insult.
I agree, calling someone ignorant is about their attitudes. Calling someone a monkey spans a whole lot more than just attitudes.
WTF clip did you watch? As Pat feebly attemptd to defend Pailn's extreme ignorance as inconsequential (because the polls taken before she was exposed as a fraudulent airhead bumpkin showed a bump in McCain's lifeless campaign), Mr. O' Donnell made a valid statement that the GOP has cultivated a culture of ignorance. He did not call Pat ignorant, he asked him if he believed in evolution, and Pat's answer exposed his ignorance.
Culture of life my ass--it is the "culture of ignorance." Way to go t-bone. Let's all start using that.
the truth is not an insult
Being ignorant is not necessarily an insult! I'm ignorant about nuclear physics and quantum something. For a governor of a State running for Vice President of the United States of America not knowing the countries of North America the ignorance is willful and dangerous and scary. Being ignorant in and of itself is not really a problem.
Words used for their exact reason has been talked down too long. The simpler minded jump on them and attribute different meanings to skew their argument. 'Ignorant' is just the lack of knowledge about something, whereas 'stupid' is not able to learn. All of us are ignorant about things to a degree, the key to not staying that way is education. But that education has to be factual, with unshaded facts so you truly can be educated.
But enough from me :-)
I find it remarkable that you cannot understand that someone saying "the republican party embraces ignorance" is not a personal attack on Buchanan.
Do you get it, now that it's been pointed out?
X entity (not Buchanan, but a group) embraces (is not itself ignorant, but utilizes / celebrates) ignorance.
I would hope that you knew this already, and were just being willfully stupid.*
*Now, before you get all upset again, over another tempest in a teapot, I did NOT just call you stupid, please read it again if you succumbed to a knee-jerk** reaction, or if you just failed to fully comprehend what you read.
**Using the term "knee-jerk" does not mean that I am calling you a jerk, it is actually me pointing out that there are somewhat involuntary reactions that people suffer from, an automatic response to having ones knee hit, or an emotional, ill thought out or comprehended term / phrase that leads the emotional based reader*** to strike back against a phantom attack.
***Yes, I did just say that you are an emotional thinker, but I could be wrong.
With your copious use of footnotes, I'd bet good money that you are acquainted with the late, great David Foster Wallace.
But I've been wrong before.
I have to admit that I am not familiar with Wallace, but after doing a scan of him with the help of the googles, I do indeed believe that was a compliment of the highest sort.
So, thank you!
If some one said to me, an avid life-long Democrat, that the Democratic party embraces a culture of socialism, I would not take that as a personal insult. Tell me again what I'm missing.
Evolution doesn't say that we're descended from monkeys. It says we have a common ancestor - that being the subhumunous buchananis.
OTOH O'Donnell gave a gratuitous broadsides to ol' Pat. I did too.
1. it IS ok to call someone ignorant if it's true. Ignorance is simply a state of not knowing the facts.
2. We are not DESCENDED from apes, we EVOLVED from apes. A bit of a difference.
3. Notice again how the republican, right wing (buchanan) argues through loud voice, talking over the others. this is typical of those who have to argue from emotion, not facts.
4. Have you noticed how when republicans talk about sarah palin, their language is no different than someone talking about who they like on American Idol. It is simple a popularity phenomenon. We have become a nation with American Idol mentality instead of an informed (i.e., not ignorant) electorate. Thankfully, Obama's election may signal a change in that.
It is no news that the GOP hates science and intelligence. It festers in ignorance, superstition, fear and hate. Speaking of nasty stupid people of the GOP--did Jean Schmidt of Ohio when her seat again in the House?
Yes she did. thanks for reminding me. It is absolutely unbelievable. A good example. She defeated a physician, Dr. Victoria Wulsin. I think part of what went on there is that schmidt, like bachmann in minnesota, has a strong religious right base.
hopefully the margin of victory was small enough to make them think.
They don't think as long as they win. They called Bush's showing in 2004 a mandate, remember? All that political capital he claimed he'd earned?
These people only understand one thing... getting their asses beaten off. And even then they'll whine and argue about it for years afterward.
How many people thought Obama was a secret muslim and/or a militant christian? How many thought he was covertly in league with terrorists? How many people think we found WMD's? How many people think Iraq/saddam hussein had something to do with 9/11?
And the people who tend to believe these things are conservative and the RNC encouraged this ignorance.
The republicans are the party of stupid and ani-science. Celebreate ignorance is a good phrase.
People like Pat and Mika and Palin need to be marginalized in such away that keeps them from the levers of government. They are a disgrace to this great Nation.
this is why the issue of the media and fairness is so important. It is easy to persuade and manipulate an uninformed electorate for political purposes. I think the gov't does have a proper role in creating a level playing field in the use of the public airwaves.
i think if he is a good president next time the significance of these kind of things will carry little or no weight.
Sarah Palin deliberately whipped hate and racism into a frenzy. She should be held accountable for any actions that come about because of her agitation of the basest of the RNC's base.
Embraces ignorance? They've done a lot more than embracing.
I thought they'd already married and that alaskan harpy with the voice that can shatter slate was the resulting offspring.
She's not coming back. Period.
i hope you are right, but i saw a poll that 64% of republicans want palin back.
are revealed, and they will be, I doubt if she will be able to be elected to mop out the latrines. And don't forget, there is still her house to investigate and the billing for travel when she stayed home, and........oh, no, she won't be back.
I hope the schism between the social conservatives and the rest keeps driving the RNC apart. Also I don't see how Palin can last 4 years in the public eye without making things worse for herself. She's got more investigations waiting for her in AK. Also the part of the party that doesn't like her are the ones with the power and they'll crush her. I hope.
Proof positive that 64 percent of Republicans are ignorant.
Its the "Have a beer with the candidate" syndrome. I'm sure there are a lot of Republicans that like her personality. She has that something. Obviously. the problem is that being a social interest is not the same as being able to run the most powerful country in the world. It may be OK for running Alaska (and I mean that) but not running something as complicated as the U.S. We found that out with Bush. There were a lot of people who said he would be fun to have a beer with (I would rather have a beer with a snake, personally.) and they voted for him. See where it got us? Palin is not curious enough. Maybe she is too stupid but I'll leave that for all of you to decide........... ....................... ..... ...................................... ...................
I guess you decided she was too stupid. I agree.
that it was "who do you want to pour a beer on?"
Boy do I feel silly!!
Ha, I'm with you, I'm terrified of snakes, but would rather
drink with one than that cretin masquerading as our
president.
Palin is too stupid and, I believe, just deluded enough
to think that most people like her and have given her
a mandate. I have to explain complicated things to people
every day and I know stupid when I see it, and she's
stupid. Stupid is not the end of the world, unless you
desire to lead it. And then, there's arrogant and stupid,
my personal favorite awkward combination of traits.
I guess that poll shows that only 64% of republicans are ignorant!
64% of Republicans is only about 25% of the electorate. Let em have her, she alienates everyone else.
Oh yes, our 25%er's! The ones John Dean so aptly described as the lock-step, unquestioning, ignorant authoritarian's. The ones who still like GWB, and think CORPORATE FASCISM is just hunky dory. They are a lost cause.
You can't fix stupid!
64% believe in the "virgin sarah". There's your proof.
That of a sexy, attractive woman who can deliver a speech. Never mind that she has NO knowledge of geography, international events or US political issues. All she knows are slogans. I guess if Alaska sends her to the Senate she could use those four years to bone up on all the knowledge she is missing. But you know what? She took something like six years to get a college degree. I don't think four years is enough for her to learn enough to outdo some of the other Republicans out there in a primary debate. Barack Obama would just crush her. And will she be as attractive in four years as she is now? No telling what raising Trig or coping with her daughter's shotgun marriage will do to her looks. Of course there's always plastic surgery.
I think there's a significant number of movers and shakers behind the scenes (the McCain camp) who abhor her, hence these post-election stories about not knowing Africa is a continent or the countries of NAFTA and North America.
Another question: if she was not gung-ho about all those clothes, why didn't she leave them in Arizona? Why did a GOP attorney have to go to Alaska to retrieve them? Just wondering.
would be the greatest spectacle since talking pictures were invented. Even if she spent the next 4 years learning, she wouldn't catch up with President-Elect Obama. Do the republicans think he is going to learn nothing while he is in office? He's going to learn and grow, plus have all the "experience" they ridiculed him for not having.
I 100% support Sarah Palin 2012. To watch President Obama and Governor Palin would be like watching a cat play with a mouse before she finally kills it.
and 100% of Democrats want her back, too!!! >=)
She was the gift that kept on giving.
I'll have lots more money and time in 2012.
Bring it on.
I hope you're right too. The amount of people who consider her their 'only hope' for next time frightens the hell out of me.
From what I've been able to see they're all a bunch of wide eyed god botherers who think caribou barbie is their second coming.
If that doesn't say something about the collective intelligence [or lack thereof] of the rep. party I don't know what does.
Besides, you've seen horror movies. You can kill some of those monsters 50 ways and they STILL get up and keep coming!
Mika Brzezinski appears to have been hatched from the same pod of idiots as Palin.
I'm sure we'll be hearing more from the Queen of the Tundra, if only because knuckleheads like Pat Buchanan and Mika want to keep pumping her up. Face it, the more they talk about Moosegirl, the more money they make as media whores.
This is probably their real focus. No more lies to tell for their mclame candidate so they need something to keep them relevant.
Have you noticed that republicans never learn from their mistakes?
Recent polls showed that nearly 60% of voters thought Palin was not qualified. But ahh yes, republicans think they can slap on some more lipstick and hope she's the next Ronald Reagan in four years. They're better off getting Joe the Dickhead.
Yep, they're ignorant alright.
You're confusing the neo-con base (the inbred, cousin-fuckers) by using big fancy words like "ignorant".
I'm afraid Pat now knows that his perspective has been so discredited by reality that raising his voice, flailing his arms and spouting the final gasps of the 60's hate message are all he has left.
Kinda sad to see anyone submit to hourly abuse but when you can actually watch someone's IQ drop as time progresses and they still ask for more it becomes kinda funny...
He and Bay should just take retirement at Dobson's scum pond in Colo. Springs and be done with it...
He so needs to retire and let the young folks on TV do all the fighting and arguing.
I find it significant that Buchanan wouldn't even answer the question of whether or not he believed in evolution. If Buchanan doesn't think we were evolved from monkeys he should listen to himself talk sometime. He might change his mind.
Really believe in any of that stuff, they just Pander Pander Pander, they are so afraid to lose any part of their constituency (wingnut, religicoids, creationist, whatever) That they try to play to all of them.
I thought the funniest part of the Primary Debates was when all the R's but three lifted their hands when asked about creationism.
6000 year old earth? .... indeed.
I always get a kick out of that 6,000 year old trick they pull out of the hat. Then they turn around and deny climate change by stating, "Well, we have had climate change before .. look at the Ice Age!" Um, the Ice Age happened over 6,000 years ago, so they can't have it both ways but they are too dumb to figure that out.
But not to them. NOTHING happened over 6000 years ago. They don't know from any ice age... Hell great to the tenth power grandpa Buchanan rode dinosaurs ala Alley Oop. Did I just date myself or is Alley Oop still around somewhere?
Unfortunately, only in song, thanks to the Hollywood Argyles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3R5TrIPbIs&fe...
The bottom line here is any Religion is unjust to humanity. Pat is a lost ignorant monkey. Sara was a Patsy and nothing more. I am still happy that Obama won and the world celebrated. How many times did the world celebrate when the last monkey (whom actually looks like a monkey) went to a country they protested. The fact of the matter is Obama and Biden will help our country gain the respect that has been lost over the last 8 years.
The Republican education policies guarantee ignorance.
No Child Left Behind makes every child perform only at the lowest common level, a level which includes special needs kids!!!
Science teaching has fallen way behind since the space race boom, and U.S. kids now underperform kids from most other industrialized nations.
If the GOP didn't embrace ignorance, GWB could never have been president, Palin could never have made it to the ticket.
For anyone smart enough to understand the numbers, there is a pretty good correlation between educational performance between states and the strength of GOP support in those states.
of hundreds of thousands of well-educated students, kids with a grasp of how civic power worked, and the willingness to use this knowledge to confront and oppose the 'war' in (really the invasion of) VietNam, and determined that this would NEVER happen again. So he instructed the Dept. Of Edn to do something. It did, and the curriculum of civics and social studies was never the same.
I doubt anyone born after 1970 had a comprehensive 'civics' class...
I graduated from High School in 1960. We had 4 years of Civics and Social Studies back then. We need to get this back. And we need to get No Child Left Behind out of our schools. It is degrading!
You mean "No Bush Family Crony Testing Company Left Behind." That's what this was about. And the ability to undermine public education.
Republican voters are inversely proportional in their voting:
The dumber someone is = the more likely they will vote republican!
Who better to lead this group of ignorant dumbasses, than the biggest idiots on the planet - the Bushies!
They had to find something for that total loser
Neil Bush to enrich himself at the government trough.
"No Teacher Left Standing," is a joke, it's a shame
it's simply not funny and that our children are suffering
as a result.
I'm also class of 60 and I was amazed at how little my kids were taught about the world and even more so at how little my grandkids are learning.
But I suppose you don't need to know much to be sheep.
Good for Larry O'Donnell. Pat Buchanan has gotten away with that loud, bullying style of "debate" way too much this election cycle. I saw O'Donnell get feisty on another show yesterday too. Plus, Pat Buchanan has been positively besotted with Sarah Palin. His favorite word to describe her is "fresh." Creepy old guy.
There was a time when Republicans were classy and intelligent. I'm nearly 70, and I remember people like Millicent Fenwick and Jacob Javitz and Nelson Rockefeller.
But my guess is that ever since the Southern Strategy of the '60s the ignorance level has increased and the classy level has dropped. Since I live in Republican SC, I can safely say that there are not a lot of brains in our legislature and that a lot of resources are spent to keep it that way.
fucking a whore...Not a bad end, but hardly "classy."
Once gave an audience the finger... Classy!
Photo here (scroll down a little)
http://www.ooze.com/finger/html/random_famous...
I like how O'Donnell put Pat on the spot by asking him a direct question and then he refused to answer looking like a moron. O'Donnell should be the host of "Race to the White House" not that biased fool Gregory.
I believe the name has been changed from "Race to the White House" to "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
The race is over. We won. Film at eleven.
Description fixed. Force of habit to want to call it the old name. The new name is horrid and I keep forgetting they changed it since it's the only thing about the show that's different. Same bad set, same bad host, amd same bad guests.
Hell they dive head long into it, writhe, wallow and glory in it.
I've heard various media whores say what a NICE guy Herr Buchanan is. I'm thinkin' he's more like the rightist dick relative we all have. He's to be endured privately, but publicly "cherished" no matter how incivil he's allowed to be.
He's to be endured privately, no matter how much he's loathed, how he stinks, and gropes the little girl relatives, but publicly "cherished" no matter how incivil, or how often he soils his pants, he's allowed to be.
Funny how broadbrush insults to our two political parties are treated so differently, isn't it?
I can't begin to count the number of times I've heard Republicans say things like, "you come from a party that just doesn't like America". That's perfectly acceptable, and in fact, the Democrat is expected to explain why it is not so.
But they all laugh and scoff as hard as they can when O'Donnell makes an unflattering observation about the Republican Party as a whole-- even though his observation is *accurate*.
Of course the GOP embraces ignorance. They depend on it. Sarah Palin is a perfect example of it. The phrase "low information voters" is a perfect example of it.
when you get one of those offensive emails from a fiend or family
member and you call them out on it, then you send them one
of your emails and they get all butt hurt or assume this
righteous indignation. Boy am I glad this is over, at least for
a while.
Humans ARE apes.
eta: I wanted to just link this article in Newsweek from author Sam Harris where he rips Palin and defends 'elitism'.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/160080/output/print
Wow, has Mika gone down hill since working with Scarborough. She needs to get away from the misogynists. She is going out of her way to proves that the apple DOES fall far from the tree. In her case she's starting to sound like she fell over the fence and into the alley. I wonder what her Dad thinks about her compromising her previous display of intelligence for the almighty job with Joe. As far as Buchanan goes......he should have been prosecuted with the rest of the Nixon crew.
Mika is scared that Joe Scarborough is going to murder her.
...just like that.
I so agree. When Morning Joe first began, I loved Mika. But she has been so subdued lately and ends up agreeing with Scarborough when she shouldn't. As far as Buchanan - does he have a voice lower than a screech? He yells and yells and yells.
Scientists believe that humans and apes evolved from a common, more primitive ancestor. Many people are offended by this, insisting that THEY have not evolved at all. Scientinsts are inclined to agree.
However, the religious miscreants go on to insult God by claiming that they are His spitting image.
There is no fault in ignorance; it means that you don't already know everything, and are thus capable of learning. The sin is in refusing to learn, and the madness is in the inability to recognize your ignorance.
A quick scan and I think you're the only one who picks up on the fact that humans are NOT evolved FROM monkeys. We have a common ancestor - maybe it's Buchanan.
Such attention to detail is what keeps a person from eating the wrong mushroom or petting the wrong dog. I've noticed that rightwingers are particularly inattentive to detail, but liberals can read carelessly, too.
I'm surprised nobody commented on "spitting image." Too dangerous, I guess.
Actually interesting, during the Victorian Period, in both the UK and the USA, they had a Social Darwinistic way of reconciling Genesis and Evolution.
They claim that everyone evolved from lower orders, but whites were created by God.
My understanding is the Nation of Islam teaches something similar but reverses the racial aspects.
I saw this live. LO'D pwned the madman. He said the GOP "celebrated ignorance."
Once and for all, Darwinism/Evolution does not say that we descend from monkeys. It says we share a common ancestor. But when you hear the "monkey" charge, just retort with, "It's clear you know nothing about Evolution. That's the importance of actually studying something".
And what's with this obvious fascination Mika has with Sarah Palin? Is it a case of just wanting to defend another female, or is it a real political/personal fascination? Or maybe she's just trying to be the anti-Campbell Brown. Oh, wait, MSNBC already has Rachel. Maybe Mika is jealous? Anyway, it got to be quite the lovefest Friday.
Sarah Palin is about as fascinating as watching water and waiting for
it to boil. She's Abigail Williams, from The Crucible. Sure,
she's sly, probably clever and definiely vindictive, but fascinating,
nah. She's not someone I'd be interested in conversing with, she
appears to lack depth on many levels. And, I don't find her
attractive.
Dear Pat: we are not descended from monkeys. We have a common ancestor. Apparently, your brain is incapable of understanding this immense difference, so thanks for proving Mr. O'Donnell's point.
Ever hear this silly argument? "Well, if we're descended from monkeys, how come they're still around?" Well, I'm descended from my parents. How come they're still around?
I'll go a step further than Lawrence O'Donnell: Republican embrace ignorance, lies and hatred. Palin is the epitome of the Republican party's embrance of lies, ignorance and hatred.
on the night she was nominated...buchanan was all over it...calling it a terrible choice
two days later, he was orgasmic over her nomination
she is not bright...she is street smart...there is a huge difference
lets see how long palin's positive approval ratings last when next year she has to announce to alaskans that for the first time in their history, they will have to pay a state income tax...cuz their gen fund, the one that divies out checks to them lost 10 bil in worth
what happens when she has to announce that the gas pipeline is dead because the the canadian company she handed it to cannot get the loans it needs?
here is a woman who puts the word "there" in the most innapropriate places in a sentance
there is no there, there...and she does not deserve a place in national politics, there
of course, neither does bachmann, and the idiots of the 6th district are sending her back to dc
{ Title edited for obvious reasons. SiteMonitor}
I can't stand Pat Buchanon, even in the smallest dose. He even makes Rachel Maddow unwatchable. But this performance makes me lean toward one more Palin candidacy with Pat as the head cheerleader. It will be like inside the space ship in Mars Attacks. Loud screeching gibberish. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the Republican Party of the now and future!
"She was sensation!":
Can you say 'personality cult'? Strangely that's how I felt about President Elect Obama two years ago.. I wonder if she'll appoint herself as Senator after Stevens quits, to get her foot in the door for 2012?
I cannot stand the shouting over one another. It is the worst face of America. Pat Buchanen listens to no one. He needs to retire. The reason Countdown and The Rachel Maddow Show are popular is you see civil discourse (even with David Frum) and you don't have to put up with this Jerry Springer-esque freak show.
How low are Republican standards if they are hanging their hat on another village idiot for president in 2012?
That's the only explanation for his rabid support of the ignorance that is sarah palin.
I can't stand this ignorant old man. Buchanan represents a generation that completely failed this Nation socially. The man is totally incapable to speak to anyone under 65 and racially tolerant. Buchanan, and his equally hideous sister, are unwatchable.
How Pat Buchanan Sees This Election
John McCain was a lifeless candidate with nothing to offer conservatives until Sarah Palin was brought onto the ticket. She took him from way behind to slightly ahead because people loved what they saw. The campaign was reinvigorated and on its way to victory until the economy collapsed, whereupon it was simply inevitable that whoever the Republican was would lose. Thus, Sarah Palin is a beloved figure whose career in national politics has rightfully been launched.
How I See This Election
John McCain's reputation for being a non-Republican ideologue won him a dubious victory in the Republican primaries against an unprecedented slate of clowns. The party saw him as the last best chance to eek out a general election victory when the entire country hated the current Republican president. Nevertheless, his selection angered the ignorant theocrats of Know Knothing Knation, on whom Republicans have depended for victories for more than two decades. Sarah Palin is the Queen of Know Knothing Knation, though when she was selected, non-members did not realize this. Her selection jump-started the energy of bigots and theocrats who would have otherwise sat the election out, and the media's attention to the shiny new object gave the Republican ticket bigger Convention bump than it might otherwise have received. Rather than attack her, the Obama campaign waited for her to self-destruct, which allowed the Republicans' rise in the polls to continue, but ultimately proved to be the right strategy. Sarah Palin was revealed to be who she was, and even many prominent Republicans began to fear the power of Know Knothing Knation. Then the economy collapsed, and sealed the deal. Whether Palin has a future will depend on whether Know Knothing Knation continues to direct the Republican Party.
Wow! Recent history in a nutshell. But an explanation the likes of the GOP leadership will ignore......no introspective capabilities. Without the Know Knothins they don't have a Party.
IRRELEVENT.
Always has been, too.
Lawrence O'Donnell to Pat Buchanan: The GOP Embraces Ignorance
Well can we blame them? I prefer dumb blondes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rNfZxgkH7k
The republican party does celebrate ignorance.
They don't care if they don't know as long as they think, and I repeat as long as they think that the person believes they way they do! Even if they don't know what is is they believe. As long as you can say some of the magic words, once in a while, they can believe!
You know she doesn't understand geography.
You know she doesn't understand the Vice President's role in the Senate.
Then there's that whole ass from a hole in the ground thing.
Now the 1st Amendment... and the government's role in "helping" the news media.
www.MacYapper.blogspot.com
and I think a McCain-Buchannan ticket would have been tougher to beat realitively speaking. In my opinion if the Obama camp can't reach out to the Buchannan types then they can't reach out in any bipartisan fashion. Ignore the fact that I'm a Buchannan fan, I truly believe this is the case!
Who has used up his last 15 minutes of fame. He is loud, obnoxious, rude and intolerant. How can you "reach out" to such closed minds? He would berate Obama on his "lack of experience" and with the same breath bestow accolades on the Alaskan with no knowledge base to begin with. Her ability to "run the state of Alaska", be a "small town Mayor", with such limited exposure to the diversity that Barack Obama saw probably in the first 25 years of his life is telling. Her ability to give a speech... that's wonderful. Put her on a book reading tour. Don't believe for one minute that elevates her to the level of intellect that the rest of the presidential candidates brought to the table. Buchannan would drool when watching her, and literally (as well as rudely) discount any balanced discussion on her actual limitations. HE put her on a pedestal of high ability and we all saw her and got dizzy by her LACK of basic knowledge. HE WAS WRONG and IS WRONG about her. Fresh? Yes. I remember a time when I got my mouth washed out for being that fresh. Palin will probably be back because she fits the mold of what the RNC/GOP look for. Can she whip the audience into a frenzy? It doesn't matter if we give them facts or innuendo... we want them foaming at the mouth. Is she photogenic? "you betcha". Can we convince our "base" voters she's the next best thing since sliced bread? Hum... after this election tally.... depends on what position you want to her to run. But hey... we can groom (and dress) her for the next 4 years and present the new and improved Palin. I know Buchannan is just itching to apply for anything working to prepare Sarah Palin for any future candidacy.
And MIKA!!! The next time Joe Scarborough refers to your use of "Ambien and Vodka" you'd better smack the crap out of him!! That's getting old and insulting!!! Oh... and I'm NOT a Buchannan fan and I truly believe this has been the case.
O'Donnell and the commenters here are aghast for good reason. The RNC since Nixon found his silent majority got mileage out of divisive, culture war identity politics.
"You'd like me...I like you...We're alike...So vote for my plan to fleece you with tax cuts for richer people than you( cuts for me), no-bid contracts and sucker-you credit scams for my buddies...You don't have to think to be righteous and judgemental and know that everyone else is a bad guy -- be a member of our temple of righteousness.
Why has the Republican party embraced ignorance? Because it has been profitable to do so. Now that only 25% plus of the electorate find down home ignorance satisfying, it will be interesting to see what the RNC hitches its star to next. Godlessness didn't work well for Elizabeth Dole. But the intellectuals of the RNC have to find a philosphy that lets Republicans find someone to blame for all problems, scapegoats to hate, and how to smear any politicians who aren't for entrenched interests, centralized power, and pulling up the ladder economically. Perhaps back to smearing technocrats like Giuliani laughed at community organizers? McCain's final arguments that this is the time for making things simpler will become more attractive during the difficult digging out and transition Obama must do? If so, we've got to be ready with how to point out intellectual ineptitude with better ammo than anonymous aides. We also need to make entrepreneurs and backyard inventors idols with the kind of production values of the Obama informercial.
Also the Democrats must increase jobs and pay a lot, within 4 years, reconstruct the power grid to make it intelligent enough to reduce monied interests. and make some demonstrable progress on cheaper, better health care. If not,the Democrats will have to fall back on the same campaign finance as the RNC (setting us back not just another generation but maybe fatally). Poor Obama has to dig us out economically AND meet his promises, which is impossible.
Maybe if he gets his ground organization to get everyone conserving and also makes them chronic condition treatment compliance experts working for free and makes all television accessible only by treadmill generators? And penalizes the 98% of med students who refuse to consider primary care and forgives loans on an accelerating rate the more yeats that they teach inner school? Etc., etc. -- we must pray that we can help Obama look like a smashing success or we'll never get a producing economy again, let alone a choice of how to run the country!
He is smart, articulate and doesn't take Rightwing bullshit. I love it. Give him a show, and have him debate wingnuts, and annihilate their talking points in one moderately-toned fell swoop.
The thing about this segment is that Lawrence WASN'T insulting to Pat, he was honest (in a Simon Cowell kind of way). It is TRUE that the Republican Party now celebrates ignorance. Bush and Palin prove that.
What I find insulting is the high pitched rant coming from Buchanan. Pat was doing what the Rightwing numbnuts tend to do: yell and obliterate the opposing view with boisterous bloviation, as though being right equates to who is the loudest.
pjb,as a graduate of one of the finest,elite universities on earth,surely you know that evolutionary theory does not argue that humans descended from monkeys.as to how sarah-coodah did so well in her debate with biden,lets role the tape.prior to the fateful matchup-the right wing noise machine made a stink about moderator quen ifull's obviously being in the tank for obama because she wrote about him in a new book on black politics.the stridency,and constant repetition of those charges,coupled with other obvious issues,not the least of which was her career long scrupulous adherence to the highest standards of fair play,pretty much negated her role as an effective moderator.the gov bounced on stage,batted her eyes at gallant joe,and requested that she be allowed to call him by his first name-speaking to him directly-in violation of rules her side demanded.she then announced that she was going to unilaterally suspend the requirement that she answer the actual questions-even in the teeny soundbites she requested,so that she could,you know,speak to "the people" directly.as if,she didn't have like a regular campaign set up for that purpose.yeah,she won,pat.if danny webster,and hennie clay came back today they would have to burn the midnight oil,and then game the moderators to handle our lovely moosedressin' gov in a debate.
Barack Obama said it best, "It's like these guys take pride in being ignorent"
http://www.barackobamacans.blogspot.com/
Like Joe Scarborough. He and Mika are becoming more irrelevant every day. Mika especially loves controversy; you could hear her in the background saying how much she loved his little set-to. Mika loves Palin because she is a working mother. Mika doesn't have a clue about real working mothers.
"What caused McCain's numbers to go up after the Palin's announcement??"
Come on Pat... that's an easy one...
HER LEGGS....
I'm a lefty, socialist, atheist.. but I sneakingly like Pat... He seems to be mostly decent and generally sincere. And he's brave enough to put his views out there. If I wanted to be an honest democracy lover I'd have to put aside my leeriness of his religious beliefs and judge his policies.. unfortunately I think he's in favour of school prayer, etc. so I'll have to keep liking him just as a commentator...
Have yet to evolve
Would someone please tell Scarborough and Pat that Palin's numbers started going down as soon as she opened her mouth. You know something like "If Palin had a phd in econ do you think the economic crisis would have had such a negative impact on her campaign?". If, when she had opened her mouth, she said something really smart about the economy it might have helped McCain during this crisis. The whole thing seems like a media conspiracy to me. Ya the economy screwed the McCain/Palin ticket. Because the ticket sucked not because the economy sucked. When are these pundits going to flunk the GOP ticket? I like Mika but she is taking that "women must defend other women" memo to heart and it is starting to gnaw away at her credibility. Mika recites a list of Palin problems and then wonders if she could win Alaska anyway with her "technical ability". This woman can't form a sentence to save her life and Mika is giving her credit for presumably winning an election in a state that just elected a convicted felon?
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