Firing Back

Article

It's obvious that using the phrase "fires back" (or conjugated variations) sells. Not only am I kicking myself for not naming this blog Firing Back, I think I'm going to write a book now and entitle it Firing Back. It doesn't really matter what the book is about, just that it has that title. It will be the number one Bestseller for 47 weeks in a row. I haven't even finished this article, and I already know it's going to be my most popular article just because I've named it Firing Back.

Anita Dunn is someone who was no one before she "fired back" at Glenn Beck today. Today, she is evidently the White House Communications Director. I think this is the part where I go, TA DA! or SURPRISE!!!, but I could be wrong, so I won't.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- White House communications director Anita Dunn fired back at criticism from TV commentator Glenn Beck on Friday, saying that a Mao Tse-tung quote Beck took issue with was picked up from legendary GOP strategist Lee Atwater.

"The Mao quote is one I picked up from the late Republican strategist Lee Atwater from something I read in the late 1980s, so I hope I don't get my progressive friends mad at me," Dunn told CNN.

As for Beck's criticism: "The use of the phrase 'favorite political philosophers' was intended as irony, but clearly the effort fell flat -- at least with a certain Fox commentator whose sense of irony may be missing."

No one else was laughing either, so don't quit your day job. See that? That was ironic, because we all know we'd be better off if you did. Don't worry though, one man's irony is another man's poor attempt at trying to seem clever.

Dunn, taped in a speech in what appears to be a church, said the leader's philosophies were a guidepost for her own strategy on politics. She also praised the philosophy used by religious icon Mother Teresa.

"The third lesson and tip actually comes from two of my favorite political philosophers: Mao Tse-tung and Mother Theresa -- not often coupled with each other, but the two people 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."

According to the article, this sent Beck into a tirade. My opinion, is if Public Figures are going to act and be as stupid as Celebrities, they should have to endure the wrath of Joan and Melissa Rivers as well. Trust me, it would take Joan Rivers fifteen seconds just on Ms. Dunn's hair alone to reduce her to tears.

I don't get it, Beck. She looks like a very funny person...

This brings me to my particularly favored part of CNN coverage:

But it's not just Dunn, a Democrat, who has used Mao as someone she reads.

Media Matters for America, a liberal media watchdog group, points out that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, also a Fox News contributor, quoted Mao in a 1995 Roll Call profile.

"War is politics with blood; politics is war without blood," Gingrich said, citing Mao.

Karl Rove, another Fox News contributor, wrote in a December 2008 Wall Street Journal op-ed that President Bush "encouraged me to read a Mao biography."

Let me get this straight. Quoting someone or reading a book about them is the same as saying they are your favorite political philosopher and that you turn to them for inspiration when you find yourself at life's crossroads. Am I missing something?

So using a quote from Hitler to make a point or watching an History Channel biography on Hitler is the same as saying, "I love Mein Kampf. It's my favorite book. I read a part of it every night before I say my prayers and go to bed. It's more like The Bible to me than...well...The Bible."?

Nice work CNN, you cracked the case.