Further Thoughts on the O'Donnell Interview

I have a few more thoughts on the Hugh Hewitt/Lawrence O'Donnell interview that I wrote about in my last post. I wanted to make sure that the "Islam" remarks stood on their own because they are such an important admission. Now I would like to focus on a couple of other salient points that Hewitt made.

Hugh nailed O'Donnell in a major flip-flop. First O'Donnell said this, about the Mormon practice of polygamy. First O'Donnell says that Governor Romney needs to address the practice of polygamy...

HH: I want to ask you, Lawrence. You mentioned on the McLaughlin Group that Mitt Romney’s great-grandfather’s polygamy was an issue. Can you explain to me why?
LO’D: No, well, he…remember the line in the speech, this is the faith of my fathers, not just the…
HH: do you believe by that he meant…
LO’D: …not just George. Did he mean his great-grandfather?
HH: Do you think he did? You asserted that he did.
LO’D: Yup, I do.
HH: You…
LO’D: I do think…if I said that, I’d mean my great-grandfather.
HH: You believe that Mitt Romney was endorsing polygamy in his speech?
LO’D: I wouldn’t cut it off with my great-grandfather. No, I don’t think he endorses polygamy...

Then he turns around and says that Romney does not need to attone for the beliefs of his great-grandfather...

HH: Let me break in here. Now Lawrence, given your standard…
LO’D: Yeah.
HH: Are Catholics responsible for the anti-Semitism in the Church’s past?
LO’D: Yes.
HH: They are?
LO’D: Oh, current Catholics? No. No, not current Catholics, no.
HH: Well, do current Catholics need to step up and explain that when they say
they’re…
LO’D: I don’t think Romney’s responsible for his great-grandfather.

Then, when O'Donnell realizes that Hugh trapped him, he pulled out an old favorite of his....

LO’D: I think he’s lying about his great-grandfather.
HH: I just want to follow through. You laid down a principle, and I want to follow through. As recently as…
LO’D: I think Romney’s a liar about his great-grandfather. That’s what I think.

Gee....this sounds vaguely familiar....

Now I will be the first to admit that I have serious theological issues with the faith of Mitt Romney's fathers. However, I would certainly not go about addressing them in the manner that Lawrence O'Donnell did on both the McLaughlin Report OR on the Hugh Hewitt show. For as much as people went all gonzo about Don Imus' "nappy headed ho's" comment (as well they should have), I find it just a wee bit interesting that Lawrence O'Donnell still has a job at MSNBC for his rather bigoted remarks about Mormonism (among others). It's time for MSNBC to do the right thing and take this bigot off of the air, once and for all.