Eleanor Clift & Clarence Page Can't Simply Admit U.S. Done More for Global Peace & Prosperity Than Anyone Else
John McLaughlin on the PBS show bearing his name asked his guests this weekend, "Has America done more to spread peace and prosperity than any other power in human history, yes or no?"
The conservatives on the panel - syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan and the Washington Examiner's Tim Carney - were quick to say "Yes" as their liberal colleagues - Newsweek's Eleanor Clift and the Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page - both equivocated (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, HOST: Exit question: Has America done more to spread peace and prosperity than any other power in human history, yes or no?
PAT BUCHANAN: Undeniably. It’s the greatest country in history.
MCLAUGHLIN: Eleanor.
ELEANOR CLIFT, NEWSWEEK: I'm not going to dispute that, but when Obama took office he came after an administration that invaded two Muslim countries, and the Islamic world really did hate us. And he's done some fence-mending, but you've got to get along with the rest of the world, especially when they, there are more of them than there are of us.
MCLAUGHLIN: Tim.
TIM CARNEY, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Yes, and we’ve spread it mostly, again, as an example, a shining city.
CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Hey, I'm not going to sit here and deny we're the best. But we make mistakes too. You know, that's what we got to remember. And unfortunately, we too often learn from the previous mistakes how to make the next ones, and I think this is why, this is a time when we need to be more cautious about our involvement with other countries while the world at the same time is looking to us for the leadership.
MCLAUGHLIN: The answer is yes, through freedom, capitalism and global trade. We did it more than anybody.
It's quite telling that McLaughlin and the two conservatives were extremely definite with their affirmatives while Clift and Page needed to qualify their answers.
Isn't that the difference between liberals and conservatives?
The latter have no problem talking about American exceptionalism while the former get all tongue-tied when asked to say something positive about the land they live in.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
Equivocation aside...
Submitted by zenman1661 on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 4:13pm.
the fact that they agreed at all, sets them apart from so many Liberals.
Clift basically said Obama,
Submitted by tcm14 on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 4:30pm.
Clift basically said Obama, not America, has done more to spread peace and prosperity than anyone else. What a partisan hack.
Liberals...
Submitted by Aubrey on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 5:04pm.
resent America. They are uncomfortable in singing our National Anthem, Flying the Flag or anything that shows patriotism. They scoff at it. They think they are somehow above such things. Liberals really are the enemy within.
A good read for Eleanor Clift and Clarence Page . .
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 5:53pm.
May I suggest that a good read for Eleanor Clift and Clarence Page . .
. . would be Robert Kagan's, "The World America Made."
In fact, it's an easy short read with large font - right up their intellect level.
(;~/ gary
They better stock up on throat lozenges.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 6:14pm.
They are both incapable of reading silently.
Liberals believe that weakness is a virtue
Submitted by sherlock1 on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 7:41pm.
Liberals believe that weakness is a virtue, and power is evil. So they dislike a strong America, because in their mind strength is always used to oppress or steal from someone weaker. In the same manner, they assume the wealthy got that way by ripping off somebody, rather than working hard. Projection doesn't just happen in that little room at the back of the Cineplex, you know.
A perfect example of this is Senator Patty Murray (D[itz], WA), who several years ago lectured some highschool students about how Bin Laden had built daycare facilities in Afghanistan after the USSR left, and we had not - which explained 9-11. I wrote to the Senator and politely invited her to consult the same State Department statistics I had to learn how many billions of dollars in aid the US and it's private charities had provided to the Muslim world during the years she spoke of. She responded with a form letter, thanking me for my support, requesting a donation to her campaign. Alas, her request went un-fulfilled.
They are both incapable of reading silently...
Submitted by sherlock1 on Sun, 04/08/2012 - 7:43pm.
Or try Chapstick, the liberal intellectual's little helper.