BOOM! Soledad knocks it out of the park!

[Atman]

Interviewing RNC Chair Mel Martinez about the doomed Republican party. Martinez insisted that minorities just really don't know the GOP.

Soledad replied "You say it's because they don't know you. But could it be that they do know you, and they've decided they don't like you?"

[txwhitedove]

1. Finally! Someone said what we've all wanted to say. Love Soledad.

[retired rooster]

20. grrreat response

I want to have her baby

[calimary]

40. Welcome to DU, retired rooster!

Glad you're here! That woman's clear-eyed view is MUCH to be admired. Thank goodness she's got a platform on camera. That point of view needs to be out front more fully - on CNN and every other outlet!

[toddaa]

2. When is she on?

I most make a point of watching her. Whenever I flip through CNN, it's always Wolf Blitzer, who hurts my brain.

[Atman]

5. 7-9 am. She's the antidote to Morning Joe

CNN generally sucks, but she's often a bright spot. They do more real news than Joe, and a good deal of politics. When Soledad interviews the Washington clowns, she's tougher than anyone else on tv.

[homegirl]

24. Morning Joe

Thanks for the lead to Soledad, I just cannot watch Morning Joe anymore. Joe is the rudest talking head on TV, well maybe close to a tie with Bill O'Reilly. The only reason I watch is in hope of seeing one of his guests finally lose it, after being interupted for the nth time, tearing off the mike, giving Joe a punch in the nose and walking off the set.

[AgingAmerican]

26. That Mika chick is pretty hot though

I think she is supposed to be the Democrat. She is lukewarm as a Democrat, but has her moments. No matter, I'm at work when it's on.

[Whisp]

46. *groan.

AgingAmericans should be washing their dentures about now instead of talking about hawt cheeks.

[AgingAmerican]

49. Hey, Im only 51

I still have some tiger in my tank

[Whisp]

51. wow. so sexy.

[AgingAmerican]

54. Indeedy

n/t

[calimary]

41. Welcome to DU, homegirl!

Good to have you with us! It's kind of pathetic when joe scarborough is frequently regarded as one of the few republi-CONS who actually kinda gets the reality that's coming home to roost for that disgraceful excuse for an American political establishment. Almost everything about them, anymore, is thoroughly and disgustingly UN-American.

[Fumesucker]

37. OBrien doesn't depend on access to politicians for her show, most of it is about other stuff

That's why she can be so hard hitting with them, she doesn't depend on them for stories and interviews unlike the strictly political press.

[Xipe Totec]

3. I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,

I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why, I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.
--Thomas Brown

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Slight Adaptation ...

I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why, I WILL NOT TELL;
But this I know, YOU KNOW FULL WELL,
SO BECAUSE YOU KNOW AND DO NOT CHANGE,I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.

--Thomas Brown; adapted by 1StrongBlackMan

[Canoe52]

23. BRAVO!

[calimary]

42. Welcome to DU, Canoe52!

Good to have you join us! We need you! We need everyone on our side to STAY AWAKE, and not go back to sleep - feeling complacent that we won last November so that's that. That ISN'T that, is it? The enemy never sleeps. Therefore, we can't afford to either.

[SmittynMo]

4. But could it be that they do know you, and they've decided they don't like you?"

Duh. Bingo!!!! Oh we(they) know who they are. The party of "me, me, me, me, me".

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

6. Green Day says it all

Nobody likes you Everyone left you they're all out without you havin fun

Everyone left you nobody likes you they're all out without you havin fun

[coldbeer]

7. Thanks a million Atman

It took me ten minutes to find CNN on directv. I found it a
while back and thought it sounded like Moaning Joe so I
watched it no more. But I have been trying to find Soledad!

I am watching CNN now. It is now 9a and I found her. WOW!!!!
Thanks!!!

[coldbeer]

34. Oh, it's 4p. and Wolf Blitzer is on!

That's the reason I do not watch CNN. He
is level with Moaning Joe, he sucks. Goodbye
again CNN!

Well, maybe I'll tr to catch Soledad tomorrow.

Sounds like a song, Goodbye again CNN!!!

[ReRe]

8. K&R

Priceless! Thanks, Atman.

[another_liberal]

9. I like her . . .

I like her more and more all of the time! It takes real courage to stand up to the GOP's money and power.

The Republicans simply need to be told this truth repeatedly: ". . . they (the American people) do know you, and they've decided they don't like you?"

[Whisp]

50. she has really evolved into a great interviewer.

she stands out from those other mostly useless assholes on CNN.

[another_liberal]

53. Yes, she's quick, smart . . .

. . . and well-prepared. She also knows when (and how) to "go for the throat."

[Baitball Blogger]

10. That's right. We don't like them.

You can't be around them for a length of period of time without hearing them say something racist.

This was years back, but it was someone who worked in Human Services. Talking about a good employee who was goaded into a fight by another employee and left management no other recourse but to fire him. "Now, I'm not a racist, but this employee was a real n-----."

Then someone I still consider a friend, but have not reconciled over a disagreement prior to the presidential election. About Wasserman-Schultz she said: "She's a loud mouth Jew."

They just have no clue how this wears a person down and demoralizes you each time you hear it. At some point you just realize that they don't make great investments over time. And it breaks my heart because in all other ways they can be very kind, decent people. But racism is an ugliness that destroys a person's character like cancer.

[appacom]

32. I feel you.

[samsingh]

11. i really like her

[kimroc1]

13. She sure did!

I watched the interview and Soledad stumped him. He began yammering about something else incoherently....Go Soledad. She is the answer to 'YawningJoe' on that other station.

[renate]

21. welcome to DU!

[calimary]

39. Welcome to DU, kimroc!

She really puts 'em in their places. Saying the things that need to be said, and making the points that need to be made.

Just painting a happy face on it isn't going to convince Latinos and African Americans OR women that the GOP is suddenly on their side.

You can't look at the relentless attacks on the right to vote (in THIS day and age!??!??!!!!!!!!!?!??!?!?!?) and on women's sovereignty over their own bodies. Some nice-sounding words and phrases will not counteract all of that!

VERY glad she notices. We need more of that.

[hamsterjill]

14. Way to go, Soledad!!!

I am happy to see someone finally stating the truth!!!

In your face, GOP!!!

[BlueStreak]

19. Now we need to see some of that from the other networks

There are still other networks, aren't there? I haven't checked lately.

We have had a decade where Faux "news" was ascendent in their ratings and everybody else (except MSNBC) thought they had to emulate Faux to one degree or another. That era is over. Faux is losing its ratings. Maybe we will see an era where the media starts asking real questions again.

[hamsterjill]

27. Wouldn't that be refreshing???!!!

To actually have the media act as real, responsible journalists? Instead of the sensationalists that we've grown accustomed to seeing?

I long for that day!

[abq e streeter]

15. What the hell has gotten into her lately? Bravo ,once again, Soledad O'Brien.

[BlueStreak]

18. She's been good for quite a while. The question is more what CNN is thinking

They have never been able to figure out what they are.

Are they "straight news" or is there a personality?

Do they want to be seen as serious reporters or do they have a stage full of whizzbang gadgets?

Are they chasing Faux for the Limbaugh demographic?

There is a serious long-term backlash against the right-wing underway. Look at Faux' ratings. They are in serious decline. Since taking over the House, that body has slipped to about 10% popularity on a good day. The whole image of the teabaggers has become one of clowns and fools.

I'd say Soledad O'Brien is yet another experiment for CNN. They are trying to carve out a position of not being a lap dog of the right wing without appearing to be consistently left-wing. And it makes good sense to try that out against Morning Joe. I mean, it would be nuts to try to put Soledad against Rachael, for example.

[redqueen]

16. Hahahahaha, yes!

I hope she gets a lot of love for giving voice to that insight. We need to encourage this kind of thing.

[Jackpine Radical]

17. Wull, yasee, dese yere mynoritees aintoo swif, ifn ya gits da driffa woddime sane,

anday jus don havda watchacall coggitiv kerpassity ta unnerstan wots good ferrim.
--Sunspot Johnson

[CranialRectaLoopback]

22. Ouch!

Who let that woman out of the kitchen wondered the the Rethug.

[onenote]

25. As the daughter of a Cuban immigrant

Soledad knows of what she speaks!

Another factoid about Ms. O'Brien. Her parents met in college at Johns Hopkins but couldn't get married in Maryland because interracial marriage was not permitted at the time (Soledad was born the year before the SCOTUS decided the Loving v. VA case). So her folks went to DC to get married. I suspect that bit of family history informs her thinking considerably.

[libdem4life]

28. Her well-educated questions and zingers and follow-ups are delivered with perfect timing.

Sometimes it seems she lets them drone on and on and on ad nauseum. But I think that's kind of the trade-off because otherwise, few of the "opposition" would agree to come on the show. Brave, smart, intelligent, Hispanic (I think?) woman at CNN.

[santamargarita]

29. Finally

[Cha]

30. republiCon spokes people are so Easy.. if anyone bothers to

call them on their shite.

Thank Goodness there are a few who do it and Soledad O'Brien is certainly making a good name for herself as One of them!

Perfect Answer.. thanks Atman!

[ck4829]

31. Nice.

[Skittles]

33. Soledad knows the score

yes INDEED

[DallasNE]

35. Martinez Condescending Remark

Underscores Soledad's point. Basically calling somebody stupid and lazy is not going to win them over.

[Shankapotomus]

36. Minorities have been here witnessing

the actions of the racial majority for hundreds of years, since before the United States was formed. They know the white majority better than some European immigrants, like my family, who arrived here much later. That's why I look to first nation people and African Americans to know what's really going on here. They tell it like it is.

[Texas Lawyer]

38. Has she always been this awesome? Seems like Soledad is on a roll but I don't remember her being

this good when she was at NBC.

[Atman]

45. I used to rag on her constantly.

When she had her tv show while Bush was King, she tended to toe the line. She had to...if you didn't support the war, you got shitcanned, or moved to the 5:00 am Sunday morning slot. She started speaking up, and eventually did get shitcanned. But she's back. And now she has her own show, and I think CNN, in their desperation to staunch their failing ratings, have given her more leeway to speak her mind. I love it. I wish her whole morning show was more about stuff that matters -- they still get into a bit too much pop culture and fluff, but then, so does Joe when he and all the old white men think everyone is interested in the sports they watched last night.

I don't take back what I once posted about Soledad, because it was true at the time. But she seems to be genuine, seems to have found her voice. It's a good break from the usual morning crap.

[Politicalboi]

43. I thought it was Obama

Who was making them look bad.

[supercats]

44. Nicely Put

I'm sure that was great television, I'm sorry I missed it.

[Doc Holliday]

47. Awww.

No link, no video?



(edited to add a link when I stopped whining and looked some up in the Multimedia Forum)

http://laborspains.blogspot.com/2013/01/soledad-tells-former-rnc-chair.html

[Atman]

48. Well, actually, there is. Here is the whole interview from this morning...

Soledad's comment comes at about the 1:06 mark. But the whole interview is worth watching.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?collection=STARTING_POINT&hpt=hp_tvvideo#/video/bestoftv/2013/01/25/exp-point-mel-martinez.cnn

[Berserker]

52. Best come back

Of the year!
"You say it's because they don't know you. But could it be that they do know you, and they've decided they don't like you?"

Frickin AWESOME that's why we don't like them.

[Politicub]

55. Ouch! That left a mark!

[donheld]

56. The problem is

Every spokesperson for the Republicans either sounds like an idiot, heartless or both. Every time one of them opens their mouths, minorities, and everybody else, sees the very ugly heart of the republican party. With fools as spokes people anybody with half a brain & heart will not like or trust them.

[AndyTiedye]

57. ZING!

Plan B, of course, is to make sure that minority votes (or any other votes that are not RAPEuglican) don't count for much.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

58. K&R nt

[rocktivity]

59. Cognitive Dissonance GOP Style

Watched a little of a National Review forum on CSPAN yesterday. One speaker suggested that what the GOP candidates have had in common were the same handlers, and maybe that was the root of the problem. Another speaker said that the GOP failed to get the message across that "government" was the cause of the 2008 economic crisis. But there was no mention that the GOP controlled the government PRIOR to 2008. At which point I changed the channel.


rocktivity

[Dawson Leery]

60. LOL!

[burnsei sensei]

61. It's not so different from something Melissa Harris Perry

said a few months ago.
When it was observed that the more "diverse" set of the population vote Democratic, she replied that maybe the people were simply "not buying what the Republicans are selling."
And she was right and is right, just as this comment by S.O. is.
For Republicans, policy is always product, campaigns are always framed as sales, and the election is always understood to be a purchase.
Yes, it's true.
The American people, in all their permutations, are simply not buying the product any more.
The Republicans have talked in these little gatherings of theirs not about reform or policy objectives, everything is about rhetoric, about a new sales pitch. They really do believe that if you sell the product, it doesn't matter what's in it.
By their logic, you can sell any amount of corruption as public policy-- that means privatization or the dismantling of Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid, and the American people will accept it.
In this framing and in these objectives, we must humiliate the Republicans entirely. They have no issues any more, and they must never recover.

[El Shaman]

62. Soledad:

le pago a el clavo en la cabezona!!

[Atman]

63. I got some hysterical translations online.

They funniest thing is, I "translated" it myself to determined that you meant to say "Soledad hit the nail on the head." The online translation sites said things like "I play the nail on the big head." Which, actually, I think is pretty good.

[GreenTea]

64. María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien does her homework and is always well prepared...a progressive.

I loved O'Briren when she was in San Francisco on KRON news...for a few years.

She's also very cute with a great smile....and she seems to love to bitch slap lying fucking elitist republicans....just as I do!!!

[Atman]

65. Well, you went there...

I didn't want to mention her stunning good looks. Because that doesn't matter, right?

Great sense of humor, very intelligent, very personable, seems to be a devoted mom, and she's hot. What's not to love?

[Bake]

66. Damn, that's gonna leave a mark!!

Bake