Dave Weigel Tells A Pessimistic Keith Olbermann Tea Party Candidates Can Do No Wrong

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by Frances Martel | 1:02 pm, October 9th, 2010

» 17 comments

The strife between Republican establishment candidates and their Tea Party rivals continues as the Republican Congressional leadership warns that it may not support a complete government shutdown. To Keith Olbermann, it’s a sign that, even if they do win in November, the infighting will render the Republican Party unable to govern. To his guest, Slate blogger Dave Weigel, it’s more proof that “Tea Party candidates can do no wrong.”

Earlier in the week, Rep. Eric Cantor suggested that it was possible the Republicans would not be seeking a government shutdown if they take the majority in Congress, lest they be seen as a “bunch of yahoos.” A bunch of said yahoos, namely the Tea Party Patriots, took objection to this needless attack and insisted that every option must be on the table, including closing down for business. Tea Party candidates like Alaska’s Joe Miller are caught in the crossfire, but many, like Nevada’s Sharron Angle, also seem to benefit from the opposition.

Olbermann, in dire spirits about the whole thing, asked Weigel to give his take on the rift on the right. His view seemed much more optimistic, arguing that the Tea Party candidates feed off of ridicule and negative attacks from sources that were typically considered mainstream. With the Republicans almost certain that they will win in November, the only problems left to solve are those presented by “the coming infighting”:

“There’s really nothing that a Tea Party candidate can do wrong if they’re irritating the establishment. if Christine O’Donnell cuts an ad that seems to the rest of us seem ridiculous, its proof that the establishment is missing the point. If Joe Miller says something that Mitch McConnell walks back, it proves that Joe Miller is a straight talker and Mitch McConnell is not. And this is another example– the fact that everyone around Sharron Angle says she can’t hack it is proof that she can hack it… or something.”

The discussion from last night’s Countdown via MSNBC below:

2010 elections, Christine O'Donnell, Countdown, Dave Weigel, Eric Cantor, Joe Miller, keith olbermann, msnbc, Republicans, Sharron Angle, Tea Party, Tea Party Patriots, yahoos

dlauf87

Olbermann has a bachelors degree in communications and he’s condescending someone else’s educational credentials.
writer

Keith is holding up a hand, signaling the voices in his head to be quiet until he’s done talking.
chucken

The Gingrich GOP government shutdown in 1995 was failure and the republicans caved in to Bill Clinton. The first thing party leaders like Eric Cantor,Mitch McConnell and John the tan man will say to the incoming teabaggers in Congress is “Shut the Fuck Up!!!” We ain’t gonna lose to Obama by having him paint us as a bunch of wackjobs.We will propose conservative ideas for laws but no radical shutdown talk or you will become a permanent backbencher with no influence.
Big Eddie

” Said yahoos ” , huh ? These two , the larger weasel and the younger looking weasel , should be more concerned with their ” slurpee drinking ” President and his followers , of which there are less of each day . The Organizer is in way over his head and is the least presidential of any President in the last 100 years .

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20019115-503544.html
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Mangan/100000213524770 David Mangan

Why don’t these two chuckleheads start discussing their mental health plan benefits under ObamaCare? And why not discuss real shameless inverts and sports-of-nature in the media like Bri-boy Williams, the dog-and-pony show impresario par excellence?

Let’s see. For months Brian Williams had two, sometimes three stories a night on the Gulf Oil Spill and almost all of the NBC Evening News stories had BP as the corporate bad guy and the Obama Administration as the knight in shining armor riding to the rescue.

Then last week, Obama’s own Commission on the spill investigating the entire episode came to the conclusion that the Obama Administration repeatedly covered up the true extent and magnitude of the disaster. How many stories did serial lapdog Brian have on this game-changer in perceptions? Exactly ZERO!

Ditto for a lot of the other alphabet dinosaaurs that serve as stenographers to the DNC and who now are regarded by a MAJORITY OF AMERICANS as hopelessly biased toward Obama and the leftist Pelosi-Reid dictatorship. Gallup has those results, of course, and the liberals always cry out how biased Gallup is, so they’ll pay no heed. I enjoy watching the NYT attack the Tribune because in a couple of years the New York Times might be in the same straits. And the alphabet media are New Deal and even agitprop dinosaurs for Obama.

Olbermann never would have mentioned Obama’s own malfeasance nor would Weigel [or is it Weasel?] That would violate their oath to the memory of Saul Alinsky and his rules for radicals.
Puter Boi

Olbermann is “Ted Baxter” without all of the charm….

Weigel is “Bobby Brady” with worse hair….and a much bigger forehead.
http://www.anonymousfinch.com AnonymousFinch

Weigel is actually right, and this is my problem with where the Tea Party has gone in the last few months. If the message is that Democrats are big spending liberals that are going to bankrupt the country, I’m with you enthusiastically. If the message is throw out all the establishment bums, I’m still with you, but more cautiously. If the message is that the salvation of the country lies with the likes of Christine O’Donnell, I’m getting off at the next stop.
The Real Royal King

AnonymousFinch said:
Weigel is actually right, and this is my problem with where the Tea Party has gone in the last few months. If the message is that Democrats are big spending liberals that are going to bankrupt the country, I’m with you enthusiastically. If the message is throw out all the establishment bums, I’m still with you, but more cautiously. If the message is that the salvation of the country lies with the likes of Christine O’Donnell, I’m getting off at the next stop.

Perhaps, unless the next stop is Salt Lake City.
right-is-wrong

AnonymousFinch said:
Weigel is actually right, and this is my problem with where the Tea Party has gone in the last few months. If the message is that Democrats are big spending liberals that are going to bankrupt the country, I’m with you enthusiastically. If the message is throw out all the establishment bums, I’m still with you, but more cautiously. If the message is that the salvation of the country lies with the likes of Christine O’Donnell, I’m getting off at the next stop.

A voice of reason.

I could not have said it better.
michiganruth

AnonymousFinch said:
Weigel is actually right, and this is my problem with where the Tea Party has gone in the last few months. If the message is that Democrats are big spending liberals that are going to bankrupt the country, I’m with you enthusiastically. If the message is throw out all the establishment bums, I’m still with you, but more cautiously. If the message is that the salvation of the country lies with the likes of Christine O’Donnell, I’m getting off at the next stop.

and I. thank you, Finch.

it seems like the more ridiculous O’Donnell gets, the more my tea party friends like her. what’s up with that?
right-is-wrong

right-is-wrong said:
A voice of reason.

I could not have said it better.

Isn’t it amazing
a thumbs down for agreeing with the man with thumbs up
http://glassbead.info Magister

David Mangan said:
Then last week, Obama’s own Commission on the spill investigating the entire episode came to the conclusion that the Obama Administration repeatedly covered up the true extent and magnitude of the disaster. How many stories did serial lapdog Brian have on this game-changer in perceptions? Exactly ZERO!

I have to admit that I haven’t followed all of the report coverage, mainly because more everything that I’ve heard in passing was reported by Tim Dickinson in Rolling Stone, back in June. Is there any new and earthshattering news? I don’t personally know Mr. Williams’ or his producer’s reading habits, but I generally pay less attention to things that I already know and since a lot of it was previously reported and repeated fairly wide, why would they focus on old news?
http://twitter.com/pewestlake Paul Westlake

AnonymousFinch said:
Weigel is actually right, and this is my problem with where the Tea Party has gone in the last few months. If the message is that Democrats are big spending liberals that are going to bankrupt the country, I’m with you enthusiastically. If the message is throw out all the establishment bums, I’m still with you, but more cautiously. If the message is that the salvation of the country lies with the likes of Christine O’Donnell, I’m getting off at the next stop.

right-is-wrong said:
A voice of reason.

I could not have said it better.

right-is-wrong said:
Isn’t it amazing
a thumbs down for agreeing with the man with thumbs up

…and living proof of Weigel’s point. No?
CAconservative

You don’t want to be seen as yahoos, too late, you already are! Olbermann, and the Democrats fear of this woman is bordering on psychotic.
felixw

Weigel is so off the deep end that he had to resign from the Washington Post because of liberal bias. That’s quite an achievement. Like getting fired as roadie from the Cheech & Chong tour for doing too much pot. But he is the perfect companion to Keith Olbermann. Hearing these two worshipers of centralized government power try to explain the tea party to each other is good for many (unintended) laughs.
M Colins

michiganruth said:

it seems like the more ridiculous O’Donnell gets, the more my tea party friends like her. what’s up with that?

It’s more likely that conservatives and Tea Partiers are going to reflexively strengthen their for support anyone who makes the Left’s heads explode like O Donnell. T
http://sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/ GlennBeckReview

michiganruth said:
“it seems like the more ridiculous O’Donnell gets, the more my tea party friends like her. what’s up with that?”

M Colins says:
“It’s more likely that conservatives and Tea Partiers are going to reflexively strengthen their for support anyone who makes the Left’s heads explode like O Donnell.”

The left aren’t the only ones listening to her. When Independents’ heads explode, she’s in trouble. Like being 16 points down in the poll. Mega-dollars from the uber-rich won’t fix that although the uber-rich are tying their best to buy this election.

If the Dems can make this election about democratic government vs. plutocracy (and it’s very much about that in this first post Citizens United v. FEC), then they would win back the independent voters. Nobody in their right mind wants to turn this country over to “Mr. Burns.”
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/2010/09/beck-frames-voters-choice-as-progress.html