Donald Rumsfeld Loudly Harangued At White House Correspondents' Dinner (VIDEO)

This video has been making the rounds, but in case you haven't seen it, here's Donald Rumsfeld getting shouted at by Desiree Fairooz and Medea Benjamin of the ubiquitous protest organization known as Code Pink. I gather that the big takeaway is that, in Code Pink's estimation, Donald Rumsfeld is a "war criminal." But don't take my word for it! Maybe my impression is based in a flawed parsing of all this subtlety.

[WATCH.]

Naturally, I'm not a big fan of Donald Rumsfeld, or the Iraq War strategy, or the foreign policy -- if it can be called that -- that came out of the Bush White House. And, on principle, I'm sort of okay with messing around with the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Nevertheless, I find it hard to divine the value of Code Pink yelling at Rumsfeld in this setting. In the first place, there's the pointlessness: the Beltway press are fully on board with "looking forward, not backward," and preserving comity, and not troubling their pretty little minds with the hurtful thoughts of the people they cover going to jail. And I promise you, this yelling at Donald Rumsfeld will only harden their position in this regard. But more to the point, I've watched Code Pink shout at Al Gore, of all people, at Netroots Nation, of all places, as he was explaining his national environmental policy initiative, of all the things to shout down. When you basically go out and disrupt EVERYTHING, it's hard to know where you stand on ANYTHING.

So, yeah, I find this stuff relentlessly unimpressive, but I've also found that plenty of people object to me saying so. Just like the Tea Parties! I nevertheless believe that just as crisis demands we not abandon our principles, our response to crisis demands we at least attempt to preserve a measure of dignity. And with that, everyone can start, you know, TOTALLY YELLING AT ME.

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Comments

[MJCole]

That was pretty lame. I would be much more impressed if someone actually did charge Rumsfeld with war crimes. Ultimately this was intelectual masterubation, it might have felt good but it didn't do a damn thing.

[jmundstuk]

OKAY. UM, WHAT SHOULD I YELL AT YOU ABOUT? MAYBE, YOU'RE NOT YELLING LOUD ENOUGH!

[luvangelHussein330]

There is a time and place for everything and a certain way to go about doing something if you want to be heard.
Hopefuly this was cathartic for the "yellers" and they will try again next time in a better way. Getting up in someone's face yelling at them never seems to work especialy when your not the one who is actualy dealing with the problem on a day to day basis.

[Mike4Obama]

And imagine, their counterparts on the right (Limbaugh/Hannity) are currently in charge of the GOP. Imagine if code pink controlled us at the end of their little pink fingers in the same way the loudmouths from the right, (Limbaugh/Hannity) did.

[TruthmongerII]

Admirable women, and it's a good strategy to follow these war criminals around, ruining all their socials. Considering all the hurt and violence they've committed it's the least we the people can do.

[WTF1956]

Does that also hold true for the members who voted to give Bush the authority to go to War?

[solid]

I think there is some dispute as to what exactly they gave Bush the authority to do, but yes, if they did give Bush that authority, then yell away at them incessantly, regardless of party.

[albanianmomforobama]

Good for them! He belongs in Jail not to the White House Correspondents Dinner!!

[dizmo4]

While I generally despise Rumsfeld, this sort of behavior is unacceptable. Liberals should be better than this...

[Phoebe917]

you obviously don't get how many "liberals" feel about this man. it's visceral. i would have a very hard time containing myself it i ever came across him, rove, cheney or bush. i would probably end up being locked up.

[washlib]

i have to, unfortunately, agree.

[solid]

Generally despise? I specifically and unequivocally despise every ounce of that skeletor-like creature.

[washlib]

nope, liberals have had enough of the evil potus 43 administration. This behavior should be expected, and i would encourage average every day folks to feel free to scream at 43 cabinet members for the rest of their lives.

We may not get the needed judicial incarceration for these treasonous bas.tards, but we'll be in their face anyway.

[PitBull6]

Obnoxious people. They only turn people against them.

[Knowbetter]

Some people just can't handle the truth.

[PitBull6]

And some can't handle the real world

[washlib]

by "obnoxious" you mean courageous right?

funny, how folks get words mixed up light that, huh>?

[PitBull6]

If you mean courageous in the sense that making a fool out of oneself and invading another person's personal space in an obnoxious manner in the face of social norms of decency, then, yeah, I guess so.