Want Some Hardball?

Ajami should’ve called in the June Taylor dancers for that rug dance. I never paid much attention to him before, but now he’s on my political hack list.

Schuster knows how to play hardball!

Speaking of Tweety, somewhat unrelated, Mediabloodhound discovered that he and Coulterghoul share publishers and even pub dates. Hmmm, is that why Tweety has Coulterghoul on whenever she releases a new book….he’s shilling for his publisher?

http://mediabloodhound.typepad.com/weblog/2007/06/special-repor-1.html

Regarding Ajami, the Nation’s Adam Shatz wrote an excellent profile on who Ajami is:

“Born in 1945 to Shiite parents in the remote southern Lebanese village of Arnoun and now a proud naturalized American, Ajami has become the most politically influential Arab intellectual of his generation in the United States. Condoleezza Rice often summons him to the White House for advice, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, a friend and former colleague, has paid tribute to him in several recent speeches on Iraq. Although he has produced little scholarly work of value, Ajami is a regular guest on CBS News, Charlie Rose and the NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, and a frequent contributor to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. His ideas are also widely recycled by acolytes like Thomas Friedman and Judith Miller of the Times.

“Ajami’s unique role in American political life has been to unpack the unfathomable mysteries of the Arab and Muslim world and to help sell America’s wars in the region.”

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030428/shatz

I agree Larry,
I liked Chris Mathews for the most part because he was the ONLY one who said (before the war) live on national TV that this was based on Bullshit.
After that he seems to be skirting the real issue that SOMEONE other than Valerie Plame outed her and that SOMEONE lied to get us into war…
Shuster beat this war mongering dirtbag down and it was a real Helen Thomas moment. A real grilling that needed to happen BEFORE we launched this clusterfuck.

“unpack the unfathomable mysteries of the Arab and Muslim world”

Would someone kindly point the way to the vomitorium – quickly please? As in NOWWWWWW?!

Shirin,
LOL.

OK, I feel a little better now.

`Ajami is not respected whatsoever by his fellow academics in the field of Middle East Studies. Among Arabs he is justifiably reviled as the lowest of the lowest kind of “house Arab” – as Leslie once said, he is so low even his fellow house Arabs won’t speak to him.

Leslie writes: “Hmmm, is that why Tweety has Coulterghoul on whenever she releases a new book….he’s shilling for his publisher?”

Thing you gotta remember about Chris Matthews is that he– and this goes for Bill Maher too– is from Planet Showbiz. His schtick has nothing to do with journalism, and everything to do with the Jerry Springer brand of entertainment.

Like most of the stuff passing for journalism or “current events” on the Dumont today, it really should carry a disclaimer similar to that provided at the top of the Astrology column in newspapers– For Entertainment Purposes Only.

So, you see, Ann Coulter is a perfect fit.

Shirin,
“Unpack” is right, like an itinerant peddler unpacking brightly decorated dinner plates for his customers. Once these “irresistible bargains” are washed a few times however, the gulled customer finds that the decorations wash off, leaving the customer holding the most mundane of cheap, shoddy articles!

If you called Ajami a “toady” to his face he would probably take it as a compliment.

It was fantastic. So good I watched it in both afternoon time slots.

Someone at DKos suggested he be given the slot after Olbermann — that Scarborough has vacated for the morning show.

Shuster has a very good mind and great recall. He also has that handsome kindly face — the kind of face that says he’s never done a mean thing to anyone ever. I think the women at FDL got to know him during the Libby trial, and really liked him.

I wonder if he’d like to do a regular show, or if he’s hooked on being a reporter.

Chris Matthews came to my attention in 2001 when he was a guest on a local radio talk show. This was during the “marketing phase” prior to the attack on Afghanistan, so of course that was the main topic. Matthews was, of course, completely gung ho about attacking Afghanistan (I was opposed to it – and it’s starting to look as if I was right that time too). At one point he started to go off in a very nasty, sarcastic – and racist – way about how difficult the P.R. was going to get after they attacked. The problem was, according to him, that they were bound to have scenes in which they bombed civilians, and killed and maimed a bunch of brown-skinned women and kids, who would then come screaming out of their tents, waving their bloody clothes in front of the cameras, and ruin everything.

I kid you not, that is what he went on and on about in the most strident way. I specifically remember him referring to “killing brown-skinned women and kids”, and them having the gall to “come running and screaming out of their tents waving their bloody clothes”. It was clear that for him the fact that they were brown-skinned and (according to him) lived in tents (which Afghans do not do) made it utterly unreasonable for them to object to being bombed into death and dismemberment.

I was in my car at the time, and had to pull over for a few minutes, I was so stunned and outraged. What bothered me even more was that his host, who was generally a “moderate”, “centrist”, rather reasonable person seemed to go right along with it, and there was not one single person who called in to object or even question that rant.

Yeah, I know he opposed attacking Iraq and pointed out that the Bushite claims were B.S., but there is no earthly way Chris Matthews could ever redeem himself in my eyes, even if he singlehandedly extracted the U.S. from Iraq. I don’t care that it’s all entertainment, there have to be some boundaries, and he crossed THE red line that day into territory from which there is no return.

Donovan Fraser writes: “I liked Chris Matthews for the most part because he was the ONLY one who said (before the war) live on national TV that this was based on Bullshit. ”

I’ll let Bob Somerby handle this one:

“As you know, Chris Matthews opposed the war in Iraq. For the first time in the past six years, he actually said what he thought about something, and it cost him dearly with cable’s core audience. For that reason, the tough-talking pundit is pandering hard to get back in this cohort’s good graces. ”

Bob then went on to mourn Matthews’ slobbering, together with Pat Caddell and yes, Ann Coulter again, over President Bush’s manly appearance in a flight suit on the deck of a battleship to declare how swell it was to have just handily defeated the mighty Iraqi war machine.

From Planet Showbiz, like I said. I’ll let Somerby have the last word:

“We never thought we’d see the day when Ann Coulter could come off as the sane one in a group of three pundits…”

Good analogy, Montag!

Being bi-cultural myself, and having lived and spent time in various parts of the Middle East, I have never been able to see what is supposed to be so unfathomable or mysterious about it. And everywhere I go in the world from the USA, to Europe, to the Arab world, to South Asia, I discover the same thing – people everywhere are mainly simply human beings who exhibit the same human nature, want the same basic things in life, and react to events in their lives in more or less the same way.

The only unfathomable mystery I have yet to unravel for myself is how it is that 26% of Americans still think that George Bush is a “leader” worthy of their support.

Watching Shuster, I was, for the first time in many moons, not quite so ashamed to be a GE stockholder.

John Chancellor he ain’t, but I don’t think I’d “Rochombo for It” with him without my reinforced Levis.

As widely discredited, reviled, and laughed at Fu’ad `Ajami is by academics as well as virtually all Arabs, he is the darling of the U.S. mainstream media. And why not? He is one of the few “Arabs” who will say to them just what they want to hear, and of course, the fact that he is an “Arab” makes it all so very credible.

OT, but every American needs to hear what this wonderful Iraqi professor, writer, poet, and film maker has to say.

Sinan `Antoon is a member of one of Iraq’s most ancient minorities, the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans predate Arabs by several millennia, and were also among the earliest peoples to convert to Christianity. They practice a form of Catholicism very similar to that of the Maronites of the Levant. One of the oldest churches in continuous use is the old Chaldean church in Mosul – a plain, brown domed structure with a small cross at the top of the dome that is one of the favourite landmarks in that city (the Americans have damaged it at least twice with their bombs).

But I digress. Please watch, listen to, or read, this interview with the wonderful Sinan `Antoon, and heed it’s messages carefully:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/06/1359238

And while I am going OT onto Iraqi matters that every American must be aware of, please also watch, listen, or read, and closely heed this interview of two Iraqi labour leaders who have been touring the U.S. recently. In this interview they discuss the onerous oil law that the Bush administration is desperately pressuring the Iraqi make-believe government to pass (aka shoving down the throats of the Iraqi people). The Bushies insist that this is the number one, most important “benchnark” for the Iraqi make-believe government to achieve (and Congress – surprise, surprise – is going right along with them). Now, can anyone tell us WHY this is the number one most important “benchmark”? Do you even need to think about it before answering?

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/06/1359232

It was quite entertaining watching Ajami get his ass handed to him. He looked like a deer in the headlights for much of the segment. I suspect he won’t be back any time soon. Too bad. I enjoy a little comedy with my ass-whuppin’s. Hah!

I also agree that NBC should summarily dismiss Chris “The Drooling Clown” Matthews and replace him with David Shuster. KO plus Shuster would be the best two hours of news on the tube..arguably, the ONLY two hours of news on the tube.

Keep fighting the good fight.

“Olberman and Schuster”.It sounds like ass kicking law firm….. they’ll ask questions that any sane juror would want asked, and call out these shills for BS they are peddling.

I would rather he replace the talentless (but politically connected) Tucker. Earlier yesterday Tucker had some bozo from the “Competitive Institute(?)” attacking Gore & global warming. It would have been snarky if it were witty, but it was just another rightwing idiot. Tucker didn’t mention his credentials as a scientist–probably because he didn’t have any.

Way to go Larry, I also saw the smackdown and jumped up out of my Barkolounger cheering him on!!! This is exactly what we need more of…speaking truth to idiocy. Leave it to a GI to give it to a loser like Ajami, ’cause apparently our news people don’t even have half the balls it takes to ask the hard questions. As far as Matthews goes, he’s another whipped pup. His bosses know he doesn’t demand the high ratings of a say, hmmm I don’t know, Keith O. So they have more power over him. Paul is one stand up dude, and I salute him, (He was an officer). Semper Fi, and hang tough, Tap
P.S. I didn’t swear this time either… O.K., Fred Thompson is a fuck nut!!! Couldn’t help myself–Tap

Saw this yesterday, late, andf couldn’t help myself when I felt so very GOOOD!!! It would be so nice to see tweety bird replaced with someone who knows how to actually interview and report. Tucker is a joke as well…

OT, but just want to say, I have a lot of catching up to do from all the posts… my you have all been busy… Serious PTSD weekend everyone, and please keep me in thoughts and prayers. ER was looking prettty good last night, but no room at the inn, so to speek, so we are still waiting for out pt. therapy to begin sometime , somewhere down the road… I will share more when I can, probably a separate post, Leslie, Susan, do you have email address I can use?

Keep up the pressure everyone, I think we are beginning to see some hope coming from the Congress. Impeach, NOW… Also, briefly, I am so upset that I keep hearing that Rethugs are changing course on war, but yet, I also heard that there is the clause in the Iraq proposal that will keep troops there indefinately. Also, heard someething about a Fatwa by a cleric who said that they could not vote for the Iraq oil bill … not sure of all, maybe someone can help put it in perspective… I am just so tired of all the shit that this horrible, horrible, cabal have brought upon this nation and the world.

Investigate, Impeach, Incarcerate, Incinerate… of course, here and in the Hague… PEACE, M

PrchrLady,
Hope your son is OK.

You can email me here, it’s a leftover from my blogging days: muonsalternateworlds@hotmail.com

From there, I can send you my personal email.

Best,
Leslie

Larry, you were a lot more civil than I was. I had the unresistable urge to smear his blood on my torso and dance over his mangled corpse. So I did!

http://bluegirlredmissouri.blogspot.com/2007/07/i-love-smell-of-napalmed-wingnut-in.html

Right after I emailed MSNBC and suggested that Shuster and Tucker C. could bare-knuckle box for Tuckers airtime, winner take all. (My money is on Shuster!)

Larry – EXACTLY!!! I almost preppied myself when the “Shoe” slipped into a little Amed ass . . . I’d buy recycled rubbers and Chinese Pecker Extenders if they sponsored Schuster replacing Tucker Sleazy M-Fucker Bow Tie Bandit . . .

Fallen soldier? Isn’t that what the Mafia calls one of their goons who takes the fall instead of squealing on his boss?

Thanks, once again Shirin for the links above. I spent some time first trying to listen, and then went to transcripts. They are both excellent articles, and commentary.

I thought that Antoon was way beyond excellent in his comments. I do not understand the ignorance that accompanies the group of people who will listen and act on someone like Ajami, when we have scholars and recognized Iraqi’s who really know what the needs are for thier fellow citizens. I cried as I listened to his poem. So sad, and so true.

As for the oil bill, or whatever they want to dub it these days, I think it is a total farce. I read in a couple of other places that it will be the breaking point of Iraq if it is passed. Add to that the proposal to keep US troops there seems to me a perfect blueprint for mass disaster. Again, thanks for links, I wish to hear some more of your thots. I still can’t find a copy of the law… is anyone surprised??? to paraphrase an old first lady… why should be bother our pretty little minds with all of this??? because it really is important.

That smackdown was as satisfying a a good juicy steak!

Right on Mudkitty… even better, than my cheese and veggie pizza…

Shirin, I found the link to Iraq oil law, and am downloading to read.. thanks.

David made me real proud today. I’ve been getting tired of Chris Matthew’s sports behavior about politics. David called him out, guuud, reaall guud.

I have been watching David Schuster for a year or more now and I too think he should have his own show. I sent emails to MSNBC and suggested they put him in Tucker’s spot, or replace Matthews with David. David did a real hardball on that interview. Matthews only does hardball occasionally and not necessarily when it’s warranted. Depends on who he’s sucking up to at the time. David is a great journalist and fact finder and deserves his own show!

OMFG!!! Schuster just ripped Rep Marsha Blackurn (R-TN)a BRAND new ass . . . she blathered that we haven’t given enough time etc, etc, get’m over there and the “Surge” is making things better and “some folks say benchmarks HAVE been met . . .” the Shoe called on that, asked her “cite some examples” . . . but, but, – just don’t EVER let facts get in the way . . . (R) means REMOVE, and not soon enough – and she quips that the soldiers at Ft Campbell in her district support her position in response to the Shoe asking what she will tell the mothers of those to lost in the next 2 months. . . and I’m sure she kisses her mother with those same lying lips . . .

Nice!

Interesting…