Our friend, Jane Hamsher from Firedoglake joined CNN’s Rick Sanchez and spokesman for the National Review, Jim Geraghty, to talk about GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and his heated off air tussle (it starts about 10 minutes into the YouTube clip) last week during a break with a talk show host in Iowa. The host presses Romney about his flip flop on abortion, his religion and how he’s tried to distance himself from it during his campaign. Romney takes exception and goes off script during a break, not realizing the camera was still rolling.
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As always, Jane nails it on the head by pointing out that Romney and the other Republican candidates are in a bad position because they have to pander to their base on the issues of war, abortion and George Bush — all of which fall well outside the views of the majority of Americans. Great job as always, Jane…
Filed Under: Abortion, CNN, Campaigns/Elections, Civil Liberties, Election 08
3 Trackbacks To “Jane Hamsher On CNN Talking About Mitt’s Fit“
:)
frist!!!
jane hamsher is teh awesome.
… And lookin’ like a million, if I do say so myself.
IQ + chutzpah + beer-thirty + a smile = FDL. That’s my home team.
What’s the name of the YouTube clip?
Mitt Romney is a cartoon character created by the Department of Cognitive Dissonance.
Jane!!
hehehe, Mitt’s Fit…I like that.
Its always nice to see Jane. I hope she’s doing well, feeling good these days.
Flip-flop-flipping: IOKIYAR
Kudos to Jane…
I watched the clip (link from thread at FDL), and pretty much grumbled thru much of it because much of it was the wood-grained hairdo newsreader acting like a real twerp…
honestly, I know Jane and her fellow bloggers need to get whatever exposure they can, but geez, I know it must set their teeth on edge to be coached and prodded throughout the segment…
nonetheless, as I say, nice work by Jane… given the climate she was working in… the rightie? HA!… who was that again? heh heh… don’t think I care to find out… that’s HIS epitaph.
Jane gave a very calm, measured beat-down. Just the kind of face the blogosphere wants to project to the media to debunk O’Reilly’s propaganda. Just one quibble, did Rick at the end of the segment just mention ‘National Review’ & ‘good reading’ in the same breath?
Jane’s a good beat-down.
I can’t stand Rick Sanchez. Geezus. Everytime I watch him, I’m just waiting for him to break out into a Barney song or something. That man is just way too animated. Not to mention the fact that he never gets anything right. He’s quick to gloss over everything, chop it all up, homogenize it, then vomit it up for consumption by the unwashed masses. I just don’t think he has even a semblance of a grasp on the issues.
I watched the full clip on youtube, and this is by no means a “fit” or a melt down. If a candidate can’t be passionate about their beliefs, then they have no business running for office. And in this case, he tried to reasonably explain his side. I’m a liberal, but I can’t see anything wrong with his demeanor. I’m not saying I agree with all of his positions, but I surely don’t think he had any kind of a “fit”. It’s getting pretty ridiculous in the media, etc. Both sides try to make something out of nothing on a continual basis, just to make the other side look bad. Why can’t we just deal with the issues and the personal facts, instead of making them up?
@Rich: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G9hydflwEQ
THAT was a fit?!?
LOL
The man is so POLITE!
Good reading? sheesh
Well done, Jane. I’m swooning once again.
She lined up the shot perfectly for a salvo; in which direction the mind changes shouldn’t be dismissed as arbitrary. Moreover, Gore didn’t change his mind out of practical and political convenience for the presidency.
I think they’d have given her more time but were probably afraid she’d conclude Geraghty right out of a job.
Huzzaaah, fine job, Jane. (clapclapclapclap)
Jane rocks. She’s one of the best on our side.
The man just defended himself on the youtube clip. While i don’t agree with him, he didn’t go off on a tear, he stood up for himself.
E Ryno @ 5:
Or a Ken doll, without the charm. But more than likely an android, again without the charm. Mitt sets my teeth on edge because he just doesn’t seem human.
You can tell right away Jane is on our side - she smiles, she’s cute, she’s smart and she doesn’t have any visible ticks, bugged-out eyes or atavisms. As for the one on the National Review side? Well, I’ll try to be nice…
Well I don’t like Mitt or his positions and will not vote for him but i think he did a good job in this confortation.
I do notice in the CNN bit Jane is surrounded in blue and BOTH the CNN host and the conservative are surrounded in red. If that doesn’t tell which side the press comes down I don’t know what does.
CNN is so lame
You can see the video in it’s entirety at HuffPo. And I must say,after watching it,my views of Mitt being an empty suit are Gone. I would NEVER vote for Him,but to dismiss Him as a formidable candidate for any Dem would be folly.
I got pretty mad when Rick Sanchez noted that they only had time for a five minute segment. Its a 24 hour news channel that cycles the same garbage over and over. You would think they could have intelligent discussions that go for longer than 5 or 10 minutes, like they have at air america. I guess thoughtful conversation doesn’t get the ratings they’re looking for…
Who was that CNN lame-o talking head? What a douchbag!
Great to see Jane in full swing; she had the Nation Review dork sputtering.
This is sickening - Romney (whom I DO NOT in any way like) was simply passionate - he never seemed out of control. The CNN anchor was ridiculous - from his characterizations I expected a screaming candidate throwing coffee mugs. You watch the entire ten minute interview and Romney comes across as intellectually consistent and no more forceful than he has to be to get his point across through the constant interruptions of the idiot radio host (pardon the redundancy in that term)
Watch as the NR wingnut had to bend over backwards, not only to defend Romney but to try and refute Jane’s point that the Bush 28%’ers are grossly out of step with the rest of the American people. Great job, Jane.
P.S. Agree w/ jimbo. The CNN guy was a dipshit.
…and Jim Garrity from the National Review, Good reading. HAHAHAHAHA
Romney belongs nowhere near the White House. With that said:
1. It was not a fit.
2. The Republican candidates don’t HAVE to pander to Bush supporters, most of them simply choose to (except Ron Paul, of course).
Romney did not just walk off the set the way other candidiates might have, making excuses. Watch carefully without judgement.
I am an Obama advocate. Clearly it will be a race between the Dem nominee and Mitt Romney. The way he handled the heckling radio host showed that he had the desire to convince. This, and the fact that within the framework of his beliefs he presented them concisely to the other fellow, without distortion. He did not muddy himself in the exchange. This makes him far and away the strongest announced or otherwise candidate for the Repubs. His flip flop will only be crucial to people who think that OTHER people judge a candidate on how closely their own beliefs are perfectly matched. I do not think this is what makes people vote…I believe it is more the strength of belief, the genuine-ness that elicits confidence.
He couldn’t have come up with a better campaign commercial if he had tried.
The National Review guy looks like a talking Cocktail Weenie.
And Jane’s look while he’s talking says “you dipshit.”
Great job Jane. And what a great contrast to the nimrod CNN host as well.
peter sutcliffe @ 2:
Maybe Glenn Beck can have Romney on and they can discuss Mormon doctrine. Example is that the mark of Cain is being of dark skin and to enter heaven you have to be pure as “white” to enter heaven. You think I am joking just grab the Book of Mormon. And is there any Mormon out there that will refute this?
Nice to see a MSM talkinghead say the ff word - flipflop. Some would call a fip-flopper a revisionist.The entire republic party agenda is bottom line driven and therefore always subject to revision.
Jane was right on the money. And standing toe-to-toe with two male chumps.
The NR guy wanted to dismiss the invocation of Dubya, like they haven’t used Slick Willy as their all time whipping boy. Granted hypocracy is no stranger to these people.
It’s hard to watch Rick Sanchez’s salesman style of news casting.
From the hype, I thought Mitmo went ape shit on the show, but he really didn’t.
Jane’s milflicious.
Bottom line is, Romney admitted to having one position as a candidate and another position once elected. In commerce this would be recognized as false advertising, and call for legal sanctions. Why should it be acceptable in politics?
Holy shit ! Rick Sanchez is STILL employed. He brings “Douchebaggertry” to a new level.
I will never forgive him for selling out latinos to Newt’s gasbag mouthpiece.
I agree with several of the folks above who state that this is not a fit (although the tussle adjective seems apt enough).
Had Edwards (my current first choice) or Obama (2nd) handled a similar situation the same way, I’d be proud enough of it to point people to it.
Can you imagine GWB handling that exchange with that amount of coherency?
I hope it’s too far gone for the R’s to salvage *anything*, but that video is the least plastic view of Romney I’ve seen to date.
SadButTrue @ 39:
Look. He was consistent on this one. I’ve been of the impression that all repugs are completely off their whack. Romney knows the division between church and state.
That’s reassuring. Your point questions a particular value judgement that is made every day by any representative.
I didn’t get the gotcha here as being particularly warranted.
Would never vote for the guy, but what are they talking about? You would have thought he was swearing or something. No news here. 24-hour news cycle filler.
I think Romney is the biggest douche bag of them all, but I don’t think he threw a fit either. He was simply debating his issues.
Being born and raised in the Mormon Church (I stopped going when I was 18 and had myself “officially” excommunicated around 10 years ago) I can completely understand that he felt he was under attack. Most of the “cultish” x-tian religions are under attack from the “normal” x-tian faiths, and even though I think he felt he was under attack for agreeing with something that the religion opposes, I don’t feel like he was out of line at all.
Anyway, I don’t even know why I am defending him, probably because I am sick of the media trying to make a big deal out of nothing while avoiding or glossing over the real issues.
What a terribly misleading headline.
That was a normal discussion.
To call that a fit is ridiculous.
i am not a big fan of mitt nor the mormon faith but this is a ridiculous story which this blog should be above– as Indigowatcher says, mitt was “polite” and tried to explain his views to a man who obviously couldn’t even start to listen to him–
and otay says “You can tell right away Jane is on our side - she smiles, she’s cute, she’s smart and she doesn’t have any visible ticks, bugged-out eyes or atavisms.”
she’s on our side??? wtf side is that???
baby jesus, did you know there was a Missouri when you were born 2000 years ago?
What’s sad is that the douchebag radio host makes Mitt ‘double Guatanamo’ Romney look like the good guy in comparison. At least Romney understands the difference between church and state, understands that Supreme court decisions just can’t be ignored by the executive branch, and that church members don’t have to blindly follow church doctrine when making political decisions.
I don’t know who these asshats are that agree with the radio host, but they need to be deported to Mexico and only allowed to return when they pass the same tests to show competency in US History and government that any legal immigrant would have to learn to gain citizenship. Better yet, draft them and send them to Iraq so they learn first hand how effective mixing government and religion happens to be.
Mitt is a flipping floppper.
The Repubs who now say that GW is not a ” real conservative” let Bush get away with this impersonation for President and look at him now?
Its not just Mitt’s recent pro life stance. How about his life time hunting?
Mitt says he didn’t put the dog on the roof of the station wagon. He says we are all thinking of Chey Chase in American vacation.
If they go with Mitt, The repubs will get someone that becoomes something else once in office….
Mitt wouldn’t be my 2nd choice if I had to choose only from the GOP candidates.
I agree with Seatech1, deezus, Mark Fradl, Richard Ray Harris, LVogt, and john bourne harbour. Mr. Romney was just trying to get his point of view across, the interviewer’s rude interruptions notwithstanding. I’d get a little animated, too, in that circumstance. Though the only time I’d not vote for a Democrat is if it were Lieberman (ghhuugggh), I was impressed by Mr. Romney’s statement that he believed it was wrong to try to legislate one’s religious beliefs onto the backs of everyone else. God forbid they bring back prohibition. Those of you who see everything coming from “the other side” as being worthy of ridicule and “bashing” are no better than Bill’O. That’s what he does, and you don’t like that. Try to not be like him.
She’s right. I don’t think he passed himself off so badly to liberals in that clip. His “double guantanamo” comment has alienated him beyond all repair, however. I know I could never vote for a guy who can’t see what’s wrong with Guantanamo. The problem he faces is that Liberals already can’t stand his eagerness to toss away civil rights, and the right has been told by their corrupt leaders that “god” needs to (re)claim the USA. In the meantime, they are completely ignorant of how they are getting fleeced by their masters. Organized religion is a contageous disease.
Who cares?
A few observations: I think it’s fair to say that most of us posting here, (myself included) would just as soon vote for Elmer Fudd as they would Mit Romney. I think he’d make a fine mid-management exec at a Dodge Dealership, but POTUS? No thanks. Having said that, he certainly didn’t have a “fit” by any stretch of the imagination, and in fact I think he was relatively calm considering how full of himself the wingnut radio host was. Does that guy like to hear himself drone on and on and on and on or what!? Can you imagine being stuck in a cramped studio for a half hour with that kind of know-it-all Rush wannebee and the burger king onions on his breath!?
Secondly, the thing about Jesus making an appearance in Missouri is a new one on me. That’s awesome!…. I mean here did Joseph Smith get this stuff!?
Thirdly, yes, Jane Hamsher is a treasure. If you’re ever having a bad day or feeling a bit sorry for yourself, just try saying “Jane Hamsher” a few times out loud. Think of what that amazing woman has been through and the work that she’s out there doing, and picture that smile. Works every time!