But if he'd won: 
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!
I never trust anyone that I know is sleeping with the enemy.
Your opinion, I don't agree wit it. Bush 41 lost because he lied. End of story.
Yep .. he was for a time table before he was against it
One would think he would have learned from this double speak during the election campaign
But nooooooooooooooooo
I saw this and thought Mary did a great job too.....I also thought Lauer was unusually tough on Kerry ...was glad I watched this morning.
House divided.
B.S! She's brilliant! And frankly, so is corporal cueball....in this respect: If you want to provide a long term career in the slime of Washington, you do punditry. Pundits wax and wane depending on the occupants of 1600 PennAve. The best way to provide for your children if you choose to live in DC would be like what they've done. Each one feeds the other. For our side, it's half full. For them, it's all good.
The closer we get to victory, success upon success, like the elections, constitution, etc. in Iraq the more hysterical the Media and the left get.
Needs to be repeated
An excellent question to be asked of the Dems
Though I won't wait for David Gregory, Harold Finemen or Chrissy Matthews to ask the Dems this question
Matt was hard on Kerry cuz he's trying to be fair and balanced. He's hard on the yokell that lost the election to W. Eating their own is all that was.
I suspect that in the privacy of Griswolds bedroom Carville and Mary meet somewhere just to the right of center. Like you said, they're both well up there on Stanford Binet and they have fashioned an excellent living out of it. Hey, I couldn't do it but somebody has to.
"Not bad for ole Matt today."
I don't think the press particularly likes Kerry. He ran an awful campaign and the Left & MSM won't let him run again. Thats why Lauer spanked him.
If you keep this up I am going
to start watching it myself bump.
I saw Mary M. this morning. Yes, she was sharp.
But let me ask you, glgb ......... does all of this just seem like an ongoing charade................. she being a heavy-duty and effective Republican ......... close to the PREZ ....... and her husband, dear James.......... God bless him, he's a funny guy but working for "the other side"........... doesn't this, glgb, sometimes just hit you as a big joke on all of us.......... a giant put on???
Well, it is a charade. (Btw, are either Mary or James members of the CFR?)
But Mary was a fine performer this morning, glgb. She's a tough cookie,............. and btw, I see that interesting marriage lasting forever. They love each other! It has to be a ball.........she reading the Washington Times, he reading the Washington Compost over morning coffee:.........."Gee Jim, Joe Lieberman isn't quite getting as much coverage (none) for his positive comments on Iraq as your "patriot" John Murtha............. Got any reason for that, Jimmie?
LOL!
But if he'd won:
LOL. You mean, if Today continues to show signs of occasionally being 'fair & balanced'? It has been happening with some frequency in recent weeks. I'm still not ready to declare a trend or even to attempt to explain it. But I will surely be keeping track!
Katie Couric DREAMS that she has the where-with-all to take on Mary Matalin.
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