....Mary Matlin
Posted on 12/01/2005 5:25:07 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
December 1, 2005 - 08:16.
Sometimes even the Marxists get it right, and no, I'm not speaking of John Kerry. I'm referring to Karl Marx himself, who famously said "history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”
To judge by his treatment at the hands of Matt Lauer this morning, John Kerry, Part Deux teeters on the brink of being seen as a farce and an embarrassment, even by his erstwhile supporters in the MSM.
Kerry was in to offer his critique of Pres. Bush's speech of yesterday in which he laid out his plan for victory in Iraq.
When Kerry argued that "the insurgency has to be dealt with through a political reconciliation," Lauer cut him off peremptorily, and did so saying: "with all due respect," not-so-subtle code for "not much respect is due." Lauer pointed out that "the President talked about the political process as well and laid that out in his plan for victory."
Lauer had done his homework and continued his critique of Kerry's bona fides thusly:
"I've been reading the key points of the plan you laid out on November 10th, and in all honesty, except for the fact that you want to withdraw 20,000 US forces immediately following successful elections in December, it doesn't seem that you have all that much disagreement on the big items on that list."
Compare and contrast with the reverential treatment a John McCain or other Today fave receives, and Kerry should realize that he had been seriously 'dissed' this morning.
Then it was on to Katie Couric's interview of Mary Matalin, former adviser to VP Cheney.
Matalin was the living antithesis of the notion that the Bush administration has been lackadaisical in its response to critics. She was absolutely loaded for bear, citing an avalanche of facts and figures to make the case that there has been significant military, political and economic progress in Iraq and that a precipitous withdrawal, as urged by some Democrats, would be disastrous for both Iraq and our own national security interests.
Mary got off a zinger right out of the box. Couric asked her to comment on Kerry's suggestion that an estimated timetable for troop withdrawal is something that needs to be debated.
Matalin, unsuccessfully suppressing a grin: "it has been discussed and debated, and John Kerry was against that position before he was for it." Ouch.
When Matalin cited an impressive list of accomplishments in Iraq, Couric countered with the President's weak poll numbers on Iraq.
When Matalin began to react, Couric cut her off: "before you sigh so audibly and visibly, Mary, the latest Gallup poll shows the president's approval ratings at an all-time low. Why is there such a disconnect between what is going on in Iraq and how the American public is perceiving it?"
Matalin: "For months now, the Democrats have been saying 'the President lied, the President lied, the President lied', with no evidence whatsoever. In that same period of time the President's credibility has dropped 20 points. Now he's fighting back."
She continued: "People here are bombarded with relentless demagoguery from the Democrats, and frankly, a disproportionate [negative] view of what's going on in Iraq from the MSM is affecting the polls."
Couric sought to end on a Kumbaya note: "You know, Mary, 160,000 US service men and women, many of them quite young, are still in Iraq. Do you think somehow Democrats and Republicans can get together and agree on some kind of strategy since so many US lives have already been lost and so many are continuing to be at risk?"
Matalin was having none of a false consensus:
"The cost of action is high - we've lost 2000 of our best and brightest in three years. But the cost of inaction is even greater. We lost in three hours 3000 innocent Americans. There is a cost of inaction and we should have that debate."
She continued, barely pausing for breath: "And we should talk about the consequences of pulling out, which would be rampant slaughter, implosion of the country, destabilization, in the region and global economic consequences. They don't talk about what they're doing . . . emboldening our enemies by talking about withdrawal."
As Katie Couric likes to say of her feminist sisters: you go girl!
As of today, you are! Thanks for your interest.
Mrs. Carville is not to be trusted. She know how to turn a phrase, but that's about it.
I still wonder how much she gave away in "pillow talk" during the 2000 campaign.
I've received several replies to my question, and all are either supportive of her, or making a joke about it...
..you're the only one who understands the duplicity this marriage brings.
Everyone else seems to underestimate these two....
Spot on, freedomson. Just doing her heinous's bidding. Can't have Kerry coming off as legit because that would just spoil her party.
I'd like to negotiate the end of the Iraq conflict with OBL's regional diplomat...but someone's going to have to show me how to take the safety off the "piece" that I will use as my negotiating tool. NO SARCASM.
....Mary Matlin
Mary strikes me as one of those people who has her up and down days in the looks department. I thought she was looking very nice this morning, FWIW.
You got me thinking, which can be dangerous...
If Joe Wilson was able to learn that Valerie was on the NOC list during a "heavy make-out session on their third date", then what do you think Carville was able to glean from Mary during their "soirees"? It's obvious that Carville didn't divulge any of the strategy of the Clinton campaign.
No visuals, please...I'm going to lunch in an hour.
"Alright...let's recount Ohio again..."
LOL - exactly!
Why can't folks see this????
I think it can safely be said that Rush or a staff member reads my Today show threads regularly.
Rush just highlighted the themes I described here. Among other things he mentioned how by interrupting Kerry by saying "with all due respect," he was actually disrespecting Kerry.
Come on, Rush, how about a plug!
I would like to see the field in 2008 restricted to those who were previously nominated: McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry. Let them fight it out. It would be a bit like Jay Leno's Battle of the Jaywalking All-Stars.
The miracle of love works it's wonders in strange ways!
CA....
Best ping list in the free world.
Thanks, S&D. It has been conclusively demonstrated that the members of the FR Today show ping list are among the world's most intelligent, best-informed people ;-)
If one has an open enough mind, terrific relationships can blossom when the partners have deep political differences. It's happened to me before.
I have totally appreciated your posts in the morning................. but.................your posts are all BULL now.
Mary Matalin is just a con artist. James is a con artist, and you are (perhaps) foolish if you do not SEE through all of this.
These *ss holes are just a bunch of mannequins!
Btw, I asked you before whether these two married weirdos were CFR! You never answered that.
Got an answer on that? DAMN................. you take the great opportunity to do such a great job every morning absorbing the media..................... but I'm thinking now that you are just clueless!
Btw, you did not answer me on the bull of this odd and unusual marriage! Tell me, glgb, if you heard that sick and lame interview of Mary Matalin by Sean Vanity.
You should be smarter on all things. They are all playing tha game, the game that you were unwilling to reply to. I now consider you (perhaps) foolish.
Instead of the word "Censored" on your graphic, it should be "MIA" because they are . . .
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