Keith Olbermann rips into a certain “unstable congresswoman from Minnesota,” Rush Limbaugh, the politics of divisiveness, the McCain campaign, and places the ultimate responsibility on John McCain himself, and demands that he address the smears and bigotry of his supporters. It is great stuff.
I have to say that I am personally more than a bit tired of the yahoos on the right constantly telling me that I’m not a real American and that I hate my country.
And of course Jon Stewart charges in, too.
I agree. I find the behavior of people running around pointing out who’s un-American and who’s not to be, frankly, un-American.
/irony off.
Patriotism is the virtue of the wicked.
-Oscar Wilde
The Daily Show crew, who all live in New York, also got stuck in yesterday. Amazing stuff. Jon really struck down upon them with a righteous anger, you could see it in his eyes while he did the show.
Thats one smart and angry American….
That’s almost as good as the smackdown he gave Bill O’Reilly over the Malmedy massacre.
the fascist patriots drape themselves in the flag and tell all, my way or the highway. the citizen patriot says, we are all in this together. RISE UP CITIZEN PATRIOTS and defeat the fascists.
Jon Stewart, last night, to McCain campaign:
P_f*ck you!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=188635&title=pfriend-or-pfoe
Great stuff!
For those of us outside the US, can someone tell us who this guy is?
I’ve begun responding to people who throw around the “Un-American” label by telling them that they don’t know what America is.
Of course there are Christians, of course there are Muslims,
And Atheists, Pagans, and Jews
Supporting McCain or supporting Obama–
Supporting a spectrum of views–
Of course there are numbskulls, and ignorant pinheads
Whose views are incredibly dense,
And of course they reside on both sides, red and blue
Of the nation’s political fence
It gets to the point where we almost expect it–
Perhaps it’s what humans just do–
We forget these are merely the vocal extremists
Whose numbers, in truth, are quite few.
These salient images seen in the media
Show us ourselves at our worst
But just look around, and you’ll see something different,
And not what it looked like at first:
The people who back both McCain and Obama
Are people like you and like me
And most are intelligent, thoughtful and kind,
And like us, they don’t like what they see.
This silent majority, not in the news,
When confronted with ignorant hate
May decide to combat it, or maybe ignore it,
Or challenge them to a debate
And sometimes you’ll find that these ignorant cowards
Back down when you call out their bluff
So… if you’re like me, and you’re sick of the lying,
Decide that enough is enough!
And remember, the ignorant liars can shout
Until all of their faces are blue;
When you get in that booth, and you pull shut the curtain…
The one with the power is you.
(also–not quite OT–another video that gives a bit of hope, at
http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2008/10/reminder.html )
I’m from Hawaii and we’re just barely America to begin with. Since we’re also pretty much as blue as it gets over here, I think we’re in the running for the least American part of America.
#9 Bravo, Cuttlefish. Bravo!
Such people, when not obviously insane, are motivated only by greed, envy, and hatred. That other human beings have other interests and affections – possess and create lives of meaning – is what they hate (because they desire it but cannot admit their desire) above all else.
They hope the world burns to a cinder in their lifetimes, that they may observe all humanity – all life – in pain as great as their self-pity.
Past (and now current) Sportscaster turned political commentator.
Pailn and McCain’s tactics are taken from the George Wallace playbook. One Repugnant support told a black reporter to “sit down, boy”. They are practicing dog whistle campaigning to racists and religious extremists (same thing really).
Patriotism has also been described, I believe, as the last refuge of the scoundrel. I have seen only snipets of Hardball’s interview with your Minnesota lunatic, but she clearly is badly in need of the medical community quickly perfecting the brain transplant. I did my tiny bit to help the cause yesterday, the first daya of early voting in Florida, but at my location was probably outvoted. At 78 I was almost the youngest in a fairly sizable crowd that contained only one apparent minority voter. I can only hope that the newly registered Obama voters don’t follow the usual script of failing actually to vote.
It really must suck to live in the US right now. What sucks even more is that the rest of the world has to put up with the decisions of the US. So when wedge politics drawn along lines of xenophobia and driven into a hysteric frenzy come into play, we all suffer because of it. Yes it’s sad that the politicians are descending to that level of personal attack, but it’s a black mark on the voting population of America – or at least the conservative base. If it works, of course they are going to try it. It would be naive to think that a politician would hold back from doing anything to get into power.
The Daily Show was great last night, as was this rant. Our society may have come a long way in the last 200 years, but there’s still so much further to go.
dangeraardvark said:
“I’m from Hawaii and we’re just barely America to begin with. Since we’re also pretty much as blue as it gets over here, I think we’re in the running for the least American part of America.”
He He. :)
If you are from Hawaii, you are from the least American part of Japan. :D
Damn! He sounded a tad annoyed.
Not a show I was familiar with but it looks more interesting than the UK’s “Countdown”.
Have you seen the Colbert piece on the fact that Powell endorses Obama only because he is black ? Very funny!
http://blog.indecision2008.com/2008/10/21/the-colbert-report-colin-powell-endorses-barack-obama/
Can someone explain to me why the McCain campaign is so vigorously courting the extreme right wing, when it is the moderates he needs to win? The people who are yelling and carrying on at the rallies were already going to vote for the hot fundy babe and against the uppity Muslim — how does stirring up this group even more help, especially when their fervour may put off the very thoughtful moderates that are critical to the campaign? And when it is the economy that non-insane Americans are worrying about, and not whether a black president will put whites into concentration camps where they’ll be taught to speak Ayrab?
In addition to being hateful and divisive, the approach seems, from a purely pragmatic perspective, to be entirely wrong-headed.
Incompetence?
Or maybe they hope to play on a segment of the population too contained to let those emotions out in public but are secretly cheering the crowds on?
Their gamble is on how large that segment is.
I never get tired of being amused when conservatives think they’ve found “real America” in the Minnesota Iron Range. Does nobody know they’re basically communists?
Patriotism is claims that this is the best country in the world from people who have never been, let alone lived, anywhere else.
Patriotism is protecting the symbol by restricting the freedoms that it stands for.
Patriotism is a religion with the Country (note the capital ‘C’) as god. Not the country, which is the people and the government, but the Country which is an abstraction, an area defined by arbitrary borders.
What patriotism should be is loving your country enough to tell it when it’s screwing up.
They can’t win on issues, so they’re trying to win by shrillness. They’re hoping that enough of the moderates are going to get scared of Obama because of all these rumors. They’re hoping two or three percent of moderates will think “Well, one of those has to be true or it wouldn’t be out there. I’m voting for McCain.”
But, keep in mind that these loons have existed since Obama won the Iowa caucus. That psychotic bipedal swine Tracy from Virginia didn’t all of a sudden decide that Obama is a scary name last week. She’s always been that way. What’s really changed is that she’s saying it.
I imagine, like you do, that this is going to be like the news footage of the cops in Selma taking fire hoses and attack dogs to peaceful protesters. People are going to see the ugliness of the Republican base and support the other side. Or at least that’s my hope.
If real America is hanging Obama in effigy:
Or practicing Christian bigotry:
Then I PROUDLY consider myself Un-American.
There is only one good thing about small town
There is only one good use for a small town
There is only one good thing about small town
You know that you want to get out
When you’re growing up in a small town
You know you’ll grow down in a small town
There is only one good use for a small town
You hate it and you’ll know you have to leave
– Lou Reed, Small Town
Can anyone dig up a transcript of the Olbermann vid? I cannot seem to. :(
Ditto Jeff @ #22. I mean, the IRON RANGE supporting McCain? Does she even know where that is? Republicans really do live in some other reality.
#26 – Dirty Hairy
Transcript of the Olbermann video here:
http://crooksandliars.com/node/23506
Good article from Steve Chapman (Ohio.com):
Most Americans, it seems, can tolerate hearing of the superiority of the small town, as long as they don’t have to live in one. You wouldn’t know it from listening to country music stations, or to the governor of Alaska, but four out of every five Americans choose not to reside in rural areas.
[…]
One of these days, the 80 percent of Americans who live in more populated areas may tire of being obliquely insulted.
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/commentary/30553934.html
As a Canadian, the first response is to laugh at this anti-American name calling until you realize we have the same problem. Here it’s called “Canadian Values”. Unless you believe in all the same things as certain people, you don’t have “Canadian Values”.
Simple, that’s the way they won the last two pres.elections, so they try again.
Look, read the right wing blogs, listen to Fox News, they really do believe they can still win this election. They don’t believe the polls, they don’t think the balance of power has shifted from the extreme to the center, they just don’t buy any of that stuff. Don’t forget that “Real Americans” live in fantasyland.
Only a failure now and in 4 years will force the republicans to drastically reform itself, change their bad habits and force the neocons away. Otherwise, it is forever a failed party.
#28 thanks, Ian!
My favorite part of yesterday’s Daily Show was Jason Jones’ bit on Wasilla, especially when he was interviewing the man who said the people from small towns are more helpful then people from big cities. When Jason brought up September 11 and the aftermath, that guy would not change his story.
“What the pfuck” indeed.
Worst Republican election campaign
i ever!
Whenever anybody tries to brandish “patriotism” or “real America” or the like at me, I bring up the following:
When I think of great American patriots, I think of people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John and Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and the Marquis de Lafayette. They are the prototypical American patriots.
What did these great men have in common? They all rose up in armed rebellion against their (except de Lafayette, who rose up against somebody else’s) legitimate government at the slightest sign of possible oppression or tyranny. Most of them consistently wrote that it is the duty of any honourable person to do so, and they put the Second Amendment in the Constitution to guarantee it would be possible when (not if – when) the government they put in place became too corrupted by time.
So it turns out that these “my country right or wrong” people are, in fact, the exact opposite of genuine American patriots, and more along the lines of, say, European-style patriots (those hoity-toity Europeans these people are always going on about hating). True American patriots are people like Robert E. Lee, secessionist Todd Palin, and, oh, say, William Ayers.
Note that I’m not endorsing (or opposing, for that matter) American patriotism, only pointing out that they may have their terminology somewhat mixed up. But then, they care nothing for history or logic or big words like ‘terminology’ and ‘secessionist’, so it’s not like they’re going to listen to a hoity-toity East Coast elitist like me.
Kick ass.
Keith Olbermann. Hero of the Obamanation, third class.
I bet he can’t wait for the Fairness Doctrine. Then people other than a few loons would be forced to hear his silly screed.
Hey, I get yahoos on the right calling me un-American *AND* yahoos on the left calling me unpatriotic because I think I pay plenty of taxes already. Being non-ideological can be rough. And then there’s my ongoing cyber-insurgency against the Objectivists.
dividing seems to be a trademark of the republican party, in whatever form. just consider america’s foreign policy of the last 8 years: it was always ‘us’ and ‘them’.
i think that is one of the main reasons why dutch people (and europeans in general) like obama so much: he’s very un-american (in a good way) by saying he’s open to conversation with countries like iran. although i’ve seen people on blogs calling this behavior ‘girlie’ (wtf???), it resonates with a lot of dutch people. a recent poll here in holland even showed that 90% of the population hopes obama wins.
I hate these Comedy Central clips that aren’t viewable from Canada. Canadian link, anyone?
I like Olbermann. But that’s the problem, I’m not the guy who needs to be convinced.
That’s where Olbermann fails, he’s got the right message, he just can’t deliver it without sounding angry and annoyed, which scares those who are still hesitant.
Then one could say that it’s just about energizing the base, but then isn’t there a contradiction with his message on divisive politics ?
My advice to Olbermann : cool down !
When in the short span between two weekends, stuff like this happens:
– McCain and his ditzy running mate fan the flames of mob-hatred which they do not (or cannot) adequately douse, while simultaneously denying that any of their ads are negative when all of them are…
– Suffered from a strange compulsion to air-out his tongue on national TV following a debate he smirked through…
– The McCampaign elevates the opinion of an erstwhile wanna-be business-owner whom they’ve marked with the endearing moniker “Joe the Plumber” (who has no plumber’s license, saying he doesn’t need one, works for a boss who doesn’t have one, has no real plan to purchase the business anytime soon, unless you characterize “wanting” or saying “thinking about it” consitutes a “plan”, actually DOESN’T make over $200,000 a year and won’t anytime soon, admits he’s got a lot to learn about running the business he hopes to PURCHASE some day, asks an utterly insipid question of Obama that has no bearing on his current taxation status and for his foreseeable future, whines that he would have to pay more IF he made more, THEN characterizes Obama as better than Sammy Davis Jr. at “tap dancing” – all the while trying not to appear to be a McCampaign plant) as a high source of authoritative support…
– Gets royally dissed by Colin Powell, a somewhat more authoritative fellow…who stresses that Obama has a STEADY demeanor….
– McCain, the Maverick Man of Action and Straight-Talking Fighter who puts Country First himself all but throws in the towel by saying: “But look, I’ve had a wonderful life. I have to go back and live in Arizona, and be in the United States Senate representing them, and with a wonderful family.” and “I’m the luckiest guy you ever interviewed….Don’t feel sorry for John McCain, and John McCain will be concentrating on not feeling sorry for himself.” and “I just want to go on with this campaign. Most Americans want in these difficult economic times to see who has a plan of action for getting our economy out of the ditch, helping working families, men and women. I think I made a very good point of that, that I have that plan…. I think it’s being reflected in the polls.” and finally, “I’m very pleased where we are. And I love being the underdog…You know, every time that I’ve gotten ahead, somehow I’ve messed it up.” (And all that pretty much keeping his tongue mostly within his mouth).
– And the two brightest highlights the McCampaign can point to this past week: the fact that his ditzy running mate managed to pull the highest ratings for Saturday Night Live in 14 years just for showing up – since Nancy Kerrigan showed up following the Tonya Harding knee-bash kibosh scandal…and that McCain finally showed up on David Letterman to eat crow…
Now, we have to admit, this is impressive as all hell. It’s terrific. it’s stupendous. It’s colossal.
One cannot help but congratulate the GOP and the McCampaign for their spectacular success. They got exactly what they wished for, big time. It really worked. These are experts; they’re saturated by genius. They knew what they were doing (saying so all along) and by golly they’ve achieved it. They treated it like an exercise in perception management, image engineering and popularity cultivation. They brought to bear every trick in the trade, and it’s produced a shockingly vibrant result. These guys really know how to pull strings and strum them. They know how to persuade, and they know how to manipulate. They know how to play the game. They really know their shit. They’re saavy sons of guns.
They’ve succeeded. They’ve won. They are victorious. Congratulations are in order. Kudos. They may now bask in the glory of their accomplishment. Such a brilliant farce. Best ever. Most entertaining. Superb work. 5 STARS. Give ’em a lollipop.
Well where is it? I’ve even been to far northern Minnesota once on vacation. As I recall it was forested with a lot of deciduous trees, full of wood ticks, and had lots of lakes.
IIRC, Bob Dylan was from the Iron Range of Minnesota.
This shit drives me crazy. I like the US fine, but there are plenty of other country I like equally well. And one doesn’t need to dig very deep in history to see that the US has made a lot of the same mistakes as other nations, or different mistakes of the same magnitude.
Erik Atkinson – Obamanation? Aren’t you just so adorable! Did you think of that all by yourself?
The whole Daily Show episode was against that idea of “unamerican” Americans. My favorite bit cam at the end, though, when he clarified his “Fuck you” reply to Palin’s comments
I prefer the uncensored version of Jon Stewart’s reply to Sarah and the *real* Americans
Wilson Fowlie@#40 see
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/
Raven, the Iron Range is a big chunk of Northern MN where, as you might expect, there was a bunch of iron (not sure if they have much anymore). Bob Dylan did in fact grow up there, in Duluth and Hibbing.
The high-grade hematite ore is long gone, but there’s still quite a lot of usable taconite. Nothing like the huge amounts of high-grade ore in Brazil and in Australia, but useful for domestic steel production (short trip down the lakes in many cases).
It’s northeastern to north-central Minnesota, to place the iron range a bit more precisely. The place had a good deal of union activity in the past, with generally “progressive” politics.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Of course you’re unAmerican, you silly nitwit of a man! All your site does is try to defend some satanic verse you call The Constitution and worry about what your mythical Founding Fathers would have cried had They seen America today.
Why don’t you just grow up and learn to be a racist, homophobic, sexist, xenophobic, gun owner like us Real Americans(tm)! Those are the Small Town Values(tm) McCain and Palin cherish, and those are the values real Americans(tm) cherish!
(the above is meant as satire, and does not reflect the beliefs of the author of this post)
Will there be many more republicans who will finally understand the obvious, like Colin Powell and now Ken Adelman ?
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2008/10/not-quite-colin.html
Bill Maher had a great punchline to one of his monologue jokes on Friday too. Talking about Palin’s comment:
Wilson @40:
I hate these Comedy Central clips that aren’t viewable from Canada. Canadian link, anyone?
http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/shows/showdetails.aspx?sid=3350
Awesome Olbermann, by the way.
I created a video aimed at McCain about these types of issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVY756ptEZo *
I guess I’ll never be a ‘real’ American. I served my country in the Army, but I guess I wasn’t defending ‘real’ America.
These people and their politics of fear scare the hell out of me.
*shameless plug, but it is relevant
Posted by: Natalie | October 21, 2008 11:31 AM
Erik Atkinson – Obamanation? Aren’t you just so adorable! Did you think of that all by yourself?
He is not able to. It is a common meme from “Real America”.
That “pro-america” they’re describing is the, traditionally conservative parts of the nation. It’s that 50s image of the white picket fence with a farm and little kids playing in the backyard.
I hate that “pro-america” because you must have an “anti-america” and that’s simply not true.
God they’re idiots. It’s a wonder they get the votes they do.
There is no mystery as to why Keith and Bill O go after each other on TV.
Two peas in a pod, those two.
One is designed to sedate the minds of Republicans, and the other to cheer up the liberal slurpy Democrats…
I get no satisfaction at all seeing a college professor hold Keith O up as a paragon of political anything…
He and Rachel M are embarassing as journalists, promoting set pieces as if to book-end Fox News, distorting reality with their bullshit, turning America into two factions of unthinking idiots…
That a “rationalists” (and a college prof!) would get giddy over one of their spiels is a sad and ominous display of American slippery…
The mind boggles…
Scott, instead of playing political Goldilocks, can you actually offer a critique of what Olbermann actually said?
How about calling these REAL TRUE AMERICANS (TM) Pfatriots ?
Can someone explain to me why the McCain campaign is so vigorously courting the extreme right wing, when it is the moderates he needs to win?
My sneaking suspicion is that there will be voting machine/ballot “irregularities” on Election Day. By firing up the base, and demonizing ACORN and other grassroots groups running voter registration drives, they are paving the way for astroturf “uprisings” like the 2000 “Brooks Brothers Riot”. Simply put, they are poisoning the well by attacking the legitimacy of an Obama presidency before it begins.
The people who are yelling and carrying on at the rallies were already going to vote for the hot fundy babe and against the uppity Muslim
Ironically, they are also against McCain, and would wish nothing better than his demise so their annointed candidate (and they call Obama a “messiah” figure!) can take her place in the White House.
Anybody else seen Michelle Bachmann’s odious non-apology?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14777.html
PfWNed!
amk #57
Not likely. Scott and Atkinson are “two peas in a pod”. No need to actually make a salient point or counter-argument about the actual validity of the content or address the message itself. They’ll just regurgitate over-quoted memes from the republican party. Goofy, third-grade bully catch-phrases with no substance that don’t actually address any real issue.
Actual discussions regarding content and substance are toxic for this party.
Well put tsg (#23) “What patriotism should be is loving your country enough to tell it when it’s screwing up.”
It needs to be a bumper sticker. “Patriotism is loving your country enough to tell it when it’s screwing up.”
Yeah, I like that.
I agree with the comments on “the Range.” It’s the range that gets democrats elected in Minnesota; so, that woman doesn’t have a clue about Minnesota. And Michelle Backman is the end result of the evangelicalization of the Repugnant Party. Even her idea of heaven is an exclusive place where only “the saved” may enter. Bleah……
p.s. – Great poem Cuttlefish. No wonder you got a Molly!
Daily Show, fine, they do great commentary. But Olbermann? The Rush Limbaugh of the Left, his opinion isn’t worth a plug nickle.
Janine, I know. In my head, my post is in a “aw widdle popkins” voice. No html tag for that, though.
Celtic Evolution, almost right, except that Scott recycles his own phrases and codewords (“the mind boggles” in this post). I guess he thinks that makes him extra clever.
Because voters make two decisions on election day. They decide which candidate they prefer, and they also decide whether they’ll actually go and cast that vote.
The McCain campaign courts the extreme right wing because there’s not the remotest chance they’ll vote for Obama, so all they need to do is get them riled up enough to show up at the polls. With low voter turnout, getting a solid block of committed voters to show up has a noticeable effect on election outcomes.
Pfft, divisive politics isn’t anti-American, it has been part of American politics since the 1796 elections, get some historical perspective.
Because it is going to happen again in 2012, and 2016, and…
Believe me Scott, we’ve noticed.
I just had to watch the Keith Olbermann spot twice again: this journalistic commentary, finally, at long last, fully reflects the standard set by the great Edward R. Murrow half a century ago as he dealt with McCarthy and corporate interference, and the standards of this country Murrow once lived in, loved and fought for. OUR country.
Superb. And courageous.
Genuine righteous indignation at its very finest.
A beautiful display of anger, exactly what it takes when it gets as ridiculous as it’s been for so damned long.
And it’s about fucking time.
We’ve finally started to kick in all the cylinders. Now’s the time to rev it up, push the pedal to the metal, and floor it. We’re moving now.
This isn’t “liberal media”. This is fucking conscious journalism with a cup of strong wake-up.
—
Reference:
“…Our history will be what we make of it. And if there are any historians about, 50 or 100 years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes of one week of all three networks, they will there find, recorded in black-and-white and in color, evidence of decadence, escapism, and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.
“We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have a built-in allergy to unpleasant and disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this.
“But unless we get up off of our fat surplusses and recognize that television, in the main, is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.
“I began by saying that history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are, history will take its revenge, and retribution will not limp in catching up with us. Just once in a while, let us exhalt in the importance of ideas and information. Let us dream to the extent of saying that on a given Sunday night, a time normally occupied by Ed Sullivan, is given over to a clinical survey on the state of American education. And a week or two later, a time normally used by Steve Allen, is devoted to a thorough-going study of American policy in the Middle East. Would the corporate image of their respective sponsors be damaged? Would the shareholders rise up in their wrath and complain? Would anything happen other than a few million people would have received some illumination on subjects that may well determine the future of this country, and therefore the future of the corporations?
“To those who say, ‘People won’t look, they won’t be interested, they’re too complacent, indifferent and insulated”, I can only
reply, there is in one reporter’s opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because, if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole world’s struggle is lost.
“This instrument can teach. It can illuminate. And, yes, it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise, it is merely wires and lights in a box.
“Good night, and good luck.”
— Edward R. Murrow, October 25, 1958
(The above are excerpts of an address Murrow delivered at a banquet of the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation” held in his honor, entitled “A Salute to Edward R. Murrow” as recreated in the film, “Good Night and Good Luck”; the text is here is derived, uncut, from the recreation of the event in the film).
I hate these Comedy Central clips that aren’t viewable from Canada. Canadian link, anyone?
Try Hulu. http://www.hulu.com/ Don’t know if they work in Canada though…
Thank you, but I probably stole it from someone else. I have a bad habit of hearing someone else say something and taking it as my own without realizing it.
I just had to watch the Keith Olbermann spot twice again
Watching Olbermann do his Murrow immitation is disheartening. The best this society has to offer is lousy immitations of its past greatness.
Scott, instead of playing political Goldilocks, can you actually offer a critique of what Olbermann actually said?
Pfscott’s specialty is the “argument from incredulity”. His standard schtick is to portray PZ and his “ilk” as a bunch of hive-minders reading from Howard Dean’s little red book, rather than a coterie of individuals who have long pondered the sociopolitical spectrum, and come to the conclusion that Keynesian economic policies are the most conducive to a healthy democratic society. He rails against us as self-described “rationalists” who really blindly follow an “Obamessiah”, when he’s the one who is a doctrinaire and dogmatic follower of Rand-ian policies.
If I had a quarter for every time he uses the word “rationalist” or the phrase “the mind boggles”, I could fund the Wall Street bailout myself.
Notice how Eric Atkinson #37 blindly reinforces the fact that wingnuts are all about juvenile reactionary emotion.
It’s very interesting to watch the conservative educated class fleeing from McCain/Palin like the building is on fire. Powell, Noonan, Buckley… they all can’t get far enough away from the “you betcha Obama’s a socialist” silliness.
Posted by: Scott from Oregon | October 21, 2008 12:41 PM
“One is designed to sedate the minds of Republicans, and the other to cheer up the liberal slurpy Democrats…”
Scott O’s paranoia conspiracy slip is showing again…
Look, Joel (#70) so you’re concerned about critiquing a class act? Are you saying that kind of standard can’t be transferred from the past? That it’s an act, that Murrow is known by youngsters as well as I know him from my youth? That I can’t play my Bach and Brahms anymore?
Stupid, stupid jerk. Idiot. You’re a waste of spacetime.
negentropyeater@#41, just so. I agreed with essentially everything Olbermann had to say, unAmerican pro-European Brit that I am, but he said it in such an unpleasantly angry and vicious *manner* that I found myself instinctively disagreeing with him by the end, regardless of the correctness of the content.
He’ll not win over anyone like this.
You say this based upon your reaction? Methinks your sample size (1) is a bit small.
That’s your failing, not his.
When did it become such a stigma to be angry about something?
he said it in such an unpleasantly angry and vicious *manner* that I found myself instinctively disagreeing with him by the end, regardless of the correctness of the content.
He’ll not win over anyone like this.
Nix, your concern is noted.
Of course not. Real America is about people such as Cheney and Limbaugh who believe so much in our correctness and their right to impose it on others by force that they were willing (eager, even!) to allow others to fight and die for their purposes, rather than those who actually bothered to serve their country (for example, Kerry).
I keep trying to find a limit for the Republican Party’s capacity for hypocrisy or for its supporters’ capacity for doublethink and I can’t seem to find one. Silly me.
#53: Hi!
Smackdown to Rush at Daily Kos,
“Photographic Proof : Powell Endorsement ABOUT RACE!
by Jimmy Crackcorn”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/21/6491/7750/376/637293
“Not likely. Scott and Atkinson are “two peas in a pod”. No need to actually make a salient point or counter-argument about the actual validity of the content or address the message itself.”
Of course the point K O was making is valid. But it is also inane, insipid, and worthless.
It is nothing more than a liberal Democrat mindlessly attacking the mindless rhetoric of the inane, insipid, worthless republican spiel.
That’s not journalism. It is there to entertain and appease the liberals who think the enemy is the “conservatives”.
Meanwhile, We’re 10.3 TRILLION in debt, we have 90 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities, huge amounts of short term loans coming due, a second tsunami wave of housing foreclosures coming in the spring, and Russia contemplating a new bucket currency with the “towel heads”, backed by gold, and nobody notices…
Weeeee…
@Nix #75
I did a quick search and found that Olbermann started doing these “Special Comments” in 2006. In 2007 MSNBC (Olbermann’s network) grew %36 in ratings compared to other cable news outlets, and Olbermann’s own program routinely beat CNN in the same time slot. His Special Comments usually are delivered with the same tone and passion as the clip above, and some times are much, much more caustic. So I would think he’s winning people over because of his tone, not despite it.
Olbermann is just what the left in the U.S. has needed for a long time, a passionate, outspoken voice who doesn’t wither away when the loud mouth right wing media go after him. Instead he gives them a taste of their own medicine and does it better.
Olbermann is the kid on the playground who’s tired of being the bullies’ punching bag and is fighting back. The great thing is the bullies haven’t figured out what to do about it!
Huh??
Thanks for clearing that up, Scott. Really. Well done.
Ekonomiks, Scott, UR doin’ it RONG!
When “conservative” economists (don’t give us that B.S. that Bush is a liberal!) have their ideas implemented, economic disaster ensues:
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/103525/iceland's_economic_meltdown_is_a_big_flashing_warning_sign/
Your ideology is more bankrupt than this country, and putting racial slurs in “scare quotes” to try to convince anyone (even yourself) that you’re not a racist is disingenuous, self-deluding, and cowardly.
To all you godless libruls, Thom Hartmann will be interviewing Elwyn Tinklenberg any minute now.
I’d have thought arbitrary decisions regarding who is American and who is not is distinctly… un-American? What would I know though, I’m a Godless Euro Lefty Libertarian type. Ew.
Real America (and indeed Conservapedia): If Reality Makes you Uncomfortable, Make a New One in which you are Always Right.
Great. The USA is tearing itself apart over petty bullshit. Osama Bin Laden, Muammar al-Gaddafi and Fidel Castro must be laughing out loud.
@ FlameDuck
I hope you won’t mind if I don’t share your rather insulated opinion that the “bullshit” being discussed here is far from “petty”.
But thanks for taking the time to write a petty opinion on our petty bullshit.
dammit… that last post would have made more sense if I took the “far from” out of the first sentence. Shazbat!
I would rather be anti Palin, Limbaugh etc. American than a prejudicial, hyper fundimentalist anti human America they portray. It is supposed to be Government of the people, by the people and for the people not government of the far right fascists, by the far right Fascists and for the Far right fascists.
As others have pointed out, they’re using the terrorist bogeyman and the usual range of wedge issues (abortion, gay marriage, the 2nd amendment, “socialism,” etc.) because historically speaking, they’ve worked. They’re counting on the lizard-brain vote to put them over the top like it has in the past.
I would imagine there’s also an element of confirmation bias involved. Contrast the visceral impact of a crowd cheering for you (and raging against your opponent) with numbers on a page indicating that the public isn’t reacting well to such displays. McCain and Palin aren’t seeing the home viewers who recoil in horror from the seething hate on display at their rallies.
You’re talking about people who use “elitist” as a slur. Conservatism and pragmatism parted company decades ago – they’re the lizard-brain party these days.
Tulse, #20: Can someone explain to me why the McCain campaign is so vigorously courting the extreme right wing, when it is the moderates he needs to win?
Well, he definitely needs the hard-core extremist right to win. If the Republican base are unenthused enough to sit out this election, McCain is toast.
I find it interesting that so much of “true” America has both geographic and ideological roots in the Confederacy.
But are they really that blind? The conservative brand has never been less popular. And the “lizard-brain” Republican base really isn’t an issue, since they certainly won’t be voting Obama, and with Palin they actually have a positive reason to go the polls. Having locked down the fundies with Palin, what McCain should be doing is running to the middle on economic issues. Getting the whackaloons fired up may feel great at the rallies, but when it goes on TV it looks terrible and makes the moderates and undecideds nervous (just look at Powell), and gives the appearance that McCain/Palin is out of touch on the real concerns about the economy.’
I’d like to know what McCain’s advisors are telling him, and why they haven’t been fired.
“When “conservative” economists (don’t give us that B.S. that Bush is a liberal!) have their ideas implemented, economic disaster ensues:”
Bush is a big government economic liberal. There is nothing “conservative” about his fiscal approach.
“Your ideology is more bankrupt than this country, and putting racial slurs in “scare quotes” to try to convince anyone (even yourself) that you’re not a racist is disingenuous, self-deluding, and cowardly. ”
You don’t even know my “ideology”, corncob…
What is it about this place that brings out the “racists” labels all the time? The mind boggles…
Arnosium Upinarum #74 Are you saying that kind of standard can’t be transferred from the past?
Certainly not through the likes of Keith Olbermann, he needs to find his own schtick and leave Murrow’s to the professionals.
Why criticizing Olbermann would piss you off so much is beyond me. Are you Olbermann’s Mom?
“What is it about this place that brings out the “racists” labels all the time? The mind boggles…”
Umm, perhaps it’s because of comments like yours? See, that wasn’t so hard to figure out! But then you’ve never shown much ability to understand the obvious, so I’m not surprised you missed this too.
Great line from Bill Maher.
“Saying you’re a patriot is like saying you have a big penis. If you have to say it, it probably isn’t true.”
WOW. Jon Stewart is truly, righteously pissed in that clip. We don’t get to see that very often.
It’s…kinda hot, actually.
And now I’m off to google “Iron Range Minnesota”, because this Californian has never heard of such a thing.
God (who?) bless America. That (Olberman’s) was one of the most eloquent, impassioned, and unanswerable rants I have ever heard.
And as for Jon Stewart, as a chap who fancies himself as a comic writer, I simply turn chartreuse.
Yes, they really are. Style-over-substance politics has been working for the GOP since the 80s, and they expect it to work again this year.
You might be surprised on that count. My conservative Christian father is probably going to vote for Obama, and Palin’s nomination is a large part of the reason why (the seething bigotry we’re discussing is another.)
He doesn’t seem to have any kind of coherent economic plan, aside from the ritual invocation of the Magical Economy-Restoring Tax Cuts. It’s really no wonder that he’d rather talk about Ayers.
I’d imagine they haven’t been fired because they’re all telling him what a political genius he is. McCain, like Bush, doesn’t strike me as the sort who’s interested in contradictory views.
I would classify a true patriot as someone who is a real friend to their country, there through thick and thin, someone who will jump in a lend a hand when a time of need is here, someone who will defend a friend from unjust or unwarranted harm.
But a friend also won’t let a friend drive drunk, and the last 8 years show that its time for the friends of the country to step in and put someone sober behind the wheel for a change.
The comment about about “Canadian values” made me think about whether we have something similar in Australia, and we do!
http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/values/background/index.htm#a
and it is official policy introduced under the rule of “the previous voted out of government and lost even his own electorate” John Howard (hopefully it’s been scrapped, but I doubt it).
Applicants for visas have to read and sign the list of Australian values (but fortunately, not visitors or New Zealanders; we real Australians know exactly what New Zealanders get up to with their sheep).
we real Australians know exactly what New Zealanders get up to with their sheep
you mean turn them into rampaging zombie sheep?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0779982/
No silencing these lambs!
Posted by: Scott from Oregon | October 21, 2008 2:23 PM
“… “towel heads”, backed by gold, and nobody notices…
Weeeee…”
Still not toilet trained… but what do expect from a bigot?
Yeah. No shit. I’m already sick of it. Fuck Palin, who’d rather talk than think, and fuck Bachmann twice, brainless little fascist twit that she is.
Wow, treating a man on his appearance and how attractive he is? This kind of sexism is disgusting and I can’t believe people here haven’t pointed you out for being so demeaning towards a poor male by objectifying them.
/doublestandardbackon
Wow, I just watched the Olbermann clip and it was amazing. Yeah, he’s angry. SO ARE A LOT OF AMERICANS. It’s quite cathartic to hear your thoughts and views expressed as eloquently as he did. I thought his show of emotion was 100% appropriate.
we SHOULD be angry.
Longtime Lurker #78: “He’ll not win over anyone like this.”
(Ignore this if the italics ran amok on your post and I misread your intent. Please.):
So it’s about “winning” somebody over, aye? Can’t the guy just show how pissed off he is?
Can’t any of us vicariously resonate with his anger?
I know, hey, let’s put on a poll! You wanna conduct a poll? See how it won people over?
All this stuff has been seeping DEEEEEP into our thinking and wrecking the crap out of our reasoning faculties.
Joel #95?: “…Keith Olbermann…needs to find his own schtick and leave Murrow’s to the professionals. Why criticizing Olbermann would piss you off so much is beyond me. Are you Olbermann’s Mom?”
Well, I’ll explain it to you in a simple way so maybe even you might understand:
I listened to his words, compared it to those of Murrow. THAT’S ALL.
You were concerned with his style of delivery and compared that style with Murrow’s style. THAT’S ALL.
That makes you an idiot. See? Any jerk could see that. Ask your mom. She’ll know.
PS: where the hell are all the “professionals” who are appropriately pissed off? Oh, I see, anybody who looks like a tv journalist who appears before the camera AND is pissed off is doing a Murrow impersonation. Pardon me, I was wrong to think you an idiot.
#105: Please don’t. I don’t know how old Ms. Bachmann is, but any possibility that she might further contribute her genes for the cause of batshit insanity? is to be viewed with extreme fear. I think Gov. Palin’s already had way too many chances to contribute as well. Unless the contemplated act uses a tunnel-boring machine or something similar, I will confess to being frightened of the concept.
McCain? Responsibility?!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHSAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHHAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa
Sorry! I have no idea what came over m…
AAAAAAAAAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
#106, thanks. I was hoping for one of those.
#101, that’s an amazingly good analogy. I’ll probably end up using that again, if you don’t mind.
Michele Bachmann just got voted the Worst Person in the World on Keith Olbermann.
Looks like the RNC’s jumping ship on her.
“What patriotism should be is loving your country enough to tell it when it’s screwing up.”
This.
I have been wondering and wondering about the Obamanists and their motivation. The anger and demented points of view they express. This single article has made everything MUCH more understandable. You people get your “news” from Jon Stewart on the freaking Daily Show and from the cowardly carnival clown Olbermann on Countdown. The nightly Obamathons have clouded your judgements and psyches beyond repair. Olbermann in particularl is a disgraceful Anti American lying dirt bag punk. He, along with the leg tingling court jester Matthews, have ruined the once proud NBC brand and has made journalism as we once knew it a joke. Thank you Mr. Meyers for solving my dilemma. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
GregB, you just cemented my vote for Obama. Heinlein said to always vote in elections, but when in doubt, find a well meaning fool and ask his opinion. Then vote the other way. You sir, are that well meaning fool.
I’m guessing you’re a big Fox News fan now Greg?
Where do you get your info from?
Rev Big Dumb Chimp @ #117:
Why, from the voices in his head, of course!
I see that fact checking isn’t a big priority for Greg B.
But please, do go on about the importance of journalistic integrity, Greggy.