IS Ben Porritt just another lying political hack?

By l.t. Dravis

MSNBC NEWS – Wednesday, October 22, 2008 – Ben Porritt, a McCain talking head, went on MSNBC today and said whatever he had to say to promote John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Ben Porritt gets the big bucks to make John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Republicans in general look good, no matter how he may have to manipulate the facts.

Since both campaigns put these people in front of every microphone and every camera every chance they get, I like to check them out every chance I get.

So, who is Ben Porritt and what do we know about him?

At this point, I have no reason to believe he’s a socialist and I don’t believe that he pals around with terrorists.

I do know that Ben Porritt is a nice looking fellow, probably in his late thirties, seemingly bright, very quick, and well-spoken.

But is he just another lying political hack?

Let’s see.

Porritt was interviewed by David Shuster on MSNBC today and here’s how it went:

David Shuster: “Ben, uh, Sarah Palin’s negatives are now higher than her positives and that’s from a poll conducted before we learned that she spent $150 thousand of public and” (Republican) “National Committee money on clothes and makeup at high end stores. First of all, why so much money and, doesn’t this hurt the campaign politically?”

Ben Porritt: “David, this is funny, because a month ago I was on the show and you were arguing that campaigns need to talk about the issues and now you’re asking me about pantsuits and blouses. Um, you know . . . ”

AND THE ANSWER WAS . . . NO ANSWER. Porritt refused to tell us whether or not spending a hundred and fifty grand on clothes and makeup hurt the McCain/Palin campaign.

David Shuster: (Interrupting) “Right, but this is an issue of judgment, isn’t it? There are a lot of Americans who can’t afford to spend $150 thousand in two months on clothes from Neiman Sachs.”

Ben Porritt: “If you want to talk about campaign finance, I think that there’s a legitimate issue on the other side . . . that we don’t know where one-third of Barack Obama’s fund-raising totals has” (sic) “come from. This is a ridiculous . . . “

David Shuster: (Interrupting) “Oh, come on, Ben. One-third? One-third? Nobody has said one-third.”

Ben Porritt: “Yeah.”

David Shuster: “What reporter, what credible news organization has said that we don’t know where one-third of Obama’s money’s coming from?”

Ben Porritt: “It’s well over $200 million that we do not know . . . “

David Shuster: (Interrupting) “Says who?“

Ben Porritt: “Look at the reports. There’s” (sic) “plenty of reports out there that . . . “

David Shuster: “Name one . . . I’m just asking you to name one.“

Ben Porritt: “He’s raised, he’s raised about $600 million? There’s $220 million that is unaccounted for . . . “

David Shuster: (interrupting) “Ben, nobody is reporting that there are $220 million unaccounted for, nobody except, I suppose, some very, very right wing blogs that again don’t have, uh, don’t have a lot of credibility. But, again, name one credible news organization that’s reporting, that will back up your assertion.”

Ben Porritt: “When I walk off this set, I’ll send you an email and you can read it on air.“

AND THE ANSWER WAS . . . NO ANSWER. Even on the straw man issue about Barack Obama’s missing $220 million, Porritt wouldn’t or couldn’t (so much for preparation for a national news show interview) answer the question . . . should we wait for Porritt’s Email?

David Shuster: “Alright. Fair enough. Uh, umm, the Republican National Committee is sending out a flyer to voters in Virginia and Missouri. I want to show it for you. The flyer invokes the 9/11 terror attacks with the image of a jumbo jet going towards a building. Inside, the flyer says, ‘Barack Obama. Not who you think he is.’ Combined with your previous comment about the money not knowing where it is, do you, do Republicans think that Barack Obama is a terrorist?”

Ben Porritt: “No, that’s a ridiculous assertion. I think that . . . “

David Shuster: Interrupting “Why would they have that, why would they have that suggestion in the flyer with a jumbo jet?”

Ben Porritt: “I think that the question that we’re asking is, that Barack Obama does have some, ah, you know, interesting policy positions of wanting to meet unconditionally with leaders of countries that sponsor terrorism, whether that’s Iran uh, or, or Syria what not, I think those are the questions that we’re trying to raise here . . . “ “

David Shuster: (interrupting) “And that is an absolutely fair point, but what does that have to do with a flyer that has a jumbo jet going directly at a building and a line that says, ‘we don’t know who Barack Obama really is?’”

Ben Porritt: “Well, I think that, I think that, when, when we have 13 days left in this election, there are still lots of unanswered questions about Barack Obama and who he is. But his policy positions still stand and on foreign policy he has shown his naïveté by wanting to sit down without preconditions, with leaders of countries that stat. . , that sponsor terrorism.“

AND THE ANSWER WAS . . . NO ANSWER. Porritt didn’t tell us how the disgusting attempt to link Barack Obama to the 9/11 tragedy by John McCain and the RNC relates to Barack Obama’s ability to lead the nation.

David Shuster: “Ben, that’s a fair point . . . all I’m saying is that has nothing to do with that flyer that John McCain and the RNC” (Republican National Committee) “have both said is acceptable and that most people who look at that say that it’s ex-extremely distasteful, but in any case . . . Ben, we always appreciate your coming on. You’re always welcome to come on here on the show.”

Ben Porritt: “Thanks a lot. Thank you.“

Did we learn anything from Ben Porritt that would make you or me vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin on November 4?

I didn’t . . . in fact, all I learned from Ben Porritt is that even in a three question interview, he won’t give straight answers to straight questions.

So, is Ben Porritt just another lying political hack?

Doesn’t seem like there’s much of a question about it . . . what do you think?

Copyright © 2008 by LTD Associates West, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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