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Lawrence O’Donnell Reviews What Sacha Baron Cohen Can Tell Us About Newt Gingrich And Ron Paul

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Tonight, Lawrence O’Donnell dedicated a segment to correcting Newt Gingrich‘s misconceptions. Not a surprising development, except for the fact that the misconception in dispute was that Gingrich considered his commercial with Rep. Nancy Pelosi the most foolish thing he had done in recent years. O’Donnell disagreed, turning to another video encounter in Gingrich’s past: his interview with Sacha Baron Cohen character Ali G.

RELATED: Trailer For Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator, In Which He Plays A Gaddafi-Like Ruler, Looks Amazing

O’Donnell did not keep his analysis exclusive to Gingrich, also playing the clip of Baron Cohen embarrassing a very outraged Rep. Ron Paul by propositioning him for sex in his hotel room as the gay Austrian TV maven Brüno. Both clips are definitely worth watching (and re-watching!)– for those who have forgotten (or weren’t following the brilliant Da Ali G Show when it was still on HBO), the full Gingrich encounter is below:


For O’Donnell, the most ridiculous thing about the Gingrich interview was the fact that Gingrich “never figured out that the whole thing was a joke,” while he noted– with Richard Wolff in tow– that the Rep. Paul tape showed something sinister about the Congressman that wasn’t particularly overt in his campaign– that he was, as one former staffer noted, “personally uncomfortable around homosexuals.” Wolff found the anecdote told by that former staffer that Rep. Paul wouldn’t use a bathroom at a home where two gay men lived “pathetic,” and the fact that what bothered Rep. Paul was that Brüno was “queer” to be the problematic bit of that prank.

Back to Gingrich, O’Donnell noted that “I love that someone spun him ‘you should talk to this guy because he’s big in England,” which Wolff added that was due to a quality not unique to Gingrich “a truckload of politicians are so desperate to be on TV that they will put up with this nonsense.”

The segment via MSNBC below:

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  • Gloves P. Donahue

    Who is this Lawrence O’ Donnell? Is he the warden on Lockup, on merely one of the screws?

  • Anonymous

    I have actually been wondering which one of these poo flinging monkeys that he has been playing. My money was always on pulling off the Herman Cain mask and seeing Cohen.

  • http://www.facebook.com/guy.c.van.natta Guy C. Van Natta

    What bothered Ron Paul was that Cohen was coming on to him.  He was stripping and dancing in front of him, and it was supposed to be an interview.  That should make anyone uncomfortable.  At least he had restraint enough not to punch him in the face like he deserved.

  • Anonymous

    ……….yawn.

  • Anonymous

    O’Donnell is by far one of the best and classiest News Journalists in the media right now…far better than those rich racist bigots at faux noise!!

  • http://twitter.com/kabmn00 kevin

    BRING BACK LOCK UP, every night.  Better ratings.

  • shonangreg

    Neither interview really shows much to be embarrassed about for Gingrich or Paul. What happened to Paul in particular was disgraceful, and Paul could have handled it much worse than he did. If Ron Paul is personally uncomfortable with homosexuals, but he can separate his personal feelings from the office he is holding, then there is little blameworthy in that.

    I like O’Donnell sometimes, but in this case, in my opinion, he is just filling air time with fluff.

  • us995

    I don’t know  he is probably someone’s escaped mental patient

  • AMP2020

    Funny piece but O’Donnell is really reaching saying the Newt clip shows anything. It’s really nothing.

    Paul on the other hand… “Oops.” AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA followed by bigoted rant.

  • Hout Bosques

    Uh … how about refraining from violence and actually LAUGHING at the guy. 

    You don’t need to know that this is Sacha Baron Cohen & that this is what he DOES, all the time; all you have to do is get out of your own self-absorbed bubble & realize you’re being put on. This is how Cohen works: he goes after the self-absorbed, the self-important, the folks in the bubble, the PRETENTIOUS. They’re his straight men, his set ups; without their egotistic pretentions, Cohen could never pull off this sort of thing.  

    But NB – note well: this is always Republicans & Wingers who get taken in by this sort of thing. There’s a reason for that.

  • us995

    his bad ratings proof it he’s a poor liberal millionare elite failure

  • Anonymous

    I love that Newt interview.  It’s like a crank call turned up to eleven.

  • http://www.facebook.com/guy.c.van.natta Guy C. Van Natta

    Who is being violent?  I was saying it was good it didn’t end in that.  I’m aware of what Cohen does.  I’ve seen Borat so I’m familiar from that film.  Ron Paul was probably chosen because he is a serious person, but he doesn’t come across as pretentious.  I”m not saying that it is not funny; I’m just saying since Paul didn’t know it was a gag, I don’t fault him for being uncomfortable when being sexually harrased by someone he thought was there to interview him.

  • john smith III

    What about a failure at being “elite”?-
    Ratings don’t necessarily equate to success. R.Hudson Limbaugh III (Rush as some know him) certainly has unsurpassed ratings, but in an “elite” family with the accomplishments of Limbaugh’s (Federal + State Supreme Court Judges,attorneys,legislators, state bar president, foreign diplomat, etc) being a prevaricator with a microphone seems like a bit of a smirch on their family tree. Not to mention the proven drug offender/addict status that Rush the Third carries with his “success”.

  • Anonymous

    Exactly! Almost EVERYONE would react in this or a similar way. You may be tolerant as much as you want but when the guy come on to you, the best you can do is to avoid the whole situation — which is what Ron Paul actually did.

    I also though Gingrich handled the interview very well. The finale-fist-bump was kinda cool.

  • huffnnoccupyn

    You’re saying it was good that it didn’t end in violence, and also saying that the situation deserved violence.

    Now do you understand why we can’t take you seriously at all?

  • Anonymous

    I love that interview on so many levels. As a conservative whose first choice isn’t Newt, I love the fact that he completely keeps his cool and answers the questions thoroughly. I have no idea if he caught on or not (my gut tells me he had some inkling but didn’t show it), but I loved his answers to each question. Plus, it was funny. Need more people like SBC to try and peel back the hidden layers of candidates.

    While I am hoping for another nominee I also feel comfort in knowing that his cool, calm yet piercing answers will be amazing when put up against Pres. Obama.

  • http://www.facebook.com/guy.c.van.natta Guy C. Van Natta

    I wouldn’t have faulted him if he did hit him, and neither would most people because it is an understandable reaction.  It is better, though, that he didn’t .  What was deserved and what was wise are two different things.  

  • http://twitter.com/BusyDay2day Father Time

    I disagree with Lawrence here, who is someone I typically agree with.  I thought Newt handled Sacha perfectly and Newt is someone who I tend to disagree with.  Big up, Newt. 

  • Anonymous

    Ali G and Bruno our new media barometers.Wow, just Wow!

  • Anonymous

    Here’s a question. If BHO is such a great President, why do you shill for him night after night? I think I know the answer but I don’t think you can fool enough people this time Larry!

  • Anonymous

    Crazy Larry needs Sacha?  As if that uptoght phony crazy Larry ever watched that show!

  • Anonymous

    tight azz upiddy snot has no clue how the real world works.  He is an elitist 1%er  LIB phony.

  • Anonymous

    you suck his pee pee is that what ya say

  • Anonymous

    get back on barney frank

  • Anonymous

    say you

  • Anonymous

    Those who have never suffered pain that is so intense that it destroys your way of thinking, pain that is so non-ceasing and killing, that you
     would do anything and everything in your power to stop it. 

    These name-callers would never understand that to relieve that pain one would do anything and everything in their power to stop it, because they were lucky enough never to experience it.

    Those righteous sons-of-bitches who called Rush Limbaugh a drug addict, I hope that in the very near future you will experience similar pain. Of course, if and when you do, you will run to your tax-payer funded health care provider to ease your misery.

    If you had the brains and courage of Rush Limbaugh, you would have the means of not being stupid.

  • Anonymous

    Good ratings signify quality.  Good to know.  So then the show Full House, due to the fact that it had very high ratings for many years, was a quality show.  America’s Funniest Videos must have been a quality show as well.
    I see.

  • Anonymous

    Lawrence O’Donnel is the inevitable future resident of Lockup.

  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    More proof Republicans have no sense of humor!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Edwards/588445226 David Edwards

    Its kind of Ironic that I yesterday I saw that video for the first time randomly on youtube. I spend most my time on youtube

  • Pit Boss

    Rush Limbaugh said all illegal drug users should be in jail. That was before he was exposed as one himself, of course.

  • Anonymous

    “Bruno” should have told Paul that he was from the Austrian School of Economics.
    Paul freaked out because his staff allowed him to be in the same room as a Jew.

  • Anonymous

    Well, Rush is a success compared with his retarded brother, David.

  • Anonymous

    You want to make $82 hourly and $7800 per month like me just working on laptop for few hours? Would you like to be your own boss? Opportunities like this don’t come by often. Don’t let this one pass you by! Here is the website (=====CashHard.cÒm=====)

  • Anonymous

    COMCAST/MSNBC Mgt  can REVIEW shit like this and NOT understand why they
    continue to get their LEAN FORWARD asses kicked 24/7/365???
    It is amazing to me that the current Management is still employed. That is some pathetic shit, right there!!!!

  • Holistic

    Poor LOD, he’s such a deep thinker!!

  • huffnnoccupyn

    What was deserved was exactly what happened. Physical retaliation would have been unwise AND undeserved, however, in this case it would have been forgiven.

    That is what I hope you mean to say: not that violence was deserved, but that it would have been forgiven. Otherwise, you really need help.

  • http://www.facebook.com/bruce.kennedy3 Bruce Kennedy

    I think the proper response is “Ho Hum”.

  • Anonymous

    I suffer from chronic pain myself and if your smart you get a doctor that specializes in treating such a problem.  You don’t obtain narcotics from a third party and you don’t keep increasing the amounts without medical help.  Mr Limbaugh is very lucky he did’nt kill himself.  Certainly, he did’nt help himself by using doses of oxycontin so high that he damaged his hearing and required a cochlear implant.

    I know uninformed people frequently judge others unfairly.  Does Mr Limbaugh ever speak out about chronic pain?  I don’t listen to his show.  He’s in a position to educate others, as Stephan King did after being severely injured and left in severe pain.

    To wish such pain on anyone is something I can’t do.  More so, if you personally have known it yourself.  Too terrible, to wish such suffering on others.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DNMVQZCXFQTDIGILG354Q727YY Roma Victor

    Or simply

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DNMVQZCXFQTDIGILG354Q727YY Roma Victor

    flagged

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

    What can O’Donnell tell us about baking potatoes using peat?

  • Anonymous

    A little better way to understand how the US congress and the Obama government is managing our money…..

    This rather brilliantly cuts thru all the political doublespeak we have become accustomed to hearing.  It puts it into a much better perspective….Why the U.S. was downgraded by Standard & Poor:

    U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000*
    Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000*
    New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000*
    National debt: $14,271,000,000,000*
    Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

    Let’s now remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

    Annual family income: $21,700*
    Money the family spent: $38,200*
    Difference – New debt on the credit card: $16,500*
    Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710*
    Total budget cuts: $385

    Got It ?

    OK now Lesson # 2:

    Here’s another way to look at the Debt Ceiling:
    Let’s say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood….and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.What do you think you should do ……Raise the ceilings, or pump out the shit?

    Your choice is coming Nov. 2012

     

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PKEQSTA4WOBYU5Z7QNSBUR2LXI MASSMURDERMEDIA

    dems would be as clueless in this situation…  out of touch career political hacks are so seduced by the power of tv there’s still no shortage of them that thinks it’s a good idea to appear on “the daily show” or “the colbert report”…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PKEQSTA4WOBYU5Z7QNSBUR2LXI MASSMURDERMEDIA

    this one of the few things that msnbc has shown that is quite constructive in evaluating the judgement, or lack thereof, of these clowns…

  • Anonymous

    Why take the time to time to even post that response. I don’t care if you agree with me or not, but just post a response with some meat to it.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_45S32GWGDRUJIL6E2U4HOZW4BM Bob

    I guess you missed FOX’s 24/7 shilling for all things Boosh and Cheney.

  • Anonymous

    You may like my video about Newt’s three marriages at
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQSsMRe6BJE
    There are chickens in it. Everybody loves chickens!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZDKNOV3L7OOK43ZO63QBUY3PQE Kevin

    actually cohen has taken feminists for similar (and equally unfunny) rides

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