Former President George H.W. Bush
Former President George H.W. Bush says MSNBC entertainers Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow are "sick puppies" for the way they treat his son -- former President George W. Bush -- and other who don't agree with him.
The elder Bush, in an interview with CBS News, singled out the two liberal talk show hosts as examples of what he called an increasing lack of civility in politics.
"I don't like it," Bush said of the coarse tone of national debate. "The cables have a lot to do with it. It's not just the right. There are plenty of people on the left."
Maddow and Olbermann anchor MSNBC's nightly dishing of liberal opinion and often single out George W. Bush for harsh commentary and treatment. Although neither are trained journalists, the cable network bills their talkfests as "news" shows.
"The way they treat my son and anyone who's opposed to their point of view is just horrible," Bush said.
Bush told CBS that harsh, unrelenting criticism "should not be par for the course. To the degree it turns off one student or one person from serving, that's bad."
The former President was also critical of right-wing commentators for the way they treat current President Barack Obama. The attacks, he said, "crosses the lines of civility" but added that he did not think the majority of attacks from the right stemmed from racism.
"You might find some racists out there but I don't think the attacks per se have to do that he's an African American," Bush told the network.
Both Maddow and Olbermann reacted to Bush's comments with expected hyperbole, saying the former President was guilty of "name calling." (video below):
Technorati Tags: FUBAR George H.W. Bush George W. Bush Keith Olbermann Rachel Maddow cable talk shows
Can't let the search for truth get in the way of a Thousand Points of Senility and corruption now can we George? The only reason your last name has not replaced F&CK as the expletive of choice is that "bush" is far more derogatory and crass.
Mr. Bush, I can understand a father defending his son, but I also know that a father cannot see the faults and defects in a son. Your son is a idiot, who is in need of professional help and counseling. Dr. Frank has laid it out in no certain terms in his book, "Bush on The Couch". "Sick puppies", the two sickest left the White house back in Jan.
It is my belief that President Bush 43 followed the neoconservative agenda laid out by President 41. I walked out of the GOP in 1992 in digust of the One World Order of the GOP.
41 is simply trying to clean up the mess 43 made. We all know it! Olberman and Maddow speak strongly and with the truth that most of us understand. This comment of 41 could only help MSNBC ratings if they need help. Last night Olberman had a one hour diatribe on the health issues in America. He did not use words from either talking points but own history of his father's illness, its cost and his own covering of the surgery, hospital costs and recovery expenses.
GHWB has clearly never watched Rachael Maddow; she is the personification of civility when it comes to political commentators.
The "harsh unrelenting commentary" with respect to GWB is well earned. Olbermann, for the most part, gives well reasoned arguments for his opinions, although he rarely hides his scorn.
Not trained journalists? How long has it been since that seemed to mean something? These two are informed and articulate in presenting their views. Notice that the elder Bush couldn't say they had their facts wrong.
I can't think of a right-wing counterpart who doesn't use sophistry, incivility and reckless disregard for facts and reason as a matter of course.
This incarnation of Ramses II speaks: so as it is written so shall it be done...!
I've listened to Ms. Maddow and Keith Olbermann and neither one of them "coarsen the tone" of the debate. Granted Keith has an energetic, sportcaster ramble, but other than that he makes sense more often than not.
I suspect coarsening of the debate to H.W. Bush means discussing issues that link he and his Illuminatist~Skull and Bones brethren to shenanigans and crimes in high places. : |
Carl Nemo **==
oceanike, I agree with you 100%. You are spot on!! Keith and Rachel are part of my daily routine and I think they are the best on t.v. They are well informed and prepared and have their facts straight. And they do it all with a sense of humor as well with a straight face when needed.
Rachel is a feisty gal and can hold her own in any argument as we saw on Thursday evening with a guest she was tying to call down. She proved him wrong Friday night with recorded proof. She is very intelligent. GHWB is correct as to the level of negativity on the airwaves but it's mostly the republicans that are throwing it around.
colocritic
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when George Bush Senior and George Bush Junior got together for a "family chat" in Kennebunkport just before Junior left office.
My hunch is that there probably were a LOT of OTHER four letter words (besides "bush") being bandied about!
What a genuinely sad representation of fatherhood not to mention FPOTUS.
I hear the lamentations of self supposed royalty defending the indefensible. In place of loyalty, here says the poster boy for what wasn't wrong with this picture, "Lay off my little boy".
When a nations future is in question, accusations that truth and the search for thereof are as false brings clarity and proves harboring of a fear of little profit for one side of America unless based on lies and half truths.
I'm the Fly. You got that dang sadamm dintya boy.
Of course they are sick puppies and I can toss Rush and Beck into the mix. All about the dollars. I occasionally see the lot of them and it reminds me of football cards where they say "For amusement purposes only."
Georgie H has it all backwards. Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill-O are the sick puppies! And they are definitely not "journalists." My husband and I live to watch Rachel and Keith every night. They are the only real "journalists." They give us the facts and the truth behind the lies of FOX Noise.
Unfortunately, George H. W. Bush has no credibility, no matter who he might refer to as "sick puppies." President 41 has a scandalous background all his own in addition to several generations of Bush family members who believed in their entitlement, even when its machinations represented major betrayals of their country's values. Consider, for example, Poppi's employment of the political assassin Lee Atwater and the fact that Poppi gave the villainous Karl Rove his first job. None of the very dark history of the Bush family and its quest for riches at the expense of American democracy has never been adequately covered by major media. If you want the facts and the truth read "Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means For America," by Russ Baker.