pundits

January 11, 2011April 18, 2020

Both sides DON’T Do it

Sarah Palin's bullseye graphic The US had one of those tragic moments on Saturday January 8th that causes deep sadness and reevaluation of ourselves. When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others were shot six of whom were killed including a 9 year old girl, we have to step back and naturally find out why this happened and can it be prevented from happening. A larger picture also has to be to examine if the air of our political debates was poisoned by violent imagery and rhetoric that came mostly from the right. I believe it’s poisoned and they need to tone it down.

Right now I don’t care if the Tucson shooter was a Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin fan or not. What I do know is those on the right like Beck and Palin who freely use violent imagery and rhetoric in their public speeches may not have pulled the trigger but they spilled a can of gasoline in an enclosed room just waiting for a spark.

You really have to examine yourself if you think violent talk is a good way to discuss politics especially with our history of political violence and assassinations.

How did that become okay?

The corporate media is complicit in creating and allowing that kind of talk to take root. They should have jumped on it and nipped in the bud but instead they stayed on the sideline counting their advertising dollars.

The right and the media have been quick to get defensive and claim “Both sides do it…” but that is a big lie meant to distract us from seeing the blood on their hands. Both sides DON’T do it. Right now the poison is coming from the right and their defensiveness – like a debutante getting the vapors – is telling.

And if Sarah Palin feels bad for being made a scapegoat for her stupid cross-hairs graphic and “lock and load” tweet when it was posted, then there are some Muslims who know exactly how she feels. She should find out how they coped with it after the Fort Hood shooting.

And no I am not calling for censorship – just think about how you say things. Most people don’t use curse words in every day speech and no one complains about censorship. Personally I think anyone who has to use violent imagery and rhetoric for political discussions come off as big douchebags.

As uber nerd Wil Wheaton says “Don’t be a dick”. You can still get your point across – about how much you hate Democrats and President Obama – without using violent words and images to do it. We will all understand.

June 27, 2010April 18, 2020

George, when did Journalism die?

I am not a fan of mainstream news. Not just because they can make things up but because many national reporters don’t do their jobs any more. A perfect example is the fall out of the recent resignation of Dave Weigel, a reporter for the Washington Post, after private e-mails were published on a conservative website. Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic made a comment about Weigel not being a real reporter. That released the hounds.

Goldberg really has no room to talk about who a real reporter is as Glenn Greenwald noted:

Despite all of those war-cheerleading deceits — or, again, because of them — Goldberg continues to be held out by America’s most establishment outlets as a preeminent expert in the region. As Jonathan Schwarz documents, Goldberg is indeed very well-“trained” in the sense that establishment journalists mean that term: i.e., as an obedient dog who spouts establishment-serving falsehoods. That’s why Goldberg is worth examining: he’s so representative of the American media because the more discredited his journalism becomes, the more blatant propaganda he spews, the more he thrives in our media culture. That’s why it’s not hyperbole to observe that we are plagued by a Jeffrey Goldberg Media; he’s not an aberration but one of its most typical and illustrative members.
The Jeffrey Goldberg Media

Ian Welsh at Crooks and Liars writes:

This is exactly what is wrong with US journalism. The responsibility of reporters is not to be “impartial”, their responsibility is to tell the truth. Should reporters have been unmoved by the fact that that Bush was torturing people? Should that not bother them as people? Should they be unmoved by the fact that Obama is still torturing people? Should they be unmoved by the fact that Bush sold a war based on lies, and millions of people were displaced, killed and injured as a result?
Is that we want? Sociopaths who have no personal opinions?
The Court Eunuch Standard of Blogging Exposed by Dave Weigel’s Resignation

This was the same dust up after the Rolling Stone article brought down General McChrystal. the main discussion in the mainstream media was how the reporter “burned his bridges” by reporting how the General and his staff really felt. The story wasn’t about the reporter, the story was about McChrystal and his views and how that relates to the current war policy in Afghanistan. No one really gives a shit about how the story effected the reporter.

To paraphrase Sam Axe from the TV show “Burn Notice”: You know DC media… bunch of bitchy little girls.

The reporters and pundits trapped in the Beltway bubble of DC are too full of their self-importance and their need to protect their celebrity perks and that hurts America because they don’t do their actual jobs – reporting the truth.

December 2, 2009April 18, 2020

More on the incestuous nature of mainstream media

Many years ago there was a movie out called “They Live” Aliens had taken over the Earth and to keep the humans under control they used different means like camouflage and subliminal propaganda to mask their presence. The hero of the movie is given some special sun glasses that allows him to see the aliens and all the propaganda that wasn’t seen by the naked eye. He joins the resistance and fights the aliens. I tend to see the current mainstream media – the news programs on NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox networks as similar to the aliens and I wish I could give everyone sun glasses so they could see it too.

I have written many times about the incestuous relationship between the talking heads on news shows like Meet the Press, This Week, State of the Union, Fox Sunday, and the like. Regular “Joe the Plumber” conservatives cry about a liberal bias in the news yet these shows have no liberal bias. These shows tend to lean right or center right as the same people are on every week.

They are allowed to make any kind of statement they want – even if it is a lie – and the hosts or moderator don’t challenge them about it. Also, even though the programs claims to be discussion shows, little is discussed. The networks seem to think that all policy views are equal and have a pro and con side while at the same time stacking the deck in favor of the party currently out of power – the GOP.

Blogger driftglass had an excellent post about this:

because George W. Bush’s codpiece was an Invincible Christian Peace Shield that would keep us all safe from the scary brown foreigners forever.
We were right. About everything.
They were wrong — tragically, catastrophically, completely wrong. About everything.
And yet they still are on the Inside. Sleek and prosperous.
While we still fight for scraps on the Outside.
On “Meet the Press”
A rich guy and his wife talked about giving.
And Reverend Rick Warren said “I’ve spoken at Davos many times…”
And then I turned the channel.
On “This Week” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) used his one appearance on national teevee to cock-punch Senator Lindsey Graham (R-John McCain’s underwear drawer) during his 355th such appearance.
The Roundtable consisted of one liberal — Paul Krugman — and four members-in-good-standing of the Conservative/Beltway Insider Axis; Matthew Dowd, George Will, Cokie Roberts and Dan Senor, who, if you didn’t know (because they didn’t mention it) was, among other things, Deputy to Bush White House Spokesliar Scott McClellan
[Senor] currently draws a paycheck playing pundit for…wait for it…Fox News, and completed the Beltway Insider circle of life by marrying CNN on-air personality Campbell Brown in 2006.
Yesterday he was brought on camera to share his infinite wisdom on the subject of foreign policy, because who on Earth could possibly be more credible and qualified? Except maybe Dick Cheney’s daughter?
Sunday Morning Comin’ Down

That’s why I refuse to watch those news programs and yesterday when President Obama gave his Afghanistan speech I turned off the analysis programs that followed.

The best part of driftglasses post is the final bit that had some Fox talking heads complaining about the recently man and woman who crashed the state dinner:

Yes, that’s right: the degenerate sons of Mike Wallace and Irvin Kristol…
…sitting on the set of their fake news show…
…lavishly adorned with blonde Fox news bimbos…
…and collecting the paychecks for telling lies to stupid people…
Are pretending to be stunned that American culture has grown so sick that some fortune-seeking, second-generation, spoiled rich twat of a con artist…
…would use his contacts and blond arm-candy…
…to break the last, sacred seal — the rules of Beltway party-going…
…to get his own teevee show.
The horror.
The horror.

Yes indeed – the horror…

Beyond the basic who, what, where, when, and how of news journalism on your 6 and 11 PM newscast, you are being mislead and not getting the truth. Just stop watching those shows or listening to what passes as news analysis in this country.