Not to make this an all E-Dub day, but what struck me most about that clip Dennis and John talked about wasn’t Mike Barnicle’s bloviation (what’s the brother gonna do, he’s Boston Irish) but Halperin’s ridiculous question (and subsequent haranguing) about China’s military threat. I get that it was supposed to sound all serious and gatekeepery — we should hold candidates to higher standards, at least here in Aspen! — but the truth is that the Yellow Peril, to the extent that it exists, is mostly economic, not military, just as Warren said, so Halperin was transparently kind of a dick, as he himself might put it.
Halperin has been known to kiss a lot of candidate tush, as this picture shows, but he also knows that you’ve got to sucker punch a hippie every time you get a chance.
What makes Warren a hippie? She’s a tough 60-something woman from Oklahoma who never spat on any soliders. But she bucks the Washington establishment and not in an all-American let’s-string-up-Ben-Bernanke kind of way. That makes her the kind of person you wouldn’t see at an Applebees salad bar and thus any Serious Pundit is duty bound to fuck with her.
What a crazy system we have here.
am
An obvious attempt to try to force an ‘unserious on foreign policy’ moment.
aisce
is halperin trying to get mitt to autograph a copy of his economic plan? wtf.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
You better get a Troy Davis thread up NOW!
Jenny
Warren is a former Republican. She was Republican until her mid 40s.
She’s an okie who voted for Reagan and Nixon.
Hard to see how she’s a hippie.
Jeff
But he won’t try that again for a while after the way she made him look like a douche. Even Morning Joe couldn’t save his ass.
David Fud
@am: Would have been a double bonus for making a woman and a Democrat look weak all at once. With the GOP crowd, that would have been only one step below humiliating a black man.
The transparency of the Halperins in our media make me wonder why Democrats are ever caught flat footed. I know our team can’t always be as smart or educated as Warren, but what a great performance. She ate their livers with fava beans.
David Koch
That Mark Halperin is a piece of ass.
Steve
The question was such an out-of-the-blue non sequitur that it was patently obvious he was just looking to trip her up. But what impresses me most is not that she was able to offer a good, intelligent-sounding answer, but the fact that she didn’t waste even a moment complaining or chiding Halperin for asking a gotcha question. She just answered it.
Other than committed partisans and political junkies, voters do not care if the media is being mean to you. They don’t care about inside baseball stuff at all. Now, maybe the audience of Morning Joe cares a little, but Warren is focused on the big picture. She knows you’re going to forward this video to your mom or your cousin and that this is her one shot to make her case to them. She isn’t wasting her opportunity on whining about the media.
The Republic of Stupidity
Boy… ya got that straight…
I had the feeling Warren had to fight to keep from laughing at that point…
Halperin came across as such a d*ck…
Jeff
@Jenny: Well according to the rules of Washington punditry where your born and your politics are irrelevant. What is important is that the Villagers think you are wearing tie-dye tee-shirt, bandannas, and don’t shave your legs.
opal
Applebees still doesn’t have a salad bar?
Anya
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Seriously? Is this an issue to trivialize?
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Anya: No, talk about it. If there is something I want to talk about I do. I don’t care what the title of the thread is. All I said was “what is there to say”. If you want to talk about it stop worrying about me and talk.
gogol's wife
She handled that question very well, but I don’t understand why you think the military threat from China is patently ridiculous. It isn’t. (And I don’t think she said it was, she just did a very good job of staying on her own message. She’s fantastic.)
Short Bus Bully
I don’t want to be all O/T here, but Facebook changed their formatting!! What the fuck am I supposed to do at werk now? I can’t cope!!
/wrist
/First World Problem
Cat Lady
I think Mika pulled her nose out of Joe’s ass long enough to smell a whiff of the male condescension around that table. Please let the PUMAs adopt Warren as their new fetish object to unleash their rage against the sexist media.
Mnemosyne
@Jenny:
As far as the MSM is concerned, anyone to the left of Eric Cantor is a hippie. QED.
stevie314
Halperin reminded me of the bridge-keeper in Monty Python–“What’s the air speed of an unladen sparrow?”
David Koch
@Cat Lady: That Mika has a killer rack.
Anya
This is all too depressing. Are there some topics that only the black lady covers?
I am so outta here. Better get my beauty sleep than read these repetitive posts.
Litlebritdifrnt2
@Cat Lady:
At the end of that exchange Mica said “she knows her worth” it was almost unheard but she said it. I get the impression that Mica likes Elizabeth, I get the feeling that Elizabeth will get all the time she wants to explain her position on MJ from here on out.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Anya: Rachel and Frank Rich are having a very good discussion about this right now.
MTiffany
@aisce:
No. But Halperin is desperate to know if Mitt’s cock tastes like John McCain’s. His kneepads are at the ready…
ajr22
Halperin looking like an idiot is good news for Mccain.
Nevgu
Like we need another Warren circle jerk off thread…pffft.
I final got up the courage to endure the 2 on air personalities I despise the most to see what all the hubbub was about.
Thanks for the waste of time. Here is what I got from the clip. Warren was herself (what a shocker!) and Halperin is a dick (again..are we supposed to be surprised.
Other than that all I gotta say is thanks for wasting my time BJ’ers!
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Nevgu: Other people can’t waste your time, moron.
Mino
@stevie314: Monty Python has a moment for every situation, doesn’t it. An snarky Emily Post, sort of.
Exurban Mom
@Litlebritdifrnt2: Mika was transparently hawking her book, entitled “Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth.” But I do think she was taken with Warren’s fire, passion, and intelligence. Even Joe seemed a bit in her court, especially when she was talking about how she enjoyed the retail campaigning part of the election process.
clayton
The tide has turned rather quickly.
In Texas, we had a string of people off death row due to DNA evidence and now we come round to those that no one can defend. And that is used against the anti-death penalty people. Call them hypocritical.
Is there no end to killing people? Just lock them up and give them every chance to prove their case.
I has saved a few lives here in Texas, and it should in other parts.
amk
The only question is whether halperin, the hack, is going to kneel in front or at the back of mittens ? What a pathetic pos.
beltane
You know what? I actually could picture Elizabeth Warren eating a hamburger at Applebees or at my local diner. I can’t imagine Mark Halperin doing any such thing. Try as they might, I don’t think the hippie punching is going to work in this case.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Exurban Mom: She swoons over anyone who comes “on set” with a pulse.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@clayton: You may have time to edit that so it makes some sense.
cokane
agreed on this post. Halperin’s stupid question and insistence were appalling. I think he was trying to catch her saying something ignorant on a subject where she’s probably unfamiliar–military issues. But he really does a disservice to his audience with the assumptions in his questions. He’s spreading misinformation.
bisquits
I bet she’s eaten at Applebees more than Halperin.
Cacti
But does Warren
have a photo where she’s rocking her pubesdrive a truck?Comrade Mary
Supreme Court has rejected stay of execution for Troy Davis. FUCK.
Cliff
I just had a business idea:
Develop and market a drug that causes hallucinations of continuously pile-driving Mark Halperin into cement.
You’d make billions.
After the patent runs out, you could develop a drug that causes hallucinations of continuously hitting David Brooks with a folding chair. Or a stop sign. A stop sign would be better.
burnspbesq
Jonathan Zasloff has an interesting idea.
http://www.samefacts.com/2011/09/campaigns/campaign-2012/elizabeth-warren-for-democratic-convention-keynote/
Southern Beale
Re: Troy Davis case, the stay of execution has just been denied by SCOTUS, according to Amnesty International …
Cliff
@Comrade Mary:
FUCK
lamh34
a friend who’s a lawyer says that SCOTUS delay was just a tactic to ensure police has response needed after execution
And now with the SCOTUS denying the stay, I guess he was right!
sb
More on important things going on here, not least of which is the Troy Davis case but this need be said:
In high school, Mark Halperin was not a dick. He really wasn’t. And if I saw him again at a reunion, I’d probably have to be restrained.
Short Bus Bully
@cokane:
That’s what he gets paid the big bucks to do.
Honestly though, did he think it was some kind of fucking Jeopardy show? “I’ll take Irrelevant and Ungermaine Questions for eleventy billion Alex!”
Jenny
@burnspbesq: My money is on Alan Grayson.
Southern Beale
Apparently there is also a huge demonstration in D.C. outside Supreme Court. Perhaps this will be a wake-up call.
SteveinSC
@Jeff: I saw the show this morning and Scarface actually tried to jump in and deflect what even to him was an snide attempt to trip Warren up. Scarface was embarrassed and probably sent Halperin back to roast a bit longer in Morning Joe Purgatory (suspension without pay.) Why anyone would let Halperin or that dumb clod Mike “Baaaahnicle” on television is beyond me. Worse, to complete the shit sandwich they had Dan Senor the loudmouth AIPAC/Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman and criminal liar on as well.
KatinPhilly
The SCOTUS refused the stay. Troy Anthony Davis will soon become a human sacrifice to our criminal injustice system.
superluminar
@lamh34:
sorry, but what do you mean here? (And yeah, it’s a fucking travesty of justice :-( )
Alsotoo, am I the only person who thinks DougJ is basically trolling everyone here with the last few threads because he is stuck trying to find the awesomest lyric to use as a title for the inevitable REM-breakup thread?
Comrade Mary
CBS says no dissents in the SC decision; reports from Democracy Now that execution could be within half an hour.
burnspbesq
So what the heck is going on here? I thought Thomas had granted a stay in order to give the full court time to consider the latest cert petition. Did the bastard convene a conference call at 10:00 at night, get the petition denied, and then dissolve the stay?
Why are we in such a god-damned hurry to waste this guy?
Aah, never mind, I know the answer to that.
superluminar
hahahahahahahahahaha.
Only Corporations have rights, not real people – they can die.
superluminar
@Comrade Mary:
seriously? NO dissents? That is fucked up right there. :-(
lamh34
@superluminar: people on the scene were reporting that the police presence was increasing and riot police were assembling and more sirens and police vehicles.
BAscially, my friend was saying that the delay by SCOTUS was so that GA state officials could ensure that they had enough of a police presence to combat any violence that may enuse after the excution.
I don’t thing GA realized how big this case had gotten so they were not prepared for the number of people who were a part of the protest.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jenny:
Hell, by modern GOP standards, Barry Goldwater is a disciple of Lenin.
Villago Delenda Est
@cokane:
This is a feature, not a bug, from the perspective of the Ferengi masters of these assclowns.
lamh34
I’m really pissed at this. I don’t blame the family, I blame CNN they are using this woman for ratings and sensationalism…freakin’ bastards.
I’m with James Fallows from twitter:
“
Jay
Anybody seen any Warren phone banks up yet? I know it’s very, very early, but that’s the one piece of campaign scut work I absolutely love. To me, making a case that way means more than giving money, because there’s actual sweat involved. I’ve skimmed her campaign’s website, and I haven’t seen anything about phones.
ChrisNYC
I saw it this morning and I don’t think it was about hippies. I think it was about Ms. Sarah Palin. “Hey,” Halperin said to himself, “I’m going to expose the liberal egghead bias in the evil media by showing that NOBODY KNOWS NOTHIN BOUT NOTHIN and that gal Palin is no damn different from the rest of ’em.”
Shade Tail
@Jenny:
She’s standing up for normal people and demanding businesses and the wealthy pay their fair share. Tell me how she isn’t a hippie.
eemom
uh, front pagers? Do you think maybe NOW we could have an actual thread about Troy Davis, instead of rocking on about the same old shit we always do 24/7 just as though our nation were NOT about to commit a monstrous crime against humanity?
Just so folks who don’t know you as well as we do don’t think you’re no better than emmessemm bobblebots, is all.
El Cid
Um, well, I guess Mark, I’d say that since the main military conflict China’s been involved in which various nations worried would escalate would be regarding Taiwan, well, I guess I’m going to have to say that one, douchebag, unless you want to spout a bunch of bullshit about some new planes and an aircraft carrier.
But, I tell you what, Mark: Why don’t you tell us? Share with us your view of where there’s a Chinese military threat, and who’s saying so, and what the objective evidence has, and what comprises this ‘threat’, and how might things look to the rest of the world on this subject matter.
eemom
@superluminar:
as I said on the other thread, I do not believe there were no dissents. I think there is no way in hell CBS could have gotten that information, let alone so quickly.
Villago Delenda Est
We’re killing Troy Davis for a crime he almost certainly did not commit, but Dick Cheney is still at large after boasting of the crimes he committed.
Mino
@lamh34: That is really vicious–to dangle the stay as a trick.
lamh34
@eemom: naw, looks like we will have to wait for Dennis G or ABL for a post it seems.
And it’s done. Troy Davis has been excuted. Time of death: 11:08pm Good night BJ. I’m done.
El Cid
@Villago Delenda Est: Look forward, not
blackback.El Cid
The front-page story in Mexico’s La Jornada liberal-left daily on Troy Davis.
Here’s the major story in Colombia’s El Espectador, that crusading liberal-left daily.
Martin
Well, the GOP continues their jobs program – one less unemployed person out there.
scav
Yep, the pious fraud of ‘mercan justice and mercy and blah blah blah blah bla is pretty well dead too. Who is it in the world that hates us for our freedoms again?
Short Bus Bully
@Martin:
And you win the thread. Too bad it’s about such a horrible thing.
If you don’t laugh you cry.
Bill Arnold
Pretty sure this is an emerging wingnut “point of concern”. First heard it in person last week from a friendly conservative who appears to get much of his wingut information from emails received on an iPhone (At least one of which was a 1.5 year old chain email when it arrived while we were at a restaurant. Chain emails live.) He said something about “google china aircraft carrier”. (I said I wasn’t impressed by Chinese military hardware so far, and left it at that.)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@The Republic of Stupidity:
She did look amused at his question and still responded to it seriously. If it was it looked like amused contempt to me, like she was expecting Dick Halperin to ask a dick question like that.
She was loaded for bear and bagged everything in sight.
Martin
@Short Bus Bully: If I go down the crying path, I might never come back.
I want to say that the country will some day come to its senses, but a century and a half later, too many are still refusing to learn the lesson.
Geoduck
@Bill Arnold:
If it matters, the Chinese scrounged up an old (fairly small) Soviet aircraft carrier and are retrofitting it. I’m of the school that thinks they’re doing this solely for the bragging rights: “We have an aircraft carrier now!” rather than actually planning to use it anywhere. And of course, if it can (ahem) con American right-wingers into pouring millions of more dollars into the Pentagon black hole and further weaken the US, so much the better.
And Troy Davis RIP.
cokane
@Bill Arnold: It’s been a thing for decades. Before 9/11 “changed everything” there were hawks constantly saber-rattling over China. And it’s fine to criticize China for some of the awful shit they’ve done and still do.
However, the idea that China would attack the US is absurd. The US is the biggest market for Chinese imports, which are the backbone of that economy. Further, war is just so damned expensive. Even with the US fighting a relatively puny country with little to no organization such as Afghanistan or Iraq has been enormously expensive. The idea that China would attack a country with the power and size of the US is absurd. And finally, what would China gain from an attack, even if somehow successful? Retaking taiwan? Ability to rape Tibet unfettered? Occupying a nation (USA), or part of it, where resistance would be fierce? None of these benefits would compensate for the costs of such a war.
Short Bus Bully
@cokane:
Yes BUT…
“I sure miss demonizing the Soviet Union…”
/tear
/wingnut
kdaug
@Geoduck:
OBL’s strategy writ large.
superluminar
@cokane:
I know. Like execute hundreds of people each year, even though some of them might be inno– oh, sorry.
Really, I know I’m preaching to the converted and all, but it still sucks.
Frankensteinbeck
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
I think this is extremely important. Humans are gut thinkers. We respond to social cues and body language faster than logic. We are good at detecting weakness and attack it instinctively. Displays of dominance with casual expressions of contempt are high school social tactics, but unfortunately they *work*. Merely looking like he’s so pathetic he’s funny rather than a threat is more effective than any reasoned argument could ever be. When you supply both, you’re hitting hard.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Agreed…
So far, I’m very impressed…
I wish I could vote for her out here in CA…
And Halperin is definitely a d*ck… too… also…
The Republic of Stupidity
@Frankensteinbeck:
I’d say she has that quality that a really good film actor has… you can see her thinking when she’s listening… she comes across as really, really smart and FAST…
fuckwit
@Cat Lady: Mika was ALL OVER Warren even before the segment started, she could tell– maybe from the banter before they went on-air– that there was a fair amount of male childishness and sexism going on, and she clearly admires Warren. Good. There’s a lot to admire in Warren.
In particular, I was just stunned at how good she is politically. She totally dominated that whole group. She made progressive points, she did it cheerfully and positively and politely and respectfully and in a way that makes you like being around her, even getting all excited when talking to that tool in Texas who was canvassing for Perry! She owned that whole segment. She is like Rachel Maddow times 10. She is awesome. We need to look around and find more people like her to run for office, in every town and city and county and state and congressional district. Everywhere. They’re out there, we just gotta convince them that their country needs them.
Joey Maloney
@cokane: You seem to be assuming that the USA power structure is uniquely stupid. If history teaches us anything it’s that, unlike uranium, the resource of weapons-grade stupidity is evenly distributed across the globe.
Ben Cisco
The Ready Room | Can’t Ride You Unless Your Back’s Already Bent
__
[…] The only reason I’d ever link to MourningJoe and Co is to watch somebody take a 2×4 to their preening, ill-informed, NeoConfederate propagandist talking points. Happily, it seems that the day has finally come (h/t John Cole at Balloon-Juice) […]
ellenelle
watching warren is utterly inspirational!
warren for prez ’16 i say!!!
ellenelle
@opal:
SOOO OT here, but – as far as i know – they STILL do!
the reason i know is once upon a couple decades ago time, i partook, crunching down on a walnut shell in the midst of a plate of spinach. broke my tooth below the gum, oral surgery, etc.
needless to say, have not been back. so, not sure if they have such bars now, but i do know for a fact they once did.
ellenelle
@David Fud:
and a fine chianti.
;-)
Libby
Funny, I woke up this morning thinking the same thing. Haperin’s question was stupid and purely designed to throw her off. It was clear by his smug mug when he asked it that he thought he would get her to stutter or something. She made him look like the idiot he is for asking it.
AND she smacked down JoeScar when he tried to salvage the point for hapless Halperin.
the fenian
Mike Barnicle was Fitchburg Irish.
Then he was Lincoln Irish.
He’s always been Gilbert and Sullivan Irish, when he wasn’t stealing from Royko.
Boston Irish?
Bollocks.
grandpajohn
@cokane:
Of course he is, that’s his job description. His paycheck depends on it.
Jenny
@the fenian: I thought he was an Asshole Irish?