<I>This Week</i>: Cokie Roberts Sneers At The Responsible Plan To End The War, Says Most Americans Interested In Winning
By Nicole Belle Sunday Apr 06, 2008 11:00am
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It's hard for me at times to not think of the mainstream media as this monolithic Borg-like hive mind designed merely to keep the status quo and tell you how you should think. And sadly, too few people have the time or inclination to do more than passively accept the information given, even if simply makes no sense. Case in point, Cokie Roberts during the panel segment of This Week with George Stephanopoulos. When Katrina Vanden Heuvel tries to bring up A Responsible Plan and the netroots/alternative media's attempts to really force the discussion of withdrawal from Iraq from the candidates they are supporting, and Roberts openly laughs at her. To Roberts, polls be damned, Americans are more concerned with winning (a concept still vaguely and defiantly undefined five years into the occupation) than leaving Iraq.
Is it any coincidence that this very subject will be of great debate this week on Capitol Hill? Vanden Heuvel tries to frame the debate to match the mood of the majority of Americans and Roberts scornfully rejects it and basically gives a preview of Petraeus's testimony, right down to the stupidly semantic defense of Cheney.
dday at Digby's Hullabaloo has more...transcripts below the fold.
VANDEN HEUVEL: …important point, and that’s why, listen, The Nation has endorsed Obama…
STEPHANOPOLOUS: I was just going to ask you…
VANDEN HEUVEL: …critically, critically. But we have also contested his framing of withdrawal. We…but this will be…
STEPHANOPOLOUS: But this is going to be a split in the party. You all are backing a plan that a lot of Congressional challengers are backing saying immediate withdrawal, unconditional...
VANDEN HEUVEL: that's right...
[cross talk]
VANDEN HEUVEL: There are 42 Congressional challengers...
ROBERTS: But no major Presidential candidates are saying that, because they're sitting there saying, “look, we've been there, we've seen it, we think it's an irresponsible thing to do.”
VANDEN HEUVEL: It is not, but you know what, the responsible thing to do is withdraw. [Roberts chuckles] If we withdraw responsibly, the region would be more stable in the long term, America will be restored as a responsible global leader, and there are 42 challengers, you are absolutely right Cokie, who have a responsible plan to withdraw.
ROBERTS: Convincing the electorate of that, I think would be very difficult, and I also agree that the notion that Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham you heard this morning putting forward, that Americans would prefer to win, is…
VANDEN HEUVEL: But what is winning? This war is unwinnable. There are no military solutions. And Cokie, Americans are already behind this, 2/3 of Americans believe this war was a mistake to fight. And when Dick Cheney said to ABC's Martha Raddatz last week, "I don't care what Americans think." …
ROBERTS: That’s not exactly what he said. He said “So.”
VANDEN HEUVEL: …The contempt, the disdain for Americans and for what this war has done to the military, to our economy, and to our future as a nation. If you care about responsible...
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Repunditan!
Cokie Roberts Sucks.
cokie needs a class in "Just War theory", Iraq is not a just war, nor occupation, therefore it was doomed from the start.
Cokie Roberts quote "tha't not what he said, he said so."
John Mellencamp quote "sometimes life is too ridiculous to live"
This snickering was so unprofessional. At these salaries, the least these uber conservative pundits could do is try to act like professional mature beings. Apparently, that's way too much to ask from these ignorant fools. I thought it was Wills at first. It seemed more typical of his behavior toward Katrina. Katrina is usually more effective in dealing with these idiots. I guess she was taken aback by the attack coming from Cokehead rather than little Willy.
Cokie's blouse looks like astronaut pajamas.
Lol!!! Cokie...her fucking name should disqualify her!
Consent!
This Week: Cokie Roberts Sneers At The Responsible War, Says Most Americans Interested In Winning
Too late
It's now about saving face
For the warmongers
Not the soldier getting his face shot off.
Cokie Roberts? LOL!
I simply cannot take seriously a woman that has had so many face lifts over the last 20 years that she now speaks through her navel.
Cokie got her nickname when she used to share McDonald's spoons with prince georgie.
McDonald's straws, same diff.
Cokie used to be admirable-about 20-25 years ago.
That little chuckle bit is very immature. And then interrupting her to say "He said "So"" when she said Cheney said he didn't care what Americans think and smugging up after that...Well he DID say say exactly that:
Raddatz: "So — you don’t care what the American people think?"
Cheney: "No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls..."
I guess Cokie hears only what she wants to hear.
.
REMEMBER:
THEY COLLECT PAY CHECKS TO LIE!
.
"Senators Flaky and Huckleberry sez Amurkans wanna win . . . and I buweeve they're right."
Why is this hag still on teevee?
Tired old Republican talking points hag got slapped down by the witty and very sexy Katrina.
Cokie is the daughter of Hale Boggs, a conservative Southern Democrat. She should never be on a panel as the "liberal." Unfortunately, most tv associate producers seem to be barely out of their teens, know only that she has a Democratic tie, and are totally unaware that some Democrats are and were as conservative as most Republicans.
Katrina more than held her own against Cokie, Bert's sidekick Ernie (aka Dan Senor), and His Pomposity George of Will.
Man, Marcy D'Arcy (nee Rhodes) is aging horribly.
Cokie became famous back in 1991 when she admitted on the same show that she supported the Gulf War but didn't want her children to serve in the military.
The show is useless. She and George Will are plastic evil wonder twins.
miss_kitty Hussein @ 12:
Ehh...when did wimmin ever argue fair?
I'm sure glad somebody else watches this shit, so I don't have too...
Thanks Nicole, what you wrote was exactly what I was pretty much thinking as I watched this yesterday. To think over 15 years ago I actually respected Cokie, but over the years of the Bush II Cabal I have discovered her to be the neoconservative warmonger that she actually is. Her type is only concerned with saving the face of conservatives, rather than admit the collosal failures of their thinking that got us all into the mess that is Iraq.
Just wait until the next (D) President is in office. I am willing to bet the house that all these neocon MSM pundits will be blaming Iraq (the war that had NOTHING to do with 9/11 in the first place) all on the democrats and "libruls".
I saw this on TV and it is always very very interesting when Cokie Roberts shows her true colors--rhymes with rich, as they say in the trade. Have you ever seen a more effete and flagrant example of republican Barbara Bush attitude? Why Stephanopolous continues to have dinosaurs like Will and Roberts as regulars on his panel makes his panel more comedy than substance. Hilarious.
She, and others like her, are so stuck in the we're Americans & we're winners mentality that they would let the war drag on forever. Winner take all? I think not, more like winner lose all.
They have fallen into Bin Laden's trap, he knows you can't beat us in battle and he is destroying the economy and the American way of life and these fools are letting it happen in the name of victory.
diamondmc @ 20:
Exactly.
I can't get the wmv video to load or download .. anyone else?
[I couldn't either. I've let them know. QT works-Sitemonitor]
Roberts has long been a rat in ugly clothing, Their is a story going around the hill that she is really kristol in drag, however its proven untrue as her dick is bigger than his.
If she thinks this war is winnable perhaps she should get herself and her family to fight it.
This endless war will be the end of us.
why should i care what cokie says? she's been wrong about this from the get-go. all the people who thought it would be great idea, STILL think it's a great idea, most likely due to sheer embarrassement then anything else at this point.
cokie is ginning up for some cheney love
Cokie's brother is probably the biggest lobbyist in DC--Tommy Boggs. Her mother was also a congresswoman who took over her father's seat.
Last night I was checking out who John Stewart was going to have on for guests this week and lo and behold, Coke Roberts will be on promoting some half-assed book she has written.
She has done a complete about face and I can't figure out her support for this war.
Win what?
Was the goal to:
1. Kill all terrorists in Iraq? (um... nope didn't win this)
2. Find WMD? (Nope, still haven't found any.)
3. Get cheap oil so that oil prices can be back below $1.00 like the good ol' days. (aw hell no.)
4. Set up a stable government? (we can't even define what that is here in the USA!)
5. Kill Sadam Hussein? hmm... WOO HOO!!! WE WON!!! HELL YAH, AMERICA'S #1! ALL RIGHT! LETS GET THOSE TROOPS HOME ASAP!
Oh, wait, the troops aren't coming home yet are they? I guess that wasn't the goal either... >_<
Teleken @ 23:
yeah that bin ladens a crafty old corpse!
If you want your Representatives to vote no, you need to tell them . Here's how:
Email your Senators and Representative, and ask your friends and relatives to join you:
http://www.democrats.com/iraq-petition
Cokie, you're just a pro war "devout" Catholic hypocrite. You should pay more attention at church and listen to what Jesus teaches or just stop going. You make me ill.
I thought Cokie was supposed to be the Liberal guest on these shows. I guess that little pretense has fallen by the wayside.
What they need, is to bring back the really wacky liberal, that is so obnoxious, nobody wants to be like that person, who gets up and spouts the most extreme and wacky comments so that they can snicker and say; "I guess we've heard from the liberals."
Only, its getting really hard to say something outlandish. It might distract people with actual news, like; "Very few people in the US support this protracted war for Contractors in Iraq."
Teleken, no. Cokie Roberts isn't stuck in anything. She just says what she has heard other people saying. That's ALL SHE DOES. She is entirely useless. She doesn't have any thoughts or ideas of her own. She is an actor playing a role, using lines she heard other people say.
At least George Will tries to come up with his own thoughts.
Why you other people watch this crap is really beyond me. These are actors, who get all dolled up to go on TV and recite talking points. By watching, you encourage and enable them.
winning? really?
how do we win? define victory and then maybe people will believe you.
in almost every war, victory was defined before hand. however this time, there is no possible victory, hence we need to stay there forever.. get it?
During the 1980 presidential race, George Will opined that Ronald Reagan bested Jimmy Carter in a presidential debate with a "thoroughbred performance". He said that on-air, on the same Sunday show on which he has now been pontificating for decades. Trouble was, he had helped prepare Reagan for that debate, a fact he neglected to mention. Obviously, he was not fired for his unethical behavior.
His long time colleague on that show, Cokie Roberts, has never acted that dishonestly (to the best of my knowledge). But she most surely is that barfly that Edward R. Murrow once warned us about. The one with the monstrous ego, all because she has a camera pointed at her.
Both and Will and Roberts have "jobs" on TV for one simple reason: to serve the interests of corporate America. Period.
Teleken @ 23:
You think that's really what's happening? As if Bush and Co. wouldn't realize that? How about this-- it's all an inside job to protect the dollar and profit off of war. Why is it so hard to believe that a man who would lie about a war (which has killed 4,000+ people) would also be directly involved in screwing over America for personal gain?
To add more. Saddam Hussein wanted to start trading in Euros for oil, Bush got wind of this and knew he had to be killed.
Poor old Cokie. The older she gets, the dimmer she glows.
What is winning Cokie? We have been there five friggin years. What the Hell! They should have an Average American on that panel to wipe the floor with her! These talking heads are shameless.
Maybe someone should inform Dopey Roberts that McSenile and Richard Simmons' twin brother Graham-cracker , aren't exactly what anyone would refer to as a pair that has a handle on the pulse of the American people..........
Frank Dufek @ 40:
So now oil will be denominated in Yuan!
YEEEAH! Weeee Yuan!!! LOLOL!
Convince the electorate that responsible withdrawal is the way to go in Iraq?
CONVINCE ???
We've been SCREAMING for it for a LONG TIME already !!!
(Site monitor - wmv vid works now .. thanks!)
emphasa @ 31:
6. Create a full employment program for the Military/Industrial/Congressional Complex with stratospheric war profits? (You bet, they are winning that one everyday.)
7. Have endless war so King George, the dummy (with his Evil Ventriloquist) can have his endless war powers as
CommanderIdiot in Chief, courtesy of John Yoo et al? (You bet, winning that one everyday.)And the list goes on.
jesse ventura should have been on that show, because he would have laughed in their ugly ass faces. i also am glad others watch these shows, so i don't. thank you.
Wow. Who knew Cokie Roberts was a deceptive, delusional hack?
-AF
Andrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
Cokie Roberts used to be on one of the Sunday news shows and she once said, while gushing; (paraphrase) 'Oh my, when I see these military men with their chests full of medals and ribbons I just believe anything they say.'
Margaret Carlson to Imus; (paraphrase) 'we know Bush is snowing people on serious matters but thats just Bush being Bush. Going after Al Gore for trivial things is fun, its sport.'
Your serious journalists.
Well sure! We all want to win! Whatever "win" means.
There's just two snags:
1) Some contests are "unwinnable", and
2) Some contests that are "winnable" lead to Pyrrhic victories, where the cost to the winner for having gained victory is far greater than any sane person would have chosen to pay, had they been rational about it from the beginning.
We need to do a study as to why the first few comments in these pieces alway have about 5 out of the first 10 comments done by people with a lack of vocabulary. Spouting Expletives or ad hominem's takes away from the discussion. I wish those that sit on the line just waiting to say something bad about the person or persons being discussed would be more thoughtful.
Saying she sucks or talking about her clothing or what her name sounds like is childish and makes others think that the rest of the people commenting are also immature.
But about her comments, she is obviously following talking points given to her by her Corporate Sponsors. That is the real shame here, the fact that truth and real journalism is over-ridden by the Corporation that owns the Media. That is an indication of the shaving away of American rights. That is deplorable.
You're correct, Katrina usually handles these things far more adroitly. Only this time Georgie-Porgie loaded the panel up with the rightest of the right. Three against one - and four if you count George cutting Katrina's comments off in mid-point - it became pretty obvious that they weren't going to give her a chance to get any points at all - debate over. Of course she could have castrated that jerk Senor pretty easily with, 'I don't think we need to pay any attention to the spokesperson for those that started this disaster of an occupation of Iraq by throwing money around like footballs with nothing to show for it...by the way Senor, what's the deal, did you decide to take your Presidential Medal of Freedom in cash instead of something to hang around your neck?'
As for Cokie, I don't usually notice this shit but I couldn't help but feel that she had slept in whatever that outfit was...I asked my wife, who usually does notice but was busy reading the paper. She confirmed that while it may be some sort of fabric - like linen - that shows it's wrinkles, it wasn't particularly becoming and, furthermore, it was way too small for her - picked up a little weight there Cokie? Better cut back on those olives.
I'm beginning to think that we need to keep Gitmo open as a place we can send the Wills and Roberts, et. al., after the country comes to it's senses next year - and following our 2009 version of the Nuremberg Trials.
Too much rum and Cokie.
"It’s hard for me at times to not think of the mainstream media as this monolithic Borg-like hive mind designed merely to keep the status quo and tell you how you should think."
Why is it hard when this is obviously and blatantly the case? One correction -- the Borg-like mind is no happenstance but is created and maintained by rightwing billionaires who hire people to supply the narrative. The public faces aren't independent -- they're hired to do that job. And the noise factory has drones doing opposition research to be used against progressives (and making it up, if they don't find anything that can be twisted or misrepresented). The corporate media is simply part of the controlling system. I think it was Digby the other day who pointed out that the election wouldn't be between the Democrats and McCain, but between Democrats and the media.
Cokie is long overdue to be gone. I thought ABC actually got rid of her a couple years ago. And the fact that she's still on
NPR for "analysis" every Monday morning is really nauseating. She's very much a negative quantity to our national discourse.
I'm tempted to call that woman something that rhymes with "bitch"
Thanks to political blogs, in my opinion, we have finally added credible guests like Katrina to the usual administration mouth pieces.
When Cokie jumped in and corrected Katrina about Dickhead saying so instead of he didn't care was really rich. Oh, saying SO is so much better, eh Cokie? She is defending what almost everyone in this country was almost struck speechless with. SO? So all those volunteers died for a lie. SO?
That's right, le Misanthrope. "That's right." Right. Right old kooky Kokie. And no surprise she's on National Propaganda/Pentagon Radio, running the repugnican bullshit as usual. NPR, like Kokie, has turned into shit. I wouldn't give them a goddmaned dime--they get enough from the feudal Corpratocracy anyway.
Did you hear their crap analysis of Venezuela? I mean, Chavez is not perfect, but they run the lamest, non-news, COINTELPRO-style anti-Chavez propaganda every time. And that Steve Instkeep is just such a dismal shit.
Yeah - there probably are some Americans who only want to win in Iraq...but those are the ones who don't have relatives and friends in Iraq. I've got a damn good idea. Round up the relatives and friends of those who want to WIN in Iraq and let them take the place of those serving there now.
Think that would shut them up.
In other news, a recent poll found that when asked "Do you want to win?" a full 95% of Americans said they want to win.
(+/- 5% margin of error)
ysbaddaden @ 11:
You were right the first time. McDonalds quit using the spoons when the news came out that cokeheads were using them as a perfect dose measure. Cokie was around back then. You make the connection.
The queen of Versailles needs her own nickname. How about "Snorty?"
Only two kinds of people see war as sport: the abysmally stupid and the obscenely rich.
Cokie Roberts is useless and she always has been. She is totally unqualified to call herself a journalist. She represent the pin heads in America.
GO TO HELL Cokie Roberts!!!!!
"Borg-like hive mind". Myes, I like it. From now on it will be hard for me to watch the MSM on TV without those words running through my mind. They remind me of Heinlein's classic Sci-fi novel, "The Hive".
Where's Cokie's pill box hat to go with that powder blue Maggie Thatcher outfit and Barbara Bush pearl earings? You can tell by the way Cokie dresses, wears her hair and make up she's a prudish, uptight conservative.
"She, and others like her, are so stuck in the we’re Americans & we’re winners mentality that they would let the war drag on forever."
And yet: they were all only too willing to declare defeat and go home before the Kosovo War even started. Milosevic is too wily. Willy is too slick. We don't do nation building. There are mountains there! Mountains!
No, it's not about Americans as winners at all. It's about where their reptilian loyalties lie.
Newsflash: United States of America was victorious in the battle for Iraq in May, 2003! Occupation? Not so good.
re 65:Where’s Cokie’s pill box hat to go with that powder blue Maggie Thatcher outfit and Barbara Bush pearl earings? You can tell by the way Cokie dresses, wears her hair and make up she’s a prudish, uptight conservative.
To quote the McWarmonger; Trollop!
"Yeah - there probably are some Americans who only want to win in Iraq"
This nonsense would all end if someone just asked: what will it mean to win? The only way we can "win" is for Iran to win much, much bigger. And of course the neocons cannot have that.
Rightwingers want to burn it all down to the ground. They're not happy until the Iraq is a fucking ocean of blood. Maybe Cokie and her type want to drown insurgents out.
I've posted a complaint to abc.com for giving Cokie airtime for her lies. I suggest we all do the same: http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3428174&newsShow=thisweek&from=&fname=
It’s hard for me at times to not think of the mainstream media as this monolithic Borg-like hive mind designed merely to keep the status quo and tell you how you should think.
Ah,...but that's exactly the idea. As in 'manufacturing consent'. As in the Council on Foreign Relations elites (of which she is a member) passing along, through the fiction of a corp-rat-ly 'free press', their diktaten.
But the rise of the true free media of the Internet caught them by surprise, and the Potemkin Village reality that has been carefully cultivated these past 30-40 years has been cracking apart. What's behind the mask is anything but a smiley face. Hence Cokie's evil little chuckle.
"Winning" is as defined by Sally Field at the Oscars: Cokie thinks we should stay in Iraq until "They like us! The Iraqis finally like us!"
I gotta agree with Cheney here. Who gives a shit what 2/3 of Americans tell a pollster? 8 in 10 of them were gung-ho for the war in the first place. A majority of Americans believe in the death penalty. A majority believe that Jesus will be returning within their lifetimes.
Argue the occupation, for or against, on its merits and morals - not on mob rules.
Perhaps Cokie is just too intrenched inside the Beltway... most of the people that I talk to say they just want out of Iraq... and a fair number of them are ex-republicans.
Daaammmnnn....
I can smell the Ben Gay and Depends from here!
joeedugan @ 72:
Fat and stupid?
Cookie Roberts is a great example of one of those commentators (semi-politicians) who over the years have dug themselves into believing that what Americans want is actually: What Americans wanted when she was at least 10 years younger. Not only can she not keep it with the changes happening in the American society, she does not comprehend them and like many older people is afraid of changes no matter how hard they are needed. Afraid that the American voter might be right and she and all the rest of the 'GRUMPY MUMBLERS' on TV might be wrong. Therefor she and her 'GRUMPY MUMBLERS' brothers and sisters on TV will continue to spew out their aversion for the American voter, may they be Republican or Democrat.
Apart from the fact that America need a complete overhaul from the present corrupt political system with no respect for the Constitution and or the Law, this group of (seemingly settled in for live) self-proclaimed specialists should be thrown out as well. They are the one type of specialist America can do without.
Leg Hussein Paine @ 67:
Can I hear a codswallop?
cokey roberts prospers directly from war profits.
she is from the rich reichwingneocons.
she is a fucking insensitive BITCH.
Please define winning! We overthrew Saddam, there were no WMD, Dubya declared victory...and we stayed there for five years to disrupt the Iraqi lives and country...please for the sake of God define the mission we are trying to win, you dumb f*ckers.
This is a text book example of what Glenn Greenwald talks about all the time.
Roberts is living in a cocoon of her own devising.
The press believes that the American people want what they(in their insular,elitist world)have constructed,and have come to fervently believe,regardless of the polls and basic facts on the ground.Its really rather shocking.
I used to like Cokie Roberts.
THIS IS NOT A WAR. IT IS AN OCCUPATION.
What is that tired old republiCON skank still doing on the airwaves?
Shouldn't she be on some independent cable baking cookies?
ysbaddaden @ 10:
You really have to work to finish those McDonald's spoons. Those are not for the rookies.
Cokies mom and dad were damn good representatives in the US Congress from New Orleans. Both had actually lived in the real world and understood people as good the good Roosevelt Democrats they were. Unfortunately Cokie has never lived in the real world...she has only lived in the insular world of Washington and has no clue if "most americans want to win" ....how would she know? She doesn't know any americans. She only knows, eats with, lives with, ...the political class of Washington. I am sure Hale and Lindy Boggs are turning in the grave about right now. Wouldn't get to upset about Cokie....she is like a lot of Washington today will become VERY irrelevant in Jan 09 when the "Jacksonian" of the 21st century arrive and govern at the behest of ...those Americans Cokie Roberts knows nothing about.
Cokie Roberts is a moron. If they're going to keep giving us these newsbots to barf out corporate spin, can't they at least make them hot?
At one point Cokie said something to the nature of that people should listen to them to get the real story behind things concerning politics...WTF!!
Cookie, please describe or at least define what winning the war means? Hell yes, the average American wants to "win" the quagmire. Just try and get them to state what that means and how many more people will have to die to get there. If there is a there, there.
Cokie is a big f@cking Wh@re! Oopsie, is that going to get me bounced from Air America?