Video: Ziegler, O’Donnell tangle over Palin
posted at 10:37 am on February 24, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Meat just doesn’t get redder than this. If John Ziegler tried to keep it friendly with Matt Lauer yesterday, he had no such reticence with Norah O’Donnell later on MS-NBC. He called NBC an “advocacy organization” and wondered why O’Donnell didn’t get fired after misquoting Sarah Palin:
John’s quite clever in this interview. Unlike with Matt Lauer, where the lengthy segment gave plenty of time for dialogue, John knew he would only have a limited time to talk with O’Donnell. He winds up dominating the conversation, only giving O’Donnell a couple of opportunities to respond. In this case, he peppers O’Donnell with some of the specific examples that he didn’t get to use with Lauer’s more broad questions.
Don’t kid yourselves, though; MS-NBC (and Fox, for that matter) love this kind of action. It’s practically all they do. They may want to see O’Donnell take better control of an interview, but otherwise, it’s golden for all involved.
You can order Media Malpractice today.
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That’s quite a tapdance…
Kensington on February 24, 2009 at 12:42 PM
meh, no need to be vague. I can take it.
And no…I most certainly do not support, or vote for…or against…any candidate based on a single issue. Whether or not I agree with that issue.
I still think Palin, much like Obama, is more “style” than “substance”.
JetBoy on February 24, 2009 at 12:43 PM
but but but
you said that we need to “come together” to avoid democratic rule again, we need a candidate … you seem to like Crist
so tell us about charlie crist:
joey24007 on February 24, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Note to self…..call Pope and ask to make Lent permanent.
ohiorebel on February 24, 2009 at 12:47 PM
That was hard freaking core. Man, just brutal. I like to see Ziegler like this, more serious than smiley. Other times I’ve seen him, he’s tended to be too jokey and smiley to be taken completely seriously. He just nails it here.
kit9 on February 24, 2009 at 12:49 PM
What is missing from this discussion is the part McCain and the McCain’s handlers did to stifle Sarah and put her in situations that were not conducive to improving her brand.
It’s like a head football coach taking his rookie QB and ordering him to run in the game all the high risk plays available in the playbook and doing things contrary to what he was strong at (making a non-mobile QB run the option play).
Sarah Palin is a conservative. At the outset she should have been exposed to the ‘conservative’ media first. Sounds like a simple proposition, doesn’t it?
technopeasant on February 24, 2009 at 12:50 PM
You’ve taken plenty here admirably.
Esthier on February 24, 2009 at 12:52 PM
I agree with your whole assessment of Sarah. I would like to also add that, people of her caliber understand that they need
advisors who are smarter them in other areas, therefore completing the whole package.
Case in point: McCain, Graham, Lieberman. Was that a package that you bought into? Not me. Only when he added Sarah.
cjs1943 on February 24, 2009 at 12:57 PM
In 2010, Ayers and other character issues from Obama’s past won’t matter. The GOP will be able to hit the Dem congress on the stimulus package and handouts to the irresponsible. The economy will likely be weak at best and it will offer a good landscape for drawing clear principled differences between the two parties.
The media may be a bunch of lefties but they also are suckers for a story that can keep their dwindling audience in front of the TV. Stories about the Great Depression Part II along with the abuses of the stimulus porkfest would seem to be in the future.
dedalus on February 24, 2009 at 12:58 PM
I’ll take your word for it. Also, please accept my apologies for over-stridency earlier. I don’t take back the gist of my comments, but stress has got me snarling a little louder than I intend of late.
RegularJoe on February 24, 2009 at 1:07 PM
He hammered her and she didn’t blush. She is well practiced at delivering for her party.
Norah strikes me as someone who would be a fun date as long as the conversation didn’t turn to politics.
Definitely would have to be gone by morning though.
One can only imagine the troubling image of her dragging around the place before makeup.
FireBlogger on February 24, 2009 at 1:07 PM
I blame the media for playing Tina Fey clips instead of actually covering the candidate.
I blame CBS for poorly editing the Gibson interview and Gibson himself for being unmistakably hostile and patronizing.
I blame Katie Couric for media bias, since her interview questions were drafted by Samm Nunn, who was on Obama’s shortlist for VP – gotcha questions by definition.
Sarah Palin blames herself for not handling those situations better, and a stronger candidate would have.
A more effective McCain campaign would have been more a help than a hindrance here, and they certainly would not be SO PATHETIC as to blame the VP candidate for McCain’s own weak performance throughout the election and ultimately losing to an indisputable Marxist and neophyte.
chunderroad on February 24, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Ziegler is promoting his deal. That’s fine, although I find it interesting that he adopts an elitist position to make his point. How can anyone objectively buy his premise that SNL is a news show? Or did he really mean that a large percentage of Americans are stupid people and many of them think SNL is a news show? Palin is easy to satirize and there’s a reason. Get over the whole SNL/Daily Show/Colbert thing.
johnnynucleo on February 24, 2009 at 1:11 PM
That’s nice of you. He still sounds like a crank and a Democrat to me, and he never misses an opportunity to dump on Sarah Palin, months after the election, the inauguration, etc. What’s the point?
chunderroad on February 24, 2009 at 1:14 PM
No need to apologize. We’re all opinionated…nothing wrong with it. As for stress…I hear ya. My apologies to all as well when I let emotion get the best of me.
Thanks, Est. Gonna miss ya guys the next 40 days.
JetBoy on February 24, 2009 at 1:15 PM
He was pretty clear that he meant most Americans are so stupid that they can’t filter information and discern between satire and reality. They get their news from the Daily Show and Colbert Report and SNL. It’s our idiot rabble mentality that retains information better if there is scandal or sex involved. Look how even medical students use mnemonics — they’re all slightly naughty to jar the memory. Read Alinsky’s Rules. Ridicule your opponent. Sarah Palin is not easy to spoof on; she has a strong personality which typically works to her advantage as a retail politician.
chunderroad on February 24, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Thanks for posting this Ed
This is something Allah would never have posted. It goes against his narrative of anti-palinism
kangjie on February 24, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Hindisght is 20-20 but I remember the hardest thing for people defending Palin is that the Gibson and Couric interviews were the only examples of her answering questions. It allowed those interviews to dominate the picture of her. Other people have done bad interviews but like in the case of Obama people pointed to others and were able to diffuse things like “spread the wealth”. Imagine if “spread the wealth” came when he was unknown and the dominate example of him? Epic Fail on the Obama candicacy. It is like a prize fighter you need to run up a 7-0 record so if you lose you only go to 7-1 or 7-2 not 0-2.
Conan on February 24, 2009 at 1:38 PM
I have read this website for a while but only started posting last week.
What is with AllahPundit he seems like a conservative hostage about half the time or more. Is he forced to write here or is he here for his overall web skills or what?
Conan on February 24, 2009 at 1:40 PM
chunderroad on February 24, 2009 at 1:22 PM
I cannot and will not believe that. The vast majority of people in this country are not stupid. The vast majority of people have the capacity to distinguish between silly late night shows and reality. I haven’t done a survey, but with some confidence I can say that I don’t know (or even suspect) that any of my neighbors, friends or co-workers have this problem. Do you know anyone that is this stupid? Really? If it’s “most Americans” that are stupid, then statistically I should know at least one person relatively well that has this disorder.
And as Tina Fey showed on the news (or was that SNL? I get those confused) almost every Saturday night for the past few months, Sarah is easy to spoof.
johnnynucleo on February 24, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Although she may have cracked a molar.
Jim Treacher on February 24, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Again the role of McCain and his campaign team cannot be overemphasized as to the part they played in the MSM portraying Sarah in the worse possible light and allowing the MSM too many opportunities to ‘get’ Sarah.
technopeasant on February 24, 2009 at 1:43 PM
This is the thing…Sarah Palin was not running for President. Too many conservatives treated her like the top of the ticket…all the while deriding McCain, who WAS the top of the ticket.
JetBoy on February 24, 2009 at 1:48 PM
My 24 year old son works with other young men and women his age and yes this age group did get their opinion of Sarah from SNL. This particular group were not the type who would sit through Katie Couric’s or Gibson’s interviews.
Rose on February 24, 2009 at 1:52 PM
ahhhhhh … ahhh
wrong … we knew she was the Vice Presidential candidate … the media and the left attacked her as if she were the Presidential candidate
our Presidential candidate was too busy “suspending” his campaign to vote for TARP one, drawing 1000 people to rallies and performing like Bob Dole in debates
also, I do hope you get back to us on Charlie Crist
explain how he differs from Obama on the stimulus package …
joey24007 on February 24, 2009 at 2:11 PM
Wow! John Ziegler rules! I used to like watching Norah until she starting smearing Sarah. I am honestly shocked that Norah sees nothing wrong with MSNBC’s biased coverage of Sarah. Norah seems unfazed by John’s charges. Does Norah have any ethics or at least a guilty conscience? I guess all that matters is MSNBC’s guys won the election.
Sarah, McCain and Hillary never stood a chance with the Media during this election. Now I know why Rush calls them “drive-bys” (”useful idiots” also fits).
sarahpalinfan99 on February 24, 2009 at 2:21 PM
I was one who liked Norah too and didn’t see it coming. Since you thought the same I wonder if she is as much a lefty as she is someone who gets traded to a team (NBC-MSNBC) and decides to play their style despite it not being theirs. When I see Kiran Chetry mentioned on newsbusters I think she has come a long way since Fox. I hate to use the word newswhore but I don’t know what you call a pretty woman like Norah or Kiran that really just cares about face time on TV and not what they are reporting.
Conan on February 24, 2009 at 2:28 PM
Stay strong!
Esthier on February 24, 2009 at 2:34 PM
I heard arch-conservatives like Rush, Hannity, Levin, all push for McCain and slam Obama. McCain got a lot more support than he realistically deserved ( I donated and put a sign in my yard) so don’t even start with the hamstringing the moderate MCCain by conservatives is what did it. Conservatives fought hard for the whole ticket. The moderates were the ones who took it easy on Obama not conservatives. The moderates and independents pondered whether to vote for Obama. You need to take that back.
Conan on February 24, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Blushing requires a sense of shame.
29Victor on February 24, 2009 at 2:38 PM
joey24007 on February 24, 2009 at 2:11 PMMcCain was passable up to when Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the financial meltdown took hold during the last half of September.
From that point McCain performed poorly in 3 main areas:
1)He did not have an answer to the economic predicament or that America found itself in or could not articulate an economic vision.
2)He did not perform well in the first two debates; ‘earmark should be his middle name. McCain allowed Obama to coast to victory.
3)McCain did NOT attack Obama ‘with both barrels of the gun; I call it dereliction of duty: the American voter deserved to know who Obama really was before turning over ‘the keys to the car’ to a reckless socialist.
That Sarah Palin, while being smeared and being a victim of the worst disinformation and propaganda campaign in the history of modern politics, was able to help McCain generate close to 46% of the popular vote is astounding.
Sure Sarah Palin was a victim of media malpractice but ‘handler malpractice’ and ‘candidate malpractice’ were just as great a problem.
technopeasant on February 24, 2009 at 2:49 PM
Where did you hear that? Rush couldn’t bring himself to endorse anyone on the GOP ticket. Hannity was probably the only one who gave McCain props, and as for Levin, he trashed on McCain enough himself.
And there’s a big difference between bashing Obama, and propping up your own candidate.
I take nothing back…it was the constant bombardment from his own party that cost McCain the election. It’s hard for the team to win when there’s more attention paid to the benchwarmers than there is to the starting quarterback.
JetBoy on February 24, 2009 at 2:53 PM
I really like John’s oh reallies! I appreciate his effort to set the record straight.
rickreyn on February 24, 2009 at 2:53 PM
No problem, Jet. I do the same myself – blowing off a little steam. I was/am one of the most anti-McCain folks around (though I stopped it during the general campaign, voted for the guy, and urged/begged everyone around me to do the same). What other choice was there? I can’t tell you how many times I bit my tongue.
progressoverpeace on February 24, 2009 at 2:56 PM
Jetboy on Febraury 24, 2009 at 2:53 PM
That Rush and Mark did not wholeheartedly support McCain has little to do with ‘media malpractice’ and Sarah Palin but has a lot to do with why 20% of conservatives (self-proclaimed) voted for Obama.
This stat cannot be emphasized enough: 20% of conservatives voted for Obama.
technopeasant on February 24, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Most Americans? No. But many, especially in the 18-30 age range. My kids are in this range, and they and their contemporaries are a weeeee bit spoiled, mostly unwilling to do any real study of the issues. They typically watch Colbert & the doofus on the Daily Show (YAY!! I can’t think of his name!) and SNL, and think they are not only informed, but “in on” the REAL story the rest of us are missing. Add in a little star power from rockers and actors, and they’re ready to go pull the lever for libs. Add them in with the union whores, government workers, environmental extremists, and a few other left-wing groups, and you got yourself a socialist government before you can say ‘redistributive justice’.
Unless someone reaches this generation and gets them to grow up and take some responsibility to actually educate themselves about government, we’re done.
RegularJoe on February 24, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Watch this http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=284883 and stop complaining.
the_nile on February 24, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Finally witnessed a gop strategist with intellectual honesty today so I guess she is doing a good job.
getalife on February 24, 2009 at 3:10 PM
That’s not what he does. And yet Republicans won before McCain. These sorts of arguments are ridiculous.
McCain is what did McCain in. He vacilated when people wanted to rally to him. He boggled the minds of fiscal cons with his bailout behavior, and screwed around with people concerned with ill imm by giving mixed signals just when people forgot about it. He urged people to stand up and fight, but lead from the rear.
McCain is what did McCain in. Palin drew crowds and $. Objective facts.
Spirit of 1776 on February 24, 2009 at 3:19 PM
No clue why he is here. Ed pretty much carries this site
kangjie on February 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
RegJoe – There’s a big difference between being lazy and not being able to distinguish between satire and reality. I would agree if Ziegler had said most voters are lazy when it comes time to pick a candidate or consider an issue. But I’d go farther and say most smart people who vote are lazy too. I also think that most people watch or read to enforce their beliefs or predispositions, and as a result, most conservatives probably don’t read the NYT or watch The Daily Show (I personally think Stewart is smart and funny and doesn’t shy away from people with whom he doesn’t agree), and most liberals don’t read NRO or listen to Hugh Hewitt.
johnnynucleo on February 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
āMy response to her claim that āI think people are smartā would have been that those judgments are purely relative.
Progressoverpeaceā
All ya gotta do is point out the blatant lie in her claim and the rest suddenly makes sense.
The blatant lie? āI thinkā
DSchoen on February 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM
I listen to all those guys and obviously you don’t. They went out of there way to say get out and vote for McCain and bring your neighbors and if you want to change the truth and mislead that is fine but you won’t fool someone who actually listens DIRECTLY to the shows. Like many you are trying to repaint that moderate Republicanism lost. McCain’s moderate Republicanism left Palin out to swing also. I will remember your call sign as someone who is here to play the Frum/New Majority card.
Conan on February 24, 2009 at 3:57 PM
20% of conservatives voted for a socialist?
I guess they weren’t really all that conservative….
joey24007 on February 24, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Of course MSNBC loves it. Without the appaearance of the occasional conservative, their ratings would REALLY be in the crapper.
ddrintn on February 24, 2009 at 5:11 PM
Of course MSNBC loves it. Without the appaearance of the occasional conservative, their ratings would REALLY be in the crapper.
ddrintn on February 24, 2009 at 5:11 PM
Fox beats CNN & MSNBC combined for total viewers in Feb.
Great video! No wonder MSNBC hates conservatives, everytime a conservative is on set it makes the biased hosts look like the biased idiots they are.
TN Mom on February 24, 2009 at 6:55 PM
Spa-Hank
- The Cat
MirCat on February 24, 2009 at 6:58 PM
I’m not usually that big of a fan of how Ziegler handles these interviews, but he just wasted O’Donnell.
RightWinged on February 24, 2009 at 7:12 PM
Apparently, you forgot the clip posted on Hot Air or Fox (and by Ziegler as I recall) showing Obama voters being asked questions and backed up by a poll.
When they asked which candidate said they could see Russia from their house, they all said Palin. But Palin never said that, Tina Fey did.
I can’t believe it has taken this long to have a real documentary on media bias. I, for one, have ordered the DVD from Ziegler and I urge the rest of you that know in your heart that the media won this election for Obama to support Ziegler.
Christian Conservative on February 24, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Go get ‘em, Zig …
gstrickler on February 24, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Nora never even answered his comment about her “terrorist” lie. Wouldn’t you be incredulous like Matt Lauer was when he said to John, “Don’t put words in my mouth that I never said.” Nora can’t deny it so she just keeps her mouth shut and smiles real pretty for the camera. And the drooling masses forget what they were even talking about.
Regardless of whether you’re a conservative that thinks Sarah is stupid, (which is rich coming from people who have never run a state well that has a vast amount of oil wealth – guess any dumb a$$ can do that, I think I’ll try for Arnold’s job next – anyway, I digress), you can’t conceivable deny that she was treated VASTLY different than any of the other players up on that stage.
Obama said some stuff that was down right ridiculous and he’s our President and you’re all sick about it too. You RINO d!ckwads were going around saying he’d be like Clinton and go Center-left for the legacy. When Clinton has to call you out and tell you to speak good about your country you know we’re screwed! Obama’s going all out and you all are still saying that Palin is an idiot. Well have you seen the DOW? Christopher Buckley? Whose the idiot now?
Sultry Beauty on February 24, 2009 at 7:35 PM
BHO is SNL, Live.
Unfortunately for US.
profitsbeard on February 25, 2009 at 1:25 AM
Yes, people are lazy. But if the house is on fire, and you sit on the couch because you’re too lazy to get out, isn’t that also stupid?
The people we’re talking about are the intersection of lazy & stupid. That they think watching The Daily Show makes them informed and sophisticated makes me want to pull my hair out!! And yes, I’d say the same about someone who ONLY listens to Rush (by objective testing, Rush listeners are among the most informed citizens overall; but I expect that has to do with them being the sort of political junkies who make a point of getting other sources of info).
As for exposing oneself to ideas they disagree with, I read NYT, Huffpo, WaPo, & Newsweek and listen to some NPR in addition to reading NRO, WSJ, and HotAir, watching some Fox News (sorry, just cannot stomach ANY of the alternatives) and occasionally (maybe 90 minutes a week total, when I happen to be in the car) Rush, or Hannity, or Levin, or Boortz. To get the best possible view of a thing, you have to see it from many sides. People who don’t do this, and think they are informed, are stupid to think so.
As for your opinion of John Stewart (DANG!! You used his name and put it back in my head! ARRGGGHH!!), all I can say is that if you think he’s funny and smart, you and I have vastly different concepts of those two words. I disagree with stuff I hear on NPR, but still think they’re smart; and I disagree with stuff I see on SNL, but still think it’s funny. So it isn’t just that I disagree with Stewart. I just think he’s genuinely not exceptionally bright (at least not as bright as he thinks he is) and — well, not at all funny, unless smug snarkiness and is just what you live for. I happen to think that sort of “ha! I just soooo put you in your place (by my own estimation) so I WIN!!” attitude is killing intelligent discussion of the issues. It has totally taken over EVERY liberal blog, and is spreading like kudzu on conservative blogs as well.
Yeah, I just typed up one long-winded response, that maybe two people will ever read. But I feel better!!
RegularJoe on February 25, 2009 at 7:57 AM
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