Bob Schieffer Commentary: The Politics Of Name Calling
By Logan Murphy Saturday Mar 08, 2008 5:30pm
In light of this week's resignation of Obama adviser, Samantha Power, for calling Hillary Clinton a monster, Face The Nation host, Bob Schieffer, decided to chime in on the history of name calling in politics.
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Schieffer says he is fine with Power stepping down, but points out that there has always been name calling in politics, but it used to be much more prevalent and brutal than it is today.
Schieffer: "...But here's the other side. Creative name calling is as much a part of American politics as waving Old Glory. Back in 1952 when Harry Truman called Republicans a bunch of Snollygusters, it set off such a shock wave that my late colleague, Eric Sevareid, thought it necessary to counsel calmness. After all he said, Truman's remark wasn't nearly as bad as when President McKinley's opponents said he had the backbone of a chocolate eclair."
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"...President McKinley’s opponents said he had the backbone of a chocolate eclair.”
Oh my honour! Pistols at ten paces, rapscallions!
And then break to the local bakery...
Yeah, buit Bob should be looking at when someone calls their opponent a traitor. That might be more relevant than being called a snollyguster.
Power is not a politician and is running for no office.
What she is is one of the most important available ALTERNATIVE advisors available, in the field of international human rights, and especially the history of genocide.
Obama gets major props for having the sense to see her value.
Her latest book on Sergio De Mello is likely to be one of this year's most important liberal reads.
Etymology
19th century American English. Possibly from snallygaster, a mythical beast that preys on poultry and children < possibly from Pennsylvania Dutch schnelle geeschter < German snēl, quick + geist, spirit.
[edit] Noun
Singular
snollygoster
Plural
snollygosters
snollygoster (plural snollygosters)
1. (slang, obsolete) A shrewd person not guided by principles, especially a politician.
Sounds like a perfect description of the Republican party to me.
Snollyguster? zomg, can you even say that on TV? I hope they didn't bleep that. Yes, I'd much rather be called a Nazi or a Klan-member....
ns hussein r @ 2:
How very true. Schieffert is msm (and I don't mean liberal.)
American Heritage Dictionary-
snol·ly·gos·ter n. Slang. One, especially a politician, who is guided by personal advantage rather than by consistent, respectable principles. [Perhaps alteration of snallygaster, a mythical beast said to prey on poultry and children, perhaps from Pennsylvania Dutch schnelle geeschter : Middle High German sn¶l, quick (from Old High German) + Middle High German geist, spirit (from Old High German).]
Bob Schieffer is right. Name calling is all part of politics. Any politician that can't stand the heat needs to get out of the kitchen or quit the race. After all, sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.
I miss the old days too you... asshole
Powers was correct in her characterization, just not how she meant it.
Hey Bob how bout some intelligent discourse and critical examination for a change.
Like why did so many people agree to freeze their incomes, give tax breaks to the least deserving, amass a huge national debt, ignore the rising cost of health care, and buy into all the other various aspects of the right-wing agenda.
Because they believed Bush might drop in and have a beer with them?
I guess that's where I see it. Calling someone a "monster" seems like a pretty lame "big deal". Calling someone a "traitor" changes the attitude a bit.
After all, each one of the politicians are a bit of a monster. But call them a "son of a bitch", or a traitor, or some other derogatory name is common spin for the neocon bunch.
I can only imagine the sort of name calling that went on between politicians just after the Revolutionary War, during the war of 1812, or even just after the Civil War. I bet there were names thrown about that make Snollygusters and the like look tame in comparison. Name calling is nothing new.
lollamd @ 9:
Great post.I literally did LOL.
I think most of the msn are a bunch of assholes.I thought Schieffer was ok for a while, but he`s part of the great kiss-ass journalistic revolution THAT DOESN`T REPORT THE NEWS.
And I also must resign my position of "peace czar" for my peace organization Keep On Trukin` For Peace,not because I called anyone names,but because "Peace" is a myth,just like the male orgasm.
I think I can confidently say, I think McClinton is a snollygoster after her 'lovefest' with McSame.
..another interesting analysis and aspect of the societal impact
of 8 years of The Bush Administration
--> Intelligence Report: Hate group numbers up by 48% since 2000
http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=300
L.A. Confidential @ 11:
I'm sure with the way the economy is going some who voted for him are probably wishing he would invite them over for dinner.
snollyguster!!! Oh no he didn't!
Bob just doesnt get it.
Here is the question - not that people read this thing -
Should actions that threaten or harm the citizens be tolerated at any level? What actions are acceptable in the defense of the citizens? What are reasonable descriptions of those that would harm the citizens?
Nafta, GAT, WTO, militarism, corporatism, suppression of citizens wages for the benefit of multinational profits, no bid contracts to companies that pay no citizen benefitting taxes in the Caymens, legal immunity for multinationals while collecting information on citizens and much much more.
In order for you not to reasonably think that based on most of the above Hillary Clinton is NOT a monster, you would have to believe that the above is reasonable.
Are these things an assault on the citizens of the US, and if so, what are reasonable responses?
Powers not only was not out of line she was correct in my opinion.
By the way, O'bama is a monster with a different pedigree.
In the pantheon of name-calling, where would this ranK: Calling Hillary "Eddie Haskell"?
And by the way, I know a certain Monster that took offense at the Clinton comparison
@17 is an imposter
anon @ 21:
Huh? It's default for Mozilla (and yes I'm too lazy to change it so what's your excuse.)
Meet the real Bob Schieffe
http://www.honkytonkconfidential.com/roadkill.html
Bob is prepping us for the barrage of racist attacks he and his cronies are getting ready to let loose on Senator Obama.
Sidney Scooter III @ 24:
Yes indeed.
Let them know you will not vote for Hillary.
Bison @ 26:
Very adult. Hello President McCain!
anon @ 27:
Very adult. Hello President McCain!
It is a bit strange that Ann Coulter can call for the assassination of a Supreme Court Justice and she doesn't have to apologize. However, someone publicly calls Hillary Clinton a monster and it is front page news, all day front page news. This is all twisted and wrong. Who really cares? Sticks and stones... is Hillary that fragile? If so, then she isn't strong enough to be president.
Hey anon - Show some courage and choose a name.
Cats Hussein r Flyfishn @ 30:
You mean like "Cats Hussein r Flyfishn"? Aah maybe I'll just go with Too Lazy :)
Didn't Cheney tell some Senator to go fuck himself. Well, These pussys are a bunch of assholes.
This has been so overblown. How exactly is it news that campaign advisers call the opposing candidate names in what they think are private conversations? This type of thing happens in any situation of intense competition. Ms. Power didn't need this gig, she's a Harvard professor and a Pulitzer prize winning author. But it's a real shame that Obama's campaign and maybe the government will be deprived of her expertise over something as stupid as this.
.
I found it odd today, that ALL the talking head shows featured the divisiveness issues between the Dem's and the Left. (s)Hillary vs B.O.
But no mention of Bush's radio address Saturday where he explained the necessity to VETO the ANT-TORTURE LEGISLATION, a tool he says that is legal; A tool Congress says is illegal. But in Bush's world, it's legal when he says it is. In fact, in his radio address he as much confesses to ordering illegal activities and espouses his intentions to continue to violate the law.
The MythSystemManagement is all but Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... on this. WHY?
(p.s. Don't miss tonight's episode of American Idol... K? It's supposed to be the bestest everrrrr!!!)
.
Couldn't Powers just apologize and stay in the campaign?
You know: "I'm sorry Hillary Rodham Clinton is a monster."
How about HRC apologizing for the racial innuendos of her staff?
HRC is the most outrageous hypocrit, ie, the racist comments from Billy Boy, calling Obama Ken Star, and she is the most shameless politician since GWB & Dick Cheney (which wasn't so long ago).
The other side of this issue is the fact that Obama is the one that has tried awfully hard to keep the discourse on track and hasn't himself gotten derailed by the attacks. Now it is definitely time for him to take the gloves off.
pfeld @ 36:
No, it's not. Obama just needs to stay out of the mud pit Hillary's trying to drag him into and he'll come out just fine.
Murder has been around since the begining of mankind, why are so many people against it?
anon @ 19:
If you think HRC is a 'monster,' you haven't met many monsters.
(It's Power, btw, not 'Powers').
SNOLLYGUSTER, MOTHERFUCKER!! Hey, I like the sound of that!
Richard Peterson @ 35:
It's not just her staff putting out some pretty vile racist bullshit. Check out this AP piece I just came across on Yahoo! News website:
http://tinyurl.com/3ccyrx
Apparently this AP scribbler believes that Obama's leading, but that's only because black voters are turning out in record numbers and that he should be concerned because the support from the "darkies" is running out. Funny, isn't it, that no one sees fit to run an article speculating on Hillary's support running out give that she's lost all but three of the last Democratic Primaries and Obama has a greater share of delegates. Methinks this scribbler is a Hillary campaign shill.
"SnollygOstr" not snollygUster...Interesting word...
http:..www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-sno1.htm
samdog @ 42:
Saw that too. And I can only wonder why we missed McSnollygoster.
Most of you, and ms power need to grow up. She rightfully resigned because she showed very poor judgement and as a top foreign policy advisor, that just makes Barry look more like the amateur that he is. He did the right thing in letting her go. Maybe he can call hillary at 3am and find out how to really vet those advisors.
geneHUSSEIN214 @ 41:
in case you didnt know "darkies" is very much racist and offensive. I assume that is your word, not AP's. Take a look in the mirror before you start calling people racist you asshole
but it used to be much more prevalent and brutal than it is today.
Hard to believe that.
Snollyguster......PERFECT description of McHillary McClinton!
Obama is lucky that Power is gone. She is a whack-job. She advocates invading palestine against the palestinians' and Israelis' will.
"What we don’t need is some kind of early warning mechanism there, what we need is a willingness to put something on the line in helping the situation. Putting something on the line might mean alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import; it may more crucially mean sacrificing—or investing, I think, more than sacrificing—billions of dollars, not in servicing Israel’s military, but actually investing in the new state of Palestine, in investing the billions of dollars it would probably take, also, to support what will have to be a mammoth protection force, not of the old Rwanda kind, but a meaningful military presence. Because it seems to me at this stage (and this is true of actual genocides as well, and not just major human rights abuses, which were seen there), you have to go in as if you’re serious, you have to put something on the line.
Unfortunately, imposition of a solution on unwilling parties is dreadful."
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/Power/power-con5.html
I think the comments from Samantha about Hillary, were right on the mark, however and even though Hillary and her team of name calling slugs really don't give a dame about how professional they conduct their campaign. I know that Senator Obama does and so with that said she did the right thing.
This is what I've been saying all along you schmucks.
Thomas Jefferson's enemy called him the great atheist.
The traitor Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, because not only would Hamilton not back his run for a state office, but offended him in some way by printing a paper to that effect.
Andrew Jackson's wife was called an adulteress.
I remember seeing a political cartoon of a pre-Civil War Southern Politician beating a Yankee politician on the Congress floor with a walking stick over the head. It actually happened.
Grover Cleveland's enemies, when they found out he had an illegitimate child, used the slogan "Ma Ma where's my Pa," to which Cleveland's supporters on winning the White House added, "He's gone to the White House ha ha ha." Apparently Cleveland admitted to having the child, and had been paying support ever since.
Of course any politician you disagreed with during the Reconstruction days was called either a carpet bagger or a n****r lover.
Up to the 1930's and 1940's there were fist fights in Congress and even random gun fights.
So the idea that some pollyanna can come along and change all that is absurd. Name calling and worse is endemic to the system.
Those chocolate eclair and Snollygusters comments are clever. Unlike today's mean spirited names and implications from the Clintons.
What is needed today is a good televised fist fight on the Senate floor. Where one senator shuts another senator's mouth, permanently!
Snowball @ 4:
HA! Sounds like Truman was dead on!!!
Smarmy @ 51:
I remember hearing of an exchange where a female mp told pre-pm Winston Churchill that if she were his wife she'd put a bag over his head. His response was, "Madam if you were my wife, I would let you."
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