Alan Grayson Schools Unfunny Dumbass P.J. O'Rourke On Real Time (VIDEO & ARTICLE)

[Hissyspit]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/08/alan-grayson-takes-real-time-panel-to-task-regarding-occupy-wall-street

Alan Grayson takes ‘Real Time’ panel to task regarding ‘Occupy Wall Street’

By David Ferguson
Saturday, October 8, 2011

- snip -

Conservative humorist and former National Lampoon and Rolling Stone contributor PJ O’Rourke (and Maher himself) dismissed the protesters as a bunch of pot-smoking “hippies” who have no clear agenda and no idea what they’re talking about. Former Sarah Palin handler and GOP strategist Nicole Wallace seemed to mostly object to the protests on the grounds that there weren’t enough porta-potties provided, saying “We (Republicans) can do logistics”.

Grayson came to the demonstrators’ defense, “Let me tell what they’re talking about. They’re complaining about the fact the Wall Street wrecked the economy three years ago and nobody’s held responsible for that. Not a single person has been indicted or convicted for destroying twenty percent of our national net worth accumulated over two centuries.”

O’Rourke said that Grayson should take his shoes off, get a bongo drum, and “forget where to go to the bathroom”, and the role of spokesman for the demonstrators would be his.

Grayson responded, “If I am the spokesman for all the people who think we should not have twenty four million people in this country who can’t find a full time job. Who should not have fifty million people who can’t see a doctor when they’re sick. That we shouldn’t have forty seven million people of this country who need government help to feed themselves. We shouldn’t have fifteen million families who owe more on their mortgage than the value of home, OK, I’ll be that spokesman.”

MORE & VIDEO AT LINK

[rustydog]

1. Kick ass and take names Alan!

[Mira]

2. RECOMMENDED - I saw it happen, and I am grateful for this post. n/t

[hlthe2b]

3. You know... after Grayson made a jackass out of all three of them...

I watched it twice and it seems to me that only Maher showed even a modicum of embarrassment... He actually seemed a bit chastened. Grayson oozed common sense, truth and sincerity... By contrast Wallace and O'Rourke looked like absolute shameless morons.

Grayson, I am so glad you are running again. Damn if we don't need you (and more like you)--badly.

[pa28]

4. He did didn't he?

Lots of fake "concern" from Wallace and O'Rourke there. The audience recognized truth when they heard it instead B.S. spin and insincerity.

OWS strikes a chord. Maher heard it and acknowledged it.

[mod mom]

5. Good Job Alan & FU PJ & Nicole!

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[leeroysphitz]

7. Loves me some Grayson. n/t

[Kingofalldems]

8. Brilliant.

[Tx4obama]

9. K&R. Everyone should watch the SEVEN MINUTE video at the link in the OP :) n/t

[Hissyspit]

10. Kicking again because it's great.

[pacalo]

11. K&R.

[Poll_Blind]

12. When you watch, pay close attention to how O’Rourke twists his argument around in an attempt to...

...wriggle free of Grayson's withering plain-speaking. You know, pieces like this I usually don't comment on: I either like them or I don't. I go watch the video and that's it. But when I was growing up I was exposed to a lot of guys like O’Rourke and his type were confused with "great thinkers". Obviously, he's not stupid. But if you'll note his mannerisms in conjunction with the way he has to morph his argument to even attempt to stay out of range of Grayson (which fails, BTW), you'll see some of the best of the worst kind of people you run into when discussing politics.

If you boil it down, O’Rourke just used down ad hominem attacks and innuendo which were often as indirect as his inability to make eye contact when forming a thought most of the time.

It was interesting to see these two go head to head- or rather, for Grayson to get sick of O’Rourke's shit and just decide to go after him. IMO, we so frequently think in caricatures when thinking about The Adversary that we forget that people like O’Rourke are the rebar that holds a lot of that despised structure together. Especially among whatever passes for conservative intelligentsia.

PB

[CrispyQ]

13. Grayson rocks.

The Wallace woman was a moran & the O'Roarke fellow was an ass.

[krispos42]

14. P.J. O'Rourke is pretty funny on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!"

And yanno, I was there yesterday, and I didn't smell a damn thing out of the ordinary, despite the fact that there were lots of people camping there overnight.

[progressoid]

15. It was a thing of beauty. k/r