Rachel: Dumb it down and put it on a bumper sticker

[redstate_democrat]

that's her suggestion to my wonderfully genius president. No thanks, I like complete sentences, context, and long answers just fine.

[stray cat]

1. If you want to reassure americans that they are in good hands- sound competent!

[rainy]

2. Chris looked crushed after Rachel said that. nt

[redstate_democrat]

7. I didn't get it. I thought we were supposed to enjoy being spoken to as adults.

:shrug:

[rainy]

24. Maybe Rachel was thinking of how stupid the general public is and how

for them to pay attention, they need a sound bite. It works for the republicans very nicely.

[Z_I_Peevey]

3. No More Epic GOP Fails

Howzzat?

[BlooInBloo]

4. Fuck dumbing it down. Shame Americans into wanting to not be idiots any more.

[EraOfResponsibility]

45. ROFL there ya go! LOL

[firedupdem]

5. KO kind of asked about the length as a question based on the

shrubs quick answers. Rachel seems to think he needs a sound bite. I disagree.

[demokatgurrl]

6. I feel insulted by that. n/t

[Mist]

8. Rachel's been disappointing me lately. nt

[ginnyinWI]

her thing is to be unhappy with everything.

So if there isn't anything, she has to find something. That's kinda dishonest journalism if you ask me. She has to exaggerate some little thing.

[Mist]

25. I think I'll call her "Moaning Maddow" from now on. What a hand-wringer she is. nt

[jefferson_dem]

9. I gave up on Rachel months ago.

Her political instincts leave much to be desired.

[Mist]

I was really put off by her commentary re: * being booed at the inaugural. She was

Miss Manners, tut-tuting over the booing. Where the fuck ya been the last eight years, Rachel? Sometimes expression of well-earned contempt is just a tad more important than the etiquette (and this comes from someone who was raised with rigid standards of etiquette by two southern grandmothers).

[mucifer]

10. so even msnbc won't give a positive review? That's crappy!

[Uzybone]

13. Nah, Tweety almost orgasmed

and both KO and Rachel loved it for the most part.

[Mist]

18. Olbermann was making the point that those who are used to a * presser may find

an Obama presser a novelty, even if they have to work a bit to keep up.

[firedupdem]

30. Tweety and Olbermann were impressed. Both said he did a good

job.

[Uzybone]

11. To be fair I dont think KO agreed with that

Rachel entered her Debbie Downer mode and had to find something to go negative about.

WE HAVE JUST BEEN THRU 8 FUCKING YEARS OF BUMPER STICKER POLITICS .....ENOUGH!!!!

[redstate_democrat]

20. Maybe KO didn't I was half paying attention but my ears perked up when Rachel started talking about

bumper stickers and so forth. KO seemed to be fret *just* a little over the length of President Obama's answers.

[firedupdem]

27. Yeah..not KO it was all Rachel and then she started her show by

calling his presser a "wonky sermon"

won⋅ky   /ˈwɒŋki/ Show Spelled Pronunciation Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective, -ki⋅er, -ki⋅est. 1. British Slang.

a. shaky, groggy, or unsteady.
b. unreliable; not trustworthy.

2. Slang. stupid; boring; unattractive.


Done with her...not that I watched her too much anyway.

[Avalux]

12. NO! Obama wants us to use our brains. He is challenging the American people to work with him.

Rachel pissed me off when she said that. Obama wasn't a sound byte candidate and he's not a sound byte president. It's wonderful and refreshing to hear a President answer questions with thought and consideration. I could have listened to him answer questions for hours.

[Berry Cool]

14. Oh, come on. She was just acknowledging the fact that some people, like it or not,

have short attention spans, and if you don't want them to tune you out and you need them on board, you DO need something short, sweet and catchy for them to get behind.

It doesn't have to be "dumbed down" or insulting to the intelligence. It just means that it helps to be able to get your idea across in maybe 10 words or less, as well as in more elaborate formats.

And editing just to add: I think everyone on MSNBC was thrilled that they were able to listen to a president capable of speaking in whole sentences and expressing deeply thought-through ideas. Their concern--and it was a legitimate one--was whether some people would tune out. And let's be honest--a lot of people do tune out on lengthy, intelligent answers. Or at least say something like "Cut to the chase." I'm sure KO and Rachel, at least, have both been there. They've both been tuned out on or ridiculed for taking too long to answer a question because they see it in all its complexities.

[ginnyinWI]

23. she shouldn't sell people short.

Either they understand everything Obama says, or they get a "sense" of the sincerity of the man. Obama just gives it and lets people get what they get out of it. I don't think he should talk down to people unless they are actually real children.

As fare as short and sweet goes, his town hall meeting today was far different in style and a lot more of a campaign mode. That's where to find the sound bites, not at a presidential presser.

[chieftain]

15. That commentary of Rachel's left me stunned.

The President gave a bravura performance and to complain that the program doesn't have a Madison Avenue created tag line is simply unworthy of someone who has been given 60 minutes a night to provide insight into our political system.

[dflprincess]

16. whoops accidental dupe - self delete

[dflprincess]

17. Maybe they're trying to help him get through to the Dittoheads

who will be intimidated by a president who uses big words and speaks in full sentences.

[Berry Cool]

21. Exactly. n/t

[lxlxlxl]

19. Never overestimate the intelligence of the American people

I forget who said that, Mencken or Twain...

Look, this is economics, not war. Americans seem more comfortable discussing war than money, and I think that would be true in most countries. The GOP basically survives because economics and social programs is so hard to talk about definitively without getting into data

Data doesnt translate well especially on TV, where talking heads are more into opinion and bravado, and not examining data tables, or examine historical spending and efficacy of government programs. That's more of the job of the citizen...

So...If they can get a bumper sticker, I'm fine with it if it works. If the alternative is just going to do nothing while waiting for that light bulb to go off, then I prefer what I heard tonight.

[BrklynLiberal]

28. Actually Mencken said the opposite..

“No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

I believe he was very cynical about the intelligence of the American public.

[FrenchieCat]

22. Rachel just needs to say...."I screwed up", ASAP!

[truthisfreedom]

26. How about "clever it up and put it on a bumper snicker?"

[WinkyDink]

29. "GOVT $$ = JOBS". There.

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

31. CNN doing better. nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

32. What I've learned in 10 years of college teaching

The audience rises to the level of difficulty you set for them. This basic point about people is lost on the media, which is essentially elitist. They set a low level of discourse, and then blame the public for desiring it. They don't understand the fundamental point: if you set the level of discourse, your people will come following along. Every smart TV show in the last ten years (The Wire, Mad Men, etc.) has grasped this point, but not the political media, which has an investment in considering people too dumb too understand. It's disgraceful.

[redstate_democrat]

33. I loved The Wire. Best damn television show ever.

edited to add: And I agree with your point. The low expectations the media has as to the intelligence of average Americans is crazy elitist. Give people a little credit and benefit of the doubt.

[alcibiades_mystery]

34. Notice that NOBODY thinks THEY are the dumb ones

Nobody says "I'm a dumb American." Everybody says "Those OTHER Americans are dumb." It's always terribly vague. s it is, most people manage to hold down a job, pay their bills, and navigate fairly complicated lives in the information age. People are not stupid, and NOTHING in that press conference was all that complicated. If you understand your bank or hospital statement, if you can anticipate and make decisions based on your paycheck (and, despite a lot of bullshit, the vast majority of people CAN do these things), then you should understand everything that was said tonight.

The "dumb" public is largely a media myth fed by people's bloated egos (i.e., it makes people feel smart, since they're not the "dumb" ones).

[Clio the Leo]

35. Are you familiar with the Paideia method of teaching?

It embraces this very philosophy ..... fill every child's cup to the brim, no matter the size of the cup.

And I'm a better person for it. ;)

[alcibiades_mystery]

40. Yes

Most students appreciate it. It's 1000 times better than being condescended to, as we saw tonight.

[Berry Cool]

44. I guess the issue here is that to me, making something short and sweet doesn't necessarily equal

"dumbing it down." It can just mean tightening up the wording so the concept can be gotten across quickly and grasped quickly. It doesn't have to have anything to do with the "level of difficulty" or a "low level of discourse."

If anything, KO is an expert at demonstrating that if you set a high level of discourse, people will follow. I can listen to a 12-minute Special Comment and not get bored. He's not saying people are too dumb to understand something like what Obama's saying. Neither is Rachel. What they're saying is that he could use a quick, simple (but not DUMB) message to cut through the clutter as well.

[Jennicut]

36. I like Rach but she consistenly underestimates people

Remember the gloom and doom during the election.

[RepublicanElephant]

37. i'd love to see obama soundbites on the bumbers of millions of cars! nt

[glowing]

38. Unfortunately, many Americans are just stupid.. and half of them do need a bumper sticker.

which is why you hear stupid snippets coming from boner and the rest of them.

[bridgit]

39. I disagree, I think that's been the problem, I say keep it pithy and write it into law...

[Hansel]

41. I think his intended audience was the Press and the Republicans

and not so much the American people.

I think his intent tonight was to set the tone for how he is going to deal with the press going forward. He already has the American people on his side. He just needs to stop the press from eroding that support through their moronic analysis and coverage. So he's schooling them.

One of his major campaign promises was to change the tone in Washington. The press is a good place to start. Rachel is underestimating him. Again.

[Still Sensible]

42. Right idea, mixing up the tactics though

She's absolutely right that the democrats have still not mastered operating in a sound bite world. Other commenters here are also right... you bet your ass we appreciate a president that can string together coherent thoughts.

Karl Rove was not the genius he's made out to be. What he did do, though, is understand that in this age the masses like simple messages... us vs. them, good vs. evil, black and white.

Rachel is right in that when you frame the message simply the masses get it!

And voila... Obama gets it, too. Throughout his eloquent press conference, he was continually hammering on simple themes. And while he was hammering away at those simple themes he didn't insult our intelligence with sound bite answers, though. He thoughtfully explained the what and why of the policies he is advocating.

The simplest message he hammered was "Their way is what got us here, we're not going to do it their way."

[dolphinsong285]

43. On XM's America Left today....

someone-maybe Stephanie Miller- suggested calling the economic recovery plan the "Jobs Bill" That's not dumbing it down, it's just good marketing.

[Berry Cool]

46. You got it. Exactly what I mean.

Part of the problem is that yeah, he does have to play to everyone, not just the smart people. So yeah, some spoon-feeding is going to be necessary with some of them. But a lot of what I hear them saying is not that he needs to "dumb down" the message. He just needs to whittle it to something that you can say quickly that cuts to the chase of what it's all about.

[Thrill]

47. If you listened to Rachel. Obama wouldn't be President today

She claimed he was going to lose everyday.

[Political Heretic]

48. First time I've had major disagreement with her.