October 15, 2012

At tomorrow's debate, Candy Crowley is "going to react organically to what’s happening."

She "understand[s] that [she's] there." She's "not a fly on the wall." 

You got a problem with that? Apparently, both campaigns do. They were expecting a fly on the wall! They contracted for a fly on the wall.

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ADDED: What does it mean to react organically? That's old hippie talk. There was a time when everything was "organic" or "so organic." Wow. No exclamation point after "wow." It was just... wow. It was so hard to think back then. When everything was... like... organic?.

But how does an organ react? The stomach aches, the heart attacks, the lung wheezes, the bladder loses control.

127 comments:

TWM said...

Wanna bet she'll through more organic stuff at Romney than Obama?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

CNN's Candy Crowley Claims Some GOPers Think Ryan Pick ‘Some Sort of Ticket Death Wish’

Original Mike said...

Oh, great. Another moderator who thinks it's about her.

Original Mike said...

I don't trust anybody who thinks "organic" is a verb.

Paddy O said...

Journalists are important! (even if they don't cover the news all that well)

Look at me! Look at us! We shape things! We're world changers!

Sit with us, talk about your emotions, share with us your stories. Think of me like Barbara Walters...

MadisonMan said...

People who react 'organically' took too many sociology classes.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

We now have a precedent for eye rolls and derisive snorts so there's that.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Cheat Sheet!

The answer is - She loves to use the blog tag "insect politics."

The only place Candy Crowley could be a fly on the wall is at the space station... and the last time I checked, the space station almost lost their supply line because of a rocket failure.

The last person they need up there is Candy Crowley.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Oh, great. Another moderator who thinks it's about her.

LOL

Paddy O said...

At the same time, controlling her attempt at controlling the conversation will actually be a good indicator of foreign policy capability.

Moose said...

Can I add a question: "Wouldn't you hate to be in one of Ann's classes?"

Brian Brown said...

I think Candy would be better off eating organically.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...


Isn't that hag on record as saying that the Romney/Ryan ticket was a "death wish"?

wyo sis said...

Moose
I'd love to be in one of Ann's classes, but not if I were being graded.

Sheridan said...

Flys on the wall tend to get swatted.

Curious George said...

"Jay said...
I think Candy would be better off eating organically."

wiki says she's a vegetarian.

I think I know what happened to those rain forests.

rehajm said...

And if you want to shoot that fly...

Wince said...

Ed Driscoll: ... and now Joe Biden’s weird performance last night, a cross between The Joker, Dennis Hopper’s nitrous-fueled Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, and if you’ll pardon the insult to the two aforementioned men, Al Gore.

"Pretty, pretty (sniff, sniff)... Candy Colored Clown."

Ann Althouse said...

Something I like about Candy Crowley: Her middle name is Alt.

I could be: Ann Alt House.

Wince said...

Ed Driscoll: ... and now Joe Biden’s weird performance last night, a cross between The Joker, Dennis Hopper’s nitrous-fueled Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, and if you’ll pardon the insult to the two aforementioned men, Al Gore.

"Pretty, pretty (sniff, sniff)... Candy Colored Clown."

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Maybe she thinks she's more like a spider trying to catch the candidates in her web.

That would make her Creepy-Crowley

Comanche Voter said...

So Candy wants to be the cockroach at the event.

Ann Althouse said...

"Can I add a question: "Wouldn't you hate to be in one of Ann's classes?""

I "hate" to tell you, but you are in one of my classes.

David said...

She should react holistically. That would sharpen the thinking.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The liberal media are in desperation mode. The moderator will do everything possible under the sun to help Obama and hurt Romney.

Brian Brown said...

The stomach aches, the heart attacks, the lung wheezes, the bladder loses control.


Sounds like a typical Joe Biden day!

Pastafarian said...

I don't want to be cruel, or objectify a woman, but: How does someone like Candy Crowley make it in TV news?

Every other female in news looks like Soledad O'brien and Megan Kelly. Or they were once cute, long ago, like that little chipmunk-looking one -- shit, what was her name -- Katie Couric. And the same thing applies (to a degree) to male newsreaders -- not too many ugly or fat men there.

Was Candy Crowley once attractive? Again, not meaning to be nasty, but looking at her picture, I doubt it.

How does someone make it in TV when they're that unattractive?

Ryan said...

Candy was never a fly on the wall. She is the fly in the teleporter pod who became part of Brundlefly.

Scott said...

What does it mean to react organically?

I think she meant "orgasmically."

David said...

Candy Crowley is a lot more thoughtful and objective than the average MSM journalist. Faint praise perhaps but I expect her to do an ok job. She's no shrinking violet, that's for sure.

Anonymous said...

The debate is not to enlighten you, dupes, the debate is to showcase Candy.

In any case, a fly on the wall cannot run interference for the host of the 2011 State Dinner, can it? The ex-roommate's ex-wife didn't quite do the job in tne vice-debate. The Joker was too embarrassing. Candy, no-fly-on-the-wall must do a better job. Ohio is running out of undecided wishy-washies.

Brian Brown said...


Was Candy Crowley once attractive?


I saw her in the Capitol about the time of Clinton's impeachment.

I can assure you, no.

Hell no.

Brian Brown said...

Curious George said...

wiki says she's a vegetarian.


Good grief.

Kind of like Prince Fielder. He claims to be too, and he's enormous.

AllenS said...

Everyone has their phrases mixed up. Candy is a fly in the ointment, an idiomatic expression for a drawback, especially one that was not at first apparent.

David said...

"How does someone make it in TV when they're that unattractive?"

She's smart. She works hard. She knows her subjects better than the average newsbabe.

She's not ugly. She's just big. Sexy in a big broad kind of way.

TWM said...

"I "hate" to tell you, but you are in one of my classes."

Do we ever get to see our grades? Not that I expect much from mine. I'm the slacker who misses half the classes.

traditionalguy said...

Women are organic, of course. Their hysterical organ is famous among their male companions.

Candy uses the "I'm too dumb to be tricking you" demeanor very well.

The CNN connection of Crowley may cause Obama a little pressure, especially on throwing Hillary under the bus on the Libyan fiasco.

Anonymous said...

they say "organic".

i say stimulus-response.

AllenS said...

Candy doesn't sound like free range.

garage mahal said...

Candy Crowley once said Dick Cheney "oozes integrity"

That's about all I need to know.

Rusty said...

Ann Althouse said...
"Can I add a question: "Wouldn't you hate to be in one of Ann's classes?""

I "hate" to tell you, but you are in one of my classes.

LOL
Made my day.
Thank you.

Pastafarian said...

A lot of smart people don't make it in TV, David. Particularly women newsreaders. "Smart" doesn't even seem to make the list of necessary qualifications. If it does, it comes in somewhere behind attractive face, midwest accent, blond, good skin tone, svelte, nice legs, perky personality, and perky tits.

"Sexy in a big broad kind of way" -- um, to each his own, dude. If you ever visit a pig farm, keep away from the hog pen. That breeding sow has an almost irresistible come-hither look around feeding time.

campy said...

Do we get to fill out a teacher evaluation form here?

Dr Weevil said...

David:
Don't worry. Chances are very high that she'll react holistically to what Romney says: assholistically.

Dr Weevil said...

Does garage mahal have any evidence whatsoever of lack of integrity on Cheney's part? Or is he just assuming that anyone he hates must be corrupt?

traditionalguy said...

Organically the human brain is a mystery to all. Why it at all works drugged up or after electro shock is a wonder.


My friend from Egypt pointed out that the nature of being human is our ability to adjust to new realties and to adapt and survive.

If one goes back to 2000 BC in Egypt and then comes forward there must have been several million successfully adapting ancestors for each of us.

(Althouse does look somewhat like Nefertiti without the eyebrows.)

Unknown said...

the mind reels, the ears buzz, the tongue wags, the fingers cross, the stomach churns...oh i can go on and on and on and on.

Aridog said...

What does it mean to react organically?

My recollection of old hippies is that such reaction is the passing of CH4 in copious volumes.

Alex said...

Shouldn't the moderator be invisible?

Alex said...

the mind reels, the ears buzz, the tongue wags, the fingers cross, the stomach churns...oh i can go on and on and on and on.

Yes it does reading your drivel over and over. Does DU pay you by the post?

joeschmo1of3 said...

It's obvious (to me) the theme is insect politics. Buzzfeed was already talked about, like nasty annoying pests, and here we have another annoying buzzer to pester the candidates.

Unless you're trying for the candy sugar buzz theme, and you're trying to starve us for a better diet...

Hagar said...

Hemp is organic.

Bryan C said...

I suspect Candy Crowley's reactions will be more mechanical than organic.

Humperdink said...

I thought Mamma Cass died in 1974.

Anonymous said...

Remember when everything was "plastic"?

Anonymous said...

Plastics are one of the main branches of organic chemistry, all based upon the 21st Century demon - CARBON!

So will Candy be plastic, organic, or demonic?

Also, I'm not commenting on Candy's appearance, but vegatarian does not equal slender. You can shovel a boatload of cheese nachos down your throat at every meal and still be a vegetarian.

pdug said...

Organically means like a living organism, not like an organ. It means "not like a machine, always going the same thing no matter what, but responding to feedback.

grackle said...

She's not ugly. She's just big. Sexy in a big broad kind of way.

Sexy in a big broad kind of way" -- um, to each his own, dude. If you ever visit a pig farm, keep away from the hog pen. That breeding sow has an almost irresistible come-hither look around feeding time.

I've always found that sexy is as sexy does. She might be terrific in the sack for all we know.

The questions are submitted in advance and Crowley gets to decide which questioners to call on. Why the GOP continues to agree to these liberal debate moderators and unfair rules is a mystery to me. There should always be 2 moderators, one chosen by each candidate, who are allowed to ask or choose questions for the opposition candidate.

Matt Sablan said...

"Shouldn't the moderator be invisible?"

Jim Lehrer tried that and everyone told him he sucked. Raddatz tried to be invisible-ish, but that didn't work either.

Alex said...

Raddatz tried to be invisible-ish, but that didn't work either.

You mean when she saw how Middle East talk was ruining Biden and switched suddenly to abortion?

furious_a said...

What does it mean to react organically?

Hoping it doesn't involve B.O. or patchouli oil. Hoping it does involve the moderator allowing follow-ups and rebuttals to play out, something Ms. Raddatz failed to do.

Fred Drinkwater said...

"I "hate" to tell you, but you are in one of my classes."

That explains why I still have that nightmare where you realize it's the end of the semester, and you have not attended even a single one of your math classes. Good to know some things never change.

Amartel said...

The whole point of this debate is to demonstrate to Americans who don't usually pay much attention to politics how the liberal media "shapes" the news to favor the Democrats.
Candy is so obliging.
Thanks, Candy. I heart you, you big silly reactionary organ.

Fred Drinkwater said...

"What does it mean to react organically?"

It means she's going to open her mouth without putting her brain in gear first.

Christopher in MA said...

A grown woman should not be going by the diminutive "Candy."

Candy Crowley once said Dick Cheney "oozes integrity"

That's about all I need to know.


He's certainly got more integrity than you. But then again, even Joe "we grew up poor Welsh miners" Biden has more integrity than you.

edutcher said...

React organically?

I thought all the Lefties did that in the presence of the Messiah.

Chrissy Mathews sure does.

Hope Barry can spare her a cigarette afterwards.

Ann Althouse said...

Something I like about Candy Crowley: Her middle name is Alt.

I could be: Ann Alt House.


If your parents didn't like you, it could be: Ann Alt Anhalt Althouse House.

I Callahan said...

Does garage mahal have any evidence whatsoever of lack of integrity on Cheney's part? Or is he just assuming that anyone he hates must be corrupt?

No, and Yes.

Dick Cheney is probably one of the few politicians of both parties, that have integrity.

Known Unknown said...

What does it mean to react organically?

Ironrailsironweights knows.

campy said...

Why the GOP continues to agree to these liberal debate moderators and unfair rules is a mystery to me.

The alternative is no debates at all.

Wesley M. said...

The Biden/Ryan debate was the political television equivalent of a "Real Housewives" reunion. They should just go all the way and get Andy Cohen to moderate.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Candy (stupid name for a grown woman) should react as a freaking moderator and keep her personal opinions and "organic" reactions out of the mix.

When I hear the word "organic" I usually think of manure and chicken shit. I think I'm right on in this circumstance. Candy is full or organic shit.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

"wiki says she's a vegetarian."

So too are hippos and elephants.

Sam L. said...

Organic response--She's smokin'WEED!

Dust Bunny Queen said...

That explains why I still have that nightmare where you realize it's the end of the semester, and you have not attended even a single one of your math classes. Good to know some things never change.

Ha haaah . That dream must be universal! I have the same one about math classes. Plus....I can never remember where I parked my car or it is missing when I get back to the parking lot.

furious_a said...


Jim Lehrer tried that and everyone told him he sucked. Raddatz tried to be invisible-ish, but that didn't work either.


Lehrer, Raddatz and Co. ought to study the way judges maintain order in their courts and keep proceedings on track while at the same time keeping the focus on the case before the juries rather than on themselves.

CNN has been acquitting themselves well lately (witness Anderson's evisceration of DWS and. Erin's fact-checking of Stephanie). It's like they've discovered that following a story rather than being or manufacturing it can be fun. We're going to the debate with the moderator we got rather than the one I'd like (Lara Logan RRROWWrrrrrr....), willing to assume she won't be worse than her two predecessors.

Amartel said...

DBQ: "When I hear the word "organic" I usually think of manure and chicken shit."

When I hear the word "organic" I think of the high price of hippies (Whole Foods, legalized pot and other progressive consumer rip-off and redistribution schemes).

Sigivald said...

Maybe she's just going to react like she's made of carbon, rather than silicon or something?

"Organic" doesn't just mean "of the organs" (indeed, I've never seen that usage before).

ndspinelli said...

Crowley is a vegetarian.

sakredkow said...

Stomaches have aches. Hearts have attacks. Lungs have wheezes.

sakredkow said...

Crowley has a vegetarian.

Anonymous said...

"Kind of like Prince Fielder. He claims to be too, and he's enormous."

10/15/12 10:49 AM

I too know a very fat vegetarian. Apparently, when some swear off meat, they end up eating copious amounts of ice cream, doughnuts and chocolate bars to make up for it.

donald said...

Candy Crowley began her career as a hot news info babe and she was marketed thusly. And not incorrectly I might add.

Whether for good or bad, she just couldn't put a fork down and here we are.

Known Unknown said...

I prefer she'd react with a lot of chemical additives ... like bath salts.

That would be fun for all, huh? Get the moderator high and crazy!

Known Unknown said...

According to Google, Candy Crowley was never young.

rhhardin said...

She's a carbon repository too.

ken in tx said...

She should react organically in a holistic manner using heuristic tools for optimum paradigm development.

Chip S. said...

Here's the true story behind Candy Crowley's rise to fame, as I overheard it the other day in the coffee house:

Many years ago Ted Turner had a mistress he simply referred to as "Candy"--as in "eye candy". The way I heard the story, she was a Tri-Delt fresh out of UGA who'd been promised a job doing the weather on Headline news. Anyway, his then-wife Jane Fonda heard rumors and showed up at Ted's office one day demanding to meet this "Candy" chick. Quick-thinking Ted had one of his flunkies go down to the CNN cafeteria to fetch one of the cooks, Ethel Crowley. The deal was that Ethel would pose as Candy for the rest of the day.

But Ethel was pretty savvy, and demanded that she be given the job promised to Candy. Since she was too hefty to be a weather gal, Ted counteroffered a job as a Washington reporter. (He'd heard that Washington was "Hollywood for ugly people", and figured she'd fit right in.) She accepted, and the rest is history.

Ted got the real Candy a job in the State Department where she still works. Depressed at the loss of a career in media to the likes of Ethel Crowley, she started overeating to stave off depression.

You may have seen her recently testifying on Capitol Hill under her real name, Charlene Lamb.

Anonymous said...

Exiled,
Two nurses I used to work with are vegetarians, both became diabetic after many years on a vegan diet. Too many carbs, starchy ones. One was overweight, one was normal weight.

KCFleming said...

I thought John Candy was dead.

Methadras said...

Why republican presidential candidates pick leftards to moderate their debates is beyond me.

campy said...

Why republican presidential candidates pick leftards to moderate their debates is beyond me.

They don't want to face the ensuing headlines:

Cowardly Rethuglican Refuses to Debate Brilliant, Compassionate Democrat with Unbiased Journalist Moderating! Demands Faux Noise Hack Instead!

Humperdink said...

If Candy is a vegetarian, her diet must consist solely of fried zucchini. She is a real poster child for the health benefits of vegetarianism.

If Candy Crowley had married John Candy they might have had a child named Willy Wonka and gone into manufacturing.

Tim said...

Shit is organic.

I'd bet that's what we'll see.

If we're fortunate, it will be painfully, undeniably obvious, and maybe one Obama voter in Ohio will be angered enough by Crowley's overweening liberal media bias to flip her vote.

But I'm not banking on that.

Obama voters are impervious to reality.

garage mahal said...

A list of weddings Crowley attended would reveal what we need to know on how she plans to moderate this debate.

The More You Know.

Known Unknown said...

A list of weddings Crowley attended would reveal what we need to know on how she plans to moderate this debate.

So you honestly don't give a shit about the incestuous relationship between those in power and the press that claims it exists to watch them?







Known Unknown said...

... And The More You Know needs a ™.

Tim said...

"So you honestly don't give a shit about the incestuous relationship between those in power and the press that claims it exists to watch them?"

You know he doesn't give a shit; I know he doesn't give a shit; he knows he doesn't give a shit; we all know he doesn't give a shit.

But he'll never admit it.

garage mahal said...

So you honestly don't give a shit about the incestuous relationship between those in power and the press that claims it exists to watch them?

Yes, but that horse has been out of the barn for a long time and ain't never coming back. I just think it's funny you guys think Crowley is some sort of lefty. She is a Villager through and through. Trust me, she is on your side.

DADvocate said...

If you're a Wurlitzer organ, you come up out of the floor with a variety of notes playing, unless it's a scarey moment and all notes play at the same time for a 4 count.

DADvocate said...

Trust me,...

OMG!! Trust Garage!! Oh, my!

BTW - OMG = Obama Must Go

virgil xenophon said...

LOL, I see I'm in good company with DBQ & Fred Drinkwater about nightmares about math classes! The universality of which should be good fodder for at least a Master's thesis if not a PhD dissertation..

And DBQ@12:35 is dead on. In a Town hall format the audience is supposed to be the "moderator" asking the questions; types like Crowly are supposed to be mere neutral "facilitators" in such settings..

Lydia said...

A grown woman should not be going by the diminutive "Candy."

and

Candy (stupid name for a grown woman)

But what do you do if your parents gave you that name rather than, say, Candace? If her Wikipedia entry is correct, I think that’s what happened in Crowley’s case. If so, I actually admire her for sticking with it.

traditionalguy said...

The Town Hall format is a pretence at audience questions to give a authenticity to the Media's bias in selecting and asking of the questions.

That IS the media's bias tool: only discussing what they say is an interesting fact and censoring all references to what they maintain is non-existent.

Skipper said...

My favorite is a large sign in town advertising "Organic Water". They really do not get it.

Baron Zemo said...

Tim my dear fellow. I believe it is time to change your avatar.

A dead dog perhaps?

Lydia said...

Probably should have said I'm a bit sensitive re shots at diminutives because of, er, the "Mamie" thing.

Baron Zemo said...

As someone had previously stated...the Obama people want someone who will react orgasmicly to the Jug Eared Jesus.

Nothing else will suffice.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

But what do you do if your parents gave you that name rather than, say, Candace?

Call yourself something more dignified once you are past puberty anyway.

Just because your parents (cruelly) named you something stupid like Ima Hogg, doesn't mean you have to go with that.

:-)

I have zero expectations that this Town Hall will be anything resembling a debate or fair in any way. I expect that Candy will do her level best to throw her weight (tee hee) behind Obama and do anything to body block Romney.

Amartel said...

Tim-the avatar is fine as is. Keep hope alive.

Jim Howard said...

Insects are attracted to plants

Use the hash tag #CNNPlantfest when the insects crawl out of the woodwork.

80 'uncommitted' voters? Pull the other one!

Jim Howard said...

Here in Austin there was a lot of hubbub around the Governor's Mansion on election day 2000.

I spent a fun evening milling around the huge pack of TV trucks.

I do remember GW Bush coming out at one point with a bit of that deer-in-the-headlights look that he sometimes assumed.

But my big memory of the night is seeing Candy Crowley standing on a folding chair in front of a big spotlight giving a live report.

She's really not unattractive in a plus sized way. Her ankles aren't her best part though.

DADvocate said...

This song will be the intro to the debate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_MkL2GGvFE

Michael K said...

" garage mahal said...
Candy Crowley once said Dick Cheney "oozes integrity"

That's about all I need to know.
"

Me too.

Organic means "expensive" and "dirty" to me. I always hurry past that aisle

gadfly said...

"Martha Raddatz who exhibited control and authority . . ." which somehow overlooks the interruptions by Biden and herself that she permitted when Ryan was speaking.

An honest assessment of the VP debate moderator should read: "Martha Raddatz who changed a 'one on one debate' to a 'two against one debate' when she not only interrupted Paul Ryan answers but also kept asking follow-up question of the congressman - but not control Biden's interruptions."

We can expect Crowley to attempt a similar coup even though the questioner and the subject of the question was to be first approved by Gallup.

Does anybody expect that Candy will risk pissing off the narcissistic one by challenging the way he answers a question?

bagoh20 said...

New Gallup poll: Romney up by 5 in swing states. Tied among women.

OMG!

bagoh20 said...

I'm not sure what these liberal moderators are doing, but it's working....for Romney/Ryan.

Tim said...

Baron Zemo said...

"Tim my dear fellow. I believe it is time to change your avatar.

A dead dog perhaps?"


Dude.

4-2.

Tough, disappointing loss? Yes.

Ten more games left.

They'll be ok. They do tend to learn from their mistakes.

Tim said...

bagoh20 said...

"New Gallup poll: Romney up by 5 in swing states. Tied among women.

OMG!"


Preference cascade.

It's beginning to restore my faith in the ability of people to learn from their mistakes.

This election hinges on Obama voters admitting and then correcting their mistake in '08.

We'll see, but the timing is good.

Tim said...

Amartel said...

"Tim-the avatar is fine as is. Keep hope alive."

Ha ha!

Thanks - no fear! LOTS of football left.

Anyway, I saw something on a comment board at a football site the other day that made me laugh:

"NFL = Niner For Life"

Football. Still Awesome.

Amartel said...

"What does it mean to react organically?"

She could decompose. Biodegrade right there on the teevee.
That would be an organic reaction.

Baron Zemo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Baron Zemo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Baron Zemo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tim said...

Baron Zemo said...

"Dude they were exposed as frauds.

In their own house.

Time to rethink that avatar"


You don't watch the NFL much, do you?

Humperdink said...

React organically? I expect a flatulence problem. Front seats might not be a plus.

Tim said...

Anyway Baron, I was at the game yesterday, so I saw it, every minute of it.

No fraud. I could break it down for you, but I'll leave it at they didn't play well, the Giants did, so they lost.

Not the end of the world.

Better 'Niner teams lost worst games and still went on to win Super Bowls.

4-2.

10 more games.

So we'll see.

hombre said...

Why do they use journalists to moderate? Journalists are, for the most part, libsimps. Why not people with some experience moderating debates successfully?