Maddow: Compared To Modern Conservatives, Both Obama And Bush Are Liberals

video

by Frances Martel | 6:18 pm, February 12th, 2011

» 49 comments

Rachel Maddow found herself arguing something she appeared to be surprised to find herself saying: George W. Bush, agreeing with Barack Obama, was correct– at least compared to Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. Maddow argued that the American right, now that the Republicans were weak, was working on shifting the political spectrum right and have succeeded so efficiently that now the two presidents are essentially the same dot on the spectrum.

“The conservative movement tends to pull the Republican Party to the right constantly. Over time they are always pulling further right,” she explained on her program on Friday, and argued that this affects both the right the center. “The right is sprinting rightwards so fast,” she concluded, “that Obama and Bush stand together.” She then played clips of the two presidents both arguing that democracy is not culturally dependent, and that any nation in the world could support it if it chose to. Then she played a Fox News compilation of conservatives arguing the opposite, prominently starring Beck and Hannity, and noting that “the American right is way off the charts on the other side.”

Beck, of course, received the most blows of the segment– particularly for discussing the new world order that could potentially arise from a new Muslim caliphate and an increasing strong China in what sounded more like a Risk game than a real-world possibility. The irony, of course, is that the theory she is proposing– that a political window is being shifted by a fringe element such that extremism becomes centrism– is called the “Overton Window,” and was popularized by Glenn Beck.

The segment via MSNBC below:

barack obama, conservatives, Egypt, George W. Bush, Glenn Beck, msnbc, Rachel Maddow

http://www.zazzle.com/talkingpoints NORBIT Jr.

The irony, of course, is that the theory she is proposing– that a political window is being shifted by a fringe element such that extremism becomes centrism– is called the “Overton Window,” and was popularized by Glenn Beck. – Frances Martel

——————————————–

Imitation still remains the highest form of flattery.

Didn’t know you were a fan, Rachel.
lol
espo222

I’m willing too bet that within 5 years, “she” will be the host of The Soup, on comedy central, or whatever channel that show is on.
TfT

well, knock me over with a feather – another story about how MSNBC talks about FNC. Oh dear, what will we do?
Lee Harvey

Republicans fear Maddow. Check that. Republicans fear everything.
Drew

the Republicans need to get back to their conservative roots, that’s why the Tea Parties are there for.
I can’t say that Bush and Obama are the same but what she did get right is that Bush has moved left for big government, what kind of left is anyone’s guess. How ever by comparing Barrack Obama and George. W. Bush with Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity is completely way off. Glenn Beck is more of a Libertarian who believe in smaller government and will put his money where his mouth is. Sean Hannity how ever will try to support the Republicans no matter what. Glenn Beck was attacked by both republicans and democrats. Sean Hannity was just attacked by democrats. both parties tried to ridicule Glenn Beck and only the left tried to ridicule Sean Hannity. Glenn Beck is willing to cross party lines but Sean Hannity won’t cross the Republican line. what the two men believe, some of them they share in common, and some of them they don’t agree with each other. the fringe you are going to get is from the anarchists who don’t believe in any government, then you get reactionaries who will react to change in a negative way. most of America is center-right, we are for moving foreword but we cannot let government dictate our lives and grow bigger while giving us a phantom constitution that dose not exist while destroying the real constitution. What Rachel did get right is the Overton Window Theory plays a very critical role in shifting people’s perspective of things of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. the window is shifting left more and more and people are realizing it. how ever she is a little too late to catch up on this. I knew about this since Glenn mentioned it two years ago
Harry Flashman

It would be very easy to fall into the same tar pit that the left has fallen into with Palin when it comes to Maddow and jump to the conclusion that she’s, um, stupid.

The left started with the oh-look-how-stupid-Palin-is meme almost immediately, basing their sweeping opinion on a Couric interview and a Tina Fey skit. And now they’re stuck with it. They’d have to back pedal hard if they wanted to admit that she’s an accomplished and intelligent woman. Whch she is but they’re stuck in that tar pit now. They can’t get out.

Which brings me to Maddow. There is no way this woman is stupid. She is a Rhodes scholar with degrees from Stanford and Oxford, for pete’s sake. I should be so accomplished. So, here’s the tar pit part.

She says really, really stupid things. Over and over again she lets ideology replace what has to be a keen intelligence and pops the clutch on her mouth before her brain is in gear. Its the only explanation I can think of to cover idiotic staements like she makes in this article.

I’ve even said that I thought she was bright and clever but not all that smart. So…before I sink into the tar pit of look-how-stupid-Rachel-Maddow-is let me back up. She’s not stupid. She can’t be.

Can she?

Somebody help me out here.
im_lovin_it

I usually hate the “look what those JERKS at FOX did today!” segment of MSNBC, but this time I think a larger point is being made by Rachel. I remember when the narrative was that liberals were just pie in the sky, tweed wearing granola types who had bad policies that created a welfare society. Guys like Buckley, Krauthammer, Will, and a little sprinkle of Rush were the people at the front. Now, progressive beliefs are a, “sickness” held by those who hate America. What happened?
im_lovin_it

Harry Flashman said:
It would be very easy to fall into the same tar pit that the left has fallen into with Palin when it comes to Maddow and jump to the conclusion that she’s, um, stupid.

The left started with the oh-look-how-stupid-Palin-is meme almost immediately, basing their sweeping opinion on a Couric interview and a Tina Fey skit. And now they’re stuck with it. They’d have to back pedal hard if they wanted to admit that she’s an accomplished and intelligent woman. Whch she is but they’re stuck in that tar pit now. They can’t get out.

Which brings me to Maddow. There is no way this woman is stupid. She is a Rhodes scholar with degrees from Stanford and Oxford, for pete’s sake. I should be so accomplished. So, here’s the tar pit part.

She says really, really stupid things. Over and over again she lets ideology replace what has to be a keen intelligence and pops the clutch on her mouth before her brain is in gear. Its the only explanation I can think of to cover idiotic staements like she makes in this article.

I’ve even said that I thought she was bright and clever but not all that smart. So…before I sink into the tar pit of look-how-stupid-Rachel-Maddow-is let me back up. She’s not stupid. She can’t be.

Can she?

Somebody help me out here.

She’s not. In another post I was lamenting how this whole trip to MSNBC was unfortunate because she has to change the way she works. She can’t do a thoughtful, nuanced, piece on a certain policy, issue, or public figure. Now, since she’s a talking head on a network that is trying to gain viewers by going after Fox, she has to try and “score points” just like Schultz, Olberman, Mathews, and Cenk. She needs to work for PBS or This American Life, not putting herself in the goofy pro-wrestling match that’s 24-Hour network news.
notsofast

And? Compared to today’s libs, JFK and Clinton were conservatives.
notsofast

NORBIT Jr. said:
The irony, of course, is that the theory she is proposing– that a political window is being shifted by a fringe element such that extremism becomes centrism– is called the “Overton Window,” and was popularized by Glenn Beck. – Frances Martel

It’s also called “Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline”
Jackyboy

You know for smart Maddow is supposed to be she sure does act stupid a lot. We all know Bush was a Neoconservative (a progressive Republican) and Obama is a progressive Democrat. There were always the same, you don’t have to compare them to anyone, only difference is one has a D and one has an R, but how come Maddow of all people did not know to look further than that?

Oh right, it doesn’t fit into her narrative so what’s a couple half truths?
Pablo

Rachel is talking about Beck again? Duh. MSLSD in not a news network, it is a network about news networks.

Meanwhile, I wonder if Rachel will address this, from Jake Tapper.

As we discussed earlier today, President Bush in his final budget proposed spending $45 million on Egyptian pro-democracy and civil society programs in Egypt.

As covered at length by the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler, for fiscal year 2009, the Obama administration “immediately halved the money for democracy promotion in Egypt; the civil society funds were slashed 70 percent, to $7 million.”

Says Windsor: “The attitude of Obama administration toward the pro-democracy movement was to put them at arm’s length, and make sure that US interaction with the pro-democracy movement did not in any way ruffle the feathers of a dictatorial regime.”

It was part of a different approach President Obama took to US-Egypt relations, which had deteriorated under Bush in part because of his administration’s push for Egypt to begin the process of reform.

This. Never. Happened. amirite?
Yoda002

notsofast said:
And? Compared to today’s libs, JFK and Clinton were conservatives.

Ike was against being in the bed with dictatorships. Today’s right wing would think Ike was a liberal.
david r

I hope somebody saves this tape. It will be funny to watch when Hamas runs Egypt and shuts down the Suez Canal. I wonder if Barry will be ‘celebrating their freedom’ then.
cjd ohio 1

Yoda002 said:
Ike was against being in the bed with dictatorships. Today’s right wing would think Ike was a liberal.

re-read history about dictators
Pablo

Beck, of course, received the most blows of the segment– particularly for discussing the new world order that could potentially arise from a new Muslim caliphate and an increasing strong China in what sounded more like a Risk game than a real-world possibility.

Who would have predicted everything we see today a year ago? Tunesia? Who saw that coming? Clearly, it wasn’t James Clapper. How’s that going?

The irony, of course, is that the theory she is proposing– that a political window is being shifted by a fringe element such that extremism becomes centrism– is called the “Overton Window,” and was popularized by Glenn Beck.

Indeed he did. Hit the NYT bestseller list with that too, IIRC.
Pablo

Yoda002 said:
Ike was against being in the bed with dictatorships. Today’s right wing would think Ike was a liberal.

Like that crazy right winger Barack Obama?
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

Who would have thought the people that said we went to war to “create democracy” in the region, are now some of the same people siding with the former Egyptian President, against democracy

What it comes down to is Republicans would rather have a dictatorship than a left-leaning government. Pretty scary if you ask me.

Or maybe the dumbest Republicans think they are making a clever point when they say that the protestors are lefty and should be squashed. It’s just depressing, if only your parents could see your demented thought process, you’re just a bunch of spoiled little babies that are afraid of change.
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

Pablo said:
Like that crazy right winger Barack Obama?

Pablo strikes out again.
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

david r said:
I hope somebody saves this tape. It will be funny to watch when Hamas runs Egypt and shuts down the Suez Canal. I wonder if Barry will be ‘celebrating their freedom’ then.

I bet you could handle it much better, lol.
im_lovin_it

Pablo said:
Rachel is talking about Beck again? Duh. MSLSD in not a news network, it is a network about news networks.

Meanwhile, I wonder if Rachel will address this, from Jake Tapper.

This. Never. Happened. amirite?

Just to quickly show you that MSNBC is certainly not on the Obama payroll….

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/maddow-and-olbermann-slam-obamas-tax-cut-compromise-video.php

Maddow has said in the past that Obama “underwhelms” and is really pretty centrist. All MSNBC wants is ratings. Same as Fox. The only reason either network has an agenda is because their viewers want it. They’ll say what they think viewers want to hear.
Pablo

Snowspot said:
What it comes down to is Republicans would rather have a dictatorship than a left-leaning government. Pretty scary if you ask me.

It would be, if you were right about that. You’re not.
Pablo

im_lovin_it said:
Just to quickly show you that MSNBC is certainly not on the Obama payroll….

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/maddow-and-olbermann-slam-obamas-tax-cut-compromise-video.php

Maddow has said in the past that Obama “underwhelms” and is really pretty centrist. All MSNBC wants is ratings. Same as Fox. The only reason either network has an agenda is because their viewers want it. They’ll say what they think viewers want to hear.

im_lovin_it, did I ever tell you about my avatar? It’s crop from and homage to this internet classic. You’re why I picked it. :)
im_lovin_it

Pablo said:
im_lovin_it, did I ever tell you about my avatar? It’s crop from and homage to this internet classic. You’re why I picked it. :)

Ha, I don’t see what Oolong has to do with it. I’m just trying to prove that although MSNBC’s coverage of Obama is certainly a little more flattering than Fox’s, they are still capable of breaking from the party line on occasion. As is Fox News from the GOP.
Pablo

im_lovin_it said:
Ha, I don’t see what Oolong has to do with it. I’m just trying to prove that although MSNBC’s coverage of Obama is certainly a little more flattering than Fox’s, they are still capable of breaking from the party line on occasion. As is Fox News from the GOP.

Right now, on Fox, Mike Huckabee is interviewing Russell Simmons. They’re agreeing on all sorts of things. Can you imagine?

Props for name checking Oolong, though. :)
bobmoses

Rachel Maddow demonizing conservatives? Why is this news?
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

bobmoses said:
Rachel Maddow demonizing conservatives? Why is this news?

Not demonizing at all, unless you consider showing one’s actions as demonizing.

Afraid to look at the truth? What a surprise.
Who is Salacious Crumb

im_lovin_it said:
All MSNBC wants is ratings. Same as Fox. The only reason either network has an agenda is because their viewers want it. They’ll say what they think viewers want to hear.

There it is.
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

Who is Salacious Crumb said:
There it is.

HA, that will be looked back on as one of the biggest lies of our generation.

MSNBC = logic
FOXNEWS = Crazy loud people

SORRY.
Who is Salacious Crumb

Snowspot said:
HA, that will be looked back on as one of the biggest lies of our generation.

A statement saying that two television networks crave ratings . . .

. . . will be looked back on as one of the biggest lies of our generation?

I’m sorry too.
http://www.snowspot.net Snowspot

Who is Salacious Crumb said:
A statement saying that two television networks crave ratings . . .

. . . will be looked back on as one of the biggest lies of our generation?

I’m sorry too.

Are you trying to make some sort of point?
Who is Salacious Crumb

Snowspot said:
Are you trying to make some sort of point?

*shrugs shoulders and thinks about all the reasons Americans come back from the desert in pine boxes*
felixw

And compared to Rachel Maddow, every sensible person seems like a conservative.
Alz

Snowspot said:
HA, that will be looked back on as one of the biggest lies of our generation.

MSNBC = logic
FOXNEWS = Crazy loud people

SORRY.

MSNBC is the most trusted network, but by the fewest people. Sorry.
OxyCon

Harry Flashman said:

I’ve even said that I thought she was bright and clever but not all that smart. So…before I sink into the tar pit of look-how-stupid-Rachel-Maddow-is let me back up. She’s not stupid. She can’t be.

Can she?

Somebody help me out here.

No, she isn’t stupid, but she knows most of her audience is. All she is doing is pushing her agenda, while repeatedly stating known falsehoods and omitting every inconvenient fact which would render her arguments baseless.

Like most Leftists, she’s guilty of everything she accuses her political opponents of doing. All the money spent on her fancy education was money totally wasted, since she hasn’t put it to any good use and is nothing but a Leftist propagandist on the lowest rated “news” channel which no one has any respect for.

Think about it. She’s regularly destroyed in the ratings by people with zero to little college education, from the country’s most popular and most trusted news channel. I’m talking about Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

Yeah, a Rhodes Scholar in the same business as those two…and failing at it.
bobmoses

“Afraid to look at the truth? What a surprise.”

Of course we all know that liberals consider their random thoughts and fantasies to be the truth. You forgot to shout “truth” in caps like a good mindless partisan. LOL
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Westover/1496648721 Tony Westover

Holy crap! Rachel Maddow might actually get it! Well, no she really doesn’t, that’d be too much to ask.

But, she does realize that Bush is to the left of modern conservatism. She just doesn’t understand why: George W. Bush is a PROGRESSIVE. Bush created the largest unfunded entitlement in American history. What more proof do you need? He was also responsible for global warming legislation (which has been widely exposed as the hoax that it is) and created the ethanol subsidies which have driven up food prices.
bobmoses

“MSNBC = logic
FOXNEWS = Crazy loud people”

Tough to argue with that cogent argument. Another liberal who speaks “the TRUTH”. We know it is true because a liberal says it is.
writer

It never seems to occur to Rachel that it’s also possible to be extremely far to the left.
Pablo

writer said:
It never seems to occur to Rachel that it’s also possible to be extremely far to the left.

She keeps looking to her left but she doesn’t see anything over there.
writer

Chairman Mao, RRK, and a couple of others. That’s about it.
notsofast

Yoda002 said:
Ike was against being in the bed with dictatorships. Today’s right wing would think Ike was a liberal.

Wrong, son.

You libs are redefining yourselves because you got whipped in 2010!
notsofast

writer said:
Chairman Mao, RRK, and a couple of others. That’s about it.

No- they have been redefined as ‘centrists”, as have been RFK, TMK, and Castro.
Mr B

I’m framing this.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/11/133659238/egypt-shows-george-w-bush-was-right

But, seriously though. With the Pigford scandal heating up, I think the question will be not whether Obama is like Bush, but whether Obama ends up resigning like Nixon or impeached like Clinton.
http://www.libertarianism.com/ Jack Burns

Maddow: Compared To Modern Conservatives, Both Obama And Bush Are Liberals

Compared to the rest of the world Maddow seems to be stuck with the same old worn out mantra, that people in her clique are pure and all knowing.

Look Rachel, you are on the way out. Get it? You have successfully made yourself irrelevant…
http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

Lee Harvey said:
Republicans fear Maddow. Check that. Republicans fear everything.

Hey Oswald, try a new name.
http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

Snowspot said:
little babies that are afraid of change.

You should change your name to WETSPOT.
Georgia999

This is crazy…it seems the only way we can agree whether one is a conservative, left, extreme left, right, extreme right, centrist, upside-down or in-between is to site TV personalities. If you watch Hannity you are Very Conservative, if you watch Maddow and ascribe to Michael Moore you are Extreme Left. If you watch Beck you are a Libertarian, if you watch O’Reilly you are (I guess) a Centrist.
I believe what I believe, I don’t need any celebrity/talking head translating for me what I hear, see & read on TV, Internet & radio. This is what the likes of Maddow are espousing….maybe if we got rid of all the “labels” we could see the facts a little more clearly.
http://www.libertarianism.com/ Jack Burns

Georgia999 said:
This is crazy…it seems the only way we can agree whether one is a conservative, left, extreme left, right, extreme right, centrist, upside-down or in-between is to site TV personalities. If you watch Hannity you are Very Conservative, if you watch Maddow and ascribe to Michael Moore you are Extreme Left. If you watch Beck you are a Libertarian, if you watch O’Reilly you are (I guess) a Centrist.
I believe what I believe, I don’t need any celebrity/talking head translating for me what I hear, see & read on TV, Internet & radio. This is what the likes of Maddow are espousing….maybe if we got rid of all the “labels” we could see the facts a little more clearly.

So I guess your all for the No Labels Party….