Hypocritical Janeane Garofalo Contradicts Herself on Dissent and Lies About Rush Limbaugh Visit

April 19th, 2009 3:50 PM

There is a great expository video called "Janeane Garofalo on Dissent: Then & Now" put together by therightscoop. It shows Garofalo on Countdown with Keith Olbermann in both 2003 and 2009 completely contradicting herself on the subject of dissent. First see what Janeane Garofalo in 2009 has to say about the tea party protests:

Let's be very honest about what this is about. This is not about bashing Democrats. It's not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea party was about. They don't know their history at all. It's about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up...

And now we have the 2003 Janeane Garofalo on the subject of dissent (update at end of post includes partial transcript and context of her remarks):

There has been so many inappropriate responses to dissent which is the most patriot thing you can do and the First Amendment guarantees everyone's right to speak out.

What was that again about "inappropriate responses to dissent," Janeane? Speaking of which, let us now jump 6 years into the future to the 2009 Garofalo:

The limbic brain inside a rightwinger or Republican or conservative or your average white power activist is much larger in their head space than in a reasonable person and its pushing against the frontal lobe so their synapsis are misfiring. 

Of course, the 2009 Garofalo is again contradicted by the 2003 Garofalo:

Like I said, it's very Archie Bunker, anti-intellectual, unfair way to treat dissent.

...I'm in favor of any citizen talking if they want to. I'm in favor of any citizen talking if they want to.

The hypocritical Janeane Garofalo is also the lying Garofalo (or at least unaware of what is real and what is not).  Here is what she said about working on the set of "24."

When Rush Limbaugh visited the set, and when Lynne Cheney visited the set, I refused to have my picture taken with them or meet them or anything.

This claim elicited a reaction from Rush Limbaugh which he sent to the Radio Equalizer:

After having seen this piece, Limbaugh emailed your Radio Equalizer late Friday evening with this reaction: "The last time I visited the set of 24, Garofalo had not been hired to appear in the series. She was not there, she was not a member of the cast the last time I visited. I wouldn't have wanted to meet her anyway.

"The last time I visited the set, Kim Raver was still in the cast and CTU was the primary "location" of the show. This current season, seven, has been in the can since last summer or fall and I have been nowhere near the 24 set for any shoots for this season, which is this lunatic's first season," Limbaugh added.

Did Garofalo make up her story about Limbaugh visiting the set during her stint as a member of the cast?

 Apparently the answer to that question is a resounding YES.

Updated by Noel Sheppard, 8:34 PM: Garofalo's 2003 statements came a day after actor Johnny Depp made some anti-American remarks to a German magazine. As reported by Reuters:

Hollywood star Johnny Depp said on Wednesday the United States was a stupid, aggressive puppy and he would not live there until the political climate changed.

The 40-year-old actor, who stars in the "Pirates of the Caribbean," told the German news magazine Stern he was happier staying in the south of France with his wife, the French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, and their two children.

"America is dumb, it's like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you, aggressive," he said.

"My daughter is four, my boy is one. I'd like them to see America as a toy, a broken toy. Investigate it a little, check it out, get this feeling and then get out," said the star of the off-beat films "Edward Scissorhands" and "Dead Man."

Depp slammed George W. Bush's administration for its criticism of French opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"I was ecstatic they re-named 'French Fries' as 'Freedom Fries'. Grown men and women in positions of power in the U.S. government showing themselves as idiots," he told Stern.

His comments stirred a lot of anger in America at the time, leading Garofalo to defend him on the September 4, 2003, installment of "Countdown":

There has been so many inappropriate responses to dissent, which is the most patriotic thing you can do. And the First Amendment guarantees everyone's right to speak out. The pillorying that was endured by the Dixie Chicks and Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins and now Johnny Depp is absurd. And, again, it is promulgated by the kind of Archie Bunker mentality that dominates the right wing of the Republican Party and also right-wing radio and some of the faux populist right-wing cable news shows.

Like, Joe Scarborough, for example, pretends that he is real upset about this Johnny Depp thing. It is just -- it's not news and it is not particularly intellectual. And there's nobody that's really upset about it. Johnny Depp has every right to say whatever he wants. And that's a rather moderate thing to say about the puppy. There is global distaste for the Bush doctrine. And there is a lot of domestic distaste for the Bush doctrine, for that matter. And nobody ever had a problem with bashing the Clintons, which was like a national pastime.

So this pretend partisan pseudo-patriotism is inappropriate. And people call it a backlash, but it's not. It was an attack, what happened to the Dixie Chicks. And it is -- like I said, it's very Archie Bunker, anti-intellectual, unfair way to treat dissent.

As such, to Garofalo, it is patriotic when actors and musicians bash a Republican president and his policies. It was even a national pastime in her words to bash the Clintons.

BUT, when average Americans protest a black president and his policies, they're racists and teabagging rednecks.

Any questions?