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Beck again misleadingly crops Dunn to show her "admiration" for Mao

November 19, 2009 6:35 pm ET

From the November 19 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

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Previously: 

Beck, Special Report cropped Dunn quote to falsely claim she said Mao was "the man she turns to most"

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    • Author by soze169880 (November 19, 2009 6:42 pm ET)
      2  
      "Now listen as I, without a trace of irony, praise a guy I acknowledge as my inspiration, who was in favor of slavery."
      Report Abuse
    • Author by k1dork (November 19, 2009 6:43 pm ET)
      2 10
      Misleadingly crops? I'm not following.

      MM, are you suggesting that Dunn was kidding or something when she said that Mao is one of the people she looks to?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Übermensch (November 19, 2009 6:44 pm ET)
        4  
        No...it's about context
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        • Author by k1dork (November 19, 2009 6:47 pm ET)
          2 9
          I'm still not following. For instance, in what context would it be OK to cite Hitler as a person one looks up to, and have it be OK?
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          • Author by marco21 (November 19, 2009 6:52 pm ET)
            6 1
            k1dork, why don't you search for her quote regarding Mao here and tell us what you find? Search for SPecial Report, too.
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            • Author by k1dork (November 19, 2009 6:59 pm ET)
              1 8
              I listened to her speech, OK. I guess it could be argued that she was simply citing how Mao stood against daunting odds or something to come to power by challenging the establishment.

              BUT, can you not understand how citing Mao for ANYTHING can be problematic for an American public official?

              Hitler had to do some slick maneuvering and stand against the establishment to come to power as well, but that doesn't mean that an American public official should EVER cite him as a source of political inspiration.

              Report Abuse
              • Author by ReasonAndResolve (November 19, 2009 7:08 pm ET)
                8 1
                Then why has it not been problematic for Newt Gingrich (a man who still entertains designs on the White House)? No problem for Rove, Bush, or McCain? http://www.dailypaul.com/node/111110

                http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/34925_Video-_John_McCain_Quotes_Chairman_Mao

                It is disingenuous to suggest that it is somehow different when a progressive quotes Mao. Additionally, it is intellectually dishonest to suggest that, just because a person's actions were abhorrent, his or her words hold no value.

                Can you not understand how hypocritical it is for the Right to get their panties in a twist over something that never bothered them when it came from their own standard-bearers?
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                • Author by ReasonAndResolve (November 19, 2009 7:19 pm ET)
                  6  
                  I notice the drive-by came to give this a thumb down - yet offers no cogent response. It must be tough to stand by things that make no sense in the face of completely rational arguments.

                  I would challenge anyone who wants to give a thumb down to take a moment to actually defend his/her position rather than blindly support a seemingly contradictory position.

                  I mean, if you want to drop by and say that it is just as bad for Gingrich et al to say such things, I would certainly understand that position. That would be a reasonable refutation of the argument, and a good explanation for a thumb down rating.

                  But, if you are giving this a thumb down merely because it goes against your subjective viewpoint, that only shows your ignorance and, really, just strengthens my position.
                  Report Abuse
                  • Author by k1dork (November 20, 2009 10:00 am ET)
                      1
                    First off, I didn't give you a thumbs down, because I think the whole thumbs up or thumbs down thing is infantile. I'd rather discuss the issues.

                    Second, I wasn't aware of any conservatives citing Mao, BUT, if they do, they should also be ridiculed.

                    NO American public official should be citing Mao as being who they look to for political guidance.
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                    • Author by open_mind (November 20, 2009 1:54 pm ET)
                         
                      NO American public official should be citing Mao as being who they look to for political guidance.
                      Thanks for the example of conservative "political correctness".
                      Report Abuse
          • Author by Marker (November 19, 2009 7:55 pm ET)
            2 1
            Are you that ignorant? Is it a full time job being that ignorant? Stay focused on the issue at hand and you won't have to reveal your ignorance.
            Report Abuse
          • Author by open_mind (November 19, 2009 8:15 pm ET)
            4  
            in what context would it be OK to cite Hitler as a person one looks up to, and have it be OK?
            How about this:

            I wish I were the president, just for the 747 and the cabinet I could assemble. I would have the best minds that I could find with a special eye out for those people who would vehemently disagree with each other. I'd let them argue it out and just listen. Well, I'm not the president so the jet doesn't take off when I tell it to and I can't hire great minds to argue.

            So, I did the next best thing, I drove to the bookstore. Here is who I put on my "book cabinet": I got Alan Dershowitz. He's opinionated, obnoxious and at times-when he's not talking about the OJ Simpson case-he makes a good point. Let's see, let's put him in a room with... Adolf Hitler. I'd love to see those guys go at it. So next: Hitler's Mein Kampf. --Glenn Beck
            Playing your game, it looks pretty clear that Glenn thinks Hitler is a "great mind[]" and one of the "best minds that [Beck] could find"

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            • Author by k1dork (November 20, 2009 10:02 am ET)
                 
              Are you kidding me. Beck is OBVIOUSLY being sarcastic.

              Dunn, was NOT, and she really looks to Mao for political inspiration. Sorry, but that doesn't fly for American public officials, and if it did, she would still have her job.
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              • Author by open_mind (November 20, 2009 1:53 pm ET)
                   
                Beck is not "OBVIOUSLY" being sarcastic. You think typing in all caps makes it true?

                Lol. I have read a lot of attempts to defend Beck, but I have never heard anyone come up with that interpretation.

                Perhaps you don't understand what "sarcastic" means.
                Report Abuse
      • Author by soze169880 (November 19, 2009 6:49 pm ET)
        3  
        She said he was one of her "favorite political philosophers", which is not the same as endorsing his actions. I can drive a Ford without hating Jews as vehemently as Henry Ford (or a Sean Hannity guest). The Mao quotes she used were extremely generic, and positive sentiments at that. AND people on both sides of the political field quote Mao ALL THE TIME. I can only assume you were trolling somewhere else when MM [exhaustively] covered all this.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by ReasonAndResolve (November 19, 2009 8:54 pm ET)
          3  
          Not trolling somewhere else - k1dork, like so many of the drive-bys around here, suffers from Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (SADD).
          Report Abuse
        • Author by k1dork (November 20, 2009 10:05 am ET)
             
          If there is nothing wrong with citing Mao, she would still have her job. The thing is, public officials cite such figures at their own peril.
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          • Author by open_mind (November 20, 2009 2:07 pm ET)
               
            Fail.
            If there is nothing wrong with citing Mao, she would still have her job.
            Great example of a post hoc fallacy. As has been reported way back in April, Dunn's job was temporary.
            By JONATHAN MARTIN | 4/30/09 5:43 PM EST

            Anita Dunn, a veteran Democratic strategist and top adviser on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, will take over as White House communications director at least temporarily, according to sources familiar with the move.

            The powerful post is being vacated by Ellen Moran this week, and Obama officials want to fill it quickly.

            Dunn will start working next week in an interim capacity until the president settles on a permanent replacement for Moran. --Politico
            Of course, we know that Anita Dunn's remarks about Fox did not occur until early October.
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    • Author by Boxer1979 (November 19, 2009 9:06 pm ET)
      3  
      Beck again misleadingly crops Dunn to show her "admiration" for Mao

      People follow you Becky, but unlike Dunn she does not have people going off and doing protests off of misguided theories. Anita Dunn might have been influienced by what Mao or Mother Teresa have done for their people in their countries. That does not make that she agreed with everything they said or did. It is call a difference of opinion.
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    • Author by snoopy (November 19, 2009 9:10 pm ET)
      3  
      A little OT, but Beck got flipper to flop again.

      Hoffman un-un-unconcedes!
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    • Author by HotWings (November 19, 2009 9:36 pm ET)
      1 7
      Anita Dunn did say that Mao is one of her favorite political philosphers that she turns to most. So I don't know why Media Matters is trying to claim that Anita Dunn didn't say that when she clearly did.
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      • Author by ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© (November 19, 2009 9:42 pm ET)
        2  
        You know who else liked HotWings?

        HITLER!
        ~
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      • Author by ReasonAndResolve (November 19, 2009 9:53 pm ET)
        4  
        Media Matters is not saying that she did not say it - they are saying that, without context, it is not an accurate reflection of her intention in quoting Mao. Beck consistently cuts the quote to remove the context that clearly shows that she got a laugh, that she was using it in an ironic way.
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        • Author by k1dork (November 20, 2009 11:20 am ET)
             
          I heard the whole speech and I still don't think that it is appropriate for an American public official to cite Mao as one of their favorite political thinkers.
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          • Author by open_mind (November 20, 2009 2:09 pm ET)
               
            You are cropping Dunn as well - even in your paraphrase. Why do you feel the need to distort what she said if it is so dang terrible?
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      • Author by Independent in AZ (November 19, 2009 10:32 pm ET)
           
        Media Matters is just pointing out that Glenn Beck stopped the clip before her sentence was complete. The rest of the sentence was very important and did not support GB's claim which is why he didn't play it. Her statement was, "the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point." The point being about choices.
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      • Author by k1dork (November 20, 2009 12:09 pm ET)
           
        You're right Hotwings.
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