Mark Shields misses having a "Manly Man" in the White House

[marmar]

:dunce:


from thinkprogress:



Shields: I’m ‘Nostalgic’ For A ‘Manly Man’ President Who Will ‘Kick Some Tail And Ask Questions Afterwards’

Since reports emerged last month that top commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal asked President Obama for upwards of 40,000 additional troops to continue the war there, the right wing has been attacking the President for taking time to make a decision on his new strategy. “It is absolutely unconscionable,” Liz Cheney said yesterday on Fox News, that Obama “is denying our troops on the ground in Afghanistan the resources that they need to prevail to win that war.”

Also during that time, Obama has made reflective gestures to those who have fallen in the wars he is now running, paying tribute to returning war dead at Dover Air Force Base and making an impromptu visit to Section 60 at Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day to commemorate Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties. Yesterday on Inside Washington, during a discussion of Obama’s upcoming decision on Afghanistan, syndicated columnist Mark Shields scoffed at Obama’s demeanor, wishing instead for a “manly man” in the White House:

SHIELDS: We have a president of real intellectual horse power who is cool, detached and analytical and if anything you can watch the emotional side of him emerge in this whole process. … There’s an emotional aspect, the comforter in chief as well as the commander in chief. Both roles. And I think it makes me nostalgic for those days when we had a manly man in the White House who could say, “Let’s kick some tail and ask questions afterwards” you know? That’s what we really need instead of any reflection.

Watch it: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/16/shields-manly-man/


Shields’ rhetoric is eerily reminiscent of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s justification for the war in Iraq, who in May 2003 argued that after 9/11, the U.S. had to invade in order to “burst” the terrorism bubble:

FRIEDMAN: And what they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, and basically saying, “Which part of this sentence don’t you understand? You don’t think, you know we care about our open society, you think this bubble fantasy, we’re just gonna to let it grow? Well, Suck on this, okay?” That Charlie is what this war is about. We could of hit Saudi Arabia, it was part of that bubble. Could of hit Pakistan. We hit Iraq because we could.

Of course Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and after nearly 4,400 U.S soldiers dead, 32,000 wounded and nearly $1 trillion spent, the U.S. still has well over 100,000 troops stationed in Iraq.


http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/16/shields-manly-man/

[jobycom]

1. Reports of the death of sexism in America have been greatly exaggerated.

[bigtree]

2. what a fool

[Initech]

3. He lost me at "kick some tail".

It's ASS! Kick some ass!!!!

[TwilightGardener]

4. It's hard werk for preznits to have to think things through!

I mean REALLY?? We need LESS reflection and MORE reflexive ass-kicking??

[Bitwit1234]

5. Oh yeah who starts wars

responsible for the death of thousands of our military because he "kicks ass and ask questions later". Like how can we connect Saddam to the twin towers attack..or where can we plant WMD so people will believe that's what we were after...Yep..a manly man that kills innocent people and lies to our country. What a joke. He was a coward who, when it came to personal involvement he ran and hid. He hid during most of the Viet Nam conflict and was allowed to do so because he had a butthole for a father who upheld him. But it was a different story when he sent other peoples sons and daughters to war.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Shields is a "Dem."

:tinfoilhat:

[bigtree]

8. yep

. . . though I was fine letting the op's characterization stand, after reading these comments.

[amandabeech]

14. He's a progressive Dem, except for abortion which he doesn't seek to force on anyone else.

He also speaks from the heart much of the time. He really cares about people who are having a hard time of it.

He also does weekly battle with David Brooks on the PBS Newshour. He and Brooks manage to be civil, but you should have seen him several years ago when his opposite number was Paul Gigot of the WSJ editorial page. Shields whooped his ass on a regular basis.

The view he espoused doesn't resonate with me, but considering the very positive things he has said about Obama in the past on Inside Washington and the Newshour, I can give him an easy pass.

If you think that he is a right-wing crazy, then I suggest that you check around the web for some videos and columns of his.

Better yet, watch the PBS Newshour on Friday. He and Brooks come on at :25 at the earliest and are usually done by :50. Check the Inside Washington listings for your area.

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. Missed the irony.

[me b zola]

7. bush* is a weenie

[sufrommich]

9. Because kicking ass and asking questions later has

worked so well in the past 8 years. :banghead:

[NoSheep]

10. If Obama were like that they'd hate him even more.

[leveymg]

11. Anyone who has ever seen Shields knows he's no right-wing tool. He was totally tongue-in-cheek.

He's a fixture on Inside Washington, which used to be a national show, but in recent years it's been moved to a DC local station. Mark Shields is one the last, solid old-fashioned liberals in the MSM. He's being misunderstood and/or mis-portrayed here.

[amandabeech]

16. Are you thinking Inside Washington with Gordon Peterson?

It's now on PBS 26 here in DC on Friday at 9:00 and on the local news & weather cable show at 7:00 (I think) on Saturday eve.

It is shown in syndication in some other places. It used to be on the ABC channel in Harrisburg PA when I lived there. It came on following George Stephanopolous (sp).

He's also on the Friday edition of the PBS Newshour in a 5-10 minute mild debate segment with David Brooks of the NYT.

[leveymg]

21. Thanks - that is what I meant. My bad.

Washington Week is a different, much blander local PBS show. Inside Washington is still worth watching for the good humor shown by Peterson, Shields, Nina Totenberg, and Evan Thomas - put together, they even make resident sourpuss Charles Krauthammer palatable.

[amandabeech]

23. Any time. I'm a fan of the show, too.

Krauthammer does drive me crazy from time to time, though.

He drove Williams Raspberry and Jack Germond so bonkers that they quit the show. This was back in the '90s. I loved both of them.

Also, don't forget the WP's Colbert King. He takes on Dr. Charles on a regular basis.

[leveymg]

24. Nobody drives Germond anywhere, except home from the Irish Pub.

But, seriously, I think he has some health problems. I miss him too - he used to be the sole voice of reason on McLaughlin (Eleanor Clift can be just too shrill and hysterical for my taste - the rest are tools. The person who I think truly got driven off that show was Mort-ton Kondrake - Bye-Bye . . .)

[amandabeech]

37. LOL!!!!!!! n/t

[Demit]

26. IW is on in Philly Sunday mornings. I found it after I finally gave up on screechy McLaughlin Group.

You're right, it's grown-up conversation. They are civil to one another, and (I can't believe I'm saying this) I even enjoy Charles K's dry humor.

[kwassa]

30. I also like Inside Washington, and Krauthammer can actually be very funny.

I hate to admit it, but it is true.

Krauthammer secretly loves Obama, but can't bring himself to admit it.

[hobbit709]

12. Sounds like he takes Mr. Manly's advice seriously.

[stray cat]

13. Since when does manly = stupid?

[kwassa]

28. oh, manly often = stupid.

when men start getting manly, get ready for disaster to strike.

[Berry Cool]

15. Friedman wouldn't have said "could OF hit Pakistan." He would have said "could HAVE hit Pakistan."

Aside from that, I think wingnuts reminiscing about when they had a "manly man" in the White House is a huge laugh. Please. All this crap does is remind me of what John Dean said about the authoritarian personality and how the only kind of person these people think is fit to run the country is a big bad Daddy who knocks his kids' heads against the wall when they're "bad." Because after all, that's the kind of Daddy they had growing up.

[MilesColtrane]

17. He just hasn't been the same since Yarnell broke up the act.

[NRaleighLiberal]

18. I guess to much David Brooks oozed into him during PBS Newshour.

[Demit]

19. I watched him say that & he was being totally wry. Somebody has an irony deficiency.

You can tell he's being ironic even if you were reading from the transcript. What the hell is wrong with ThinkProgress?

[old mark]

20. I guess he means like the "manly" Mr. Bush, the sniveling drunken

halfwit...the good old days?

mark

[EFerrari]

25. That's what escort services are for, not presidents.

[damntexdem]

27. Hmm, like whom? A Burt Reynolds or Rock Hudson type?

;-)

[Enrique]

29. Obama should start wearing Bush's codpiece

maybe it's lying around the White House somewhere.

[spanone]

31. i would think invading a nation that did us no harm was more cowardly than manly

[KittyWampus]

32. since other DU'ers have pointed out HE WAS BEING IRONIC HOW ABOUT DELETING THIS POS THREAD?

Shields is one of the good guys and it's fucking outrageous you basically start this crap and make him look bad.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[blm]

34. thinkprogress got it wrong - Shields was being SARCASTIC.

geez....I hate that some left blogs show that they have been dumbed down, too.

[ChickMagic]

35. I think Obama is extremely manly

Not just in physical appearance, but his wisdom and ability to
stay cool are both attributes I attribute to manliness. Remember,
he cooly ordered those pirates executed.

[mulsh]

36. Mark Sheilds is half the reason I switch off News Hour on Fridays.

Mark is hardly qualified to tell us what "we need". His rambling, mumbled comments are as annoying and banal has his cohort Brooks. How the hell would he recognize a "manly man. And if by some miracle he were able to identify a "manly man" he would be wholly unable to notify us in a succinct and direct way.

[mikeSchmuckabee]

38. Repubs prefer the company of men.

And they like them manly!

[jmowreader]

39. I''d be nostalgic for that time too...

but the anniversary of the assassination of the last true Manly Man to serve in the White House is on Sunday, and I was five months old when it happened.

Bush? Come on--Manly Men don't wear hats with scotty dogs embroidered on them. They're manly enough not to need to wear presidential-logo socks. And they CERTAINLY don't invade countries just because their oil is under someone else's sand.