My mixed reaction to the heckling of First Lady Michelle Obama. I believe in the right of all Americans, left right and center, to protest. But I also believe in civility, especially in the case of a First Family that has been treated with record incivility. Watch the segment, courtesy of Fox News:
What do you think?
I was on Fox News on Memorial Day, talking about the Republicans’ pathetic attempts to tie President Obama in some way, shape or form to the “scandals” lower down in his Administration. Keep fighting the good fight, Republicans! The real problems this country is facing will just solve themselves….
People were understandably outraged that a professor and UN-affiliated rapporteur, Richard Falk, wrote a fairly crassly framed essay about how the Boston bombings were blowback for U.S. foreign policy. Falk has a history of expressing his opinions in ways that often put off thoughtful discussion. At the same time, conservatives are stringing up Falk as a proxy to attack the Obama Administration and the United Nations — both of which censured Falk and called for his removal. And while all this happens, we ignore any serious consideration of whether our drone attacks and other actions abroad are helping provoke hostility against America.
Here’s my attempt to say all that on live television:
Video courtesy of Fox News Channel.
In case you missed the “news”, Jay-Z and Beyoncé went on a sanctioned cultural exchange trip to Cuba. They are also, ahem, supporters of President Obama. Release the right wing hounds!
Here’s my take:
Video courtesy of Fox News.
I was on with Bill O’Reilly defending students at my alma matter George Washington University who are protesting the school’s Catholic center leader for saying that being gay is “unnatural and immoral” and counseling gay students to repress their desires and feel ashamed of themselves.
I argue the larger issue is the need for the Catholic Church to get with the times — and address the fact that a strong majority of lay Catholics are more pro-gay than the Church and this is causing many to flee from the faith, especially young people.
Here’s our exchange:
O’Reilly seemed a bit confused, claiming he supports the rights of the students to protest while at the same time calling them fascist. Later in the show, Bill criticized progressives for “incivility” in calling Margaret Thatcher a fascist. Anyway…
Here’s Mediaite’s coverage of our exchange.
I don’t know how to introduce this clip without giving more airtime than due to the story anti-choice advocates are trying to manufacture. Jezebel has a great piece summarizing the faux-brouhaha, appropriately entitled “Planned Parenthood Does Not Endorse Infanticide and We Can’t Believe That Even Needs to Be Clarified”. So check that out. And then watch this.
Note, I do wish that I had used different phrasing right at the end but… there you have it.
Video courtesy of Fox News.
So far, anyway….. Discussing dodgeball with Megyn Kelly and Tony Sayegh:
I’m back from India — just in time to rejoin the fray of unjustified and uncivil but nonetheless unbounded attacks from the far right against everything and anything Obama. This time? Right wingers take to Twitter to try and sabotage a simple Q&A chat with Michelle Obama on fitness and healthy eating. Sheesh.
Here’s the clip, courtesy of Fox News and Mediaite:
In which, while discussing climate change action in Obama’s second term, I (correctly) assert that 97% of the world’s scientists agree that climate change is real and man-made. Which doesn’t stop my conservative antagonist from denying that fact in his response. Enjoy:
Video courtesy of Fox News.
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