Andrea Mitchell dumbstruck...at a loss for words...

[Surya Gayatri]

I've never seen her so taken aback.

On Mitchell's show (MSNBC), Santorum's major backer, one Foster Friess, in reponse to her question about Santorum's views on contraception:

"I don't understand all this debate about contraception...in my day the girls just put a Bayer aspirin between their legs to keep them together. That's all the contraception you need!" (and he was not joking!)


Mitchell came back to the subject a couple more times to give him a chance to walk it back, but he just blathered on, digging a deeper hole.

You guessed it...he was old (75+-), white and probably impotent. Can't wait till somebody posts the video clip.
SG

[peace frog]

1. They really do live in a bubble

of complete cluelessness. Expect it, Andrea, it's the norm, not a fluke.

[Surya Gayatri]

6. Totally lacking any political savvy...

spells disaster for Santorum should he ever make it to the General Election.
SG

[peace frog]

7. Yep.

[Kber]

57. Who needs political savvy

when you've got a few extra 100M lying around.

[Surya Gayatri]

72. Word! n/t

[Cosmocat]

67. Santorum is PLENTY politically savvy

he is not Michelle Bachmann or Pizza guy, and is more disciplined than Nwet.

He does, however, GENUINELY believe every last bit of the most extreme of right wing views.

He ran a VERY tough, well run and effective campaign in PA, his world views are just so extreme he was too extreme for a blue dog kind of state, and faced a strong family name in Casey.

He is smart, has a JD, is knowlegable and savvy.

But, in a country that has the "center" defined by the right and media about 10 steps to the right, he is so far right he can't even try to say he is mainstream.

[Surya Gayatri]

74. Interesting profile, Cosmocat...

Thanks for this. I didn't realize he had a law degree.
All we can hope is that his views will be judged to be even more dangerous for their sincerity.
SG

[Cosmocat]

118. I think he was the third ranked republican

in the senate when he lost election, he ran the K street operation from the republican side.

He had been a congressman before the senate.

He actually is strong in all the core republican areas:

MAJOR, MAJOR neocon war hawk
Ran the K street operation, so he has strong corporate connections and they know he is their kind of guy
Obviously, all in on pushing the religious envelop

He also is a physically imposing guy, sort of like LBJ, and he uses it like he did.

He came to our local county fair during his last year as a senator, and when he walked by the dem tent, I went out to provide a presence as he walked by, when I looked back, almost every other dem has scampered back into the tent.

it was like Darth Vader.

I have always felt that he was the most capable of the Rs on the slate this year, and frankly, we should be VERY grateful that Casey took him down in 06, because he WOULD have run in 08, and as a sitting senator, he would have been a better candidate than McCain ended up as.

[Taverner]

109. I agree - crazy like a fox - and very dangerous

That kind of hate only comes from self loathing

[HockeyMom]

2. I took the Pill in 1960 for medical reasons

when I was 12. The Pill has been around a VERY LONG TIME. HIS day is not that far off from MY day. In fact, birth control, as in condoms (ANCIENT) and diaphragms at least since the 40s. My Mom told me that is what she used. Oh, no. Birth control DURING MARRIAGE!!!! Horror!!!!

Do these MEN really think we are stupid. Hey, don't even try to attempt to fool an OLDER WOMAN on this one.

[Surya Gayatri]

14. Me too, HockeyMom...back in the early 70's...

had to take it for debilitating periods. Who are these phalocratic f*ckers trying to roll the calendar back to 1950?
SG

[Kber]

59. "Male-ocracy"

Courtesy of my NJ Senator.

[Surya Gayatri]

70. Is your senator M or F? Sounds like a

woman's ?
SG

[Kber]

76. Sen Frank Lautenberg (D) of NJ

The context is that he was blasting the all male "panel" convened by Darrel Issa today.

Sen. Lautenberg is a dear old gentleman - a liberal in the traditional mold - who isn't going to run for re-election and therefore is more apt to speak his mind.

I'm going to miss him.

[Surya Gayatri]

83. Hope the NJ Dems find a good liberal to run for his seat...

Great name for the possey of phalocrats that appeared as "witnesses" at the Cong. hearing. SG

[HockeyMom]

21. Where are the REPUBLICAN WOMEN????

Show your faces! We want to hear from YOU on this. Why aren't you at this hearing? Don't DARE show your faces? Show us pictures of your QUIVERFUL household of kids!!!!!!

Your PARTY means more to you than your SISTERS?????

[Surya Gayatri]

35. This question should be appearing in LTTEs all over the country! n/t

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Probably impotent?

Why do you assume that, and what does it have to do with anything?

[magical thyme]

5. the obsessive need to have complete power over women

implies complete lack of personal power.

That's why we tend to assume performance problems in men such as this.

[Surya Gayatri]

16. +1,000 ! n/t

[DavidDvorkin]

17. That makes no sense.

[itsrobert]

30. I have to agree with you

That comment was way over the top.

[Bruce Wayne]

103. It's a poetic truth. It doesn't have to be real.

Like all homophobes being secretly gay, or all posturing "family values" candidates being adulterers, or all bigots being secretly jealous of whatever race they hate, or like every cop is a criminal, or all the sinners saints. It's true because it would be so deliciously ironic if it really was true outside my head. Man, that would be awesome!

[Surya Gayatri]

22. See post N° 5...couldn't have said it better myself...

[WI_DEM]

31. for that matter what does it have to anything to do with his race, too?

there are dumb asses of every race, sex, and age.

[Surya Gayatri]

33. Did you see the photo of the "witnesses"

at Darrell Issa's Congressional hearing on the "contraception issue"...?
Enough said.
SG

[Kber]

63. One way to you explain a long marraige with fewer than 7 or 8 kids?

Since Birth Control is not a morally acceptable option.

[Scootaloo]

4. I can't believe they're really doing this

Really, truly, I struggle to wrap my mind around the idea of Republicans openly attacking contraception... and in a major election year, no less! I mean, yeah, anyone who's followed their actions this far already knows they hate the idea of women having reproductive independence at all, but they still seem to have had the sense enough to stick to an issue that could be called controversial.

This shit is just... staggering, and you know millions of Americans are rocking back on their sofas and going "holy shit, these guys want me to vote for them?"

[Surya Gayatri]

25. Yeah, do they really want to go there?

Are their heads really so far up their collective ass?
SG

[Scootaloo]

27. "Go there?" They've already arrived and put up their circus tents

And they're not even trying to backpedal from the self-inflicted damage they're causing themselves. They seem to be embracing it. It's astounding to watch. I would have figured that, if nothing else, these gnarly old fucks would have a modicum of political self-preservation, but no, they're flinging themselves on that third rail.

[Surya Gayatri]

37. Yeah, they apparently wanna have this fight....

to which I say.....BRING IT!!!!!
SG

[eShirl]

38. It's like they erased ALL their memory between Ike and Raygun.

[Surya Gayatri]

65. Collective amnesia? Insipient senility? n/t

[niyad]

8. hey, friess, you clueless, woman-hating, lying sack of ****, NOBODY ever actually did that.

that remark indicates that your mental faculties are completely gone, and you should not be in a public forum anywhere.

[Surya Gayatri]

42. Frankly, he did sort of seem to be

in the early stages of senility.
(With sincere apologies to anyone affected by Altzheimers or senile dementia...)
SG

[ashling]

48. And your response implies that

he at one point had some faculties, mental or otherwise. ... which is a stretch

[Surya Gayatri]

56. Yeah, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt...

[sarcasmo]

93. +1

[hamsterjill]

9. Almost unbelievable.

I'm sure Foster Friess thinks that rape victims "ask for it", too.

The attitude is disgusting and Friess needs to understand that "his day" is over. We live in a more sophisticated world these days, and none of us are any too happy to think of going back to the dark ages.

[Surya Gayatri]

29. I'm afraid we won't be rid of these knuckle-draggers

until they just die off.
SG

[hamsterjill]

39. I'm sure you're right.

There just has to be more of "us" than of "them". And all of "us" need to start screaming at the top of our lungs that we are NOT willing to go backwards!!!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

43. Us liberals/progressives

need to start our own "Quiverfull" movement!

[Surya Gayatri]

47. Fine idea, PLD, start one in your local area...

the great silent majority of women will rise up to join the Fed UP "Quiverfull" Freedom Movement.
SG

[Surya Gayatri]

45. WE ARE NOT WILLING

TO GO BACKWARDS!!! CAN YOU HEAR US NOW???

All public forums have to be enlisted to fight back--LTTEs, local TV, blogs, etc. etc.
SG

[niyad]

10. andrea, you are a professional, this wasn't your first assignment--WHY couldn't you have just

greeted that remark with the contempt it deserved? or the hysterical laughter.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

18. I think she behaved like the professional stooge that she is. nt

[Surya Gayatri]

60. You're right, GWC, nobody's better at PTB ass kissing

than Ms. Greenspan...
SG

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

92. Ah, I see you're as big a fan as

I am.

[Surya Gayatri]

96. When you compare her obsequious

pandering and simpering stutters to Rachel's fearless and straight-forward delivery, no contest!
SG

[HockeyMom]

24. She isn't a "Spring Chicken" either

She should KNOW.

[Surya Gayatri]

49. It was strange--you could tell she wanted to

say something, but all she could manage was an imperceptible snicker/sneer...
SG

[sufrommich]

11. She's asking people on twitter what she should have done.

Here's my reply: All media needs to stop treating right wing extremists as if they're mainstream, they're not.

[HughBeaumont]

34. Why is it that we never even see reasonable liberal voices on cable news . . .

. . . yet no matter how right wing, no matter how giant the nutcase, we put them in congress, have them on TV, buy their books, etc and that's perfectly OK?

Rhetorical question, yet frustrating nonetheless.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

44. +1

It's not like people like us don't exist or are hard to find, right?

[Surya Gayatri]

52. Greatest question of the multi-media era...n/t

[niyad]

36. andrea, you, a decades-long professional, are asking US what you should have done?

okay, here it is--you should have looked at him, told him he was insane, delusional, and a liar, and walked away.

quit treating these people as though they were sane, credible, and worthy of airtime and attention.

[Surya Gayatri]

54. Yeah, Andrea of the "Lean Forward" ad about

"a woman should be judged on her ability to do the job, not on her gender..."
SG

[Surya Gayatri]

51. Too right! She should have laughed him off the screen...

Open ridicule is the only worthy treatment for these asshats...
SG

[RainDog]

110. a-fucking-men

Last edited Fri Feb 17, 2012, 01:26 AM - Edit history (1)

sufrommich - this is EXACTLY what needs to be done - stop pretending these extremists have anything worthwhile to contribute to a modern democracy.

[barbtries]

114. words of wisdom

succinctly hones in on what causes me to scream at NPR on my way home from work.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Which, again, illustrates that "pro-life" is really "anti-sex".

And, that those who don't "put Bayer aspirin" between they're knees are to be punished by being forced to have babies they don't want.

[Surya Gayatri]

55. Word...!

[sarcasmo]

94. +1

[tledford]

102. Bingo!

Men like Friess really just don't want women to have sex, OTHER THAN to reproduce.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Yep, I'm sure he respected that as much as he did the word, "No"!

[Surya Gayatri]

75. Yeah, back "in his day", he probably plied

her with liquor so he could have his way with her, and then passed her around to his buds.
SG

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

15. I watched the video. You could have taken out the suffix "struck" out of dumb and that sentence

would still be accurate. She's giggling with this fucking schmuck. How about "You're an idiot sir!"? Or "explain what the hell that means sir."

[Surya Gayatri]

61. BWAAAHAAAAAA! n/t

[spanone]

19. so andrea, you can confront foreign leaders, but can't think of shit to say when...

you are confronted by an american political liar?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

20. Are you thinking of that interview she did with Bill Maher back in the day, when he

asked her that same thing about Jr.? I f you weren't I sure as hell remembered it as soon as I watched the video.

[spanone]

28. i was thinking of her commercial on m$nbc where she says she asked

a foreign leader a certain question and was escorted out of the room.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

32. Ah thanks. I heard her parrot this to Bill Maher and he asked her how come she didn't do that

with members of the Bush Crime family.

[Zalatix]

23. Her jaw probably fell all the way to China.

It's hard to speak when you have to retrieve it from that far down.

[Surya Gayatri]

68. Yeah, she got so up in the President of

Sudan's face that his goons "dragged her out of the room". Andrea, telling truth to power...don't 'cha know!
SG

[HughBeaumont]

26. Ah, our crack Fourth Estate at their objective finest.

Loons like that shouldn't even be allowed near a camera. He gets full unfettered, unquestioned access to it. Classic work, Andrea.

It's almost as bad as pretty much any hour of CNBC, where said white Robber Barron oldster of choice is allowed to prattle on, uninterrupted and always in agreement with the fascist sympathizers hosting, about how Obama is just about the worst goddamned thing to happen to World history and if he's re-elected, fire, famine and plague will rain from the sky or some such shit.

Anyone needs a reason as to why I don't take Republicans seriously, I'll just point to our crack Fourth Estate, purchased by Corporations, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

[Surya Gayatri]

69. Tell it Brother Hugh...great rant that

deserves a thread of its own...
SG

[Proud Liberal Dem]

40. "Bayer aspirin between their legs"?

[niyad]

53. from an old "joke":

question: what is the most effective birth control device?

answer: one aspirin, held firmly between the knees

[Proud Liberal Dem]

58. I get it

thanks

[jeff47]

41. My first thought was "boy, is this guy inexperienced"

Last edited Thu Feb 16, 2012, 05:01 PM - Edit history (1)

I can think of several ways to "get the job done" while the woman holds her knees together.

[Surya Gayatri]

64. I doubt Mr. Friess ever got beyond

the missionary position--unless it would be with the dominatrix who caters to his kinky SMD fantasies.
SG

[Uncle Joe]

46. Everbody knows that's just means your baby won't get a headache on the way out.

What a maroon!




Thanks for the thread, Surya Gayatri.

[Surya Gayatri]

62. I don't post many OPs, UJ, but just had to share this!

Un-frigging-believable!!!

[GoCubsGo]

50. She's not alone.

Ed Schultz just had on Barbara Boxer. She was literally sputtering in shock.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

66. This kind of offensive attitude can't be good for Republicans

Of course, some red state women from Gomer Pyle Crackerland may support this kind of 19th century position. But I'm sure the majority of women (and most men), even women who are fiscal conservatives simply will not accept this. This is going to hurt the Republicans. I do hope, however, that it doesn't start hurting them until Santorum is their candidate in the General. Obama would wipe out Santorum and the Republican party in the Fall with these kinds of flat earth philosophies.

[Surya Gayatri]

78. You should read post N° 67 up-thread, anln...

Cosmocat seems to think Frothy is a lot more politically savvy than we tend to think--which would make him more of a threat...

Could he possibly pivot back to the center-right in time for November?
SG

[JDPriestly]

71. Santorum just lost the youth vote.

That is positively insulting toward women and young people.

What a holier-than-thou bore.

Girls got pregnant in highschool way back in those blissful 1950s. If you weren't married by the time you were 18 (in some areas of the country) you were an old maid.

[Surya Gayatri]

79. Let's just hope those same young people

will get mobilized and get to the polls.
SG

[Myrina]

73. ... and those are the women that went on ...

... to become GOP Stepford Wives whose husbands snuck around behind their backs with the 'wrong side of the tracks' women who used OTHER methods of birth control & DIDN'T keep their knees together.


What a fooking doofus.

[Surya Gayatri]

80. Yeah, the ones who snuck down to the

shack across the tracks for a remedy, when the Bayer method failed them.
SG

[BumRushDaShow]

77. Andrea Mitchell - 1976

Last edited Thu Feb 16, 2012, 06:44 PM - Edit history (1)

The only female in the picture and this is from here (at the bottom): http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/newsletter/062010.html

But I suppose that since her own husband will turn 86 next month, Friess's age and nonsense probably didn't phase her. She should have called him on it anyway.

[Surya Gayatri]

81. Amazing! Who knew that Andrea of the sleek blond

locks was once a natural brunette!

And yeah, with an 86 year-old partner, I guess contraception is not a pressing issue in her marital life.
SG

[BumRushDaShow]

84. Oh yeah

She and Jessica Savage were a few of the first female TV anchors here in Philadelphia


Ifrom here: http://www.buckscountyhistory.org/2010/03/jessica-savitch-october-24-1983.html)

She eventually went off to "bigger and better" things.

But surely as a "pioneer" for women in media, she would not lose sight of the rampant sexism of her early years that seems to want to continue to persist today. And she needs to call them on it when they do it.

[Surya Gayatri]

86. You'd think she'd have developed enough chutzpah

after all these years to face down these phalocratic throwbacks!!! SG

[BumRushDaShow]

87. Tweety just replayed the clip

and after the jackass made the comment, the dead air before Andrea answers really is pretty amazing!

[Surya Gayatri]

88. It's a classic...! n/t

[malaise]

82. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahaha

ReTHUGS are beyond backward

[Fuzz]

85. Limbaugh said this TODAY on his show. He is just parroting him. Sheesh.

[HillWilliam]

89. I just saw that clip

Friess sat there and grinned like he'd made a great funny, like "Ain't I cute?!?"

What is he, senile??!!?? Was he born that goddam dumb or has he worked at it his whole sorryazz life?

It was not cute and it is not funny in the least.

So long as viagra and cialis are in the world, readily-available contraception and Plan B are a must.

[Surya Gayatri]

90. Yeah, he got a shit-eating smirk on his face,

like he was telling the "guys": "Well, I guess I put that liberal hussy in her place, now didn't I?"
SG

[HillWilliam]

108. The real pity is

I'd have to stand in a long, long line to slap the catshyte out of him.

[sarcasmo]

91. These religious people are getting crazy by the minute, why do they hate women?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/santorum-backer-foster-friess-day-gals-used-aspirin-193938581.html

[Surya Gayatri]

98. During this election cycle? Because they

vote and they tend to vote Democratic.
No mystery...
SG

[erinlough]

95. What should she have said??? Really

as a woman who has caught all kinds of shit for telling men who made stupid sexist remarks all about themselves I can tell you what she should have done. She should have told him what a small minded, insecure, and highly stupid remark that was. She should have looked at him like he was a steaming pile of dog shit and told him he sounded like a moron and the remark was neither clever, nor appreciated and then she should have terminated the interview. Time to take the gloves off ladies, this is war.

[BumRushDaShow]

97. +infinity. n/t

[Surya Gayatri]

100. "You wanna have this anti-feminist fight?...

Well, do ya? OK, let's do this..."

(With apologies to Jon Stewart and his "fascist fight" call-out the other night on TDS.)

Bring it, you phalocratic, paternalistic pieces of shit. Show us what ya got!!!


SG

[flexnor]

99. Andrea's husband allan greenspan is too busy screwing the middle class

for her to need contraceptives

[Surya Gayatri]

101. Plus the fact that he's going on 86

and needs Cialis more than a condom.
SG

[Warren DeMontague]

104. PLEASE let them nominate that glassy-eyed godbag Goober Santorum.

By moving the conversation to contraception, Obama has pointed out one of the ways the knuckle-dragging GOP base is most insanely out of touch- they want to outlaw all of it, and throw all the women who take the pill in prison, to boot.

So, good. Glad they have strong convictions- strong theocratic, dominionist, nutjobs-for-Jesus convictions- but convictions nonetheless.

Let them try to run on that in November. I welcome their competition in the 'marketplace of ideas',

[Surya Gayatri]

105. Warren, you made my day...bwaaahaaaaa!

I who adore alliterative exploits, bow before your powerfully poetic prose:

"glassy-eyed godbag Goober" is without doubt the funniest and most accurate depiction of Santorum to date...



SG

Edit: typo and more "p's"

[Ratty]

106. Demonstrating how completely out of touch these people are

They don't associate with anyone outside of their boardrooms and gated communities. To this guy it's inconceivable people wouldn't find his joke funny.

[Surya Gayatri]

107. Yeah, he seemed to think he'd been

wicked witty with his shit-eating smirk!

The great voting female majority, usually fairly silent, is gonna rise up and slap these paternalistic pricks back to 1950!


SG

[niyad]

111. I would LOVE to slap them back to 1350 where they belong

[tex-wyo-dem]

112. Behold the far RW super-"Christian" loonies...

His comments don't suprise me in the least. Their world view is so narrow you couldn't fit a water molecule between the sides of their blinders. These people would be happy as clams to be living back in the dark ages.

[Redstate Bluegirl]

113. She married Alan Greenspan

She was struck dumb many years ago!

[just1voice]

115. More like the propaganda whore is at a loss for human interaction

She's a blight on humanity and has no place in civilized culture.

[CrispyQ]

116. These bastards look at this whole thing like men aren't even a part of the process.

He's basically advocating that women "just say no." Have the men who support this, thought this through to it's conclusion?

[uponit7771]

117. omg!!!!! This is another one I thought was some joke!! OMG! Someone really said this shit?!

[Aerows]

119. In my day

People didn't get on the lawn because they were too busy hoeing it and we buried our feet in the dirt because we didn't have shoes. We wore potato sacks until we were 15 and spoke in hand gestures until we were 20. It was a truly glorious time.