Eleanor Clift Schooled On Egypt By Entire McLaughlin Group
Newsweek's Eleanor Clift must have felt like a fish out of water during the taping of this weekend's syndicated "McLaughlin Group."
In a lengthy and tremendously informative segment about the crisis in Egypt, the host and his other three guests - Pat Buchanan, Monica Crowley, and Mort Zuckerman - gave the perilously liberal columnist quite a lesson regarding the Obama administration's diplomatic mishandling of Hosni Mubarak as well insights about the Muslim Brotherhood that most in the media are ignoring (video follows with transcript and commentary):
MORT ZUCKERMAN: But having said that, [Hosni Mubarak] has been a steadfast ally of the United States for 30 years. And the only way – it is absolutely fair and right to think that this is time for him to leave. But if you want him to leave, we did it in exactly the wrong way, which is to do it publicly, which is humiliating for an Arab leader. And of course, therefore when we sent a special envoy whose message, whose mission was leaked, namely that he was going to ask Mubarak to leave, he gave him a very brief meeting and said I don't want to talk to you again. Because this man has been around as an ally and expects to be treated as an ally for 30 years, and therefore it seems to me we should have found a better way to get to him.
Now, let me just say, I want to say one thing. Let's just remember this: in Tehran there were hundreds of thousands of people in the street. Iran was our principal enemy in that part of the world and this administration said nothing. But here we take a 30-year ally of the United States and we start publicly attacking him. That was exactly the wrong way to do it in that part of the world. Now the, the Saudis, the Jordanians, most of the other countries are enraged because they feel in a sense he was not badly, he was badly treated and not treated with respect.
Fabulous point by Zuckerman that most in the media have been oblivious to.
If Mubarak's time has come to depart, our diplomatic play is to privately assist him in doing so as peacefully as possible in order for our long-term ally to save face and to demonstrate to other leaders we support that we would do the same for them in a similar situation.
By so quickly backing the protestors, Obama has not only snubbed someone that has been very important to America for three decades, but also likely damaged our relations with other leaders in the region.
In addition, as Zuckerman accurately stated, this is quite a contrast from Obama totally ignoring Iranian protests in 2009 against a man that is our mortal enemy. This inconsistent strategy regarding the Middle East has to be confusing and concerning to all those watching.
But there was more:
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, HOST: Hold on. I want to pick up that point, because this goes to that. Okay. Now a big Arab authority, a big one, the Secretary General of the 22 nation Arab League, Amr Moussa, said this:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMR MOUSSA, SECRETARY GENERAL ARAB LEAGUE: The message has been sent, the message has been received. It will never be the same again. I firmly believe that the Arab world in one year's time will not be the same as we see it today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCLAUGHLIN: In one year’s time the Arab world will not be the same. Question, what is the chance that Moussa will run for president himself?
PAT BUCHANAN: Pretty good. He's head of the Arab League, he’s a transitional figure. Look, the Mubarak era is over, but Mort is right. This is a soldier, a man of honor. He sent his troops to fight alongside us…
MCLAUGHLIN: You’re talking about Mubarak?
BUCHANAN: I'm talking about fighting the Gulf War, and here comes this diplomat over there and he says, “Hey, get out.” They're humiliating him. I think he got his back up and understandably so.
MCLAUGHLIN: Why did Obama do it? Because he wants to be on the side, because he knows it's a done deal. And he wants to establish his bona fides with the incoming group. Is that it?
BUCHANAN: He went back to his, basically if you will, his sort of moderate left mode, this is a Facebook-Twitter revolution, I'm part of this.
ELEANOR CLIFT, NEWSWEEK Oh, come on!
BUCHANAN: He got too far out in front.
CLIFT: You make it sound…
MCLAUGHLIN: I still don’t get it. Who are his advisors on this? Who are Obama’s advisors?
BUCHANAN: He advises himself on this one. I think that’s what’s comes out of his feelings.
CLIFT: You make it sound like this is some sort of fad he wants to get on the Twitter bandwagon.
BUCHANAN: He wants to get out in front of things.
CLIFT: Look at all the dictators that this country has stuck with too long.
BUCHANAN: Eleanor...
CLIFT: He has served our purposes well.
He has served our purposes. Liberal media members sure know how to treat their allies, don't they?
BUCHANAN: You don’t do that to friends of 30 years.
ZUCKERMAN: That’s right.
CLIFT: He did not serve his people very well. He has run a repressive regime.
BUCHANAN: Who are we to decide that?
CLIFT: We are not deciding it. He is deciding it. He's still in power. And this president is giving him a nudge behind the scenes…
ZUCKERMAN: Not behind the scenes.
MONICA CROWLEY, WASHINGTON TIMES: No.
CLIFT: …which is something that he needs…
CROWLEY: No, no.
CLIFT: …and he’s calling for…
ZUCKERMAN: Publicly. Publicly.
CLIFT: The President should just stand by?
ZUCKERMAN: Now. When he said, “Now,” he means now. And that’s not the way to do it, okay?
[CLIFT AND ZUCKERMAN TALK OVER EACH OTHER]
ZUCKERMAN: I’m not talking about the transition. He wanted him to leave now, and we all know it.
MCLAUGHLIN: Right, right. He’s telling him to leave.
ZUCKERMAN: That’s right, that’s exactly what he told him.
CROWLEY: Right, I agree with Mort completely. Look, the administration mishandled this from the beginning and it's not unlike how they…
MCLAUGHLIN: Why? Why?
CROWLEY: …how they handled the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which they did in public and it blew up in their faces. Diplomacy 101 is especially when you're dealing with a stalwart ally like Hosni Mubarak is you take this behind closed doors. You don't have the American president give a big declaration. Look, the other point he raised, Moussa, Moussa is now the choice as of this moment of the Muslim Brotherhood.
ZUCKERMAN: Right.
CROWLEY: The Muslim Brotherhood now is working this crisis so that they can ride the tide to seize power, and I’m telling you if they grab power in Egypt, they…
MCLAUGHLIN: Hold on.
CROWLEY: …they will consign 82 million Egyptians to the perpetual darkness of the Islamist rule. And don't make any mistake about it, let's not be naïve about this.
MCLAUGHLIN: You remember when the Muslim Brotherhood were the really bad guys over there?
CROWLEY: They are the bad guys.
BUCHANAN AND ZUCKERMAN: They are the bad guys
MCLAUGHLIN: They are the bad guys today?
CROWLEY: Yes.
MCLAUGHLIN: How many Muslim Brotherhood are there?
ZUCKERMAN: They’re probably a third of the population.
BUCHANAN: Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
CROWLEY: It doesn’t matter.
CLIFT: And they’ve been bad…
MCLAUGHLIN: How do you account for the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood that were the bad guys are now the good guys?
CROWLEY: They’re not the good guys.
ZUCKERMAN: I didn’t say they were the good guys. Let me just tell you, Hosni Mubarak …
MCLAUGHLIN: Do they control the strings of power. Do they control the strings of power?
BUCHANAN: No.
ZUCKERMAN: No, they do not yet. The army controls the strings of power. No, this whole issue is going to turn on what the army does. But let me just point out one thing, and Mubarak knows it, okay, because he happened to be sitting next to Anwar Sadat when the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Anwar Sadat, one of the great figures out of that country. It was the Muslim Brotherhood who assassinated him.
MCLAUGHLIN: They defeated him.
ZUCKERMAN: Absolutely, they killed him.
MCLAUGHLIN: Did they do him in?
ZUCKERMAN: They did. They killed him.
MCLAUGHLIN: Did you hear that?
ZUCKERMAN: The Muslim Brotherhood is not a backer of democracy.
BUCHANAN: If their democracy comes one man, one vote…
CROWLEY: One time!
BUCHANAN: …in Egypt, let me tell you, the Muslim Brotherhood will initially get 25 to 33 percent of the vote, and the Arab street’s views about Israel will be reflected in the government.
Indeed, and for their part, since this crisis began, the overwhelming majority of media members have been badly misrepresenting the Muslim Brotherhood as a force for good in Egypt. A bit later in the program, Crowley put a finer point on this:
CROWLEY: I think that we in the West have fallen into a trap of romanticizing what the Arab street would want if they were given true democracy as we understand it. Because when you look at recent polls of the Egyptian people, 75 percent say they would like Islamic law, they would like Sharia. 65 percent say they would like the reinstitution of the Islamic Caliphate. When you talk about democracy, it is not going to be a Jeffersonian democracy, it is going to be one vote like we saw in Gaza with Hamas, one man, one vote, one time.
100 percent right. The media have indeed romanticized these protests from the moment they started rather than honestly informing the public not only about Obama's missteps but also the risks of us getting this wrong much as Jimmy Carter did with Iran over 30 years ago.
Fortunately for viewers, Buchanan, Crowley, and Zuckerman were on the set to present the more-reasoned view of this current crisis while making it quite clear that Clift - like so many in the liberal media - is indeed caught up in some romantic haze about this situation making her completely unqualified to offer anything other than a view the adminstration would be happy with.
Now that's an ally so-called journalists know how to serve and support.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
Clift needs to make the rest
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 4:26pm.
Clift needs to make the rest of the panael understand that it's not about Eygpt or Mubarak , it's about obama
it's about obama. Only obama is important.
Note to minorites and illegal aliens: You too will be thrown under the bus as soon as you finish serving your purpose.
Poor Eleanor
Submitted by donabernathy on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 1:33am.
Twelve IQ points from being retarded
roflmao
The old shrew
Submitted by ripper58 on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 4:32pm.
got her socks knocked off! (literally)
OMO!
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 4:37pm.
Unlike Jimmuh Cahtah, who lost Iran....Barry is going to be the usurper-Prez who lost not only Egypt, but the whole Middle East.
I knew he had disaster written all over him from the get-go. I just never invisaged how LARGE IT WOULD BE WRIT!
The 2012 end of the world doesn't look quite so idiotic any longer. Not after Barry's "deft" hand.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
You are not alone in your thinking.
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 5:45pm.
B, I linked to this story the other day; I don't know if you've seen it yet.
The president who lost Egypt *
* and Lebanon, and Turkey......
It looks like Obama doesn't treat the country's oldest friends any better than he treats his own (Rev. Wright).
No class, all a$$ -My mother
Not only has boy barry lost Egypt,
Submitted by ThisnThat on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 7:58am.
he's also lost Britain. A report is out today that boy barry gave detailed info about Britain's nukes to Russia as one of Russia's conditions for the START treaty. Add that to the ipod gift, the returned Churchill bust, and other insults -- and Great Britain has finally realized that boy barry hates them.
And now, Israel. Israel has consulted the US in the past; and has known the US will support them, provided things are done with restraint. But I believe Israel knows they will get zero support from this administration. So watch our, Iran. I think Israel is going to surprise us all, very very soon. And just watch boy barry take Iran's side on this!
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Great Britain
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 10:06am.
I hope the British know, especially the Monarch and the Parliament, that what the Manchurian Candidate is doing has absolutely NO reflection on the Americans at large(not counting the 20% liberals who still like him). Yeah, he got voted in by a large number of people who didn't know better, but the mood's changed as of Nov 2010.
I have a few British friends where I work, they are great people and they love it here in Texas. They are appalled at DuhOne's actions, especially of the returning of the bust of Churchill and the iPod gift to the queen plus the (has to be deliberate) faux pas of DuhUdderOne putting her arm around the Queen's shoulders which was a HUGE diplomatic no-no.
God almighty, what a mess.
-Jon
Dearest old eleanor, The
Submitted by Willis_Leon_Johnson on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 4:49pm.
Dearest old eleanor,
The ONLY reason there is such unrest throughout the middle east at this particular time in history is because the radical muslims, anarchists, and the rest of the Hate America First crowd see, and fully understand, that WE, as a nation, DO NOT HAVE A LEADER.
We have an inexperienced little man without enough intelligence to deal with, much less react to, any disruption to the status quo in that area.
They see a person that, without his teleprompter, is a childish buffoon with zero comprehension of foreign policy and human nature.
They have no fear of any type of reprisal, and THAT is the only thing that has kept them in check for the last few hundred years.
Isreal is in a very bad situation DIRECTLY CAUSED by this ignorant piece of garbage and will NEED a strong ally in The United States.
As long as this useless garbage is in office, that will not happen.
End 'gun violence in America' - Require training and MANDATORY "Shall Carry" by every Citizen.
If harry reid is the best person to lead the senate, what does that say about the other 99 senators?
Clift
Submitted by grammajane on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 5:15pm.
She is her usual elite, know it all extreme radical left Lib. who believes all Libs are right and educated and any person who beliefs otherwise, is just stupid. The rest of the panel knows exactly what is going on and put her in her place. Why are all these libs so mouthy. loud, whiners, and always so dam angry. Does anyone ever hear anything positive come out of their mouths besides prarising every move obama makes? Even with ALL the numerous mistakes made, he is still their hero
Clift equates shrillness with correctness.
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 5:52pm.
Eleanor Clift has proven herself unqualified to discuss anything except Michelle Obama's clothes.
And right now. BO is telling BOR about having "representative democracy" in Egypt.
<sound of duct tape ripping off roll>
The man is truly delusional.
What he didn't lie about, he screws up.
Submitted by Ashrak on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 5:55pm.
In liberal media minds, it was the election of Hamas that stopped the daily bombings in Israel, not the Removal of Saddam Hussein. In their mind, it was Egyptian Islamic Jihad that assasinated Anwar Saddat and where they go so wrong is that EIJ and MB are one in the same. They seem to forget on purpose that it was Ayman Al Zawahiri who kicked off the EIJ. It is Al Qaeda at the very center of MB.
When it came to Iran, Obama got slack and cover because not supporting the people in the street kept things the same. He took heat for not coming out strongly so he had to act this time. Pat talks about that getting out in front, and that is exactly what he did in true progressive fashion - always fighting the last battle in a totally different circumstance.
I do want to see the MB out in the open and if Egypt is where it happens, so be it. Bye Bye foreign aid......That very thing could have been accomplished without dissing Mubarak publicly. And this panel was right about that, Obama did do exactly that and others will take note of it.
Has Obama done anything right since he has been in office? Anything at all?
One Big A$$ Mistake America.
Thanks for the transcript
Submitted by punditpawn on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:03pm.
Thanks for the transcript because I can't stand to listen to that obnoxious screeching from that woman.
Eleanor needs a recharge, as her battery is oviously dead
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:15pm.
Over the last 25 months, we have seen Barack Hussein Obama do the following:
Time and time again, without exception, this president has sided with communists and Muslim theocracies against our traditional allies, as well as against America itself.
And that is just on the foreign policy front.
On the domestic front it gets even worse, with the Obama administration thumbing its nose at several court orders pertaining to drilling in the Gulf, regulation of the Internet, and now Obamacare.
And then there are his hideous economic policies that we have seen throughout history have never worked anywhere, and that will fare no better here.
And what of his unbelievable, out-of-control treasury-emptying spending?
I have heard commentators from all over the spectrum saying that these are simply the machinations of an inexperienced president.
I disagree completely.
These are the premeditated and deliberate acts of a saboteur.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Dave, you forgot
Submitted by Nick Shaw on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:17pm.
about having the Dali Lama exit by the garbage door!
Nick,
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:20pm.
Yep, and I also missed Obama's insistence that that commie Hunduran goober be returned to power even though the Honduran people had legally thrown him out.
LOL - Hell, even I can't keep up with all the crap Obama is pulling anymore.
-Dave.
Vote for the American in November
Congress critters
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:29pm.
Has anyone called their Congress critters and senators about these very salient points? Even if it won't come out that he can't prove being born in the US and everything he's done can be rescinded, these are impeachable offenses that even some of the Democrat senators can't ignore......well, check that, the Obamacare repeal was voted along party lines. But even so, there's got to be some sort of checks and balances that can work in the US's favor to stop this guy.
Otherwise, the word secession is going to have to become more than just an idea if any of the states are going to survive.(Not counting California, New York, Illinois, and a few other Dem states, they are LONG gone beyond repair)
If you have called your congress critters and got the staffers, how did they react?
Hell, the thing with the EPA being involved in why we had rolling blackouts in Texas should be treated like a crime, who knows how many people got injured or killed as a result? They even went out of their way to keep the Superbowl Dome lit up, but let hospitals in DFW take a couple of hits.
It's time for action, so why isn't there any??
-Jon
Dave is RIGHT!
Submitted by TexasMom0517 on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:58pm.
Wisner's statement today and the Obama administration's disavowal of him just magnifies Obama's machinations. If we survive Obama's reign, it will be only by the grace of a Higher Power. Zuckerman knows what is at stake and how detrimental Obama's policies are.
Excellent summation Dave
Submitted by amyshulk on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 7:49am.
I'm struggling with understanding why. Why beat up US people/religion/institutions for perceived crimes, which are actually committed by those the left/msm/administration provides cover for.
Why vilify Christians while condoning Muslims; they decry that the MAJORITY of Americans on the R are racists/homophobes/haters, when the truth is if there are any, they are the outliers, whereas ME Muslims seem to be brought up in an environment of hate, racism, and homophobia to the extent that they KILL for their beliefs, and the MAJORITY are conditioned to believe this is just. Or are they really the outliers in their society and we're afraid to speak up lest they think we are meddling in their affairs?
Is it that we "know better" so they must condemn *our* outliers to prevent a cascade of reversal of thought? Similar to the level of condemnation a "values" Rep recives versus the Rep who doesn't promote those values?
Perhaps the goal in the ME is to do what was NOT allowed here - namely co-exist with those who feel that our very existence is such an offense, we must be eradicated? How would that possibly work??? This seems so incredibly self destructive, I just can't see how this is good in ANY way!
Ronald Reagan
Clift and liberals
Submitted by Nick Shaw on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:15pm.
It's interesting that Buchanan says that the Brotherhood will get 25-33% of the vote. That number seems to corelate to the number of MB members in Egypt. There are approximately that same number of true blue liberals in the US yet, The Zero was elected. Do I really have to say any more?
History Lesson
Submitted by Thunder Lizard on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:02am.
The Nazis were a marginal party in Germany throughout the 1920s, declared illegal in many quarters and Hitler, Goebbles and other leaders were arrested and tried for treason and jailed. The Nazis cooperated with the Communists against the central government in street riots in 1930. Despite all of this, in the election of 1930, the Nazis won 107 seats in the Reichstag and became Germany's second largest party. In 1932, Hitler got 36% of the vote for President to Hindenberg's 53%. but the Nazis became the majority party in the Reichstag that year. They turned on their former "coalition government" partners and new violence erupted in the streets of Germany at the hands of the SA. At this time, there were only 800,000 members in the Nazi Party. In 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, Hindenberg died and Hitler effectiively made himself dictator of Germany - all in about three years time and we know what happened from there.
The "pro-democracy" revolution that ousted the Shah of Iran in January 1979 quickly turned Islamic and by November 4 of that year, had taken over the US Embassy. Our staunch ally was now our bitter enemy. To think that the Muslim Brotherhood could not turn Eygpt into an Islamic Republic in three years or less is foolhardy and a willful ignorance of history. Some say there is no "central figure" in Egypt as there was with Khomieni in Iran. But Hitler was a nobody in Germany until the 1930 election gave the party some power. Well some say, Egypt has a burgeoning middle class and they won't stand for an Islamic takeover. Well so did Iran. A lot of Iranians were educated in the US and Europe and that didn't stop the mullahs from turning Iran back to 12th century Islamic fundamentalism. Venezueala had a burgeoning middle class and had been a stable country but that didn't stop Chavez. Others are hedging that the Army hold the power and they are secular, therefore they won't allow a takeover. Nonie Darwish, daughter of a former Egyptian general, says the idea that these nations are "secular" as America envisions "seperation of church and state" is a fallacy and a failure to understand how rooted Islam is throughout the culture.
People like Clift are absolutely clueless of how fast and how dangerous world events can turn and how a militant minority can take total control of a country. Having an inexperienced president, guided by leftist idealism for "social justice" handling our response to this situation is like having a ten year old child operate a semi-truck on the Interstate. I see something of a Biblical proportions coming in regards to Egypt. I hope I am wrong, but history indicates this situation is more far dangerous than many think possible. Already the rhetoric has turned ffrom solely about removing Mubarak to going after Israel and the US.
Pray for President Obama, pray for Egypt, pray for Israel. Because what is going on there now has the potential to do great harm to us.
Barack "Neville Chamberlin" Obama
Submitted by ajkrik on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 6:54pm.
Obama is going to be the placater in chief and our enemies will get stronger and more spread out across the globe. They are not stupid, while many of them are lightweights there are many who are not. Our leaders are weak, self-absorbed and I predict history will show them to have been all talk and little vision.
The question is not 'will we elect leaders who will put out all these growing fires' but rather will we 'elect leaders who will prepare our nation for the coming conflagration?'
I have great respect for all cultures and people of the world; but when good nations sit back and hope that bad-asses will just go away they are deluding themselves. Bad people are emboldened by people who talk the talk, but are afraid to walk the walk.
We should study the 1930's to see how similar those times were. People before WWII had no real idea of how technology was going to change the coming war. We think this is going to be a conventional air and ground battle, but it won't. And we will, like the French, be stunned when our "friends" don't do what we assume they will.
AJ.. it's important to
Submitted by celator on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:31am.
AJ.. it's important to remember also (speaking of traitors and micreants) that Obama's close buds Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn, as well as Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans were in Egypt in late 2009-early 2010 agitating against Mubarak. They worked closely with the Muslim Brotherhood, created demonstrations and generally worked up oppoosition against the Egyptian government.
The undermining of the Egyptian government has been going on for awhile, with lots of assistance from members of the American radical left. Interesting and revealing. Perhaps it's an insight into why Obama is publically humiliating Mubarak, while saying nothing about the Islamic tyrants in Iran and now Lebanon ( reconquered by Hezbollah in recent months with 50,000 rockets now aimed toward Israel, thanks to Iran and Syria).
Israel has lost her geographic buffer (Egypt, Lebanon, and soon Jordan). Methinks that was Obama's plan all along, no?
http://biggovernment.com/taylorking/2009/12/31/obama-funder-jodie-evans-...
http://bigpeace.com/bbarrack/2011/01/30/underground-uprising-in-egypt/
http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/4218
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0110/glick011510.php3?printer_friendly
Calling Obama Neville Chamberlin
Submitted by TexasMom0517 on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 1:23am.
Is entirely TOO CHARITABLE- see comment above re. Ayers, Dorn and Jodie Evans.
Egypt? So what?
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 9:11pm.
I defy anyone to deny the absolute success of this President.
That apology speech in 2009(?) was one of the most eloquent invitations for a groin kick ever recorded. He may as well have stood with legs splayed and said "Hit me if you see an opening!"
Yes, the Middle East will be drastically different a year from now, and though Islam still will have no love for Obama, they owe him a big round of applause.
On a lighter note, I hear he's having pork sausage at his Super Bowl party tonight.
The menu
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:10am.
Yeah, there was beer there as well. But I imagine that's more for the guests than him. I heard there were supposed to be about 100 of them including his "close friend" J-Lo. Sure...
-Jon
Invitation to Groin Kick
Submitted by Thunder Lizard on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:16am.
When Reagan was president I was in college. I had a Muslim friend from Nigeria and one day I talked with him about what happend in Iran with the release of the embassy hostages. He told me "You Americans are perceived as weak, but Reagan is a cowboy, like John Wayne." In other words, they had disdain for Carter who was always "reaching out" but feared what Reagan might do if they pushed. I never forgot that discussion. In a dangerous world and a culture like Islam, it is better to be respected and even feared, than it is to be liked.
JUST TO LIGHTEN UP FOR A MOMENT......
Submitted by Herbster on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 11:48pm.
Eleanor (The dense) Clift is on the show for two reasons: For the sake of comedy and to act as a punching bag for the other panelists. She is like to old toy, the Schmoo......you knock it over and it just bounces back up.
Also, Note to Eleanor: PLEASE get a voice transplant!
DAVE'S "ELEANOR NEEDS A RECHARGE COMMENT".....
Submitted by Herbster on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 11:54pm.
You, Sir, are right on the money! The man makes Vidkun Quisling look like a saint. We are being undermined from within.
additionally...
Submitted by michiganruth on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:09am.
in addition to Eleanor Clift's odious politics, her screeching interruptions have just about turned me off of the McLaughlin Report forever, after loving it for years. I just can't take it anymore!
US Support for Mubarak
Submitted by Icarus88 on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:25am.
Maybe if the USA hadn't supported a corrupt, authoritarian dictatorship like that in Egypt in the first place and pushed for democracy there, there wouldn't be this possibility, however small, of the Muslim Brotherhood getting a foothold in any future government. But it's not like the US Government actually cares about real democracy anyway.
Icarus, why would America want to force mob rule on another...
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:34am.
...nation?
After all, this country was not founded to be a democracy, but instead a constitutional republic.
They are entirely different entities.
As for the US supporting Mubarak, who would you have recommended for the presidency of Egypt after the death of Anwar Sadat?
BTW: You do know that it was the Camel-Washer Brotherhood that killed Sadat, don't you?
That is not a little significant given what is currently happening over there.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Another historical illiterate
Submitted by NL207 on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:47am.
Once upon a time in Iran there was a big nasty bulli who ran the place and was a staunch US ally. His name was Shah Reza Pahlavi. The US and Britain had long supported him and his father before him. Then the upright and ideological maralist from Georgia, Jimmy Carter, became President of the United States. He found it morally offensive that America had supported the Shah and cut-off further support for him whiule at the same time ecouragiung pro-democracy elements within Iran. Soon the Shah was overthrown by the "pro-democracy" elements. It was not long before we discovered the pro-democracy elements were subserciemnt to the Ayatollah Khomeinin and his radical Islmist theocrats.
Today Iran is ruled by a big nasty bully : a Muslim theocray. It is an utterly anti-US , anti-semitic regime bent on aquiring nuclear weapons and is destabilizing the entire region.
Some people would have learned from this experience. You are not one of them.
NL207, you are a hypocrite
Submitted by Icarus88 on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 8:48am.
You claim that I'm historically illiterate, yet you can't look back further than 30 years. The CIA overthrew a very liberal (for the region at least) government in Iran in the 1950's because they didn't want a democratic regime in Iran, but a regime that would do what they and the oil companies wanted to. This is all on record, don't trust me, look it up yourself.
The dictator who they put in place was your precious Shah, as you should know. So...if the US had never installed and supported a dictator Iran would likely never have had an Islamic fundamentalist backed revolution like it did. But, as I said in my first post, the US Government actually does not care one bit about democracy, it only cares about having a regime that does its bidding.
So I put to you that YOU need to learn from past experiences, and support democracy UNCONDITIONALLY, and eventually, if the people's will prevails, even in the countries where they hate America and the West the most (and most of the time the main reason for this is because of the US's support for that country's dictator!) the government that rules will be, if not subservient to the West, at least not hostile like Iran is now. Or, you could just go on supporting dictators because you have no sense of principle or ethics at all.
Icarus88
Submitted by Nick Shaw on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 10:26am.
I will not quibble with your recounting of the events leading to the Shah being installed as leader of Iran. America has had a habit of backing the wrong horse in many cases, where the result turns out badly for the US. You would think we would learn from our mistakes. Our knowledge of foreign lands is always colored by our own society so, we assume evryone strives for what we want. Further, our actions are based on the information we receive from a very narrow, self serving slice of that foreign country. Now, taking this into account you would think we would learn from our mistakes. It appears this administration has learned nothing from history. Take Honduran president Zelaya for instance. Talk about backing the wrong horse! Here we sit at another crossroad and The Zero seems intent on making sure the Muslim Brotherhood gets a seat at the table. Hmmm. I truly think this will turn out badly for all concerned.
Your argument, if we can call
Submitted by NL207 on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 1:38pm.
Your argument, if we can call it that, completely ignores the salient point I was making. In fact, my point seems to have eluded you completely, so I will spell it out for you : In Iran, a myopic, ideological US President implemented equally myopic and ideological foreign policy which caused a staunch US ally to be toppled by street thugs. The street thugs were unable to hold the reigns of power and were swiftly replaced by an anti-US Islamist Theocracy. Obama is repeating the mistakes of Carter. Obama's diplomatic incompetence both astounding and destabilizing the entire Middle East.
Your history is also quite defective. The 1953 overthrow of Iran's Mosaddegh government was staged by the BRITISH intelligence agency over the nationalization of the British owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company by the Mosaddegh government. The CIA's role at the time was limited to support of our closest ally's action. Lest you think this unlikely, you might review the Suez Crisis of the same year. Britain and France were the principle Western players in that episode where Nasser had nationalized the Anglo-French Suez Canal, and agian, the US supported its longtime ally in that dispute.
As is normal, you leftist clowns don't even know what the actual facts are.
has to be confusing and concerning to all those who are watching
Submitted by wizardjr on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 2:33am.
Well considering that the TOTUS and the Secretary of State both seemed to have learned their Middle East strategy watching the Confuse-a-Cat segment on Monty Python, I'd say they were getting the desired results.
Mort Zuckerman, like Eleanor Clift, is a liberal Democrat.
Submitted by Rush Fan on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 4:04am.
As such, there is usually little disparity between Clift's leftist views and Zuckerman's. But this time Zuckermann diverged from the usual leftist crap and was rightly critical of the Obama administration's handling of Hosni Mubarak and the crisis in Egypt. The reason for this, I believe, is that Zuckerman is a Jew and a strong and active supporter of Israel. It is Israel that may suffer the most if the Muslim Brotherhood or some other radical Muslim group takes control in Egypt.
Most often you find leftist, like Clift and President Obama, on the opposing side of Israel's interest. Kudos to Mort Zuckerman for at least this time taking a principle stand.
Rush Fan, my friend...I'm afraid I must disagree with you
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 11:00pm.
about Zuckerman. True, he is a Democrat, but hardly a "leftist". And although he voted for Obama, Zuckerman has opposed the President on more than just Israeli policy as the title of the linked article He's Done Everything Wrong strongly suggests.
Jer
Who is Dr. Khalid Al Mansour?
Submitted by Dotcoman on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 3:57pm.
Who is Dr. Khalid Al Mansour?
When it comes to Comrade Mullah Obama, the crisis in Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood this is the question we must first . Who is Dr. Khalid Al Mansour? What is his connection to Obama? What is his connection to the Muslim Brotherhood? And just exactly is this man's connection to the House of saud? All of which beggs to ask; who is Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and why did he spend $20 million to get Obama into Harvard and buy him his Law Preview presidency?
When it comes to Comrade Obama, his family, and his shady choices of terrorist pals and secret benefactors, there are no coincidences.
How come all this sudden Middle East civil unrest goes down right after Hitlary tours the area? I mean in Tunisia, the wheels weren't even up on her jet and they were already burning the place to the ground. Why are they not rioting in Libya? Because Herr Hitlary didn't go there? Why no riots in Saudi Arabia, if anyone deserves the hangman's noose or the guillotine for the brutal treatment of Arabs in the entire Middle East it's the King of Saudi Arabia. But oh no! No riots in the streets there and we don't see Obama wagging that long effeminate school marm finger of his to lecture the King how to rule his roost. Maybe because that's where Obama gets his money?
Why did Obama not speak out at the Iranian uprising? Because he didn't want to see them succeed. Obama's such a narcissist probably believes that he's the Twelfth Imam. Remember his campaign slogan, that stated that, “HE is the ONE” they've been waiting for?
Why is Obama speaking out now and publicly humiliating a US/ Israel Ally of 30 yrs? Because he HATES him some Americans and Jews, that's why? Remember he's all about anti-colonialism. So he probably sees this as his chance to destroy our links to Egypt and to turn that country over to his Muslim brothers and ultimately to his true masters in the Brotherhood. He really does think that he is doing his Marxist African daddy's work here; breaking up one of Colonial America's satellite states. That and doing his "good works" as a secret Muslim to bring about the total destruction of Israel and the total annihilation of the Jews. Yeah! I said it. Obama's an anti-Semite.
After all how could he not be, after growing up the way he did in a family that hated both God, Christ, the US, and Jews alike,? What with the Marxist religion of his mommy's family and the Islamo-fascism of his Daddy and step-dad putting him in a madrasa, then there's the 20 + odd yrs he sat in the front pew of the Rev. Right's church of anti-America let us hate us some Jeeeews black liberation theology which of course sprang out of Marxism & Catholicism .
And everyone from that infant Sean Hannity to that boob O'Reilly on sits around wringing their hands over Obama's treatment of Mubarak and what will Obama do, what should Obama do? Oh my, what ever shall he do?
Never crosses anyone's mind that Obama set this whole damn thing up with the Muslim Brotherhood in the first place. Why? Maybe because they actually and quite literally own his butt. He's their man in the White House. Look at everything he'd done since getting into the Senate let alone the WH, it's all been decidedly anti-American straight on down the line.
When it comes to Barack Obama, always, always assume the worst. Always assume that he is out to flat out destroy you and the United States. Then, and only then, will all that he says or does begin to make complete sense. As long as you observe that one simple rule, the man is layed totally bare naked and just as predictable.
Eleanor Clift Smarter than All Four Flip Flopping Rightwingnuts
Submitted by URLNTS on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 12:03pm.
Only a RepubliCON would side with murdering,torturing Dictators ,how many more times can the Rightwing dinosaurs be wrong,you embarrass and hold America back at every turn!
Week after week and all alone Eleanor makes a mockery of the idiotic ,hypocritical ,Rightwing dogma spouted by Tricky Dick Nixon's Henchmen and continually shows the absolute lies , failures and stupidity of the RepubliCON Party!America is in this trouble because of Con malfeasance,mismanagement and lies ,$12 Trillion of our $14 Trillion National Debt was added by Reagan and the Bush's,add to that the fact that everyone of our last 5 Recessions were under Republican rule and you finally realize the that Repubs are America's perpetual "Natural" DISASTER! Please show us one smart, present day Repub, Palin,Bachman,Huckabuck,Boehner?Nope,you are running on empty ,the last good Repub was Dwight D. Eisenhower,after that you have a wasteland that can only be called the Dark Ages of the GOP! What an absolute sad joke on America you Cons are ?
Talking points much?
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 12:15pm.
Take a breath, you're going to hurt yourself.
That was quite a beautiful leftist rant. No wonder your heads are exploding. The cognitive dissonance between what is happening in the real world and what you've been spoon fed has got to have your brain buzzing something fierce. Seriously, who are you going to believe, your left-wing masters, or your lyin' eyes and ears?
Poor baby. But thanks for the laugh and lifting my spirits. If that's the best your side has got, we conservatives shall surely prevail.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
You left out the fact that
Submitted by amyshulk on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 10:05pm.
You left out the fact that The League of Nations idea set us on this *MAD* course, and Carter & Clinton enabled our enemies by refusing to confront them. Bush stood up to them, and Obama learned the truth and is even more of a hawk!!!
Also, it's the WHOLE CONGRESS, not individuals who have ripped off the band aids that protected social security and the tax code, and that we are upside down in all aspects because of their venal natures.
But you go ahead, hold in that hate and keep those lies close - it will keep you warm after 2012.
Ronald Reagan
Wrong Again Cons/Here,There and Everywhere
Submitted by URLNTS on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 12:14pm.
How do you people even show your faces?Have you ever done anything for America,beside the massive Debt,unfinished,badly planned and managed Wars,Bankruptcy and Embarrassment?
Bzzzt, Bzzt, Bzzzt
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 12:17pm.
That cognitive dissonance is getting worse, isn't little fella?
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)