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!
Thanks, JZ! As regular readers know, since beginning these Today threads, I've been diagnosed with acid reflux. All contributions to the Governsleast Nexium Fund will be gratefully accepted ;-)
I agree with Ann Coulter's column this week where she is in essence saying the repubs need to grow a backbone and stop praising traitorous speech that undermines our troups and this country. This is all part of the problem, nobody in the conservative movement is willing to say what they need to say to the liberals and the MSM.
"Very good summary. Thanks much. It does seem (judging solely by your reports) that the Today crew is making a bit of an effort (whether it's sincere is a different story) to come across as more objective."
They aren't being objective so much as removing support for Kerry for failing.
I'm guessing they're using weeks-old polls because the newer media ones are showing what Rasmussen (the only pollster I pay any attention to) is picking up on - a small but definite uptick in Bush's job approval ratings.
Posting without reading the entire thread is a time-honored FR tradition in which I often engage myself ;-)
Re:
...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.
While it's never an error to remind America of Kerry's perfidy, she missed an opportunity for an even bigger zinger. She could have said "This subject was debated in the last election and America declared President Bush the winner."
It's still good to see the Bush team fighting back. It might have been nicer to see a spirited defense earlier but at least it's clear that the 'Rats are completely united in their misdirection.
I wonder if the administration's delay in defending might have been a matter of tactics in this regard.
Thanks for posting this! I never watch 'cutie katie' so wouldn't have known about Mary's smack down. You go, Mary!
Thanks, Senor Libre!
Since I began posting my original reports over at NewsBusters, I've been even more meticulous in getting quotes, etc. absolutely as accurate as possible.
It's more time-consuming, which is both a burden to me and a cause for delay in getting things out to readers, but hopefully it's worthwhile. Glad you enjoyed the report.
So much for America's sweetheart, eh? Snort.
Note to the Today shows advertisers: Folks, I don't know who you are since I never watch, but you have a collective screw loose. Talk about pouring money down a 'Rat hole.
And glgb: Thanks for keeping us posted. How you sit through this I'll never know :)
Nearly all the Dems are getting tired of Kerry. Even Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night, as smarmy as he was about Bush's speech, was even MORE harsh on Kerry about his response. My dream is that Kerry runs again in 2008.
'turn the channel when hear Kerry's...voice'
LOL. I do the same to Kerry and, usually, to Pelosi too. This morning when she was on Fox & Friends, I switched channels but decided to go back. To my delight, 3 women, standing outside the Fox windows made the 3 finger "W" symbol as Pelosi spoke. They, then, pointed at Pelosi and gave a thumbs down gesture.
It's easy to enshrine Pres. Reagan's time in the White House in a cloud of glory but that is 20/20.
During his tenure, the MSM was on Pres. Reagan every second and his poll numbers were low, too, at times. There were massive demonstrations against Pres. Reagan's policies if you remember which were largely stirred up by the MSM.
However, his legacy is that he won the Cold War.
George Bush, too, will prevail against the slings and arrows.
"Not bad for Matt today"
Lauer wasn't disagreeing with what was said, he was just disagreeing because it was Kerry saying it. The MSM will be working overtime to shoot down ANY dim who is even thinking about running for president in '08. They have to clear the path and make the nomination easier for The Beast.
I guess I should be on your ping list
It really does seem that Kerry's welcome has worn thin, even with the liberal media. But he's something of a Black Knight - the Monty Python character who just didn't know when to quit!
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