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O’Donnell Defends A Pundit’s Right To Cry (And Cites Mediaite’s Frances Martel)

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by Frances Martel | 10:31 pm, April 11th, 2011

» 51 comments

Lawrence O’Donnell‘s final “Rewrite” segment on his program is usually about correcting other media personalities that offend him. But tonight, O’Donnell took to rewriting himself a segment before. On Friday, O’Donnell choked up toward the end of his reading of an email from an underprivileged woman who is dependent on Planned Parenthood. Tonight, he labeled his display a “failure” and, in admitting that even he would have balked at his performance, redefined the unique genre of melodrama that is cable news as something few conceive of it as: an artform.

O’Donnell began the segment with a clip from the teariest man in cable news– Glenn Beck– mocking O’Donnell for choking up over a letter from a woman who is dependent on Planned Parenthood. The irony of Glenn Beck laughing at someone else for crying on television so blatant, and given O’Donnell’s previous flirtations with ad hominem attacks (think calling Bill O’Reilly a “faux Irish tough guy“), the “takes one to know one” approach seemed inevitable. Except O’Donnell refused to toe that lie. Quite the contrary: he established that he had, repeatedly, publicly supported emotional displays should they be honest. “Glenn Beck has cried quite a lot on his show and I never criticized him for it,” O’Donnell noted, later playing a clip of him defending Speaker John Boehner for crying when accepting the top job in the House of Representatives.

But O’Donnell didn’t linger long on Beck, as he had business of his own to take care of. Free of what was becoming his signature smugness, O’Donnell proceeded to take a look at how his segment had been received. I had some fairly harsh words for O’Donnell on Saturday, a few of which he read on air and, in a jaw-dropping display of self-awareness, agreed with. “That is exactly what I would have thought if I had watched someone else do what I did on Friday night,” he admitted, explaining that he had worked specifically on “working the emotion out of” reading that last line and, on that front, “I failed.”

You could probably count the amount of times a cable news host has said the words “I failed” on air in the history of the medium with one hand.

O’Donnell then continued to explain that, for him, crying was not so much a problem– “for some there are places where crying is appropriate and crying is not– I am not a strict observer of that particular piece of the social compact.” Part of this, he admitted, is because “I laugh easily and I cry easily,” and that, he concluded, was part of being a writer. “I need to be overwhelmable by words,” he argued, and while he apologized previously for how his commentary turned out, he embraced this side of him because it was what made him able to convey his beliefs with any conviction. Keeping that in mind, he reminded viewers that “yes, this is a performance,” and that “I do what I can within the performance constraints of this box [the television],” but he could never fully convey who he was– nor could Beck, nor could Boehner.

His commentary introduces a completely new way of perceiving cable news media– as art. Sure, those who consume a great deal of cable news and many who are passionate enough to write about it for a living can understand it as performance art and value individual performances based on that ground of merit, independent of ideology or political impact. It is how many on the left can watch Beck or many on the right can watch O’Donnell and see talent in someone they believe to be thoroughly wrong– and it is how O’Donnell, unlike many on the left, can feel totally comfortable with Beck’s tears while ripping into his arguments. But this had yet to be articulated in such bold a manner as O’Donnell did tonight. When he says “I failed,” he means he created lackluster art that cheapened his passion, irrespective of the political significance of the thesis of that segment. And that’s quite an innovative way of turning the lemons he reaped on Friday into lemonade.

The segment via MSNBC below:

Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, John Boehner, Last Word, Lawrence O'Donnell, msnbc, Planned Parenthood

slickerwick

Other than O’Donnell, I don’t think anyone considers what he or other bloviators do is art. Why cheapen the word? What they do is infotainment. Or shilling. Or hackery. Or partisan flackery. Take your pick.

Anyone else ever notice that the eyes in his square-jawed face look cold, even soulless? There’s something ‘off’ about him, some kind of weird disconnect. And, yeah, he is a smug s.o.b.
joe7

I liked the sincerity that he showed in this segment. Still, he should at least expect some sort of criticism for listening to his bosses and attacking his competitors while being a preaching preacher himself going after others like him.
slickerwick

And what’s with msnbc’s continuing obsession with fox? He wants so badly to be mentioned by name on fox, thinking it will help his ratings, no doubt.
Dem4Ever

Yeah, but more importantly, was Frances laughing or crying while writing this tripe?
WildMan

Lawrence O’Donnell, grow the hell up and stop always coming across as the crying child in the room. You and Boehner both need to seek professional help. You two cry more than each of the 8,763 gals I have broken up with over the past 25 years. There is already too much flooding on the planet. Get a job in a soup kitchen get off the meds. No need to thank me.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

WildMan said:
Lawrence O’Donnell, grow the hell up and stop always coming across as the crying child in the room. You and Boehner both need to seek professional help. You two cry more than each of the 8,763 gals I have broken up with over the past 25 years. There is already too much flooding on the planet. Get a job in a soup kitchen get off the meds. No need to thank me.

Wildman, of those 8763 gals you dumped, how many of them slept with you TWICE?
Tribunal

If O’Reilly would have cried msnbc would have covered it 24/7. But notice how irrelevant O’Donnell is that nobody on Fox even mentioned his obviously scripted scene.
Liberal Tormentor

Larry, we laughed at you because you really think people bought your act. Don’t hold your breath for that Emmy.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ellen-Carey-Rowe/683757018 ellie

I am growing tired of these shows spending our/their time commenting on the competition. He and the rest of us would be better served if he just ignored Dreck.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ellen-Carey-Rowe/683757018 ellie

WildMan said:
You two cry more than each of the 8,763 gals I have broken up with over the past 25 years.

Just creepy. *yuck*
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ellen-Carey-Rowe/683757018 ellie

Joseph Glackin said:
Wildman, of those 8763 gals you dumped, how many of them slept with you TWICE?

Would that I could give you 10 thumbs up!
OxyCon

That segment was a real downer. I think I’m gonna cry now on behalf of all those poor, misunderstood political hack/performance artists.
Frances Martel

OxyCon said:
That segment was a real downer. I think I’m gonna cry now on behalf of all those poor, misunderstood political hack/performance artists.

Is it sad that I only know Johnny Ray as that guy from “Come on Eileen”?
OxyCon

Frances Martel said:
“Come on Eileen”

It’s sad that you ever had to listen to that horrible song. Flock of Seagulls were way more happening in 1982
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

OxyCon said:
It’s sad that you ever had to listen to that horrible song. Flock of Seagulls were way more happening in 1982

Oxy, first call,–
Show us your evidence that Obama had “666″ removed from his scalp.
Barack Must Go

The night of the performance O’Donnell introduced the writer of the E-Mail in question as a PERSONAL FRIEND OF HIS. Tonight she is merely THAT WOMAN.

I would call this new display of twisting the entire storyaround in an attempt to cover up the fact that he did not simply embellish his story. The entire thing, the E-Mail, the lumps in her breast, loss of job, no cable, his tears were and OUT & OUT MADE FOR TV LIE, and he is still lying directly to his audience by not actually stating the entire thing was A HOAX, LEFT WING BOMB THROWER POLITICAL PROPAGANDA, TYPICAL OF THE MORALLY BANKRUPT LIBERALS, TOTAL BULL_______, AN OFFENSE PUNISHABLE BY FIRING.

If he didn’t fabricate the entire story, not just the tears, produce the actual birth certificate ( dear friend ). What do you say Barack? Let’s put this whole sordid affair behind us. Do it for the sake of the ” real ” American people.
OxyCon

Joseph Glackin said:
Oxy, first call,–
Show us your evidence that Obama had “666″ removed from his scalp.

Ask and ye shall receive (and regret it =P)
WildMan

Joseph Glackin said:
Wildman, of those 8763 gals you dumped, how many of them slept with you TWICE?

Joseph, let’s keep things clean around here. Get your mind out of the gutter. lol
WildMan

ellie said:
Just creepy. *yuck*

Awwww Ellie, and here I thought you were actually pretty good on The Beverly Hillbillies. You sure had a way with them 4 legged critters. Take care sweetie…
OxyCon

OxyCon said:
Ask and ye shall receive (and regret it =P)

And if that doesn’t convince you then this will!!!!!!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

OxyCon said:
Ask and ye shall receive (and regret it =P)

BRING IT! PUT UP OR SHUT UP! ARE YOU A LIAR, OR NOT?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

WildMan said:
Joseph, let’s keep things clean around here. Get your mind out of the gutter. lol

You are full of sh#t. ANSWER THE QUESTION! You claim to have dumped 8763 women. That is pretty precise. How many did you sleep with more than once? How many once? How many kicked YOU out?

Actually, you sound like a virgin. Not a problem. I’m sure you are saving yourself for that special one.
Only a virgin or a total psychotic could pick a number like 8763. I’d like to think you are just a virgin.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

OxyCon said:
Ask and ye shall receive (and regret it =P)

YOU JUST MOVED INTO THE TINFOIL HAT CATEGORY.
Thanks, I will never respond to you again.
I can’t compete with the voices in your head.
WildMan

Joey, joey, joey……….

Kid you take things way too seriously. Maybe stop watching anything on PMSnbc after 8 in the morning will help you calm down. But, for now I think a rubber walled room and a nice custom fit canvas and leather ‘Straight Jacket’ would be just what the ‘Shrinks’ would prescribe for you. You also might want to lay off the 10-12 sodas you gulp down daily and limit yourself to just one cup of joe in the AM while you watch Morning Joe.

Take care Joey…
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

WildMan said:
Joey, joey, joey……….

Kid you take things way too seriously. Maybe stop watching anything on PMSnbc after 8 in the morning will help you calm down. But, for now I think a rubber walled room and a nice custom fit canvas and leather ‘Straight Jacket’ would be just what the ‘Shrinks’ would prescribe for you. You also might want to lay off the 10-12 sodas you gulp down daily and limit yourself to just one cup of joe in the AM while you watch Morning Joe.

Take care Joey…

Wildman, you are a LIAR!

I’ve been called that for much less than claiming 8763 women as lovers.
So, admit that you are FOS, or expect to see me popping up every time you log in.

BTW, OxyCon is going to get the same treatment
It goes around, it comes around.
And, payback is a bitch.
Look for me. I’ll be behind you.
I am not going to stalk you.
I am going to tell every person I can reach that you are a lying sack of sh#t,
Do we now understand each other?
WildMan

Joey, all I can do is laugh ‘AT’, i.e., @ U, i.e., you, little kid. I bet you think of yourself as the Elementary school playground bully, don’t cha! Us adults would simply step on you and squish squash you kid like we would a cockroach. Now go to bed. Some of us have to work. Remember now don’t pull Susie’s pigtails tomorrow or the teacher will make you sit in the corner and then not only us adults will be laughing at you but so will all the kids in your class. Nitey nite kido, don’t let the bed bugs bite.
http://www.sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com/ sarainitaly

Joseph Glackin said:
I’ve been called that for much less than claiming 8763 women as lovers.

geez buddy, ever heard of over exaggerating to make a point?

also, he never said they were lovers, he said they were gals he broke up with. so, you are the one who is lying, it seems.

you’re getting a little creeeeeepy…..
http://www.sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com/ sarainitaly

WildMan said:
Joey, all I can do is laugh

geez, what’s up with that guy? he sure doesn’t like you, does he! haha
Probably NOT wrong

I started crying because I couldn’t find the remote
control quick enough!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

sarainitaly said:
geez buddy, ever heard of over exaggerating to make a point?

also, he never said they were lovers, he said they were gals he broke up with. so, you are the one who is lying, it seems.

you’re getting a little creeeeeepy…..

Yes. I have heard of exaggerating to make a point. I have also run into baboons who challenge me because I said some coverage went on for “a week” and they could only count FIVE days That was enough to call me a liar by your compadres.
Sara, you can defend your “Wildman” friend if you wish.
I don’t know what type of woman you are. but a joker that claims 8763 “girl friends” is an @ss
Either that, or , if he had each girl for a week, and started at 16, he should now be about 61 years old.
The double standard is over, When you jokers hiding behind pseudonyms and avatars challenge or insult me, I will describe you as the cowards and hypocrites that you are.
It is not that I don’t like you SIA.,
It is that I consider you a coward and a fraud.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

WildMan said:
Joey, all I can do is laugh ‘AT’, i.e., @ U, i.e., you, little kid. I bet you think of yourself as the Elementary school playground bully, don’t cha! Us adults would simply step on you and squish squash you kid like we would a cockroach. Now go to bed. Some of us have to work. Remember now don’t pull Susie’s pigtails tomorrow or the teacher will make you sit in the corner and then not only us adults will be laughing at you but so will all the kids in your class. Nitey nite kido, don’t let the bed bugs bite.

“Little kid”? Any time, any place. In Nomine Patri. You are the one with a different girl every week for 44 years. Now THAT’S a resume to be proud of–if you are a pimp.
ChrisNH

Libs are limp-wristed, O’Donnell has now verified.

Of COURSE the person who looks like a spouse- and child-beater would label that little ‘act’ a ‘failure.’ Libs were only too happy to wag their ‘STAGECRAFT!!!’ finger at conservatives last year, and here was O’Donnell doing a ‘one-act play’ of his very own.

Of course, I and others reminded O’Donnell of this bit of blatant hypocrisy, which is why he quickly declared himself a ‘failure.’
Probably NOT wrong

Note that O’Donnell seldom appeared here until he
started attacking Beck! MSNBC hosts can get on Mediaite
by that worn out strategy, but they can’t draw viewers.
When are they going to learn?
An Idea

Joseph Glackin said:
a total psychotic

Watch out for this nut . I seen that there’s an award named for him here . The Glackin Award for Idiocy .
Seems accurate .
Probably NOT wrong

I always get the biggest kick when fools like Glackin, BFD, Skyfool, Kook,
Barf, et al, come back with their (Oh I am so offended) type remarks like they
think they are relevant to anything.
Now before the insults start, fools, I know my remarks are never relevant to anything.
I just like to push a button here and there, just to watch lefty nuts you make bigger fools of
yourselves.
Now, I have to get to work! I am a Conservative!
I have a job!
5-4-3-
Barack Must Go

Joseph Glackin said:
Wildman, you are a LIAR!

I’ve been called that for much less than claiming 8763 women as lovers.
So, admit that you are FOS, or expect to see me popping up every time you log in.

BTW, OxyCon is going to get the same treatment
It goes around, it comes around.
And, payback is a bitch.
Look for me. I’ll be behind you.
I am not going to stalk you.
I am going to tell every person I can reach that you are a lying sack of sh#t,
Do we now understand each other?

Operator: 911 what’s your emergency?
Barack Must Go

NOT ONE LIBERAL COWARD WILL RESPOND TO THE FACT THA O’ DONNELL MADE THAT WHOLE WOMAN WITH THE LUMPS IN HER BREAST STORY UP……NOT ONE.

HE SHOULD BE FIRED FOR WHAT HE’S DONE, BUT JUST LIKE WHEN OBAMA LIES DIRECTLY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND YOUR COWARDS…..YOU’LL JUST LAY LOW FOR A BIT SO YOU NEVER NEED TO CONFRONT THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR KIND.

How was that? Dramatic ( O’Donnell ) enough for you liber-ace’s?
cjd ohio 1

it was his friend remember
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Treacher/542957672 Jim Treacher

Wow. Being cited by Larry O’Donnell. What an honor.
BatBoy

“O’Donnell choked up toward the end of his reading of an email from an underprivileged woman who is dependent on Planned Parenthood.”

I have an idea, if you lib’s like Planned Parenthood so much, how about doing some fund raisers, get the uber rich liberals to contribute (which the US Congress has many) and get them off the government dole.

Dare I say that O’Reilly raised $1,000,000 + for a charity he liked…and did it by himself in a little less than 3 months.

You do that and you would not have to cry like a baby on TV (Albeit in O’Donnell’s case, I believe them to be ” Crocodile Tears!”
Penguin60

Joseph Glackin said:
Look for me. I’ll be behind you.
I am not going to stalk you.

You can’t make this shit up!
Probably NOT wrong

Penguin60 said:
You can’t make this shit up!

And he is going to tell everyone he can reach that Wildman is a lying sack
of shit! Ol Joe is going to tell an anonymous group of people that another
anonymous person that goes by Wildman on a comment board is a lying sack of shit.
Damn, Wildman, that is really going to leave a mark!
(:>o)
Penguin60

Probably NOT wrong said:
And he is going to tell everyone he can reach that Wildman is a lying sackof shit! Ol Joe is going to tell an anonymous group of people that anotheranonymous person that goes by Wildman on a comment board is a lying sack of shit.Damn, Wildman, that is really going to leave a mark!(:>o)

Internet tough guys, dime a dozen.

http://rookery.s3.amazonaws.com/1166500/1166713_ca46_625x1000.jpg
leftistvermin

What is it with libs who have the last name O’Donnell? Who has a bigger dong, Larry or Rosie?
Probably NOT wrong

leftistvermin said:
What is it with libs who have the last name O’Donnell? Who has a bigger dong, Larry or Rosie?

I am going to have to take Rosie
if I am betting!
OxyCon

Joseph Glackin said:
YOU JUST MOVED INTO THE TINFOIL HAT CATEGORY.

And you just moved into the DENSE PEOPLE WITH NO SENSE OF HUMOR WHO ANNOYINGLY USE ALL CAPS category.

Joseph Glackin said:
Thanks, I will never respond to you again.

…breaths a sigh of relief…
RyGuy

O’Donnell reminds me of a professor I had in college – Hardcore atheist, hardcore anti-Fox News, hardcore liberal. These type of people (pseudo-intellectuals) seem to be so smug because they can’t fathom how anyone who ISN’T a hardcore Liberal / Atheist can possibly be happy, successful, and admired by others.

These pseudo-intellectuals believe they are experts in the realm of social justice and are ‘too smart’ for religion, and that conservatives are primitive reactionaries. This seems to be why all of MSNBC (everyone on this channel is a pseudo-intellectual) feels they can openly attack FOX News and not admit any fault of their own when they get facts wrong or say something stupid. Olbermann, O’Donnell, and Maddow are the 3 poster boys.

Who would want to be friends with any of them in real life? They are so hateful
timcajun

Barack Must Go says:
NOT ONE LIBERAL COWARD WILL RESPOND TO THE FACT THA O’ DONNELL MADE THAT WHOLE WOMAN WITH THE LUMPS IN HER BREAST STORY UP……NOT ONE.

HE SHOULD BE FIRED FOR WHAT HE’S DONE, BUT JUST LIKE WHEN OBAMA LIES DIRECTLY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND YOUR COWARDS…..YOU’LL JUST LAY LOW FOR A BIT SO YOU NEVER NEED TO CONFRONT THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR KIND.
…………………………………………………………………….
What tea bag site did you rent this lie from? You have no clue, as to if this story “was made up”! I don’t know it was true or not, and you don’t know anymore than that! What kind of a clown could be serious about firing O’Donnell off a tea lie, when the Tea Party Network does far, far worse every single day! I’ve got your double standard award ready!
Keep the hate alive!
CAconservative

O’Donnell choked up? Why the hell would anyone choke up over this little bit of nonsense? What would make a person who isn’t directly affected by abortion, choke up….unless…..OMG!!!!
StewartIII

ChickaBOOMer| Lawrence O’Donnell: Jerk In The Box
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2011/04/lawrence-odonnell-jerk-in-box.html
WildMan

sarainitaly said:
geez, what’s up with that guy? he sure doesn’t like you, does he! haha

I think he is just some kid who was using his mom’s computer while she was at the store buying groceries to keep the kid fed. He takes a tongue-in-cheek exaggeration and goes bonkers. Anger management classes for him are needed here.