“Lou Dobbs is a Man”
Some background on how the Couric-Palin interview came together:
“In one part of the interview, I asked her what newspapers and magazines she read before being asked to be John McCain’s running mate,” Couric said. “And she couldn’t name any. So again, I turned to the crew and I said, ‘Hold it, guys,’ and I went to the Governor privately and said, ‘Governor Palin, did you not understand the question? I’m asking you to name some newspapers or magazines you read. You can’t come up with any? I’m just trying to make sure you’re clear and to give you a fair shake here.’ And she said, ‘Okay. Nightline? Is that a magazine?’ I said, ‘No, that’s a television show.’ She said, ‘What about Lou Dobbs? Isn’t that a newspaper?’ And I said, ‘No, that’s a man. Lou Dobbs is a man.’ And there wasn’t much more I could do. I’m not a miracle worker.”
If I were Governor of Alaska, I might consider keeping tabs on what’s being said in Alaska magazine.
UPDATE: From a reader: “Hey, Matt. That item about Couric and Palin comes from a political satire site. I.e., I don’t think it’s real.” Well, that’s certainly a big difference! Apologies for the error.
95 Responses to ““Lou Dobbs is a Man””
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October 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 am
For those having trouble, the piece is satire, not real. Though its hard to tell the difference.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
This post certainly makes it appear that the quote is a real one. I think a disclaimer or correction should go up asap.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
When SNL uses Palin’s actual responses as part of its skit, we’re living satire.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:17 am
Yes, that’s a parody. Given Palin’s performance so far, lots of folks won’t realize that. You should flag the fact.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 am
When satire is indistinguishable from reality, it’s time for a change.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:19 am
The investigative reporters at The Onion have also found many other troubling facts about all of the candidates.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:21 am
In and of itself the writing is not that funny. The fact that most people wouldn’t know it is satire, however, is hillareous!
McCain still claims he thouroughly vetted her. How he does that with a straight face is beyond me.
Someone from the McCain campaign should put Palin on the spot by demanding she spell “potato.” If she can’t do it they should force her to resign from the campaign so she can spend more “time with her family.”
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 am
January 2010: President Palin gives her first State of the Union Address, and the whole country goes online to double check whether it was real or a joke.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:25 am
The thing is: you can’t know what is parody of her.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 am
How I knew this was parody: Lou Dobbs isn’t a man. He’s something the cat dragged in.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
I think I just figured out how to save the McCain campaign!
Claim the Palin nomination was satire, and make fun of Democrats who thought it was real. Normally, this would be a difficult claim to support, but I think they could pull it off.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:30 am
You know who I haven’t seen in awhile? Petey. Petey suggested that Obama’s failure to choose Clinton as a running mate would spell doom if only McCain was smart enough to pick Palin.
Also, “Lou Dobbs is a Man” should be the new title of this blog.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
By the way, Nightline? I’m thinking that gave Palin a little too much credit.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
If the Palin pick was driven by the Clinton snub, then I think we can all agree that not picking Clinton was the smartest fucking thing Obama’s ever done.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:39 am
It’s obviously satire or a truncated quote, Lou Dobbs should always be addressed as “Lou Dobbs: Man, Myth, and Legend.”
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
Now you’re a man! MAN! MAN! MAN!
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Well, it’s rather troubling when it’s not immediately obvious when a quote like that is satire…
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:54 am
I think studies have shown that hearing a negative piece of information about someone, even if you later find out it’s false, still affects your opinion of that person. So I think the responsible thing to do here is to redact the story, Matt.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 am
This reminds me the Jeopardy spoofs on Saturday Night Live with Sean Connery and Burt Reynolds as contestants. Alex Trebek would dumb down the questions until he was asking something like “Name a fruit, any fruit.”
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
The site is parody as one can see from the very title. 23/6
What more do you want? Onion and Nationl Lapoon do not start every sentence with ‘the following is parody’. Some of you are as dumb as Palin.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
this should be like some form of rick roll
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Chiggins - major props for the Orgazmo! reference.
You win.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
First, I agree with Kevin that it is a bit troubling when satire like this isn’t instantly obvious. Second, I’m pretty surprised there were multiple people who actually thought Matt believed this story to be true. Although it’s not instantly obvious, it it doesn’t take much longer than instantaneous to realize it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
That’s a perfectly blameless error, for a campaign that runs itself indistinguishably from an article in The Onion.
When Tina Fey can’t get any more laughs than just by saying *exactly what Sarah Palin actually said* in her interview, there is no satire that does not exceed the campaign’s own self-caricature.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Concur with anon, Matt. Or put the correction first.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Also, you’re in decent company; Xinhua news agency once picked up and ran as actual news an article based on this piece from The Onion, “Congress Threatens To Leave D.C. Unless New Capitol Is Built”.
http://origin.theonion.com/content/node/27828
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Dude, when you make a big mistake like this, you should really make your update a little more prominent. You’re not as bad as the newspaper’s with their hidden “corrections” sections, but still.
-SM
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Truly well played, Matt!
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Duh.
As soon as I read it I knew it was a fraud or a joke.
Get out of your cocoon.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I wouldn’t give Matt a hard time about this. This was believable.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:27 pm
ha ha, Matt. Gotcha satire journalism.
…and Alaska is a *state*, not a magazine.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I really am surprised to see the number of people who think Matt thought this was not satire. Really?
To begin with, he sourced 23/6. Nuff said.
The fun occurs if you read his excerpt before the source. In that context, you find it all perfectly credible because it is so close to the truth we have all witnessed with our own eyes from Palin’s own mouth.
The jolt of recognizing how blurred the line is between the reality of Palin and satire is an experience most of us recognized with SNL, and again, with this “inside report.”
I’m glad I had not read 23/6 in advance which would have spoiled the effect.
NB: if Matt links to the Onion, there may also be satire involved.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
This was in tune with Tina Fey’s verbatim performance. There are very few people in this world who are beyond parody. Palin is one of them.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:41 pm
While reading the comments, I was reminded of a frequent retort on slashdot.org: “RTFA”
But, outside of the context of 236.com, it read plausibly. I think Rachel (14) may have hit the nail on the head. If Obama had picked Clinton for VP, we might be looking at Vice President Romney in ‘09.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
You should put the disclaimer at the top of the article; I almost didn’t catch it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Njorl:
“Claim the Palin nomination was satire, and make fun of Democrats who thought it was real.”
ROFL!! I love it.
Art imitating life is often not a bad thing. Satire imitating presidential politics is most definitely horrifying.
Though I am sort of disappointed it isn’t real. This is gold.
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
The real story is that MY was so ready to believe it.
If SNL did skits on some of the stuff that Biden says; now that would be funny. I love the one where he asks a guy in a wheelchair to stand up so everyone can see him. “God love ya. What am I talking about?” Har!
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Matt,
I know its funny to act as though she’s so dumb that this could be true, but c’mon. You must be dumber than Sarah Palin to think this was real. You have really become terrible at what you do. Palin is an idiot and I’m committing suicide if McCain wins. But you Matt, you are a fucking hack.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Palin was a good pick - politically. She
gave McCain a chance to win that he would not
have had otherwise.
McCain made a mistake having AEI witchdoctors flood her with ideological spew and scattered facts
They should have just let her be an attack dogtrix
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Ah Orgazmo, what a classic.
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:34 pm
poe’s law strikes again!
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
I don’t blame Palin for not answering Couric’s ‘What do you Read’ Question. No matter what she said, it would come back at her. She could have handled it better, but I would not have named publications either. The media is in gotcha mode and not to be trusted.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
UPDATE: From a reader: “Hey, Matt. That item about Couric and Palin comes from a political satire site. I.e., I don’t think it’s real.” Well, that’s certainly a big difference! Apologies for the error.
For someone who is not suffering PDS it was quite obvious…
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
So everyone too dumb to pick up the obvious satire gets to pat themselves on the back for criticizing Palin because this was so believable.
OK.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:04 pm
It is rather pathetic and embarrassing that Matt believed that story about Palin. Combined with the fact that he didn’t know that John McCain had two sons who have been to Iraq or have already gone, one must ask whether he does any research whatsoever on the opinions that he seemingly publishes extemporaneously.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
This site has become a joke.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Yglesias,
I am constantly amazed how libs swallow every fabrication that comes along if it supports what they think. Knowing your embarrassing penchant for believing falsity as shown above, I would like to let you in on a deal. I own a bridge, it’s a bit old but I really need to let it go. The owner of this bridge can make a looooot of money, and if I could keep it I would. However, circumstances require me to offload this, and you seem like a good guy. I can let you have it for a mere 10,000 dollars. You’ll have to hurry and make this deal soon, because it is the only bridge in Brooklyn and others will be clamoring for it.
If you don’t feel you can do this at this time, I’ll tell my brother who is a prince in Nigeria about you, as he has some money he needs to get out of the country and is looking for someone who can help him get it out in exchange for a huge reward.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
No, what’s sad is that you people don’t even realize what this says about you that you believed this without a moment of hesitation.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:32 pm
When Saturday Night Live actually does use an actual quotation from Palin as part of its script, ahahaha. Meantime, instead, we’ve got lefties quoting lines from Saturday Night Live as actual Palin quotations: “I can see Russia from my house.” Yes, Democrats are constantly quoting that line, as something Palin said in the ABC interview with Charlie Gibson, of course.
Meanwhile, Katie Couric quotes what not Palin, but Charlie Gibson said on Russia’s proximity being “foreign policy experience,” and Democrats repeat that too as a Palin claim. (How many times do I have to receive the same YouTube URL?) Hey, here’s an idea: Watch the interview again, and note Palin’s bewilderment at Couric’s claim; she knows Couric is saying she said something she did not say. (And which she didn’t bring up. Gibson brought up Russia’s proximity to Alaska twice before she bothered to acknowledge it; he ASKED her to relate Russia’s proximity to foreign policy.)
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hey, you really are a fucking moron, aren’t you?
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
that’s not “an error,” Matt. It is a window into your soul.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
It is troubling that people mistake satire for reality. But not for the reason some others would intimate.
Anyone who can’t tell the difference is either…well, I can’t put this nicely. They’re unintelligent, unsophisticated or self-deluding. Regardless, conflating satire with reality and believing the satire says much ill about the reader and nothing at all bad about Gov. Palin.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Matt and his cronies.
Dumber than Sarah Palin.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
When you look at a supposedly intelligent individual actually believing this so wholeheartedly as to trumpet it to the world, it’s not at all surprising that you’d get mass support for people like Kim Jong-Il.
At least Mr Yglesias has admitted he’s been punkd, he didn’t try to double-down and parrot a dozen other sources all peddling the same story as, say, an Andrew Sullivan would have.
But it leaves one to wonder how much ELSE he believes, and how much ELSE people of similar philosophical bent believe, that’s based on an uncritical hearing of what they want to hear.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Governor Palin got to be the most popular governor in the country by her own efforts. She benefited from neither marriage nor race. That any of you would embrace the obvious malicious satire says much more about you than her.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Only an imbecile would not immediately realize the piece was satire.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
You are dumber’n a bag of hammers.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Odd, isn’t it, how this unlettered icebilly managed to hold her own so well in a debate with the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Just lucky, I guess.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Biden talks like one of them Bosniaks down at Katie’s Korner.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
This was obvious satire. Like the rape kit tale. Like Slow Joe Biden talking about our kicking Hezbollah out of Lebanon or about our spending more money in Iraq in three weeks than we’ve spent in Afghanistan in seven years. Joe’s outlandishly false statements are in essence wry postmodern observations about the absurdity of language — though clueless traditionalists may call them lies.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I love irony– so wonderful that those who accuse Govenor Palin of being stupid could have fallen for this.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
When people are unable to distinguish satire from reality… its time for a change. And I’m not criticizing the politicians with that comment.
Its amazing how stupid some of you are… asking for a disclaimer because you can’t comprehend event he most obvious satire. Set down whatever Opera has told you to read the month, and read a real book people.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Sarah Palin is supposedly and idiot because _YOU_ couldn’t recognize a satire site. That’s the worst case of projection I’ve ever seen.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
You dopey leftists are so funny, but pathetic too.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Someday maybe I can be smart enough to be a Democrat.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Brilliant!
/satire off
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:07 pm
pwnd
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Everyone makes mistakes. But this is really, really a shocking one from anyone hoping to be taken seriously as a blogger or opinion leader.
Do you really think that CBS News — the network of Rathergate! — would engage in a conspiracy of silence to protect Gov. Palin? They were willing to broadcast, and then for weeks defend, obviously forged documents to smear the GOP candidate a mere four years ago. Now you think they’re covering up for Gov. Palin?
Don’t you think you ought to make your correction more prominent — via a correction to the headline of this post, and a new post for readers who you’ve misled who may not return to re-read your update at the bottom of this one?
And do you really think this is an adequate apology?
How about: “I apologize to my readers who may have been misled. And I apologize to Gov. Palin. In this instance, I was at least as stupid as the fictional parody which I took for fact portrayed Gov. Palin as being.”
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
“Fake but accurate” again, huh? Why not, it worked so well last time…
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Matt,
Make sure to forward this devastating article to Andrew Sullivan so he can post it on his reputable blog as well.
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
So, is Sarah Palin the subject of the satire or it is Katie Couric?
I like Palin, agree she sounded like an idiot when she (failed to) answer that question, but found the question itself rather strange. Who gets their information from newspapers anymore? What was she supposed to answer? If it was a local paper (despite printing the exact same articles from AP and Reuters) would that brand her as provincial? She seemed to think that was the purpose of the question, IIRC, she asked Couric why she insisted on acting like Alaska was a foreign country… which seems random but may not have been random at all.
Seriously. Newspapers are props. You set the Wall Street Journal on the corner of your desk, or if you’re from the sticks you have the (by the time it arrives, outdated) New York Times mailed to you so that the post-mistress can gossip to the lady that owns the Cafe about what sort of things come in the mail to you. A glossy magazine like the New Yorker is also a good bet.
A better question would be what do you read for work, and what do you read for fun?
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:06 pm
So apparently Matt is dumber than Sarah Palin. I think we’ll find a lot of you clever folks will end up being dumber than Sarah Palin.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:59 am
It is obviously satire, at least to anyone with an open mind.
The only way not to notice this is to have preconceptions.
If you honestly can’t tell, you need to seriously reconsider your decision making process. It is likely you jump to many unwarranted conclusion.
October 4th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Harvard, hah?
Unimpressed.
You should ask for your money back.
And they should want to give it.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:32 am
I followed a link here and am taken aback at your idiocy. Harvard or not, you are a profoundly stupid person. Ever considered going out and working for a living? It might help you–cushy sinecures are nice, but if they lead down the path of the pompous half-wit, what are you gaining in the end?
I’d believe an elementary student missing that, but not a high schooler. You pretentious ass!
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