Quote of the Day
From The Daily Show discussing Tuesday’s Supreme Court nominee by George Bush..
Jon Stewart: “What’s been the reaction in Washington?”
Ed Helms: “Jon, liberals have been outraged by Bush’s choice - they have been for weeks.”
Jon Stewart: “Ed, they just found out about Roberts last night…”
Ed Helms: “That’s not the point. The left wishes the President picked someone they wanted, not someone he wanted…”
Ed Helms seems to think the (oh so evil) left is clairvoyant. They (the left) have been “outraged by Bush???s choice - they have been for weeks”. But when asked “Ed, they just found out about Roberts last night??¦”, he answers “That???s not the point…..”. And you think THIS is the quote of the week?
OK, if you want to demonstrate how stupid Ed Helms is, then you’ve made a point. Otherwise I don’t see a point. If they WERE outraged for WEEKS, due to the fact that “they wish the President pick someone they want, not someone he wants”, then clairly they ARE clairvoyant.
Comment by Thomas — Fri, Jul 22nd, 2005 @ 11:16 pm
Thomas - just curious, are you familiar with the Daily Show? Have you seen it before?
Comment by Phil — Fri, Jul 22nd, 2005 @ 11:51 pm
Isn’t it obvious that he hasn’t? =D
By the way, Phil, shouldn’t it be Jon Stewart, not John?
Comment by Joonas — Sat, Jul 23rd, 2005 @ 12:38 am
So how exactly do you get to watch this show if it isnt on TV here
Comment by John Evans — Sat, Jul 23rd, 2005 @ 12:54 am
Shouldn’t it be Johnas!?!
Hehehe, you’re right. But I shouldn’t be watching the Daily Show cause I don’t have satellite or cable TV!! ..so how should I know?!?
Comment by Phil — Sat, Jul 23rd, 2005 @ 1:00 am
So how exactly do you get to watch this show if it isnt on TV here
Actually, I heard it comes on satellite. Viasat or something. So that must be how I watch it.
Comment by Phil — Sat, Jul 23rd, 2005 @ 1:04 am
download it
Comment by invisible cat — Sat, Jul 23rd, 2005 @ 9:17 am
Actually conservatives were the ones first to get outraged before they started celebrating the news that one of them was appointed. Still, some people on the right are disappointed because they think the new associate justice will be only a “Rehnquist conservative” not a “Scalia conservative” and thus falling short of the gold standard of rigid ideological thinking. Ann Coulter was suggesting that maybe conservatives now think Roberts is one of them but WHAT IF he turns out to be another David Hackett Souter? There’s now way to please all conservatives, no matter how conservative Bush’s choice.
Comment by Helsinkian — Sat, Jul 23rd, 2005 @ 1:51 pm
“Thomas - just curious, are you familiar with the Daily Show? Have you seen it before?”
No. But in what sense does the fact that I’m not familiar with “the Daily Show”, make the Ed Helms quote less of an example of the fallacies of “right wing logic”?
Comment by Thomas — Sat, Jul 23rd, 2005 @ 5:38 pm
The Daily Show is a comedy-news show. They’re always semi-serious about everything they say. His point was that the Democrats were going to be pissed off at ANY Bush nominee, unless of course he picked some left-winger.
Personally, I think this whole situation just shows how much of a joke the U.S. Judicial system really is. We have ultra left-wing and ultra right wing judges? Aren’t they all supposed to be unbiased and just interpreting the law? The same law? You’d think there were two different sets of law books, the Dems law books and Reps law books.
Comment by Phil — Sun, Jul 24th, 2005 @ 12:12 pm
phil I love it when you say democrats are left-wingers (maybe if you compare them to republicans). The truth is that U.S.A doesn’t have any leftisht political parties, democrats and republicans are pretty much the same they both belong to the right.
Comment by patrick — Sun, Jul 24th, 2005 @ 12:36 pm
Phil, the whole idea that the judges are ultra left wing and ultra right wing is ridiculous. Maybe Scalia and Thomas are ultra right wing but they are pretty much the exception. The truth is that most judges evolve when they serve in the Supreme Court. When they’re appointed, the President who appoints them may hope that they share his values but they really can’t tell 100%.
Now only when a President has a healthy majority in the Senate, is it easy to get a judge to the bench that is completely to the President’s liking. When one party controls the White House and the other party controls the Senate, the automatical result is that the Prsident will most likely choose a compromise candidate. Not all Republicans are ultra right wing, by the way. When the ultra right wing nominee Robert Bork lost in the Senate in 1987, John Warner voted against him. He’s not a senator who regularly votes against the nominees of his own party.
Had John Kerry been elected and the Republicans retained their Senate majority, the nominee would automatically have been a moderate centrist. I think this was what Kerry counted on and that’s why it was so easy for him to promise to appoint a compromise candidate.
This new guy looks like he’s an ultra right winger but he’s also a persuasive wheeler-dealer type so I don’t think the senators will be able to pin him down on anything. He’s exactly the kind of guy people like Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby would vouch for. Right wing yes but in a secretive way, not the vocal activist type and that’s why someone like Ann Coulter is initially puzzled.
Is Roberts a member of the Federalist Society? His right-wing supporters say yes, that’s why he should be nominated. His more moderate supporters say wait a minute, why should he a member of that society? Is he really? Federalist Society membership lists are secret so if he’s into a more activist approach, he’s not doing it in the public eye.
Comment by Helsinkian — Sun, Jul 24th, 2005 @ 1:30 pm
phil I love it when you say democrats are left-wingers (maybe if you compare them to republicans).
Exactly, compared to Republicans. Left-wing and right-wing is a matter or perspective. They meant different things to people 50 years ago, 100 years ago etc.. - Now if I said, “democrats are socialists” or something - then I’d be wrong.
The truth is that U.S.A doesn???t have any leftisht political parties, democrats and republicans are pretty much the same they both belong to the right.
Well, there are plenty of real lefty parties, it’s just not the Democrats. Your probably right though, there’s not much difference between the Dems and Reps, though I know there’s alot of real progressives in the Democratic Party, but if the whole party were to move in that direction all of a sudden, they’d lose a LOT of votes.
Comment by Phil — Sun, Jul 24th, 2005 @ 1:37 pm
Thomas - how about watching the clip for yourself? Not that it’s the Daily Show at it’s best, but anyways…
Comment by Joonas (or should I say Johnas?) — Sun, Jul 24th, 2005 @ 1:58 pm