1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough

Rahm Emanuel On 60 Minutes: “Fringe Group Has Taken Control” Of GOP

video
» 74 comments

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was recently interviewed by CBS’ Katie Couric for tomorrow night’s episode of 60 Minutes, a short clip of which has been released online. In the clip made available, Emanuel briefly discusses the challenges of his political foes: the Republican Party, and says that they have their “own problems and fissures” and are “at the behest of a fringe group that’s taken control of their own party.” Video below:

I think The Republicans have a level of energy but inside that energy they have their own problem and fissures. They’re basically at the behest of a fringe group that’s taken control of their own party and their own leaders are scared of it.

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.

Email Twitter Facebook Digg Reddit Stumble Upon Yahoo Buzz LinkedIn Tumblr Delicious
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Glenn-A-Brown-Jr/1234686692 Glenn A. Brown Jr.

    Why do I think that Rahm Emanuel is part of the fringe group that has taken control of the Democratic party. Both political parties are in need of major changes. The biggest change is what I believe most American’s have called for — both parties to do the hard job of finding things that they can work on TOGERTHER!

  • TylerDurdin

    Yes, that “fringe group” is known as the American people.

  • same2u

    It is the Freeper fringe. Moderates need not apply.

  • valkyrie101

    I think most people agree with you Glenn. Here is the problem: one party has explicitly stated that they intend to oppose everything the President and majority party proposes. That makes it very hard to “work together”. That tactic is a calculated risk on the part of the Republicans. Their stated theory: If we can stymie all the President’s initiatives, including those he campaigned for and was electeded on, we can claim that he failed and convince the American people to boot the majority out of office at the next election. Thus, per Jin Demint, for example, if we stop health care reform it will be Obama’s “Waterloo”.

    As for Emmanuel’s comments, he is right. There is the traditional Republican party, and then there is a sub group with an extreme right wing agenda. The moderate Republicans are stuck. If they do not embrace the far right position, then they will lose that support. If they do embrace the far right position, they will lose many of the moderates. I voted Republican for 30 years, but they lost me when the grand old party was coopted by the far right.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

    That ‘fringe group’ consists of a large part of that coalition of fringe group driving the Tea Parties and the GOP further to the radical extreme. All those groups might have two or three things in common, mostly they have i common defeating Obama, but they bring with them all the Freeper/KKK/neo-Nazi/fundamentalist/nutcase/hannitizedrushbot/FoxNotNewsViewers and you’ll soon see more and more homicide pilots, Pentagon and Holocaust Museum shooters and, eventually, even IEDs courtesy of the right. That’s what Rahm Emanuel is talking about and that’s what the nutcase gallery of the right is bringing to us.

  • Snipzor

    Silly Tyler, the American people aren’t all freepers and conspiracy nuts.

  • dhg

    It’s politically advantageous to demonize Republicans as well as characterize people who question big government and government control of huge elements of the economy,the country and society so expect more and more of it.

    Republicans are also guilty of these tactics,it’s basically politics 101.

    Democrats are rightly worried about the next two major election cycles.The health care bill will probably pass because more Dems will consider a yes vote more politically advantageous than a no vote but it’s very unclear what the ultimate effects will be at election time so they’ll be pulling out all the stops to portray Republicans as extreme,unhinged,controlled by extremists,and on and on.

    Like everything else that comes from them,it is largely spin and should not be taken at face value.

  • WaterLoo

    Perhaps the worst, backwards garbage non-sense, spin I’ve heard yet!

  • http://www.nukethefridge.com MartiniShark

    Rahm commenting on the Republicans is like listening to the American Beef Council talking about vegetarians. He, Obama, and the Pelosi/Reid stronghold have commandeered the Democrats to the far left fringe — look at the poll numbers opposing this UHC and Obama’s own plummeting approval figures. And any talk about Republican blocking everything this administration proposes is self-fulfilling. They locked the Reps out of any formulating meetings at the start, to say nothing of Obama’s own “I won” comment at a bi-partisan meeting,so why would they capitulate on any matter?

  • shootfromthehip

    Rahm is exceptionally smart. So is Newt. The problem for the Republicans is Rahm is 100% correct. Guys like Newt are being pushed out and stupid fringe zealots are being pushed up. The GOP will increasingly lose elections. The Tea Patry movement has all but assured every minority in America will vote D from now on. The demographic trends are in our favor.

  • Snipzor

    Martini, point to the place in the bill that has universal healthcare being enacted. Where in the bill does it say that, until you can say where it is, the rest of your paragraph will remain invalid.

  • same2u

    Yeah Martinin, the next step will be to pursue a public option and then single payer at which time you can call it “UHC”

    Hahahahahahahahahhahahhaha

  • writer

    Um, Bill, the pentagon shooter was a registered Democrat.

  • Ted

    This from TPM – Tea-baggers fringe? Naahh, just racist and homophobic.

    “Things are getting pretty heated in the Capitol with crowds of anti-Reform/Tea Party activists going through the halls shouting slogans and epithets at Democratic members of Congress.”

    “Not long before, Rep. Barney Frank got an uglier version of the treatment. Just after Frank rounded a corner to leave the building, an older protester yelled “Barney, you faggot.” The surrounding crowd of protesters then erupted in laughter.”

  • Azarkhan

    “Barney, you faggot.”

    So, what’s the problem? Oh, was I supposed to be appalled? Sorry.

    What I find appalling is how this punk Barney Frank helped instigate the sub-prime mortgage crisis which led to the collapse of the banking system. What is also appalling is that the little bitch Barney is not in jail.

  • Azarkhan

    In the words of the immortal Roxsy, suck on this:

    *In 1991, Frank and former Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., lobbied for Fannie to soften rules on multi-family home mortgages although those dwellings showed a default rate twice that of single-family homes. (Boston Globe, Nov 22, 1991)

    *…All this was justified as a means of increasing homeownership among minorities and the poor. Affirmative-action policies trumped sound business practices. A manual issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston advised mortgage lenders to disregard financial common sense. “Lack of credit history should not be seen as a negative factor,” the Fed’s guidelines instructed. Lenders were directed to accept welfare payments and unemployment benefits as “valid income sources” to qualify for a mortgage. Failure to comply could mean a lawsuit. (Boston Globe, Sept. 28, 2008, article titled “Frank’s fingerprints are all over the financial fiasco”

    *In 2003, when the “Bush administration recommended [a] significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry…”, Mr. Frank , the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, said:
    ”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.” (New York Times, Sept. 11, 2003)

    *But [Frank] opposes giving Treasury the right to approve or disapprove business activities. He said he worries that Treasury would sacrifice activities that are good for consumers in the name of lowering the companies’ market risks. (Washington Post, Oct 8, 2003)

  • Snipzor

    Looks like we’ve got another threadjacking in process, how cute. Smells of desperation.

  • Azarkhan

    But you smell pretty good sweetie! How are you Snipzor?

  • Azarkhan

    Don’t be shy-we can talk-just like mens!

  • Azarkhan

    Everyone else please leave-Snipzor and me got bizness to discuss!

  • Azarkhan

    Mesopotamia–That’s where I wanna go! (nothing older than 1982)

  • Azarkhan

    I’ll meet you by the third pyramid
    I’ll meet you by the third pyramid
    Ah come on, that’s what I want, we’ll meet
    in Mesopotamia. oh oh oh

    (We’re goin’ down to meet) Now I ain’t no student,
    (Feel those vibrations) of ancient culture
    (I know a neat excavation) Before I talk
    I should read a book. (Mesopotamia, that’s where I wanna go)
    But there’s one thing that I do know, (Mesopotamia, that’s where I wanna go)
    There’s a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    In related news, Charles Manson announced that lunatics have taken control of the California penal system.

  • Azarkhan

    ” Charles Manson”

    And that’s a good reason to vote conservative. We’d have executed his ass a long time ago.

  • Azarkhan

    Snipzor-YOU+ARE+NO+FUN!

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    The fringe has taken over the Republican party. That’s why the most liberal state in the country just voted for a Republican to replace Ted Kennedy. That makes sense, right?

  • Azarkhan

    Regarding that Massachoosetts mess-ain’t the in-ter-net a wunderful thang?:

    “To make it happen, Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, made an expedient choice, deferring until another day any serious effort to control the state’s runaway health costs.

    The day of reckoning has arrived. Threatened first by rapid early enrollment in its new subsidized insurance program and now by a withering economy, the state’s pioneering overhaul has entered a second, more challenging phase.

    Thanks to new taxes and fees imposed last year, the health plan’s jittery finances have stabilized for the moment. But government and industry officials agree that the plan will not be sustainable over the next 5 to 10 years if they do not take significant steps to arrest the growth of health spending….”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/health/policy/16mass.html

  • Snipzor

    Yea, and I’m sure it has nothing to do with the universally accepted theory that Brown’s opponent ran a terrible campaign, no, I’m sure it has everything to do with how the republican party has gone the way of the moderates. Finch, you are still an intellectually dishonest fool.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    BREAKING NEWS: The Big East Coaches’ Association just announced that the NCAA tournament is overrated.

  • autobahn

    “Tea-baggers fringe? Nah, just racist and homophobic.”

    It appears the far left has adopted a new tactic…labeling anyone who disagrees with them as a racist homophobe. I hope they don’t start using this tactic too often, lest it lose some of its strength.

  • http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

    I’ll take from the last few seconds that he’s taking “Chicago mayor” off the table, for now.

    Otherwise, as he says, it’s too early in the cycle to judge the effects of the Tea Party movement. One assumes that they’ll be helpful to a Republican candidate in some districts, while harmful to others and we just can’t tell how they’re going to effect the perception of the Republicans on a national scale.

    (Insert political speech disclaimer: I think they’re going to hurt Republicans, but I’m a Dem)

    During the 80s, Reagan and the Republicans demonized several of the coalitions which comprise the Democratic Party by calling them the “lunatic fringe” or something similar and not only would it be expected for Democratic operatives to take a similar tact, but I also expect that after the election, if things don’t go favorably for the minority, someone will launch a Republican equivalent of the DLC.

  • Azarkhan

    Snipzor-How dare you ignore me!

    Alan Sager, a professor of health policy at Boston University, has calculated that health spending per person in Massachusetts increased faster than the national average in seven of the last eight years. Furthermore, he said, the gap has grown exponentially, with Massachusetts now spending about a third more per person, up from 23 percent in 1980.

    “Just as this may have been the easiest place to do coverage, it may be the most difficult place to do cost control,” said Jonathan Gruber, a health economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Azarkhan

    ” racist homophobe”

    I’d rather be a racist homo!

  • Azarkhan

    For my lover-you know who you are-nothing before 1982.

    When the routine bites hard
    and ambitions are low
    And the resentment rides high
    but emotions won’t grow
    And we’re changing our ways,
    taking different roads
    Then love, love will tear us apart again

    Why is the bedroom so cold
    Turned away on your side?
    Is my timing that flawed,
    our respect run so dry?
    Yet there’s still this appeal
    That we’ve kept through our lives
    Love, love will tear us apart again

    Do you cry out in your sleep
    All my failings exposed
    Get a taste in my mouth
    As desperation takes hold
    Is it something so good
    Just can’t function no more?
    When love, love will tear us apart again

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    Right, Snipzor, and I’m sure you’ll say that Jon Corzine ran a terrible campaign in New Jersey last November (even though he had won three state-wide elections in that state in the last 10 years). And Creigh Deeds ran a horrible campaign in Virginia (even though he had faced Bob McDonnel a few years before in a state-wide election and lost by less 500 votes). And I’m sure there are going to be at least 218 bad campaigns run by democratic house members this fall. And another 10 or so bad campaign will be run by incumbent democratic Senators.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    BREAKING NEWS: Tiger Woods announces that his marriage is breaking up because Elin “just doesn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘commitment’.”

  • Snipzor

    Corzine was a corrupt bastard and the people who ran against him ran flawed campaigns. Everyone hated the bastard. Your attempt at a strawman argument is cute and all, but it’s very obvious.

  • autobahn

    Sex addiction is a bitch.

  • felixw

    The fringe group is in the White House. That is why they struggle to pass legislation, even with the largest majority in modern American political history. Any reasonable agenda would zip through Congress with this sizable majority. Instead they push for radical social engineering that even fellow Democrats are reluctant to embrace.

  • same2u

    RockyRoad, FelixW,,Gaxter, RunningMan,

    The reluctance from Democrats is related to the fact it doesn’t go far enough.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    If the problem is the fringe group in the Republican party, why can’t Rahm get all the Democratic votes? They’ve got all the votes they need; the Republicans are irrelevant. The problem isn’t they can’t “fringe” members of Congress like Bart Stupak.

  • http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

    . . . and 40 others Democrats in the House

  • autobahn

    According to the far left, all of the MSM is conservative. Perhaps far right winger Katie Couric was misrepresenting what Emanuel said.

  • Azarkhan

    “Sex addiction is a bitch”

    Try being addicted to one *sigh* MAN!

    Katie Couric!! Now there’s a bitch who needs a spanking!

  • autobahn

    And a restraining order against Charlie Sheen.

  • same2u

    Hey Ted, update on that story,

    Now it is being reported that “protestors yelled “nigger” at Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). “

  • Azarkhan

    “nigger”

    Oh my God!!! I am SO ASHAMED FOR AMERICA!!!!

    And to get rid of that shame, I need for every lefty to put “To Kill a Mockingbird”
    in your DVD player NOW!
    Hit “play”.
    Now take off your shirt.
    Now grasp a heavy belt FIRMLY in hand.
    Now start to whip yourself.
    Hard.
    I’ll let you know when to stop.

  • autobahn

    • According to the latest US Department of Justice survey of crime victims, more than 6.6 million violent crimes (murder, rape, assault and robbery) are committed in the US each year, of which about 20 per cent, or 1.3 million, are inter-racial crimes.

    • Most victims of race crime—about 90 per cent—are white, according to the survey “Highlights from 20 Years of Surveying Crime Victims”, published in 1993.

    • Almost 1 million white Americans were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by black Americans in 1992, compared with about 132,000 blacks who were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by whites, according to the same survey.

    • Blacks thus committed 7.5 times more violent inter-racial crimes than whites even though the black population is only one-seventh the size of the white population. When these figures are adjusted on a per capita basis, they reveal an extraordinary disparity: blacks are committing more than 50 times the number of violent racial crimes of whites.

  • same2u

    So what is your point autobahn?

  • autobahn

    That the far left only gets outraged at white racism, for one thing.

  • Snipzor

    Actually autobahn doesn’t have a point, only a red herring. One that is pushed by a bunch of conservative racists on a daily basis mind you.

  • writer

    Yes, we should certainly ignore the facts and label anyone who points them out as a racist. Since anyone can look up FBI or Department of Justice Crime Statistics and see that these figures are true, the DOJ must all be racists, too. They’re the ones putting them out. Auto was only repeating them.

  • Snipzor

    Autobahn was repeating a talking point to shift the burden of racism away from himself. Essentially the purpose behind the citations were to say “SEE SEE! Us whites aren’t the racist ones, it’s actually the blacks who are more racist!”. There’s much more behind it than just that, but even I would call that grasping at straws.

    This is known as the genetic fallacy. I think it’s the genetic fallacy anyways… not exactly the most used one (Or most cited anyways).

  • writer

    Okay, then what is the point in reporting that some people yelled ‘nigger’ at Lewis? Are you saying that all whites are racist, or all tea partiers are racist, or what? And by the way, the far left does ignore black racism, as witnessed by their sweeping Rev. Wright under the rug during the campaign. And who is Wright’s best buddy? Louie Farrakhan, who calls whites ‘blue eyed devils’ or ‘the anti-Christ’. When you lefties get as offended at things like that as you do at hearing the ‘n’ word, then we’ll have a starting point.

  • Snipzor

    Oh great, I have to point out what I’ve said dozens of times before, I just love doing this.

    This will be the last time. Reporting the story is telling people that there is a rather large segment of the tea party population that is racist (Or just plain stupid). Read that again if you still don’t get it. And your last argument was a terrible attempt at trying to be apologetic for racist statements, very nice, I congratulate you on that. Beck would be proud.

  • writer

    In other words, snip, you’re outraged at white racists, but black ones get a pass. Wasn’t pointing out Wright’s racism a story worth ‘reporting’, since Obama considered him a mentor? Never mind. Being on the left, you will always ignore black racism. It’s the way the left does things.

  • Snipzor

    Didn’t the entire media cover the Wright scandal for over a whole year? Yea, I seem to remember that. Your argument is still invalid. How does it feel to have short-term memory loss? Plus if you recall, the left-wing hates religious zealotry, so bringing up Farrakhan as the “left’s hero” is only embarrassing yourself further. If anything, you would have loved Louis had he been white, and railing against black people, after all you loved Jesse Helms and Jerry Falwell to death.

  • autobahn

    Fox covered Wright’s racism. The rest of the MSM pretty much ignored it. And if Farrakhan is a zealot, isn’t his buddy Wright a zealot, too? And wasn’t Obama aware of it? Keep sticking you head in the sand. Fine by me.

  • autobahn

    Should say ‘your’ above. You get the idea.

  • Snipzor

    “The rest of the MSM pretty much ignored it”

    God, the amount of stupid you possess can be summed up in the sentence above. Besides the blatant lie in this sentence, it’s also the fact that you refer to every piece of media other than Fox “MSM”. Good lord. I love the apologetic nature you have towards racism. You aren’t trying to prove the left-wing ignores racism (Despite how every social movement was designed to abolish racism in general, along with sexism and bigotry. As opposed to making one group superior to the other, despite how some do not see this), you are trying to justify the racism that conservatives carry. It’s a wonder why some people consider America the forefront of civil rights. It’s also another wonder why conservatives think they are the cause of civil rights.

  • MichelleF

    This came from the Onion, right? Rahm is a delusional thug. just the kind of person BO likes to surround himself with.

  • autobahn

    “I love the apologetic nature you have towards racism.” And when the racism is coming from blacks, the apologetic nature is yours, snip.

  • Snipzor

    Despite how I’ve said explicitly that the left-wing denounces all racism. Nice try, but your injection of black racism as a more prevalent problem in society is an attempt to shift the burden away from your own blatant racism. Christ, it’s like trying to say feminism is the movement to end sexism towards women, despite how modern day feminists say it’s a movement to end sexist ideology and thought. Civil rights movements are created to end all forms of discrimination and racism.

  • autobahn

    But isn’t it the left that’s always yelling ‘racism’ when anyone disagrees with anything Obama does? If you’re going to dwell on it so much and accuse so many people of it, I think it’s only fair to point out that it doesn’t only come from whites.

  • Snipzor

    Now you’re changing the topic, again. Considering you yourself have used racist white supremacist arguments to defend the blatant racism from some random teabagger, it is a fair assessment to call you a racist. Unless you can magically pop up the convenient “***** friends” excuse, which would be highly detrimental to your own defense.

    I find it quite odd that you are ignoring the racist implications of the random teabagger. And I also love how you are jumping at the opportunity to defend the fringe elements of your own movement when all you can do is point out how the person’s racist statements are a bad thing and are not representative of your movement. See if you idiots had realised this was a glorious opportunity to make yourselves look good, you would have taken it and we wouldn’t be having this pointless discussion right now as we speak. It’s absurd.

  • Azarkhan

    “Despite how I’ve said explicitly that the left-wing denounces all racism.”

    This is a lie Snipzoorrrr!

    The Left does not acknowledge that racism can exist in people of color. This is because the Left assumes that all people of color are oppressed, and therefore what I call racism is to the Left a natural reaction to that oppression.

    Shame on you lover!

  • autobahn

    That’s right, snip. Your deflection ignores the fact that you deny racism can exist in any but the white race. And even if you claim you acknowledge it, you do your best to ignore or excuse it. That’s absurd.

  • m

    Reading this comment section confirms EVERYTHING Rahm Emanuel said.

  • sibat0705

    Juicy clothes
    Buy full line Juicy couture products from our site at a low price to make yourself a fashionista! Dress juicy couture clothing, holding juicy couture
    Shop prom dresses, formal dresses, prom shoes, 2010 designer prom gowns at dres4sale.
    for cocktail dresses, dresses for prom, homecoming dresses, and evening dresses. Cheap prom dresses or couture designer evening gowns for your next formal.
    evening dresses
    Evening Dresses. Women’s Formal & Special Occasion Dresses … Welcome to Cheap Evening Dresses for Sale! … Buy Cheap Evening Dresses Sales & Accessories
    prom dresses

  • sueNaustin

    m says:
    March 21, 2010 at 3:22 am

    Reading this comment section confirms EVERYTHING Rahm Emanuel said.

    AGREED.

  • disgusted

    The ONLY POL that I can vote for is one who “promises” to RESCIND all the actions made by this congress!
    Like: THEY don’t Lie, Cheat of Steal!

  • pyrope

    If Rham Emmanuel thinks a fringe group has taken over the GOP, just what the hell does he think has taken over the Deficrats? You’ve got everything from Maoists to man-boy love advocates to self-avowed communists to tax cheating criminals.

  • corvin81

    Hello,hi i absolutely enjoy your unique article, i would enjoy if i could post a big review about your fine website on my own News site would you grant me permission?

    XoX, John Peds
    Author of how to cook salmon

  • jennielynsan

    This is one of the foremost blogs in the field of education. If I don’t came in for a couple of days, there are so many posts that it’ll lead me a couple of hr just to go all over whatsoever I missed!! Kudos.

    Thanks. great massive infos. here keep up Culinary Skills Egg Salad Recipe French Onion Soup Recipe the good work. I cannot truly lead a more creative comment as i’m abit out of my deph but i will be checking back here for further updates.

© 2012 Mediaite, LLC | About Us | Advertise | Self-Serve Advertising | Newsletter | Jobs | Privacy | User Agreement | Disclaimer | Power Grid FAQ | Contact | Archives | RSS RSS
Dan Abrams, Founder | Power Grid by Sound Strategies | Hosting by Datagram