VIDEO: First Read Minute: Cantor's day: English lit majors, be forewarned

NBC's Domenico Montanaro discusses the latest on President Obama's policy pushes, Chuck Hagel's confirmation process, and Eric Cantor's attempt at re-branding the Republican party's image.

Video edited by NBC's Kevin Hannigan.

Discuss this post

People who major in things like literature and fine arts do so out of love. There is more to education than just job preparation.

  • 9 votes
Reply#1 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:06 PM EST

"...and Eric Cantor's attempt at re-branding the Republican party's image"

=====================

I believe something about lipstick and a pig are to be inserted somewhere in here. Sticking one's middle finger up to someone with a frown vs sticking one's middle finger up to someone with a smile may display an ever so slight move in the right direction, but I'm not certain is going to move the needle all that much in the end.

  • 16 votes
#1.1 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:10 PM EST

In our quest to make education "relevant," we've lost much of what makes living relevant.

We've lost the real gold of it, in search of the dross.

  • 13 votes
#1.2 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:26 PM EST

Eric Cantor is one of those creatures who could never convince me of being sincere about anything.

If he truly was trying to change his or his party's image, he wouldn't have to announce it, he'd have shown flashes of sincerity before now. If the Republican party is sincere at working to improve their image on several points, Eric Cantor is not the one to send out as a messenger. More stupid party tricks.

  • 19 votes
#1.3 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:28 PM EST

Flippity-Flop, Flippity-Flop.

Advice for Cantor and the rest of his party: Don't talk about it.....Just do it. Actions speak louder than words. Tick tock.

  • 17 votes
#1.4 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:39 PM EST

Students of the fine arts and of literature do not need that thrown in their face. They know what they are doing when they choose a major. If they do not, it will be explained properly. There are people with the devotion to follow that road, not I.

Many of these student, as I recall, were more affluent. Good for them and people like myself who they will aid.

  • 12 votes
#1.5 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:41 PM EST

People have already written tons of books and songs and painted a bunch of paintings. We don't need any more of those. This is Cantor's mindset.

  • 12 votes
#1.6 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:47 PM EST

Someone needs to warn political science majors, if they go into politics, they risk becoming a burden on society.

  • 13 votes
#1.7 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:56 PM EST

Eric Cantor is a twit and a phony one at that. That's about the nicest thing I can say about him; Speaker Boehner needs to keep one eye looking back over his shoulder.

The primary goal of a college education is to prepare one for a job. I imagine there are some college students who will never need to work a day but most will need to. If a person has no intention of teaching fine arts or pursuing a career in fine arts, then majoring in it doesn't make a lot of sense for most students. One can certainly enjoy and take classes in fine arts as part of their general degree electives. Otherwise, it's a lot like majoring in sociology or psychology without intending to pursue a career. If someone is pursuing more than one major, that's another ballgame.

  • 13 votes
#1.8 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:05 PM EST

I failed to say that adding fine arts as part of one's education is a good thing. We all need to appreciate art, music, and literature as much as we appreciate the courses preparing us for whatever field we select. It is what they mean by a well-rounded education. Having music and literature as part of K-12 provides students with a bigger picture view, expands their horizons beyond the basics.

  • 11 votes
#1.9 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:15 PM EST

Conservatives call a ban on the sale of animal "crush" pornography, government interference, but instruct schools to warn students away from majoring in music. What is the role of government again?

Good luck finding an artist skilled enough to make-over that image.

  • 8 votes
#1.10 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:16 PM EST

In Chicago there is a school that is teaching math and science through art. The students are excelling in all of their subjects and it is a direct result of the art being taught. Kinda squashes the argument against art, doesn't it?

  • 8 votes
#1.11 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:19 PM EST
Reply

You can't change an "image" by words.

You have to change an "image" by making drastic changes.

  • 16 votes
Reply#2 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:16 PM EST

[You have to change an "image" by making drastic changes]

You mean like holding a retreat for your party at a former plantation owned by a slave owner doesn't count?

Or like holding a committee hearing on women's reproductive issues, and NOT inviting any women to sit on the panel?

  • 19 votes
#2.1 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:23 PM EST

When people say they are going to change their image, it always begs the question: Which image is phony baloney, the old one, the new one ... or both?

  • 18 votes
#2.2 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:23 PM EST

We will see and compare his comments today to the upcoming vote in the House on VAWA, the Senate votes on the bill this Thursday.

  • 15 votes
#2.3 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:24 PM EST

We already know how this comes out, regardless of what he says.

  • 11 votes
#2.4 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:27 PM EST

Mickey, they're clueless.

What they don't understand is that not only is America changing, but that the entire world is changing.

  • 15 votes
#2.5 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:30 PM EST

They were perfectly clear in their post-election self-reflection vivisection that theirs was a problem only of presentation and perceptions... They found their core beliefs and positions to be as rock-solid as an airport men's room rendezvous...

One thing that remains consistent in the republican history is the penchant for post-mortem relations. They will return time and time again to the inanimate remains of what they themselves have killed and make repetetive and passionate advances on the decaying objects of their perverted love while the rest of the world looks on in horror.

Their platform is solid...

They just need to change the wording a bit... Yeah, THAT'S the ticket!!

  • 10 votes
#2.6 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:09 PM EST

Just 3 short months ago voter suppression was all the rage -

Think Progress: Black and Hispanic voters waited nearly twice as long to vote:

During the November 2012 election, Black and Hispanic voters waited nearly twice as long to vote as whites, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysis. New York Times graphs summarizing the analysis show that white voters waited an average of 12.7 minutes, while Black and Hispanic voters waited an average of 20.2 minutes:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/02/05/1542061/blacks-hispanics-waited-almost-twice-as-long-to-vote-as-whites-in-2012/

____________

This is the mainstream Republican Party doing this.

  • 11 votes
#2.7 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:09 PM EST

Yes. The conjugal relations with Tea-Party faves were only meant to be a cloaking device to provide a scapegoat for the blatant racism already bubbling up from their previously "closeted" ranks. Once they tainted each other while holding hands the scant difference between a racist holding a sign and a racist afraid to hold a sign became negligible.

Fox had to close their online comments section for the duration after they saw how their "viewers" could accidentally expose the mindset they willfully pander to... You lose plausible deniability (as if they had any) when you let the pitchfork and torch brigade out in the raw.

  • 9 votes
#2.8 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:21 PM EST

Eric Cantor's attempt at re-branding the Republican party's image.

GOP are not pro-rape, they just want to redefine rah!

GOP are not anti-poor Black. They are anti poor blahs!

GOP are not against homos. They are against hah!

GOP does not have a War on Women - they have declared a War on Whas!

GOP are not anti-abortion - they are anti-aah!

Mmmm, Eric, I think your re-branding effort may need a bit of work.

  • 8 votes
#2.9 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:22 PM EST
Reply

Hmmmmm, hasn't Obama been using this tact for several years now?

  • 1 vote
Reply#3 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:28 PM EST

I don't know...look at the President's approval rating and that of Leader Cantor. Perhaps he does indeed need to be trying something new.

I guess taking your comment at face value, that would make Representative Cantor fall under the dreaded 'leading from behind' category.

  • 12 votes
#3.1 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:33 PM EST

Allen - and when you're just behind, with no leadership skills whatsoever - like Cantor - what does that fall under? Sheish! The guy is clueless!

  • 12 votes
#3.2 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 12:50 PM EST

Tact is discretion. Tack is a course of action. So, yes Obama uses Tact even though Cantor has no Tack or Tact.

  • 8 votes
#3.3 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:26 PM EST
Reply

So they get their butts handed to them in November and they realize that they need to repackage the malarky (there I said it). Their beliefs haven't changed much if at all. The Republican Party is going to have to do a complete makeover and re-branding before anyone believes Cantor or any other Republican talking about changing their party. Actions speak louder than words. I'd rather see action then rhetoric.

  • 4 votes
Reply#4 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 1:44 PM EST

Eric Cantor reminds me of the kid in school that got beat up all the time and hung around with the fat girls. His whiny insincere hypocritical nature makes you want to slap him in the back of the head or give him a wedgy. Not that he'd feel anything from the wedgy...he's like a Ken doll down there.

  • 1 vote
Reply#5 - Tue Feb 5, 2013 11:33 PM EST
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.