Anyone watching Laurence O'Donnell tonight ....

[defendandprotect]

what did you think?

Obviously, he was enraged that no one was going to buy his counter arguments

that Obama had done a good thing today --

Am I wrong?

[myrna minx]

1. He was bravely and valiantly justifying his rich man's tax cut - much like Alter was last night.

:rofl: I had to turn him off - too many excuses coming from O'Donnell.

[haikugal]

2. No You Aren't Wrong...

He thinks Obama got a good deal. He had a good panel and I guess it's a two part show so I'll watch again tomorrow. I want to hear more from Jane Hamsher.

[MrMickeysMom]

3. Turned it off after Olberman's special comment, so, no...

Are you saying O'Donnell was making a case for the President's caving?

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

28. O'Donnell: Democratic Presidents will never win

He talked over everyone making his point that Democratic Presidents never get what they want from Republicans, why expect Obama to get what he wants?

And when Adam Green gave examples of Presidents who used the bully pulpit, like Harry Truman, he shouted, "Democratic President! Give me ONE Democratic President!"

[bigtree]

4. I remember back a month or so ago

. . . plenty folks here celebrating his assertion of how liberal he was.


Lawrence O'Donnell: "I've been a liberal so long that I still call myself one."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9150939

Lawrence O'Donnell: "I am a Socialist"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9500286

[eleny]

5. I think that L O'D shouldn't fall back too often on his having worked in Congress

It's a "trust me" argument that won't cut it with the panel he has on tonight.

Also, yelling at your guests isn't such good form. But that's just a style point. His guests are up to letting that roll off. It just reminded me of O'Reilly too much.

[marew]

17. Yup, and he's getting really full of himself! n/t

[H2O Man]

6. I was.

Then I turned to a different station. I am tired of excuses. I am unwilling to listen to anyone who says this is a good thing.

[INdemo]

19. We made excuses for Obama when he caved on healthcare

reform..When he caved on banking reforms. When he double talked about those million dollar bonuses paid for with bail out money..Yes we
shrugged our shoulders and moved on thinking that he will in the end do what is right for the middle class..He could have fought harder for unemployment extensions while holding the line line on tax cuts for the rich..
Lets face it he himself is saving thousands in taxes..
So after all the other back stepping did we really think he wouldn't cave on these tax issues?
We liberals need to stop whining (according to Gibbs)
I wonder if anyone within the Obama administration has figured out yet that this last surrender to the Republicans probably cost him any chance of winning a second term?

[BeyondGeography]

7. Talked out of both sides of his mouth

Nothing can be done to change the tax structure right now, but it's a piece of shit that needs to be changed.

[montanacowboy]

8. The others on the panel were so

flummoxed at him they could barely make coherent statements

I don't like ODonnell, he is so puffed up with all his "experience" on the hill and it's mostly all about him.

KO and Rachel are the only two shows worth it. I just happened to see him on tonight but I shut it off real quick.

He was simply terrible and so in your face about how great the tax cut deal is. This show really stinks.

[polichick]

9. What bugs me about him is that he thinks he knows it all about the Senate...

...and about both parties - his position that, since Dems have never stood up to Republicans, they never will was obnoxious.

I'm glad his guests stood their ground.

[BzaDem]

16. He wasn't saying the Dems would never stand up to Republicans. He was saying that Republicans would

NEVER back down to Democrats.

And he is of course right. He thinks he knows more about the Senate and about both parties than his guests, because he DOES.

[polichick]

18. He thinks he knows more about the Senate even when he's talking to Senators. nt

[earthside]

10. I don't think he is "enraged."

I think O'Donnell is a bit surprised that all of the guests on the panel are not bowing down to his superior knowledge about how things really work in Washington.

O'Donnell (and Chris Matthews) is simply showing who he is: a former Hill staffer who made good and became a 'wise' political pundit.

What he is missing is the rage at the system that exists outside the beltway -- both from the right and the left.

By the way, I found the panelist Hodge interesting ... he is a liberal who wrote a book titled "The Mendacity of Hope". I think I'll check it out.

[defendandprotect]

26. Unfortunately, we didn't hear much from Hodge, but will look for his book....

Think tonight O'Donnell confirmed for me who he is --

and agree he did "miss the rage" -- which I think caused him to show

his hand too completely.

The guests seemed to be dismayed at what was going on with his rant and

his attempts to insist that they respond to a very heavy handed FRAMING

of his question on letting taxes for the middle class expire.

Don't think he was properly prepared for tonight -- possibly already taken

off his feet by liberal reaction to Obama today and then his guests not

quite cooperating in the way he wanted.

While I won't be tuning in any longer, presume that this was to be done tonight

in a much "slicker" manner than he managed to handle it.

O'Donnell showed who he was tonight -- and I'm grateful to know that.

And, thanks for all the replies!!

Helps to keep my head screwed on straight!!


:)

[RKP5637]

11. I put him on mute when he started his rants, I was tired of listening to him. n/t

[jefferson_dem]

12. Didn't see it but I heard he skewered Hamsher...

Sweeet! I just might have to track down a video of that.

[BzaDem]

15. It's amazing how those in favor of "fighting" to "get a better deal" didn't even know what was in

THIS deal. They didn't know that the poor tax bracket is 10% now, or that it would go up to 15% in January without a deal. They didn't know that the estate tax is 0% this year.

[Major Hogwash]

23. She shouldn't be on tv.

Because every time she goes on tv, she loses more credibility with each appearence.
Sort of like what happened to Mister Ed.

[Raine]

13. You are EXACTLY on point

I gave up on O'Donnel soon after he came on the air, he seems more in the mode of Tweetie than KO.

[BzaDem]

14. Ezra Klein was basically defending O'Donnell's point. The rest think that Republican votes can

magically be changed by name-and-shame, even though none of the rest could name a single example where that has ever happened on any tax issue.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

20. Some of you that turned him off missed his low point.

While interviewing a friend and colleague of Elizabeth Edwards, he attempted four or five times in his oh so slick
way to direct the interview to be about the affair. The women interviewed refused to play his game and each time
spoke of Elizabeth the woman, mother and friend.

One of the most classless interviews I've seen in a long time.

[defendandprotect]

24. The low road ....

had only seen O'Donnell a few times and every time there would be

a discordant note -- something "slickly" thrown in.

Even sadder to hear what he did with the interview on Elizabeth Edwards --

I had turned it off by then.

:)

[bbgrunt]

21. I give him credit for having some strong people

like Adam Green and Jane on as adversaries. I do, however, not agree with his position.

[frazzled]

22. Let me see

Laurence O'Donnell: From 1989 to 1995, he was a key legislative aide to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. From 1992 to 1993, he was staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, then chaired by Senator Moynihan. And then from 1993 to 1995, he was staff director of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, once again under Senator Moynihan’s chairmanship. He thus led the staff of the Senate's tax-writing committee during the consideration of President Bill Clinton's first budget, which Congress enacted in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.

Jane Hamsher: semi-unsuccessful film producer with a tell-all gossip book.

Hmmm, whose opinion on matters of Senate negotiations and economic fallout would I be more tempted to listen to? That is such a hard question.

[defendandprotect]

25. Jane Hamsher .....

[MrMickeysMom]

29. Of interest... his work with Moynihan during that time...

Moynihan had some great ideas, but in the end, both parties allowed the trust fund to be filled with IOU's.

[Liberalynn]

27. I turned off as soon as I heard he was an apologist.

[JI7]

30. what does this even mean

[Liberalynn]

31. Sorry I am tired and didn't come up with the right term.

He isn't apologizing for the President, because he obvioulsy thinks Obama has nothing to apologize for and he has a right to that opinion. What I meant to say is IMHO he was making excuses for what I personally feel is the Presidents' abject capitulation, so I turned it off, as is my right.

You don't have to share that opinion, its just mine.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

32. It's a good thing than kicking a load of Americans instantly to the curb.

It should of been 2 year extension though. No doubt we want to balance the books, but we would of had to support him in the election to make that a reality. Had any one of us been in the same position, we'd of done the same. He stated before that if he could compromise and make some progress he would do that and accept the consequence. If tax cuts meant as much as people are sain they would of moved heaven and earth in the midterms. Plus as far as negotiations go, we're talking the most unreasonable party on Earth this is as good as it gets.