Lawrence O'Donnell Cherry Picks Limbaugh to Claim Rush Agrees With Media on Romney 'Very Poor' Comment
Not surprisingly, the Obama-loving media are having a field day with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comment to CNN's Soledad O'Brien regarding not being "concerned about the very poor."
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Wednesday decided to make an even bigger deal out of this issue by cherry-picking Rush Limbaugh to make it appear the conservative radio host shared the press's view (video follows with transcript and commentary):
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: If there was anyone in America who you might expect to cheer you on for saying “I'm not concerned about the very poor,” it would be Rush Limbaugh. But even rush, as much as he might share that feeling with Romney, knew it was a very, very stupid thing to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH: "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there." The safety net is one of the biggest cultural problems we've got!
Everybody knows what he's trying to say but he didn't say it and he makes himself a target with this stuff. He comes across as the prototypical rich Republican. And it's gonna make it harder and harder and harder and harder to go after Obama because this turns around on him. You know, all these Wizards of Smart in the Republican establishment say, "We can't have Newt out there! Why, Newt's gonna be the topic. We need Obama to be the topic. We need Obama to be the guy campaign's about. If Newt's out there, it's only gonna be about Newt." Well, what evidence is there that it's not gonna be about Romney with these kinds of statements?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’DONNELL: Rush Limbaugh worried about the prototypical Republican? Rush who makes at least $50 million a year and flies in his own Gulfstream everywhere he goes worried about the prototypical rich Republican?
Actually, that's not what Limbaugh was worried about at all. Here's a transcript of Rush's full comments regarding this matter with the edited out sentences in bold:
LIMBAUGH: "I like firing people." "I'm not concerned about the very poor."
Both of them, if they're stand-alones and taken out of context, are big problems -- and they indicate a problem. Taken in context -- which isn't going to happen with the Drive-By Media. Taken in context, it's understandable. But I even have a problem with this in context.
"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there." The safety net is one of the biggest cultural problems we've got!
We had better be worried about it just like we had better get angry over Obamacare. Obamacare is worth getting mad about. Mitt said that it wasn't. This biz, "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there"? Right, the safety net is contributing to the destruction of their humanity and their futures!
Everybody knows what he's trying to say but he didn't say it and he makes himself a target with this stuff. He comes across as the prototypical rich Republican. And it's gonna make it harder and harder and harder and harder to go after Obama because this turns around on him. You know, all these Wizards of Smart in the Republican establishment say, "We can't have Newt out there! Why, Newt's gonna be the topic. We need Obama to be the topic. We need Obama to be the guy campaign's about. If Newt's out there, it's only gonna be about Newt." Well, what evidence is there that it's not gonna be about Romney with these kinds of statements?
Notice that O'Donnell skipped the introduction and a very large chunk in the middle that particularly included, "The safety net is contributing to the destruction of their humanity and their futures!"
This was Limbaugh's point: the safety net is a terrible thing and Romney - a Republican presidential candidate - was praising it.
Limbaugh continued with this theme later in the show:
LIMBAUGH: Everybody knows what he's trying to say here, but you give them "I'm not concerned about the very poor," you chop it off there and it could be about anything. I'm not concerned about the poor in the way they're eating. I'm not concerned about the poor and the car they have. I'm not concerned about the poor and where they live. You can do all kinds of things with that. And it isn't gonna be enough to say, (crying) "You've taken that out of context." We know what he's trying to do. He's trying to zero in and tell the middle class, "I'm thinking of you." But this repair the safety net stuff? The safety net is contributing to poverty. The safety net contributes to poverty. It does not solve it. We've got proof every year since the Great Society and whatever else Johnson named it, starting in the sixties.
As such, Limbaugh's point was that Romney by praising safety nets for the poor was sounding like a liberal and not a conservative who thinks these entitlements are harming the society.
With all the things conservatives have to be concerned with regarding the former Massachusetts governor, him coming out in favor of safety nets complicates matters further.
But that's not what this MSNBC host imparted to his viewers.
Quite the contrary, by editing out significant portions of Limbaugh's commentary, O'Donnell made it seem that Rush agreed with him and the rest of the liberal media on why what Romney said earlier in the day was wrong.
As we've been saying for months, the press are going to do anything to get Obama reelected including cherry-picking conservatives to make it seem even the Right opposes the Republican candidate.
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Comments
Praise?
Submitted by rinohunter on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 1:54am.
In my opinion Romney was simply stating a fact, there is a safety net for folks that are super poor. I'm not sure if he was really praising it. Either way it was a poor choice of words and I hope Republicans don't buy into the media's meme here, even if you support another candidate.
It is a sad day day in America when our politicians have to...
Submitted by jawebster1 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 4:05am.
be careful of every word they say because they know other politicians will take them out of context or only quote the words that make them look bad and leave out the words that explain what they said. Rush knows Liberals like he knows his glorious naked body, so it was easy for him to predict what they would do with Romney's quote.
Romney also said something that won't be quoted by the likes of O'Donnell and that is if there is something wrong with the safety net, he'd see to it that it was fixed.
Jim
Submitted by melvin on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 7:52am.
How do you know that Rush's naked body is glorious? On second thought, I don't want to know. That's between you and Rush.
melvin
Submitted by jon_torlin on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:43am.
Ignorance, thy name is melvin.
if you, like the other libs, want to say stuff about Rush, at least listen to his show before knocking things about him.
-Jon
Be careful Mr. Torlin.
Submitted by The Vet on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 11:55am.
Don't want to upset the thin-skinned melveeng or melvinger troll.
Rush is right on this one!
Submitted by MightyMouth on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:34am.
O'Donnell, on the other hand, is still as dumb as a bag-o-hammers.
O'Reilly
Submitted by Brad90956 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 3:02am.
I was watching The O'Reilly Factor tonight during his Talking Points Memo and he said the left would jump all over Romney's statement about the poor. He said they (MSNBC) would only show the "I'm not very concerned about the poor" remark and cut off the video. As soon as he said that I flipped over to Ed Shultz and sure enough, that is exactly what Ed did. I then went back to O'Reilly because Ed was making me sick.
I have to commend you for the
Submitted by Schofield Kid on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:55pm.
I have to commend you for the having the stomach to even watch a moment of MSNBC. I leave it to those at NB for that onerous task. I once watched about two minutes of some dude named Rachel and couldn't take any more. BTW that's a strange name for a man!
The poor comment
Submitted by TBAR on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 3:24am.
This is the Candidate that was voted for in South Florida by the Snowbird population . At best a moderate Republican... At worst a progressive Democrat posing as a Republican. The North Florida Conservatives cannot overcome the large liberal population in South Florida today.. I'm Sorry, America.
N Fla Conservatives cannot overcome the large liberal S Fla...
Submitted by vrwc13 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 11:03am.
The North Florida Conservatives cannot overcome the large liberal population in South Florida today.. I'm Sorry, America.
Right, and his money helped: Florida Win Was All About Romney's Money
And, At worst a progressive Democrat posing as a Republican, is the better descrition of Rmoney.
v
The burden of life is from ourselves, its lightness from the grace of Christ and the love of God. - William Bernard Ullanthorne
Well, TBAR
Submitted by Blonde on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 12:01pm.
We've been overrun by New Yawkas forever, here. But when we leave, we'll turn out the lights.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
I would fly all over in my very own Gulfstream too.
Submitted by The Vet on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 3:30am.
I bought a truck. I drive it all over. It's mine. I have that right. Anyhoo....
The problem is we keep expanding the definition of poor. We keep lumping in more and more people making higher and higher amounts of money. Yes. We do have a social safety net for the very poor. And we should keep one. But by adding ever more not-poor to the poor rolls, our trust is being abused and this country cannot afford it.
I am not concerned about the poor as well. I am concerned about the government's definition of poor.
Why should presidents be
Submitted by b-dob on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 3:52pm.
Why should presidents be concerned? These poor people aren't too concerned. They're more than satisfied with staying on the dole and not having to work their way up. Otherwise, they wouldn't be perpetually impoverished. If Larry (and Barry, for that matter) were concerned about the poor, they'd be working to get these people to lift themselves up, not subsidize their poverty indefinitely. Of course, who would vote Democrat if they could provide for themselves...
This is another example of why no one should trust...
Submitted by jawebster1 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 3:55am.
anything put out on the liberal media and especially not trust anything put out by MSNBC!
The poor
Submitted by HudsonRiverGirl on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 4:04am.
Just heard WABC radio news LIE big time and say that Romney said that he's not worried about the poor because they have an AMPLE safety net.
That is not what Romney said. If Rush too wants to play games with what Romney said then so be it. The loudmouths on our side are going to marginalize themselves with their inside the beltway rear end kissing.
Romney is his own man and doesn't need Rush or Trump to validate himself.
Then why...
Submitted by ontheright on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 12:47pm.
...is Rmoney going to accept Trump's endorcement later today in LV?
Afterall, "he's his own man" and doesn't need "...Trump to validate himself".
Why not just say to Trump, "thanks, but no thanks".
Just say'n.
Let me see if I have this straight:
Submitted by Jer on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 4:43am.
a. Rush ripped Romney's comment about the poor, but not for the same reasons the liberal media criticized Romney
b. Gingrich ripped Romney's comment about the poor for essentially the same reasons the liberal media criticized Romney
c. Rush would have preferred Romney to say he cares about the poor because they have safety nets which have made them poor, and if elected he will prove his conservative credentials by eliminating those impoverishing nets and free the poor to pursue the American Dream
d. Much of the Right--including Rush--does have a problem with Romney, but the press is deliberately misstating the problem as part of its ongoing effort to re-elect Obama, and Gingrich is misstating the problem in his ongoing effort to elect himself
e. Romney is the media's favorite Republican--just as McCain was the media darling in 2008--and ordinarily would remain so until the nomination is secured at which point the Republican candidate [Romney] would be demonized while the Democratic candidate [Obama] would be praised as America's savior.
f. Conservatives believe the media is once again trying to pick the candidate who can be most easily beaten by a Democrat, although every poll shows that Romney has the best chance of winning in November
g. Apparently the media, with a sense of urgency, has ditched the traditional strategy and has decided to get an early start on trashing Romney
h. No one knows why Ann Coulter is in love with Romney which thus far is the enduring mystery of campaign 2012.
Jer
Little off but good try.
Submitted by The Vet on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 7:55am.
Uncle Jer: ...because they have safety nets which have made them poor...
Actually, he is saying the safety nets are not helping them out of poverty, thus keeping them poor. The safety nets make no one poor.
He is also saying that there are lots of people out there saying to back Romney because Romney can beat Obama. Those same people are saying to stay away from Newt because he will say something crazy someday the MSM will use to beat him. But Romney is saying stuff they can beat him with now. So, yeah, your advice sucks, people that give advice.
Uncle Jer...if elected he will prove his conservative credentials by eliminating those impoverishing nets and free the poor to pursue the American Dream.
You are reading more into it that is there. Romney said the safety nets for the poor are functioning and are therefore not a worry. Rush says they are keeping people in poverty because they do not help. Remember the teaching a man to fish parable. I am saying the safety net is too big. We can't pay for a safety net for all or even half.
Uncle Jer: ...press is deliberately misstating the problem as part of its ongoing effort to re-elect Obama...
No, the press heard a rich man say something about not caring about the poor. They got a sound bite to run with. I don't think this particular instance was about re-electing President Obama.
Uncle Jer: Romney is the media's favorite Republican...
Dammit, no. Pay attention. Gingrich is the favorite. Romney has a hands off approach to the press. Gingrich is right in there with them on the back of the bus. He talks. He takes questions. He jokes. He is open to them.
Uncle Jer; Conservatives believe the media is once again trying to pick the candidate who can be most easily beaten by a Democrat...
Dammit. No. Look there is no evil cabal of media out to get anyone. There is a mindset. They tend to think alike. See? Actually, they liked, I think, Hunter, or that Chinese ambassador or something. But they dropped out.
Uncle Jer: ...nomination is secured at which point the Republican candidate [Romney] would be demonized while the Democratic candidate [Obama] would be praised as America's savior.
Close. But the media already praise Obama.
Uncle Jer: Conservatives believe the media is once again trying to pick the candidate who can be most easily beaten by a Democrat..
Dammit. No. Conservatives believe the Republican establishment is pushing the candidate that can most easily beat Obama, that is Romney. Conservatives believe the media are just a bunch of vultures waiting for any Republican to make a mistake and then jump on it, ripping into the flesh with their smelly pointed bea.... Oh dear, I appeared to have started to ramble.
Uncle Jer: Apparently the media, with a sense of urgency, has ditched the traditional strategy and has decided to get an early start on trashing Romney.
Repeating yourself. No. They are vultures and spotted a fresh carcass, with the words don't care about the poor written on the side.
Uncle Jer: No one knows why Ann Coulter is in love with Romney which thus far is the enduring mystery of campaign 2012.
Dammit. I learn from you. Learn from me. No one knows why Ann Coulter is abandoning conservatism to SPEAK IN FAVOR OF a man that does not have a conservative history. We can understand why she is in love with him. My lord man, he is a handsome devil.
well done Vet, well done. Jer take note...
Submitted by vrwc13 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:56am.
..esp. liked the one on Ann. Come on Ann he's married, oops, can he have two wives?
v
The burden of life is from ourselves, its lightness from the grace of Christ and the love of God. - William Bernard Ullanthorne
I have taken note, v...
Submitted by Jer on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 4:11pm.
And I note that the Vet has taken the logical, analytical, and, indeed, the more sensible and credible approach from a conservative perspective in his assessment of the current electoral dynamics, including the media's behavior, bias and influence [even to the point of contradicting Mr. Sheppard in at least one respect], whereas I was echoing the more emotive and visceral and cynical reactions which typify the prevailing sentiment among many on the Right.
Jer
Duly noted Jer, we are all learning here...
Submitted by vrwc13 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 4:15pm.
Enjoyed both your approach and the Vets.
v
The burden of life is from ourselves, its lightness from the grace of Christ and the love of God. - William Bernard Ullanthorne
good opportunity for newt
Submitted by Kuso Jiji on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 7:40am.
to point out once again that the mainstream media is completely corrupt. he can set himself apart from Romney by not attacking Romney but the media itself. Unlike Romney who has used every liberal argument against Newt to advance his campaign.
Don't watch Rush
Submitted by allouchsit on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 7:47am.
This is a good example of why I don't waste my time listening to Rush. Years ago he was interesting. Now he is pretty much irrelevant. Any rational human knows what Mitt meant. His focus at the moment is the middle class. The rich do not need help and our government has many programs in place to help the poor. Right now we need to concentrate on the middle. If we enact policies targeted to help the middle, EVERYONE will benefit.
I'm getting tired of BOTH sides.
I'm Sorry
Submitted by John21 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:07am.
I'm sorry but, you cannot honestly expect a dim bulb like O'Donnell to come up with anything original do you?
His whole career (????) has been built on just this sort of trashing. He twists fact until he is positive that they mean what he wants them to and if challenged and has no cover available he will say he misunderstood the question. This is his whole journalist life in a single sentence; he rarely has to admit an error because his fellow (liberal) journalist will assist in covering because they will need the cover down the road.
The state of journalism in this country is appalling, you can find better writing in children’s books, and you can find more interesting storylines on the back of a cereal box. This is why we end up with people like Mr. O’Donnell appearing as an important member of the media.
The journalistic community has sold itself (cheaply) to the political parties and has lost any sense of honesty or integrity by doing it, but what is really disturbing is that they (for the most part) don’t even realize it. It should also say something about the intelligence and training programs for journalist in this country.
RUSH DOSEN'T MISS A CHANCE TO RIP ROMNEY
Submitted by cbeyer on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:32am.
I listen to Rush daily and his vitrol towards Romney Is unceasing. He overlooks major character flaws in Newt as well as newt's support for cap and trade, amnesty for illegals, and gingrich's statement condeming Paul Ryan's fiscal plan as right wing social engineering.
Newt isnt electible against obama. He is a trainwreck. I hope Rush, Hannity and other talk show hosts dont get their way and saddle us with newt the unlikable meglomaniac. His nomination will guarantee.....for more years of hope and change.
I Pick Rick - Santorum 2012 !
Submitted by Free Stinker on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 1:17pm.
Newt would demolish ObamAA+ in a debate.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Newt vs ObamAA+
Submitted by Agnostic on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 1:30pm.
Perhaps. But let us be realistic about what the debate is going to be like. Questions are going to be from the left. The media will avoid those opportunities they afforded Newt prior to SC. (I wouldn't be surprised at some point if they didn't ask Newt something to the effect, "How good of a job do you think President Obama did handling XXX".) Should Newt managed to come out of that environ with a 'victory' there will be six hours of media analysis to face on every channel pointing out every perceived flaw and I guarantee the narratives are already being written against Newt and Romney just-in-case.
Newt didn't win because he beat the other candidates (not saying he didn't) but because he beat the media.
I like Newt even though he is none of the things he is trying to prop himself up as now. It is a shame he is shredding his relationships with his opponents because he would have been an excellent Chief of Staff.
Also, isn't it odd that the man being sold to us as the 'polished politician' (Romney) is the one that keeps putting his foot in his mouth.
About 2 years agai I was
Submitted by Free Stinker on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:16pm.
About 2 years ago I was channel surfing and saw Newt being interviewed. Turns out it was Jon Stewarts show. Stewart started losing control of the conversation and had to keep changing the subject. Newt was totally PWNing Stewart. He can think on his feet. The only time I can recall he had trouble was after he criticised the Ryan budget. I heard him on Kevin and I was clear he had no understanding of what was even in Ryans bill. Only time I ever saw him unprepared.
I expect if he gets the nomination, there won't be a debate at all. Remember the "Rick Warren Debate" ? Obama looked so foolish Liberal bloggers immediately began claiming McCain cheated and the MSM barely covered them afterwards. No way Obama goes toe-to-toe with Newt.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
FS,
Submitted by Agnostic on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:32pm.
Newt is good - maybe the best. And there will be a debate because one of the knocks on Obama is timidity in making decisions - running from a debate would really hurt the illusion.
One-on-One Newt would probably take anyone - even though he hasn't one every debate against the other Republicans but you can't win them all. But in Obama he will not be one-on-one. It will be Moderator, Hosts with questions and Obama Vs. Newt.
When Newt wins you then get multiple hours of media coverage trying to convince people that they didn't see what they just saw. One bead of sweat on Newt's forehead will turn into the media message of Newt's fear of Obama's speaking/debating prowess.
Not to mention the usual liberal spin on issues.
I say this to be realistic about the meaning of the debates in the election cycle. They are important only in that they give someone an opportunity to implode or explode depending on the issue at hand. They are three events that hold a moderate amount of sway for less than a week each.
Good thing for Romney that he now has Secret Service protection
Submitted by CT on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:50am.
Because he deserves a serious slap up side the head for is inarticulate comments about his lack of concern for the poor the other day. Now his ham-handed "you took me out of context" crap makes it worse.
Romney was not my first or second choice for president, now his fumbling just makes me angry and I think we are stuck with him.
Crazy Larry officially designated Honorary African American.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 12:22pm.
Sharptoon said to be not amused.