Sun, 04/12/2009 - 2:13pm — lambert
[Hey, if working for Fred Thompson isn't the same as being a winger, my bad!]
... but here, a winger makes a case for the technology. Fresh from success with Fred Thompson!
Snark aside, though, I think the left ignores any new medium at its peril -- especially one that could be used to organize flash mobs, eh? Which is why my post headlines turn into tweets. There's a stupid technical issue here that I have to fix to make the settings available to everyone, but if anyone wants me to set them up, contract me with a private message (see sidebar at left under "Post other content").
NOTE On the whole "teabag" thing -- can't somebody tell one of 'em about Urban Dictionary? What do I tell Grandma?
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Somerby has heard enough of the teabag joshing
A really funny post: http://dailyhowler.com/dh041009.shtml
Some things are so stupid...
... you just have to work them for all they are worth. On the other hand, Maddow and company are, for some reason, paid a great deal of money for snark that most anybody could do just as well. So it seems a strange use of their bullu pulpit.
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Maddow
I didn't happen to find Maddows' and Cox's buffoonery particularly egregious by cable "news" standards, but, then again, Somerby is obviously far more solemn and serious than I am. To me, the taking one's self far too seriously (read: Olbermann), pisses me off far more than Maddow's immaturity.
I don't watch either, though.
But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...
Somerby has built quite a dossier on how
trivial and oft-misleading Maddow's show is.
He occasionally praises her, when there's a nugget of legitimate news or analysis.
But mostly her show is lame snark and comfort-food pseudo-truth to make liberals feel self-satisfied.
His main gripe: waste of the access/outlet
And it's hard to not see where he is coming from. Somerby's problem is that he hasn't given up on television as a medium to actually educate people, as everybody else on the "left" already has. This actually dovetails with Lambert's post. The right never gives up on and seeks to exploit EVERY medium. The "left" still can't even decide if they want to be left, or be apologists for a politician that oftentimes is screwing them.
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I'm not such a bad guy once you get to know me.
What's wasteful about it?
She's not talking about the banks or the bailouts, right? So from whose perspective is it a "waste"? Looked at properly, I think you'll see it's a very wise investment!
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
It's funny I was thinking the same example
Imagine what a better world it would be if Maddow had Elizabeth Warren on discussing how we are getting fucked in the drivethrough instead of that time she spent with Ana Marie Cox and "tea-bagging"?
HA, HA, HA! Joke! As if! Silly Somerby! Why are you so "serious"! Lighten up already!
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I'm not such a bad guy once you get to know me.
Deciding to be left
But, wasn't the choice of Olbermann, Maddow, and know Ed Schultz MSNBC's very clear answer to the question of whether they wanted to be "left" or not? I'm not sure if its not being sure about what they want to be, rather that what they want to be really isn't liberal rather trying to one-up the loudness of the conservatives. It's reactionary, but it's a very clear choice to be reactionary.
But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...
And then there are the funders
who are the usual suspects.
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi