CNN and Howard Kurtz Promote Andrew Sullivan as a 'Conservative'
You want to talk about hoaxes?
On Sunday's Reliable Sources, CNN and host Howard Kurtz actually promoted the Obama-loving Andrew Sullivan as a "conservative" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Andrew Sullivan was an accomplished journalist at a young age, coming over from Britain to become editor of "The New Republic" when he was 27. He's been a newspaper columnist and author. But most of all, a blogger -- one of the first online writers to attract a big following. "The Dish" moved this year from "The Atlantic," to my Web site, "The Daily Beast."
I spoke to him earlier on our other sit-down the hall to dish about journalism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KURTZ: Andrew Sullivan, welcome.
ANDREW SULLIVAN, CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: Thank you, Howie.
KURTZ: You are a conservative. In fact, you wrote a book called "The Conservative Soul." And yet, you've been vitriolic toward today's Republican Party. What explains that? SULLIVAN: Because I'm still a conservative, and they're not.
KURTZ: They're not?
SULLIVAN: Well, no. I think if you -- if you look at what they're saying, which is that really the most of major institutions in this country and government should be exploded -- I mean, should be destroyed, we should get rid of entirely traditions like Medicare -- instead of reforming it, just cut it off with a voucher system, or preemptive war against Iran which, again, violates most conservative nostrums, the idea that you can't defeat and cut the budget deficit without raising taxes at all is not a very conservative position. I mean, it's a very anti-tax, anti-government position. It isn't a conservative one.
If you define conservative as liking the status quo, as wanting it to be limited government but understanding there are two parties in the system, a little give and take, a little compromise. None of that is on display at all.
From there, Sullivan attacked Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and even admitted that he's a "pretty unabashed admirer" of Obama's while being in the Tom Friedman/Ezra Klein camp that is worried the President will campaign on fear next year.
Yes - he's in New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein's camp. Can you name any conservative that would admit on national television to being an admirer of Obama's who's aligned with these two liberals?
Sullivan later told Kurtz that it's inevitable Israel will have to go back to the 1967 borders.
Know a lot of conservatives that agree with that?
More importantly, do you know any conservatives that think Andrew Sullivan is a conservative?
But this is how media outlets like CNN get to present a disproportionate amount of liberal views while appearing impartial: the folks they bring on to espouse supposedly conservative opinions are people like Sullivan who are as close to being conservative as I am an NBA all-star center.
For his part, as a so-called media analyst, Kurtz certainly knows better, and should be ashamed to be part of such a dishonest charade.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
CNN
Submitted by Fredy on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:18pm.
CNN is simply a cespool of leftist propaganda. The last phase of propaganda is to confuse and contort all words until they simply have no meaning. Renaming themselves in order to confuse the public is all the far left has left.
Everyone needs to point out the fraud that CNN is every time they are mentioned.
He's an old school
Submitted by goldwater89 on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:30pm.
He's an old school Conservative, in the same vein as Goldwater. This was before before the word 'Conservative' was co-opted by Bible thumpers.
Speaking of "Bible thumpers."
Submitted by MrLuigi on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 7:18pm.
Sullivan is gay so how could anyone possibly describe him as conservative? Next week they'll be telling us the pope is really an agnostic.
What does being gay have to
Submitted by PaleHorse on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 10:39am.
What does being gay have to do with being conservative? I didn't realize straightness was part of the philosophy. Your post essentially proved the point of the poster you responded to.
"Conservative" was never Co-opted It has been hung on People
Submitted by Avitar on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 7:51pm.
The networks used to bring outright socialist neonazis on and declare that they were conservative spokesmen. Right wing conservative used to be a catchall for anything that the Progressives did not like. They had control of the news and entertainment media and begain calling themselves liberals when progressive became a dirty word.
Conservative is what ever has proven itself in the past. That iss not a real big definition but it covers all of the the conservatives.
He is an old school conservative?
Submitted by jdripper on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 8:19pm.
Are you nuts? You know nothing of Barry Goldwater to use his name or to say that Sullivan and he are one and the same. Have you ever read the Conscience of the Conservative? Have you read his speeches? Have you ever seen his voting record?
Andrew Sullivan is no conservative old or new school. He and Barry Goldwater have nothing in common and you need to invest in some history books.
Jack
What beliefs do Sullivan hold
Submitted by goldwater89 on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 6:05pm.
What beliefs do Sullivan hold that disqualify him from being a 'Conservative' in your book?
AuH2O
Submitted by Free Stinker on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 10:45am.
Goldwater was a National Security hawk.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Reach across the aisle, classic RINO
Submitted by upcountrywater on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:31pm.
The guy must hang onto, John McCain's every word.
You Didn't Build That.
CNN
Submitted by palmaceiahome on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:31pm.
Howard Kurtz out did himself this Sunday. I thought his show was unwatchable before, now it's perverse. How demented is this clown who portrays himself as a "media watch dog"?
Noel......As one of my favorite NBA all-star centers, I look
Submitted by Rush Fan on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:54pm.
forward to you returning to your "real job" soon. Meantime, keep up your excellent part time job here.
Hehehe. ns
Submitted by Noel Sheppard on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:59pm.
Hehehe. ns
Hey Andrew,
Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:44pm.
Name one dimwit who is willing to reform "traditional" Medicare. Your no Conservative, claiming to be one, dont make you one.
In some ways Sullivan is
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 6:49pm.
In some ways Sullivan is right. Conservatives are for the status quo a stable functioning government, just not one we have now. The one we have now is not stable and not functioning. We will compromise a small bit but not to the point we slide into the depths of Hell, which is what we are doing now.
Conservatives at one time had to compromise to get anything done because the Democrats controlled the show and the MSM backed them up. The game has changed and the old guard doesn't like it.
Fake Conservatives
Submitted by Kleenex on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 7:00pm.
I watched some of this but couldn't take it all. They often bring on David Frum as a conservative too.
I caught the last half of the interview . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 12:24am.
. . . and I laughed out loud when I saw the caption "conservative blogger" on the screen.
Sullivan is supportive of Big Goverment. Like Obama, he says he wants to make it more efficient, but he won't concede that it's too damn big to manage effectively at all. He likes Obama-care, which takes over one-sixth of the nation's economy.
Sullivan pretends that 'conservativsm' has been hijacked by the far right and that he alone remains true, but he's no more a conservative than Nelson Rockefeller.
different degrees of conservative
Submitted by dmacleo on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 8:17pm.
1. economic conservative. lot of libertarians fit this
2. social conservative. many scared to admit to being this.
3. economic and social conservative, this is me. I'm not scared.
and the fourth....the present GOP.
he is not a member of any of those...
I think that "Hair Piece" Howie would of had a better chance
Submitted by Clemenza on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 10:29pm.
convincing us that Andy is a womanizer.
Am I the only one who watches
Submitted by amyshulk on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 11:33pm.
Am I the only one who watches Candy Crowley? It was hilarious watching her righteous indignation over taking things out of context {Clinton in an American Crosswords internet ad} when that's what Cain berated HER for attemping to do with him in the 1st segment!!!
Ronald Reagan
He's right. What have
Submitted by han_solo on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 12:03am.
He's right. What have conservatives EVER conserved?
Did they stop the spread of socialism? NOPE
Did they conserve the republican form of decentralized government? NOPE
Did they EVER make the federal government smaller? NOPE
Have they ever eliminated a single federal agency? NOPE
Has the size of the federal government ever gotten smaller under so-called conservatives? NOPE
The name "conservative" is a totally joke now, worthy of ridicule and disgust. I have a signed first-edition of Goldwaters book, and DAMNIT I am too embarrassed to call my self one anymore. Anyone who proudly proclaims themselves to be a so-called 'conservative' lets me know not to take them too seriously and they are just another big government hack politician. Time for a new party.
Change "conservative", han, into "Republican", and ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 12:27am.
you may have a point.
MD
Slander
Submitted by OldOllie on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 1:14am.
To call Andrew Sullivan a "conservative" is to slander all conservatives.
So did Jeopardy!
Submitted by NJRightWinger12 on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 3:31am.
I swear, on last Thurs-the17th I believe-episode of Jeopardy, Clueless Alex Trebek asked the contestants about a gay British sometime conservative "pundit"-that word again. I instantly said Christopher Hitchens, but they said Andrew Sullivan! I rewound it to make sure I heard right, then said WTF?
I can see it
Submitted by fenngibbon on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 3:43am.
I can see how he can call himself a conservative: he doesn't understand what conservatism is.
Just one example: unlike what he said, it's not a matter of conservatives liking the status quo; rather, it's conservatives being distrustful of change.
Here is his "conservative"
Submitted by Yarbles on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 7:08am.
Here is his "conservative" resume:
Editor of leftist The New Republic
Endorsed Kerry in 2004
Endorsed Obama in 2008
Advocated for Obamacare
Advocates for gay marriage
Advocates legalization of recreational drug use
Supports a carbon tax to fight global warming
Like many liberals he initially supported the Iraq war then became a fierce anti-war critic when it wasn't as quick and easy as Gulf War I.
For a long time his defense was that he claims to support a flat tax and no liberal supports a flat tax. Yet today he advocates for the raising of taxes, repeal of the Bush tax cuts, etc.
Those positions aren't conservative, they aren't libertarian, they are liberal.
Sounds "conservative" enough for me,,,
Submitted by NJRightWinger12 on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 11:43am.
Signed,
Morning Schmo,
Liz Hasselbeck,
Kathleen Parker,
David Brooks
Ending the $500/second stupidity of prohibition
Submitted by sarcasmo on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 2:13pm.
IS libertarian. You may not agree with it as a policy, but libertarians like me all think the tax & spend drugwar is just stupid, as well as history-impaired & corrupt & racist & probably half a dozen bad things I'm missing. (If you doubt the $500/second figure, just google "Drug War Clock." Then try to figure out why THAT failure is such a good thing for us to borrow money from the Chinese to finance...)
It's the spending that's killing us.
sarcasmo
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 6:47pm.
This is where both parties lose me - they deviate from logic when they are for/against something that fits with their stated vision of the big picture!
The drug war infantilizes us, and is a form of control over those considered "less", so logically, it *should* be a D thing, not an R thing. R's are *supposed* to be all about self determination, so if you are determined to use drugs, you should be able to, and should also accept the restrictions put upon you for doing so. Removing/displacing the negatives has obviously failed.
The immigration issue is just a flat out mess - and until/unless Mexico is willing to be a partner, enforcing a closed border is an impossible goal. Having an open border *should* be an R thing. It would be ideal IF the people utilizing it could be relied upon to self police, but when you have peoples who don't have the same mores and ethics and the risk/reward is warped...
Abortion is the other issue where the D's hold sway, but their rationale seems to stem from population control, not self determination. This genie is out of the bottle, and the R's shouldn't be trying {by word or deed} to control others by taking away their self determination, they should focus instead on inculcating their children with their own mores and ethics, and it becomes moot.
This is why big gov't. fails. The carrots and sticks approach with these 3 issues has warped the normal risk/reward calculation.
Ronald Reagan
amy
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 6:51pm.
Abortion is not self determination, it's the killing of another human being. Self determination is not having sex or not having unprotected sex.
radical1979
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 7:26pm.
My point was about making your own decisions, free of gov't control. While many of us believe that abortion = murder, telling others what to do should NOT be the purview of gov't, - outside of laws. And since they haven't determined that it IS murder...
And no, I don't think that the Supreme Court was justified in Roe vs. Wade.
Ronald Reagan
Where does Sullivan get the notion...
Submitted by DumbCanuck on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 10:30am.
...That HE's a conservative, and HE knows what conservatism really is?????
Sullivan is no more a conservative than I am a liberal!!!
"There... Are... Four... Lights!"
What
Submitted by John21 on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 10:46am.
Crazy Andy was never a conservative, the closest he could be judged is as a far left RINO.
Crazy Andy could not spell c-o-n-s-e-r-v-a-t-i-v-e without massive assistance from his far left handlers. He is BatSh*t crazy and has no connection to anything conservative. He Piglosi and Dirty Harry are good buddies and that is about as far right as Crazy Andy can get.