A shocking development:
Fox News’s newest contributor, to be announced today, may surprise the liberal crowd: former Clinton White House lawyer Lanny Davis.
“Fox has always treated me with respect and given me a chance to express my point of view,” Davis says of the network that the Democratic candidates refused to grant a debate out of concern that it favors Republicans. He will be a frequent guest, along with such Fox stalwarts as Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich.
So many possibilities- how about a one hour show with Lanny and Geraldine Ferraro? They could call it “In Search of Reagan Democrats” or the “Racial Resentment Power Hour.” I would be remiss if I failed to point out the obvious- this is great news for Hillary!
yet another jeff
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS! FOR HILLARY!!!
4tehlulz
ZOMGWTFBBQ I DIDNT SEE THAT COMING
>>how about a one hour show with Lanny and Geraldine Ferraro?
“Race and Reason” is already taken, though.
ThymeZone
Someday, Davis will have to answer the question, “What did you do in the war, daddy?”
“I went on tv with Karl Rove and New Gingrich, honey.”
I find myself quite verklempt at this point.
LanceThruster
Lanny is finally working with an outfit that exemplifies his ethics and integrity. The thirty pieces of silver were merely icing on the cake.
Have fun in “Fair and Balanced” Land, Lanny!
PeakVT
Are we sure that it’s not great news for Rudy Giuliani?
Cris
Liberal crowd is surprised!
dr. bloor
I wonder if Lanny, Karl and Newt are bringing their fucking toys with them.
kid bitzer
“Fox has always treated me with respect”
that seems quite plausible.
especially given that fox has no other purpose than destroying the democratic party and everything it advocates.
you know, i could have lived with a hillary presidency–it certainly would have been far better than a mccain term.
but the clintons, and the clintonites, have done a lot of damage to the democratic party over the years. bill did his best to run *against* the party, to raise himself up by putting the brand down. that’s part of why he had no coat-tails, ever: he was too busy trashing democrats to help them.
and ditto for hrc. and ditto for their inner circle. they used the democratic party when it helped them, and they trashed it when it helped them.
so the fact that davis is now going to be a paid shill for the media mouthpiece of the republican party is just more of the same.
KCinDC
What exactly does Kurtz expect “the liberal crowd” to find surprising about this? That it hadn’t already happened years ago?
DougJ
I don’t blame Davis one bit. The MoveOn wing of the Democratic party pushed him out of the party, the same way they did with Lieberman and Zell Miller.
Gee, thanks a lot, Obama-cultists! We’ve now lost one of the most passionate and eloquent exponents of liberalism we had.
Warren Terra
DougJ, could you please substantiate the notion that Lanny Davis, a man not exactly ubiquitous upon the public scene before, say, March, was ever “one of the most passionate and eloquent exponents of liberalism we had”?
Thanks in advance.
Ripley
Lanny Davis owes me $20!!
gbear
I vote for ‘Racial Resentment Power Hour’ just to see the guest list and commercials.
John Cole
No where else to put his, so I would lioke to announce that the other day while playing WoW, I ran into a gnome named Gnomechomsky.
ThymeZone
This reminds me of Mad Magazine. Spy vs Spy? Hellno, Spoof vs. Spoof.
We really need an illustrator.
zzyzx
Gnome
Gnome
Gnome
Chomsky Chomsky Chomsky
Gnome
Gnome
Gnooooooooooome.
….anyone else know the Horsies song I’m referencing?
SGEW
Why have I never heard this one before? An outrage! This should be the most well-known wordplay in the history of puns (amongst all intellectual left-leaning FRPG aficionados, natch).
johninpt
All hail the new Alan Colmes!
And Doug J., you forgot to mention Strom Thurmond.
montysano
Some days, there just aren’t enough WTFs to do the job. Obama is a “radical” (according to Hannity et al) and Lanny is a “liberal”.
“It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.” George Orwell, 1984
Dennis - SGMM
And Ben Nighthorse-Campbell.
Phoenix Woman
And they could have this soon-to-be-former McCain campaign bigwig as a guest:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/From_Jeffersons_vs_Hemingses_to_McCain_vs_Obama.html
Phoenix Woman
Oh, crap! John, please zap my last post — I hit “return” b4 making the link pretty.
Here it is — (Soon-to-be-former) McCain Bigwig’s race problem revealed. Oops!
Dennis - SGMM
Have they come up with a name for Davis’ segments yet? If not, I suggest “The Whinery.”
The Other Steve
The Faith of Obama written by an evangelical fan of Bush? And it says nice things.
Napoleon
One subject I love to read about is evolution and paleontology, and some related subjects like language evolution and the Great Apes, and at one time there was an experiment to raise a chimp with a human family as if he was a human. They had named him Nim Chimpsky as a hat tip to Noam (Google it). Of course Noam Chomsky’s “day job” is as a world famous linguist (my understanding is he is as big in that field as Freud or Charles Darwin was in theirs).
By the way, I cannot stand Lanny Davis, but I read something the other day that at least gives me pause that he is someone who has parts of his past you have to give him his due for. In the ‘60s he was a white who went into the south (Mississippi no less) to register black voters under threat of death, etc. Anyone who does that almost by definition is on the side of the angels (not that it make his recent BS any easier to swallow).
The Moar You Know
GODWIN HOUR
Hitler was a vegetarian. Had he only stopped there, and not invaded countries and killed a shitload of people, he’d be the patron saint of PETA and would have been famous for his kind work with animals. But no, he had to keep going.
Had Lanny stopped with being a get-out-the-vote organizer in Mississippi, he’d be a semi-famous figure of the civil rights movement. But no, he had to keep going.
There’s a life lesson here.
jake
Always allowed me to towel off first and gave me an extra 20 for cab fare …
Parliament of Whores, indeed.
D.N. Nation
Hey, Larry Johnson’s hopped on board the Obama’s-not-a-real-citizen train! Choo choo!
jake
I would agree if I didn’t know that the Rev. Fred Phelps (of Westover Baptist fame) was a civil rights lawyer back when it meant the sheet stainers made a noose with your name on it. Angels can fall ya know.
The Other Steve
Crap!
Tom in Texas
So you’re saying he’s toned down the hatred since yesterday? Good for him.
Dennis - SGMM
Linky
This does not bode well.
Punchy
I actually think the bolded section is the incredible part of John’s post.
And we’re going to have to get Jeralynn Merritt to do an intervention for Larry. Show him how he can return to Earth. Then have a reformed Larry beat the living bejesus out of Big Dick Democrat for being such an ass for the past 4 months….
joel hanes
named him Nim Chimpsky as a hat tip to Noam [Chomsky]
Wasn’t a hat tip; was a friendly slam.
(IIRC, Chomsky had scoffed at the idea that apes other than humans could acquire true language.)
Conservatively Liberal
No prob.Glad to be of assistance! :D
Lanny doing this does not surprise me a bit. I have noticed that during the primary, Hillary and her supporters shifted to the right because of what they perceived as unfair coverage everywhere else. I watched this embrace with an odd feeling that there was more behind this than I was seeing. I still think there is but I am no closer to understanding what it could possibly mean. What I will find interesting is how the die hard Hillaristas interpret this move. It dovetails with their ‘Fox is the only news (gag) outlet that was fair to our girl Hillary!’, and it will be interesting to see what they take this to mean. They really seem to be in to ‘reading tea leaves and consulting the astrological charts’ in their attempts to frame everything to fit their views.
As I have always said, it ain’t over until it’s over, and it ain’t over yet.
Napoleon
Why, Doyle and HRC have not spoken since HRC fired her. I think it actually is a sign it will not be HRC. In any event Doyle is from Chicago and known to the Chicago crowd that is running BO’s campaign, so I think it is nothing more then that.
Your absolutely right about that, but I didn’t want to bore everyone with what Chomsky thinks about the human, ape divide when it comes to communications, but he pretty clearly thinks that there is a huge chasm in abilities between humans and the great apes and that non-humans are simply incapable of using “language”.
Dennis - SGMM
Thanks for putting this into a more reassuring context. You saved me from pounding my head on my desk.
Oliver's Neck
Doesn’t it involve an analogy that ends, “is like saying that humans can fly because they can jump”?
Also, iirc, the “nim chimpsky” experiment didn’t exactly hurt Noam’s argument.
handy
SS or it didn’t happen!
DougJ
I heard the deal’s off and that Davis is getting the MTP gig.
Stay tuned…
Dennis - SGMM
Now that’s just plain cruel on so many levels.
Napoleon
Well they cut the experiment off when Nim was 2 years or something like that, so it never ran it’s course. A better example of what apes could be capable of is the Bonobo named Kanzi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzi
That said, Kanzi is clearly limited in ways that, say, my 3 year old neice is not, and in any event he appears to be somewhat of an outlier, as if he is the Bonobo’s own Albert Einstein.
cleek
no no. not Lanny Davis, Larry David got the MTP spot. every show is going to be an uncomfortable and profanity-laden exploration of political society.
Martin
OT:
What a photo!
Cris
But have you ever met a gnome named Grimble Grumble?
cleek
OT, but i just got an email from Al Gore saying he’s going to announce his endorsement of Obama tonight.
way to stay relevant, Al!
w vincentz
Do gorillas know any cuss words?
BethanyAnne
My first year psych prof was a linguistics guy for a while. He went to meet Koko, as he didn’t believe that she was really using language. Koko met him and watched him chatting with her human in ASL for a while. Finally, she got bored, picked up her glass, and signed “Talk, talk, talk … more water!”
Maybe if we get enough anecdotes, we’ll have “data” … :-)
Bethany
Dennis - SGMM
Gorillanese has a rich subset of gestures involving bananas for that purpose.
Grumpy Code Monkey
That whole thread is just sad. Some seriously disturbed people over there.
The Moar You Know
The man’s bravery in coming out now with an endorsement is nothing short of incredible. Al continues to be an inspiration to all of us who prefer leading from the rear.
Dennis - SGMM
When are LJ’s supporters going to chip in for a store-bought haircut?
The Other Steve
Yglesias pointed out this funny. Apparently if Obama becomes President he get’s to dictate fashion trends.
Zifnab
It all makes perfect sense to me now. Lanny Davis wasn’t campaigning for Hillary Clinton. He was in the middle of a job interview with his new Corporate Overlords. I wonder if Bush plans on giving him a funny nickname? Something catchy and easy to remember. Perhaps “mind-slave”.
Dennis - SGMM
Considering the Bush wit it will probably be “rectum.”
“Haw, haw! Working for Hillary nearly rectum.”
Zifnab
Dude. Whatever.
First off, Al Gore is no longer a politician. He’s a lobbyist for the saner parts of the US population. Stomping your feet and demanding that a man who’s political clout hinges on the kindness of old friends is stupid. You sound like a Republican when you go on with the “Omg! Why doesn’t Al Gore just fix it?!” routine.
Second off, perhaps you’ve forgotten but Al Gore was VP under the Clinton Administration. Do you really want to see who he’d have backed? Really? Cause I’m not so incredibly confident that he wouldn’t have backed Clinton. Obama wasn’t always such a sure thing six months ago. If Al Gore had campaigned for Hillary back in Texas or Ohio, we could be looking at completely different delegate math today. Or simply an even bigger rift in the party.
As of now, I’m not going to complain about how things turned out. Clinton’s still a leading Senator, Obama is still the Presidential nominee, and Al Gore hasn’t stepped on anyone’s tail and train-wrecked his fledging Green movement over intra-party bickering. He’s been in Congress since before some of us were born. Perhaps you should occasionally give the senior vetted politician the benefit of the doubt on this sort of thing.
Kevin
If you want to see a brilliant gorilla, you need to check out Gerald the Gorilla
Notorious P.A.T.
One time, in Greater Faydark, I saw an elf named Skcushsub. That tickled my funnybone.
Notorious P.A.T.
By the way, America dies tomorrow.
Punchy
According to some Tennessee’ians I know, yes, Obama can swear.
cybergal619
Don’t know why everybody’s ragging on Al for waiting so long to endorse Obama. The GE is only 2 weeks old.
As for Lanny … good riddance. My TV never ever ventures near any Faux Noise channels, so I know I’ll never have to see his mug or hear his patronizing whiney voice.
It’s a good day.
LanceThruster
Washoe the chimpanzee once peed on caretaker Roger Fouts and then signed “funny.”
That’s almost as good as a curse, no?
rawshark
The only emails I get from politicians comes from Harvey Dent. I believe in Harvey Dent.
garage mahal
Everyone hates Lanny Davis (boooooooooo). He said some sorta mean things about Barack! (pouty lip)
Everyone loves Chuck Todd (yaaayyyyyyyy). His math was always on our side!
wobbly
Our candidates are way smarter than we are. And so are their their staffers…
Crusty Dem
pup tent den over at talkleft thing the Solis Doyle hire is a huge FU to Hillary (and her supporters, natch). My first thought was the exact opposite, I just cannot begin to imagine how it could be hostile to the Clinton’s. Did she get added to the “enemies of Bill” list when I wasn’t looking?
From my vantage point, this is classic Clinton supporter rage:
Hire former Clintonite, response = “how dare Obama hire her? Traitor! PUMA!!”
Don’t hire former Clintonites, response = “how dare Obama exclude us from his campaign? PUMA!!”
Cris
Right, except for the “bananas” part.
.
w vincentz
Wow. Thanks BJers for all the input about gorilla cusses.
It’s interesting that the so called “lower primates” have such a great sense of humor, and also know how to live more-or-less peacefully.
We humans have a lot to learn.
truth machine
You’re a profoundly stupid person.
Notorious P.A.T.
What is “puma” again? I forgot.
John Cole
Party Unity, My Ass.
It was started at one of the dead-ender sites (I think maybe No Quarter). May have been Riverdaughter. One of them.
Cathy D
It was Harold Ickes that was involved in Freedom Summer. Lanny Davis has always been a scum-sucking bottom-feeder.
Narcissus
I can’t read Talk Left anymore. It might as well be a blog fuming about the treatment Biden or Dodd received in the Primary. The time when Hillary was relevant is over. There’s so much going on, so many things being covered and that need to be covered in the blogosphere that reading post after post about Clinton-this and Clinton-that is like stepping out of a time machine.
LanceThruster
Party Unity My Ass (PUMA)
truth machine
You’re an ignorant moron, a patethetic little twit of a person compared to Al Gore. Gore led on technology and the commercialization of the internet decades before his colleagues had any idea of what it was, on the environment and global warming, and much else. That he chose not to endorse Obama against Clitnon, with whom he had a long and close relationship, does not warrant your small-minded attack.
nightjar
Jeebus, I been googling for past 15 minutes and all I got were cougars and tennis shoes and stuff. If i’d known it came from No Quarter I wouldn’t of wasted 15 minutes of my life.
garage mahal
The time when Hillary was relevant is over. There’s so much going on, so many things being covered….
And yet, the Hillary Watchers can’t escape it. The true Clinton dead-enders are Cole, Sullivan et al that can’t justify their own blogging existence without immersing themselves in the Hillary Hate. Absolutely fucking pathetic. And as easy to predict as tomorrow’s sunrise.
Mike G
In the ‘60s he was a white who went into the south (Mississippi no less) to register black voters under threat of death, etc. Anyone who does that almost by definition is on the side of the angels (not that it make his recent BS any easier to swallow).
So did Lieberman. The 60s were four decades ago. People change — in some cases, drastically for the worse.
CraigM
Purple monkey dishwasher
Notorious P.A.T.
If Benedict Arnold had died in June 1780, he would be remembered only as one of America’s greatest heroes. (not saying Lieberman or Davis should be executed as traitors, of course)
mrmobi
I know. I check over there periodically, and it has become nothing less than a hate site.
Same thing, to a somewhat lesser degree, as Talk Left. BTD is completely crazed today about the Patty Solis Doyle hiring being, and I’m not kidding here, “A slap in the face to Hillary Clinton.”
You can’t make this shit up. They also regularly delete pro-Obama comments over there without regard to any attempt at civility.
It’s very sad.
Notorious P.A.T.
Thanks for answering my question, by the way.
Joyce
I can remember when the democrats were the racist party. Democrats have a long racist history. They were the biggest advocates of slavery, the Black Codes, and the Southern Manifesto. At one time, blacks were a solid republican voting block…when they could vote. Most blacks left the Republican party during FDR’s New Deal administration.
With that being said, if the Hillary crowd keeps working to undermine Obama, I can see a backlash and even a fracture in a solid voting block. The split is most likely to be along religious and economic class lines. People like Ferraro will show African Americans that they are only wanted in the party on election day. And that blacks should relegate themselves to representing overwhelmingly black districts, ONLY. Hillary needs to get to work, keeping her promise to campaign for Obama. When Hillary decided to skip out on Wisconsin, she spent 5 days in South Texas to court the Hispanic vote before she went anywhere else here. Her buddy the Governor of Ohio, received the overwhelming majority to the black vote while running against a black candidate. I for one, will watch and see what happens. The biggest prize for republicans will not be the disgruntled Hillary voters(who can’t be counted on in the future), but the growing black middle class and the black conservative christians.
My father never voted for a democrat. He hasn’t forgotten when he had to take a literacy test by democrats. Or be forced to wait until all the whites had voted by democrats. He hasn’t forgotten being challenged at the polls by democrats or paying a poll tax. I haven’t forgotten either. When I watched the Morgan State debate, Sam Brownback reminded the audience that a higher percentage of republicans voted for the civil rights act than did democrats. I hope the democrats openly start to denounce their racists party members. If they don’t they risk bringing back the memory of living through the notorious Dixiecrats.
truth machine
Um, you seem to have been in a cave for a few decades.
truth machine
You might as well tattoo “I’m a dishonest moron” on your forehead.
truth machine
Confluence.
Yup. To fully appreciate this “moderate rational Democrat”, as she called herself, read http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/an-invitation-to-democrats-in-exile/
Joyce
No, I have not been in a cave the past few decades. But, thanks for the insult. I have been in Texas. I have watched Bill and Hillary’s race baiting tactics here. But, I never heard a word from Howard Dean or the democratic party leadership, nor any leading democrats in Texas.
Napoleon
Your right, I don’t know how I got those 2 confused.
Chuck Butcher
Joyce,
JFK brought out the stake LBJ drove through the heart of the Dixiecrats. The political consequences were known throughout the Party.
If you’d like to hold the behavior of one piece of the Party against the entire thing over 40 years later maybe you’d prefer the Party the racists turned to ( R ). Maybe you don’t think Barack Obama is a denunciation of racism? We could, of course, widen the blame a bit and include all white people…
Joyce
Half of my family is white, like my husband…but thanks for the assumption.
chuckieboyc
Why would this surprise anybody? During the campaign, Davis demonstrated he was an accomplished: liar, fearmonger, idealogue, racist, obnoxious, arrogant, and a trophy grabbing asshole. The wingnut fascists sat up and took notice, and said, “hey this davis guy is one of us, let’s get him on the CM (corporate media), he’ll do a helluva job”.
ThymeZone
Quite true, Southern Dems were … well, Strom Thurmond, for example.
But few of those old racist southern Dems are still Dems. The GOP Southern Strategy harvested most of them.
Tom in Texas
Gotta say after Katrina and the GOP’s repeated attempts to blame it on the incompetent darkies in LA, I don’t see the AA voting for the Republicans in more than single digits for a decade.
Joyce
Are you talking about Kathleen Blanco?
Single digit vote swings can swing a close election.
Tom in Texas
I’m talking about Sean Hannity’s blaming Ray Nagin Joyce. Just like he’s been spending months going after jeremiah Wright. But black evangelicals are going to vote for the guy bashing their pastors rather than the… black evangelical. Uh huh.