Althouse: "It would be hypocritical to pretend civility for one evening only to have the name-calling return the next day."

August 24, 2012

"It would be hypocritical to pretend civility for one evening only to have the name-calling return the next day."

Rick Warren, cancelling the presidential forum that would have corresponded to the Saddleback Forum in 2008.

31 comments:

Alex said...: Screw him and the horse he rode in on.; 8/24/12, 8:39 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: SOMEBODY WHO CARES ABOUT HYPOCRISY!?!

Will wonders never cease,...; 8/24/12, 8:41 PM
edutcher said...: It only worked last time because Junior was afraid he'd be called a racist if he fought back.; 8/24/12, 8:43 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Naturally, Debbie doesn't approve:

Hypocrisy is her stock 'n trade,...; 8/24/12, 8:43 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: What? No 'civility bullshit' tag?; 8/24/12, 8:52 PM
kentuckyliz said...: I suppose the subscribers will have to tell us what the article is about. pffft; 8/24/12, 8:54 PM
Lauderdale Vet said...: Heh. Crack. Here's one for you.; 8/24/12, 8:54 PM
Richard Dolan said...: Civility in politics is overrated. Everyone enjoys the mud-wrestling. So let'em go at it.; 8/24/12, 8:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Romney will die this Nov. Read the "Obama's Last Stand" (e-book, $2.99, Kindle) by Politico. It shows the hatred Chicago and WH has for Romney. Even Daily Beast commentators, like Paul Begala, are running the SuperPac against Romney.

No one can survive. It would be impossible to live through what is happening and what is about to happen.

Since I do not like violence or blood-bath and I don't like to see grown men cry, I will head back to Nepal. There is no way Romney can win even one state.

Obama will win the old fashion way - they bury their opponents with hatred.; 8/24/12, 8:59 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I think the uncivility cries are over done.

Other countries make us look like the Amish.; 8/24/12, 9:16 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/24/12, 9:17 PM
wef said...: I find Warren to be a tiresome "of faith" yawner, but one of those careful, conventional thinkers. He carries some weight in popular opinion because he pays attention to the crowd and reflects it well, although through his prism of gawd. He is a Reasonable Man. So be it. His decision likely means more than any poll. Obama might be in big trouble.; 8/24/12, 9:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Make no mistake -- this cuts more against Obama, the great unifier, than Romney.

However workable or unworkable Obama's policies were, he could have raised the bar for political discourse in this country as he promised.

Instead he indulged more of the same old, same old only with a new, thicker layer of hypocrisy.; 8/24/12, 9:25 PM
Kylos said...: Kentuckyliz, here's a hint. Search for "who's afraid of Rick Warren" in google and click on the wsj result. You'll be able to read the full article.; 8/24/12, 10:17 PM
garage mahal said...: However workable or unworkable Obama's policies were, he could have raised the bar for political discourse in this country as he promised.

Yep it was Obama's fault for not being able to work with people who wanted to see his birth certificate. Even after he produced it wasn't/isn't enough.; 8/24/12, 10:26 PM
Sam L. said...: Yeah, gm, I could see the crocodile tears in his eyes trying to get the Repubs to work with him on PPACA.; 8/24/12, 10:33 PM
Darrell said...: Even after he produced it wasn't/isn't enough.

Do you think that the State of Hawaii sends anyone a birth certificate that lookds like this?
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ht_obama_birth_certificate_jp_120301_wg.jpg

Did they send him a jpeg or a whole book of them as the image depicts. When some government agency asks you for a birth certificate, try giving them something that looks like that. Good luck!; 8/24/12, 10:42 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Warren and Dolan... Dolan and Warren... Warren and Dolan... Dolan and Warren... Warren and Dolan... Dolan and Warren... Warren and Dolan... Dolan and Warren... Warren and Dolan... Dolan and Warren... Warren and Dolan... Dolan and Warren...; 8/24/12, 10:44 PM
bbkingfish said...: What Warren meant to say was:

"I canceled my meeting because neither candidate would agree to be seen within a mile of me."; 8/24/12, 11:07 PM
garage mahal said...: ObamaCare started out in committee of Democrats and Republicans. You'd think they could have come up with a more amicable way to finally settle on Mitt Romney's heath care plan.; 8/24/12, 11:13 PM
AlanKH said...: The point of such a forum is to give the public a chance to see how those guys react to the issues. Fake civility doesn't subtract to that mission - and if it can be spotted, it can actually add to it...; 8/24/12, 11:18 PM
Titus said...: Rick Warren is a fat fuck and he needs to get over it.

What is his fucking fat appeal?

tits.; 8/24/12, 11:25 PM
Steve Austin said...: Let me try to translate a bit of this theatre for the Althouse readers. The 2008 Summit at Saddleback was a huge turning point in the campaign for Obama. What it did was introduce him to the world of the baby boomer/Gen X Evangelicals. And in that setting with Warren, he was deemed to not be a threat.

It would have been the equivalent if Mitt Romney got up at the NAACP convention last month and had Jesse Jackson do a sit down interview and disarm the crowd by giving his approval of Mitt. Maybe not of all policies and beliefs, but approval of the man. However as we saw, that crowd pretty much booed Mitt off the stage.

i believe that over the past four years, Warren has come under some criticism from the evangelical right for allowing his cred to translate over to Obama. I truly think Obama got some votes out of that appearance and it kept some Evangelicals home, so they didn't case a vote for McCain.

Not sure why part II of this summit was canceled but found it interesting that in his statement, Warren in a way endorsed the GOP platform of freedom of religion from government.

As noted above by Lem, the fact you have Warren and Dolan going against Obama at the moment is telling.; 8/24/12, 11:34 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: As predicted Millenium/Lionsgate’s The Expendables 2 will finish in first place Friday and this weekend. It’s followed by Universal’s The Bourne Legacy in second place and the Rocky Mountain Pictures’ documentary 2016 Obama’s America in third place. That’s stunning because it’s playing in a 1/3 less theaters across North American than the other wide release actioners.

WTF?; 8/25/12, 12:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Steve Austin: Thanks for the inside dope. Sounds right to me. I figured that Warren put some skin on the line and got burned for it.

Obama supporters tend to believe that everyone else had it in for their guy from the git-go, but there were quite a lot of people in the center and on the right willing to give Obama a chance and hope for some of that healing he had promised.

Knowing of Obama's lack of accomplishments and the hard left world from which he came, I didn't expect much competence, but I did hold out that possibly he was honest enough to try to live by the ideals he expressed in his campaign and thereby make a contribution.; 8/25/12, 12:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Rick Warren is a fat fuck and he needs to get over it.

What is his fucking fat appeal?

Titus: Rick Warren is a decent Christian whose ministry has helped people. I'm sure he's not perfect and I imagine his beliefs clash with yours in some ways.; 8/25/12, 12:28 AM
chickelit said...: creeley23 worried about Titus.

Don't worry, please. Titus is Sconnie. Ergo, he is related to fat fucks. He thinks he's special because he was too good to be edumacated locally (UW). Bear (wink wink) in mind that one day Titus will be selling Clumberdogs to locals.

Actually, I will probably visit him in "Clumberland."; 8/25/12, 1:00 AM
Alex said...: homework assignment for garage - what % of House Republicans were blocking legislation AND demanding to see Obama's birth certificate.; 8/25/12, 2:36 AM
Carnifex said...: I have a general policy of not clicking on links provided by others...Cracks, and Laudedale Vets, are the reason why. Now, I'm going to go gouge my eye's out, and scrub my brain with a brillo pad.

GAAHHH!!!!; 8/25/12, 3:05 AM
Issob Morocco said...: I.e. Rick Warren wasn't going to be the focal point and realizing his diminishing value his ego directed him to make some publicity. Yawn.; 8/25/12, 7:53 AM
jr565 said...: Garage Mahal,
Even amongst republicans birtherism was a fringe movement.
If you REALLY want to know why the two sides didn't get along it's because of this:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/01/23/obama-to-gop-i-won/

Obama's idea of compromise is, agree with me or I will demagogue your side and suggest you aren't offering anything substantive, will not acceding to your points at all.

For all the talk about Republicans not doing anything, lets remember that not a single democrat voted for Obama's budget, nor did they produce one for three years. If there's been a waiting game it's by democrats.; 8/25/12, 8:13 AM