Cantor Bows To Extremists In Refusal To Stand Strong Against Birthers On NBC's 'Meet The Press'

I watched a video clip of Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor being interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" and thought he was largely evasive in his willingness to take on the birthers on his side of the political mainstream.

Sure, he laughed them off, but seemed unwilling to strongly denounce the crazy talk.

From Huffington Post:

The new Republican House majority leader says he doesn't think questions about President Barack Obama's citizenship should play a role in the discussion of policy matters.

Two years into the Obama administration, so-called birthers continue to argue that Obama isn't a natural-born citizen and that he hasn't proved he's constitutionally qualified to be president. Birth records in Hawaii haven't dissuaded them.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he believes Obama is a citizen and that most Americans are beyond that question.

Appearing Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Cantor refused to call people who question Obama's citizenship "crazy," saying it's not nice to call anyone crazy.

This article makes it seem as though he was strongly against the birtherism on his side, but I thought he dodged the issue at times and hardly came across as a strong leader against such uncivil talk.

It may not be nice to call people crazy, but it's also not nice to call people socialist, communist, accuse them of wanting to kill grandma, accuse them of wanting to take over the government, etc.

Cantor had an opportunity to prove himself as a strong leader and instead bowed to the extremists on his wing.

Cantor's Admissions About Jews And Underdogs Fast Becoming Par For The Course For Right Wing

Some things are stunning, even for our friends on the far right (Rep. Eric Cantor included).

This was published on Think Progress:

But during the interview, which was conducted by the paper’s conservative columnist Steve Moore, Cantor made a startling admission:

Mr. Cantor is the only Jewish Republican in the House and Senate (there are more than 40 Jewish Democrats), and we discuss why. “First of all,” he laughs, “I’m looking for some company in Randy Altschuler,” who is running in the first congressional district of New York. “Randy’s looking good in his race, so we are hoping to double the Jewish Republican caucus.”

Mr. Cantor believes the American-Jewish community is overwhelmingly Democratic because Jews “are prone to want to help the underdog.”

Jed Lewison at Daily Kos remarks, “As one of those American Jews, I’d like to thank Mr. Cantor for pointing out why so many of us vote Democratic.”

That is just a stunning set of remarks supposedly made by Cantor. It's disturbing that something like that would come out of his mouth. It's not stunning so much because it's offensive, but rather because of the remarkable insensitivity on the part of Cantor and so many others on the right.

Is helping the underdog really such a bad thing?

To Eric Cantor, apparently so.

Is Cantor Stretching The Truth And Is Fox News Aiding Effort About Gun Shot?

Source: DailyKos

Eric Cantor Ready For The Presidency … Of Maybe Blackberry

Rep. Eric Cantor may think he is line for the presidency of the United States, but he looked more like he was in a bad Blackberry commercial by screwing around with his Blackberry while there was a major policy speech was taking place from the president of the United States of America. I guess we can see where Cantor’s priorities are with respect to the nation’s health care system and the well being of citizens.

News Hounds Call Out Sean Hannity On His Typical Hypocrisy

News Hounds points out the expected hypocrisy of Fox News right winger Sean Hannity attacking President Obama while ignoring the uncivilized behavior of Republicans during a speech before Congress on Wednesday evening. What ever happened to civility, discipline, honor, respect, integrity and all the other things that most people in such prestigious positions have held sacred for generations? It was all thrown away like yesterday’s garbage by South Carolina U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson. Hannity, however, was less concerned about that as he went to work smearing the president and almost trying to blame the president for the outburst.

Here is an excerpt from News Hounds:

Sean Hannity and Republican Congressman Eric Cantor last night (9/9/09) blithely accused President Obama of being too partisan in his health care speech to the Joint Session of Congress while they just as blithely ignored the heckling and disrespect from Republicans that included booing, holding up antagonistic signs, using Blackberries during the speech and, in one case, shouting out that the president is a liar. With video.

Hannity opened his post-speech show last night with a commentary that accused Obama of delivering “an attack speech that could have been written by James Carville.” He forgot to mention that the Republicans’ reaction would have been scripted by middle schoolers.

Hannity went on to complain about Obama’s “cynicism and intimidation… Everyone disagrees with him is either a liar or a thug.”

Yet Hannity made no mention of Republican Congressman Joe Wilson yelling, “You lie!” during the speech.

News Hounds goes on to not really discuss the undisciplined heckling of some Republicans who turned a distinguished setting into a half-ass town hall meeting. Showing just how much of a disgrace Hannity is to the airwaves, he had hardly a hint of balance (as usual) in his presentation. For Hannity to talk about anyone using cynicism and intimidation is almost laughable. Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and others have made good livings off of cynicism, intimidation, hate and divisiveness.

White House Addresses Hate Coming From The Far Right Using Term ‘Nazi’

This kind of rhetoric was bound to happen as the extremists on the far right gain more and more power and influence. The hateful Rush Limbaugh, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, has gone off the deep end with his ridiculous talk comparing President Obama to Hitler and comparing (presumably) the Obama Administration to the Nazis. This is a dangerous time in our nation and the anger is reaching high DEFCON status thanks to men like Limbaugh, who have made a career out of hate. With our nation’s first black president, the anger we’ve seen at illegal immigration (almost exclusively for the nation’s southern border … and I’ll give you one guess as to why) and more, it’s dangerous to hear this kind of rhetoric coming from people of influence … people who could spark the next Timothy McVeigh to commit heinous and deadly acts of terror.

Rush Limbaugh has been right at the forefront of this hate as he tries to harness and direct anger coming from extremists on the far right (many of which have been in full view at these tea parties and now organizing to aggressively disrupt town hall meetings around the country). Take a look at the pattern of hate coming from Limbaugh as he repeatedly goes to Nazi references. Sadly, this is a disgrace of a man that many people listen to and believe in.

But, this Nazi talk is very dangerous and a slap into the face to those who suffered at the hands of Nazis (not that Limbaugh would necessarily care since his objective seems to be to scare whites into being afraid of this new black president).

Here is a response from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs as posted on Huffington Post:

“I know the president feels strongly that we can discuss these issues without personally maligning… that we are doing so in a way that respects the dignity of each individual,” he said. “I think anytime you make references to what happened in Germany in the 30’s and 40’s, I think you are talking about an event that has no equivalent. And I think anytime anyone ventures to compare anything to that, they are on thin ice, and it is best not employed.”

“But I think what the most important thing is, is that we can have a discussion in our democracy about where we want to go,” he added. “The president strongly believes we can do so without yelling at each other, pushing at each other or degrading each other. We have seen some stuff, I mentioned it a week ago, we have all seen imagery that just shocks and surprises us and I think the best thing to do is just take that temperature down a bit.”

It’s hard to appeal to the conscience of a proven bigot like Rush Limbaugh.

Here’s another comment about Limbaugh’s crazy words:

DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)spokeswoman Jennifer Crider issued the following statement in response to Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous comments comparing Democrats to members of the Nazi Party and use of the Nazi swastika:

“Rush Limbaugh’s comparison of the Democratic Party to the Nazi Party in World War II is as disgusting as it is shocking. Limbaugh’s use of the Nazi swastika in attempting to make a tasteless political comparison has no place in the public discourse.

“Just this past weekend, Minority Whip Eric Cantor said that the GOP ‘needs’ Mr. Limbaugh. He should immediately condemn Limbaugh’s hateful rhetoric in the strongest possible terms and encourage Republican Members to do the same.

“At a time when families need real solutions to rebuild the economy and make health care more affordable, Rush Limbaugh is attempting to sidetrack the important debate through his use of symbols that are synonymous with murder and intolerance. Americans deserve better.”

Fear of Limbaugh has pretty much paralyzed far too many of the true good people in the Republican Party.

The de facto leader of the Republican Party needs to have his title taken away, but it won’t happen until the good people in the GOP get some guts.

White House Addresses Hate Coming From The Far Right Using Term ‘Nazi’

This kind of rhetoric was bound to happen as the extremists on the far right gain more and more power and influence. The hateful Rush Limbaugh, the de facto leader of the Republican Party, has gone off the deep end with his ridiculous talk comparing President Obama to Hitler and comparing (presumably) the Obama Administration to the Nazis. This is a dangerous time in our nation and the anger is reaching high DEFCON status thanks to men like Limbaugh, who have made a career out of hate. With our nation’s first black president, the anger we’ve seen at illegal immigration (almost exclusively for the nation’s southern border … and I’ll give you one guess as to why) and more, it’s dangerous to hear this kind of rhetoric coming from people of influence … people who could spark the next Timothy McVeigh to commit heinous and deadly acts of terror.

Rush Limbaugh has been right at the forefront of this hate as he tries to harness and direct anger coming from extremists on the far right (many of which have been in full view at these tea parties and now organizing to aggressively disrupt town hall meetings around the country). Take a look at the pattern of hate coming from Limbaugh as he repeatedly goes to Nazi references. Sadly, this is a disgrace of a man that many people listen to and believe in.

But, this Nazi talk is very dangerous and a slap into the face to those who suffered at the hands of Nazis (not that Limbaugh would necessarily care since his objective seems to be to scare whites into being afraid of this new black president).

Here is a response from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs as posted on Huffington Post:

“I know the president feels strongly that we can discuss these issues without personally maligning… that we are doing so in a way that respects the dignity of each individual,” he said. “I think anytime you make references to what happened in Germany in the 30’s and 40’s, I think you are talking about an event that has no equivalent. And I think anytime anyone ventures to compare anything to that, they are on thin ice, and it is best not employed.”

“But I think what the most important thing is, is that we can have a discussion in our democracy about where we want to go,” he added. “The president strongly believes we can do so without yelling at each other, pushing at each other or degrading each other. We have seen some stuff, I mentioned it a week ago, we have all seen imagery that just shocks and surprises us and I think the best thing to do is just take that temperature down a bit.”

It’s hard to appeal to the conscience of a proven bigot like Rush Limbaugh.

Here’s another comment about Limbaugh’s crazy words:

DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)spokeswoman Jennifer Crider issued the following statement in response to Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous comments comparing Democrats to members of the Nazi Party and use of the Nazi swastika:

“Rush Limbaugh’s comparison of the Democratic Party to the Nazi Party in World War II is as disgusting as it is shocking. Limbaugh’s use of the Nazi swastika in attempting to make a tasteless political comparison has no place in the public discourse.

“Just this past weekend, Minority Whip Eric Cantor said that the GOP ‘needs’ Mr. Limbaugh. He should immediately condemn Limbaugh’s hateful rhetoric in the strongest possible terms and encourage Republican Members to do the same.

“At a time when families need real solutions to rebuild the economy and make health care more affordable, Rush Limbaugh is attempting to sidetrack the important debate through his use of symbols that are synonymous with murder and intolerance. Americans deserve better.”

Fear of Limbaugh has pretty much paralyzed far too many of the true good people in the Republican Party.

The de facto leader of the Republican Party needs to have his title taken away, but it won’t happen until the good people in the GOP get some guts.