There’s not much to really write about after the GOP Presidential Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California a few hours ago. I give the overall debate a 3 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being off the hook and 1 an absolute bore.
Current GOP front-runner and Texas Governor Rick Perry won. Well, he won by default. He won because none of the other candidates could actually land a political punch that didn’t seem contrived and insincere. When Romney and Perry attacked each other’s job record, early in the evening, the entire exchange between them with each pointing out that previous Governors Michael Dukakis in Massachusetts and George W. Bush in Texas were the real job creators in their states it seemed almost childish.
In addition, when Representative Ron Paul attacked Perry for not being nearly as conservative as he says he is, Perry accused Paul of betraying Ronald Reagan’s GOP. If you’ve seenRon Paul’s latest ad TRUST which completely disses Rick Perry you may have thought Paul would’ve hit Perry a lot harder than that but he didn’t. I guess Paul decided he had more important things to tell the American people for example how he would eliminate airport security, dismantle FEMA andget us a gallon of gas for a silver dime!
And Former Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman, oh man, the guy just seemed out-of-place up there.
Yes, really that’s the best they could do. And Tea Party favorite, Representative Michele Bachmann, wasn’t really given the chance to say much she was thrown a couple of questions here and there but nothing that could really get her going. And the other three candidates, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum received the same treatment as Bachmann.
So with just a few sparks here and there from the other candidates Romney and Perry were allowed to pretty much go after each other and we expected that since the two have been declared the ones to beat with Rick Perry now leading most of the national polls.
But what was surprising, to me, was how easily the six other candidates were marginalized and dismissed. When either moderator, NBC’s Brian Williams or Politico’s John Harris decided to ask any of the other candidates a question I’m sure I’m not the only one who was thinking “Why are you guys even bothering?” since most of the debate was centered on either Romney or Perry.
To be honest, if I had been one of the other candidates on stage tonight I wouldn’t be hard press to consider the entire evening a waste of my time.
Keith Olbermann, the dude that made MSNBC has decided to ditch the liberal news channel or is it the other way around? I dunno I’m not an insider but I can honestly say that Olbermann’s audience, in fact most of us who follow politics, never saw this coming to say it’s a surprise is the equivalent of saying with certainty that Neil Armstrong never really walked on the moon it was all fake.
I can’t wait to read all the juicy details in Huffington Post, Salon or Politico ’cause you know it will be there but apparently Olbermann and MSNBC, according to the WSJ, had been discussing parting ways for some time. Really?! Wow! Who would’ve known? Countdown has been just as good as it always had been. And I think most of us thought the two parties had kissed and made up after Olbermann’s political donations to democratic campaigns this past November. Guess dude really wanted out wonder where he’s going to end up?
As a liberal political analyst or commentator he would probably be welcomed to comment on the day’s issues at most national networks but as an anchor what national network would be willing to have him on their prime time lineup? CNN? We’ll just have to wait and see.
And what will the 2012 presidential elections be without Keith Olbermann? I can’t imagine. Noooooooooooo! I will not tolerate such talk so let’s end it now…..lol oh well, no more Countdown, at least we still have Rachel Maddow.
The political commentator debuted his show’s new intro and their new HD studio a few minutes ago.
The studio is HUGE! They did a wide shot and panned around the entire studio at the beginning of the show and just by the looks of it you could fit my first studio apartment into that place!
The intro to the show is now a lot more serious however I think I prefer the old one but you never know this one will probably grow on me too.
I’m sure there’s going to be just as much drama in this studio as there was in the last one because wherever Chris Matthews goes drama is sure to follow.
See. it’s only been 20mins into Matthews’ ‘new’ show and he’s already called former Vice President Dick Cheney, “that man” in regards to the reported involvement of the VP in aCIA secret assassination program.
Did any of you happen to watch the Martin Bashir interview with Michael Jackson this weekend on MSNBC?
I didn’t see the interview when it first aired some years ago and I still didn’t get to watch the entire interview but the parts I watched were excruciating because Michael Jackson clearly needed therapy and over the years it seems he was allowed to get worst and worst.
Of all the signs Jackson displayed, that seem to indicate he needed some type of therapy, the one that leaped out at me was the answer he gave to Bashir about his plastic surgery. Jackson seemed to believe that he could actually convince Bashir and the world that he only had two operations and that he was born with pale skin and a dimpled chin! He even tried to convince Bashir that the changes occurred because of puberty and him ‘changing’. Whoa!
It was also hard to watch Jackson become visibly upset when it looks like his fans had turned against him after the Berlin baby dangling incident. And how abruptly his body language changes when Bashir starts to talk about the treatment he received from his father while growing up and why it’s understandable he would want to change his appearance because of all the teasing he received. And most adults that were tormented as children can definitely sympathize with Jackson here but it’s evident that even after all this time, some thirty to forty years later, Jackson had yet to come to terms with the treatment he received at the hands of his father Joe Jackson.
I don’t know if Jackson had ever been to or sought therapy or mental health treatment because the topic of therapy is still a big taboo in the black community however his behavior went beyond eccentric and his family and friends should have convinced him to seek help.
Many of those around him will now have to come to terms with the fact that Michael Jackson may have been crying out for help all this time and none them were able to or allowed themselves to hear his calls.
They just love these chases on MSNBC. And I guess we like them too because they wouldn’t cover them if we didn’t watch them right?
Anyway, today’s chase involved the driver of a white Dodge caravan and it occurred in Houston, Texas.
The driver successfully evaded cops for almost an hour and it only came to end when the driver abandoned the mini-van and tried to escape the police by jumping off the roof of a parking garage.
And of course MSNBC had to bring us minute to minute coverage this time it took a team of anchors to tell us what we were seeing on television. Tamron Hall, Contessa Brewer and David Shuster were there to give us their opinions on everything from the stupidity of the driver to the fact that we might see a man jumping to his death on live television. We didn’t see that of course but cable now has a new high-speed chase team.
Oh the drama!
Three anchors, high-speed chases and daytime television-just another day on MSNBC!
Sarah Palin has every right to demand an apology from David Letterman.
His jokewas crude and offensive and his apology or lack thereof was insufficient.
I just finished watching Ed Schultz and Danny Deutsch on MSNBC imply that Sarah Palin must be a bad mother because her teenage daughter got pregnant out of wedlock!
They also implied that Palin is a hypocrite because she’s using or has used her kids to get a political advantage and that she’s irresponsible for ‘parading’ her daughter around in the media and that she should expect attacks like the one Letterman dished out.
WHAT THE HELL!!
Are they serious?
It almost sounded like they were blaming Sarah Palin for Letterman’s tasteless joke!
Now I’m no fan of the Republican party or Sarah Palin (she has potential but she needs brush up on some critical areas) but I do know right from wrong and this isn’t a liberal v conservative issue it’s a simple right vs wrong.
Sarah Palin is not the first and she certainly wouldn’t be thelast politician to use their family for political advantage. All politicians have at some point in their political career used their relatives to appear more appealing to women, to men, more normal and ‘just like us’.
What do you think all those photo ops with Obama and his wife, Obama his wife and the kids, Obama, his wife, the kids and the dog are all about?
Hello??
Sarah Palin is not a horrible mother for ’using’ her family to get votes. She’s not a horrible mother for not knowing that her teenage daughter was sexually active either. Sarah Palin is not in the wrong here, at least, not this time. David Letterman is and anyone who suggests that his joke was acceptable because she brought her family into the political limelight is missing the point.
Just call it what it is. An offensive joke about a 14 year old girl who happens to be the daughter of a politician. If the joke was about any other 14yr old girl would we be laughing? No. So why should we laugh if it’s about Sarah Palin’s daughter? We shouldn’t and it’s unacceptable regardless of who the target was.
Unfortunately this type of offensive language and negative media coverage directed towards female politicians and their families prevent many women from seeking political office (it’s not going to stop me..you betcha..lol) and as a female politician your skin might be as tough as an elephant’s but your family members may not and ultimately many women choose to do what’s in the best interest of their families.
It’s a pity we’re still forced to make that choice family or career because many in the media aren’t big enough to leave our families out of it.
He’s done several interviews in the past few weeks from cable newstonews blogshe’s clearly testing the waters of public opinion to see if we’ve forgiven him for his indiscretion and private failings and if we’re willing to listen to him again.
Spitzer knows we’re angry as hell, at corporations, banks and Wall Street and as one of only a handful of men to havetaken them on successfully his opinion and insight on financial regulation and averting future financial diasasters is invaluable.
The financial crisis has created an opening for Spitzer and at first glance it appears that there will be no more wondering in the political wilderness for the disgraced attorney but before Spitzer leaps head first back into the public’s arms he should make sure that we are indeed willing to give him a second chance.
At best Spitzer’s record as governor receives a question mark because who knows what could’ve been? A 14 month term is not enough time to render judgment.
However, should Eliot Spitzer decide to seek public office again he has to accept that his wife and his daughters will be reliving his disgrace and humiliation alongside him.
He has to accept that no question will be out of bounds and that “No comment,” or “I’m not answering that,” will not be tolerated. Reporters and journalists will demand access to him at all times and full disclosure on every issue for obvious reasons. And on the campaign trail the mudslinging would be at unprecedented levels and the public probably will have no sympathy.
The road back to the top will be extremely, extremely difficult but it can be done indeed it has been done. And if the public has forgiven him and more importantly wants him back Spitzer is well on his way back to the top of New York politics.
I don’t know if I can ever separate his private shortcomingsfrom his well-intentioned, results driven crusades on behalf of the public interest and the fact that he is so talented and does brings so much to the public square does cause me to stop and think twice.
But Spitzer prosecuted men who were Johns and he even sought and signed stiff laws against the sex trade while spending over $80 000 on prostitutes.
In my book that makes him a hypocrite. Listen to him yes, vote for him probably not.
Chuck Todd is awesomeapparently not only do his coworkers like him but politicians actually seem to like and respect him too and that’s pretty cool and rare for a journalist-to be close but not too close.
Todd isn’t my favorite anchor/reporter of all time honestly I haven’t figured that one out yet..lol but he’s definitely up there withRick ’I rule the internets’ Sanchez- they are smart, exceptional, political, news characters/reporters/anchors and they make politics and the news interesting for the masses and I love that and I can’t wait to watch Todd’s new show.
Today on MSNBC I watched Contessa Brewer and her co anchor Melissa Francis smirk and commiserate with the wife of a man after she handcuffed and attacked her husband for not listening to her after he told her he wanted a divorce.
If you listen carefully to the call the man sounds absolutely terrified as he pleads for help from authorities. Not only did she handcuff them together, to the bed, she had changed the locks on their bedroom door and as he sought help she repeatedly bit him.
You hear the man plead with the operator as he details that she has a record of violence.
How is there anything funny about this?
We know that if the roles had been reversed and a man had handcuffed his wife and then attacked her we wouldn’t be laughing at least most of us wouldn’t.
But what if it were a woman and a woman? or a man and a man? Would we condone this? Is this level of violence and control acceptable in any type of relationship? No. And what about the brutality would we have even seen it on the national news if it were a same sex couple? No. Yet, we should know by now that regardless of the gender of the perpetrator this type of behavior is unacceptable.
That’s why domestic abuse is no laughing or smirking matter regardless of the gender of the perpetrator.
Granted the cases of women being the perpetrators of violence against male partners account for less than five percent or fewer of the domestic violence cases in the US. However, when we view a woman attacking a man as funny we are intentionally reinforcing a myth that men cannot be victims of domestic violence and also unintentionally suggesting that there is only one type of intimate partner violence man-woman and this myth continues to do harm to women and men in same sex relationships.
That’s why we have to stop looking at the gender of the perpetrator and view domestic violence as DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!!
And while I don’t agree with everything she says the other night on Rachel Maddow’s show Meghan McCain made a critical yet valid observation of the two major American political parties. She stated, ” I think there’s an extreme on both parties and I hate extreme…I have friends that are the most radically conservative and radically liberal people possibly ever and we all get along. We can find a middle ground.”
Some members of the far-right didn’t like her comments. And one far right conservative commentator Laura Ingraham took issue with McCain and instead of attacking her statements alone, Ingraham decided to attack Mccain’s weightas well.
How immature!
What does Meghan McCain’s weight have to do with her political observations or her opinions of the GOP?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
But today on The ViewMeghan McCain responded by suggesting that Ingrahams’ comments sends the wrong message to young women. It does. But McCain’s response sends an equally wrong message (see above video). By lashing out at Ingraham’s vitriolic comment in the crudest, most vulgar manner (she suggested that Ingraham should kiss her ‘ fat ass’) McCain barely, just barely retains the high ground in this fight and does nothing to raise the level of discourse either.
Did McCain think about the message SHE was sending to young women by responding in that manner? Is she telling young women that when attacked in a disgusting, idiotic manner you should respond with an equally distasteful, ugly remark?
McCain began her interview in an articulate, sensible manner and for the first few minutes of the interview she made me nod my head, in the ’you go girl’ fashion but as soon as the ‘kiss my fat ass’ remark left her lips I started to see this as a fight between two women rather than an honest discussion on the future of the GOP and the state of politics in America. I had to force myself to remember that this was not about the two of them.
Honestly, we can never stop people from ’getting personal’ but what we can do is teach high profile, politically active women how to effectively respond to public personal attacks.
Meghan McCain didn’t start this fight but she blew her opportunity to throw a winning knock-out punch and to convey an important message to young women.
Keith Olbermann leaving MSNBC!! OMG!!!
Three letters OMG!!!!!
Keith Olbermann, the dude that made MSNBC has decided to ditch the liberal news channel or is it the other way around? I dunno I’m not an insider but I can honestly say that Olbermann’s audience, in fact most of us who follow politics, never saw this coming to say it’s a surprise is the equivalent of saying with certainty that Neil Armstrong never really walked on the moon it was all fake.
I can’t wait to read all the juicy details in Huffington Post, Salon or Politico ’cause you know it will be there but apparently Olbermann and MSNBC, according to the WSJ, had been discussing parting ways for some time. Really?! Wow! Who would’ve known? Countdown has been just as good as it always had been. And I think most of us thought the two parties had kissed and made up after Olbermann’s political donations to democratic campaigns this past November. Guess dude really wanted out wonder where he’s going to end up?
As a liberal political analyst or commentator he would probably be welcomed to comment on the day’s issues at most national networks but as an anchor what national network would be willing to have him on their prime time lineup? CNN? We’ll just have to wait and see.
And what will the 2012 presidential elections be without Keith Olbermann? I can’t imagine. Noooooooooooo! I will not tolerate such talk so let’s end it now…..lol oh well, no more Countdown, at least we still have Rachel Maddow.
4 comments | tags: 2011, 2012 presidential elections, cnn keith olbermann, countdown, keith olbermann, keith olbermann quits, liberal, liberal commentators, liberal political analysts, moon walk, msnbc, neil armstrong, olbermann's political contributions, Politics, rachel maddow, surprises, where will keith olbermann go | posted in admirable people, current news analysis, democrats, just because, liberals, Politics, Pop culture, popular people, Social issues, The next four years.., the press, tv shows, you gotta be kidding me..