Real Time: Paul Begala Schools Meghan McCain
By Nicole Belle Sunday Jun 21, 2009 9:00am
There is an old saying that it is better to stay silent and thought the fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. I suspect that there are many on TV who would be wise to take that advice.
Take for example, Meghan McCain. I actually kind of like her, because she's shown a rare independence, refusing to simply spew the same talking points of other Republicans and some sass when dealing with the hackiest of the right wing hacks who take cheap pot shots at her. But there's no doubt that she is very young and perhaps needs a little more historical perspective before opining on national television.
It all got started during a discussion of George Bush, who McCain acknowledged was a less than perfect president. But McCain also pointed a finger at the Obama administration in Bush's defense, saying she felt that the Obama administration "has to stop completely blaming everything on its predecessor." When Maher asked McCain if she really thought this is what Obama is doing, McCain said "I do to a degree." A clearly annoyed Begala immediately shook his head and said "not to enough of a degree, I'm sorry not nearly enough." He then began to explain how President Reagan blamed Jimmy Carter for years, to which McCain responded blithely "you know I wasn't born yet so I wouldn't know." Going in for the kill, Begala fired back "I wasn't born during the French Revolution but I know about it."
McCain then reverts to the tried and true Republican tactic of playing the victim:
You clearly know everything and I'm just the blond sitting here.
Meghan, Meghan, Meghan...you can stand up to Laura Ingraham and yet you just wilt in front of Paul Begala and play victim? Is it having facts and an actual historical perspective instead of just making crap up to play to the lowest common denominator that intimidates you?
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I just cracked up when I heard Begala say this on Friday night! You know, Bush and his cronies continually said that they inherited a recession from Clinton....and even today, they still say that.
I also kind of like Meghan because she does stick up to the repug party sometimes, but she does have a lot to learn.
As Ms. McCain's appearance proves once again, she has nothing substantive to add to any political discussion. She's extremely naive politically -- all she says is, "I'm a Republican, and I'm young, and our principles have been hijacked." She literally doesn't understand that the Republican party is controlled by the so-called religious right, which prompted her father to choose Palin as his running mate on the basis of, in part, her ideological bona fides. Furthermore, she knows nothing about the history of Republicanism, and cannot even explain why she's a Republican, other than to trot out a series of trite talking points she picked up after she was caught flat-footed on that very question during a different program.
The unfortunate thing is that Ms. McCain will be a talk-show staple for the next decade and that her opinions, such as they are, will continue to divert attention from serious thinkers.
Arguing that Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham are mean-spirited hags doesn't make you independent -- it simply makes you master of the obvious.
Usually, my pov is on the far left of center. I like Meghan because she represents a fresh pov from the GOP. She has heart, tolerance and compassion for those who are different from her. Like her support of gay marriage. The moderate pov is sorely lacking in the GOP right now as they implode into intolerance and hate.
Paul Begala was being arrogant and took a cheap shot at her. At first, his comment about the French Revolution sounded flip and funny. But Meghan's comment was, "I did not live thru that and so cannot claim to be knowledgeable on the subject" is true.
Begala said he did not live thru the French Revolution but knew about it. So how does he know about it? He read someone else's account, with it's biases about it, so he cannot guarantee it's accuracy because he was NOT there in person. So what is his point? He is willing to pass on information that might be inaccurate so he can seem to be an expert or knowledgeable? That is pretty arrogant.
So Begala can come off as witty, but he seems to be foolish to me. We've all met people who claim to be experts on some topic we know about and they show they know nothing about it or have it completely wrong because they were not there. That's what Begala did to show how witty he can be. What a pile of BS.
I see where you're coming from, but I'm oh-so-tired of left voices letting people ignorant of history get away with misinformation. Begala interrupting the selective editing of presidential history was necessary and arrogant, but more of the former than the latter, imho.
Btw, I like Meghan McCain too. I think she's one of the least hypocritical right voices. I find her brave, but I also find her lacking in the logic and reason departments, and her play of the "i'm just a widdle girl" card on Maher's show made me lose some of the respect I had for her before that show.
He read someone else's account, with it's biases about it, so he cannot guarantee it's accuracy because he was NOT there in person.
Then by these standards, everybody knows nothing about anything, since all knowledge is based on previous knowledge. Is that the stance you REALLY want to take?
Looks like Meghan brought a knife to a gun fight---small wonder she got blown away. Daddy's big money and political connections weren't much help to this dumb ditz who thought flaunting these things ought to be enough. Wrong.
Respect is earned, Meghan, not deserved. Better get a clue next time before you act like you are some expert in politics. You're just a naive, pampered little girl with a lot to learn.
Meghan, don't be like your Stepford... err... Stepmom, Cindy.
I get the impression she's trying really hard not to be like Cindy.
...before humiliating herself on a national stage believing she could punk out a bright, seasoned Washington insider. And Meghan's "comeback" made her appear to be a dumb bitch no matter what color her hair is.
Here in Texas we say, "You don't bring a spork to a gun battle."
.
She brought a "dumb blonde" to a dissertation on Relativity.
Meghan has a lot of courage to face a hostile group like that for someone her age. The courage to express her pov, which I find very compassionate and tolerant.
She could use more background in history, but mastery of facts does not make someone a sincere or admirable person.
[M]astery of facts does not make someone a sincere or admirable person.
No, but it certainly confers credibility when speaking on topics to which facts are germane. Sincerity and admiration doesn't save you from being a ditz.
I hate it when a noun gets verbed.
I was struggling to find a different verb last night, but honestly, it was very late and I was too tired.
this is a perfectly good usage. "Schooled" has been in use for several centuries although a more modern meaning as in "powned" has become common of late.
To "school" someone is to educate them. It is entirely acceptable as a verb.
In fact, as an outgrowth of that, to "school" someone can also mean to chide or scold them.
A noun, verbed noun, and 9-11.
Is that called a gerund? Shakespeare did it a lot, and I kinda like it. In fact, I often use this technique whilst cavorting with my peeps.
I understood a gerund was where a verb has ing added, as in run to running.
I looked it up and apparently I was right school is a noun. However, there's an archaic usage where it essentially means a rebuke or reprimand, so in this latter case in particular it is apropos.
... it is not like the English language has that many verbal tenses. Sheeesh!
It implies the subject is performing the action (or subjected to the effects) of the verb in question.
A gerund is a noun. It's a noun from a verb, by adding "ing".
I ski. (verb ski)
I go skiing (verb go, noun skiing).
...is a case, not a tense, and it refers to a verb that is used as a noun - the classic example being "Swimming is good exercise."
Maybe one day we'll all just switch over to binary.
and wouldn't have any prominence at all if she weren't McCain's get...
she gets all insecure and defensive because she knows she doesnt really know what shes talking about
The same goes for everyone on the planet....MM was being snarky, trying to slip in a oh...you're old compared to me, thus, What?? She is a silver-spooned Republicon, and is running her own campaign backed by the big boyz, for the dirty, old boyz.
Everytime I hear Paul speak, I come away with even more respect for him. He always delivers, and in a sharply excuted way, with more style than MM could ever hope to grow. Of course, she wasn't born when style and grace were around....ya think??
She's an uber-rich asshat, and her Valley Girl voice tone is the same as every single girl who answers the phone at your local hair salon. I grow tired and weary of the thought of having to listen to her crap for the next three years.
"I wasn't, like, born yet, y' know? Just chill OUT. Gawd."
If a Republican woman doesn't piddle on her own shoes, she's a living miracle.
I have to admit. I kinda like her too. She has(to some degree) called out the GOP for their bullshit. But mostly trying to defend her dad.
I'll give her credit for having the stones to go on that show.
But she was woefully unprepared for this encounter.
She had to have known she was going to be confronted. Yet she didn't seem to be prepared.In this clip anyway. I would think that she has a small staff to do some research for her. For some reason, I think she can afford it.
Her response was juvenile.
I imagine that it will be time for this valgrrl to run for council somewhere in AZ soon; she can help to complete ruining the state with the rest of the repukes.
Tubular.
Whudup?
Heheh.:) I won't go any further with this one.;0
You misspelled "tubulerrr."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYmIKcP7Nbc
totally. Ya know? Guh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE3d2GHBuvQ
She doesn't actually know anything, she's just a young, pampered girl who doesn't like being associated with her party's (currently un-hep) media salesmen. That's really about it.
Cat,
That is really, totally, IT.
waiting for the new models to hit the showroom floor, and customers flush with those end-of-fiscal-year bonus checks to pour through the doors any time now. Yeah. Right.
Get used to the comfort of your fists up your asses, GOP.
There is nothing original about her. She whines when she speaks and always plays the victim when it suits her. Granted she is "standing" up to the Republican Establishment in her own umm like umm youthful way, but as someone said in a previous post, she brought a knife to a gun fight and then cried boo hoo when she clearly is out of her league. She reminds of someone who would hang out with Elizabeth Hasselbeck and consider her an intellectual equal.
... stupid, with an infinite sense of entitlement, and she only "sticks it up" to the GOP establishment because she smells blood and she figures there is something in it for her...
If you think about it a pack of hyenas, or a cloud of piranhas may have more social conscience than these assholes.
In other words, she is a waste... the fact that these uneducated idiotic GOP scions get so much air time, it is infuriating. All they do is contribute to sink further the level of discussion in this country.
In the marketplace of ideas, clueless gets no buyers. She can't be bold simply in posture, and would do well to put some meat on her attitude.
That's a terrific come back -- to a dumbass who pontificates on subjects upon which they have limited knowledge, or someone who does know something about a subject, but won't let anyone else speak.
You don't say that to a guy who is pointing out to you that just because you weren't born yet is no reason to not know history.
That said, she's young, she's smart, and if we are to have Republicans in the future, I am hoping that they will be more like her, a person who thinks for herself, stands up to the status quo, and be less like her dad and his cohorts.
Her social stances are much more left than right.
I think as she gets older and she gets some more exposure to the world, she'll actually reject the Republican learning she's been raised with.
I don't think she's a secret liberal. I think she's more of a moderate.
But you may be right about her as time goes by.
Lets hope so.
to carve out a political career to continue daddy's legacy at the GOP.
Thinking that there is any redeeming quality coming from this twit is an exercise in denial.
"That said, she's young, she's smart, and if we are to have Republicans in the future, I am hoping that they will be more like her, a person who thinks for herself, stands up to the status quo, and be less like her dad and his cohorts."
How is she smart, when she routinely demonstrates she has no idea what she's discussing? How does she think for herself, when she is patently unable to articulate why she's a Republican? In fact, if her appearances on the talking-head shows are any indication, she's not terribly bright and she's woefully uninformed.
The ONLY reason she has any platform is because she's McCain's daughter and the media has crafted this contrarian/generational divide between her and her father.
meg mccain was revealed. she would be better served looking for spots in people magazine. this was not
a good venue for her. she may have potential, but katy and paul shrunk her to size rather quickly. she went to the self-deprecating blonde card. the (r) need to do better than this.
I really enjoy watching Paul Begala pick apart arguments. He's quick and razor sharp but doesn't go below the belt with his remarks. Ms. McCain knew that it would be rough. "Little ole me" was an argument of last resort.
He's smart and has a great sense of humour, without being nasty. He's a real treasure!
George Bush was a less than perfect President. She does have a gift for understatement....
"refusing to simply spew the same talking points of other Republicans"
Stated in comment to a video where the valley idiot does precisely that.
She doesn't get the emailed talking points everyday.
... but reading more than 3 words in a row is hard work!
hahaha everyone in the room starts feeling awkward when she says "apparently you know everything" , its almost tangible through the computer screen
She'll think better than to just say that she doesn't know something as a retort. Acknowledge you don't know and learn from the people who do know. Also, when she was asked about the Letterman-Palin spat instead of admitting (like most reasonable people) that Letterman was clearly talking about Bristol, she said he should've done his research first. Give me a break. She might be last somewhat reasonable republican voice nowadays but she still has a lot to learn and did deserve to get served.
....and so did Bill. At that moment he realized just how dumb she is and just how well qualified she is for a job at foxnews.
thats not fair
she is naive and has lived a rather sheltered life
doesnt make her dumb
She seems to have a decent position on Calif's Prop 8.
I fixed it and put in a better link.
... I feel sorrier for us after the horror and misery her dad's buddies visited upon us. For that, the only thing I can feel for this twit is contempt. In fact after her little routine trying to play the victim after her kind just f*cked us royally... add disgust to the list of feelings this idiot triggers whenever her peroxided nasty mug shows on the teevee...
that Bill thought he had a chance of getting laid.
Katy (the reporter from BBC America) kept looking like "she just set back blonds a few decades".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rNfZxgkH7k
I can't stand her.
Begala reminds me a lot of some teachers I had in high school in college. Teachers who each understood that their job was to drill knowledge into your thinkbone, but who weren't just going to silently acquiesce when you said or did something stupid, especially if you didn't know you were being stupid and actually thought you were being profound. Teachers who didn't necessarily believe in the old axiom "there are no stupid questions." Teachers who'd bang their heads against the wall when a student said something like "Reagan wasn't the only actor who became president, I saw Lincoln in lots of old movies." These are the teachers who inspired to pay a little more attention. I guess McCain saw those teachers as meanies who picked on her because she's rich and almost pretty. More 'tis the pity, she should take notes and learn from people like Begala, but it's hard to take notes when you're nailed up on the cross like that...
of the last 40 years would they be Republican.
In there version of history Bush did the right thing by invading Iraq.
especially when she talks dirty
dont blame her for her ignorance...she was raised sheltered from many realities...including the evil that was reagan
and yes, reagan spent alot of time blaming carter
the love child of Winston Churchill and Dorothy Parker, with an even more finely honed wit.
Meagan is at trying to do the right thing, and I think in time will learn enough to de-blond herself. She's actually someone with whom I'd love to sit down and explain a bit of reality.
S'too bad he cannot win an election...
The Republican's problems are that they don't expose themselves to opposing viewpoints. I collect my landlady's mail, and the only "periodicals" she receives are Reader's Digest and the National Right to Life Newsletter. No Time, Newsweek, US News, nothing. While this echo chamber is true of both (all?) parties, it is far more prevalent of conservatives. Far more "libruls" listen to Rush, O'Reilly & Hannity than conservatives listen to Olbermann, Schultz & Seder.
There is "spirited" debate on the liberal blogs; but just TRY to get an opposing viewpoint on Fox Nation. Exposure to opposing viewpoints and the ensuing debates sharpens your viewpoint, and the ability to defend it. Faux News does people like Cheney (both DICK and Liz) and McCain no favor when they put them on with friendly interviewers who lob softball questions with no follow-up.
I have always maintained that if you can't defend your opinions, you don't really HAVE opinions; you have vaguely thought-out "feelings" that are built on a foundation of sand.
Actually, that was a pretty lame comeback from Begala. Why not explain why a) Obama *did* inherit a mess from Bush and b) Obama is really not running around yelling "it's not my fault". He's actually trying to fix bush's mess along with introducing major programs of his own. Begala should have pointed that out.
to point out that the repukes love to rewrite history
see, i was alive when reagan was prez...and i do remember him time and again blaming carter...as did many repukes
thing is, we dems accepted the fact that jimmy wasnt the greatest of presidents...although, had his energy policy not been ripped to shreds by reagan, we wouldnt be in half the mess as we are today
I've respected Paul Begala ever since he called Rush Limbaugh a "drug addled gas bag who is self discredited" on CNN back in 2004. William Bennett jumped to Rush's defense. Of course, William Bennett is addled from his gamblimg addiction, but not so much that he cannot tell the rest of us how we should live our lives.
He borrowed the "drug addled gas bag" thing from Stephanie Miller (he has given her credit for it).
I don't feel sorry for Meghan re: not being able to hold her own with Begala. I just feel bad that Bill Maher wouldn't stop touching her. Yick!
He has no taste, or discernment. Blonde? Fuckable!
I have zero sympathy for Meghan McCain. She volunteered to inject herself into the political fray, yet without an instant's hesitation she deflects a valid observation of her ignorance of her own party's recent history by playing victim like a mewling kitten.
Meghan McCain clearly has political ambitions of her own, and there's no time like the present to highlight why she, like other Republican schmucks, should be opposed with maximum diligence and fervor.
Yes, Meghan McCain, you are "just the blond sitting here." From now on you should have to prove, over and over, that you have any historical knowledge of any kind. Ignorance is forgivable, once. After that, it's willful ignorance, and the pubic has a right to know.
she probably wants to get into the pr biz...but im sure she wont run for office after watching what it has done to her father
it is not fair to say she is stupid, for that is how the repukes have painted her
and there are many on the liberal side of the aisle, who also have a lack of knowledge of history
yes, saying "i wasnt born" is not an excuse for anything....but i have seen many on my side use almost the same excuse...especially when it comes to world history
What I have been saying,
republicanism is a mental illness!
that I admire Ms McCain's willingness enter the lion's den and even take on extremists within her own party. Unfortunately she does seem to have that true Republican streak in her that says if she doesn't know a fact then that fact is irrelevant.
A "less than perfect President"(Bush)--translating from Bizarro Winger World language: A mass-murdering criminal.
Meghan clearly is not experienced enough for this kind of intellectual warfare, espescially with Begala. Those sarcastic replies she gave to Begala weren't even up to minor league standards.
Everything is Clinton's fault...remember! :D
It didn't take her long to blame her blonde
hair for her ignorance of the facts. Sorry
Meghan, it's because you are a republican
that your brain does not have the capacity
to handle the truth. Go have your whinny little
pity party somewhere else.
ground (relating shrub's thrashing of McCain during the '04 primaries to Letterman/Palin) and she just blathered something about "looking forward." Maybe she was just nervous, but clearly, she couldn't defend daddy while IFO a camera.
She may not be as bad as some of the other 'thugs, but they can keep her, IMHO.
Meghan McCain stood up to Laura Ingraham because Ingraham called her fat. Begala only highlighted her smug ignorance. One has to have priorities, and her priority is DON'T CALL HER FAT.
Not nearly enough is right. I will continue to blame Bush for many of the world's problems, for the rest of my life. He totally sucked.
I think shes trying to change the nutcase ways of right wing views when it comes to woman, and thats good.
I agree with so many of the posts already written, Megan really needs to hit the books and learn. I have a daughter (who is a heart breaker blond) that is 18, who could debate this woman because she knows history, politics, and has the common sense to put it all together.
Megan seems like shes a really nice sheltered girl, typical of the upper class that wants to use her position and name to edge into some type of society role. If this is the short sited view that is going to be represented in the future people are in trouble.
Maher did a great job in trying to protect her, he let her stand on her own feet when necessary and stood in when she couldn't handle it, which was a lot. I did find it funny that when she first came out Megan was freaked out on the one on one conversation between the two.
It really reflects a lot into her personal self esteem from growing up to present. Mentally young my daughter watched it with me and even though she could debate her, got kinda mad because I was ripping on her pretty hard.
I really tried to explain that people like her that use daddy's name, and go into the spotlight should get ready to prove themselves, I would expect her to be strong (if not stronger at 18) defending herself on the same show if her views were different. She was still kinda mad,but agreed she could take her in a debate hands down, especially on political issues in relevance to protect free speech and comic relief.
Her own site is telling her to hit the books as she is 24 and a journalist major. One even went so far as to call her the
"Paris Hilton of Journalists"
I thinks shes trying to be a centered republican but has a lot of growing up to do.
was funny
I watched the Bill Maher show and it was like the audience didn't know shit that was in the news. Just to show that even the people I thought paid attention don't pay attention. - We're fucked!
Don't forget, a gun may misfire, a knife never does.
...victim-hood, meant only to pull her out of the enormous shit hole she put herself in. Maher clearly felt sorry for the overmatched, undertalented rookie fool who could not use her nepotism in that debate.
fawning all over this bitch? Me thinks that the little head is doing the thinking for the big head.
Look, I enjoy a good public smack-down as much as the next guy, but there is a serious side to this.
Allowing people who have little experience, education or qualifications into positions of prominence based on political contacts is how we got former FEMA Director Mike "heckuva job" Brown.
Then, when competence is sorely needed, it's absent.
The best she can do to disassociate herself from the rest of her right-wing flock is to use the word "shit" on air.
She even sounds like an idiot. Sorry folks - she is pretty much at the same level as Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly and the rest of the idiots who wouldn't bother fact checking if they knew what the concept was about.
The comment about the French Revolution in response to her bimbo "I wasn't born yet." was very apt. If you have any brains and an even modest education that is one excuse that no one should ever accept in a discussion.
Was she there as comic counter point? She surely wasn't brought on as a person whose opinions should be seriously considered. What was going on?
Just because her dad is John Boy-does that make her an authority on politics?? Why are we even listening to this dribble???
Wwwwwaaaaahhhhhh big spoiled brat.
As far as courage to go on a show-that's ridiculous why should you get props for that.
This is what I heard from the clip- "Blah, blah , blah I wanted to say, "and what about blah,blah, blah."
Ohh she just needs time to grow- really... There are lots of wonderful kids her age that have PHD`s and are extremely bright why not pick someone intelligent. Is stupidity a requirement for the GOP?? Examples/Palin/Hasselbeck/and the list goes on………
I do think she could share her wisdom on other topics that she is considered an expert on...nail polish,pearls, Louis Vuitton handbags, etc?
P.S.-Her dad is useless too.
She's kind of right, she *is* out of her depth on this (or any other) panel. Do you think we would hear anything at all frfom or about this relentlessly ordinary non-thinker if instead of McCain her name were, I don't know, Wurzelbacher or something?
Oops, bad example.
Yep. Typical Republican victim response.
Previously I'd heard that Meghan McCain was making the rounds of various media to express her opinions, but I'd never seen her or heard what she had to say.
After watching this episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," however, I'm astonished that Ms. McCain has the gall to continue making public appearances. Her words and opinions seem more consistent with MTV's "My Super Sweet 16." Clearly her thinking is as weak and disorderly as her father's. Despite the fact that she claims to be 24 years old, she comes off as a poorly educated, petulant child.
She is so annoying, my god I know teenagers more mature than her. I agree with some of the other posts, that this is a republican tactic to blame the media on ur own horrific knowledge. She came off like a dumb little girl, in her case maybe asking for a lollipop or something with alot of calories which would explain her mamoth figure. Why the hell would Bill Maher even waste his air time with this mess??
She sounds as asinine as BO did when he said regarding Bill Ayres' criminal past: "I was seven."
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