We've started a controversy over the word dick? What the fuck is he a king?

[originalpckelly]

Honestly, at what point do we as a nation get the fuck over ourselves already? Truly, when will it happen?

The guy called the President a dick. Perhaps it was not for a good reason, but when I think of horrible things in this world, dick does not rate up there.

I just watched the video of this remark, and quite frankly, it looked as if someone in some dictatorship just called the dictator a bad name. I think that's more frightening than a man being able to call the President a dick.

He's a man, not a god. He doesn't have any divine powers, and you don't have to respect him anymore than any other person.
Power is a privilege, not a right, and you should not have to treat those in power with kid gloves.
If the remark had been racist, I could understand that, but "dick"? Really?!!?

And so what if little kids are watching? How the fuck do you think the adults learned how to say the word? They learned somewhere along the line, I remember knowing what a dick was when I was little, and not just as a synonym for penis. "That guy is a total dick."

They know, and they should figure it out.

Like I said, I'm much more worried about a nation that has a press scared half to death of giving their honest opinions when giving commentary. It's almost as if they're in the Twilight Zone movie, during this story:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qJRZ3qm9yUI/TNMkRBaRXlI/AAAAAAAAAMw/PeOVS4etRqE/s1600/Twilight+Zone+the+Movie.jpg
"What? The President isn't a dick. Please God don't smite us and take away our mouths for saying dick on the air!"

[Peacetrain]

1. You have missed the point.. that he is put forward as someone with no dog

in the hunt.

Those of us who have watched morning joe more than a few times.. know exactly what side he is on.. and that is fine.. just be honest about it. I have no problem with steele and buchanan, because you know what you are going to hear comes from a specific point of view.

[originalpckelly]

6. He would have been able to give the same bias had he not used dick...

and no one would have noticed.

It's the problem of reporters becoming analysts.

[woo me with science]

115. He is an analyst.

That's his title.

[patrice]

52. Right on, Peacetrain! One can put up with a lot if it is honest. Halperin should preface

his analysis by identifying his biases. No pretense of objective "truth".

[RaleighNCDUer]

56. Maybe YOU missed the point -

being called a dick is not like some kind of mean-spirited wingnut attack, which exposed the guy's true colors. He called him a dick.

I've often called Joe Scarborough a dick - it usually takes about the three second before I change to the weather channel in the morning. And in the evening, I've often called Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert dicks - Stewart for being snarky, and Colbert for playing his persona too well during an interview with someone I really wanted to hear more from.

I've never called Glenn Beck a dick, because he is so far beyond dick that I almost have to invent a new vocabulary for him.

If 'asshole' is steak, 'dick' is jello.

It says nothing about a person's political stance or world view. It only means that person is, for the moment, being a dick.

And if Obama was being a dick, IMO he should go there more often.

[TwilightGardener]

71. Who gives a shit if you call someone a dick? Really. That means zip. Now if TV news starts calling

our President "dick", that means something.

[mod mom]

64. exactly!

[Blue_Tires]

2. If the other side reads the riot act every time one of their own is called something

the same principle applies here...

I just want equal treatment for the offenses, whether they are complete forgiveness or all out Battle Royale...

[originalpckelly]

3. Did you actually see the video?

It's actually quite scary when you watch it.

[Blue_Tires]

21. Halpern is free to speak his mind, but is it too much to ask

that he do it professionally? He's the goddamned editor of Time Magazine on national TV! This isn't some random blogger or Howard Stern or your co-worker at the water cooler...In theory, shows like this and their high-profile guests are supposed to elevate the discourse...No one would raise an eyebrow at any of these similar comments:

"I thought he was kind of a jerk yesterday."

"I thought he went too far/not far enough yesterday."

"I thought he was too combative yesterday."

"I thought he was kind of obstinate yesterday."

"I thought he was kind of unpleasant yesterday."

"I thought he was kind of mean-spirited yesterday."

"I thought he was kind of partisan yesterday."

"I thought he was kind of unrepentant yesterday."

Even if that is his real thought and wanted to say it off the record, why in fuck's name would he knowingly say it with the cameras running, seven-second delay or no??

[originalpckelly]

23. I guess he thought he lived in a free country.

[Blue_Tires]

32. He IS in a free country!

Last I checked, no one kicked in Halpern's door to arrest him...

[originalpckelly]

42. No, but he probably won't be employed very long.

[Blue_Tires]

46. He's not getting kicked out of Time for this...

[originalpckelly]

51. We'll see.

Let's just see how long he's there now. Watch a couple months out. He's going to be forced out eventually.

[Blue_Tires]

72. I won't weep for him

Even if he is forced out, he'll have his choice of jobs in the industry, and his severance will be more than we'll see in our lifetimes combined...

Just don't make him out to be some sort of victim -- It's not like he'd never been on TV before and didn't know how to choose his words...

[butterfly77]

48. Well...

"Game Change" He should be doing very well.

[Capitalocracy]

78. How is jerk different from dick?

Puritan bullshit (and a possible lack of understanding of the meaning of the word "jerk")

[Blue_Tires]

94. Just an example -- There are thousands of other things he could have said

to make the same point...

And when did professional standards become "puritan?"

[Capitalocracy]

98. I'm all for holding ourselves to a higher standard

and I agree that it was less than professional to use an insult (although other than from a puritan standpoint, I don't see the difference between "jerk" and "dick"). But it seems like we're going overboard a little bit when the other side can actively lie all day long, and anyone who crosses the line or steps on the line or looks at the line funny on our side is immediately fired, shunned, and politically burned at the stake. It actually does seem a bit puritanical to me. Just say hey, that wasn't very cool, the guy apologizes, so don't fire him! We're going to run out of soldiers on our side if every minor transgression leads to a lynching when the other side can commit no crime too great with zero consequences.

Edit to add: I actually don't know who Halperin is... looking it up a bit it appears his criticism itself was utter BS as is much of what he says. But while that's a good reason NOT TO HIRE him, I don't think the use of the word "dick" is a good reason to fire him. This was a situation of political analysis, and that was his opinion.

[Enrique]

4. any journalist who would say that is a terrible journalist

and has no business being on TV.

I'm not talking about the word dick, I'm talking about his worthless and dishonest claim about Obama's behavior.

[originalpckelly]

5. When you give an opinion, you stop being a reporter and start being a commentator.

Even if he is trotted out as an unbiased source, that is immediately gone when you start analyzing things. You cannot have unbiased analysis.

A reporter gives the facts, and that's it.

[RaleighNCDUer]

96. worthless and dishonest claim?

He WAS being a bit of a dick.

And I, for one, was glad to see it. Those wankers NEED somebody to get up in their faces occasionally.

[hfojvt]

7. once again, I wonder if we are being played

if this whole thing isn't just a set-up, to generate publicity for MSNBC and also for them to be able to pretend that they have standards, while they allow Chris Matthews to fling poo.

I also do not applaud a precedent of suspending people for saying bad things about the President.

Apparently that means I will never be able to go on the air and call the President a liar or a spineless, traitorous backstabber.

[originalpckelly]

10. I know.

His apology was not because he gave an opinion, but that it was out of line and disrespectful.

Those who claim otherwise need to watch the actual video. Those people looked terrified, like they just saw a ghost or something.

[gkhouston]

38. I thought it was more that he went off the script and they didn't

know what was coming next. That does tend to inspire terror when you're live.

[Blue_Tires]

President has nothing to do with it...

Halpern could have been talking about Peyton Manning or Rush Limbaugh and it's still a suspendable offense

[livetohike]

8. Lack of professionalism is one of the problems.

When I worked, had I spoken with that kind of slang, I am sure I would have been fired. I watched him say it live EST. Scarborough goaded him into it like they were junior high boys goofing off in the hallway.

MSNBC is making an assumption that people think they are a credible news channel. This doesn't help.

[ecstatic]

9. Can you post past examples of a sitting president being called insulting names

on a news network? Thanks.

[originalpckelly]

11. Have you seen a situation not involving violence where people looked so scared?

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Congress looking into the appearance of a nipple in the Superbowl show?

A far larger reaction.

[originalpckelly]

20. Yes, they can look into nipples, can't look into campaign finance loopholes.

I wonder why.

It's the lack of priorities we have as a nation, and the fear the media has of our government. So much so that when they are needed as dissenting voices, they have failed often in the last ten years.

[patrice]

60. Oh, the poor millionaires, they might end up homeless!

sarcasm thingy

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. It's not the word, but it's use in 'serious' TV commentary

No-one bats an eyelid when a comedian like Jon Stewart calls a politician a dick, on air. But Halperin was meant to be giving serious analysis, and instead he came up with a playground insult. It was unprofessional.

[gkhouston]

58. I find the idea that Morning Joe is serious commentary utterly absurd.

The Daily Show actually has much better commentary, even if it's wrapped in satire.

[Blue_Tires]

61. Thank you for getting the point of the outrage...

There were countless other things he could have said to make the same exact point, but instead goes a route even a sophomore writing in the campus paper would avoid...

[mcar]

13. Knew this was coming

:eyes:

Bad things are happening in the world so no one has the right to get slightly exercised over a right wing shill calling the President of the United States a dick on television?

Those of us who have gotten slightly exercised over same need to get the f#$% over ourselves? Are treating the president like a dictator? Are acting like the president is a king?

Somehow, it always comes down to being PO's fault, doesn't it?

[originalpckelly]

15. Maybe the fear the news media has of merely uttering one word...

is the same fear that keeps them from reporting about corruption in our government?

[trumad]

14. Wow---right over your head.

Halperin is the fucking Editor of Time Magazine.

A journalist with integrity wouldn't do this kind of shit.

[Fire1]

17. Ding Ding! Winner! n/t

[originalpckelly]

18. No, the sonic boom is over you.

It matters not where he works or how important he is, no one should live in fear of our leaders.

It couldn't be that they are so frightened that they would never say something else true, but controversial?

This may or may not be true. But this is not right because of the fear. Nothing more.

[trumad]

75. Again---not the fucking point.

ugg--- no double ugg.

[TwilightGardener]

104. What is this "fear" bullshit? Is Halperin in a cell waiting for his beheading?

Or was he merely suspended from his side gig for violating standards of the broadcast company he was working for?

[Rebubula]

109. 'FEAR OUR LEADERS'???????????

Wow....hyperbole much????

This is an issue of professionalism and the use of genitalia references on live news TV.


I am sorry that you seem to want to turn this into some sort of hand wringing-the righties are coming to kill us-no free speech ever again sky is falling crap.


Jeesh.

[gkhouston]

22. You somehow thought that Halperin had integrity before this incident? n/t

[phleshdef]

19. Its not the name calling. Its acting like Pres. Obama doesn't have the right to fight back.

The Republicans say whatever the hell they want about this President and they get away with it 99% of the time. Insult after insult after insult. Yet he sticks up for himself over their claims that he isn't getting involved in the debt talks (a complete and absolute lie on its face) and suddenly he is a "dick" for doing so. Thats right. The President is a "dick" for doing his fucking job and telling Congress to stop playing games with a really serious issue.

I really don't care about the name calling persay. The reasoning behind the name calling is tremendously more disturbing.

[Fire1]

24. Good point. n/t

[mcar]

26. 100% correct

Pres. Obama stands up to the republicans and suddenly he's a "dick." The repubs hit PO with every non-cussword perjorative they can come up with and they get away with it over and over again.

Why is anyone defending Halperin here? People are constantly calling for PO to stand up, "show some spine." He does and the repub blowhards immediately start their tut-tutting and here on this board we get "what is he, a king?"

[originalpckelly]

30. If you step into the ring, expect to take a punch.

[mcar]

49. You're joking, right?

He's been taking punches 24/7 since before he was elected. Halperin's comment wasn't a punch, it was a WATB right-wing jerk-face remark that you appear to be defending by critizing the president, or at least by implying that people who object to Halperin's comment are acting like PO is a "king" or "dictator."

[phleshdef]

87. Fine. Halperin stepped into the ring. Now he is getting punched.

[originalpckelly]

90. Yes. Very much so.

But they were still afraid as if they were those folks in the Twilight Zone movie.

[dionysus]

103. LOL, leave mark halperin alone!11!!

:rofl:

[butterfly77]

59. Exactly...

[patrice]

73. The possibly intentionally simplistic assumption is that we think PO can't be criticized, when, in

fact many of us here do criticize him, but what some of us are defending is the PROCESS and insults damage the process that we hope leads us to some more authentic approximation of what we all refer to as reality. The disrespect shown this President not only encourages disrespect among us, it also damages the means by which those with authentic criticisms approach some form of understanding. It's BAD for America.

[originalpckelly]

85. .

:spray:

Yeah, that's the problem with America. It has nothing to do with corruption throughout the entire political system, right?
It has nothing to do with the fact that the government might as well be a subsidiary of the big corporations, or more importantly the stockholders, right?

And we're worried about "dick".
Well, that explains why we're really fucked up.

[patrice]

97. Who said anything of the sort? YOU. Not I not anyone else I've noticed here. Straw man. nt

[mcar]

111. Well said

Nothing wrong with criticism.

[butterfly77]

57. Exactly...

[patrice]

25. All of your assumptions about our objections to this are incorrect. Being PC has this kind of

reciprocity going for it that you may be unaware applies ALSO to one's self.

[patrice]

39. P.S. Re PC-ness: You know, you could have started with a few questions about people's

objections, rather than using a PC stereotype.

[WhiteTara]

27. It's more about the office than about the man.

If they can be so disrespectful, we have no chance. They have to be caught up short with each of their outrages.

[originalpckelly]

31. Well, perhaps when Presidents respect the office of the President...

then people will do the same.

[Richardo]

28. Totally missing the point.

Gives an insight into YOUR psyche, though.

And, no, I have not seen the video.

[originalpckelly]

34. If you haven't seen the video, why don't you take the time to look at it...

before you make a comment on it?

I'm not really even talking about the word, but the fear on their faces.

[Richardo]

83. Has more to do with their jobs than any consideration of Obama's "royalty"

They're mortfied that their colleague said it, not that it was said about the President.

[originalpckelly]

93. That's not what the apology said.

Go watch the apology. They talk about the "respect" for the President.

[Richardo]

112. Well of course.

What else would they say?

The on-camera reaction does not necessarily have anything to do with the formal apology.

[CJCRANE]

29. What's next, a journalist can call the Speaker a POS

or the Senate Majority Leader a SOB live on air?

It's vacuous and it's unprofessional.

[Matariki]

33. Maybe MSNBC is trying to maintain a level of respect for the Office of the Presidency

and not specifically Obama?

I admit to finding it a bit disrespectful and embarrassing when Jon Stewart (who I like) called the President 'dude'.

[originalpckelly]

36. Policitians deserve no respect at all. They are often the lowest among us.

Those who yearn for power so much they rise to the office of President are the worst, not the greatest, among us.

There is something wrong with a person who wants that much power. They are not deserved of respect, by any means.

[WinkyDink]

41. This is either beyond stupid, or poorly-executed sarcasm.

[originalpckelly]

44. How corrupt is our political system?

And corrupt do you have to be to become powerful in it?

When you answer that, you know why I say what I say.

[WinkyDink]

76. I won't believe this of J. Carter, or Fred Harris, or Kucinich, among others.

[originalpckelly]

77. Hey, how'd they get their money to run for office?

Don't believe me, look for yourself:
http://fec.gov/

Eventually, you'll see that just about any politician on the national level has a trail of shit behind them a mile long.

[Richardo]

117. It doesn't have to be 'either-or' you know.

;)

[WinkyDink]

37. Jesuitical much?

[patrice]

43. possibly, but NOT necessarily. nt

[WinkyDink]

35. You apparently are unfamiliar with U.S. network television decorum. Unless, of course, you can find

ONE OTHER USE OF THIS VULGARISM ON NETWORK TELEVISION PRIOR?

[originalpckelly]

40. "vulgarism"

:rofl:

[WinkyDink]

55. Common usage of a vulgar term does not make it less so. Allow me:

http://www.answers.com/topic/dick
http://www.yourdictionary.com/dick

I didn't make this up; this is not merely an "opinion." Some words are coarse; some are vulgar; and some are "fightin' words." That people use them is not the point.

Perhaps you think TPTB at MSNBC are simply being prudish?

[originalpckelly]

81. Sweetie, if I was ever on national TV..

I'd be tempted to break out into Carlin's seven dirty words. I might even just write a ditty about them, just to make sure it's fucking catchy.

This is of course, one of many different reasons I'll never be on national TV.

[CBGLuthier]

50. MSNBC is not network television

comedy central and msnbc and tcm are all under exactly the same rules. There was a nice dildo used on the Daily Show a week ago. You have no point.

Note: I don't give a shit if they suspend the guy. They probably have internal rules and practices.

But don't confuse cable with broadcast tv which does have rules.

[WinkyDink]

62. TCM censors its movies.

[CBGLuthier]

113. Oh they most certainly do not

Every once in a a while they get stuck with a bad print but 99% of the time they run them unedited. They just save the stronger stuff for late at night.

[sufrommich]

45. So wait, your argument is that Joe Scmho and Co. are

actually terrified of criticizing the President? Have you ever watched that show? That's all they do.

[originalpckelly]

47. It's not blunt criticism.

They dance around the point like someone afraid of being set on fire whilst covered in gasoline. MSNBC has a liberal bias, not as bad as Fox's conservative bias, but this guy is not just a commentator who is employed to come in and act as dissent, he hosts entire show. If he's not liked, then he will lose his show.

[sufrommich]

53. Dance around what point? That Obama is a dick? nt

[originalpckelly]

63. Hey, what do you call the guy whose government kills how many children in Afghanistan?

"Ooops, sorry, we didn't mean to kill them. It's only happened a shitload of times before, and we should have adapted our techniques by now, but fuck it. It's not like they matter anyway."

[sufrommich]

69. So you're just mad that Halperin got in trouble for calling him a dick. Got it.

Next up on the American Political Conversation Channel, a rebroadcast of the classic "Ow,My Balls".

[originalpckelly]

74. I'm just saying that dick is a moderate term to use for someone who presides over that government.

[sufrommich]

80. So your OP isn't really about the terror in the eyes of Joe and Co.?

You seemed so concerned.

[originalpckelly]

84. Did you watch the video?

I'm more worried about the terror in their eyes.

Don't you ever wonder why you only hear a number, and not a real story about the kids who die over there?
Perhaps the media is afraid?

[dionysus]

107. hey, it's a slow day for outrage, gotta find some excuse to be outraged at the pres, dontcha know

[October]

114. +1 /nt

[dionysus]

106. oh noes.. obama is gonna send his hit squads after mark halperin!

:eyes:

[TwilightGardener]

54. This post is full of dumb.

[patrice]

65. Appears to be a contrarian posing as an objective analyst. nt

[truth2power]

66. I agree with you, kelly. I'm so sick of the political correctness I could puke...

"He's a man, not a god", just about sums it up for me.

And just for those who would say that I don't like Obama anyway, or that I'm a "hater" or (and this is true) I don't have much that's positive to say about him around here, so why would I care if someone calls him a "dick", I'll put it in another context:

I really like Bernie Sanders. I wish he'd run for president. If someone called him a dick, so what? It doesn't impugn his integrity with me one bit.

Someone could call me Lady Gaga. Doesn't mean it's accurate. Sheesh! Yes, we should get over ourselves. :eyes:

[Blue_Tires]

86. You realize Halpern would still be suspended if he was talking about Lady Gaga, right?

or any other public figure?

I don't work in media anymore, but I partially blame myself -- The world of so-called journalism has become so fucked that the public can't even distinguish gross unprofessionalism anymore...

[originalpckelly]

88. The "unprofessionalism" starts with a "reporter" giving an opinion on anything...

rather than delivering the facts.

That's the real problem, this would never have happened were the news of this country not so tainted with opinion that it cannot be separated.

This is not a straight news story. "In other news, the President acted like a dick today at a press conference. It was argued earlier in the day whether he was a douche or not, it was finally decided he was a dick."

Now that would be wrong.

However, asking someone for their opinion, that's opening up the door to dickland.

[alsame]

67. To me, the word 'dick' isn't the issue, it's all about the

right wing bias of the media. Halperin is touted at MSNBC as a serious and legitimate journalist/reporter and yet he feels free to say something like this about a Democratic president on a national cable TV show.

[originalpckelly]

68. My God, someone on a talk show who is asked to give his viewpoint...

giving his viewpoint, however immature?

Is there gambling is this here casino?

[alsame]

92. Again, I think he felt this was acceptable because Obama

is a Dem. I'm not saying he can't criticize Obama, that's clearly what MSNBC pays him to do. But he could have expressed his opinion in other words.

If you've seen him on any other MSNBC shows, you'd know that when he criticizes the GOP he's very careful with his words - he'd never call Palin an 'idiot', Bachman 'crazy' or Bush a 'liar'.

To me, it's about the double standard.

[originalpckelly]

95. With that I can agree. If you cross the line into bluntless it must be fair.

But then again, asking someone who is a reporter to give an opinion is like a color being asked to be a number, without coding it in a number system first.

It's just not supposed to happen. They are two separate kinds of values/things.

A reporter should not be analyzing dick.

[CatWoman]

70. looks like you're the one being a dick

[Richardo]

79. .....and so the thread is over.

:rofl: :applause: :hi: :loveya:

[Lisa D]

82. What an odd response

It's full of dickiness.

[lynne]

89. Agree its a bit much, especially when considering the definition of -

- "dick" as it was being used. "Dick" is a term to describe someone being adversarial, mean, disagreeable, non-cooperative. The word as it was used has no sexual connotation although the origin of the term is certainly sexual.

Had he said the president was being "adversarial" or "disagreeable", he would have expressed the same thing without repercussion. Certainly a bad decision on his part and - yes - his employer has every right to reprimand him for such.

That being said, I do think all the indignation is a bit overblown.

[originalpckelly]

91. It's the shiny object of the moment.

Meanwhile this nation still kills kids on accident in Afghanistan.
This government is corrupt.
Our corporations are too powerful.
And we face an economic collapse.

It's like arguing over what to call the 800 lb elephant stampeding toward you.

[TheKentuckian]

102. Seems on target to me.

My problem is the President likes to play sucker. "Dick" is pretty over the top considering what the TeaPubliKlans get away with.

I don't recall Joe Wilson being called a dick by Captain Beltway there.

That said, folks on our side are on the fainting couches and gnashing teeth like something of consequence happened.

Halpren is a dumpsterfire corporate centrist. I expect little better but word choice.

[Bluenorthwest]

110. The subject of the language is one thing, the language itself is

another. The professional standards in the context of a morning TV show call for proper word choice on the part of those paid high dollar to chose words. This is not an unknown thing to anyone with a network mic. The man's job is to speak, and if he does not speak well, he is not doing his job well. The word 'dick' is not the word 'adversarial' and to claim it is is ludicrous. It would not be an acceptable synonym in a high school book report on Stalin. It should not be acceptable for those who are claiming an intellectual argument and political position is being made. Name calling does not belong on a news show. 'He's a dick' is name calling. It is not what that dick is paid to do.

[Pisces]

99. You're a dick. I wonder if DU will let that stand?

[dionysus]

100. slow day for outrage?

:shrug:

[yella_dawg]

101. "when I think of horrible things in this world, dick does not rate up there"

Yeah. Could have called him "cunt" or "bitch".

[Luminous Animal]

105. K&R

[Bluenorthwest]

108. Forget the subject, that sort of language is out of place in any

place that is claiming to be political commentary, period. A morning news show should never has that sort of language, because it is not appropriate at all. About anybody, including a dick like Tracy Morgan. See, here it is fine say Tracy's a dick. Not on a morning news show.
The lack of professionalism indicates to me an overriding emotion, racism perhaps, that could lead such a person to so thoughtfully use that word in that context.
And I don't care how freewheeling with the motherfucking word fuck you or I might be, I for one do not wish to see 'news commentary' using that sort of language. I do not want discourse to be 'Cheney's a dick'. It is, among other things, lacking in specificity, and does nothing but say 'I don't like him' while mentioning a penis, which is not a victory for speech, free or otherwise, by any reasonable standard.
Also, on air talkers know these things, there are entire Departments that tell you about 'Standards and Practices' in television, and even on a lowbrow sitcom, you are not going to get by with very much language like 'he's a dick'. It is not the place for such language. Only a real dick would think it was, if you ask me.

[woo me with science]

116. I completely resonate with your larger point about his not being a king.

There will always be a subgroup of devotees who go crazy when anyone they support is called anything bad, and it's easy to get the feeling that some of them would not even stop at censorship. I hate that kind of sentiment and did think of making a snarky remark about North Korea this morning in response to a couple of outraged posts I saw.

But there's a big difference between saying people shouldn't say or think those things at all versus opting for some minimal standards for language and decorum on a political TV show. I would hate to tune into Meet the Press or This Week and have the roundtable be full of language like this. There are ways to express even very strong opinions without going for the crude.

[tnlefty]

118. Halperin started this controversey by making the choice to delve

into the vulgar/crude reference to the POTUS, who isn't a king, but the POTUS.

My first thought was about Idiocracy. I expect someone who is on a news network as a part of the elite pundit/commentator class to keep the discourse out of the realm of vulgarity. He understood prior to his comment that he would cross a boundary, which is why he asked about the 7 second delay, not set by the government, but by the suits at MSNBC. The suits suspended him, the gubmint had nothing to do with it.

Prior to this, he and Joe were getting very agitated as Howard Dean and Sen. Sherrod Brown were shooting holes through their bullshit, and they did it without being either vulgar or crude.

I suppose I want a higher level of discourse on the teevee machine.

[emulatorloo]

119. "we" didn't start anything. Halperen started it

[Shagbark Hickory]

120. +! People complaining their rubbish programming was just too rubbish the minute someone says dick

They'll go back to watching it now that the threat of someone saying dick is over.

[alcibiades_mystery]

121. This is really the litmus test for

how ridiculous an Obama Hater somebody might be.

You're going way red here, brah.

:rofl:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

122. Obama didn't suspend him, MSNBC did.

As a news organization, they have a duty to maintain certain standards of their employees, including referring to the president (or others, like Ed Schultz' remarks about Laura Ingraham) in such crude language.

If this was truly a dictatorship, *nobody* would be able to call the president that. But Halperin is a professional journalist, hence a professional code of conduct comes into play.

So you can drop the whole "dictatorship" claim. It's ridiculous on its face.

[Luminous Animal]

123. [A]ll forms of indecency are welcome in DC - as long as it's "civil" - Glenn Greenwald

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/bf2fho

"hence: "I believe the US should torture and kill hundreds of thousands in aggressive wars" is acceptable - "he acted like a dick" is a hanging offensive. "