It’s Just Like the Depression (VIDEO)

December 13, 2006 Bush-Bashing, Liberal Bed-Wetters, NYT, Someone Who Needs Their Ass Kicked, Video, War in Iraq Comments

Well, this is what NYT’s Frank Rich equated these current times with when asked about America’s current obsession with starlets and Hollywood tramps on The View today. He said that even during the Great Depression, people were so devastated, that they looked to Broadway and plays to take their minds off of how horrible life was. Huh?

He was on hawking his (old) book today, and it seemed as though he was going to talk about a wide variety of subjects, but as Barbara Walters pointed out, his book, “The Greatest Story Ever Sold,” “absolutely tears the Bush White House apart.” So therefore, he must go forth and bash Bush and talk about how bad the President is. It’s The View mandate apparently. Barbara also extols the importance of Rich’s opinions as a NYT’s writer because he writes about everything from pop culture to politics. Big whoop.

As they discussed how “bad” the war is going, and how we were misled and lied to to get into the war, and all the other typical “no WMD” leftist media crap, Rich also discussed about how Rumsfeld was “fired,” and then his memo was leaked, etc. Here’s a portion of the transcript:

Behar: Don’t you think the tipping point was Katrina, when the United States of American people saw….

Walters: Yes, that’s in your book.

Behar: … that the President was out of control and incompetent in many ways?

Rich: I think when Katrina happened, and that’s why I ended the book there, cause I thought that was sort of the third act, the final curtain to the story, was that when people saw federal officials saying everything was “hunkey dorey” in New Orleans, and yet, it wasn’t. And people were screaming for help at the Super Dome. People understood that was also what happened in Iraq. We kept being told “Mission was accomplished,” “everything was great,” and it wasn’t. I think people put two and two together, and that’s when his poll ratings started to collapse.

Behar: Right.

The discussion then moved on to the Depression comparison, with Joy asking why we are so obsessed with Nichole Ritchie, Paris Hilton, et. al, in a time of war:

Rich: I think it’s human. You know, if you look back at the height of the Depression when there were people starving in the street and in bread lines, people wanted glossy musicals. They wanted, you know, 42nd Street, Busbee-Berkeley. It has been a terrible time in this country, you know. 9/11 was a huge shock, this war has gone poorly in Iraq, so people want some escapist entertainment and it’s much more fun, I guess, to think about Nichole Ritchie and Paris Hilton than to think about the troops that were killed that day.

Behar: It’s easier to think of crotch-shots of Britney than to think about Iraq, frankly. It’s a nice distraction.

Rich: It is, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. If we were thinking every minute about this war, we’d take a gun to our heads, you know, so…

Behar: Do you think it’s bad or do you think people are just not affected by it because there’s no draft. A lot of people are not affected by the war, so it’s like ‘business as usual.’ Which is it, do you think?

Rich: Well, I think it’s a mixture of both. I think, though, your point, Joy, is right. The whole conception of this war was to NOT make everyone know about it – very few people know people fighting in Iraq – and to keep it off-screen, but then it blew up.

Walters: Well, if you want to know how it happened, (read) “The Greatest Story Ever Sold.”

Joy Behar and Barbara were the two who intereviewed him, and I bet it was just KILLING Rosie that she couldn’t get in on that bit of fun! Rich talked about how we’ve already lost the war, we have to pull out immediately, but that it will be chaos either way – if we stay or if we leave. Oh, he also skewers Mel Gibson and the “Passion of the Christ.” He loves “Borat,” however, and says he’s “quite brilliant,” saying he showed “smiley-faced bigotry” in the movie.

Mr. Rich, guess what? The President and his top advisors do think about the war in Iraq every day, and I’m sure you and your View buddies would be oh-so happy if he were to put a gun to his head, but there are more important things to think about than Britney’s “crotch-shots” (maybe not to Rosie, though…). Fortunately for all of us, sir, there are people who do think about the war in Iraq every day. I also find it quite disturbing that you compare Paris Hilton to the Broadway shows of the past. What an insult. And as far as the “very few people know people who are fighting in Iraq” comment goes… speak for yourself. Do you live in a cave somewhere? You must, since you also find a comparison between the Iraq war and Katrina. Jackass.

Watch the fawning over Rich here.