Criticize Dunn, But For The Right Reasons
Mark Silva at The Swamp picks up on the latest round of sparring between Fox News and Beck vs. the WH. While Dunn's invoking Mao may be somewhat revealing of her judgment, I wouldn't go quite as far as some are in their criticism.
Beck played footage of Dunn addressing some high schoolers about "two of my favorite political philosophers, Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa — not often coupled with each other — but the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point, which is, 'You're going to make choices, you're going to challenge, you're going to say, why not?, you're going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before.''
First, I don't know that she claimed Mao was her "favorite political philosopher" in very general terms, as some seem to be suggesting. But more pointedly, in the actual quote, Mao was discussing his odds of winning a war – an external military conflict. So, all in all, especially given Mao's true philosophy and reputation, it's an extremely dumb choice to speak to the concept of personal achievement, which she mostly was in that portion of the video – also below. The analogy simply doesn't serve very well.
And, yes, it may, or may not suggest some kind of intellectual tolerance for Mao with which many might not agree. But I don't know as if I'd indict her for that. It's simply more proof she's a Leftist liberal. Big surprise!
Still, to the overall point, does it give me comfort that such a person has a significant influence within our government? No, honestly it doesn't. But that's likely going to prove true of nearly every Obama appointee as far as I can tell, no matter what.
In short, I think it will take more than this to knock Anita Dunn from her perch in the West Wing.
I should like to disagree. People like Dunn who idolize crazed mass murderers like Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler et al. are themselves morally depraved degenerates. The kind of insane, morally perverted mentality that indulges in this idolization is itself grounds for involuntary institutionalization. To blithely dismiss it as mere left liberalism is to live in a kind of delusional world without any connection to reality and without any regard for the dignity and suffering of the victims of these monsters (Dunn included) crimes.
Nice try at Beck Bashing there, Skippy.
What about her disgusting lip-smacking sounds? I can’t concentrate on what she’s saying because she keep doing that thing with her mouth like she’s got a big mouthful of … peanut butter, yeah, peanut butter… That’s what I was going to say. I keep hoping someone will bring her a glass of water. Did her mother not teach her any manners? Yech!
What she is willing to say in public is probably mild as compared to her private beliefs.
“What about her disgusting lip-smacking sounds?”
Yeah, that is wierd. As for the idiot above suggesting Beck bashing. I didn’t pay attention to Beck, I was referring to what I’ve seen posted on some blogs. You must be obsessed.
Dunn showed who she was,hopefully it will be enough to bring her down
A few years back when it was Strom Thurmans birthday an important Republican made a rather off hand remark about how Strom would have made a good President. The left went nuts and created such a fire storm that the Republican had to resign his leadership position.
What every conservative needs to do now is open every conversation with “Why does Obama have a supporter of mass murder and a suporter of pedophiles as his closest advisors?”
We need to play this game by the lefts own rules. You can’t treat lefties like real people, if you do they see it as a sign of weakness and will attack you all the more. You have to treat them like a dog that has crapped on the carpet. You rub their nose in it and then smack them on the nose.
I find it fascinating that she sees no difference between those two people. As to the lip smacking, perhaps she is on anti-depressants which tend to dry the mouth. And if my hero was Mao, I would be in a constant state of depression.
Why did Team Obama hire Cindy Sheehan to head up His Press Office?
Ummm Mr. Riehl, Dunn was chosen as the frontperson for this attack on Fox specifically because her tenure in this position ends at the end of September. Its a temporary position.
So she is already out.
Damn sorry, at the end of December.
I don’t know, Dan, these Lefty types have a love of the Chinese form of Communism. I have a feeling the love goes all the way back to the cultural revolution, and how the Red Chinese eliminated opposition by either killing them or sending them to re-education camps.
That these people are in the WH should give everyone pause. I have never, to borrow a phrase, seen anything like these “morally depraved degenerates” who masquerade as Democrats.
“As for the idiot above suggesting Beck bashing. I didn’t pay attention to Beck, I was referring to what I’ve seen posted on some blogs. You must be obsessed.”
Dear Kettle,
You are black.
Love,
The Pot
It just might be that she is a complete moron. In that I mean, she hears a quote, does some crazy manipulation of its true meaning and then rationalizes it as she applies it to a situation that has noting to do with the original quote. On the other hand I’ve seen good people taken down for simply using the quote “work will make you free” in a positive context. Hold her feet to the fire and take her down!
Always nice to see the beckerheads drop in. As for the WH, what I want to know is why is Jennings or whatever still around? That’s the one we should still be hammering on until he’s gone. The safe promiscuous bathroom sex school czar.
TK, the American Left’s love of Mao goes a lot further than his Cultural revolution/Genocide. The Leftist infected Roosevelt Administration especially the Red State Dept. put the screws to the Mao opponents, the Chinese Nationalist while elevating everything Communist in China. Our Reds were taking marching orders from Stalin’s KGB. A good read about how the West was betrayed by the Communist is ‘The West Has Always Been Deceived by Communism’: http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-6-23/43082.html
Dan, they’re called targets of opportunity. Southdakotaboy is right – we’ve got to hammer Obama and his loons every chance we get. If it looks like whack-a-mole, too bad. He’s the one who made these sh*tty appointments.
I don’t disagree, Jack. All I suggested is that we hammer one until gone before moving on to some next one. This Jennings character should be out imo.
Riehl-I am sure the dem apolgists have found comfort in your blog post. They have found ingenious spin … good job.
She obviously was in admiration Riehl (of Mao)…what in the WORLD are you talkign about? If she wasn’t then she needed to state obviously that she was in admiration of his personal strategy to achieve his goals (although that still would be akin to saying, “ya know Hitler was a REAL bastard but he was effective! I admore him for that”) but that she abhorred what he did.
I think Hitler was a intelligent man, but I never mention this without adding that I do not support his actions or values and believe he suffered from an obsessive insanity.
Didn’t hear Dunn make any sort of qualification.
Actually, WestWright, I do remember my history and the love of the State Dept. in those days of everything communist. I think this set of liberal apes now in control of the WH admire the modern version of the Chinese state, beginning with its rise in the cultural revolution. If only……is their motto.
“she needed to state obviously that she was in admiration of his personal strategy to achieve his goals”
If you read what she actually said, she was specific – she was citing Mao to make a single point. I’ve already said I was uncomfortable with it. I simply don’t think it’s enough to bounce her, especially given Jennings being allowed to hang around, so far. Clue up, pal:
“but the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point”
Dan, very honest and intelligent insight indeed but you are giving her too much benefit of the doubt.
At the very least she is guilty of very insensitive judgement.
You are splitting ends. Sometimes you have to take somethign at face value…the whole tone of what she said was what everyone took from it – she was sympathetic to Mao…Mao belonged nowhere in the grammatical vicinity of Mother Teresa…
she was sympathetic to Mao
I don’t disagree. I’m not taking exception that it should be brought up. But if anyone has been watching, it’s no suprise: The Left loves Mao, and Che, etc.
That’s part of why I doubt it brings her down. I’m not giving her a pass. You’re reading too much into it, Daniel. And I continue to say that Jennings should be gone.
And by reading too much into it, I mean my post. I’m not defending her, or criticizing anyone. I’m simply saying I don’t see her take a fall over this one. And it continues to baffle me why Jennings is still around. What’s up with that?
She’s a LIZARD person!!!!!!!!!!
Who cares if she was just using Mao to make a single point. Hammer her on it. Hammer all of them on everything they say. We shouldn’t just worry about one at a time we need to keep the heat on all of them.
These people support mass murders and pedophiles, that is the plain and simple truth. We need to show the American people that. The best part is while the left has to make stuff up we always have video proof of what they are doing. That is what is eventually going to turn this into a massive backlash.
You know, most every religious person is looking for a man as the antichrist. This woman’s(?) serpent-like tongue flicking could be a dead giveaway.
Just sayin’.
I really appreciate this article. I always catch the Beck show, but I don’t always agree with him. I don’t want to live in the liberals’ idea of a perfect world where we are not allowed to say certain catch phrases in fear of economic retribution. Thus, I don’t want conservatives to aspire to this end. It’s the speech equivalent of book burning in my mind.
So many of these Obama people are simply UNQUALIFIED. Is this the best he could do ? And I thought Scott McClellan sucked.
After watching the video again, I now see why everyone is commenting on the tongue think. WFH? Does she have tardive dyskenisia? From using Reglan? See, those lawyer commercials all over the tv, and esp. on ESPN, are very effective. LOL. She better be finding her a lawyer. Ohhhhh….she’s married to one. Oh, yeah…I meant a good lawyer.
By the way, I know longer watch ESPN, so you drive-by, ambulance-chasing lawyers better start advertising on Dan’s blog.
Mr. Riehl,
You missed Ms. Dunn’s point. Her point wasn’t to merely name Mao as one of her favorite political philosophers (btw, did you notice that Mother Teresa isn’t actually a POLITICAL philosopher at all? Thus she was just added for window dressing). Her point was to “make Maoism mainstream”. She was giving this speech at a HIGH SCHOOL graduation ceremony. Her point to these teenagers was that “Maoism is a good political philosopher who is admired by important people in America (so you should think so, too)”.
If you put her comment in context about Mao deciding to fight a different war than the Nationalist Chinese government planned on fighting, along side Obama’s declaration before his election that “we are five days away from fundamentally transforming America…”, it is clear that the Obama administration is Mao like in its efforst. Everyone who supported Obama did so on his vacuous promises and lies about how he’d govern (no lobbyists, post-partisan inclusion, CSPAN covering legislation deal-making, etc.) and the Right was preparing for a traditional liberal Presidency. Instead he has chosen to fight an entirely different “political war” – rapid-fire, at an economic scale never seen before, choosing to define his political opponents as hate-filled domestic terrorists, etc.
The Germans executed a bold set of initiatives called blitzkrieg (lightning war) in 1939 and 1940, seizing much of the European continent and North Africa by attacking relentlessly in many directions at once and overwhelming armies expecting a very different kind of enemy. Many lessons can be learned from that – for conservatives we must remember that it took enormous effort through some very dark days to achieve victory – but Germany was defeated in the end. This battle is worth fighting and persevering to win, but we need to come to grips with what kind of political warfare we are now fighting.
Mr Riehl and others,
First off, I really do like Glenn Beck – but here’s why: Sure he’s loopy and more than a little wacky, but he’s honest, admits his mistakes, backs up his assertions, and puts stories out there that NO ONE is reporting.
I think what people don’t like about him is: 1) His ideas (the left hates that part) 2) His personality (both sides) – but, objectively, what he brings to the news is AMAZING. No one else is doing it.
———————–
As to Ms Dunn, no, there is no excuse for her loving Mao. If I were to take Hitler’s quotes, and even to start off with a disclaimor – I’d be lambasted.
I mean, what did Hitler do that was right? He took a defeated, economically destroyed, demoralized, and fractured country, and in less than 15 years made it into a world power (or even super power). Now, that is TRUE, but his evil far outshadows his good acts.
And lets be clear here: Hitler ONLY killed 8-12 million civilians. (can’t believe I said ONLY!), but Mao, in PEACE TIME, killed 50-80 million of his own people through starvation and the gulag system. His regime was BRUTAL. B-R-U-T-A-L. And, yes, forgetting “cultural differences” he had a prediliction for 10-13 year old girls. LOTS of them.
Now, did he turn a backwards agri-country into a superpower? Yes – but so did Hitler, and Hitler killed less of his own people. Hitler’s toll, INCLUDING WWII, is not as high as Mao’s in peace time.
So, no, her “it was a quote” quote is not acceptable. There were many people who fought against long odds – she could have picked ANY of them, but she picked Mao.
Successful guerilla actions in WWII by the French, Slovaks, Czechs or any other could have been used.
Same could be said about the Founding Fathers. Same could be said about Nelson Mandella. Get the point? No, she picked the worst mass murderer in 20th century history. Stalin wasn’t as bad, and that’s saying a lot.
Give it some thought.
Steven
Hmmm. Interesting take. We can now cherry pick the thoughts/ideas/accomplishnents of anyone, regardless of the body of their work. I guess Herr Hitler’s fortunes are looking better. He did introduce National Health Care. He did pull Germany out of the Great Depression, from a much deeper hole, far sooner than FDR did the USA.
Unbelievable!
“Same could be said about the Founding Fathers. Same could be said about Nelson Mandella. Get the point?”
I do and I agree, such as it is. I said it was troubling. And I also appreciate the connections with Obama’s politics and ways. What I didn’t see it as was being was a complete embracing of Maoist doctrine.
Dan,
I agree it was not a full-on endorsement. I tend to be forceful and write that way in my opinions, but I certainly respect that this is your blog, like your ideas, and enjoy a good debate.
With abiding respect,
Steven
Back in the late 60′s, I used to like Mao. Now I can see that Communism is as failed a political system as Capitalism. I do, however, think Mother Teresa is inspirational, even if she secretly had doubts.
Agh! I agree with Dan’s initial point completely, although I do think her love of Mao is very revealing. However it’s depressing to see the post turn into a referendum on Glenn Beck, and I say this as a fan. Dan didn’t bring him up at all in the original post. Let’s not get crazy.
Hey, all you rightwing idiots, where are the WMD’s? Remember that? Would you rather have someone quoting Mao and Mother Teresa or have someone send your neighbor’s son or daughter off to die in a war that can never be justified?
“Would you rather have someone quoting Mao and Mother Teresa or have someone send your neighbor’s son or daughter off to die in a war that can never be justified?”
Obviously you’re not very familiar with either the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution.
Or, put differently, Bush’s decision removed a brutal dictator who, for the sole purpose of supporting his socialist ideology, had tortured, starved, maimed, and imprisoned millions of people, while Mao’s decision resulted directly in the torture, starvation, maiming, and imprisonment of millions of people in the name of Mao’s socialist ideology.
Obama criticized the former and praises the latter. That alone should tell you the priorities of liberalism.
To correct the record, in the full video clip Ms. Dunn says: “And then the third lesson and tip actually comes from two of my favorite political philosophers: Mao Tse Tung and Mother Teresa, not often coupled together, but the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point, which is, you’re going to make choices.” I suppose she could have cited Adolf Hitler instead, as he wrote “My Struggle” (Mein Kampf) which was about choices, too — and he killed only 6 million instead of 60 million. It would have made the same point with 90% less body count to tidy up.
I watched Beck when this aired… What I found so disquieting was that person after person that our President chooses to surround himself with has leanings such as this.
I do not believe that her beliefs merrit her being kicked out, especially since her tenure is just about over, but what gets me is the fact that BO has so many people like this surrounding him.
“Hey, all you rightwing idiots, where are the WMD’s? Remember that? Would you rather have someone quoting Mao and Mother Teresa or have someone send your neighbor’s son or daughter off to die in a war that can never be justified?”
A few things:
1) I’ve BEEN to Iraq. Twice. And far from being a useless mission, I have personally guarded trucks with Iraqi voters – providing them protection, enforcing their rights, and meeting some very nice people who just happen to be Iraqi.
So go stuff your “war for oil” idea jackass. I was one who might have died in this “unjustified” war. You’re so busy rooting AGAINST “W” and your own country to be blinded by the REALITY that us having done nothing was WORSE.
What a freaking ideologically blinded and indoctrinated waste of oxygen.
2) No WMD’s? What? Are you dense or just ideologically programmed. I know for a fact we found 550 tons of “Yellow Cake”. Do you know what that is? Since it doesn’t fit your “Hate ‘W’, whine about America” framework you probabaly don’t.
It’s Uranium ore. We found it in … say it with me … IRAQ.
Not to mention, my factually challenged friend, that for 6 months we watch trucks roll into Syria and even Iraq before we invaded.
Do you think … just MAYBE that all that WMD equipment he had in Iraq might have served some purpose … MAYBE!?
3) Lefty a**wipes like you make “our boys and gals dying in an unjust war” comments without the empathy you easily summon for a Susan Sarnadon movie, but sure can summon anger for your “righteous indignation” based on “feelings” w/out facts.
Buddy of mine lost a leg about a 2 months ago. Good kid. 21 years old.
How much money have you donated to “Wounded Warriors” or “Soldier’s Angels” recently? Or was it more of a priority to pack your bong, go to see Michael Moore’s latest vomit, or pay your PETA dues?
Your false sympathy towards me and mine and factual ignorance are amazing. Simply amazing.
Get a clue about the outside world. There is life outside CNN and the echo chamber of lefty blogs.
Steven
During my angry typing I mistyped this sentence:
“Not to mention, my factually challenged friend, that for 6 months we watch trucks roll into Syria and even Iraq before we invaded. ”
I meant Iran, not Iraq.
Sorry – guys like him just piss me off.
Steven