Is Scott Brown a ‘Hunk’ or a ‘Homophobic Racist’
19 January 2010 3:50 pm by Taylor Marsh
–updated–
A Democratic operative familiar with the get-out-the-vote push by Martha Coakley’s team and boosted late in the game by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, says that outreach workers in and around Boston have been stunned by the number of Democrats and Obama supporters who are waving them off, saying they’ll vote for Scott Brown. – Glenn Thrush
via TheDailyCaller (h/t BillB)
The Massachusetts campaign is indicative of Democratic politics today, which is in shambles.
It doesn’t matter that Thrush couches it as “a” Democratic operative, it fits the mood.
Of course, Axelrod would have to give a nod to Scott Brown, playing analyst, which is my job not his, and does it long before the polls are closed and people are finished voting, no less. The guy has nothing on Mark Penn.
“As a practitioner in politics, my hat’s off to him,” Axelrod said.
Robert Gibbs joins Mr. Axelrod’s classlessness. I’m obviously working too hard, as it was not Gibbs (apologies for the inadvertent slap at Gibbs), but Axelrod who topped his own classlessness, not surprisingly.
“The White House did everything we were asked to do,” he said. “I think if we had been asked earlier, we would have responded earlier.”
The king at 1600 has to be asked to stump for the woman trying to retain Ted Kennedy’s seat and the 60th Senate vote? Seriously?
Obama’s two top men basically admitting Coakley is going to lose before the day is done is something I haven’t seen from a sitting Democratic president’s team, ever. That’s not what a Democratic White House is supposed to do while one of their own is in the fight of her life. But it does start the CYA rolling.
Axelrod and Gibbs are to Coakley what Rahm Emanuel is to liberalism. The tolling bell.
I just can’t take it anymore, so let’s have some fun, before the senseless spin of this travesty begins.
The looming question, Who’s right?
Washington, D.C. doyenne, Sally Quinn, calls Brown “a hunk.”
Keith Olbermann calls him a “irresponsible, homophobic racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees. … bad joke.”
Joe Scarborough goes after Keith Olberman on Twitter, then on “Morning Joe,” though he didn’t invoke Keith’s name.
And George Stephanopoulos asks if we’re on the verge of the “upset of the century?”
And I don’t know about anyone else, but I find it immensely entertaining that the right-wing religious conservative Republicans may elect a former Cosmo winner of “America’s Sexiest Man” contest, complete with cropped naked photo from the Reagan year of 1982, in a state that has been dominated for a century by Kennedy clan hunks.
The floor is yours. That is if you’re not speechless at this point.
“It’s not that the Democrats are playing checkers and the Republicans are playing chess. It’s that the Republicans are playing chess and the Democrats are in the nurse’s office because once again they glued their balls to their thighs.” – Jon Stewart
Taylor, I used to be a loyal blog reader of yours, then we parted ways about a year and a half ago when I felt you were not objectively looking at the Democratic party anymore. But I am back, because like old friends, I still cared and wanted things to be different. I am starting to see that even you are maybe starting to budge in your assessment of what is really going on. Maybe I am just being hopeful or nostalgic for our old good times during the primary when Hillary was in the race. But I am starting to see glimmers of the old Taylor I knew and loved. For no reason other than I am starting to see you being objective again.
You nailed it getty1206. TM has some great analysis and she called his Hillary’s campaign when some of us were clinging to hope, and she clear eyed about the trouble the Obama folks are in now, even if she generally supports them.
Accusations of racism, once again, are being thrown around far too casually by Obama’s sycophants. It’s why many of us left the party and now cheer for Scott Brown. Go Scott Go!!
getty1206 says:
19 January 2010 at 4:14 pm
Hey there and thanks for the comment. First, I’m a die hard liberal, so when it’s between Rep. & Dems, I choose the latter. Also, during the 2008 election against McCain-Palin a lot of readers left because there was no way I’d support anyone but Obama. Let me also state that Pres. Obama’s foreign policy will keep me in his column, as the Rep. haven’t entered the 21st century on that score.
I do generally support him, BluePuppy, you’re exactly correct. I do make a real effort at being “clear-eyed,” so thanks for that too.
Now, more fun!
John Zogby predicts Coakley! (I have no idea who’ll win, but the odds are definitely against her.)
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/01/19/pollster_john_zogby_predicts_a_coakley_win.html
Coakley campaign slams DC Dems:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0110/Coakley_adviser_memo_DC_Dems_faled_Coakley.html
If Zogby turns out to be correct, the White House and Coakley are going to be very embarrassed.
That memo points to the questions I have been asking.I can only think of a few terms to describe what the WH is doing now regarding Coakley and they are not printable.
I used to not really get people’s objections to Gibbs,I get it now. He has a nasty side.
I don’t know what bubble the WH is living in.
by 2010 maybe they’ll hear a *POP*
Forget Coakley, she’ll be forgotten in a few days.
The preamble before the SOTU will be all about Obama’s standing NOW as compared to how he was perceived a year ago. No one has fallen so far so fast.
They have no one to blame for that but themselves.
“The floor is yours. That is if you’re not speechless at this point.”
Well just caught up on all your posts, and I have to admit that I am speechless. What a political circus! And Brown’s nude picture…amazing. Can’t stop laughing. Maybe Obama should try posing as well, it worked for Scotty. What a country!
To answer Taylors question:
In 1982 a DEFINITE HUNK.
Will Palin and her fellow tea baggers consider that this is like…porn (in her own words).
kris says:
19 January 2010 at 5:11 pm
heh-heh… Cosmo thought so, too!
Jon Stewart’s line is another classic.
Yes Taylor, love the Jon Stewart line, sums it all.
Also starting to see Levi Jonston in a different eye now… the condescending democrat that I am loves making fun of him and the whole Palin saga, but he may have a future in politics in the next 30 years. Who knows.
Olbermann continues his quick slide off the deep end.
Scott Browm does not deserve to be in the US senate but Olbermann’s rant verges on insanity.
He is as bad for democrats as Limbaugh is for the GOP. Luckily for democrats, almost nobody watches Olbermann or knows who he is.
I watched Olbermann all through his Hillary hating phase, and I enjoy much of his show. If he’d made the alliteration as a joke, poking fun at Scott Brown, it might have worked.
I don’t like any pundit who gets self-righteous about politics or politicians. That’s why I’m among the few who refuse to take out after “Game Change” authors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. There’s way too much unearned reverence towards politicians today; and I say that knowing it’s a thankless job.
Really you think there is reverence?
Mike Barnacle is going after Coakley big time,saying another Dem could have pulled it off. Maybe that is true but knowing he is entrenched in the Kennedy circle you kind of get the idea that is what they are saying.
Olbermann is about as self-righeous as one can get. It gets so swarmy on his show when he has that creepy Richard Wolfe on and they have their scripted conversations.I always think Wolfe=Axelrod mouthpiece.
Taylor Marsh says:
19 January 2010 at 5:45 pm
I gently protest. I am grateful for Ed, Keith, Rachael, Schuster, et al. For too long the conservatives have had the stage all to themselves, and they still do. The second a Democrat/Progressive stands up for what is right, or speaks up, or fights back, or calls them on it, we, who ought to be lending support, run the other way like cowards.
No onw would ridicule Michele Bachman; but they think Alan Grayson is nuts. HE goes too far. Why? Because he’s a Democrat, and Demacrats are supposed to be well-mannered and polite. We aren’t supposed to go for the jugular. I say screw that.
We may chuckle at what Jon Stewart says, but to see the actual play in action we will always divert our eyes, because we can’t stand conflict, or maybe the Repugs being mad at us. I say give the evil bastards hell.
Its funny isn’t it, when a conservative pundit or commentator aggressively attacks Obama, or a Democrat, its likely to make him or her more popular among his/her audience.
When a Progressive pundit or commentator aggressively attacks a Republican it could make that Pundit or commentator less popular among his/her audience.
kris says:
19 January 2010 at 5:11 pm
AGREED!
So Nate Silver just threw out an interesting idea–Coakley supporters are being UNDERpolled because they are too embarassed to tell pollsters they are voting for her.
Strange idea. http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/01/are-coakley-voters-too-ashamed-to-be.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
And I don’t know about anyone else, but I find it immensely entertaining that the right-wing religious conservative Republicans may elect a former Cosmo winner of “America’s Sexiest Man” contest, complete with cropped naked photo from the Reagan year of 1982, in a state that has been dominated for a century by Kennedy clan hunks.
——-
I think the conservatives have one of two viable choices. This is not a conservative lovefest with Scott Brown’s candidacy. That’s because Scott Brown is not a true conservative. In many ways he has supported and voted for Democratic spending measures. But for them, it’s the ONLY alternative to Martha Coakley. Martha Coakley’s defeat has the possibility of derailing that awful HCR bill that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are threatening to put on Obama’s desk. And Scott Brown has promised to provide the 41st vote to defeat this travesty.
nzanh…I have to disagree. Scott Brown is a wolf in sheeps clothing. He has run as a moderate and the has stayed away from the Republican brand but from what I am hearing of his voting record it is far right.
The interesting thing will be to see how he fits in in Washington where he will be expected to join the choir.How will MA react to that?
Ramsgate~ I’m Irish so I hold grudges and I can’t forgive Olbermann’s viciousness towards Hillary.He tends to take off on women in general. I have just about forgiven Ed because he is such an unapologetic liberal which I love.He also treats the opposition with some respect. Maddow can be good at times when she is laying out an issue but by in large I find her disappointing. She can be the poster girl for snotty elitist progressives making fun of people and putting people down. I think it plays right into the charges against Dems. I also thought the week she and Keith spent doing double entrendres on Tea Bagger jokes gross and adolescent. They still do dick jokes. Sorry I don’t think it’s funny. Maybe it is just my age.
I prefer Dylan Ratigan who uses brains and facts to make his arguments.
“I find it immensely entertaining that the right-wing religious conservative Republicans may elect a former Cosmo winner”
No doubt the relatively small number right-wing religious conservatives in Massachusetts are going to vote for Brown BUT he is not going to win because of them.
Rather, if he wins, it is because of pragmatic non-ideological independents like me (I have voted for John Anderson, Ronald Reagan, Ted Kennedy, Bill Weld, Barney Frank and John Kerry, among many other republicans and democrats).
In this election, I am supporting Brown because I want balance in Washington (I can overlook Martha’s major deficiencies as a campaigner). I voted for Obama in 2008 because I thought he would bring consensus and cooperation to Washington politics. Instead, he has brought political polarization. I really hope his presidency will be a success. I hope he will make the kind of adjustments made by Reagan and Clinton…I hope he will learn to play ball with the republicans.
Evan Bayh is right:
“There’s going to be a tendency on the part of our people to be in denial about all this,” Bayh told ABC News, but “if you lose Massachusetts and that’s not a wake-up call, there’s no hope of waking up.”
Obamacare isn’t just unpopular; it’s toxic. The oceans haven’t receded and the planet hasn’t healed. Time to wake up to what Obama has done to the Democratic party.
Ramsgate says:
19 January 2010 at 6:06 pm
Hey, I’m grateful for them too. I agree.
I just don’t like when they get self-righteous, though Ed Schultz never goes that route. He’ll just plow through with hot, piping Mad As Hell, which is preferable to me.
timokk says:
19 January 2010 at 7:06 pm
Thanks very much for chiming in.
psychodrew says:
19 January 2010 at 6:34 pm
That’s classic. I hope there are A LOT of them!!!
Hunk!
Hunk although we wouldnt be having this convo. if it was a woman who posed nude.
as for Evan Bayh, the man is just a loser.
As for Brown, he’s wrong on the issues. Pretending to be something he is not, a moderate and a man of the people, a guy who drives a truck.
Lake Lady says:
19 January 2010 at 7:03 pm
“I think it plays right into the charges against Dems.”
LL, what are the charges and WHO makes them?
there is only one silver lining in this, sadly it’ll prove as vaporous as clouds. This might just might be the sign of the disintegration of the Whig party. If we’re lucky. We probably aren’t that lucky.
BluePuppy says:
19 January 2010 at 7:13 pm
“Obamacare isn’t just unpopular; it’s toxic.”
BP, I daresay that it is unpopular because it didn’t go far enough. Its a give away to the insurance & drug companies. Now, had he gone with Medicare for all (SOCIALIZED MEDICINE) Single Payer or the Public Option, something which benefited working people he would have been a lot better off today. Instead big Pharma and the Insurance Companies are the ones who will benefiting most from Obama’s reforms.
Lake Lady: Actually I believe he IS a moderate. To be elected in Massachusetts as a Republican, traditionally you probably cannot be part of the hard right as most people understand. Actually I find him pretty reasonable and he has articulated his views in a coherent way.
For example, there was a charge that he favors denying rape victims emergency contraception. Actually he didn’t say that as an across the board proposal. He actually said that he didn’t think hospital personnel who genuinely and truly had objections as a matter of conscious should have to administer emergency contraception. That doesn’t mean that other personnel couldn’t perform this task. He has recognized Roe vs Wade as the law of the land and he supports the legal right of a woman to obtain an abortion. If that isn’t anathema to the hard right, I don’t know what is.
Interestingly however, Brown supported the 2006 health care reform measure in Massachusetts, which requires all residents to purchase health insurance. This is definitely not in line with conservative hard right thinking. Perhaps he’s found religion because he opposes Harry and Nancy’s and Barack’s version of health care reform.
Correction to my last post–sorry:
He actually said that he didn’t think hospital personnel who genuinely and truly had objections as a matter of conscious should *NOT* have to administer emergency contraception.
JoeCHI says:
19 January 2010 at 7:24 pm
FINALLY… I’ve been waiting forever for your vote!
It’s early but looks like Brown has taken a nice size lead.
Ramsgate: “Now, had he gone with Medicare for all (SOCIALIZED MEDICINE) Single Payer or the Public Option, something which benefited working people he would have been a lot better off today. Instead big Pharma and the Insurance Companies are the ones who will benefiting most from Obama’s reforms.”
Amen. Obama did what he always does–tried to work both ends to the middle. So, he would never actually take a stand on anything. And, what resulted was unpalatable to EVERYONE. Well, when you give the legislation to Pelosi and the Lobbyists for Big Pharma and Big Insurance, what do you expect?!
This is going to be a vote on Obama’s White House, no matter the spin. People weren’t happy with the stimulus bill; they weren’t happy with the Wall St. bailouts; they weren’t happy about the auto industry bailouts; they’re not happy with the health care reform bill. They’ve been TRYING to tell this White House they’re not happy about any of it. But this WH refuses to LISTEN to anyone. This administration is hellbent on doing what they damn well please.
Whether or not Scott Brown wins, if this WH doesn’t stop the authoritarian attitudes, they’re going to continue to experience voter fury.
Oh, and Brown’s a hunk, no doubt about it.
And, any man who poses nude for Cosmo when he’s 22 is no homophobe.
Knock..knock..knock…..hey Barry….are you in there? All the lights are on…..but nobody seems to be home. It’s your stupid wars. Can you and all of your Ivy League, banker, buddies hear us now??? Peace
Wise words:
Republicans should not think a Brown vote and victory is an endorsement of their platform and their people. America wants truth, transparency, and integrity. America is sick and tired of Washington’s lies and self-dealing.–Larry Doyle
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2010/01/19/why-scott-brown-will-win-today/#more-40955
And, any man who poses nude for Cosmo when he’s 22 is no homophobe.
No, any man who:
-He voted over 25 times against marriage equality, even when 3/4 of our legislature and many MA Republican legislators stood with us.
- He doesn’t support the Transgender Civil Rights & Hate Crimes bill
- He opposes repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
- He opposes repealing the “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA)
- He has ridiculed LGBT parents as inadequate
Oh but he’s a hunk!
Brown is winning Plymouth. Obama won it in 2008.
Oh, no, this is impossible to ignore:
“I gently protest. I am grateful for Ed, Keith, Rachael, Schuster, et al. For too long the conservatives have had the stage all to themselves, and they still do. The second a Democrat/Progressive stands up for what is right, or speaks up, or fights back, or calls them on it, we, who ought to be lending support, run the other way like cowards.” — TM
I beg to differ.
There’s a BIG difference between “standing up for what’s right” and calling a candidate a “homophobic racist” and a “teabagger.”
And, you know, I don’t like Michelle Bachmann in the least, but I don’t hear her using such VULGAR [and believe me, I can cuss well enough to make a marine blush] language in their professional capacity.
Keith Olbermann’s rhetoric is disgusting. Shuster makes a mockery of journalism. Matthews is an embarrassment–”tingle up my leg” my ass. And Ed Schultz endorsing cheating? Well, ACORN and SEIU would be proud but the SOME of us are still smarting over the cheating by Republicans in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, so WHY on earth would we think it’s FUNNY when a progressive cheers it on? Get the picture?
When the GOP does it, I don’t like it; when the Democrats turn around and do it too, I don’t think it’s “fighting back”–I think it’s even more disgusting because I expect better from us!
Alan Grayson IS nuts. Certifiable. He’s pathetic. He’s an attention seeker, not a serious representative of his constituents.
“Democrats are supposed to be well-mannered and polite”?
Well, I must gently disagree. Democrats are supposed to represent the party of the working class, the party of the middle class, the party of the people. They can damn well be assertive in defense of the above, but they do no one any good if they’re just rude, adolescent thugs.
If I chuckle at Jon Stewart, which happens on occasion, it’s because he’s come up with something clever and funny as a commentary on humanity. I don’t find Stewart funny when he’s stupid, or mean-spirited either. And, I don’t have a problem with conflict, I usually am a lightening rod for it. But I don’t go around spewing epithets at people, in some adolescent rant, like Shuster, Schultz, Matthews and Olbermann. And, Maddow had my support until she thought it was funny to indulge in the “tea-bagger” minuet with that former Wonkette woman [a really crude adolescent] whose name I can never remember, and whose work I never read.
Brown is a Neanderthal. That said, Obama is governing like a Republican. The people of Massachusetts are telling him that tonite. One would think that with the size of his ears he could clearly hear that message. Peace
Well I predict that Scott Brown is the winner–50% of the vote in and his lead hasn’t changed.
Can you here the middle now Democrats? Losers now and 2010. Count on it.
the middle?
By the way, real liberals would not have voted for Ronald Reagan, as you did Taylor, nor would they have your views about our military.
Who is Scott Brown? Certainly doesn’t resemble the characterizations from some here:
Brown has “a law degree and 30 years in the National Guard. A lieutenant colonel with the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, he is also a triathlete and a Mr. Mom to his busy wife, Boston TV news reporter Gail Huff. The couple has two daughters, one of whom, Ayla, was a 2006 “American Idol” semi-finalist and is a star basketball player on a four-year scholarship at Boston College. The other, Arianna, is a pre-med student at Syracuse.”
[…]
In any case, Brown’s more compelling package concerns issues, his positions on which are not so easily categorized along party lines.
He supports a woman’s right to choose, for instance, though he opposes partial-birth abortion and federal funding for abortion and believes in strong parental notification laws. He opposes same-sex marriage but believes the decision should be left to states. He would not vote to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act but does not favor a federal constitutional amendment declaring marriage as between a man and a woman.
On fiscal matters, he favors tax cuts, opposes the current government expansion and would oppose a second stimulus bill. He has praised President Obama for both his decision to increase troop levels in Afghanistan as well as taking his time arriving at that decision. He criticized the president for being “too slow” in responding to the panty-bomber and thinks we should treat terrorists as war criminals, trying them in military courts.
On all but Brown’s support of choice, Coakley can be clocked as taking the opposite view. Which means that, by comparison, Brown is very much mainstream in a nation that defines itself as mostly conservative. A recent Gallup poll found that by the end of 2009, 40 percent of Americans self-identified as conservative; 36 percentchecked moderate; and 21 percent of Americans called themselves liberal.
One political observer describes Brown as a “JFK Republican.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803591.html
Middle=centrists. Dah.
Are you asking Obama to move more to the center?
Lady Lake….I’m Irish too, and I don’t think I can disagree with ONE word of what you said here. You are channeling my brain. Anyway, thank you for your thoughts, it’s really amazing to read my own thinking coming from you!
I’m Irish so I hold grudges and I can’t forgive Olbermann’s viciousness towards Hillary.He tends to take off on women in general. I have just about forgiven Ed because he is such an unapologetic liberal which I love.He also treats the opposition with some respect. Maddow can be good at times when she is laying out an issue but by in large I find her disappointing. She can be the poster girl for snotty elitist progressives making fun of people and putting people down. I think it plays right into the charges against Dems. I also thought the week she and Keith spent doing double entrendres on Tea Bagger jokes gross and adolescent. They still do dick jokes. Sorry I don’t think it’s funny. Maybe it is just my age.
I prefer Dylan Ratigan who uses brains and facts to make his arguments.
Yeah, me too, on Dylan, he’s great! I like Scarborough too, much of the time now, but when he was my own personal rep in Congress, not so much.
He’s mellowed with time; doesn’t have to tow the party line anymore, I guess.
COAKLEY CONCEDES!!!!!
Coakley concedes – Scott Brown win thread now up.
Martha Coakley has conceded. Good for Scott Brown, and bad for the arrogant Democrats. I have supported them far too long.
I’m asking for Americans to send Democrats a message in 2010.
AP has declared Scott Brown the victor in the MA Senate race. When given the choice between 2 corporatists, the people will choose the real corporatist.
We must remember that MA is the original tea party state.
I think there was a sexist element in the vote–MC is a middle-aged woman, running against a male Sarah Palin. Did you all notice, as we did here, Chuck Todd postively relishing the impending defeat of MC? Shades of Tim Russert.
While I naturally wanted her to win, I am also relieved to have the party dominance of the Kennedys diminished. The Kennedy endorsement of Obama and the messy NY state senate thing with Caroline are a couple of reasons why I think this way.
About MSNBC–I have grown to like Ed, did not care for him on Air America. Keith csn be funny and embarassing, often over the top but he’s on our side. Chris yells too much, prefer L. O’Donnell. And why is Pat Buchanan still on the air? Rachel is my favorite; imagine a good-looking lesbian with a PhD who would not be seen as elitist. Her humor is that of her generation, far from mine–such as the gross teabagger stuff.
That said, I had to turn off the television this evening. Too much unpleasant information.
Noogan says:
19 January 2010 at 8:54 pm
Noogan, Well. . .
I disagree with just about your entire post, as I described my own feelings in my own previous posting. So, we’ll just agree to disagree.
I will say that I too believe in good manners and polite discourse, and in my opinion none of the folks on my team have ever crossed the line.
Truth to tell Noogan, as I began to watch KO tonight I heard him mention something about an apology to Brown. My heart sank.
Then I heard the apology. He had left out the word “sexist” among the litany of names he threw out at him the night before. He invited Brown or his listeners to disprove any FACTS.
Sorry I don’t have the link to his special comment. Watch it if you can.
Personally, I wish the members on my team were more pro-active. Instead, they are only REACTING to conservative filth — to the complete absence of boundaries in journalism today. It’s a free for all. And worse the uneducated consumer IS indeed the best customer. Politicians like Palin or Grassley stand up and plain flat out lie, about death panels and killing Grandma and when pundits on the left react emotionally people think it absurd. Nah!
IMO, I think the right is mean, nasty, sometimes racist, and very irresponsible, bordering on Un-American. I do not believe the left is anywhere near there as yet.
We agree to disagree.
The left can be downright nasty. I guess you had blinders on during the Democratic primaries as the left attacked Hillary in a manner that repulsed me. I will never support avowedly leftist candidates again. Nasty sob’s.