After Brit Hume's ridiculous remarks this weekend, claiming that "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) had only gotten a reputation for being a bully because men could not be 'masculine and muscular' in the 'feminized atmosphere' created by the media," Hume and his buddy Bill O'Reilly decided to double down this Monday evening.
O'REILLY: So, I thought your analysis of the tough guy factor in politics was right on Hume. Of course I would say that because I'm a big target as well, but you're onto something here. That milquetoast politician, you know, if you're larger than life and we go back through history, and you can see, Andrew Jackson and people like this, they could never make it today.
HUME: Too rough around the edges, right?
O'REILLY: Yeah, they're too blunt.
HUME: Well, I think that it a fact of American contemporary life that if you have that tough guy image, you speak bluntly, even sometimes rudely, especially if you take on certain interests, teachers' union in Chris Christie's case, you do run the risk of being accused of being a bully.
And in the eyes of some people, I'm sympathetic to your agenda, that will stick and it will be used against you. So that's where I think part of where he is here with this and of course this whole idea that he either ordered or created the atmosphere in which this dirty trick could be played on the people of Fort Lee, New Jersey and its leaders feeds into that very nicely. So it's been very convenient for those who oppose him. […]
This sometimes happens with these movements, which are in some respects responsible for great social progress. This happened to some extent with the Civil Rights movement. It was a tremendous success, so that today in America, one of the worst things that can ever be said about you, politically fatal if it sticks, is that you're a racist.
It is also the case that if you're accused of being a sexist and that can be made to stick, that's also very damaging. So in some respect, these triumphs have the side effect of placing a cudgel in the hands of people who are willing to use them and at times unscrupulously.
O'REILLY: How many times have we seen Barack Obama's critics, been branded a racist...
HUME: We've had it vaguely stated repeatedly that some people just can't stand the idea of there being a black man in the White House. I happen to think the overwhelming majority of Americans are proud of the fact that we've got a black man in the White House...
O'REILLY: Well, seventy percent approval rating when he took office. I mean, the facts are the facts.
HUME: Exactly right.
Yeah, don't dare call anyone over at Fox a racist either, or they'll be forced to start blowing one of those dog whistles again.
