.
This one came out of nowhere. With all the crazy talk out there, former President George H. W. Bush has entered the fray and decided to throw in his two cents.
Former President George H.W. Bush feels that the tone of the national discourse lacks civility. “I don’t like it,” Bush told CBS. “The cables (TV) have a lot to do with it.” Bush said he believes Obama was “entitled to civil treatment” when it comes to his critics. But it was not just those on the right, who presumably make up a majority of Obama’s critics, that Bush felt were responsible for the angry tone. The left was guilty as well. Singling out MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, Bush said, “the way they treat my son and anyone who’s opposed to their point of view is just horrible.” Maddow and Olbermann, he added, are “sick puppies.”
Sick puppies?
C’mon.
Here we go again with the saner conservatives quite aware that the radical right is completely out of control but feeling a need to make their criticism more palatable by claiming that there is equal lunacy on the other side. There isn’t. While there are extremists in every group, there is no one among liberals who can match the insanity and nonsense of a Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, Michele Malkin, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and the entire Fox News network. And even if there was, the sheer volume of noise being heard from the right which is based on lies, misinformation and pure hate is unmatched. To then make the claim that Maddow and Olbermann are “sick puppies” is ludicrous.
Yes, Olbermann can be loud, opinionated and at times obnoxious, and while one might disagree with his conclusions, he operates on a solid basis of facts. He doesn’t make stuff up like a Beck whose ‘facts’ are for the most part delusional and whose logic can be ripped to shreds with the slightest of ease.
And then there’s Rachel Maddow who is by any measure the smartest thing to have happened to cable news in a long time. Openly gay (but never in your face), brilliant, articulate, charming and a recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship, she conducts herself in a gentle, reasoned manner. Never rude and always insightful, she provides analysis of news stories which cannot be found anywhere else. She is everything an Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly or a Michele Malkin is not. She is smart, rational and down to earth. To refer to her as a “sick puppy” is so laughable, it makes anything else Bush Senior had to say irrelevant.
Here is Rachel’s reasoned response.
.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
___
To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.
.
As the son needs to accept the sins of the father so does the father need to accept the sins of the son. If daddy comes to the help of the son then it doesn’t look good for either of them. George W needs protection from what? Throwing shoes,IRAQ war ( 4000 troops and 100,000 IRAQIs dead) , Afghanistan,torture,No child left behind,trillion dollar debt?
George unfortunately did not have a mind of his own as always and was a puppet to war mongering Cheney. Nothing can be done about that. George H. W. WILL CRY when history tells the story of his son. Who then was the sick puppy ?
Thanks Mario, for posting this. I missed Rachel’s show yesterday. I hope this brings more viewers for Keith and Rachel, if nothing else out of curiousity from the Right/wrong. I think Keith hit the nail on the head when he said there are some deep psychological issues going on in Mr. “Thousand Points of Lights” head. One can only hope he’s deeply ashamed of his (post turtle) namesake’s presidency and inability to better this country.
Keith and Rachel tell the truth and sometimes the truth hurts. Mr. George Bush, Sr., is just lashing out.
I watch Rachel and Keith daily – I also watch Glenn and Bill O’Reilly daily. Rachel and Keith give dates, run clips and give sites. Bill and Glenn give innuendo, insinuation and overtone packed with strong feelings and always ask questions like “don’t you agree with me?” “do you understand what I’m saying?” etc. (manipulative tactics 101).
If Obama was Bush’s lil’ boy he would be seeing it quite differently.
Here’s Rachel Maddow, a Rhodes scholar being told she’s a sick pupppy! Did he mention ANY names from FOX? I understand that as a father he wants to defend his son & honestly, I blame Cheney more than Bush. Still yet, you can’t compare Olbermann or Maddow to FOX. FOX is sleaze, the other shows proof of what they say.
The thing that impresses me is that most of you are either ; a.) Too hypocritical or; b.) Too much in denial or; c.) Too biased or; d.) Too stupid (regrettably) to admit that if either of these people were of a Conservative bent, you would be railing about how horrible they are.
@Tennessean: You call liberals “stupid” daily on here & THAT is stupid. You know Slick, when 9/11 and the hysteria came around, with all its lies, I actually fell for it. I feel bad about that. I felt dirty. You apparently have no conscience. That makes you ignorant AND stupid. I can admit it that I was used. Even after all the deception, you still hang on to the “Bush saved us” & “Bush did what he had to” bullshit. He didn’t. That makes you “A) hypocritical b) Biased AND c) Regrettably stupid”.
So, to the rest of the world, I apologize for my ignorance during the Bush/Cheney administration & all the death & tragedy it caused. I’ve never heard humility from the Republicans. Anytime now Tennessean. I’m sure in your mind, it’s beneath you. That’s what Republicans do. Deny everything. Pfft!
anomaly, I didn’t call anyone anything. It was a multiple choice question. I see you picked the one you felt fit you best.
Read closer. Try to understand my point. And if you need help or an explanation, no need to get your little panties in a knot. Just ask.
You know, the exchange between Tennessean and Anomaly100 is interesting. I can see where your hearts are at and where each of you is coming from.
Tenn: Does FOX cover what happened to the bailout money from Paulson and Bush? Does anyone care about the corporate communists in this country at FOX, or do they think it’s just capitalism at its best as far as they’re concerned? Congress (both sides) are in deep shit (if enough of us get on them) for being in the cross hairs of the voters and greed. How do we fix that as Americans?? AND why are Republicans such fear-mongering liars? If it isn’t the terrorists, it’s Obama. He’s just trying to clean up the mess of the economy (disater), wars (disater), bailouts for car companies, etc., that Bush did nothing to improve over his eight years. We should be giving this President the chance to govern without all the crap. What if these two President’s roles were reversed and Bush was in Obama’s shoes now? Can you wrap your head around that one???
Anom: You have a <3
Blue, First, my comment was simply to address the stupidity of the “My bias is better than your bias” mentality. That’s a concept Mario promotes regularly and all the little liberal sycophants pretty much fall in line.
You do the same thing in your comment. “Why are Republicans such fear-mongering liars?” I don’t know? But I would submit they are no more “fear-mongering liars?” than their Liberal/Democrat counterparts. I have seen the term “Death Panels” applied with much more regularity to comments here about the Insurance Companies that Sarah Palin could utter in a year’s worth of speeches or Facebook blogs.
And I disagree with the premise that since Obama is perceived as trying to straighten out all the (yawn, yawn, friggin’ yawn) mistakes of the previous Administration, that I am compelled to give him Carte Blanche to simply do as he will and see if it works.
There needs to be informative discussion here. And there is not. A big part of that is Republican/Conservative intransigence. But to sit here and try to assert the Liberal/Democrat positions are pure and honorable and above reproach is (sorry anomaly) stupid.
I find your lament that “Congress (both sides) are in deep s–t (if enough of us get on them) for being in the cross hairs of the voters and greed. How do we fix that as Americans??” spurious at best, if not just downright intellectually dishonest.
Right or wrong in method, people of a more conservative bent, both Democrat and Republican, have tried to do that. And for our actions, we are roundly insulted and criticized by the likes of Pelosi, Frank and yes, even Piperni.
With that, I have arrived at the conclusion that “bipartisan effort” as far as you guys are concerned is that all opposition just accept the swill dished out by radical liberals and keep quiet.
The mentality is you ASSUME we didn’t say anything earlier, so by your criteria, we forfeited any right to say anything at any point.
I don’t accept that premise.
@Tennessean: I can copy & paste from a few of your last comments where you have used the word “stupid” when you speak of liberals. You said very recently to another person here, that you “don’t have time to school” her. You are very condesending. Your point gets lost in your hatred of others. This is not the first time you’ve said or implied that, “stupid” fits me & I’m new to this site. Your insinuations are sophmoric & your attempted bantering is even more juvenile. You lack courtesy & respect for anyone that isn’t in your crumbling party. Your multiple choice question of being either hypocritical, biased or regrettably stupid is typical of the Republican party. Hers’s the difference. I can say that I do not like how President Obama is sending out more troops. I do not like how he’s handling the atrocities at Gitmo. I feel he should stand behind the gay community more. You do not say ONE single thing that George w Bush or Cheney has done & the list is very long. I can say that President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize came quickly, but I hope it will give him something to live up to. I hope he will make the right decisions & I’m proud our President was honored in this way, BUT I can see other people’s point of view. When was the last time you’ve told someone they were right? I’ll bet you’re stumped. I admit that I screwed up when I fell for the WMD deception, but you admit nothing. No one enjoys the company of someone that thinks they are an infallible deity.
@Blue Heron: You are very kind. I like your username by the way.
@Tenneassean: I didn’t see your last comment when I wrote that. If I had, I would have added that your pompous behavior is astounding. That kind of behavior makes your party look even worse. I didn’t think it was possible.
Tenn: Say what you want, sir. You miss the point. You’d probably sell your mother for an assault rifle too.
Anomaly…..I don’t “hate” anyone. Particularly people I don’t know and simply discuss politics with. I know some of the people who comment on here and while I have tremendous personal respect for them, I think their Political Views are bereft of merit and sound intellectual basis and I endeavor to substantiate that point.
You think I’m pompous, condescending, sophmoric, juvenile (excuse me if I leave one out) because I think there is little difference in the bias displayed by either side of the Political Debate.
Okay. Point taken. You think Liberal Bias is somehow better, more righteous than Conservative bias. At least, I assume that is the point you are trying to make since you take such vitriolic exception with my point that there is little difference.
But now, does it make me all those things just because we disagree? (And I’m trying very hard to keep in mind that your bias is somehow better than mine.)
(Sorry you took offense with my comment about schooling. But seriously, I neither have the time nor am I willing to take the time and effort to explain things to people that can’t see beyond their bias and reflect that in their comments.)
Blue, No. But thanks for the thought. I don’t need to sell my mother for anything.
For the time being at least, I can afford to buy whatever I want.
Brilliant point by the way. Must have taken a tremendous amount of effort to come up with such an astute remark.
@Tenneassean: The remark about “schooling” was not directed to me. I’m amazed you can’t keep up with your own insults. I didn’t want to put the person’s name here out of respect to them.
“Point taken” you say? You amazingly missed my point. You do hate liberals & it’s obvious. You do not debate others. Instead, you try to lord over them with a dictionary in one hand & coffee in the other while calling people “stupid”. I don’t like that word. It’s hurtful & it’s not beneficial if you genuinely want a debate, which you don’t. You can’t lord over what is already above you. Intellectually, you could do better if you applied yourself, but what is the point if you lack common sense. I did NOT say you’re pompous because of “bias” displayed on the right or left. The proof is in your comments. You are probably a very controlling person who doesn’t like others that don’t fit into your mold. You like things neat & organized as long as it’s done your way. You define right & wrong & anyone else, is insignificant. That is why you’re pompous. I’ve read your comments for quite awhile before I commented to any of them.
Once more, you have not said you are wrong about anything. Your God complex is apparent. Look at what you wrote Blue Heron. The last line was the most offensive, to say the least. Your sarcasm is not humorous. It shows an aggresive lack of respect.
Anomaly, then don’t read them. Don’t respond to them. Address the issues. Don’t address me.
The premise was put forth that somehow, liberal bias is not as bad, or is somehow better than Conservative bias. I simply tried to illustrate that one is no better or worse than the other.
By your extreme exception to my comment, I would assume you are perhaps guilty of a, b, c and d. And your comments seem to support that. Everything you have said is about MY disrespect or MY insults or MY arrogance or MY pompousness. (Is that a word?)
That would lead one to believe that you are of the mindset that all the insults, arrogance, names and pompousness demonstrated by the liberal set toward conservatives and Republicans is perfectly okay. Somehow better. Somehow less offensive.
Which brings me full circle back to my original comment.
Ta-taa.
@Tennessean You’ve not shown anything to prove your point but then, conservatives feel that simply stating something makes it true. No need for facts. Your attempt to portray the two sides as equals in terms of attitude and how they conduct themselves is terribly out of touch with reality, but expected.
Zenith, and what “facts” do you have to prove that Liberal Bias is somehow “better” than Conservative bias? I guess when YOU guys simply state something over and over, the same principle applies that you apply to your bias?
I’m not out to “prove” anything to you or anyone else. It’s a waste of time and effort. You guys look at the dissent to radical liberal policy and label it. Then, once you’ve labeled it, you feel you have established that as some sort of “proof” of your position and opinion.
We are against higher taxes and irresponsible Government Spending. We’re Teabaggers. We’re against a Government takeover of our Health Care System. We’re Un-American. You people regard our disagreement with disdain and disrespect. Why would I waste my time trying to “prove” anything to people with a pre-conceived set of ideas and notions?
I’m still waiting for ANY of you to explain to me why one bias is any better than the other.
@Tennessean:
“The thing that impresses me is that most of you are either ; a.) Too hypocritical or; b.) Too much in denial or; c.) Too biased or; d.) Too stupid (regrettably) to admit that if….”
And again:
“I would assume you are perhaps guilty of a, b, c and d. And your comments seem to support that.”
You have made many references to “d”, thus calling me “stupid” again. It’s boring Tennessean, & I’ve told you it’s hurtful to others, but you don’t give a damn ;-)
Anomaly, I don’t think it’s fair for you to accuse ME of calling YOU “stupid” when I give you 4 choices and you, of your own volition choose “stupid”.
Funny how me questioning the intellect of some of the liberal commentary on here is hurtful, but you choose to ignore all the insults and profanity hurled toward us poor, beleaguered conservative/right leaning souls who have the temerity to participate on a “Liberal” Political Blog.
Glad to see I kept you up late though. OOoo….I can’t wait to check your next comment.