I think that Somerby is right about Janeane Garofalo (She should know this

[trumad]

She was on Hannity the other night and she couldn't shoot down the most liberal tag talking point about Kerry that Hannity threw at her. She should have know that it's a right wing talking point because every Lib blog and forum out there exposed it as one.

<snip>

HOW TO LOSE AN ELECTION: Isn’t it great to have Air America brilliantly fighting for Kerry’s interests? Be sure you’re seated when you read this exchange from last Friday’s Hannity & Colmes:

SEAN HANNITY (7/30/04): According to the National Journal, based on the voting records and they examined the voting records of every senator, they determined in 2003 John Kerry had the most liberal voting record. John Kerry is doing everything he can do at this convention to appear not to be a liberal. My question to you is, you want to be a proud liberal. Why won’t John Kerry do the same thing?

JANEANE GAROFALO: Second thing, as you know, if you consult other journals and stats, he is not the most liberal and you know that the word, he’s to the left of Kennedy, it's so stupid.

HANNITY: Is it true?

GAROFALO: To the left of Kennedy?

HANNITY: According to the National Journal. They're non-partisan.

GAROFALO: There's other stats that say he is not the number 1 liberal.

HANNITY: Which one? What stats?

GAROFALO: I can't remember right now. But as you know, if he was number 1 liberal, I would think that was a great thing.

HANNITY: I know you would.

GAROFALO: John Kerry is much more moderate than me. He doesn't have to be like me. So why—I don't understand what you're asking me to do.

It’s true—Kerry is not “the number 1 liberal.” And where do those “other stats” come from? Duh! From the non-partisan National Journal—the very publication Sean was pimping! (See THE DAILY HOWLER, 7/29/04.) Readers, if you want to know how to lose an election, just read this exchange one more time.
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh080204.shtml

[rumguy]

1. I could have answered Hannity better than Garofalo did

I don't know what her deal was that night.

[buycitgo]

3. she was too puffed up

she didn't do that badly, from the way I read the transcript

[buycitgo]

2. if only she'd seen last night's daily show

course she'd have needed a time machine

and WTF is this CRAP about National Journal being nonpartisan

that's a bunch of DOOKIE

their blog has just about the entire interview transcribed

she did quite well, for the most part

I think Hannity likes her

he was pretty polite

the interview was very funny in spots

he seemed not to take offense that she kept calling him a CRETIN!

[jpgray]

4. The Nat'l Journal actually isn't too bad on ratings

The rest of their ratings have JK and JE about where they are--square in the moderate zone. They even noted in their report that a single year rating (which is what all the RNC talking points are based on) is essentially meaningless. But I agree with you to some extent--this attack has been out there for months now.

[democraticinsurgent]

5. janeane is too full of herself sometimes

i really like her a lot. she was one of the lonely celebs who stood up against the iraq war when it wasn't cool to do so; i really admired her courage and still do.

that said, i have found her to be patronizing and worse on AA at times. Like her position that being for Bush at this point is a character flaw, that you have to be stupid or ignorant to hold that view.

mind you it boggles my mind that anyone supports * but we all know about the nefarious effects of the corporate media. when you only get one side of the story, you tend to believe it. especially when you think you are getting both sides.

my advice to her is to lighten up a little bit and be a bit more humble.

[slinkerwink]

7. yeah, women should just "lighten up" and accomodate anti-choice Rethugs

:eyes:

[democraticinsurgent]

9. i'm not picking on her as a woman

i just don't think it's productive to call bush supporters stupid or ignorant. it may or may not be true. i just don't think we as democrats--male or female--should be characterizing the "masses" that way.

by the way i loved it that she called Hannity a creep. because he certainly is.

[trumad]

10. I agree with her statement 100 percent

why else would you vote for Bush?

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. I'm not sure what she said that was wrong.

I expect Kerry is more moderate than she is. And that would make him appealing to most mainstream voters. So he's not the No. 1 Liberal. So what? That means he has a broader voter appeal.

What am I missing here?

[democraticinsurgent]

16. it's not a great way to sway undecided or * voters

that's why i brought it up.

i am not concerned about her interview with hannity.

i do think that she could be a little more diplomatic when it comes to convincing people who are hopelessly buried in disinformation. which describes much of our citizenry, unfortunately. they may be ignorant, but i wouldn't use that term. uninformed, yes. ignorant, no. stupid, definitely not.

falls into the category of catching more flies with honey...

[slinkerwink]

18. Janeane's not the one to convince people to vote for Kerry....

Kerry is the person to convince people to vote for him.

[democraticinsurgent]

19. it's not a great way to sway undecided or * voters

that's why i brought it up.

i am not concerned about her interview with hannity.

i do think that she could be a little more diplomatic when it comes to convincing people who are hopelessly buried in disinformation. which describes much of our citizenry, unfortunately.

they may be ignorant, but i wouldn't use that term. are they uninformed or misinformed, yes. should we call them stupid, even if they are?

definitely not.

that's a tactic i'd rather leave to Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity and the other morons. I don't want us to lower ourselves to their pathetic level.

do you?

[slinkerwink]

20. I don't give a shit about how a female radio DJ should act

[democraticinsurgent]

21. sorry, i disagree

Air America is under an American microscope. The odds are against them because the pukes own most the media. We need them in all 50 states to speak the truth and educate the "ignorant" and "disinformed".

In my opinion spreading the truth works better when people's differences are respected.

i'm still a huge garafolo fan and offer this only as constructive.

(sorry for the previous doublepost, the server seemed to be acting up)

[slinkerwink]

22. have you offered the same "constructive" criticism against Franken

and Mike Malloy?

[democraticinsurgent]

23. i haven't heard them do that

..i have never heard malloy at all. and i haven't heard franken treat a general class of citizens that way. have you?

please stop trying to make this about her being a woman. that's just not it.

it's about respect, pure and simple.

[slinkerwink]

24. hahahahahahahahahaha! respecting the fundie repug voters?!?

[democraticinsurgent]

25. ok, i'm done.

this is going nowhere.

[October]

11. Off subject for a second

Slinkerwink...are you the one that designed that "Hamsters for John Kerry" avatar? A friend of mine was so moved by the story of Kerry saving the hamster (as her mom did something similar...). Anyway, she wrote to the Kerry campaign, including that graphic image, and told them she'd buy the sign and put it on their lawn if they printed it.

I've queried before as to who made the avatar, but no one knew.

Thanks. I want someone to get credit for it.

And sorry for hijacking the thread a bit.

[slinkerwink]

17. I made the avatar!

I'm glad to hear that she wrote to the Kerry campaign about it :-)

[October]

27. We love it!

I'm so glad you responded.

This is too funny. It's my 500th post, and it's about hamsters! LOL

Anyway -- whom shall I say deserves the credit for this very cool avatar? Perhaps you can PM me, since I've disrupted the thread enough already.

Cheers to everyone on my 500th post -- though I'm still a novice next to most around here.

Love you, DU!

:party:

[slinkerwink]

28. by the way, how'd your friend get a hold of the graphic image

in my sig line? I'm curious to hear the story :-)

[BlueEyedSon]

6. Nowadays, you can be the most liberal senator

and still be to the right of Ronald Reagan. So what?

Thank God he's the most liberal!

[SidDithers]

8. He's been campaigning since early 2003...

There was another thread about his missed votes in 2003 - that he was present for only 29% of the votes - something like that. I don't fault him for his attendance, that's the nature of the beast during a campaign. Maybe he missed votes that would have made him more "conservative" if he'd been there.

To call him the most liberal of the senators, based on irregular attendance, is inaccurate. That's like awarding the batting title to a player who hits .400 with only 50 at bats, instead of the guy who hits .330 with 500 at bats.

Sid

[October]

12. Personally, I cut Garofalo some slack

I've heard those #1 and #4 soundbites bandied about, and didn't know where they came from...then I read the thread about The Daily Show this morning.

She does more good than harm for our side.

[trumad]

14. Yeah but you're not representing....

That was an easy refute to Hannity because it's so widely known that it's bunk... I agree she rocks but are talking heads need to be better prepared for the Rovian talking points that the Conservatives are going to throw at us.

They need to sit each morning and read what the current repuke talking points are and then be able to easily shoot them down. It ain't that hard.

[buycitgo]

15. how many times have you heard that wingnut spewage about

one and four?

I have.....lots and lots and lots

and I have NEVER heard ANYbody, dem or "newsperson" call them on the obvious distortion inherent

not once

til Stewart

I've READ about it, but NOBODY on TV that I've seen has refuted it.

that's where the public eats its news, as everybody knows

that's why more than half the dopes STILL think Saddam was behind 911, and a SIGNIFICANT number thinks we FOUND WMDs

[Susang]

26. Geez, give her a break

She forgot, she said as much in their exchange. You've never forgotten a source in the heat of debate?

Many people have mentioned that Jon Stewart performed better at when confronted with the same situation. But you have to consider that Jon Stewart has the luxury of large staff of researchers and writers, he also taped his show after this exchange. Garofalo just happens to be a close friend of his or did you think that Stewart's exchange about the exact same subject just days after her own was a coincidence?