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Herman Cain campaigned in New Hampshire today, where he was asked to explain his child-like incoherence on international affairs. The Republican presidential candidate said knowing details isn’t important. Cain added:
“We need a leader, not a reader.”
Seriously. That’s what he said.
I’m tempted to note that reading is a prerequisite to leading, since leaders need some kind of base of information upon which to make decision. I’m also inclined to mention that no one’s asked Cain to name obscure foreign policy details that only experts would know. This week, he was asked, “Did you agree with President Obama on Libya or not?” It wasn’t a trick question or a quiz on the minutiae of international affairs, but Cain nevertheless had absolutely no idea what to say.
But never mind all of that. The real response is to note the similarities between Cain’s nonsense and “The Simpsons Movie.” Eric Kleefeld posted this clip:
For those who can’t watch clips online, the movie shows President Schwarzenegger being presented with five detailed files outlining competing options to respond to a crisis. Schwarzenegger immediately picks #3. Asked if he wanted to read the files before choosing, he explains, “I was elected to lead, not to read.”
The point of the joke, of course, was to mock George W. Bush and his role as The Decider.
Of course, Herman Cain makes George W. Bush look like Stephen Hawking.
Life imitates art imitates life.
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Mary Contrary on November 17, 2011 3:00 PM:
Laugh if you want, with that quote, Cain has just won the Republican primary.
Stephen Stralka on November 17, 2011 3:04 PM:
That's downright un-American, is what that is. Not being a reader, I assume Cain has never so much as dipped a toe into the voluminous writings of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Franklin, Hamilton, Jay, etc., etc., etc. Which is unfortunate, because if he had he might have noticed that this nation was founded by men who were rather attached to their libraries.
Texas Aggie on November 17, 2011 3:04 PM:
Well, we just had two terms of a "leader", not a reader, and look how well that turned out.
Jim Ramsey on November 17, 2011 3:06 PM:
That is a terribly insulting thing to say, about Stephen Hawking.
jjm on November 17, 2011 3:07 PM:
That's the second time that I know of that he is quoting a movie in his extemporaneous remarks. His now infamous remark about the Koch Brothers--"I'm the Koch Brothers brother by another mother" came from one of the Rush Hour movies.
So, at least he proves that he does not himself read, just watches movies and TV.
Maddow thinks he is just ribbing everyone with his ridiculous campaign.
Danp on November 17, 2011 3:09 PM:
When Michelle Bachmann said that cervical cancer medicine causes mental retardation, a lot of Republicans suddenly dismissed her, not as moon-bat crazy, but as unelectable. I suspect Perry's "Oops" and Cain's Lybia/harrassment problems put them in the same category. Republicans can forgive anything except unelectability. You'd think they were voting for high school quarterback.
Rob on November 17, 2011 3:12 PM:
As Rachel Maddow has pointed out: First he quotes the "poet" Pokemon, then he proposed an economic plan based on the Sims game. Now he is repeating a Simpsons movie line,
If he is not trying to cue us that his run is not for real, then it can only be a quantum coincidence...
Zorro on November 17, 2011 3:19 PM:
Cain/Bachmann '12- When you care enough to elect the very worst.
Cain/Bachmann '12- OK, we surrender
Cain/Bachmann '12- Don't know nothin' 'bout history... don't know much biology...
-Z
Tuttle on November 17, 2011 3:22 PM:
That actually made me think of a different Simpsons clip, but I can't find it on the youtubes.
Barlow: You know, there are three things we're never going to get rid of here in Springfield; one, the bats in the public library, two, Mrs. McFierly's compost heap, and three, our six-term mayor, the illiterate, tax-cheating, wife-swapping, pot-smoking, spendocrat Diamond Joe Quimby.
Quimby (watering a marijuana plant): Hey, I am no longer illiterate!
Mary Contrary on November 17, 2011 3:36 PM:
To be fair, the brother from another mother line has been around forever, especially in the black community.
I think Cain has it all sewn up because Republicans always vote for the dumbest candidate. The only person with a chance of beating him now is Bachmann,and only if she keeps hammering away that 999 upside down is 666.
Josef K on November 17, 2011 3:42 PM:
Seriously. That’s what he said.
I guess you have to laugh, otherwise you start screaming in terror.
This is what our political discourse has devolved into? Have the Republicans really fallen this far, where Herman Cain stands a legitimate chance of getting the nod?
sick-n-effn-tired. on November 17, 2011 3:47 PM:
I was thinking after watching the Libya episode that it is obvious he never picks up a newspaper or even watches an evening newscast. While these are not exactly sources of in depth analysis , you would at least have a clue what was going on. Even if you you watched Faux Nooze you would a least understand it enough to form an incorrect position instead of questioning the interviewer about who was on what side. This man has no interest whatsoever in anything outside what he is having for dinner and how his book sales are going .
toro toro on November 17, 2011 3:49 PM:
You misspelled "farce" in the last line. Decide for yourself where...
Josef K on November 17, 2011 3:51 PM:
On the other hand, this dovetails pretty well with the entire mindset the Republicans have been demonstrating the past couple years (that of a pack of rabid dogs). All Cain has to do is start marching in a given direction, and the rest of the pack will follow, irregardless of the consequences that direction leads.
Like I said, either you laugh or start screaming.
DAY on November 17, 2011 3:51 PM:
@Danp: High school quarterbacks "read" the defense. . .
Lifelong Dem on November 17, 2011 3:55 PM:
Leadership is more than bumper-sticker slogans.
I think I read that on a bumper sticker. Because I am a reader.
Marko on November 17, 2011 4:06 PM:
So much for the "mercy rule". And using George W. Bush and Stephen Hawking in the same sentence? Ugh!
Anonymous on November 17, 2011 4:09 PM:
Rob makes a great point. How can we take someone seriously whose campaign is focused on having our nation's tax structure match the default tax structure for Sim City computer game?
I keep thinking back to Pat Paulsen running for President.
Zorro on November 17, 2011 4:27 PM:
Ah, Pat Paulsen: "We've upped our standards, now up yours!"
-Z
st john on November 17, 2011 4:36 PM:
Thanks jjm on November 17, 2011 3:07 PM & Rob, for the reference to Rachel Maddow's show of last week. She completely lays out the Performance Art of Cain's candidacy. What took PA so long to notice this? Eugene Robinson was on the same show and affirmed her reporting.
OT: Cain and the other R candidates are funding the corporate media with their paid advertising, so will not be called out on the lies and corruption of their campaigns.
Instead of contributing to any candidate, R or D, support #OWS with your money. They are the real solution to our problems. When the police finally wake up to their position in the 99%, the 1% will have to join the 100%, and we will see radical transformation of the global system of governance, finance and social programs.
Captcha says Metaphysical loalial
Anonymous on November 17, 2011 4:45 PM:
Dear Mr. Cornbread,
While it is great to know that Obama's presidency is proof that now any black person (at least male, for now) can reasonably aspire to become President of the USA, I don't think that literally means "ANY" black person can be president... Literate is a good base-line qualification.
Sorry to poop your party,
Collard Greens
Repack Rider on November 17, 2011 7:45 PM:
Just when you thought Bush II was the ground floor for GOP IQ, you find a basement with Cain, Bachmann and Perry in it.
A sub-basement. Sub-sub.
JD on November 17, 2011 8:42 PM:
All I can say is, "wow". The Republican field has reduced me to monosyllabic incredulity. Do they not even possess basic self respect?
Dilip on November 18, 2011 6:17 AM:
Is everyone missing the joke? I thought Cain was mocking Obama's teleprompter reading skills?
Anonymous on November 18, 2011 12:10 PM:
"Obama's teleprommpter reading skills" are exactly that: reading skills. Skills which we are all seriously starting to doubt Cornbread even functionally possesses...