Bill Burton is a God
Finally, someone who can effectively stand up to the psuedo-journalists they have read GOP talking points on Fox News. Simply brilliant:
Not Megyn Kelly's finest moment. [via Sully]
Not Megyn Kelly's finest moment. [via Sully]
Labels: politics
posted by Edward_ at
11:50 AM
31 Comments:
Wow, those people are both pathetic. It reminds me of why I don't watch TV news any more--it's like watching a couple of six year olds squabbling over something trivial on a playground.
Good for him to standing up to them, but he should just leave it at issuing a statement - or at least not got suckered into trying to make a point while she talked over him. Any time anyone goes on their home turf they end up making them look like children as well.
I do want to know about that poll she cited though, I have never seen anything showing the majority of Americans think Fox is the most fair news source. I'm starting to suspect she just made it up.
Anyone else notice how it says terrorist right under them while he's talking? I wonder if they planned that.
You mean she has had a finest moment in the past?
She was talking down, speaking to the base with insider baseball.
He was talking up, and preaching to the choir.
In a world of attack ads, they were just two lost souls swimming in a formalduhide filled echo chamber.
I hate that bitchy tone.
I guess I'm a mysogynist.
Glub Glub Glub went the steamer.
Bill Burton is an asshole, smug, condescending and regardless of what you all say, NEVER answered the question that was posed to him. What about Barack Obama's constant insistence about "spreading the wealth" or "redistributing wealth"? Is he or isn't he?
Smug? Because he didn't lie down and roll over? She showed him no respect and yet he still seemed calm and polite whereas she seemed to be losing control of her interview.
An interview, mind you, that she started off by defending Fox News. Naturally Burton would then explain why he felt it was appropriate to point out how Fox News was working in cahoots with Drudge and the McCain campaign to make a fake story out of a statement they dug up. This well-documented process is explained in more detail here, by the way.
When she stopped defending her employer and then returned to journalism (at least as best as it's practiced at Fox) and asked Burton to "answer the substantive question," his immediate response was:
Bill Burton: Look, the bottom line is that the American people know that Barack Obama has been crystal clear about his economic plans for this country, and if giving a tax cut to 95% of Americans is "socialist" I just don't think that the American people agree with that.
As George Will said on This Week on Sunday, "spreading the wealth around" is what the government does. The question is not whether Obama is going to do that...he will have to because that's the job...McCain would have to because that's the job...the question is whether you do so fairly or continue to do so the way Bush has been doing it such that it grotesquely favors the top 1% of Americans.
How can the Mc Cain camp be so dumb as to try and tell a bunch of sinking middle class people who watched their wealth shrink and are drowning in debt while the uber wealthy get uber-er wealthier, that redistributing wealth is a bad thing?
Why Tax the Rich?
because they have the money.
McCain and Pinocchio have adopted a strategy of repetitive lying to such a degree that they are starting to be regarded, that is dis-regarded, as Bush who suffers from the same ailment.
Unfortunately repeated lies begin to find their own fictional truth if not quickly quashed.
I had a conversation yesterday with a Republican who wanted to set the blame for the financial crisis on the backs of "those people who bought houses they couldn't afford" It's a party line being fed down to placate the less informed.
Well, I said, not quite. Yes there were bad loans made by greedy lenders but this tends to occur whenever the real estate market gets overextended. The loans were part of the problem but not the cause of the crisis which were the derivative instruments created to make the loans appear riskless.
Even though Sheila Bair the head of the FDIC had warned the Treasury department of the risk, they failed to take any action to properly regulate these new financial instruments. As a result we ended up with a trillion dollar casino trading in CDO's and the other derivative instruments with borrowed money. When the bets went sour it crashed the system.
The Republican henchmen, led by dame Pinocchio would like you to believe that "those people", who were sold a piece of the American dream by street shysters were the cause of all this pain. Well it ain't so, it happened because this Republican administration to busy filling their pockets they were looking the other way.
One more for Obama
Where have you been? Besides the nightly tearing down of Fox on Comedy Central, my girl Tanya Acker has been on many times, on Bill O'Reilly too, pointing out their fallicies, WITHOUT looking silly by trying too hard. Plus looking absolutely gorgeous, an incredible woman I have been very privileged to know, and is Obama's local LA rep, without being all rahrah. All the dried out old blonde horse faces jealous as hell when her fine black ass comes in and shows them whats what.
I thought he was brilliant - polite, but steadfast. It couldn't be more obvious. Do you remember the scene near the beginning of The Seven Samurai when the great swordsman was challenged by a rogue, and the older, experienced samurai said "it's a pointless match, isn't it obvious who will win?"
i can't watch bill O'reilley. The tone is too shrill - I much prefer smug to shrill.
This lady is off the charts, just like the lady that was berating Biden. Do they go to school for that?
Palin is totally school teacher/mom in tone. This speakes to the base rather well, but not the professionalized class of players and upper class voters.
The clip where Palin is answering a question from a grade schooler about what a Principal i mean VP does is totally the way you would talk to a kid about what his friends garbage man dad does for a living.
The republicans are returning the favor in spades, but instead of asking questions from grade schoolers, they are asking about Marx.
FInally, the anonymous here - the one that points out "familiar tone's" (i.e Professor mouth) in commenter's seems familiar to me - though who can tell.
I find their tone sort of surly.
I forgive them. But don't start shit or I will bring great hellfire down uppon thee, and such.
Edward,
Maybe you'll be able to understand this - small businesses will die, we'll lay off people or close due to taxes, and then get kicked on personal taxes. What a piece of paper may say you "earn" may not be real after paying three college tuitions. Barack Obama has never defined whether the business income is net or gross. And Bill Burton was rude overtalking and Megyn Kelly was just trying to get him to answer which he DIDN'T.
Try this analogy:
Ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible
He attacked her gravy boat and she came at him, talons extended, and tore him to shreds. The poor guy didn't stand a chance. She's unpleasant, but she's a lot better at her game than he is.
Ed, you want so desperately to think she looked bad here but the reality is that the master served the student seven ways to Sunday. That woman knows her job and knows it well. You and I might not agree with her politics or her delivery, but she destroyed that young man in front of her fan base, which means she won that particular batttle. He came off as ineffective and unable to compete with her rapid fire response.
I'm all for Obama, but he's gotta surround himself with more competent flacks than this church boy. No one plays nice in this arena. NO ONE.
Blonde horse faces? Fine black ass? Anonymous 6:03, you must be a man.
Want to talk about narrow-minded white women? Be my guest. Smart black women? Even better. But why be sexist about it?
P.S.: "Fallicies" is actually spelled fallacies (unless you have phallusy in mind).
Just like the election season, Bill Burton, Barack Obama and this blog never give the whole or full story. Yes, content on this blog must be approved by its author, but when a rational argument is proposed, it shouldn't be stifled unless you are worried that minds might change. LA Times anyone?
It is impossible not to have an agenda in politics. That includes for me, the most anti-political person you'll meet.
Everybody, just go vote and shut up.
Cedric C
Cedric C
And Bill Burton was rude overtalking and Megyn Kelly was just trying to get him to answer which he DIDN'T.
Sorry, Anonymous. I watched it three times, and I disagree. I thought he was polite, but firm. Megyn on the other hand seemed shrill, which is entirely unprofessional, if you ask me.
As for Dr. Kamerschen's cautionary tale (and your condescending endorsement of it), we haven't been living in a country in which the discount was equally applied to the patrons. Under Bush, the richest man's cut by percentage was actually much, much better than that for those in the middle. Indeed, a Congressional study proved it:
The study found that the effective tax rate for the top 1 percent of taxpayers dropped from 33 percent in 2001 to 26.7 percent this year, a decline of 19 percent. The middle 20 percent of taxpayers saw a decline of 4 percent.
All Obama is proposing is that we restructure it so it's fair again. You know, like it was back in the day when all 10 men were happily drinking, united, as friends.
Everybody, just go vote and shut up.
I disagree, Cedric. Debate is the cornerstone of democracy, in my opinion. It's not always pleasant, but, when respectful, it is always healthy.
Regarding anon,09:51 comment on the bar bill. This is from a Republican sourced email that has been making the rounds, It's double talk designed to generate fear among the middle class taxpayers by implying that their taxes will increase under Obama.
Obama has a plan which reconfigures the current tax system so that lower income families will pay less taxes. Unless you lie, the revenues have to come from somewhere and the Obama plan will rollback the Bush tax giveaways and the rich will pay more. (yes, this is oversimplified, go to Obama.com for details)
The major point which McCain is trying to hide is that the trickle down theory does not work in favor of the middle class and below. The statistics are clear, the rich have been getting richer and the rest of us are getting poorer. There IS NO TRICKLE DOWN, it's a lie.
If your wages are not 25% more than they were 10 years ago ($25/hr today vs $20/hr then) then your income has not even kept up with inflation, you are actually making less than you were 10 years ago. Trust me, this little detail is not lost on the rich who until this year have just become richer.
But hey lets all give a little bit of our hard earned money to the rich, skip a movie and hand 20 bucks to a fat cat. The Republicans have been fiddling with the progressive tax system for years in order to do just this. If you had to pay that 20 bucks to fat cat every time one passed you by, what would you think? Hint, it seems a bit like something out of Medieval history, tithing it ain't.
The Republicans are LYING about taxes, why should we trust them with the country? VOTE.
Re the ten men drinking beer analogy:
The richest guy is probably (depending on how rich he is and what business he is in) getting tax breaks at work through legal loopholes. He may have an overseas operation where wages are low and employer-paid benefits are non-existent, as one example. Depending on his connections, he may have lucrative governments contracts for, say, installing toilets at the Pentagon, or contracts that allow him to charge hundreds of dollars for a box of nails used in construction (these things have happened and are documented). Many wealthy people have figured out how to work the system so they can stay wealthy. So the equation is not quite as simple as Mr. PhD puts it.
Oriane
He may have gotten into Yale as a legacy (his father went there, then gave lots of money to the school) even though he had mediocre grades, was then given a professional sports team to play around with, then decided maybe he'd go into politics. With the right family connections, he could even become president! Even without winning the popular vote!
It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have to play by the same rules as the hoi polloi.
O
This blog is all about debates. Of course I love debates! But these house chicanes about which man is better between 2 are getting somewhat vain. At least, that's the impression I'm getting by watching this Fox clip. I just want it to get over. That's what I meant.
Everybody here is pro-Obama or almost. It's no really a debate.
It will be when Obama wins and you can criticize his government, which is why everybody always does in democratic debatse: criticize the current government. I can't remember a time when people were
ever satisfied.
Cheers,
Cedric
I meant:
which is WHAT
Cedric
house chicanes?
Re the ten men drinking beer analogy:
The richest guy can't walk away from the table. That would be tax evasion in this context and he would go to jail.
The story's aim is to mislead the voter
Shes a Republican hack job.
They do nothing but spread hate and fear, this is the legacy of the Republican party.
This woman is an embarrassment to journalism.
As the news anchor, it is her job to be deferential to her "guest." To invite someone on to give their opinion, and then talk over them telling them they are wrong is not only rude ... its not journalism.
Thanks for posting this Ed.
the rich guy owns the bar.
you know? What happens when the patrons open up their own bar but can;t buy a keg because the rich guy is friends with the beer distributor, so they go to the brewer but the brewer has used all his hops to brew the house beer and then they grow moonshine, which is illegal, and the crops use monsanto seed wich they have to buy every year and the moonshine causes everyone to become alcoholic, and then the whole town dies from various liver and kidney related ailments?
yes, that metaphor holds up real well.
I watched Obama's info-mercial without sound this evening in a restaurant. From a purely visual perspective, I could see it was clearly a statement about the dire straits that most americans find themselves in today thanks to the neglect of the ruling "elites" on both sides. I was wondering beforehand if we might see the equivalent of an FDR fireside chat, and in many respects, this is what he presented. It wasn't all about him, though he was of course there as a steady hand throughout. It was brilliant politics and isn't that what we need on so many levels? To me, this election is about skill and compassion and both were on display here. McCain called it "lofty words built on broken promises." But what I saw on the Republican side of the news cycle was dominated by Joe the plumber's policy position on Israel (and pending CW recording deal), Sarah Palin going all mavericky in her "Elvis's old girlfriend's" hairstyle, and saying how much she likes being in national politics. It's so obvious. Please America, let's just get this done.
Sigh...I miss Aaron Brown.
Much like the communist paper did for the USSR, Fox is the talking points centerpiece for the GOP. While every other news outlet of note can see the shift, they refuse to accept it. Sad to say that even for them, it may be a hard 4 years if Obama wins, and the congress has a filibuster proof majority.
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