Patterico's Pontifications

5/26/2011

Paul Ryan Pron and a Democrat Walks Off a Fox News Broadcast

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 1:57 pm



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.  Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

This video clip is fun to watch for two different reasons.  First, it captures a candid moment between Bill Clinton and Paul Ryan, which is interesting because Clinton is admitting that Medicare is in trouble, his fears that Democrats will ignore the problem, and hear the siren song of temporary political gain by demagoguing the issue.  And that is interesting.

But it’s also fun because Fox News set up one of those debate segments.  In the left corner (literally and figuratively) was “former Bill Clinton campaign adviser Simon Rosenberg.”  In the right corner was “conservative talk-show host Ben Ferguson.”  And in the end Rosenberg literally takes off his mic and walks out in frustration.

Myself, I actually don’t think Rosenberg acquitted himself too badly.  The fact was Ferguson was rude.  Now the ideal reaction would have been to put him in his place, but the fact that Rosenberg didn’t rise to my ideal doesn’t make Ferguson suddenly right, just more like a successful bully.

On the other hand Rosenberg was telling some whoppers in the substance of his argument.  But that doesn’t mean that Ferguson had to interrupt him.  Seriously, did he think he would have no time to reply?

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

55 Responses to “Paul Ryan Pron and a Democrat Walks Off a Fox News Broadcast”

  1. all three of these people are annoying separately and together they have a lot of synergy

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  2. Darth Cheney hearts Ryan, therefore, he is evil.

    JD (b98cae)

  3. Paul Ryan makes my little pikachu heart go pitter pitter pat

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  4. When someone outright lies it is ok to cut them off and call them a liar.

    Sorry. I don’t believe in polite while someone is trying to shiv ya.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  5. Exactly Torquemada.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  6. I second SBT.
    For far too many times, and too many years, have Conservatives been polite while the worst calumnies have been spread about them.
    Since the Left has opened that gate, it’s time for the herd to run over them.

    AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92)

  7. Unfortunately, it does not come off that way to the average viewer — or independent voter, for that matter. Elizabeth Dole has political views that I mostly agree with, but as a Senator she annoyed me no end by constantly interrupting interviewers in her rabid pursuit of controlling the message. Frankly, she always came off sounding like a defensive, aggressive jerk.

    Icy Texan (3f01f5)

  8. Ferguson, really gets on my nerves, but Rosenberg’s
    ‘lips were moving’ so what can you do,

    ian cormac (72470d)

  9. Conservatives have been having things crammed down their throats for nearly a decade during interviews, debates and “journalist special investigations” by Democrat hacks. I say tough shit to the Democrats and their spokes mouths… they wanted to play by these rules for a decade, well play by them now bitches!

    Nevyan (7f540e)

  10. Great beat down. Should happen daily.

    I, for one, am tired of hearing fantasy land economics from people giving away my money while keeping a piece of it to feather their nest.

    F* Rosenberg. He was fear mongering. Obamacare has “death” panels as well as less spending on Medicare but that “helps” the elderly live longer?

    Seriously, F* Rosenberg. I wish he would have wrapped the cord tighter around his neck and slipped off the stage.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  11. That is a lie and you are a liar is a very effective response when a leftist starts lying.

    JD (29e1cd)

  12. Icy, I hear ya but ya can’t allow folks to outright lie and be nice about it.

    End of the day, if you speak the truth in a rational manner — folks will get it.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  13. This is why Ann Coulter often starts saying, “Na na na I can interrupt you just like you can interrupt me look at me talking while you’re talking,” when she is on such shows and is interrupted and the like.

    luagha (5cbe06)

  14. Original Intent of Medicare — “help the elderly who are sick.”

    New Intent of Medicare — “don’t spend too much on the sick and let us waste money on the perfectly healthy.”

    It is ass backwards b/c the Medical Profession has brain washed folks to think if you eat perfectly, exercise routinely and never do anything risky that MAGICALLY we will all live longer ….. and Government should pay for it.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  15. I love how these lefty twits complain about the religious right trying to co-opt the Republican party into a Christian theocracy but yet they call you a bigot for warning of the threat of an islamic theocracy.

    These same lefty twits do not like being interrupted but they interrupt you.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  16. But fact is …. genes plays a much bigger role and no matter how long you live … you always have the final 12 months.

    I rather live in a country that helps folks take care of folks in the final 12 months than spending money so young people can get 99% wasteful preventative care.

    Stat of the day 1 of 800 Mammograms find a lump. Nearly 80% of those can be found with manual checks.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  17. 4.When someone outright lies it is ok to cut them off and call them a liar.
    Sorry. I don’t believe in polite while someone is trying to shiv ya.
    Comment by Sponge Bob Torquemada — 5/26/2011 @ 2:14 pm

    I disagree. Interrupt once.

    Otherwise you get the infamous Lawrence O’Donnell tirade against John O’Neill. Since O’Donnell believed that his opponent was lying, he interrupted him repeatedly and sought to prevent O’Neill from having a chance to response.
    http://michellemalkin.com/2004/10/25/lawrence-lost-it-odonnell/

    One who prevents his opponent from responding comes across looking as a bully. It reminds me of a quote from Star Trek, in which Data asked an opponent: “Is your position so weak that it cannot withstand debate?”

    aunursa (a2a019)

  18. 🙄 But the lefty twit lied more than once 🙄

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  19. Aunursa,

    Bullies win.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  20. But the lefty twit lied more than once.

    Still he should wait his turn to respond. If you comes across as a bully who wants to stifle his opponent’s argument, he can be correct on the facts and still lose the debate.

    aunursa (a2a019)

  21. What is the goal? If the goal is to convince the undecided, bullies lose.

    aunursa (a2a019)

  22. And let me add, the entire health care debate was a giant fraud.

    1) Emergency rooms are not over crowded.
    2) hospitals are not losing money due to taking care of the uninsured
    3) No person without insurance dies on the streets due to lack of care
    4) It is not a right since it creates and obligation for others
    5) More medicine is not healthier population
    6) Healthier populations does not mean less spending on health care

    But anyway …

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  23. Yes, but when has O’Donnell been right about anything?

    ian cormac (72470d)

  24. You don’t think Bullies convince the undecided?

    The undecided usually want to be on the winning side. Explains Yankees caps in Oklahoma.

    It is ok to bully the opposition with facts.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  25. Yes this guy is bullying us into a theocracy started by bush

    /Sarcasm off

    That was sarcasm

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  26. ,,, and Mickey Mantle.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  27. No you see, you have to Bully people with a smile on your face.

    Reminds me of Bartleby the Scribener or a Japanese Business meeting.

    Be polite long enough and ignore the other person’s concerns while doing whatever you want to do ….

    Which is why we got Obamacare in spite of the fact the Governed rejected it.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  28. 23.Yes, but when has O’Donnell been right about anything?

    Comment by ian cormac — 5/26/2011 @ 2:43 pm

    But the undecided voter who doesn’t know either speaker won’t come from that perspective. The undecided voter will not be persuaded by a speaker who prevents his opponent from giving his opinion.

    In 2004 I had never seen or heard Larry O’Donnell before. I had never seen or heard John O’Neill before. I didn’t yet understand the Swift Boat Vets controversy. But Larry O’Donnell’s bullying convinced me that he had no rational response to his opponent.

    aunursa (a2a019)

  29. I’ve seen conservative commentators defeat opponents who spew a series of lies — without resorting to bullying tactics.

    aunursa (a2a019)

  30. #29, I agree but to say one tactic always wins …. sometimes you can be the gentlemen and win but sometimes you must be the savage.

    Slaves weren’t freed with discourse — they were freed with bullets. Vietnam war was not “ended” by polite discourse but by lots of complaining and bullying.

    Cocktail & Country Club Republicanism is what got us in the hole to being with.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  31. aunursa, you are surely correct that the best way to combat a shifty lefty liar is to methodically poke holes in his or her arguments with logic and facts. However — let’s face it — a three-to-five-minute segment on a TV news program (even on Fox) is no forum for this sort of debate. If Rosenberg and Ferguson were together in an hour-long Lincoln/Douglas debate on this topic then I would be upset at Ferguson’s behavior. As it is, in the five-minute TV format the person who manages to filibuster and talk the most “wins” the debate. Rosenberg wanted to spout his talking points about how awful the Republicans’ plan is but how the Democrats really wanted to work together to find a solution (even though they wouldn’t introduce a bill of their own), so I have far less problem with what he did there.

    JVW (24ee9a)

  32. . . . so I have far less problem with what he did there.

    The “he” in that case being Ferguson.

    JVW (24ee9a)

  33. #31, That too.

    It was Democrats who started this battle with Watergate and the gotcha politics. They tried to get Reagan with it and failed.

    So the fact, it got ugly with Clinton and gotten worse is normal. I honestly believe the other side is not just worse but significantly so.

    And in addition, I think the Right-of-Center is better on policy too.

    Sponge Bob Torquemada (fccc6f)

  34. (1) Is a peroxided ‘do a requirement to work at Fox?

    (2)Why is BEN FERGUSON YELLING!?!

    (3) The stripping of the mic apparatus is always a classic. Here’s a blast from the past — as always, the Brits do this sort of thing better!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SlE5cTcYZbs#t=205s

    stari_momak (d5f987)

  35. Often the TV producers want their guests to interrupt each other to create faux drama. This isn’t happening by accident.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  36. Comment by aunursa — 5/26/2011 @ 2:52 pm

    WFB died!

    AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92)

  37. He couldn’t win the debate so he was following the new democrat strategy–running and hiding. Perhaps he was using the Texas democrats strategy of going to Oklahoma, or the Wisconsin democrats strategy of going to Illinois.

    Jim (844377)

  38. “Democrats aren’t fearmongering, but the Ryan plan will cause people to die early.”

    How does going to a public/private plan cause people to die early?

    The guy rightly got called out on the most patently ridiculous comment ever.

    ConJob (ddee68)

  39. I don’t think the blond lady moderator had control of the situation and that’s her job. Both the “guests” acted like total jerks. Some topics are ripe for TV drama–including a well managed shouting match even. But Medicare and entitlement reform is not one of them. (How many people watching had even seen the video of the old lady being pushed over the cliff and knew what Ferguson was talking about. And if they have not seen it, how smart was it of Ferguson to highlight it?)

    elissa (514870)

  40. Um, so it’s not bullying to claim that Paul Ryan’s plan is killing seniors? Give me a break.

    Dirty Old Man (2e2a43)

  41. I didn’t watch the video, but this constantly interrupting and not letting the other person get a word in edgewise is the main reason I can’t stand Bill O’Reilly. I would never agree to be a guest on his show, since their only purpose seems to be to provide him with someone to harangue. And I’d find it annoying even if I agreed with his politics, which I decidedly do not; which gets really annoying when ignorant lefties crown him the leader of the conservatives or something

    Milhouse (5d260b)

  42. Um, so it’s not bullying to claim that Paul Ryan’s plan is killing seniors? Give me a break.

    No, it’s not bullying, it’s just lying. Bullying and lying are unrelated offenses.

    Milhouse (5d260b)

  43. The guy on the left filibustered and the guy on the right had trouble getting a word in. Aaron, you should time the two speakers. You missed the key metric.

    Mike K (8f3f19)

  44. #37 Touché!

    aunursa (a2a019)

  45. It’s extremely difficult to listen to the left cry about letting people die too early. I mean, that is their one indisputable litmus test.

    Ag80 (1bc637)

  46. They have the death panels, based on ‘the Complete Lives system, that suppresses life for the elderly, to make way for the younger cohort, that’s Emanuel, Holdren, and the like, and that’s the framework Sibelius is building,

    ian cormac (72470d)

  47. Ferguson is the quintessential manifestation of the word “galoot”. Just look at that face.

    Expecting much out of any talking-head pundit type is an exercise in futility. These people don’t have substantive debates, they just get out their talking points as effectively as they can–if that means snark or bullying, fine; if it means pedantry and erudition, fine. But they are certainly not having a meeting of the minds.

    CliveStaples (838c1f)

  48. This is what Fox thinks is debate, which is one of the reasons why I stay away from Fox.

    It’s all about the drama. It’s all about the interrupting. That’s the venue. No, there won’t be time to substantially answer someone who just spouts lie after lie. You burn your time answering lies and have no chance to make a counter point – which is why the lies are thrown out in the first place. In that format the honest commentator has a choice – be rude, or look like an idiot.

    Fox is not interested in debate. Fox is interested in drama. Serious debate requires thought, people tune out, and no Chevys get sold.

    Stick to written blog-based debates, these ‘debates’ are garbage.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  49. a new lefty tactic is emerging. after years and years of nearly every single liberal running off at the mouth every time and any time someone on the right tries to talk, they will now act offended and leave in a huff.

    quasimodo (4af144)

  50. Truth is what I speak
    democrats are Big Quimbies
    it is how they roll

    Colonelhaiku (19a039)

  51. O’reilly is loud
    mouthed lout it went all downhill
    luffa incident

    Colonelhaiku (19a039)

  52. At 3:46 the lefty interrupts the guy on the right but the one on the right doesn’t get all upset and yell “shut up” like the lefty. So I guess the guy on the left doesn’t mind if he is doing the interrupting himself. It’s only rude when the guy on the right interrupts. The lefty is not only arrogant he is a wimp who can’t defend his opinion.

    Brett (df6549)

  53. Your right.

    DohBiden (15aa57)


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