Dem McDermott: 'Little Baby Jesus And All This Stuff'
Was Jim McDermott mocking Christmas? View the video and be the judge. On this evening's Hardball, the left-wing Democrat [but I repeat myself] from Washington was making the case for the extension of unemployment benefits.
MCDERMOTT: This is Christmas-time. We talk about Good Samaritans, the poor, the little baby Jesus in the cradle and all this stuff. And then we say to the unemployed we won't give you a check to feed your family. That's simply wrong.
Chris Matthews, interestingly, took umbrage at what he clearly took to be McDermott's mocking tone. View video after the jump.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: OK, well Christmas isn't just "that stuff," by the way, just to correct you from my point of view. I don't know what yours is, congressman, but I wouldn't call Christmas just "that stuff." It happens to be my favorite day of the year for every possible reason, including religion.
McDermott is the same man who accidentally-on-purpose omitted "under God" when leading the Pledge on the House floor.
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Comments
What do you mean....
Submitted by Prester John on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 9:36pm.
"...WE won't give you a check to feed your family"?
In the immortal words of Tonto when he found himself and the Lone Ranger surrounded by a bunch of wild injuns, "What do you mean WE, white man?"
How much have YOU contributed to any charities or the US Treasury, congressman?
And while you're writing a personal check to help the poor out, why don't you ask some of your multi-millionaire comrades like Pelosi, Harman, Kerry, et al in the House and Senate to chip in a few extra bucks?
"The Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"
www.campaignforliberty.com
Just reduce the staff
Submitted by ThisnThat on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 7:44am.
Heck, if he would simply reduce the size of his staff, he could feed dozens.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
I don't understand
Submitted by Calypso Jones on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 9:43pm.
why this guy still holds office.
McDermot has the phony
Submitted by Mark Finkelstein on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 10:10pm.
McDermot has the phony political courage of someone from a safe political district: the very liberal Seattle.
Gerrymandering...
Submitted by Red Jeep on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 9:25am.
...most likely.
Because the people in his
Submitted by misterbee241 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 10:48am.
Because the people in his district, those that elected him, are just like him. He is representing like-minded people. Birds of a feather, you know.
Christmas
Submitted by Larry Linn on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 10:03pm.
My grandparents were Christians in Northern Ireland. She was Protestant, and he was Catholic. They had to flee after death threats. When I became of age, I volunteered and joined the Army, and I served as an 11B Infantryman. Most of my time in the field was in squad or platoon size operations. We would have discussions about what we were fighting for. It always came back to the “Bill of Rights”. To me the most important was “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
What did our Founding Fathers have to say about religion:
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson (letter to Peter Carr, 10 August 1787):
"All natural institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason;
"Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.", John Madison;
“Lighthouses are more helpful than Churches”, Benjamin Franklin
I can never join Calvin in
Submitted by Radical1979 on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 10:37pm.
I can never join Calvin in addressing his god. He was indeed an Atheist, which I can never be; or rather his religion was Daemonism. If ever man worshipped a false god, he did.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823
I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted,
for instance, the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and govern’d it by his
Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls
are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. Ben Franklin
Have you ever read the Bible
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 7:48am.
Have you ever read the Bible and how they address their God? How they question their God? Even the profits who lose faith in thier God? We must question out faith for it to be stronger. Calvin was not an Atheist.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed
Submitted by misterbee241 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 10:51am.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.Don't read God there, read religion there!
Submitted by herc0 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 12:36pm.
Some of you misinterpret, in my opinion, what our founding fathers felt, and stated. IMO, they were down on organized religion, not personal relationship with God the creator. Please read carefully.
And when you see the Swaggarts and others, you get my point, as they did back then. Jesus was always down on self-righteous characters. Those who bloviated like this congressman.
"Yea, let God be true, and every man a liar, that you might be justified when you are judged."
Bingo, herco. People usually
Submitted by ML Stovall on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 1:40pm.
Bingo, herco. People usually do tend to confuse God with 'religion'.
No, YOU read, herco!
Submitted by C-townGiant on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 4:30pm.
What Larry was referring to, the so-called "Establishment Clause," is used as a blunt-force object to beat ANY mention of God out of the public view.
That's why Philadelphia (before the outcry made them change their minds) was getting rid of the "Christmas Village" to replace it with the "Holiday Village."
That's why when you shop incessantly in the mall to satisfy your "Christmas" greed, store clerks rarely wish you a "Merry Christmas." Instead, you get the far more generic, and certainly benign "Happy Holidays."
No...Larry is all about freedom FROM religion, not freedom of religion. And anytime you and your ilk (like Larry) try to make the Founding Fathers to be irreligious men, you are making up history as YOU see fit.
Because you can't handle the truth (h/t Jack Nicholson).
Characters like Swaggart, Baker, et al are con men. They are not men of the cloth. They are hucksters out to make a buck. Nothing else. The real men of the cloth are at your local parish neighborhood church. Maybe you should try going....
Gee whiz, Larry...
Submitted by C-townGiant on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 10:48pm.
I would have though that the concept of free speech would have been the most important part of the Bill of rights, as everything else flows from the ability to speak freely.
And, for the record, it is JAMES Madison, and for every anti-religion quote you come up with, I can come up with three pro-religion quote, such as:
How about Benjamin Franklin, you ask?
Who's next? How about Thomas Jefferson?
And, finally, ol' Tom Paine, from The Existence of God (1810):
Sorry, i could only find two from Paine, though he was nowhere near as prolific as Madison, Franklin, or Jefferson.
Of course, you conveniently left out George Washington, John Adams, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Charles Carroll, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Rush, and many others who wrote and spoke glowingly of Divine Providence.
And, finally, lest you forget, there is always the inscription on the Liberty Bell to ponder:
“ Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof” [Leviticus 25:10]
MORAL - Do not enter a battle of wits unarmed, or, it is better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
BRAVO B-Town!
Submitted by Iowa Boy on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 12:30am.
It galls me to no end when some try to diminish the religious beliefs of the Founders when page after page after page written by their own hands speaks to the contrary. I just finished The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. If anyone, and I mean anyone tries to tell me that Dr. Franklin was not absolutely certain, not only the existance of God but, that he relied upon Him for guidance, I call them "liar" to their face.
Hear, Hear!!
Submitted by NC Boy on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 12:39am.
Thanks for such a complete rebuttal to a "quote picker". I have copied it for future reference (the sincerest form of flattery)!
Good stuff. If you post had
Submitted by misterbee241 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 10:52am.
Good stuff. If you post had a "like" button, I'd click it.
I believe what Larry is trying to say is...
Submitted by beauxdog on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 5:05am.
... religious hatred caused a lot of pain in his family's life... then made a poor choice of quotes to back it up.
In my opinion... "religion" is the Word of God filtered through man, which makes it imperfect. The Word of God is still perfect...man's interpretation is flawed... sometimes peacefully and sometimes violently so.
Please understand that I am NOT attacking God, Christianity, Judism or any other "religion". A man's personal relationship with God is his own business and is not to be taken lightly.
I am just saying to Larry... please don't blame God for the failures of men. From what little you said, it looks like your parents were able to do that. Why can't you?
Well, Larry...
Submitted by ThisnThat on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 7:55am.
...you must have been loads of fun to be around in the Army (and maybe even today). What other kind of "bash America" rants did you heap upon your squad members? You've been with NB for two whole days now, and you use your first post to (a) bash our Bill of Rights, and (2) shower us with your total ignorance of our Founding Fathers? Wow. Can't wait to see what other kind of nonsense you have in store for us in the future. Welcome to NB!
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Remeber 'Superman Returns'?
Submitted by Slyrr on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 10:25pm.
The writers of the movie 'Superman Returns' were whacked over the head by the PC thugs. Instead of 'Truth, justice and the American way', they had the paper editor, Perry White, say 'Truth, justice, all that stuff'. They were scared to death of having anything in their movie that might be considered pro-american. They might as well have said 'all that garbage', for the disrespect it showed.
McGimlet's comment is of the same stripe. When he says, 'baby Jesus and all that stuff', he's simply usurping sentiments that he doesn't believe in to take advantage of the gullible and the ignorant. Just like John Kerry did when he tried to saunter into a sporting goods store during his ill-fated presidential bid.
Kerry undoubtedly said to himself, 'Well, I have to go into this place and pretend I'm a dumb hayseed hick and fool these yokels into thinking that I'm one of them. So I'd better talk like a dumb yokel hayseed hick as part of my trick.' Then he stumps up to the counter, trying to look tough, and says, 'Can I get me a hunting license?'
It fell flat. He may as well have said, 'I come down here-a dad-gum git me a huntin' license!'
McGimlet's words about Christ came off just as phony. He gives the impression that he either never believed in Christ, or that he's been away from church so long himself that he's forgotten what it means to be a Christian.
home of the lavender mafia
Submitted by wizardjr on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 10:39pm.
Poor Seattle. They were overrun with the Queer Force some time ago. These left coasters ruined so much of Kalifornicate with taxes for this and taxes for that, that life was too expensive. So, naturally, they fled to a new venue with lower taxes and lower government intrusion. And then.... proceeded to do it all over again!
HEY GUYS, STOP TOUCHING YOUR FEMININE SIDE! It's bleeding Marxist stupidity on all of us.
Huh? Just pass the tax cut
Submitted by Snappy on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 11:00pm.
Huh? Just pass the tax cut extension. That was plainly stated to be priority number one. Then show how you can pay for the extensions. Its easy... of course if you cant pay for the extensions then I guess we will have to cut them off after a measly 99 weeks.
Democrat math
Submitted by ckc1227 on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 11:39pm.
Only a democrat could argue that receiving unemployment for two years(aka, welfare) somehow equates to not receiving a check.
And, only a democrat could argue
Submitted by ThisnThat on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 8:03am.
...that receiving unemployment checks creates jobs, while tax cuts don't.
(Pelosi, 2 Dec 2010): "Unemployment insurance injects demand into the economy, it creates jobs to help reduce the deficit," Pelosi said.
Pelosi says "history shows" tax cuts do not create jobs. "It does not create jobs. I mention this because this is the context in which we bring up this tax cut for middle-income families in America today," she said.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Perhaps not he did not
Submitted by Chris Norman on Thu, 12/02/2010 - 11:51pm.
Perhaps not he did not "mock" Christmas, but he sure trivialized it - clumsily and carelessly using it trying to score political points. He is a politician who, everytime he opens his big fat mouth, shows he has been around way too long, has grown way too comfortable, and is way overdue for forced retirement.
Christmas
Submitted by indiechad on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 12:11am.
What does Christmas have to do with unemployment benefits? When the economy is healthier and unemployment compensation is back to the regular 26-week maximum, should we still not allow benefits to expire during the month of December becuase it makes us feel bad? Week 25 is the last week of November and week 26 is the first week of January and the weeks in-between are a bonus? It's a pathetic attempt to use emotion instead of logic to persuade people that extending unemployment is the right idea. Sell it on its merits if you're going to sell it at all, Congressman.
I'd like to see
Submitted by HockeyKid on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 2:09am.
McDermott have to go out and work for a living.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
It happens to be my favorite
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 7:54am.
It happens to be my favorite day of the year for every possible reason, including religionChris is not a true Christian as he would have said Jesus is the reason for CHRISTMAS, instead he says some crap about RELIGION? Fake outrage.
Jesus was unemployeed
Submitted by Vonu on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 9:25am.
I don't recall him whining about a check.
Did 2 million people get laid off on the same day?
Submitted by Red Jeep on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 9:29am.
The MSM seems to be spinning this story, giving the impression that millions will lose benefits on the same day/week. The only way that can happen is if millions were laid off the same day/week.
I thought what the Republican
Submitted by Bruzilla on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 10:22am.
I thought what the Republican were saying is "you've had over two years to find a job. If you haven't found one by now, ruining Christmas is on you, not us. You want your kids to have a nice Christmas? Go get a friggin job!"
I have no problem helping
Submitted by misterbee241 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 10:45am.
I have no problem helping anybody in need. I have, on occasion, given someone the last dollar in my pocket so they could eat. No brag, just fact. But are we really helping people by giving them two years of unemployment? Is this not a way for the liberals to keep people beholden to the government, and when people are beholden, they can be controlled?