The Last Word weighed the perennial political question: which is more elitist — windsurfing or dancing horses?
It all started with FOX News conservative Charles Krauthammer, who took swipes at Mitt Romney for committing the political sin of sending his very expensive horse to the London Olympics. But one thing he thinks is still more elitist? John Kerry windsurfing.
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell dissected the folly in that logic in the latest Rewrite.
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Hey, at least a horse produces manure, a very usefull substance. There isn't anything usefull in wind surfing. And Kerry better not be doing any of that off the Cape beaches this summer, as there are Great Whites rampaging there, chasing kayakers and nailing surfers, one hit and slashed badly by one of those Return of "Jaws" just Sunday.
Re: the "snobby" comment about the French language. Languages cannot be "snobby". Like American English, French is the ongoing product of the movements and the history of its people. It is spoken in the Paris suburbs, on the docks of Marseille, on the high plateau of the Auvergne, on the coasts of Normandy, as well as in Canada, West Africa, the Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, even in Vermont, Maine, Louisiana and New York City. Languages aren't "snobby" Only political and cultural stereotypes call them such.
I don't think speaking French is snobby, but I can tell you Mitt's accent is bad enough to cause an international incident all by itself.
And I had a bit of insomnia this a.m. and watched Dan Senor appear on Scarborough. He's the former Bush and now Romney foreign policy adviser, and he was almost "gleeful" the way he described 15-year old Palestinian kids strapping on suicide vests, murdering Israelis, and "getting streets named after themselves in Gaza."
That's the kind of tin-eared folks that make up the Romney camp...
It's the snobbery of the liberals like Little Lying Larry that mock the French term for dressage show riding for its Frenchness with overemphasis and tortured pronounciation, delivered with is usual melodramatic hesitation and eyebrow raisings and smirk!
Snobbery is a young man who marches and carries signs in favor of the Vietnam War, but when it comes time for him to serve he dodges the draft by peddling his religion door to door in France. It is easy to support a war in which you sacrifice nothing.
When asked why his sons have not served in the Military, Romney's response is they serve their country by helping me run for President. - Really - that is a family who has a sense of entitlement and that is snobbery.
Windsurfing is more hoity toity? I didn't even know what dressage was until this campaign! While I don't agree with Lawrence saying that dressage is more elitist because it's a French word, you have to admit that dressage is definitely not a sport that any regular American making 50K can pick up.
Tell that to the families of all the teenage girls and their mothers that ride show horses, mostly on the Eastern seaboard, Summer Splash.
Just a side note; O'Donnell beat Maddow in this month's ratings. Whoo-hoo! O'Donnell is at about 990,000 nightly viewers and Maddow is at about 930,000.
To be more exact ... 967,000 average nightly viewers for O'Donnell ... 936,000 for Doctor Maddow ...a Democrat takes the lead at MSNBC.
Just to toss in a bit of objectivity, Maddow was on vacation a big chunk of the month...
When one of them answers an e-mail from me the way Chris Matthews has done repeatedly, I might broaden my allegiances... Totally subjective stuff, however, but I do wish the hell Chris would pick a fill-in besides Smerconish (and I've told him so).
On that note, the work Michael Eric Dyson has done as a "relief pitcher" has been Mariano Rivera quality, both for Martin Bashir and Ed Shultz...
Smerc' used tuh' be in the GOP, now he says he's an independent. Scheesch! MSNBC ain't liberal by any means. I agree about Dyson, he's doing well.
Olympic coverage ate into Maddows numbers, and her vacation too, fool.
She had the same numbers last month.
If I show the Quinnipiac poll numbers that have Obama up by six in Florida and Ohio and 11 in Pennsylvania will the used politician salesmen take a few weeks off and quit hassling Lawrence?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/us/politics/polls-give-obama-edge-in-pennsylvania-ohio-and-florida.html?_r=2&hp
Quinnipiac is a respected poll although its a small liberal arts college in Connecticut, really Democrat country and leaning far left. They poll registered voters, not likely voters, as does, say Rasmussen poll.
Pennsylvania went for a Republican clean sweep in 2010, with a new Republican Governor, a new Senator to repace the red-coat that turned Democrat sympathizer, and 5 new Republican Congressmen and control of the Legislature, Cab Driver. Ohio?...similar result, new Republican Governor, new Republican Senator, more Republican Congressmen. Florida: New Republican Governor, new Republican Senator, and more Republican Congressmen and control of the state's legislature.
The 2010 Tea Party revolt was felt in the Swing States..add Michigan and Wisconsin now counted as Swing States that used to be consider pretty safe for the Dems. Abd with the pitiful state of the Economy and the dangerous tax and borrowing and spending policies of this President and his colleagues in the Senate sinking the nearing double dip recessionary private sector and pushng the nation closer to the fiscal cliff, it's not a hand I would want to be playing going into the election in about three months.
ISM (Manufacturing activity) figures came in down, very down for the last month, most likely due to slumping auto sales. Jobs and unemployment reports due in Friday for July, and the weekly new unemployment claims numbers we experienced all month says they ain't going to be pretty either. Time is running out, Cab Driver. Time is running out!
Obama ahead in FL, PA, and OH! Major swing states now leaning Democrat.
Ann Coulter was right: It'll be Romney, and he'll lose.
Munch on that "Moon Pie", Fox viewers and T-party members.
Lawrence this is one of your Best Re-Writes ever. Thank you for pointing out the HYPOCRISY OF Mr. Krauhammer and the Republican Party in General.
You can say that again, Talking Points (nice name, by the way, I'm sure Little Lying Larry would like to borrow it from time to time).
Thank you Lawerence for once again Pointing our the HYPOCRISY of Mr. Krauhammer and the Republican Party in General. One of your best "Rewrites"
Gee, I didn't really mean it litterally that you could comment again on that nonsense view, fool!
I am a windsurfer and its not at all snobby. Windsurfers wear a wetsuit or a pair of shorts. Windsurfers sleep in their car in the parking lot of their favorite sailing spots, and take showers on the beach before heading off to work after sailing before work.
Hoarse Dancing? You wear a tux, I am sure they dont sleep in their car and I bet they have a really nice club house to take a shower.
Having been windsurfing for 35 years, I have probably spent about $15k on the sport over that time on equipment. And I sail a lot. A horse fancier like Romney probably spends 10 times that on one horse.
And while the horses are in great shape, riding them is not overly physical. Kerry would kick Mitt's butt in a chin-up contest or a 5k race.
Claiming that windsurfing is elitist is laughable at best.