Anita Dunn...

[Sinatra]

Please give the quote where it says, she "admires Mao" or his policies or anything of that sort or even advocates Maoism. It's really not Obama or Dunns fault if you people are too stupid to see the ironic parallel she was using in her speech by quote both Mao and Mother Teresa. Let me just break it down:

Mao = Bad.
Mother Teresa = Good.
Thus this = A really dry play on Irony.

No- that is her attempt at reasoning the statement she made. Her problem is she went into a lengthy historical re-living of Mao's ascent to power, after she admitted that Mao was one of two political philosopher she turned to most. (The other being Mother Theresa - who was not a political philosopher...)

The history she reviews is Mao's ability to "basically take over China".

She either made a huge mistake in citing Mao as a figure of inspiration, or Dunn in fact, as she clearly stated, has great admiration for the political philosophy of the architect of Chinese totalitarian communism...


Here are the actual words of Obama White House Communications Director Anita Dunn regarding Mao...


A lot of you have great deal of ability. A lot of you work hard. Put them together and that answers the why not question. There is usually not a good reason. And then the 3rd lesson and tip actually come from two of my favorite political philosophers. Mao Tse-tung and Mother Teresa, not often couple 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. But here’s the deal, these are your choices, they’re no one else’s.

In 1947, when Mao Tse-tung was being challenged within his own party, on his plan to basically take China over, Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist Chinese held the cities, they had the army, they had the air force, they had everything on their side and people said how can you win, how can you do this, how can you do this against all odds against you, and Mao Tse-tung said “You fight your war and I’ll fight mine.” Think about that for a second, you don’t have to accept the definition of how to do things and you don’t have to follow other people’s choices in the past. Okay. It is about your choices in your path, you fight your own war. You lay out your own path. You figure out what is right for you. You don’t let external definition how good you are internally. You fight your own war. You let them fight their’s. Everybody has their own path.

___

Her words indicate a clear affection/admiration for Mao. This is quite common in the more extreme left of academia.

And she was not attempting to "shock" the students into paying attention - most likely have little idea who Mao was, so in effect, what little they now know of him sounds a-ok according to Dunn's version.

I have given three commencement speeches and sat in on countless others - I have never seen such a blatant support of a communist totalitarian as the Dunn example.

That will likely change now, as she and others are becoming increasingly more open in their admiration of figures such as Mao and Castro, while the truths of such examples are not being taught to students...

,,,

 

[Charles Stucker]

Her words indicate a clear affection/admiration for Mao. This is quite common in the more extreme left of academia.

I have given three commencement speeches and sat in on countless others - I have never seen such a blatant support of a communist totalitarian as the Dunn example.

Where did you go to school that reading comprehension was an elective subject?
I cannot imagine someone who has given three commencement speeches with such a limited understanding of the written word, but here you are.

 

[uptownlivin90]

Her words indicate a clear affection/admiration for Mao. This is quite common in the more extreme left of academia.

You say they do, I say they don't. Clearly the fact that she never said she admires Mao isn't going to persuade you otherwise. So...

And she was not attempting to "shock" the students into paying attention - most likely have little idea who Mao was, so in effect, what little they now know of him sounds a-ok according to Dunn's version.

"Shock"? Who said she was trying to "shock" anyone? Did anyone in the audience sound "shocked" to you? The parallel was supposed to be comically ironic. To a well educated individual I guess it would be because I'm public school educated and the best examples of political humor that I find funny are those examples on Family Guy and the Boondocks, I don't find the statement or her funny, but clearly they did. Now unless they have Maoist catholic schools now-a-days... I wouldn't think that any of the parents there wouldn't have expressed some sort of concern had they thought their kids were being indoctrinate on the qualities of Mao.

I have given three commencement speeches and sat in on countless others - I have never seen such a blatant support of a communist totalitarian as the Dunn example.

You still haven't because she never supported Mao in her speech. She used him as an example to make a point, I mean you can stretch the video enough to make a claim that she's a Maoist and still maintain some legitimate integrity but she never encouraged children to be Maoists or to support Mao.

That will likely change now, as she and others are becoming increasingly more open in their admiration of figures such as Mao and Castro, while the truths of such examples are not being taught to students...

In World History that's the only thing we were taught about them... they were bad people, pretty much covers the curriculum in Maryland Public Schools anyway... and I guess by mainstream standards MD public schools probably pretty liberal.

 

[mudwhistle]

Her words indicate a clear affection/admiration for Mao. This is quite common in the more extreme left of academia.

You say they do, I say they don't. Clearly the fact that she never said she admires Mao isn't going to persuade you otherwise. So...

And she was not attempting to "shock" the students into paying attention - most likely have little idea who Mao was, so in effect, what little they now know of him sounds a-ok according to Dunn's version.

"Shock"? Who said she was trying to "shock" anyone? Did anyone in the audience sound "shocked" to you?

From what I could see she clearly said two of her favorite philosophers were Mao and Mother Theresa. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't having favorites also mean admiration? Now in retrospect she's saying Just kidding!!!!! after the cat is out of the bag. Unfortunately she didn't let everyone present at the speech in on the joke, so I tend to disbelieve the validity of this claim because it would have been believable only if this had been made plain at the time.

If you listen to the video there was an audible gasp from the audience when she said it. I think there were plenty there that were shocked at the statement.

Also, now that a video has surfaced of her stating this last January that the Obama campaign was controlling every facet of the media coverage, that nothing made the news that they weren't in complete control of.....this kind of shows similarities between communist propaganda techniques and the tactics that Obama and his campaign used during the election.

The last thing you want is for people to get the impression you are actually trying to control the media, and this pretty much reveals what the right has been saying about Obama since he won the nomination. That he is all about control over our sources of information, i.e. Internet, TV, radio, all sources of information, and it explains why he openly hates Fox News and what he and other lefties call Tea-baggers. Because he can't control Fox and free thinking people. He treats Fox and a large segment of the public like enemies of the state, while making friends with our real enemies. Thus this last weekend they really opened up on Fox for showing "a different take", meaning sometime they don't want out there for voters to decide on. As a result Raum Emmanuel and David Axelrod have dubbed Fox News as "Not actually news". I contend that most of what Fox broadcasts IS NEWS as opposed to usual state controlled Obama favorable propaganda. Seems most of our media sources tow the party line. Their coverage is so pro-Obama that anything else appears to be slanted toward the right.

I believe that most of the turmoil present in the news is a result of Obama and his minions attempting to marginalize and demonize anyone who dares to disagree with him. Chairman Mao would be broud of them.

 

[Ravi]

So what?

You guys can't find anything legitimate to criticize, apparently.

 

[Xenophon]

Mao was nuts.

One time he decided sparrows served no useful purpose, so he ordered everyone in China to kill them, which of course they did (lest they go to a 're-education camp' for refusing).

Well, it seems those lil birdies kept the locusts incheck, and without them they swarmed and wiped out large amounts of crops, causing a huge famine that cost the lives of millions of Chinese.

Mao had said only one really insightful thing his entire life, and it was in fact what he belived:

"Political power flows out of the mouth of a gun"

Quite a guy she picked as her favorite.

Of course she was only 'joking.'

 

[mudwhistle]

So what?

You guys can't find anything legitimate to criticize, apparently.

Oh, it's extremely legitimate....but the truth is so hard to believe that is sounds like a stretch.

That's the problem.

That fact that this could be happening and nobody on the left notices is what is frightening.

 

[Ravi]

The fact that the right is using the tactics of Mao is even more frightening.

Hang her, hang her, hang her for daring to quote Mao!

Assholes.

 

[Murf76]

Surprise. Surprise. Once again the left demands we not believe our lyin' eyes.
(Hey, check it... I'm a poet and didn't know it. ... )


I just caught the tail end of this thread, and........ semantics?... really???
The best defense the lefties of this board have is a debate of the word "admire".
C'mon. That's pretty damn weak.

There's no mistaking what was said. And anybody who actually believes Dunn's moronic excuse of failed wittiness isn't taking her audience into account... high schoolers, like they're going to get the proposed nuance of a mass murderer also being a great "philosopher".

Her own facial expressions upon delivering her lines put the lie to her story. There wasn't a pause for laughter or a smile until AFTER she said the bit about Mother Theresa and Mao being "coupled". If she was holding Mao up for ridicule the pause would have been there, right at the time she said his name.

She was LYING, people. She came to the cameras with some bizarre excuse about how she was only joking and she LIED.

The only thing that puzzles me is WHY the lefties here would prefer us to believe them to be abject morons or worse, bobble-headed communists, rather than simply abandon an obvious whackadoodle. I mean, just because Dunn is a card-carrying nutjob doesn't mean any of you have to be. It's not like anybody here recommended that she uphold Chairman Mao as an admirable example for America's school children, is it?

Seriously, just some friendly advice... but it really looks like a few of you lefty-type folks would do well to dig deep, rootle through your jeans, find your bollocks... and get some self respect. Just because somebody espouses the bulk of your ideology doesn't mean you're obligated to embrace their personal crazy.

 

[Skull Pilot]

The fact that the right is using the tactics of Mao is even more frightening.

Hang her, hang her, hang her for daring to quote Mao!

Assholes.

I see no one promoting violence against Anita Dumb.

But really, wouldn't an intelligent person know better than to say at a graduation that one of her favorite political philosophers was a guy who killed millions as part of his "philosophy"

She might as well have said that Mine Kampf was on her top ten favorite book list.

 

[nodoginnafight]

George Bush Reccommended a book on Mao to Karl Rove
McCain quoted Mao on the campaign trail
Gingrich: "War is politics with blood; politics is war without blood," said the Speaker, citing the late Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung.

is it surprising that Beck might jump on a peripheral quote and try to gin up something sinister out of it? Isn't that his typical M.O.? Pity the fools who get tooled by this court jester.

 

[Skull Pilot]

George Bush Reccommended a book on Mao to Karl Rove
McCain quoted Mao on the campaign trail
Gingrich: "War is politics with blood; politics is war without blood," said the Speaker, citing the late Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung.

is it surprising that Beck might jump on a peripheral quote and try to gin up something sinister out of it? Isn't that his typical M.O.? Pity the fools who get tooled by this court jester.

Reading a book on Mao or even using a quote from Mao is not the same as saying Mao was "my favorite political philosopher"

Really wouldn't Plato or Socrates, Nelson Mandela, MLK, or anyone who wasn't a mass murderer have been a better choice to quote for a commencement speech?

 

[nodoginnafight]

George Bush Reccommended a book on Mao to Karl Rove
McCain quoted Mao on the campaign trail
Gingrich: "War is politics with blood; politics is war without blood," said the Speaker, citing the late Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung.

is it surprising that Beck might jump on a peripheral quote and try to gin up something sinister out of it? Isn't that his typical M.O.? Pity the fools who get tooled by this court jester.

Reading a book on Mao or even using a quote from Mao is not the same as saying Mao was "my favorite political philosopher"

Really wouldn't Plato or Socrates, Nelson Mandela, MLK, or anyone who wasn't a mass murderer have been a better choice to quote for a commencement speech?

Depends on what point you are trying to make - the Mao quote "fight your own war" in regards to encouraging students to stay true to their own convictions rather than getting sucked into someone else's war seems applicable to me.

Would it have been more appropriate for Gingrich or Rove or Bush or McCain to quote someone else? Depends on what point THEY were trying to make.

At most - it's a molehill.

 

[Sinatra]

She stated Mao as a political philosopher she turns to most - and now is backtracking big time from that statement.

Just another nutjob in the Obama White House collection of nut jobs...

 

[Coyote]

She stated Mao as a political philosopher she turns to most - and now is backtracking big time from that statement.

Just another nutjob in the Obama White House collection of nut jobs...

No. She didn't.

 

[Sinatra]

Dunn...

"And then the 3rd lesson and tip actually come from two of my favorite political philosophers. Mao Tse-tung and Mother Teresa, not often couple with each other, but the two people that I turn to most..."

 

[Coyote]

Surprise. Surprise. Once again the left demands we not believe our lyin' eyes.
(Hey, check it... I'm a poet and didn't know it. ... )


I just caught the tail end of this thread, and........ semantics?... really???
The best defense the lefties of this board have is a debate of the word "admire".
C'mon. That's pretty damn weak.

Since you admittedly only caught the tailend of this thread - you missed a lot.

There's no mistaking what was said. And anybody who actually believes Dunn's moronic excuse of failed wittiness isn't taking her audience into account... high schoolers, like they're going to get the proposed nuance of a mass murderer also being a great "philosopher".

There is plenty of mistaking what she said when you read through the thread and realize how many false quotes are attributed to her.

Her own facial expressions upon delivering her lines put the lie to her story. There wasn't a pause for laughter or a smile until AFTER she said the bit about Mother Theresa and Mao being "coupled". If she was holding Mao up for ridicule the pause would have been there, right at the time she said his name.

Talk about nitpicking.

She was LYING, people. She came to the cameras with some bizarre excuse about how she was only joking and she LIED.

The only thing that puzzles me is WHY the lefties here would prefer us to believe them to be abject morons or worse, bobble-headed communists, rather than simply abandon an obvious whackadoodle. I mean, just because Dunn is a card-carrying nutjob doesn't mean any of you have to be. It's not like anybody here recommended that she uphold Chairman Mao as an admirable example for America's school children, is it?

Seriously, just some friendly advice... but it really looks like a few of you lefty-type folks would do well to dig deep, rootle through your jeans, find your bollocks... and get some self respect. Just because somebody espouses the bulk of your ideology doesn't mean you're obligated to embrace their personal crazy.

Your self-mastabatory excess' here seem to have diminished your own bollocks to the point where you need hyperbole to find them.

 

[Sinatra]

Dunn...

"And then the 3rd lesson and tip actually come from two of my favorite political philosophers. Mao Tse-tung and Mother Teresa, not often couple with each other, but the two people that I turn to most..."

,,,

 

[Wicked Jester]

Have any of you caught this?

But there's another reason she was picked for the Fox News fight — she's only an interim communications director, filling in until the end of the year. If this whole skirmish backfires on Obama, she'll be gone in two months and the administration will have time to distance itself. In other words, the communication team's toughest member is also their sacrificial lamb.

Another one under the bus.

I think it's time for Obama to get a new bus.
The current bus has so much garbage dragging underneath it, its ability to further roll along is being seriously compromised!

 

[nodoginnafight]

I will say Fox is a pretty easy target - I mean only 23% of Americans find Fox believable anyway. They rank below CNN, Local newscasts, NPR, C-SPAN, NBC, ABC, and MSNBC in believability among broadcast news outlets.

So there's little or no chance of blowback.