Charlie Rose Endorses America is 'Not Greatest Country' View of Aaron Sorkin Show
In Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO drama The Newsroom, the lead character Will McAvoy, played by actor Jeff Daniels, rattles off America’s failings and blasts that “It’s not the greatest country in the world.” It’s an opinion of America that CBS This Morning co-anchor Charlie Rose admitted, on his Thursday night PBS show, he shares. Rose invited on Sorkin, Daniels and actress Emily Mortimer to promote the show about a disgruntled cable news anchor and told Sorkin he agreed with McAvoy’s and presumably Sorkin’s dim view of America: “I mean this is your definition of the world right there. And by the way, mine too. I mean you know what’s happened to the country.”
In the scene, McAvoy rants: “There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories. Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined 25 of whom are allies.” (video after the jump)
The following excerpts are from the June 21 edition of PBS’s Charlie Rose show:
CHARLIE ROSE: But I mean even the opening scene where he finally let’s all this crap go along and you know he’s saying, he’s just being funny and one line after another and finally just erupts. Right? I mean that was as much Sorkin speak as I can possibly imagine. I mean this is your definition of the world right there. And by the way, mine too. I mean you know what’s happened to the country.
AARON SORKIN: Yeah, it is. I mean it’s-
ROSE: We’re 17th in education and all these kinds of things that are true.
SORKIN: All those things are true. Now this isn’t a ventriloquist act. I`m not, you know, using actors and characters to -- to say the things I want to say. You know I’ve created a world and I’m looking for points of friction and that kind of thing.
...
SORKIN: He is a moderate Republican. And he is going to, yeah, he’s gonna be the one
to stand up and basically say what Jeb Bush is now saying but he’s going to say it louder, much tougher and for an hour every night on TV. That he feels that it’s got to be someone like him who stands up to the radical fringe of the Republican Party and not a liberal who is doing it.
ROSE: Does this in your -- in your own vision reflect what the country needs in terms of his political leadership?
AARON SORKIN: Yes, it does.
ROSE: Alright, this I think is a rant we had at the university. Roll tape. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the people. Why is it --
JEFF DANIELS as WILL MCAVOY: It’s not the greatest country in the world professor, that’s my answer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You’re saying --
MCAVOY: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s talk about --
DANIELS: Fine, Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah it accounts for a penny out of her pay check but he gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn’t cost money, it costs votes, it`s costs air time and column inches. You know why people don’t like liberals, because they lose.
If liberals are so (inaudible) smart how come they lose so goddamn always?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey.
MCAVOY: And with a straight face you`re going to tell students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom. Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom! So, 207 sovereign states in the world like 180 of them have freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
MCAVOY: And yeah you, sorority girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know. And one of them is there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force and number four in exports.
We lead the world in only three categories. Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined 25 of whom are allies. Now none of this is the fault of a 20 year-old college student but you nonetheless are without a doubt a member of the worst period generation period ever period. So when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you’re talking about. Yosemite?
- Geoffrey Dickens's blog
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Comments
Not The Greatest?
Submitted by Rikki_Doxx on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 5:09pm.
Then why the effing heck do all these people want to come here? Oh, do you think perhaps it's the greatest welfare country in the work; when you can come here illegally and get all sorts of benefits American citizens can't get? Would that be why? Maybe Charlie Rose would be happier in a really socialized country, say, Cuba, or North Korea? People are clamoring to get into those countries to they have to opt out and land here in this miserable place according to Mr. Rose. He and Mr. Aaron Sorkin should have a blast there.
The rant of an ingrate
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 5:16pm.
Can the writer of this rant pick a better country?
And the whine about defense spending! It's not a damned numbers game - it's a safety and security thing that cannot be mentioned in terms as shallow as that in this childish rant. Meaning: you can't sit and bitch about how your country isn't the greatest in the world, then proceed to blast and badmouth your country, without being protected and defended by people guaranteeing your freedom to sit and bitch.
And no, I don't care if this is some ranting by a fictional character. You cannot convince me that the writers of the script, the editors, and the actor spouting the lines don't wholeheartedly endorse what is being said 100%.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Not to nitpick, but…
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 6:12pm.
“In the scene, McAvoy rants: “… 178th in infant mortality, …””
Uhh… isn’t that a good thing?
--------------------------------
(EDIT) Additional info:
For every 1,000 births:
In 2005 the U.S. IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) was 6.92 (5 yr. Average)
In 2010 the U.S. IMR was 6.81 (5 yr. Average)
Under the last 3 years (during the Obama Administration) the U.S. IMR has gone up to 7.07.
Just saying.
- Grump :o(
Those stats that Sorkin uses (and yes, he's fooling
Submitted by WhoIsJohnGalt on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 9:28pm.
NO ONE, those are his words) are so completely bogus that any eight grader could tear them apart.
Let's just start with the infant mortality rate...does anyone believe that China or Chile, or Botswana or Uganda or Korea (either one) or Philippines or Iceland or Russia or Bosnia or South Africa or...or...or...actually reports all the births from out in the hinterlands? Or do they only collect the data from the hospitals in the larger urban areas? And that we record still borns, where many countries do not? Or that we bring many more babies to term that otherwise wouldn't even make it to term in other countries with less advanced medicine?
Oh, wait...maybe he's including all the abortions that the left is so proud of? In that case, maybe he's right.
Not worthy of comment really
Submitted by Semus on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 5:41pm.
Not worthy of comment really other than their comments are completely disingenuous and they should be ashamed. Any loss of freedoms in this country are directly due the the freedom loving leftwings policies that our freedom loving democrats and cowardly RINO's have put in place. Also there are some intangibles they seem to want to forget. I noticed they didn't mention China's or Russia's defense budget.
Perhaps and finally maybe they'll leave the country they love to hate so much.
Don't give 'em ideas
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 5:54pm.
Be thankful they didn't mention China's or Russia's defense budget. Had they done so, they would have ranted about how those peace-loving countries only spend that much on defense because they feel the need to defend themselves from the evil United States. Cue another round of America blasting/badmouthing from the Leftists.
In their happy world, if we simply stopped spending money on the evil military and focused more on babying people like the great countries of Europe, China and Russia would instantly stop doing so, and the world would become a massive rose garden, filled with meadows that are fertile pastures for growing rainbows (h/t Porcupine Tree) and magical unicorns everywhere.
To the Left, the greatest threat to everything on earth is the United States as it currently exists.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
You forgot...
Submitted by WhoIsJohnGalt on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 9:29pm.
everyone also gets a puppy.
I want a puppy...
Submitted by Sude23 on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 10:19pm.
I want a puppy...
Defense Budget Sources
Submitted by WahWahWeeks on Tue, 07/03/2012 - 4:09am.
Wikipedia is my first stop. Didn't help. Where can I get your figures from?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
Thanks :)
Being the greatest
Submitted by Someone Said on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 5:55pm.
It's a rather narcissistic way to view our country, especially considering how many narcissists have never left their home state.
Narcissism?
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 6:46pm.
Thank you for indicating that you are likewise embarrassed and ashamed of your own country.
Try this, sweetie: I have been to most of the states in this country. The only ones I have left to visit are in the upper midwest and a good portion of New England. And I have been to 13 countries, one of which no longer exists.
America has to be the greatest country in the world or my ancestors wouldn't have bothered coming here. One half of my family could have remained in Germany and participated in the Wirtshaftwunder period, but they figured that going to America was a better idea. So far they have been proven right.
I have met people in other countries who want to come here or were in the process of doing so because, as one woman told me, in her country, she has gone as far as she can. In the United States, she could and would go further.
Narcissistic? Only to someone like you who considers patriotism a disease of the bourgeosie.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Great story. Tell it again, please.
Submitted by Someone Said on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 7:27pm.
What is your point in wasting my time? To tell me I'm no patriot because I question people who ignorantly claim the United States to be the bestest of the best even though they have nothing to compare it to, other than some romanticized WW2 movie?
I'll tell you kiddie boy, I love this country and it is the best, and I have the experiences and knowledge to back this claim up.
Now tell your story about your genealogy again.
Hateful snobbery from "Someone Said"
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 9:11pm.
What is your point in wasting my time? To tell me I'm no patriot because I question people who ignorantly claim the United States to be the bestest of the best even though they have nothing to compare it to, other than some romanticized WW2 movie? Wasting YOUR time? You didn't have to read anything I typed, and nor did you have to come back to NB. You decided to darken the threads again because you fear for Leftism. You'll crap on a few threads and then leave for a few weeks, hoping we forget your M.O.
So, let's see here. First you attack people for being patriots, and now you tell me that your attack is rooted in snobbery? Who died and appointed YOU the approval of patriotism?
So many people in this country don't have a valid passport, or even left their home COUNTY. So what? Why are Americans REQUIRED to leave the country in order to be patriotic? YOU have self appointed yourself the sole arbiter of patriotism? What, YOU say that if people do not have the "experiences" or "Knowledge" YOU have to back up their patriotism, then YOU will not allow them to be patriotic?
I do not have to necessarily leave the country to figure out that it is special and that it IS the bestest of the best, as you say. All I need to do is to consult history. I also need look no further than places like Cuba which has people who would do anything to get to this country, including putting together ramshackle rafts to get across the Straits of Florida.
If my presenting you personal examples about why this country is the bestest of the best pisses you off...poor baby. Deal with it. You do not have to respond to any of my posts or read them.
And you really don't love this country, experiences and knowledge to the contrary, or else you wouldn't be a Leftist who loves a President who hates this country for not being a European style Socialist babying nanny state.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Ever give your mom a Mother's Day card or
Submitted by bkeyser on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 9:11pm.
say, "You're the best, Dad"? If so, that was a pretty narcissistic view of parenthood given that you've probably not experienced a significant number of other parents to compare them to. Then again, maybe you're just here to throw immature insults at people in the form of straw men; because thus far you've neither identified any of these people who've never left their state, nor offered any evidence that you love this country or have the experience and knowledge to, uh, love this country. Or whatever point you were trying to make with that part of you last comment.
I've read through some of your more recent comments and oddly, this last one was one of your most coherent. Which isn't saying much.
ss,Toadstool, Share with us all them "claims"..
Submitted by upcountrywater on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 10:04pm.
I'm so into all 'Dat new age goo.
Yea I got a filter for that...
Hose me with theory...
Cut lose ,pal...share..
A start here sort of question. Did American MEN land on the moon,less than FIFTY YEARS ago?
You Didn't Build That.
You aren't a patriot but you
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sat, 06/23/2012 - 3:57am.
You aren't a patriot but you are a useful idiot. Your previous posts tell a story of liberal buffoonery. BTW, I don't consider attending an OWS event as experince.
some of us got permanently injured at 18 for this country
Submitted by dmacleo on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 6:53pm.
you're welcome.
I don't have to have a forced abortion in China
Submitted by Radical1979 on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 8:41pm.
To know that country is not half as good as the U.S. the beauty of the modern world is that we can be informed, through various media, about other places.
However, I, and others on this site, have visited foreign countries. Are you saying I must visit every country on earth to express an opinion?
Nice deflection of Unsane's point that he's been in eighteen other countries.
13, really
Submitted by Unsane on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 9:12pm.
Well...thirteen other countries. I sure hope that qualifies me as patriotic under Someone Said's rules of patriotism!
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
And
Submitted by grammajane on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 5:57pm.
I used to think that Rose had some class..............20 yrs ago. PBS takes all the cash they need from tax-payers and this is their thank-you. It is a disgrace for that hateful and disrespectful network to receive a penny. Sad, truly sad!!!
Charlie Rose is a
Submitted by Staying Normal ... on Sun, 06/24/2012 - 4:42am.
Charlie Rose is a psuedo-intellectual metro-sexual sissy who kisses up to all his lefty guests. He's a lousy wine sipping coward...He would be sitting around that table smoking cigars and sucking up to Castro if he got the interview. It's pathetic that taxpayers subsidize him.
I have a different interpretation of this line
Submitted by panzerakc on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 6:27pm.
"I mean you know what’s happened to the country.”
Yes, I do.
The Left took over.
I also think those who don't think this is the greatest county should be forcibly relocated to some place like North Korea or Venezuela, or maybe Iran, and have to live there for a year.
And not a year as some chi-chi celebrity, either. They should have to live a year as an average man or woman on the street in those other countries.
And at the end of that year, if they still think so badly of America, they don't have to come back!
Memo to all LIberals
Submitted by needle on Fri, 06/22/2012 - 7:21pm.
Question 1) What IS the greatest country in the world?
Question 2) If it is not America, why have you not moved there? (And make it convincing lest you betray your unpatriotic hate-America-first penchant.)
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Yeah, we know Charley.
Submitted by James Youngblood on Sat, 06/23/2012 - 3:24pm.
"I mean you know what’s happened to the country.”
Thanks to you and your kind, Barrack Obama is what's happened to this country.
J. Youngblood