April 5, 2013

Mika Brzezinski on Obama's Kamala Harris remark: "It just divides people up to separate them by looks."

Longer quote as transcribed at HuffPo:
I'm sure he meant to pay her a compliment... but quite frankly, it just divides women and it just divides people up to separate them by looks and probably was a little hand-fisted. I just think the whole thing, the whole dynamic about women and their looks puts women under a lot of stress that they don't need. and they should be sort of talked about by their qualities at work, especially when he is introducing someone because she is the attorney general. I actually think, you know, he meant to do -- say something nice. I think he made a mistake.
Did she really say "hand-fisted"? The colloquialism is "ham-fisted." I tried to check, listening to the video at the link, but it went on and on, beginning with a commercial, which I put up with, proceeding through some David Letterman jokes about North Korea, on to introductions of a number of internet-focused male journalists, and then to a presentation of what Obama said about Harris, and I'm still waiting to hear the Mika quote that I can already read, but I actually still care about whether she said "hand-fisted" or "ham-fisted," and then Morning Joe turns to the insipid internet men and asks:
"What did you see on line yesterday?"
I'm all: What did you see on line yesterday? What did you see on line yesterday? What did you see on line yesterday? What the hell am I doing slogging through a video with some guys summarizing what was on line yesterday? Is TV like this now? They don't have commentators opining about what they think. They have little men who pick through Twitter and, essentially, retweet for... who is this for? People who can't find Twitter on their own and need Twitter summarized?! People who think the news is the way the news looked to the people who tweeted about the news the other day" And the only news underlying all of that news is that the President said a pretty lady is pretty?

But like a pretty lady's face, the President's remark has got our attention. (What are we not paying attention to?) And it's something we can all chat about. (What are we not talking about?) And if we don't have anyone to talk to, we can lull ourselves into utter oblivion by listening to Morning Joe's little men repeat the texts of tweets they saw on line yesterday.

That's what I have to say, and you are so far ahead of the Morning Joe-level folks, because you are seeing it on line today.

82 comments:

Shouting Thomas said...

People will continue to judge one another by their looks until the human race is exterminated.

The government can and will try to suppress this, in the name of some fucking dumbing ideology, and it will fail.

In the future, people will communicate in their jobs entirely by a chosen avatar, online or through the holodeck.

This will solve one problem and create a mess of new ones.

edutcher said...

But will she still vote for him when he runs for a third term?

PS HHS is paying $48/hr to out of work community organizers to be ObamaTax "navigators".

So talk of a third term may not be as laughable as we'd like to think.

Sounds like the Demos have also found a way to combine vote fraud and Medicare fraud.

Talk about your one-stop shopping.

Shouting Thomas said...

I've sort of lost interest in the TV news because of the same syndrome Althouse describes.

One pundit criticizes another pundit. That pundit responds. A critical mass of pundits is assembled on each side and opposing narratives are created, which is supposed to be a real dialogue.

Nothing actually happened. The pundits just interviewed each other. Why do I need that?

Tim said...

"(What are we not paying attention to?) And it's something we can all chat about. (What are we not talking about?)"

The reigning World Champion SF Giants opened the 2013 MLB season on the road, in Los Angeles against the team with the biggest payroll in the NL (at $216,302,909, second only to the wildly overpriced, too-old-to-play Yankees) and, after losing the Opening Day game, took the next two for the series win.

THAT'S what we're NOT talking about!

But we should be...

Aridog said...

Oh, look! ... SQUIRREL!

Frankly, what Obama said was innocuous and apt...the lady is good looking.

I'd just like him to be equally honest about everything else.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I'm all: What did you see on line yesterday?

Wait- you never told us their answer. The only reason I come to your blog is so that you can tell my what the people on TV today said that they read online yesterday.

Maybe tomorrow I'll read their online transcript of today's show.

edutcher said...

Lookism is so old and discredited, all but the most shriveled of feminists push it, but MSLSD just proves its ratings are as much based on its laughable Lefty content as it psychotic on-air staff.

Tim said...

(What are we not paying attention to?) And it's something we can all chat about. (What are we not talking about?)

The reigning World Champion SF Giants opened the 2013 MLB season on the road, in Los Angeles against the team with the biggest payroll in the NL (at $216,302,909, second only to the wildly overpriced, too-old-to-play Yankees) and, after losing the Opening Day game, took the next two for the series win.

THAT'S what we're NOT talking about!

But we should be...


Only if you care about baseball.

They (and the NFL) lost me after the strike in '80.

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim maguire said...

From the standpoint of Mika, I wouldn't worry too much about a transcription, I get tired of the focus on little slips of the tongue, as if we don't all make them.

The real mistake was by whomever did the transcription--regardless of what sound Mika made, it's the transcriber who doesn't seem to know the term. It's not obscure. Who are these people?

C R Krieger said...

Someone, a long time ago, said that every day you should find something to complement about a plain looking woman.  It does them good and it does you good as well, learning to be nice to people.

I give the President a pass here.

Regards  —  Cliff

dreams said...

Look at it from Obama's point of view, he had to show that he still had a pair after that pitiful basketball shooting performance.

Aridog said...

edutc her said ...

PS HHS is paying $48/hr to out of work community organizers to be ObamaTax "navigators".

Meanwhile, functional civil servants (the ones who actually serve you...get your refund checks out at the IRS, for example) are being furloughed...and they can't even determine for how long yet.

No tours of the White House, but plenty of money for vacations for two kids to exotic locales for "spring break"...said as if a cool "spring break" is something every high school gets to do. Funny thing...I live among Arab and Hispanic immigrants and not a one has jetted off to Sun Valley yet...or Mexico either.

So talk of a third term may not be as laughable as we'd like to think.

It is NOT laughable, it IS quite possible in a government that ignores its courts and emasculates its legislature. Just WHO would enforce the term limit, eh?

dreams said...

Blue on blue cat fight, oh yeah.

AllenS said...

separate them by looks and probably was a little hand-fisted

Translation: Obama thinks she's pretty and want to insert one of his little hands into her. Balled up like a little fist. Of course, you knew that.

test said...

Aridog said...

It is NOT laughable, it IS quite possible in a government that ignores its courts and emasculates its legislature. Just WHO would enforce the term limit, eh?


If you're talking about Obama running for a third term it is laughable.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Look at it from Obama's point of view, he had to show that he still had a pair after that pitiful basketball shooting performance

And the fact that through a Freudian Slip, Michelle reveals that she thinks of herself as a "single mother". Where does THAT leave Obama?

:-)

ST is right in that people will always be judged by their looks. The faux pas on Obama's part was actually saying it out loud.

Nomennovum said...

When Choom makes comments like those, I sometimes think he's not gay.

MathMom said...

I just think the whole thing, the whole dynamic about women and their looks puts women under a lot of stress that they don't need. and they should be sort of talked about by their qualities at work, especially when he is introducing someone because she is the attorney general. I actually think, you know, he meant to do -- say something nice. I think he made a mistake.

I believe she said "hand-fisted", because of the inanity of the rest of her, sort of, you know, I think, I actually think, statement.

Mika Brzezinski: Not A Rocket Surgeon.

edutcher said...

Aridog said...

PS HHS is paying $48/hr to out of work community organizers to be ObamaTax "navigators".

Meanwhile, functional civil servants (the ones who actually serve you...get your refund checks out at the IRS, for example) are being furloughed...and they can't even determine for how long yet.


And the best part is the March job numbers are out and they're terrible although the trolls will be along to say how swell they are.

PS By all means, scroll down to the updates.

They're worth it.

C R Krieger said...

Someone, a long time ago, said that every day you should find something to complement about a plain looking woman. It does them good and it does you good as well, learning to be nice to people.

As I've said here before, not all women may be beautiful, but different women may be beautiful in different ways.

dreams said...

Well, I don't think they want to talk about only 88,000 jobs created the last quarter. Some of us warned that electing a European like socialist for president would give us European like high unemployment.

lemondog said...

Frankly, what Obama said was innocuous and apt...the lady is good looking.

I'd just like him to be equally honest about everything else.


Amen.

There are real crises about which to be concerned such as Target and its “manatee gray” apology

I can only hope Obama will urge congress to take appropriate legislative action to prevent such other incidents.

test said...

edutcher said...
And the best part is the March job numbers are out and they're terrible although the trolls will be along to say how swell they are.


Untrue. They'll blame it on Republicans.

chickelit said...

Perhaps good-looking people should be shunned and and held down. We handicap intelligence, another innate trait.

Carol said...

"hand-fisted"? Did someone seriously write that for publication?

Nomennovum said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dreams said...

"Perhaps good-looking people should be shunned and and held down. We handicap intelligence, another innate trait."

I'd gladly trade some of my good looks for a little more brain power.

Nomennovum said...

When Choom makes comments like those, I sometimes think he's not gay. - Me



Well, I just looked at the attorney general's photo. She looks kind of mannish about the face. I back to gay. Our first mixed-race Kenyan communist gay president.

Petunia said...

Mika Brzezinski has her looks and her father's name to thank for her career. She certainly doesn't have much journalistic skill.

Ignorance is Bliss said...


What are we not talking about?

The March jobs report

glenn said...

You guys still don't get it. Barry can be as ham-fisted as he wants too. He isn't a politician, he's a cult leader. BTW I've met Kamala Harris, she's really good looking. It's how she got her job as Willie Browns squeeze.

AllenS said...

You know, if women were covered from head to toe so that only their eyes were visible, things like this wouldn't happen.

AllenS said...

Then, you'd have to marry them to see what's underneath all those coverings to find out if you really wanted to hand-fist them.

MathMom said...

Mika, you know, wants women to be, sort of talked about by their qualities at work. Because the whole dynamic about women and their looks puts women under a lot of stress that they don't need.

So this is why Mika is careful to dress in a way that calls attention to her brains, not her body.

Humperdink said...

Every time Mika opens her mouth, I envision a ventriloquist operating her behind the curtain - someone with intellectual acumen of say, Barbara Boxer.

virgil xenophon said...

@MathMom/

You can retract the claws now, lol.

AllenS said...

Since I had to idea who Kamala Harris was, I went to Wiki, and got this:

Harris is the first female, African-American, and Asian American attorney general in California, as well as the first ethnic Indian American attorney general in the United States.

Man, she's got all of the bases covered. She's probably down with what Barry said.

AustinRoth said...

If Bush had said such a thing, the cries of "SEXISM" and the Neanderthal nature of all Republicans would have consumed weeks of prime-time news, and been on the front page of the NYT for the same period.

Time would have done an in-depth 'expose' of the Culture of Oppression, etc., etc.

No double standards here (as there were none for Clinton).

Move along you lookey-loos, nothing to see here.

chickelit said...

Excellent post, MathMom! Brava!

Aridog said...

Marshall said ...

If you're talking about Obama running for a third term it is laughable.

Really? I didn't say he'd run for a third term now did I? That doesn't make a third term impossible. It doesn't mean it is inevitable either. Just don't kid yourself...I'm not sure you really understand how government works. It is purely a self-service enterprise...and never let's a crisis go to waste.

AllenS said...

From WikiAllenS:

Harris is the first female, African-American, and Asian American attorney general in California, as well as the first ethnic Indian American attorney general in the United States, and the 46,620,891 Affirmative Action hire.

Seeing Red said...

So that's why Jesse couldn't make a dent in the Medicaid rolls. Illinois only offered him $5 per person!

$48/hr? Must be nice work.

dreams said...

"Every time Mika opens her mouth, I envision a ventriloquist operating her behind the curtain - someone with intellectual acumen of say, Barbara Boxer."

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, remember her father was National Security Advisor for Carter, a failed National Security Advisor.

AllenS said...

Who do you think has the largest thigh gap, Mika or Kamala?

Hagar said...

Does Mika Brzezinski think she would be on Morning Joe if her looks were appreciably less than what they are?

dreams said...

I guess people in elected office can't comment on a woman's good looks but I realized early in my life that you're not going to make a good looking woman mad by letting her know that you think she looks good, I'm pretty most men will agree with me.

Rocketeer said...

Dreams alluded to it above; Mika Brzezinski is no less an expert in her field than her father was in his.

test said...

Aridog said...
It is purely a self-service enterprise...and never let's a crisis go to waste.


This is true, but why waste effort on something so costly and meaningless? As water flows downhill so also institutions tend to find the easiest paths to their goals. Undermining a constitutional feature takes decades, and for what payoff? There are thousands of conventional leftists just as useful as Obama. The leviathan doesn't care what we name the pimple on its head.

Aridog said...

Marshall said ...

The leviathan doesn't care what we name the pimple on its head.

We're not disagreeing. You're correct, the Leviathan is what rules. See my several earlier remarks about the institutionalized bureaucracy.

It may be the only feature that prevents Obama's ego from at least trying. He is at risk of believing all the bullshit his handlers ladle to him daily.

Lipperman said...

I bet Althouse banged this post out in about 10 minutes flat; just in time to provide Rush with much needed show prep.

JZ said...

President Obama made a similar ham-FISTED compliment to Jennifer Granholm, Michigan's governor, about four years ago.

Known Unknown said...

Harris is the first female, African-American, and Asian American attorney general in California, as well as the first ethnic Indian American attorney general in the United States.

That's a spicy stew.

Bruce said...

I think the idea of Obama running for a third term is laughable... because of the usage of "running for".

A third presidential term would be such a radical step, that he'd have to seize a third term, using some type of emergency as an excuse. He wouldn't risk having to actually be elected again.

edutcher said...

Seeing Red said...

So that's why Jesse couldn't make a dent in the Medicaid rolls. Illinois only offered him $5 per person!

$48/hr? Must be nice work.


You have to help low info voters navigate the 16 page ObamaTax application.

Considering it includes a voter registration form, as I say, ACORN can now do Medicare fraud and vote fraud in one easy step.

O'Keefe will have a job for life.

Anonymous said...

Did she really say "hand-fisted"?

I'm sure she did. I was just reading a biography this morning which described someone "saddling" up to another, instead of "sidling."

Then there is "towing the line" for "toeing the line," "pouring over a book" instead of "poring over a book," "reigning in" instead of "reining in," and so on.

These are plain mistakes, in text often edited by professional editors, not extensions to the language.

Then there is the New York Times Easter present to the world last Sunday when the Times explained that "Easter is the celebration of the resurrection into heaven of Jesus..."

And that's what a quality liberal education is about these days.

Derve Swanson said...

wait, are you kids talking fisting here... on a friday, before noon ??

spring fever abounds.

Derve Swanson said...

karmela harris and willie brown...
they used to be, getting down.

it's great when career women get known more for their extra curriculars than for their academics, eh

Amartel said...

Pretty lady complaining about people being divided by looks. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful." Kind of like rich left wingers complaining about rich people not paying their fair share. "Don't hate me because I'm rich." I'm a goooood person.

BTW, she knows she's gorgeous. And you're ... hand fisted.

MadisonMan said...

No, it was hand-fisted, because Obama was imagining his hand making a fist around his...

Oh, never mind. I don't want you all to have to deal with THAT image all day.

Sam L. said...

He might be right, but I won't check on it.

Amartel said...

"karmela harris and willie brown...
they used to be, getting down."

Yeah, baby. You rise through the ranks by making the ranks rise. Michelle's husband gonna nominate this idiot for the Supreme Court.

geokstr said...

Because we all just know that if Mika looked like Barbara Mikulski, she would definitely still be a co-host on MSNBC simply ecause of her brilliance and charisma.

/sarc

geokstr said...

Because we all just know that if Mika looked like Barbara Mikulski, she would definitely still be a co-host on MSNBC simply ecause of her brilliance and charisma.

/sarc

Basta! said...

We're not thinking about what it might mean that the economy of Germany, the prime funder of all the EU bailouts, has been stagnant for the past month.

mccullough said...

Obama's off-the-cuff comments at San Francisco fundraisers get him in trouble. First it was the "they cling to their guns, and religion, and antipathy to people who don't look like them" comment back in 2008.

Then this one, which might be worse because the audience in front of you actually might wince.

Rabel said...

And just to top it all off -

He was wrong.

hawkeyedjb said...

"divides people up to separate them by looks"

Women have been doing that to me for a long time. I'm divided up into the group of "guys I ain't gonna date."

Saint Croix said...

"I just think the whole thing, the whole dynamic about women and their looks puts women under a lot of stress that they don't need, and they should be sort of talked about by their qualities at work..."

Nice legs!

Baron Zemo said...

What is it about "hand fisted" that bothers you?

Once we get SSM approved they will talking about hand fisting on morning TV every day.

Don't be a bigot.

Bob Ellison said...

Obama has apologized.

In other news, Jay Carney has not yet apologized.

David said...

We are not talking about Korea, except to make jokes.

Ha, ha, ha.

carrie said...

Sad as it is to say, good looks are still a big asset for a woman. Odds are that she has taken advantage of that fact in the past, so she shouldn't complain when someone says that she is good looking out loud.

Cedarford said...

dreams said...
"Every time Mika opens her mouth, I envision a ventriloquist operating her behind the curtain - someone with intellectual acumen of say, Barbara Boxer."

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, remember her father was National Security Advisor for Carter, a failed National Security Advisor.
===================
Dr. Zbig is actually brilliant. He was behind much of the military buildup Reagan gets credit for. Most of his foreign policy calls were correct. He just had a terrible President as boss.

Mika didn't get her daddy's brains. She got her trophy wife mommas looks.

-----------
As for Obama and his social faux pas of NEVER going to a gathering of high powered envious bitches and pronouncing one the best or the best looking....he wasn't even right about Karbala or whatever her name is.
Maybe being mixed race he really honestly is attracted to darker meat, and Michelle is more than a political wife he had to have to get "in" with the brothers in Chicago.
But of the 9 female AGs, the California one is not even close to how hot the female AG of Florida looks. (Bondi)(Or is it Blondie?)

Amartel said...

"Obama's off-the-cuff comments at San Francisco fundraisers get him in trouble. First it was the "they cling to their guns, and religion, and antipathy to people who don't look like them" comment back in 2008."

Yeah, he's really relaxed amongst the swells of San Francisco. They are his tribe, his people.

tim said...

He can't even get this right! Pam Bondi.

KH has a very Seinfeld good light hot, bad light not at all hot thing. I say this as a man who likes brunettes over blondes. Bondi by multiples of miles.

G.D., obama is wrong every time on every thing (ok, only 99% of the time). It is hard to be that ignorant but damned if he doesn't manage it.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

Rabel:

My vote is for Ms. Bondi. She's a pretty woman and that does not, and should not, detract from her legal qualifications.

Also, her photograph shows her in her mid to late-forties. She could easily be confused with a woman in her thirties or even twenties.

She is both physically and mentally fortunate.

On a political note, apparently it needs to be said, we shouldn't discriminate against pretty women and handsome men. We also shouldn't wring our hands in anguish to avoid tasteful recognition of both their physical and mental attributes. Perhaps traditional etiquette should be taught as a required class in school.

Aridog said...

David said...

We are not talking about Korea, except to make jokes....ha, ha, ha.

Yo, Moose ... dat ole SQUIRREL gag still works, eh?!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Obama uses the Attorney General as a rhetorical beard.

Anonymous said...

Never heard "Ham Fisted" and certainly not "Hand Fisted". Always thought the term was "Ham Handed" but these things morph over time. The decades ago term "buck naked" morphed into "butt naked" .

Part of the problem is fewer people read, so their only reference to popular phrases is what they hear, or think they hear. Much like the way we all get song lyrics wrong at times.

ampersand said...

Hey white wymen,get over it. He's just not into you

Cedarford said...

ampersand said...
Hey white wymen,get over it. He's just not into you
=====================
Let's leave Reggie Love out of this!

Bayoneteer said...

Michigan's immediate former two term governor and 1 term AG Jennifer Granholm is attractive and who was an actor and model in her twenties. She wasn't an especially good public official for all her good looks though.