Day: 6/24/2009

Barney Frank Falling Into Bill O’Reilly’s Trap

Posted by on June 24, 2009 at 1:48 pm. 3 Comments :

Will these people never learn?

So soon after Joan Walsh’s education about the purposeful abuse that is doled out to guests of Bill O’Reilly, Barney Frank is now scheduled to appear later today.

What could he possibly hope to achieve? There is simply no point to submitting oneself to a dishonest and sensationalistic pundit with psychotic tendencies.

You can’t win if your opponent is intent on humiliating you, and he has complete control of the environment – the audio, the visual, the editing, and any access to supporting material that he can display for the audience, but you can’t see or respond to in kind.

You can’t win if your opponent is unethical, and has no misgivings about lying or raising tangential issues with the goal of catching you off-guard and making you appear foolish.

You can’t win if your opponent’s strategy is to yell louder than you, and to goad you into a shouting match that makes you look insane, but doesn’t impact him negatively because it is just a part of his persona that his audience loves, and upon which he trades.

The only thing that can explain why people like Frank would lend O’Reilly their credibility is that they have egos so large that they believe that they can overcome a fixed fight and come out on top. They can’t! It has nothing to do with their ability or intelligence. It’s just an unfair forum.

What’s more, they are only validating O’Reilly and Fox News and, like lambs to slaughter, they permit him to boast about another victory which he will hype for weeks. He is still cashing in on Frank’s last embarrassing performance.

After her ill-advised appearance, Joan Walsh wrote that she, “was sandbagged, but that’s the O’Reilly game plan.” It is about time that these people recognize that there is nothing to gain by accommodating O’Reilly and Fox News. Even in the unlikely event that you achieve some relative success, you still come away empty handed because the audience couldn’t care less about you or your positions.

Stop it already. Now I’m going to have to follow this up tomorrow with a column about how miserable Frank was made to look. Would you people just Stay the HELL off of Fox News!

[Followup] As I expected, the interview was a complete waste of time. While it didn’t devolve into a verbal mosh pit as the last episode did, it was nonetheless pointless because O’Reilly’s audience isn’t going to be persuaded by anything that Frank says.

One notable exchange occurred wherein O’Reilly revealed the true nature of his programming philosophy:

Frank: Can we have a rational discussion without interruptions?
O’Reilly: No, no, there’s always going to be interruptions. You’ve seen the program.
Frank: No. I don’t accept that. I don’t accept that. This is more complicated than your yelling would make it look like.

At least O’Reilly is honest about his blatant trivialization and sensationalism of the issues he pretends to discuss. Frank seems to be aware of O’Reilly’s strategy, but still subjects himself to it. That is collaboration, as far as I’m concerned. It only helps O’Reilly and the effort to dumb down public discourse.

The Fox Frame: Gov. Sanford Not At A Tea Party

Posted by on June 24, 2009 at 12:48 pm. 2 Comments :

The mysterious disappearance of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has now been resolved. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Sanford was not hiking the Appalachian Trail. The truth is he was trailing his Republican colleague, Sen. John Ensign, down the path of infidelity.

Fox News, however, has stayed faithful to their deceptive mission by identifying Sanford as a Democrat in their on-screen graphics (h/t Media Matters). At what point can we agree that this is deliberate? Fox seems to have a tough time delineating between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. And, remember, Sanford was also a big advocate of last April’s Tea Parties. His backing won him the admiration of Teabagger Supreme, Glenn Beck. Beck came to Sanford’s defense yesterday, asserting that the hoopla over his disappearance was just a partisan attack:

GLENN: I mean, this is what happens when ‑‑ I mean, look. This guy’s a threat. He’s standing up. What do they do? Let’s smear him.

I wonder what Beck will say today. [Beck must be off hiking today]

Proof That Media Matters Is Working

Posted by on June 24, 2009 at 10:33 am. 9 Comments :

For an organization that does nothing more than document the words and images disseminated by the press, Media Matters has accumulated some of the most odious critics and criticisms. And they wear it as a badge of honor, and an affirmation of their efforts to expose the dishonesty of the right-wing media.

Who would have thought that just playing back their own words would push these conservative ranters so far over the edge? Despite their complaints, Media Matters is meticulous about providing the full context of the comments featured on the web site.

If the characters featured in the video below object so much to their remarks being recorded and replayed, maybe they shouldn’t say such stupid and repulsive things. As professional communicators, they can hardly argue that they were taken advantage of.

The problem they face is that, prior to Media Matters, they had the luxury of being able to lie, insult, and threaten, their perceived enemies without consequence. Now they are confronted with their own bestial behavior, and they don’t like it much. All that is left for them is to viciously, and without foundation, attack the folks who are merely keeping the records.

Watch and cringe – and donate to help them continue this important work.

[Update:] Media Matters is now reporting that Michael Savage has threatened to retaliate against them by posting personal information, including photos and addresses, and urging his listeners to ….. well, he doesn’t say exactly what.