Uncle Tonoose
On Good Morning America this morning, Joe Lieberman (I) addressed the extremism and the ugliness that he's been subjected to by the oh so tolerant and compassionate, peace-loving Left. He was interviewed by Diane Sawyer.
Transcript from NewsBusters:
Sawyer: "Some of your supporters have gone very far on the bloggers. They said this is the first for the anti-war bloggers and some of them have called them names like extremists, saying that they have engaged in everything from dirty tricks to even bigotry was a word that was suggested. Do you think that the the extremists hijacked your party in your state; will you agree with that statement?"
Lieberman: "The blogs are a form of expression. There's nothing wrong with a blog. It depends on how you use it. I will tell you that the bloggers who came after me - - some of them were so full of hatred that it is the just not good for our politics. Frankly, on some of those blogs, there was the kind of bigotry that has no place in American public life. So I worry that this victory yesterday by Ned Lamont, which was a narrow victory, will send a message across our state and our country that the Democratic party has taken -- has been taken over by people who are not from the mainstream of America."
Lieberman: "[The left-wing blogs] are going to make this not Bill Clinton's Democratic party anymore. Remember, Bill Clinton was a mainstream democrat who was elected twice and governed with great success."
It's not just the radical hard Left bloggers that are spewing insults at Lieberman.
Chris Matthews has done his share of mocking in recent days, too.
There have been many occasions when Chris Matthews has shown himself to be a complete idiot. That would be nearly every time he opens his mouth to talk on Hardball.
But something he said last night while covering the Connecticut Democratic primary results was positively stunning.
I think the ethnic stereotyping and personal slurs that he directed at Joe Lieberman approach the TV equivalent of an "impeachable offense."
I can't find this in a transcript on the MSNBC site, but I heard it. I don't know if I'm somehow missing it or if Matthews and his network thought it would be best to have the following remarks removed from the record.
Rush Limbaugh has the quote on his site.
Comparing Lieberman and Ned Lamont, Matthews said:
The body language of the two is so different. You have this very wasp-y fellow, Lamont, very calm, very casual, very St. Paul's almost in the prep school sense, Lieberman of course is the schmaltzy ethnic guy, the Uncle Tonoose, you know, the guy that's very much kind of lachrymose in his almost postnasal drip voice of his, but he doesn't look happy.
That is UNBELIEVABLE!
The "Uncle Tonoose" reference is a nod to actor Hans Conried. He played Danny Thomas' LEBANESE uncle on Make Room for Daddy.
Conried was a character actor of Jewish descent. He's a familiar face if you watch old movies and classic television.
Conried was a talented man, able to play the villain as well as comic roles. However, he was not blessed with matinee idol good looks.
Let's just say that Matthews is not giving Lieberman a compliment when he calls him "Uncle Tonoose."
Last night was not the first time Matthews' characterized Joe Lieberman as "Uncle Tonoose."
Hardball, August 9, 2006, 1 a.m.
MATTHEWS: Let‘s allow our bleeding hearts to speak right now. Everybody was hoping for either a blowout, which had Lamont really making history, or for good old Uncle Tonoose to save the seat, and it was neither. It was somewhere vaguely in the middle, right?
Hardball, August 7, 2006
MATTHEWS: You mean it‘s going to be a sentimental, sort of an Uncle Tonoose, he‘s been with the family for years, he shows up for Thanksgiving even though we don‘t agree with him on the most important issue of our times, we‘re going to use our vote as a sentimental, gee whiz, you‘re OK with us, Joe?
Matthews is in dire need of diversity training.
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