It’s on: Bill Kristol challenges Matt Damon to debate
posted at 2:20 pm on January 26, 2009 by Allahpundit
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A honey of a stunt by Breitbart to build buzz for Big Hollywood. $100,000 to make it happen, though?
Must be nice to have Drudge money.
On Sunday afternoon Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist Bill Kristol — in an email exchange with Big Hollywood — agreed to debate Matt Damon on his Hollywood home turf after being informed the 38-year old actor ridiculed Kristol in an interview in the Miami Herald.
“He’s an idiot — he wrote that we should be grateful to George Bush because he won the Iraq war. We! Won! The! War!”
As the sponsor of the event, Big Hollywood is offering $100,000 to Damon (or to the charity or carbon credit of his choice) to publicly debate Kristol at a mutually agreed upon time, date and venue.
Who has more to lose? It’s received wisdom on the left that Kristol’s the ne plus ultra of conservative idiocy, as today’s theatrical nutroots overreaction to his leaving the NYT demonstrates. If Damon — whose every interview on politics mentions his Harvard pedigree for extra gravitas — goes toe to toe with him and loses, his lefty intellectual cred will be smashed. If Kristol loses, at the very least he should be forced to give up his chair on “Special Report.” Or maybe have it lowered by a foot or so, that his shame might be forever preserved with a sight gag.
Note to Breitbart: If you really want to kick up a fuss online, change the topic from Iraq to Sarah Palin. Exit question one: Did I misread Damon’s quote there or is he actually acknowledging that the war is won? He’s being sarcastic, right? Exit question two: If he isn’t being sarcastic, which is more surprising? That quote, or this one:
”Look, the best line about torture I’ve heard came from [retired CIA officer turned war-on-terrorism critic] Milt Beardon,” Damon says. “He said, ‘If a guy knows where a dirty bomb is hidden that’s going to go off in a Marriott, put me in a room with him and I’ll find out. But don’t codify that. Just let me break the law.’
“Which I think is right. You can’t legalize torture. But anybody would do it in that situation. You’d do it to me in that situation; you’d pull out my fingernails if you thought I knew something like that.”
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Matt Damon !
BadgerHawk on January 26, 2009 at 2:24 PM
MATT DAMON
Ugly on January 26, 2009 at 2:25 PM
Great. Algore gets another 100G.
BrianA on January 26, 2009 at 2:25 PM
Damon will probably resort to “regurgitatin’ Gordon Wood.”
bilups on January 26, 2009 at 2:26 PM
Ted Kennedy went to Harvard too.
Case closed.
Cicero43 on January 26, 2009 at 2:26 PM
Loser has to spoon Ben Afflick. Oh, wait…
Pasalubong on January 26, 2009 at 2:26 PM
The New York Times cut Kristol loose.
Terrie on January 26, 2009 at 2:28 PM
I have a better idea; if (like there’s a possibility that he could lose) Kristol wins, Damon has to follow through on the song he did with Sarah Silverman; “I’m fu***ng Matt Damon”. Is there a worse punishment imaginable?
RWLA on January 26, 2009 at 2:30 PM
OT: Just heard on Rush that the 100-0 Basketball coach was fired. Brilliant.
Michael in MI on January 26, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Matt Damon!
rslancer14 on January 26, 2009 at 2:30 PM
ZZZZ
artist on January 26, 2009 at 2:31 PM
Make it a double header debate and have Charles Krautheimer debate Sean Penn
Kevin43 on January 26, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Lucky no one has ever thought Matt Damon knows anything.
frankj on January 26, 2009 at 2:32 PM
I read the quote by Damon and never doubted that he was being sarcastic by saying we won in Iraq.
Michael in MI on January 26, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Not a big Kristol fan, but man, if Damon actually goes through with this, he is going to be destroyed.
madne0 on January 26, 2009 at 2:32 PM
WOW!!!
A battle of Titans!
(Titans of mental and idealogical mediocrity)
LegendHasIt on January 26, 2009 at 2:34 PM
BILL KRISTOL!
Cuffy Meigs on January 26, 2009 at 2:34 PM
STFU and act already.
Smooth Rooster on January 26, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Headlines Allah?
Girls Basketball Coach Fired After 100-0 Win
Michael in MI on January 26, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Let Sporus tremble –”What? that thing of silk,
Sporus, that mere white curd of ass’s milk?
Satire or sense, alas! can Sporus feel?
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?”
“Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot” by Alexander Pope
Authors Note: The citation is for the elucidation of Mr. Damon, not the Gentle Readers of Hot Air
Bruno Strozek on January 26, 2009 at 2:35 PM
I don’t see how this debate can work when both English and Lefty will be spoken unless Breitbart supplies translation services.
Dusty on January 26, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Wow, the New York Times fired a “controversial” columnist?
Oh, he was a conservative columnist?
Oh, okay!
All is right with the world again.
hawkdriver on January 26, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Matt Damon!
Darksean on January 26, 2009 at 2:36 PM
“Challenges?”
“Intellectual cred?”
Seriously?
Professor Blather on January 26, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Hey, Bill Kristol, How to win the debate: Move the discussion to any suburb in Iraq.
kurtzz3 on January 26, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Not even close to being popcorn-worthy.
starfleet_dude on January 26, 2009 at 2:37 PM
MATT DAMON!
Hoodlumman on January 26, 2009 at 2:38 PM
Never mock another person’s ideological mediocrity while simultaneously misspelling ideological. You Titan.
That kind of unintentional irony can kill an unprepared reader.
You moran.*
* See what I did there?
Professor Blather on January 26, 2009 at 2:40 PM
So we’ll still torture people, but the torture won’t be regulated or reserved for special cases by law/permission. Yeah, that’s much better.
amerpundit on January 26, 2009 at 2:40 PM
Justice.
On topic: I would love to see this debate happen.
Spirit of 1776 on January 26, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Were it to happen, I would just hope for Kristol to verbally finish off Matt like that scene from the John Rambo trailer where Rambo uses the .50 cal mounted in the back of the jeep to liquefy the bad guy at about three feet. Because as much as I enjoy their movies, I cannot take anymore from Matt & Ben, since they are never challenged about their obviously emotionally charged, fact-less arguments.
juanito on January 26, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Meat Demoan showing his incredible powers of conversation and eloquence, on Jimmy Kimmels show.
Not Over.
1GooDDaDDy on January 26, 2009 at 2:42 PM
I’m not a Bill Kristol fan, but isn’t this going to be like a 100 – 0 basketball game?
rbj on January 26, 2009 at 2:43 PM
…Matt Damon.
ChipDWood on January 26, 2009 at 2:43 PM
[starfleet_dude on January 26, 2009 at 2:37 PM]
True but by the end of it, the cries from the Left for Kristol to be dragged before a debate crimes tribunal will be worth some Raisinets.
Dusty on January 26, 2009 at 2:44 PM
We had a tech work for us that customers requested not to come to their site since he was clueless and smelled funny.
He too graduated from Harvard.
All the folks we hired right out of the military, the customers loved. Go figure.
Hening on January 26, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Let’s add to the card: Ann Coulter and that troll Janeane Garofalo.
BuckeyeSam on January 26, 2009 at 2:45 PM
Damon vs Kristol…… YAWN.
If it was say.. Damon VS Coulter, I’d watch that.
maineconservative on January 26, 2009 at 2:45 PM
My bad, I forgot the link:
“…Matt Damon“.
ChipDWood on January 26, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Why would you want to raise Penn’s or Garofalo’s profile. As if they are serious. Same with Damon. He’s unserious.
It just makes the smart person in the room look stupid.
lorien1973 on January 26, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Be sure to ask Matt about dinosaurs.
I understand he is an expert.
DeweyWins on January 26, 2009 at 2:47 PM
Damon will showing up at a gunfight with a piece of cheese.
Cicero43 on January 26, 2009 at 2:48 PM
I read the coach’s reasoning… this is a great INJUSTICE.
As to the topic at hand… meh.. two lightweights pretending to be heavyweights doesn’t interest me.
mankai on January 26, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Why has Bill Kristol left the NYT?
toliver on January 26, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Think “sinking” and “ship”
Cicero43 on January 26, 2009 at 2:49 PM
in addition to this debate possibility, along with Damon’s Team America fame…..if you want something else to LOL about related to Damon.
Picture this: Gran Torino, but instead of the masculine and blunt Clint Eastwood in lead role, picture Matt Damon playing the lead of Gran Torino
We are really losing a treasure with Eastwood, all the Hollywood stars that are left are too Feminized to give us any memorable, masculine roles. Its an Indictment of our Culture.
jp on January 26, 2009 at 2:50 PM
I think the “we” he’s talking about is the left, and the “war” he’s talking about is the election of Obama the pacifist.
The great irony of course is that Obama is mimicking Bush’s policy on Iraq, and going further right on Afghanistan, so NancyBoy doesn’t even know which war he’s talking about.
There are few things more ridiculous than some little pansy actor playing the tough guy in the liberal press. Here, Damon suggests that whatever our policy and “the law” is really doesn’t matter at all – our practice and procedure should be for every individual interrogator to have not only the authority to literally torture his suspects, but the authority to decide when and why he would torture them, and without restriction to the kinds of torture, carte blanche to rip out fingernails or, one assumes to shoot and kill a suspect to get another suspect to talk.
This from a little sissy who says that waterboarding someone is torture that is beyond the pale.
Unbelieveable.
Jaibones on January 26, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Hollywood dingbats. Place is over supplied with too much ego and not enough brain.
jeanie on January 26, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Yep, that is all that this is. We live in a society which is not interested in actual intellectual debate, only dumbed down shouting matches between pompous jackasses.
Now, if we wanted to have a good debate on the merits, having a panel of say Victor Davis Hanson, Andy McCarthy from NRO and John Derbyshire from NRO might be interesting. They all have pretty interesting perspectives on the war effort and could present those perspectives based on facts, reason, logic and history. And people would actually learn something.
Michael in MI on January 26, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Damon couldn’t find his own ass without a director pointing it out.
GarandFan on January 26, 2009 at 2:53 PM
How exactly is this debate supposed to be scored, the person with the most incorrect answers wins? Bill Kristol has been wrong more than just about any other commentator, he makes weather forecasters look like sages and Matt Damon, is well, Matt Damon.
I say scrap the debate and have a duel, that way at least we are guaranteed, at least in all probability, a beneficial result for the citizens of this great nation.
LevStrauss on January 26, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Dissenters must be purged!
CP on January 26, 2009 at 2:55 PM
I would pay money to watch Matt Damon debate someone like Rush or Ann Coulter. I’d definitely watch Damon vs. Kristol if it was free.
Either way, it’s got to be better than “The Brothers Grimm.”
patriette on January 26, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Isn’t that like Damon showing up to a gunfight with a rock? A knife would still be too sharp for him.
IrishGirl17 on January 26, 2009 at 2:55 PM
I get the sense that Damon really thinks he has the intellect of the character he plays in Good Will Hunting. Will the Afflect boys be in the crowd telling everyone that their boy is wicked smart?
I have nothing against Kristol, but the image of this makes me howl. And I laugh even louder when I think of what it would look like if Hume still hosted Special Report. Could you just picture the look of contempt that Hume would have as he looked over the top of his glasses to Kristol, sitting a foot lower between Mara Liasson and Juan Williams: “Well, what of all this, Bill?”
BuckeyeSam on January 26, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Or make the proclaimation that Atheism is a religion.
Rovin on January 26, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Wrong.
First, there’s no reason to believe that this debate will be unlike any Presidential debate. Damon will refuse to go along with any format that doesn’t guarantee him victory.
Second, it really doesn’t matter how badly Damon does, or how well Kristol does. The winner is pre-determined and liberals will see exactly what they want to see. No matter how the debate goes in reality, the following day will see headlines declaring that Matt Damon embarrassed Bill Kristol.
It’s a bad idea on Kristol’s part, and conservatives continually prove that they never learn, by continuing to believe the fantasy that we can win by following the rules.
Gregor on January 26, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Does Bill Kristol like apples?
YYZ on January 26, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Gregor on January 26, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Completely agree.
Michael in MI on January 26, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Jaibones says:
To which I reply:
…AND? Matt Damon.
ChipDWood on January 26, 2009 at 2:58 PM
All of these guys love to play the tough guy on-screen, and then the patsy off. Once again, it’s the politics of convenience.
blish on January 26, 2009 at 2:58 PM
good point
jp on January 26, 2009 at 2:59 PM
Whether he does or not, I think Kristol, in this case, would get the phone number.
BuckeyeSam on January 26, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Matt Damon doesn’t have the guts.
Iblis on January 26, 2009 at 3:00 PM
It might be more a reflection of Hollywood’s culture. Isn’t Kurt Cameron (sp?) out with a film called Fireproof? Based on the trailers, I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say he plays a masculine role, not because he is a Firmean, but because he learns to communicate with his wife and trys to save his marraige.
Red State State of Mind on January 26, 2009 at 3:01 PM
No reason to believe it was specifically because of the loss. He did publicly go against his school’s decision, something he may not have had the privilege to do.
As to the topic, I hope this debate happens if only so Damon can be knocked down a peg, assuming Kristol’s the one who could do it.
Esthier on January 26, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Just like Hezbollah claimed victory against Israel two years ago. Any word on Hama’s victory dance yet?
Rovin on January 26, 2009 at 3:04 PM
He’s Debatin’ Mat Damon!
Mazztek on January 26, 2009 at 3:06 PM
i dont have much to add to the discussion. this would be interesting if it happened.
i do think that whoever made the ‘reguritatin’ gordon wood’ reference should be declared the winner of this thread.
also, damon’s 38? that seems wierd. i wish he’d shut up, i usually end up liking his movies. the more he runs his mouth, the less i want to see his new movies
hump1201 on January 26, 2009 at 3:09 PM
And they all eventually fall from grace.
sherry on January 26, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Breitbart is a great guy. I hear him filling in on the radio sometimes. He needs a bit more polish but the content of his shows is top notch and his commentary excellent.
Blake on January 26, 2009 at 3:13 PM
In “Good Will Hunting” Matt Damon played a sociopathic janitor who could do complex Fourier Analysis problems in his head and blow away MIT peofessors with his genius. All this from an actor with an 86 IQ. Pretty impressive…
Bill Kristol pumped up a sociopathic John McCain for years as a viable candidate for intelligent conservatives to vote for. Kristol believes his own IQ is somewhere above 150.
Which was the greater fantasy?
TexasJew on January 26, 2009 at 3:13 PM
Wasn’t Matt Damon an English major? What suddenly makes him an expert in politics? Does that mean when I get my M.Ed. in English Education I’ll suddenly be an expert in politics, as well?
ScoopPC11 on January 26, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Actually Matt, buddy, I do it to you just to keep you from making another “Borne” movie.
Kasper Hauser on January 26, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Yep, one of the most profitable movies of all time that a Church in Georgia had made. Kirk Cameron is the only real actor in it. Its good, though little cheesy with a strong Christian, pro-marriage message to it. With a better budget it could’ve been really good.
There is a fortune to be made in these types of movies, hollywood could careless.
I keep waiting for some Biblical Blockbuster type movies on par with Gladiator, Braveheart, etc. Why not make a movie about King David for instance?
jp on January 26, 2009 at 3:22 PM
This is a no brainer and will probably be one of the funniest and bestestest debates in the History of Hollywood! Ever!
To watch Damon have a meltdown as Kristol owns him during the debate will be delicious. I hope you get a copy and keep it on a short link permanently.
To quote Damon: “you’d pull out my fingernails if you thought I knew something like that”
I would pull your fingernails out regardless. Even if you were just walking by. Why? Because you are MMMatt Daayymonnn.
jdubya on January 26, 2009 at 3:23 PM
I don’t know, it seems to me that it would be fine to just stipulate that all interrogators have to have undergone any interrogation methods that they use on detainees.
Count to 10 on January 26, 2009 at 3:24 PM
I am waiting for the day when the islamic nazis blow up hollywood and then all the liberals come crying begging for the us marines to save their sorry ass.
I would tell these hollywood elistist cockroaches
Hey sorry about that nuke going off and irradiating all of hollywood.
but you see we captured these islamic terrorists (opps freedom fighters) with their clothes all radio active
But upon obamas and pelozis advice
Called the aclu who said we needed to give them new clothes and treatment for radioation poisoning
but we COULDNT ASK Them how come their clothes were so
RADIOACTIVE…
So we did what they said
We gave them a prayer rug
halal meals
new clothes
and pointed the entire prison twards mecca
and 5 times a day we heard them chanting
Allah akbar thank you for the comming victory
but we dared not ask them what they meant
Because even asking them questions is torture
so sorry about that smoking radioactive hole in hollywood
but dont worry
obams stimulus plan will cover the rebuilding costs
AFTER all of the islamic inmates get their new mosqu built..
Morons..
jcila on January 26, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Matt Damon is a chickensh*t. He won’t do it. It will never happen. There will be scheduling difficulties and other issues, b/c Damon could not do a straight up debate w/any conservative. He’ll just keep showing up on Maher’s show, spouting his liberal talking points into the echo-chamber that is Bill Maher’s show; while turning on his Boston acccent to sound more like the street punk he really is.
JAM on January 26, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Oh and by the way
when the islamic nazis attack us again
and they will…
To all of you liberal elistists out there
Do not be surprised when american citizens come looking
FOR you..
jcila on January 26, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Whoever wins, we lose.
Nobody will win though, it will be a death spiral into “WMD was a lie, no it wasnt, yes it was!”
Dash on January 26, 2009 at 3:30 PM
So he’s perfectly okay with torture, as long as it’s not legalized. We’ll pass laws officially making torture illegal (wink, wink), but we’ll have an unofficial policy that says anything goes.
Oh those liberals and their deeply-held principles. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
AZCoyote on January 26, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Happens to be the Richard Posner view.
Vizzini on January 26, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I’d rather see that.
nazo311 on January 26, 2009 at 3:34 PM
In this mental matchup, the more foul-mouthed version would probably apply too.
TheUnrepentantGeek on January 26, 2009 at 3:39 PM
I don’t know, it seems to me that it would be fine to just stipulate that all interrogators have to have undergone any interrogation methods that they use on detainees.
Count to 10 on January 26, 2009 at 3:24 PM
That rule, stupid as it is, should only be used for interrogators who have previously tried to kill millions of defenseless citizens with dirty nuclear bombs.
For the rest of them, just let them tear out the bastard’s fingernails and get the information they are looking for to save American lives.
Since the Dems want to hamstring our ability to stop terrorist attacks, just let the CIA ignore specific attacks on Congress and, if that is the wish of the POTUS, the White House, and only protect the rest of us 310,000,000 Americans.
It wasn’t thousands of Congressmen who either jumped out of the Twin Towers or burned to death in its inferno, it was just those pesky private citizens.
Believe me, if those tables were turned, the Democrat Congress would be waterboarding terrorists like crazy.
They simply couldn’t care less about the rest of us… except to buy our votes.
TexasJew on January 26, 2009 at 3:40 PM
The letters in MATT DAMON can be rearranged to spell
Madman Tot
Which is what Damon will be if he gets owned in a debate with Kristol. I imagine that he can be quite the crybaby (i.e. madman tot).
TheMightyQuinn on January 26, 2009 at 3:48 PM
That’s actually not an uncommon thought. My husband feels the same way. The basic idea is that yes, people, even liberals, agree with torture. But they don’t want it official, because they don’t want a government that officially agrees with torture.
I think part of it is just that it’s not our business to know about how gets tortured. The public doesn’t really want to know.
If it’s made legal, then it will be known that we torture as a way of gaining information. This, they fear, will lose us the moral high ground even if we only do so three times.
Esthier on January 26, 2009 at 3:51 PM
Matt Damon!
DaveC on January 26, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Update:
Matt Damon declines…
“I will not debate Bill Crystal. And tell him I hated City Slickers!”
WaltDakota on January 26, 2009 at 4:03 PM
The only words I’ve ever heard out of Damon (besides his part in Private Ryan) were in his idiotic fact-challenged rant against Sarah Palin.
Krystol will Krush him.
jgapinoy on January 26, 2009 at 4:07 PM
WaltDakota:
…lmao.
So; when do we start getting into “Running Scared” team-ups between the “oh-so-playful-and-witty” duo of Barry O and William Crystal?
After all, they are two of Chicago’s Finest.
ChipDWood on January 26, 2009 at 4:14 PM
I’d torture Matt Damon just for the fun of it!!!
Keith_Indy on January 26, 2009 at 4:15 PM
“Hollywood Liberal vs NYT Columnist” doesn’t have much box office appeal.
Make it a tag team match between two WaPo/NYT columnists and two Hollywood Liberals. It might look almost as real as the WWF.
Buddahpundit on January 26, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Sorry but Kristol would beat Damon hands down. No contest. If I’m not mistaken Damon’s brief stint at Harvard was in there acting school.
terryannonline on January 26, 2009 at 4:20 PM
“Which I think is right. You can’t legalize torture. But anybody would do it in that situation. You’d do it to me in that situation; you’d pull out my fingernails if you thought I knew something like that.”
Oh Matt I would do that for a lot less, and I wouldn’t stop with your finger nails LOL!
Dr Evil on January 26, 2009 at 4:22 PM
I’m not so sure about that. I think Rove and Kistrol beat two lefties in this debate.
terryannonline on January 26, 2009 at 4:22 PM
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