Paul Begala Schools Meghan McCain (VIDEO)

Meghan McCain got taken to task by Paul Begala during her appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday, leading her to tell Begala at one point "you clearly know everything and I'm just the blond sitting here."

It all got started during a discussion of George Bush, who McCain acknowledged was a less than perfect president. But McCain also pointed a finger at the Obama administration in Bush's defense, saying she felt that the Obama administration "has to stop completely blaming everything on its predecessor." When Maher asked McCain if she really thought this is what Obama is doing, McCain said "I do to a degree." A clearly annoyed Begala immediately shook his head and said "not to enough of a degree, I'm sorry not nearly enough." He then began to explain how President Reagan blamed Jimmy Carter for years, to which McCain responded blithely "you know I wasn't born yet so I wouldn't know." Going in for the kill, Begala fired back "I wasn't born during the French Revolution but I know about it."

And it only got more embarrassing for McCain from there.

Comments

[bigfeats]

This has totally changed my opinion of Ms. McCain. I can't believe how poorly she handled herself - how immature - granted, she is young, but she's is acting like a twit and I don't believe she is one. I'm a fan of her blog. And, PS, don't play the victim or look around as if you need protecting or use the sexism card unless you really feel you need it (and it's justified) - especially in a professional (albeit comedic) setting. It's REALLY unbecoming and DEFINITELY causes people to take you less seriously - take this advice from a small, blonde, woman who has spent her life fighting against that sort of thing in a very male dominated field of work.

[BluesDogLefty]

"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child."

Marcus Tullius Cicero

[bobbybo]

Sounds like a brief summary of the life and times of GW Bush

[pragmaticdallasite]

nice, Cicero huh? That's a keeper

[stagebandman]

Perfect!

[Shawnie1673]

Exactly.

[maggiee]

I haven't quite figured her out yet. I think she comes off as a bit of a snob BUT I give her a LOT of credit for being willing to go on Bill Maher with serious political types. She has really thrown herself to the sharks and not backed down even when she has been attacked (mostly by the Ann Coulter/Michelle Malkins of the world and mostly in the most inappropriate ways).

I get the impression this isn't what she expected to be doing with her life and that's why she isn't so good on history or facts yet but she really believes in her party and is trying to drag it into...at least the latter half of the 20th Century. Somebody really needs to take that job on. A one party system would not be good for this country.

That said, it's good for her to be "schooled". I actually think she may be one of the few Republicans who might actually have the ability to evolve and learn.

I am all for reasonable Republicans. I'll take Mehgan McCain over Bill Kristol and John Bolton ANY DAY!

[George Mitchell]

But she claim to be spokesperson or a voice of the party in one instance and then claim ignorance which she did in the Maher clip.

She can't have it both ways. (She might like that, but that's besides the point...) She really showed her ignorance and just a mouth piece of the party.

[devildog21]

She puts herself out in public and makes assinine statements with no ammunition to back them up.

She deserves to bet lambasted. Get yourself out of the public spotlight Meghan and go back to school to see if you can learn something. Maybe a nice liberal arts school could help you open your mind some.

[Clovie]

Exactly!

Don't eff with Paul Begala if you don't even know what you're talking about!

[SAR77]

The most awesome part about this video is when Begala states how he goes on O'Reilly to promote his books, but it is a comedy channel and it is not on the level. That was awesome.

[jobecky20]

When Begala said "I wasn't born during the French Revolution but I know about it" it would have been PERFECT if she had said "Touché "

[devildog21]

She's not that quick witted enough.

[Rain-man]

Yup - Touche to you

[thegameoflife]

Giver her time for what?
Let's just take the blinders off shall we.
So let’s consider her record of, uh hmm,
(crickets)
Accomplishment????? Anyone???
(more crickets here)
She has zero experience ,she's not intelligent, and her communication skills are terrible. Hey, let’s make her the voice of the GOP youth party!
Brilliant

[Furby]

Sweet. It was really nice of him not to shred her completely. I would have gone for that mental midget's jugular.

[WasteNJ]

Meghan is literally not ready for prime-time. She threw out a claim that was dubious, and then fell back on "I wasn't born yet" and "I'm just the blond sitting here"..

That's not a debate, that's kid stuff.

[KoolBreez]

What an air-head she is.

Didn't belong on that panel at all. Most people learn to read by the time they are twenty four to find out what happened before they were born.

[Lasnoe]

maybe you haven't figured out how fair and balanced these shows are yet..... they get 3 liberal guests, 4 if you count Bill, and they put one "air head" on to represent the right....

I'd love to see them debate an Ann Coulter, or a Mark Levin.... hell I'd even make mince meat out of these guys....

[DBtv]

Keep telling yourself that.

Willfull ignorance is bliss to republicks.

[Mattylock]

Ann Coulter. HA!

[headintheclouds]

Please. Bill has had loads of Republican politicians on his show. I guess you must be counting them among the "airheads" he has on to represent the right.

And you're casting Ann Coulter as some sort of rhetorical heavyweight? You have got to be kidding.

[hpobserver]

Ann Coulter has been on his show several times.

[bobbybo]

Coulter, Scarborough, et al used to be regulars on the show. THe RNC told them not to appear because the show was stepping over O'Reilly and Hannity.

[D Right One]

Her excuses for ignorance slides her more toward the Palin column. Let's give her some time to get educated about American politics and not this past election's talking points.

[zizizzi]

But is she willing to take the time and do the homework?
It sure doesn't seem so.

[bobbybo]

What homework? You are either engaged in our world and aware of what is happening around you or you are not. A number of bloggers compared her to Palin. If I were only 23 and already being compared to Clondike Jane, I would be rethinking my career path.

[jab2ur]

She goes on TV and radio a lot, but she never says anything of substance.She says the R party needs to appeal to younger voters but her suggestions are ... use more Twitter and Facebook? Act cooler?

Republicans keep missing the point: voters are dissatisfied with their platform, which includes aggressive foreign policy & defense of torture, intrusion on social matters and deficit spending/unbalanced budgets. If they don't reform these *policy issues*, no amount of Twittering will salvage the party.

[PWM]

One wonders if Meghan realizes there was a world before she was born.

[VOTERremorse]

Putting a young woman up against Begala is what liberals love to do. She has no experience on any of these topics. It would be the same as Chelsea Clinton if she was put in front of a seasoned spin doctor. Put krauthammer or Gingrich or Limbaugh or O'Reilly up against Begala and watch him squirm.

[Json]

The liberals put her up to it? If she thought she was unprepared, she shouldn't have gone on. No one is forcing her to be in the public eye.
If she wanted to avoid being ridiculed for her vapid opinions, she could take a lesson from someone like...Chelsea Clinton.

[AntsyAmerican]

It wasn't "the liberals" who put Megan McCain out there. She did herself.

[Diletto]

Begala has been up against all those guys and is perfectly capable of holding his own.

[AnimalLover6]

Unlike Meghan McCain, Chelsea Clinton has a world-class education. She could hold her own against any "spin doctor."

[delagirl]

Her response to the question of who was criticizing her, "oh people on the internet, on twitter", about sums up how seriously we should all take her!