Ex Newsweek Editor: GOP Candidates Are 'Advertising Their Ignorance'
Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman appeared on Wednesday's Hardball to mock Republican presidential candidates as simplistic. He exclaimed, "But, they're advertising their ignorance is what I'm saying!"
Fineman, who now is the political editor at the more overtly liberal Huffington Post, dripped with condescension as he described the potential GOP nominees. The journalist berated, "What I find fascinating about [Cain's] candidacy, and really the tenor of a lot of what the Republican candidates are saying, including Rick Perry, is they are saying, 'We don't need to know all those fancy facts.'" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Continuing with his satirical monologue of what candidates like Cain and Perry really think, Fineman parodied, "We don't need to know all the rest of the stuff that those intellectuals know."
On September 8, 2011, Fineman appeared on Hardball to smear climate change skepticism, deriding, "It's part of their new Ten Commandments."
A transcript of the November 2 segment, which aired at 5:15pm EDT, follows:
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HOWARD FINEMAN: What I find fascinating about his candidacy, and really the tenor of a lot of what the Republican candidates are saying, including Rick Perry, is they are saying, "We don't need to know all those fancy facts."
DAVID CORN: Yes.
FINEMAN: "We have it in our heart. We have one or two simple things that we know." Rick Perry knows how to create jobs, he says. Herman Cain's got his 9-9-9 plank. "We don't need to know all the rest of the stuff that those intellectuals know." If I've heard Rick Perry say once, I've heard him say a dozen times, "Well that's an interesting intellectual question."
CORN: Yeah.
FINEMAN: And Herman Cain said the other day, "Well, I'm not going to know about Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan."
CHRIS MATTHEWS: But you ought to know about China, China, China.
FINEMAN: Well, of course you ought to know about it. But, they're advertising their ignorance is what I'm saying!
CORN: It would be great if he were running for election in 1956, and can you tell, any time he's come close to foreign policy, he's, like, trying to process index cards. He doesn't do it. Doesn't care.
FINEMAN: We're living in two different worlds here. The world of Herman Cain and Rick Perry is one that doesn't care about the judgments that we make-
MATTHEWS: Thank you.
FINEMAN: About who knows what. They think by appealing with heartfelt emotion to the conservative Republican voters that they are going to win regardless of what the mainstream media and other judges say about them.
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Comments
Claws out, MSNBC girls?
Submitted by drsamherman on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 6:16pm.
Fineman, Matthews and Corn (the moron triumvirate) sound like catty 8th grade girls cutting down other girls not in their clique.
Fineman has zero business calling anyone stupid or anti-intellectual, considering how fact-challenged his own work has been over many decades. Retire into irrelevance, Howard. Goodness knows your brand of yellow journalism certainly is not bolstering any credibility for the mainstream media at this point in time.
Except that when they were in high school . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 7:30pm.
. . . they were the one's being excluded from the cliques.
"Advertising ignorance" is the basic tenet of Hardball.
Here here Fineman never has never known such People
Submitted by Avitar on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:07am.
George Will would have a hard time keeping up with the Republican field and Newt spent four year demonstrating that he was the best Washington had in the Twentieth century. If Fineman can't keep up it is because he is an idiot who's head the conversation goes over.
go figure
Submitted by kinijane on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 6:17pm.
As I see it, hes more intelligent than everyone else.....geeze wish I was as smart.
Howard, and Prissy, you ignorant sluts.
Submitted by UpNorth on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 6:25pm.
Does "57 states" ring a bell? The references to the "inhalator", "give the kid a breathalyzer", the need for Arabic speakers in Afghanistan, not to mention O's uncle, who liberated Auschwitz. Guess he was on detached duty with the Red Army, Howard? Prissy? Not to mention, from the King of Gaffes, Joe Bite-Me, "Stand up, Chuck".
Sounds like he was 'advertising his ignorance" there, Howard, what do you think?
Plus
Submitted by BookinWeasel on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 6:50pm.
we can't forget about that "Intercontinental Railroad" or that elusive yet to be heard "Austrian" language....
Ignorance is a simple lack of information!
Submitted by Woodoggie on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 6:33pm.
Fineman's Stupidity is to the CORE!
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me,
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally.
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
ignorant Howard Fineman
Submitted by ohio granny on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 8:05pm.
Howard Fineman supports Obama and that shows he is either ignorant or stupid. Obama was and still is not ready to be President. But according to Fineman and others of the MSM he is the smartest man in the world. Obama is so smart he KNOWS there are 57 states, corpsman is pronounced CORPSEMAN. Austrians speak ASTRIAN. Just how many other examples do we have of Obama's smarts??? And Fineman has the audacity to call Republicans ignorant?
And we all know how stupid and ignorant Chris Matthews and David Corn are. Nothing more needs to be said. The worse Obama's poling numbers are the nastier we can expect to see his mouthpeices become.
I'll take "Two "I" words for Obama" for 2000 Alex
Submitted by Dan Diego on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 9:49pm.
What are Inept and Indictable?
Who's ignorant now?
Submitted by Phryj1 on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 9:58pm.
Hey, Howie, there hasn't been any warming for the past decade. None. Global warming is OVER. Even that new study by Muller your libmedia pals are crowing about actually proves this. Which means you advertise your OWN ignorance by not deferring to the facts about global warming. The skeptics were right. No need for CO2 regulations. Everything is going to be just fine.
Unless you're Al Gore or one of his carbon scam investors and are about to lose a buttload of money. Then you're going to look real freakin' stupid.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
And his opinion matters, why?
Submitted by jessieH on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 10:29pm.
And his opinion matters, why? Don't WE have enough liberals giving their lame opinions?
Are either of these 2 guys
Submitted by coin of the realm on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 1:30am.
running for the office of president of the united states? Are they paid talk show commentators who use opinion wrapped around data gleaned from their observations, the research of support staff and expert analysis? No and yes, respectively.
To my thinking, that means that 'who' they are or how 'dumb' they are is not an issue. At least not anywhere near the level of importance of who the candidates are and how dumb they are. How does their opinion of Cain or Perry, or any of them there candidates, hinge on speculation about the messenger's smarts? Disagree with their arguments, but on merit. To call them names bc you don't like what you hear doesn't refute the words they say. Nor does it even call into question those words to point out that they are liberal. Throwing Obama in there with a few more insults doesn't speak well to your intelligence at all. The argument that those guys are stupid, Obama's stupid and liberals are stupid because you say so is , well, stupid.
You might argue that they are wrong bc a President doesn't need to be an expert on foreign policy bc he can hire and rely on experts or that they really do know more than they let on, but they keep it under their hat bc they don't want to offend their base by acting smart. Or you might just admit that they are ignorant in this key area and that you dont mind bc you are ignorant too. Dag gummit, and you like to support people who are like you or worse. Whatever, calling the commentators stupid misses their point--that is, we all need to hold these candidates up to a high standard bc if we don not, well we see what happened when Bush got in.
P.S. Obama is highly intelligent whether you like it or not. He was the editor of Harvard Law Review for 2 years and President of same for 1 year. Harvard Law is for the elite of the elite and to become editor of the Law Review is very prestigious. To then become president of the Law Review is very rare air indeed. It is the place where only the cream of the elite elites tread. 7 SCOTUS justices held that position, many top federal judges, cabinet secretaries and so on. Obama is an intellectual elite.
Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes her laws. Mayer Amschel Rothschild
merit of their argument?
Submitted by lunchbox on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 1:56am.
coin of the realm,
Okay, I disagree with their arguments based on their merit. There is no merit to what they are saying. Read the transcript and watch the posted video. They did not give one statement to support their arguments, not one. An opinion statement does not qualify as an argument. They gave nothing to support what they said.
lunchbox
Submitted by Prisondog1776 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:00am.
Plug Nickle never answers any questions asked of him. He cuts and pastes talking points.
Shut up retread troll.
Submitted by The Vet on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:04am.
Start working on your hayate3 account.
http://www.newsbusters.org/users/hayate
Warning: This troll had this account open while he chewed through a sock puppet account that he got banned for abusive behavior on this site - hayate1.
This troll is a liar, a plagiarist that steals the work of others off the internet and presents as his own, a multiple account sock puppeteer, a troll that will stoop to any level to get others to buy into his lies.
Really, Vet??? Hayate??? I
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:31am.
Really, Vet??? Hayate??? I remember that dope...............I had a couple of go-rounds with him. For some reason, plugged nickel doesn't seem as 'sharp'............although that is really STRETCHING the definition of the word!!!!! Out of this realm is more like a lightweigh freshman who has a bunch of talking points in front of him, and no real intelligence to back them up. A total lightweight, to be sure................
Wo wo wo wo lead
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:28am.
Wo wo wo wo lead plug............you can't keep showing up here on NB with your baseless and worthless posts, without having gained any credibility and respect with regards to any of your previous statements............and I think that it's a sure bet that you haven't done that yet. Personally, I'm STILL waiting for you to verify any number of your previous posts............and I know that there are a few other members out there who feel the same way. You want to gain any status here on a conservative website?? Well, you're going to have to prove that you've got something more than just your sophomoric and copycat lib/Dem propoganda.
The people on this website are a helluva lot smarter and sharper than you'll ever be................
Give me ANY proof that Boy Barry is 'highly intelligent'. He is purported to be the editor of the Harvard Law Review- that is a true statement. Can you demostrate to us ANYTHING that he did during that time??? Or maybe, just maybe, he was given that title because of his so-called 'race'............or maybe even because some mooooooooooooooooooooooooooslems paid some serious money for return favors??? I know a couple of Harvard graduates...............nice people - totally clueless. High IQ, low common sense, even lower ability to operate in the 'real' world. And I would NEVER give your Boy Barry a 'high IQ' rating, because the guy is of average intelligence and WAY below average sense.............but I have to admit that he is very good at instituiting his agenda to 'totally transform this country'............in a very negative way!!!
I'll tell you something else, plug of the non-reality................I would NEVER want to go into a serious situation with Boy Barry, but he sure as hell would want to be behind me if that happened...................but I wouldn't want this commie/racist/mooooooooooooslem/anti-American poser piece of Kenyan Kow Krap behind me..........I could throw YOU further than I would trust HIM!!!
'Reality has a well know aversion to out of the realm.................KILLA.
Rare Air..
Submitted by kata on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:30am.
isn't that a book by Michael Jordan?
Plug Nickle
Submitted by Prisondog1776 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 1:43am.
UTTER FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "P.S. Obama is highly intelligent whether you like it or not. He was the editor of Harvard Law Review for 2 years and President of same for 1 year. Harvard Law is for the elite of the elite and to become editor of the Law Review is very prestigious. To then become president of the Law Review is very rare air indeed. It is the place where only the cream of the elite elites tread. 7 SCOTUS justices held that position, many top federal judges, cabinet secretaries and so on. Obama is an intellectual elite.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/11/02/ex-newsweek-edito...
Why will the Dear Leader not release his college transcripts? How do YOU know the things YOU posted to be TRUE? Di the media tell you these things?
Plug Nickle
Submitted by Prisondog1776 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 1:48am.
says "To call them names bc you don't like what you hear doesn't refute the words they say.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/11/02/ex-newsweek-edito...
But ..... But.... what about this http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/11/01/tour-herman-cain-n...
Plug Nickle
Submitted by Prisondog1776 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 1:53am.
says.............mmmmmmm..... You might argue that they are wrong bc a President doesn't need to be an expert on foreign policy bc he can hire and rely on experts or that they really do know more than they let on, but they keep it under their hat bc they don't want to offend their base by acting smart.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/11/02/ex-newsweek-edito...
So you are wrong once again because i am sure you jumped all over Sarah Palin for her foreign policy experience right? http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2008/09/26/sarah-...
Jeez, Prison............do me
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:26am.
Jeez, Prison............do me a favor................STOP with the 'bc'.............it's KILLING ME!!! I think that maybe you are mocking 'out of this realm' by doing it...............but it's still irritating the hell out of me!!! This guy is hard enough to comprehend on his BEST day............so why stoop to his dumb-ass level of writing???
Otherwise................carry on!!!
Killa
Submitted by Prisondog1776 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:31am.
mocking this idiot for a while to see if he even figures it out. ;)
I know where you're going.
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:43am.
I know where you're going. Prisondog...........as we say here in Hawaii...........'no worry , beef curry'............and I'm also pretty sure that this dope is either too stupid or too delusional to know that he is totally out of his league around here............but, on the other hand...........it probably won't stop him from continuing with his stupidity..............after all, he IS a lib, and thus - delusional.
and if I may make a gentle request
Submitted by kata on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:32am.
please, prison... familiarize yourself with the reply and edit buttons. Multiple scattered posts are very hard to follow.
Ya
Submitted by Prisondog1776 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 2:34am.
i know kata still honing my skills. See i work most of my hours in the day and take care of my family the rest. So P.C. typing skills i am still honing. Sorry ;)
I can't remember Obama
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 8:06am.
saying anything about foreign policy, except easy things like that we should close down Gitmo and that the Bush invasions had been disasters. And really wonky things like that we shouldn't let our foreign policy stray so far from our moral ideals.
And for details, the press gave him a pass on the 58 states thing. (Most people forget the "we've got one more to go" after the "We've been to 57 states.") They hand out passes to the details libs get wrong and details don't matter otherwise.
"If I've heard Rick Perry say once, I've heard him say a dozen times, 'Well that's an interesting intellectual question.'" Hmmm... Sounds like "That's above my pay grade." to me.
Yeah, and politicians and pundits say "That's just semantics" a lot too, as if semantics was nothing to be concerned about. Of course, the idea is not that semantics is nothing, but that humans trying to relate a vision for practical matters do not have enough precision for semantic analysis to mean much. Semantics is a trivial thing to bog down agendas for more practical resolutions popularized with "big picture" concepts--but that's precisely why semantic detail is not important to the political process.
Guys like this come straight from their "Hope and Change" hangover to criticize that "9-9-9" sounds too simple. I wonder how many of them still speak fondly of "Camelot" at the same time.
Show me
Submitted by coin of the realm on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 8:42am.
any scholars from any political persuasion that vouch for any of the repub candidates like these people talk about Obama.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080623/pl_politico/11257
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/choice2008/obama/harvard.html
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700099094/Scholar-Michael-W-McConnell...
http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0810/features/obama.shtml
Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes her laws. Mayer Amschel Rothschild
Shut up sock puppet plagiarist troll thief.
Submitted by The Vet on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 9:01am.
http://newsbusters.org/users/hayate - active sock puppet plagiarist troll account.
http://newsbusters.org/users/hayate1 - banned for abusive behavior
Those people are liars. It's self-evident Obama's a moron.
Submitted by Phryj1 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 1:39pm.
Obama's a stupid useless buffoon. He's profoundly incompetent, and his ideas invariably make things worse. Since we've never seen his grades OR college transcripts, it's safe to say his alleged academic accolades are a mix of political favors and affirmative action.
Obama's an imbecile, and anyone who believes otherwise would have to be even dumber than he is.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
I think you're confusing
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 3:59pm.
amiable with intellectual. I read the first two links. They mostly talk about his balance, leadership commitments, and things like that. I appreciate that he tried to balance the review, it suggests a certain level of intelligence, sure. But intelligent and intellectual are two different concepts.
Bush Jr. had a huge reputation in Texas for "reaching across the aisle" and "putting coalitions together" and "hearing both sides", as well. I don't see that that makes either one an "intellectual".
This must be what Fineman and Matthews are babbling about
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 4:23pm.
Headlines followed: "Herman Cain incorrectly suggests China doesn't have nuclear capability"
I can "develop my muscles" despite that I already have muscles. I can "develop" my writing, despite that I already write.
"Capability" can be seen as a binary thing, you can or you can't. But it can also be seen as a level of ability. Thus you have some capability but lack it to an extent desired or sufficient.
Fineman speaks of intellect, but his own intellect is wanting. This is NOT an intellectual argument. It's simply pigeonholing somebody else's point for maximum leverage. It's proof by strength of assertion.
It's flat out disingenuous to demand that "developing capability" implies not having any part of that capability. There are probably better ways to put it, but when you have the press playing gotcha games for non-optimal expression, and then evoking a word that they have really no demonstrable knowledge of like ("nuance" or "intellect"). There is one word that he could have thrown in there that would have made it more fruitless to try to force this interpretation on him: "...develop their capability..."
Cain even uses "develop" in the next clause that does not make sense without pre-existence. "[T]hey want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have". "More aircraft carriers" does not imply that they do not have aircraft carriers like ours, it directly implies they have some already. Here, develop could serve for the word "manufacture", or perhaps it could be shorthand for "they want to develop the infrastructure for more aircraft carriers like we have". Again, not explicitly implying a total lack of infrastructure right now.
Liberals will demand (and shrilly scream for) benefit of the doubt at every turn, while denying as often as they can.
pozycjonowanie
Submitted by phottCorb on Fri, 11/04/2011 - 1:05am.
Please, more in detail
pozycjonowanie Łódź