Has the Imus-inspired national conversation on race and sex jumped the shark? I'm starting to suspect so after hearing Pat Schroeder this morning. Her most notable contribution to the collective dialogue was to suggest that there's something inherently masculine about verbal meanness.The former Democratic congresswoman from Colorado was a member of a panel moderated by NBC's Lester Holt on this morning's "Today."
View video here.
LESTER HOLT: We keep having a conversation. Are we changing, though, as a culture?PAT SCHROEDER: I hope we are, and I think part of it is what we're seeing in Iraq. We're seeing in Iraq the Shiites and the Sunnis fighting tremendously and we begin to realize a diverse democracy is a difficult thing to do, and you really can't allow people to stereotype and attack other folks on public airwaves and do things like that. Because that's the kind of, it will breed all sorts of hatred and things that way. It's just not a good thing to do. And so I think maybe we're having a pullback from this meanness. Where we really thought meanness was cute, and somehow it was masculine or something, I don't know, but let's hope there's a real pullback on that."
Bonus points to Pat for managing to work Iraq into the conversation. But really, if we can't do better than this, maybe we just need a pullback from more TV roundtables on the topic.
Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.





PAT SCHROEDER: I hope we are, and I think part of it is what we're seeing in Iraq. We're seeing in Iraq the Shiites and the Sunnis fighting tremendously and we begin to realize a diverse democracy is a difficult thing to do, and you really can't allow people to stereotype and attack other folks on public airwaves and do things like that. Because that's the kind of, it will breed all sorts of hatred and things that way. It's just not a good thing to do. And so I think maybe we're having a pullback from this meanness. Where we really thought meanness was cute, and somehow it was masculine or something, I don't know, but let's hope there's a real pullback on that."













Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Nice, Mark.Another feminist t
April 14, 2007 - 08:10 ET by BlondeNice, Mark.
Another feminist to point out another male "flaw".
It's maddening.
Guess she forgot about ROD ....meanness was cute, and somehow it was masculine or something.
And you've got it exactly right about working in Iraq. The question was We as a culture, and she replies with Iraq. Talk about talking points.
No media bias there.
P.S. Loved the Mean Girls pic.
Add Pat to the growing list o
April 14, 2007 - 08:30 ET by NortonalecAdd Pat to the growing list of people and groups that have to be consulted reguarding potentially offensive speech. One question: is there a pecking order amongst the offended? Who will decide which group is the most offended?, and does gender trump race or the other way around?
Nortonalec
Pat the feminazi
April 14, 2007 - 08:53 ET by gfrrmanShroeder complained about Limbaugh using the term feminazi and how offensive being called a Nazi was and how nothing was done to Limbaugh. I just wanted to LMAO and tell her to STFU and think how George Bush should feel if being called Nazi was so offensive. I think that soon there will be a new agency from the Feds called the Dept of The Offended, similar to The Secret Police of the USSR!! Good Lord what has become this nation?
"Eventually, Socialists run out of other peoples' money...." MARGARET THATCHER
There already is a new agency from the FEDS
April 15, 2007 - 15:22 ET by SportPoliticsThere already is a new agency from the FEDS, it's generically called "sensitivity training", and was used for a few days for training before Federal relief workers could make their way to the Katrina wreckage.
Intenzity
April 15, 2007 - 14:06 ET by IntenzityHmmm - two words - Ann Coulter.
And Malkin, and Melanie whats her name from KSFO in SF.
So obviously this woman has not been out much. I have heard far worse things come out of a womans mouth than a guys. Especially when it is directed at another woman, they say things a guy might think, but wouldn't ever say out loud.
It is funny how you guys think Rosie is somehow entrenched into mainstream left wing thought.
Rosie is not a political pundit, her show is not about politics, it is a day time TV show that is supposed to entertain, her rants are in between stories like how to look younger by drinking more water and an interview with someone who just wrote a book about the Westminster Dog Show. Holding up "The View" as some news show that represents a liberal bias is like holding up Wheel Of Fortune as an example of a show that proves humans have psychic ability.
Even people who lean left think Rosie is a little, uh, odd and kinda a self promoter. Kinda.
Hellooooo, Intenzity.So obvio
April 15, 2007 - 14:15 ET by BlondeHellooooo, Intenzity.
So obviously this woman has not been out much.
"This woman" is a former Congress critter. And she pointed out that the "meanness" in the Imus dust-up, was masculine.
My first point was that Rosie was equally (if not more-so) mean. You need to read more carefully before you post.
Your rant about "you guys" is pointless in this context. I could hardly care what left-leaners think of Rosie.
My overall point, just so you're perfectly clear, that a women's libber like Pat Schroeder was making a perfect a$$ out of herself with that statement.
Try again.
Oh Sheesh,Somebody just shoot
April 15, 2007 - 14:17 ET by BlondeOh Sheesh,
Somebody just shoot me already.
I replied to a poster who has rainlillie as a buddy.
Rosie O'Donnell a political p
April 15, 2007 - 14:47 ET by Gat New YorkRosie O'Donnell a political pundit - yeh right. That requires a moderate amount of intelligence. But more to the point Rosie intentionally mocked Asian Americans and she wasn't fired. Why is that?
The answer
April 15, 2007 - 15:11 ET by SportPoliticsThe answer is she isn't Rush, nor is she a republican candidate, and she also doesn't have a long history of it with repeated complaints and firings and hirings like IMUS did.
If you want Rosie to go down for once, then Rush going down for once is correct as well.
If you realize IMUS had years and years of it - decades in fact ( not a racist necessarily ), then you're an idiot blonde like Hasselbeck who pointed that out.
The only other additional equation that comes to mind is Rush commented on a hidden yet percieved ESPN "affirmative action policy" - an accusation against his employer. Rosie did not "attack" her employer, and neither did IMUS.
So as far as rules, having a long history of it, or attacking one's employer with it while white and male.
Umm, didn't Imus accuse his e
April 16, 2007 - 08:44 ET by dscottUmm, didn't Imus accuse his employers of being cowards on the air before getting the axe?? Isn't that an attack against your employer?
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
Rosie is not entrenched into
April 15, 2007 - 20:33 ET by UnsaneRosie is not entrenched into mainstream Leftism, but she is representative of it.
And as for Ann Coulter - what's with the fear of a terrible writer?
"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???." - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)
Intenz...It is funny how you
April 15, 2007 - 20:59 ET by bigtimerIntenz...
It is funny how you guys think Rosie is somehow entrenched into mainstream left wing thought.
WE don't think it, she proves it every single day....what world do you live in?
Oh yeah, it has to bethe same leftist one she does to even post that sentence.
Btw...When you were talking about what the wonderful View presents on their shows you left out HANGING UPSIDE DOWN!
Laughing out loud at the comedy from your post though...thanks.
Hmmm, Pat has not spent any t
April 14, 2007 - 08:44 ET by JPR1Hmmm, Pat has not spent any time with my mother-in-law.
Does the name Rosie O'Donnell
April 14, 2007 - 08:51 ET by Gat New YorkDoes the name Rosie O'Donnell come to mind?
Pat
April 14, 2007 - 09:30 ET by iveseenitallPat Schroeder -- another air-head who was a Congresswoman. Next thing you know ,Rosie will run and probably win a seat in this "august body" which includes Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee and Nancy Pelosi. These numbskulls and others are a poor representation of women in America. Sad.
NEVER,NEVER
Pretty mean thing for Pat to
April 14, 2007 - 09:21 ET byPretty mean thing for Pat to say. (Horshack voice: So, Mr Kotter, what does that say about her gender?)
Mean girls
April 14, 2007 - 09:31 ET by dagdaMean is Jr. High girls in a group. They are feral creatures. The anthropologist Margaret Mead said that women should not be armed. Men know when to stop wars, women don't.
Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow. Dwight Eisenhower
Isn't she the same ignorant b
April 14, 2007 - 10:36 ET by gxa99Isn't she the same ignorant b**** who thought "cattle guards" were REAL people. (And she's from CO!). Not to mention the same b**** that sponsered legislation so military spouses could get up to 1/2 a serviceman's retirement pay after 10 years of marrage if the couple devorce?. Feminazi!
Ha! Did she really say that
April 14, 2007 - 10:55 ET by RJHa! Did she really say that? That's hilarious.
Having lived in CO for a time
April 14, 2007 - 11:43 ET by UnsaneHaving lived in CO for a time, I'd have to say that she is potentially CO's biggest embarrassment ever.
"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???." - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)
Can't you just see those catt
April 14, 2007 - 11:52 ET byCan't you just see those cattle standing upright in their red uniforms with the big black fuzzy hats?
Does anyone else think her
April 14, 2007 - 12:25 ET by John in CADoes anyone else think her looks green? Or is that a mean thing to ask?
Give a Democrat Party free America a chance!
"Has the Imus-inspired
April 14, 2007 - 13:16 ET by JDW"Has the Imus-inspired national conversation on race and sex jumped the shark?"
Jump the shark, atypical of the dems. They simply are accustomed to hiding their heads in the sand behind the news media afterwards.
If we cut and ran obviously the blame is attributed to Bush. It is his fault that we are there now. Even so, Bush did not remove Imus.
Imus was an attribute for the dems. They were free to participate on his show. He reached an audience which they were locked out of.
The same dems to prospered through Imus were not intelligent enough to think ahead far enough to realize that by satisfying their insidious short term goals they in turn were burning long term bridges. By attempting to jump the political shark they are once again dog paddling in unknown waters.
JDW
News media: Scoreboard for terrorists
If you are going to whine about spelling... get a life
JDW -- excuse my ignorance
April 14, 2007 - 13:23 ET by Jack BauerJDW -- excuse my lack of knowledge about the latest media inspired "jive" talk.
But can you (or anyone) tell me where the expresion "jump the shark" came from?
I know it from 'Happy Days'
April 14, 2007 - 13:28 ET by JDWI know it from 'Happy Days'. Fonzie jumped a shark and the show became stupid from that point on.
JDW
News media: Scoreboard for terrorists
If you are going to whine about spelling... get a life
Cheers JDW.I was never real
April 14, 2007 - 13:32 ET by Jack BauerCheers JDW.
I was never really into Happy Days!
I've just started noticing the expression a lot, so I assumed it was fairly neo.
Surely that should be "wine about spelling"!
Certainly one has better th
April 14, 2007 - 13:44 ET by JDWCertainly one has better things to do here than snarl about spelling. If one is unable to address facts then proceed to another site.
JDW
News media: Scoreboard for terrorists
If you are going to whine about spelling... get a life
Accompanied by brie, s'il vou
April 16, 2007 - 12:45 ET by dahliatraversAccompanied by brie, s'il vous plait.
I thank you too JDW, I didn't
April 14, 2007 - 13:39 ET by bigtimerI thank you too JDW, I didn't know where that came from either.
I must of missed that show, but I quit watching it after awhile, when it just wasn't as funny to me anymore.
You learn something neo here every single day!
Meanness knows no bounds.
April 14, 2007 - 13:16 ET by Gary HallApparently Schroeder has not spent sufficient time listenning to Rosie O'Donnel or the Stephanie Miller radio show.
Meanness knows no bounds.
Ahhh yes Gary...Stephanie Mil
April 14, 2007 - 13:30 ET by bigtimerAhhh yes Gary...
Stephanie Miller, now there's a soft-spoken, gentle lady at all times.
A real jewel!
The hypocrisy of it all!
Btw...I am so glad I do not have to see Schroeder any more in the Senate, that squinty-eyed bird-brain is a real piece of sniveling leftist work...her exit was such a welcome for me!
bt - House
April 14, 2007 - 13:35 ET by Gary HallHey bt. Actually, she was in the House, not the Senate. I lived in Colorado during those hard days. Just her clothes ..... aahh - you knew something was wrong!
Gary,LOL!Thanks for reminding
April 14, 2007 - 13:41 ET by bigtimerGary,
LOL!
Thanks for reminding me...I knew that too, just got so used to seeing her on committees all the time, and television, it slipped my simple little mind.
Schroeder hasn't felt the cra
April 14, 2007 - 20:10 ET by dscottSchroeder hasn't felt the crack of Hillary's whip I take it. I guess the vicious false accusations by a stripper against the Duke LaCrosse boys don't count as meanness??? How about Twanna Brawley's false accusations, I guess that doesn't count as meanness either since Sharpton helped her with it. Or how about Tanya Harding, no, doesn't count either. Why? Because they are women. Any act that a male would do is not counted mean if a female does it, so says feminist propaganda. Why, heck, they can't do domestic violence either, everyone knows it's a male's fault 100% of the time even when the female strikes the first blow. Why? She is asserting her equality and independence or just acting out from an abusive past history. Just ask that preacher's wife. Just wait if they pass the ERA, then boys your going to see some real stuff go down.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
Pat Schroeder has been out to
April 14, 2007 - 18:32 ET by GalvanicPat Schroeder has been out to lunch for so long, she's missed dinner and breakfast, too.
Is Pat Schroder for real? Th
April 14, 2007 - 20:01 ET by mostlymoderateIs Pat Schroder for real? This lady makes less sense than my cocker spaniel, and he is pretty STUPID! I know EQUALLY mean women AND men. Pat Schroder needs to lay off the crack pipe.
mm...You should of been aroun
April 14, 2007 - 20:26 ET by bigtimermm...
You should of been around when I had to listen to her rant against Phyllis Schaffley and the abortion issue, and I was a very young woman then.
I detested her then, I detest her now.
She is and has been part of our problem with the break-down of society in this country, latch-key kids generation, women suing men at the drop of a hat instead of telling them to knock it off or slapping them, which always works if they don't get a clue...on and on, she is a old NOW so-called Woman, she is what I consider the enemy of conservative women...or better yet, just plain real common sense women, who didn't and still don't need someone like her to tell us how to handle a situation, our belief's on keeping a child, whether to stay home and raise kids and take care of your man and being happy about it, no it was the opposite, constantly...
This country was something else, I had gal friends who were embarrassed unless they said they had a job, it wasn't PC if you didn't, even thought they really wanted to stay home and raise the kids...all are divorced now ect...it was a conflicting sad period, it still is.
I know! People like Pat Schr
April 14, 2007 - 20:34 ET by mostlymoderateI know! People like Pat Schroeder think being a feminist and being a stay-at-home mother are mutually exclusive. They are not. I know lots of strong, successful, business saavy women that simply decide to stay home with the kids when they have a child. Any man can see the emotional attachment a mother and baby has; it is totally understandable why a woman would choose to stay at home with a child. The GREAT thing is that I think the "feminazi" approach to feminism is going to die out with the Internet culture. Now, woman have so many opportunities to run business's ONLINE while still staying at home with child. It is really a good thing in my view. :-)