Fareed Zakaria Blames Tea Party for 'Extraordinary Polarization in Washington Today'
Fareed Zakaria on Sunday blamed the Tea Party for the "extraordinary polarization in Washington today."
"It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving," Zakaria told viewers of the CNN program bearing his name (video follows with transcript and commentary):
FAREED ZAKARIA: Watching the extraordinary polarization in Washington today, many people have pointed the finger at the Tea Party. It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving.
I happen to agree with much of that critique, but it doesn't really answer the question, why has the Tea Party become so prominent? Why is it able to dominate Washington?
So the extraordinary polarization in Washington today has nothing to do with the extreme left-wing views of President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
It's all because of the relatively small percentage of legislators affiliated with the Tea Party.
What nonsense, as beside the hyper-partisanship of today's Democrat leaders, another huge factor is media members like Zakaria always accusing those they don't agree with of having extreme, polarizing views.
But such logic is beyond this high and mighty CNN host:
ZAKARIA: We've had plenty of ideologically charged movements come to Washington before. Think of Barry Goldwater or George McGovern. But once in Washington, the system encouraged compromise and governance.
But, over the last few decades, what has changed are the rules organizing American politics, and they now encourage small interest groups, including ideologically charged ones, to capture major political parties as well as Congress itself. Call it political narrow casting.
Here are some examples. Redistricting has created safe seats so that for most House members, their only concern is a challenge from the right for Republicans and the left for Democrats. The incentive is to pander to the base, not the center.
Party primaries have been taken over by small groups of activists who push even popular senators to extreme positions. In Utah, for example, 3,500 conservative activists managed to take the well-regarded Senator Robert Bennett off the ballot. GOP senators like Orrin Hatch and John McCain have moved farther to the right, hoping to stave off similar assaults.
Zakaria neglected to inform viewers that the "well-regarded Senator Robert Bennett" came in third in Utah's May 8, 2010, primary.
He also chose to ignore how Republican in Name Only McCain suffered one of the biggest presidential defeats in recent memory in 2008, and that the moderate views of the GOP cost it both chambers of Congress in 2006.
By contrast, a massive shift to the Right gave Republicans the biggest Congressional victory in decades last year.
To a shill like Zakaria, this was bad political strategy, and the GOP needs to move back to the center to be successful.
Think they should take his advice?
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Comments
Aside from the 'purity' part,
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:26pm.
Aside from the 'purity' part, I could swear that he was talking about the lib/Dems and the Obama REGIME............
of course he is but cannot
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 6:07pm.
of course he is but he cannot see it is them..Liberals are blinded by their imagination, and cannot see what is real in front of them.
what makes this lib important is he, will not be assumed to be an American but a foreigner. he just isn't mom, apple pie and or baseball, now is he? Their spokesman one by one is not someone we think or look like Americans. Cenk Ungur or whatever his name was. is another example.
Day by day week by week the libs just keep showing us they are not American. they don't fit in..and will never fit in...It might take another few years but by then one will spot a lib just by the way he moves, talks or some other perspective.
Yeah, Jim...........I was
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 6:21pm.
Yeah, Jim...........I was kinda surprised that this Indian Mooooooooooooooooooslem know-it-all used the word 'purity'........
because the only thing 'pure' about his outlook is pure horse manure.
I agree, was just going a
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 8:58pm.
I agree, was just going a step further tonight then my usual kick em in the ass side...lol
Uber-liberal Tool Much, Mr. Zakaria?
Submitted by locomotivebreath1901 on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:34pm.
This just in: It's been 912 days since Senate Democrats have proposed a Budget, and our incompetent, class warfare clown in chief tenaciously demands taxes be raised on mean ol, private jet owning rich people.
I can see why this uber-liberal tool Zakaria blames the TEA Party.
Republicans should be
Submitted by ThisnThat on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 6:36pm.
Republicans should be repeating this over and over again to the media:
o'bama has tried to change the word "taxes" to "revenue". And o'bama wanted Revenue to be included in any debt ceiling discussions. So, we gave him $800M in Revenue on Friday. o'bama rejected this. Turns out, he wanted Tax Increases, not Revenue.
So it's obvious what the dims want, now -- strict tax increases, Not revenue. And they are willing to let this country default if they don't get their way. Revenue and spending cuts aren't enough for the tax-and-spend socialist crowd.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Polarization? I'm all for it.
Submitted by Radical1979 on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:35pm.
I don't want one view and one view only represented. The Tea Party has served to say to the GOP, we expect you to represent us, not compromise.
Fareed, Fareed, Fareed....
Submitted by Curly on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:37pm.
Tsk....the single biggest reason for polarization in D.C.? BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA - the worst President in the history of the Republic. Disciple of Saul Alinsky, Marx, and Cloward & Piven at Columbia,
wow he must have missed
Submitted by botg on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:37pm.
the entire Pelosi kabal
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” -- Chief Justice John Roberts
Polarization?
Submitted by Bourbeau on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:49pm.
Really? Does Fareed have any idea what he's talking about? When Fareed wants to discuss real polarization, lets take him thru the litany on the left: the federal and state unions, the Pelose cabal, the Black Caucus, the UFT, the environmentalist, Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Barbara Boxer, and the list goes on.
When you get thru that list Fareed, addressing all of their biases and polarizing ideas, then we can talk about the Tea Party. Until then, shut the hell up.
So lemme understand this...
Submitted by The_Barrel_Guy on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:47pm.
In this thread, we are actually considering that Fareed might have a clue...
He does not... It goes this way:
Why are we even talking about this? We give Fareed et. al. more space in this discussion than they earn on their own shows...
Brent: Noel: Are there no intelligent liberals out there whose ideas could give us thoughtful bases for discussion, argument or debate? Or, is "intelligent liberal" an oxymoron?
"Many people" say
Submitted by Nortonalec on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:58pm.
that the phrase "many people say" is b.s!
Oh, yeah...
Submitted by The_Barrel_Guy on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:49pm.
Right On!!
They should name sources or shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait, what?
Submitted by octavioj on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 4:58pm.
Did not the Tea Party elect people to hold down spending? And was that not a large swath of the electorate? If anything we have to blame the Democrats in Congress and the president for their ideologically driven agenda that gave birth to the Tea Party, not the other way around. It is time now the Democrats compromise with the elected officials supported by the Tea Party.
If we'd all just go along with Dear Leader's Socialist agenda,
Submitted by no tingly legs on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:00pm.
we wouldn't be having these polarization problems. Perhaps they should be flashing "OBEY" subliminal messages on the MSM for a tiny fraction of a second so we could get with the program.
fools in media
Submitted by jessieH on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:06pm.
Blame the TEA Party all you want, we are making the imbecills in Washington DC do what they were sent there to do and it's not to kick the can, or spend all of OUR money!
The dothead has a lot of gall
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:06pm.
The dothead has a lot of gall lecturing or preaching to Americans.
On the other hand....
Submitted by Lord-come-soon-... on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:08pm.
Fareed Zakaria is ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about self-promotion than problem solving.
I am confused ...
Submitted by Fredy on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:16pm.
As a serious 7x24 hour, well almost, watcher of CNN I was shocked to just now find out that there is any meaningfull TEA Party people left!
With this stunning new unexpected development, when will CNN tell me what this TEA Party stands for?
Does anyone at CNN know what point of view these TEA Party people have in common?
And how did they get into congress in the first place? Was it by bus? CNN carefully reported last year that those TEA Partiers had lost badly in November, specifically O'Donnelle and Angle, and they had failed to garner any support!
Fredy
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 07/25/2011 - 7:48am.
Bad insomnia? Why else would you watch CNN 24/7??? Your synopsis is hilarious.
They {the left/msm} *does* tend to blame those who have little impact in relation to others the most, huh? It's like blaming human activity for "global warming/cooling" and ignoring natures impact.
The real "influence" here is that they {both R's & D's} came face to face with good old common sense when realities on the ground proved that Keynesian economics are a failure - yet again!
Ronald Reagan
Changes
Submitted by grammajane on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:17pm.
Yes, now that we have conservatives speaking up in the media and the Internet there are changes. The days of complete liberal blabbering over the airways are gone and now American's are getting the truth as to what goes on in DC and conservative policies are finally being talked about and presented to the people. The Conservative media and The Tea Party are speaking the truth and are trying to live and speak of the original America dream and thank God for that!!!
But I thought the Tea Party was just insignificant fringe kooks
Submitted by lsudolemite on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:30pm.
with no real politicasignificantl power. And yet here they are, single-handedly responsible for this polarized dystopia we're living in and throwing a wrench in President Hopenchange's plans. That's a pretty mean feat for a bunch of insignificant right-wing wackos.
I think its funny these
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:45pm.
I think its funny these talking heads blabber about the TEA party as if they were a political party, which they may become yet, rather than a populist movement dedicated to stopping government insanity. So how do you kill a populist movement?
Bravo Tea Party!
Submitted by jefflebowski on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 5:50pm.
Does anyone believe we'd be talking about spending cuts and challenging the debt limit without the tea party? I applaud the brave, patriotic Americans in the tea party movement who are actually fighting against the tyranny of the federal government. To Hell with Fareed Zakaria! Alihu Ronald Reagan!
Angry White Dude
www.angrywhitedude.com
What a classic statement by Fareed...
Submitted by krendler on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 6:26pm.
FAREED ZAKARIA: "Watching the extraordinary polarization in Washington today, many people have pointed the finger at the Tea Party."
Really? Who are exactly are the "many people", Fareed? That might be relevant, no? Your Democrat friends, by any chance?
Then from Fareed, we get this concerning the Tea Party:
"It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving. I happen to agree with much of that critique,..."
Well, that's good that you agree with "much of" that critique, Fareed, because you wrote it!
Does this idiot think he's fooling anyone with his faux-objectivity? This guy is every bit as biased as anyone you'll find on MS-NBC.
He is right, sort of
Submitted by richb313 on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 6:27pm.
He is right, sort of. With out the Tea Party we would not even be locked in a debate on how to cut the deficit and reduce the debt. With out the Tea Party the Debt. Ceiling would have been raised as a normal event and sped us even faster to ruin. With out the Tea Party we would have been down graded already by Moody and the others right after the 2010 elections and by now the first of the emergency austerity meausers would have been put in place by President for life Obama.
Which who?
Submitted by HockeyKid on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 7:07pm.
Watching the extraordinary polarization in Washington today, many people have pointed the finger at the Drunken Sailor Party. It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving.
I happen to agree with much of that critique, but it doesn't really answer the question, why has the Drunken Sailor Party become so prominent? Why is it able to dominate Washington?
Simple: FEZ and friends.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Another idiot-illogical statement by Fareed.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 7:46pm.
"It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving."
No, Fareed. That's not the Tea Party, that's your religion.
Yay for the Tea Party! Hey
Submitted by mattm on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 7:57pm.
Yay for the Tea Party!
Hey Fareek, did it ever occur to your small mind that it's the "extremes" of the Left that fuel the Tea Party?
→ Honest Geithner
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 8:14pm.
Twice, on Fox News Sunday, Tim Geithner admitted the goal is to take the threat of default off the table until AFTER THE ELECTION.
I think it's refreshing to hear a Democrat sycophant admit the real reasons for the President's obstinance.
Of course I'm not too sure Geithner knew he was being so transparent.
Zakaria is Always Free
Submitted by Comrade Jim on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 8:19pm.
To go back to India if he doesn't like free citizens organizing into a political force to block left wing radicals from "fundamentally transforming" the US into socialist state.
What ideology?
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 8:20pm.
These people should be confronted with a simple question:
Exactly what IS the "ideology" of the so-called conservative "purists" they are attempting to demonize?
It has become fashionable to toss out these characterizations and accusations without actually documenting what they mean while ignoring actual examples of ideological behavior as exhibited by the left over-and-over during the Obama term.
Say what, comrade mullah Zakaria?
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 8:22pm.
Not spending money we don't have is an 'extreme' position?
Maybe if you would put that water pipe down you might actually catch on to the fact that this country is dead broke, and we can no-longer afford to spend money like we actually had it.
Compromising is what got us to this sorry point, and any more of it will seal our fate once and for all.
But that wouldn't bother you even a little bit, would it, comrade?
After all, you Muslim commies want to see this country brought to its knees, else you wouldn't be eagerly supporting the bankrupting of it.
And may the fleas of a thousand camels invade your armpits.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Son of a motherless goat!!!!
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 11:26pm.
Son of a motherless goat!!!!
Great comments. 'Tis a damn
Submitted by ant on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 8:34pm.
Great comments. 'Tis a damn shame all these extreme, polarizing American citizens keep getting in the way of the progress of the lying, Marxist Globalists. You ever get the feeling these anti-American hacks are just talking amongst themselves, even while broadcasting or making speeches?
Freddy the Zack is no liberal
Submitted by ConservaSerb on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 10:28pm.
He's a Muslim. An America-hating MUSLIM. Whatever brings America DOWN is what Freddy is in favor of. he speaks TREASON. He should be ignored. He should be put on the first boat OUT when Judgment Day comes. He and Barry and the other Commies and America-haters should be sent to whatever country they choose first, so long as it isn't the USA.
A wise & frugal government, which shall leave men free 2 regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. T. Jefferson
Signals from Planet Zakaria
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 07/24/2011 - 11:57pm.
FAREED ZAKARIA: Watching the extraordinary polarization in Washington today, many people have pointed the finger at the Tea Party. It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving.
The Tea Parties have a single unifying message: Cut spending and no new taxes. It's forcing Washington to solve the problem or get voted out. Compromising has failed to solve the problem. Why is that an extreme?
FAREED ZAKARIA: I happen to agree with much of that critique, but it doesn't really answer the question, why has the Tea Party become so prominent? Why is it able to dominate Washington?
Well, Doctor Doolittle. Get on your Vespa and ride 50 miles in any direction of out of Washington , , , talk to some real Americans . . . they'll tell you.
"Extremism in defense of
Submitted by I-Burn on Mon, 07/25/2011 - 3:46am.
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue."
As true now as when it was first spoken...
Our 'masters' in Washington, and their puppets in the media really ought to keep that quotation in mind. There are enough people in this country who won't knuckle under to make things uncomfortable, if nothing else, if we're pushed hard enough.
Moron
Submitted by ChuckySchmucky on Mon, 07/25/2011 - 12:56pm.
"It's ideologically extreme, refuses to compromise, and cares more about purity than problem solving,"
Moron, do the words "I won," "get in the back of the bus," "go along for the ride but don't do any talking" register in that thick Marxist skull?
Moron, those words were uttered in the maniacal pursuit of an agenda THAT A MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE REJECT. Did the public ASK for "fundamental transformation" of their country? Does a president have the RIGHT to "fundamentally transform" this country?
"I happen to agree with much of that critique, but it doesn't really answer the question, why has the Tea Party become so prominent?"
Because you're a clueless leftwing ideologue who doesn't understand the fact that the Tea Party IS the people. YOUR side is NOT.
The public supports Cut, Cap and Balance by 66%. The public wants the debt ceiling raised but only if significant spending cuts are made.
The public supports the Tea Party and rejects the leftist radicals in the White House and Congress.
Save the propaganda, moron.