In the age of Daniel Pearl, who does a leading MSMer refer to as a "throat cutter"?
The essence of Howard Fineman's Newsweek column about the demise of Mitt Romney's campaign is the glorification of authenticity, and Romney's perceived lack of it. Ironic, then, that Fineman would resort to one of the oldest, and least authentic, journalistic dodges: suggest the worst about someone, then slyly slink away. To wit [emphasis added]:
[M]aybe the campaign revealed what his closest friends never imagined him to be. They thought he was a decent classy guy. But maybe he really is a soulless throat-cutter who would do and say anything to win.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was a good fellow who didn't know enough about national politics and listened to people who gave him bad, cynical advice.
Some doubt. Some benefit.
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Looks like hes been talking to Huckabee
February 7, 2008 - 23:15 ET by Daniel BakerHuckabee wished suicide and homicide on Romney in his interviews.
We'll probably hear lots
February 7, 2008 - 23:18 ET by MidAmericaWe'll probably hear lots of Mitt trashing from now on. They are afraid that he could pull a 'Reagan'. In four years he could come back and be unstoppable.
Exactly MA
February 8, 2008 - 00:06 ET by BarkerThose who would surrender to the real throat-cutters are deathly afraid of Mitt Romney.
Well said
February 8, 2008 - 06:56 ET by masslibertarianWell said
To quote Wisconsin
February 7, 2008 - 23:18 ET by Lame CherryTo quote Wisconsin, WHAT THE HELL?????
Who with any decency would ever say that about another person or it even occur to say that? It would never occur to me to come up with Hillary was a mindless throat slitter.............I have never heard the term in my life and would never equate the words joining together.
People like Fineman need to have the same things printed about them,
Perhaps Howard Fineman is a maniac baby rapist, but we will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is a "nice guy".
Fineman should fired after he apologizes......and get some Christian based counselling as that is just plain sick.
What Jack the Ripper has anything to do with a sucessful business and political America makes no sense. Is it that hard to just say people did not trust him for being genuine?
What will Fineman say about John McCain? Praise or lunatic attacks.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
Who with any decency would
February 8, 2008 - 07:29 ET by motherbeltWho with any decency would ever say that about another person or it even occur to say that?
Uh, no one (with any decency). Like Huckabee's oh-so-innocent "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the Devil are brothers?" Yeah, right, Mike you were just being "curious."
I love how these guys (like Fineman) just lob their bombs and go on. Rush is right when he calls them the "drive-by media."
"Maybe" is another of the most dishonest ways of getting one's personal opinion out without taking responsibility; right up there with "Some say" and There are those who say."
Mr. Fineman how would you like it if someone wrote about you and said "Maybe he really is a wife-beater....."
Mike Huckabee the "genuine article"? (you mean the Mike Huckabee who lost 100 lbs. to improve his appearance in preparation for this run?) Mrs. Clinton, who had to recast herself as some kind of centrist to get where she is? John McCain, who's running for the second time, in his 70's...no ambition there. They are all in it solely for "the good of the country" while Romney only had nothing but "his own ambition"????
I used to think Howard Fineman, even though an opinion writer, was capable of being reasonably objective. No more.
→ motherbelt
February 8, 2008 - 07:34 ET by Cool ArrowI know it's attractive to say Huckabee lost that weight for selfish political reasons, but the truth may fall more in line with selfish health reasons. After being diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, Huckabee put himself on a weight loss program. I like to think there are a lot of people who would take II Diabetes as a wakeup call.
Sorry, but I just don't see anything wrong with making a diet change to preserve or improve one's health.
♣ a seal
I didn't know that, and
February 8, 2008 - 08:11 ET by motherbeltI didn't know that, and good for him...but it was seen at the time as a signal that he was going to run for higher office. So a lot of people may not have known that. And his subsequent penchant for wanting to legislate good health does play into that ( the personal reason thing).
So I stand corrected. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
→ Legislating health
February 8, 2008 - 08:20 ET by Cool ArrowAnd that's a big issue especially if taxes are going to pay for healthcare.
That's precisely why government should stay out of it.
If my taxes go to support the healthcare of a smoking drunk, it is undeniable the relief I provide on the healthcare end promotes his continued drinking and smoking.
Long as my tax dollars aren't involved, the sumbitch can pickle his liver in all the ethanol he can get his hands on for all I care.
Precisely the reason God fearing, God loving Americans should not be forced to fund abortions.
♣ a seal
Cool, don't worry...if we
February 8, 2008 - 09:23 ET by motherbeltCool, don't worry...if we ever do get a universal health care plan, that will be taken care of. In England they are already discussing refusing treatment to those who are obese, denying surgery to smokers, etc. Given the fact that no country can possibly afford all the health care its citizens will require or demand, rationing at some point is a certainty.
→ sure mb
February 8, 2008 - 09:28 ET by Cool ArrowBut I work for a company whose health plan already foots the bill for stomach stapling. Imagine just how far out the government will go before taxpayers rein them in.
♣ a seal
..the voters in this country...made a grave mistake on Tuesday
February 7, 2008 - 23:36 ET by R D HelmI just finished listening to Mitt Romney's speech that he gave earlier today at the CPAC gathering. Unlike earlier, I was able to hear it through without any interruption. I am not normally a big consumer of speeches, or even debates, for that matter, as I generally see them for what they are.
However, after listening carefully to what this man had to say, I now believe he has a deep love for this country, along with a very real concern for its future. He appeared to have a tight grasp on the very real threat that the Islamo-supremecists pose to this country, and is one of the few presidential candidates that seems to actually "get it."
It is pure tragedy that he could not have said those (I believe) heart-felt words a week or two ago, as he may have been able to stay in the race had he done so. We are all the poorer for his dropping out of it.
As I log out of here tonight, I shall retire with the ingrained belief that the voters in this country, particularly on the conservative side, made a grave mistake on Tuesday. A mistake we will come to regret in short order.
Howard Fineman is way, way off the mark here.
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. -J.W. von Goethe
→ Mitt's speech
February 8, 2008 - 01:58 ET by Cool ArrowSuddenly, the day of his dropping out, Mitt is stricken with the ability to speak clearly and directly. Assigning fault where it belongs, solutions where they lie.
He lacked that straightforwardness in his campaign because those beliefs articulated today stand in contrast to his accomplishments in Massachussets. That's called baggage. Something many Conservatives were willing to overlook and gloss over.
But that baggage forced him to parse every statement of belief because his actions as Governor told a different story.
♣ a seal
Cool,
February 8, 2008 - 02:40 ET by R D HelmI know. I am just trying to deal with my current cynicism, as I have been in a bit of a funk for the last couple of days. I do not have a really good feeling about the future of my country at the moment, as I feel we as a nation are now standing at the proverbial fork in the road.
Every other truly free nation throughout recorded history has taken the wrong fork when they have reached the point where we are now.
Guess I'm just looking for something positive.
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. -J.W. von Goethe
→ Hold out for 2012
February 8, 2008 - 02:54 ET by Cool ArrowWe are taking the wrong fork. We have decided to continue voting ourselves money.
Our children will make the pragmatic decisions concerning what to do about bloated entitlements.
♣ a seal
Cool Arrow...you can't deny
February 8, 2008 - 06:45 ET by motherbeltCool Arrow...you can't deny that a lot of that "baggage" was hyped by the media, in a way, especially, that they didn't do for anyone else.
Holy Cow! Her Royal Clintoness needs a 20-mule team to drag her baggage behind her; but how much did you hear about it? Oh, no, that would be "the politics of personal destruction." Huckabee? How much did you hear about his "nanny-state" tactics and desires to run people's lives? McCain? You had his own colleagues saying they didn't think he was Presidential material for crying out loud!! But their love fest for him was second only to HRC's.
Back to Clinton: she's the one who should have had to slink away in 2000 when her husband's tenure was done. She should have had zero chance of being elected to anything, with her history. But no, off to NY she went, with Pat Moynihan's blessing, to be a Senator, and the entire MSM got a case of cheerful amnesia about her tenure. They dutifully folllowed her wishes about not taking questions during her "listening tour. Etc. etc, and so forth, as the King of Siam would say.
And the erstwhile Senator from Illinois: the only reason he doesn't have baggage is because he's too new to even own a suitcase.
I used to think the key was to no have a record at all for them to dig through for dirt, like Obama, but having a record is just fine if the MSM is willing to blow up parts of it and ignore others.
AS for your "wrong fork" statement...I agree. But the Republicans are taking that fork because the country as a whole wants them to. We are at the point where people vote for whoever will give them the most. And you're right about our grandchildren being saddled with the results of our selfishness.
There is debate about who said this (some say de Toqueville) but it's worth remembering:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of
government. It can exist only until the voters discover they can vote
themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the
majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits
from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always
collapses over a loose fiscal policy, always to be followed by a
dictatorship."
Sorry, but I'm still PO'd about the whole thing.
Man! I gotta quit these early morning rants!! Gets my blood pressure up and my day off to a lousy start!
→ Oh, I understand, motherbelt
February 8, 2008 - 06:49 ET by Cool ArrowBut you gotta admit the Mitt Romney we saw and heard yesterday was a far cry from the word parsing Mitt Romeny we saw in the debates.
He should have run his campaign the way he gave his speech yesterday. He'd still be in it, and possibly winning it.
He should've looked into the camera and said "Of course I raised taxes in Mass. The budget demanded it. Instead he played it cutesy with "I didn't raise taxes, I raised fees" That's semantic dancing, and it didn't differentiate him Huckabee one iota.
He should've said "I signed off on Socialized Healthcare in Mass. but my big regret is that it resulted in fifty buck abortions for anybody who wanted them. I won't get fooled again when it comes to understanding the ulterior motives of Liberals."
Instead, Romney bragged on his ability to implement Socialized Healthcare in Mass. as though it was some important accomplishment.
I have no doubt Mitt is a principled moral man, but he was too much influenced by his handlers. He wrote both of his best speeches all by himself, the Faith speech, and the Concession speech.
In 2012, he will do well to remember this.
♣ a seal
motherbelt,
February 8, 2008 - 16:28 ET by R D HelmMan! I gotta quit these early morning rants!! Gets my blood pressure up and my day off to a lousy start!
LOL-Yeah, and I gotta stop it with the late night ones, too, because it makes for really lousy sleeping.
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. -J.W. von Goethe
Nothing new
February 8, 2008 - 07:10 ET by masslibertarianCool, I'm going to disagree with you a little here.
I've seen Mitt speak to groups of donors/supporters in person on several occassions. He didn't say anything in the CPAC speech that I haven't heard him say before, except that part at the end :-(
→ Mitt's speeches
February 8, 2008 - 07:21 ET by Cool ArrowHe wasn't railing against entitlements in the debates, he was crowing about the great Healthcare bill he passed in Mass. And he wasn't holding the illigitimacy rate up for scrutiny.
He wasn't preaching personal accountability. The only candidate doing that was Ron Paul.
♣ a seal
Disagree "a little"
February 8, 2008 - 11:27 ET by masslibertarianPoint taken. That's why I said I disagree with you "a little."
His speeches, at least the ones at which I've been present, have always featured the themes he hit at CPAC, including the items you referred to (entitlements, illegitimacy and personal accountability). I've even heard that "France of the 21st century" line before.
The debates are a different animal, though. More of a sound-bite format where it's hard for the candidate (any candidate) to state his vision.
Yes, and I'd imagine John
February 7, 2008 - 23:39 ET by fitzfongYes, and I'd imagine John Edwards is still in the batter's box admiring that towering Home Run Fineman claimed he hit when he dragged his sick wife deeper into his Presidential campaign....Because if you want a decent, classy guy as opposed to a soulless throat-cutter, look no further than John Edwards. And look no further than that genius Howard Fineman to find honest political analysis without the hint of hyperbole or bias. (sarc off)
Amen, fitz!!! That was the
February 8, 2008 - 06:46 ET by motherbeltAmen, fitz!!! That was the Brass Ring when it comes to being soulless!
Oh Howie...your every
February 7, 2008 - 23:46 ET by bigtimerOh Howie...your every mothers dream....journalistic integrity at it's finest.
Journalistic integrity is an
February 8, 2008 - 01:11 ET by Scout FinchJournalistic integrity is an oxymoron.
It doesn't even flow when
February 7, 2008 - 23:51 ET by tracheostomyIt doesn't even flow when read aloud. It's like he had a college journalism student covering for him or something.
-PJ
"Trake: Your lofty convictions are another blemish on the rump of congregational sectarianism." -Tumbler 5/15/07
Cut the boy some slack...he
February 7, 2008 - 23:54 ET by fitzfongCut the boy some slack...he probably developed that style of communication while having Chris Matthews constantly cut across him on MSDNC.
HAY H Foulman, Mitt is a Mormon, NOT A mUSLiM
February 7, 2008 - 23:55 ET by upcountrywatermuslim baby care.
or
Mormon child care.
That makes you a MORON
iranian uranium; iranian uranium, iranian uranium..
4 (unthinkable) H-bombs, NOW THAT'S SOME CHANGE
Keep the change Bob. h/t Sam Peckinpah
Sounds more like a David
February 8, 2008 - 00:24 ET by maggieqpublicSounds more like a David Shuster comment.
Give this moron a break. As
February 8, 2008 - 00:58 ET by Captain RepusGive this moron a break. As a member of the MSDNC brain trust we must make allowances for occasions of 'speaking from the liberal heart'.
Right metaphor - wrong person
February 8, 2008 - 05:58 ET by Gat New York"soulless throat-cutter "
Howie - Does the name Clinton come to mind?
“Romney failed because he
February 8, 2008 - 06:01 ET by USA4freedom“Romney failed because he ran as something he's not.”
maybe he really is a soulless throat-cutter who would do and say anything to win.
So Mr. Fineman, who are you voting for OB or Billary... unbelievable.
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party,the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
Turn off the TV, cancel the
February 8, 2008 - 06:33 ET by NortoTurn off the TV, cancel the newspaper. One month of that and the msm would change its tune. I also am beginning to wonder if it serves any purpose to give these people any exposure, even here. Is it possible NB has more readers than newsbleak?
" But maybe he really is a
February 8, 2008 - 16:11 ET by Keith" But maybe he really is a soulless throat-cutter who would do and say anything to win."
Sounds about right to me! Most of you who supported Romney have done so stating that his prior support for BABY KILLING, was just because he was this "conservative" running for office in "communist" Mass and he needed to get ELECTED! So the appellation "soulless throat cutter" would seem MILD when applied to a man who would publicly sanction the MURDER OF CHILDREN, even though he was( allegedly) personally against it! What other definition would fit? Someone who champions the killing of children for votes, seems indeed SOULLESS and since they do far more to aborted babies than merely cut their throats, seems like he got Mitt right in one shot! Indeed they vacuum out their parts and throw them in the garbage, something that his alleged religion didn't prohibit him from ENFORCING ENTHUSIASTICALLY! Mitt SUCKS, good riddance to bad rubbish!
OH, and all that junk about his "great speech"? He's just adept at telling idiots who'll believe anything WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR. Or have you amnesiacs already forgotten that he RAILED against an election opponent and practically foamed at the mouth, while declaring with righteous anger, that he had NOTHING TO DO WITH REPUBLICANS LIKE RONALD REAGAN and BUSH Sr. ? Somebody can actually get elected on the basis of REPUDIATING everything you allegedly stand for and then come along a few years later and as long as he promises you your stupid tax cuts you'll believe him. Man, you people are gullible and pathetic.
Oh keith... Please give
February 8, 2008 - 16:19 ET by bigtimerOh keith...
Please give it a rest...Romney is gone now...you should be pleased as punch.
bt... Keith get's his
February 8, 2008 - 16:29 ET by Clear thinkerbt...
Keith get's his marching orders from Fred Phelps, so give him a break, it's not his fault.
BTW... Are you listening to Ann?
The Conservative movement is about to be reborn.
I get my marching orders
February 8, 2008 - 16:41 ET by KeithI get my marching orders from Jesus Christ you reprobate piece of nothingness.
Keith... You get points
February 8, 2008 - 16:44 ET by Clear thinkerKeith...
You get points for orginality "reprobate piece of nothingness".
I can honestly say that I have never been called that before.
The Conservative movement is about to be reborn.
Wow, Clear. Keith has been told by JC
February 8, 2008 - 16:49 ET by RJthat you've been rejected by God? That's a dark, dark corner of the world our Keith lives in......I wonder who's REALLY whispering in his ear.....
"He was a would-be sharp operator who lacked for the satisfaction of his ambition only the quality of sharpness and who expended all of his energies on preserving his opinions from contamination." -Michael Chabon, "Gentlemen of the Road"
Hi Ct... Yes...and as
February 8, 2008 - 16:44 ET by bigtimerHi Ct...
Yes...and as usual she is correct!
How do idiots like Fineman get their jobs???
February 8, 2008 - 16:36 ET by mattmIf all you have to do to become a well paid member of the media is to write inarticulate nonsense, where can I sign up?
I'm sure I could do it. All I'd have to do is think of the most outrageous Left-wing idiocy, write it down, send it in and collect my paycheck.
I'll need the extra money once my taxes go up.