Reporting which may not exactly make sense!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2020

Also, which may elect Trump:
For our money, the most important part of the news report appeared more than halfway through.

The report in question was the featured report in the National section of Thursday's New York Times. Bannered across the top of page A11, it consumed the bulk of the page.

At its start, the report discusses a new practice at one of the nation's "renowned" universities. But for our money, this later passage was the most important part of the lengthy report:
HARTOCOLLIS (2/20/20): “A lot of students who are transitioning, trying to figure this out—there’s a lot of depression, their suicide rate is high, there’s a lot of emotional turmoil attached to that,” she said. “The least we could do is make it an OK thing to be open about who you are.”

Recent research indicates that social affirmation, including the use of chosen names and proper pronouns, can help reduce the higher rates of depression and suicide for transgender and nonbinary young people, which stem in part from a lack of acceptance and frequent harassment.
No one should want young people consumed by depression. No one should want young people to be taking their own lives.

Beyond that, the world is a much better place when young people experience social affirmation. Also, older people, and people of various stripes.

In our view, these are the most important points in this report from a societal and human perspective. From a journalistic perspective, we were struck by several other features of this high-profile report.

From a journalistic perspective, we're often struck by reports which don't exactly seem to make sense right from the opening whistle. We're also struck by reporting which doesn't attempt to explain basic points the readership won't understand.

On occasion, we're also struck by various manifestations which may tend to keep Donald Trump where he is. It seems to us that this Times report checked off all three boxes.

That doesn't mean that this news report wasn't well-intentioned. But below, you see the way it began.

On the surface, does this make sense?
HARTOCOLLIS: For generations of future diplomats and cabinet officials educated at Harvard’s renowned John F. Kennedy School of Government, orientation day has come with a name placard that the students carry from class to class, so their professors can easily call on them.

When Diego Garcia Blum, 30, got his placard last fall, the first-year graduate student immediately took a Sharpie to it, writing “He/Him” next to the big block letters of his name. Other students did the same thing, writing “She/Her” and “They/Them.”

“Yup! Day 1,” Mr. Garcia Blum, recalled, adding, “That’s when I thought, the students are ahead of the school.”

But despite its reputation as a bastion of the establishment, the Kennedy School followed the students’ lead, agreeing to provide clear plastic stickers this semester with four pronoun options that students could apply to their name cards: “He/Him,” “She/Her,” “They/Them” and “Ze/Hir.”
As a general tendency, the Times likes to keep its readers apprised of events and practices at our most "renowned" schools. In this instance, we seem to be learning about stickers which can be applied to students' name cards "so their professors can easily call on them."

We're told that these stickers provide four different "pronoun options" that students can apply to the name cards they wear to class or in social interactions early in the year.

Just a guess! Already, we'll guess that many Times subscribers don't exactly understand what's being discussed. But even for those who may understand, let's return to the basic logic of the way this report begins:

How would third-person pronouns come into play when a professor calls on a student in class? Presumably, students are called on by name. Where do these pronouns come in?

Some will say that the answer is obvious, or that the question we've asked is hopelessly beside the point. We'll suggest that the answer to our question isn't obvious—and since we're discussing life and death issues, it seems to us that editors might want their logic to be a bit more clear right from the start.

That opening logic strikes us as opaque, and we think that a larger problem lurks there. Beyond that, though, we were struck, all through this report, by the assumption that readers understand what is being discussed, when we'll assure you that they generally don't.

The American people are pretty sharp! Public figures all know that should say that. Times subscribers are even smarter, according to tribal lore!

That said, let's recall the four stickers in question. They were described as shown:
The Kennedy School agreed to provide plastic stickers with four pronoun options that students could apply to their name cards: “He/Him,” “She/Her,” “They/Them” and “Ze/Hir.”
Question: How many Times subscribers could explain the meaning of "Ze/Hir?" We'll guess that the number is quite small. But those pronouns go unexplained in the lengthy text.

In the classic way of elite upper classes, it seems to be fairly clear that you're just supposed to know what those pronouns mean. If you don't understand what those pronouns mean, you're supposed to just play along.

What the heck do Ze and Hir mean? If readers don't know, that's too bad! But in fact, it seemed to us that basic points go unexplained all through this report. Consider this later passage:
HARTOCOLLIS: Amy Hillier, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice, said her university did not have a standard gender pronoun protocol. But it is becoming more common for students and professors to put personal pronouns on email signatures and name tags, she said.

Despite those efforts, Loran Grishow-Schade, a 33-year-old graduate student in social work at Penn, said that when “X” appears on official documents as their gender, many professors can be bewildered. So Mx. Grishow-Schade has found that it is generally a good idea to meet with instructors and explain that they are agender.
In this passage, the Times drops in on another elite university. That said, we'll take a quick guess:

Professors at Penn may not be the only ones who are "bewildered" by the honorific "Mx.", or by the use of "X" to designate someone's gender.

Beyond that, we'll guess that many Times subscribers can't explain what it means to be "transgender and nonbinary," as is one student in this report. Or perhaps to be "agender" or "nonbinary" at all.

That said, the Times report just steamrolls ahead. Wouldn't it perhaps be better to take the time to explain?

In our view, this report stands out for its failure to explain basic points its readership almost surely won't understand. It also stands out for the way it lingers at Harvard and Penn, and at Sarah Lawrence and Evergreen—in other words, for the way it brings the eternal note of capital v. provinces in.

Human history spills with the recurrent division of the capital versus the provinces. Our deeply dangerous current political division follows this ancient pattern.

Last night, we watched as Chris Cuomo urged Democrats to understand the way Trump voters see the world. We humans aren't inclined to function that way. This tends to produce major problems.

In our view, the most important part of this Times report involves the possibility of reducing human suffering—the possibility of reducing depression and death at one's own hand.

We shouldn't want young people to feel depressed or to feel disregarded. Then too, "social affirmation" will ideally be extended to those in the provinces too.

This Times report was full of material its readership won't understand. Reflexively, the Times blew past this problem.

Do you know what "Ze/Hir" means? Do you know what it means to be both transgender and nonbinary?

Do you know what Mx. means? What it means to list X as a gender? The chances are fairly good that you don't. When elites behave as if the rubes are just supposed to know, they tend to trigger the deluge. Trump skates behind such divisions.

We were left with one last question as we read this Trump-helpful piece. How many students at the Kennedy School choose pronouns other than the traditional pairs? How many "Ze/Hirs" attend the Kennedy School? What's it like everywhere else?

Inquiring minds might like to know the lay of the land in this emerging world. Also, in the parts of the world to which Cuomo referred last night.

We'll close with one last point. To many people all over the country, this might not seem to make sense:
HARTOCOLLIS: Three years ago, Ruth Hayes, who teaches animation at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., adopted a script to introduce herself in class: “My name is Ruth Hayes. I use she/her pronouns. I teach animation.” Her L.G.B.T.Q. colleagues had been following the formula for a while. But it knocked her off balance at first, she said—and she found that disturbing, because she had always been the radical in her family.

“It’s kind of funny to be in that position where you’re the stick in the mud or the old-fashioned person,” said Ms. Hayes, 64. But she recognizes how important it is psychologically to get it right, because “gender is so close to our core.”
Gender is quite close to our core, and so respect should be paid. On the other hand, does that "script" really seem to make sense?

Does Professor Hayes "use she/her pronouns?" Yes, but in the most obvious sense, so does everyone else! At one time, teachers would settle the question in play here by writing "Ms. Hayes" on the board.

Our tribe often seems to go out of its way to adopt the arcane kinds of private language which exist, on a secret level, as a way of establishing Tribe.

Unfortunately, Tribe tends to drive Others away. And uh-oh! All across this vast continental nation, the Others are able to vote!

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  2. Poor liberal zombies.

    Them liberals had no brains to speak of in the first place, but your zombie cult made it so much worse, dear Bob. So much worse. So sad.

    Btw, if you go there, you'll be "Bob Somerby We/Us", right?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Trump was elected because he was addressing problems that the Democrats had ignored or had no solutions for. Why aren’t disappointed Democrats focusing their fury on our own party?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wrong pronoun. Don't you mean "their" party?

      Delete
  4. "Our tribe often seems to go out of its way to adopt the arcane kinds of private language which exist, on a secret level, as a way of establishing Tribe."

    This presumes that all gender and sex-based minorities are Democrats or liberals. They aren't. There is no necessary connection between politics and any aspect of sex or gender.

    Somerby considers pronoun usage "secret" because he presumably hasn't encountered it himself or through a loved one. It isn't secret to people whose lives are more diverse. And then he assigns all the diverse people to the liberal "tribe" without considering how they might want to vote. That strikes me as too ignorant to be liberal. Is it OK with the tribe if I assign him to "The Other" where all ignorant people are supposed to go (according to Somerby)?

    ReplyDelete
  5. When the NY Times runs an article on Palestinians, does it go back and explain who and what the Palestinian people are, how they got into their present situation, show a map of where they live, define all terms and explain all the names used? No, it doesn't do that. Maybe it would be helpful, but the NY Times (like any publication) assumes that people can and will use Google or some similar search engine to find answers to their questions, assuming they are curious or wish to be further informed.

    It is no different when it comes to the use of pronouns by people whose gender or sexual orientation or sexual identi is different from the norm. The NY Times is under no obligation to go back and tell us all about Stonewall and explain what LGBTQ means or any other terms. This particular article was about the use of nametags to describe pronouns on a campus. That subject was limited and there is no need to educate anyone beyond that.

    Somerby is of course focusing on sex, but the article could also have explained what a college campus is, briefly given the history of that particular school, explain the discipline being taught and given us some background on why students are called on by teachers (not a widespread practice because students don't typically like it). There are lots of "secrets" that someone who hasn't attended higher ed might not know about. But Somerby is only interested in sex, cause that's the kind of guy he is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Kneejerk Troll is back! TDH says up; the troll says down.

      Modern Palestinian history is a century old; the stories of trans and non-binary people haven't had much exposure. The NYT isn't under any obligation to inform its readers, but that's still their job.

      TDH isn't focusing on sex because the issue isn't about sexual activity. It's about sexual orientation and gender identity.

      Begone troll!

      Delete
    2. Non-conforming people have been around since the beginning of humanity. There is a history of how different societies have responded. Stonewall was in 1969 (50 years ago). Trans and non-binary people have been around forever but social inclusion has not.

      The article is about social inclusion. Only Somerby wants to shift the topic by insisting that the NYT must explain what non-binary means. He says that "non-binary" is a liberal word whose meaning is opaque to The Other, lumping all non-binary people into the left.

      I could argue that Somerby is trying to make Democrats the party of all of the "deviants" that "deplorables" love to hate. He never acknowledges that non-binary is apolitical. I wouldn't even argue that tolerance is political, given Lynn Cheney's acceptance by her family and the existence of Log Cabin Republicans. Somerby is being an ass.

      I am making actual arguments here, dealing with Somerby's content. What are you doing?

      Delete
    3. The Palestinians are centuries old.

      Gender preference is what, about six months? It's all so stupid anyway. There are two genders.

      Delete
    4. Gender preference has existed since there have been humans on the earth.

      The Palestinians are centuries old, although there have been people living in that region of our planet and conflicts there for much longer.

      Delete
    5. In England in the 1800's, it was a crime to dress in the other gender's clothing. It was also a crime to dress like a social class you didn't belong to. And it was a crime to dress like a foreigner (if you were not one).

      Having a law against a certain behavior implies that such behavior did happen. Notice also the attempt to keep people in their places, socially. What do you suppose gender has to do with social control?

      Delete
    6. The Palestinians are centuries old.

      The name Palestine is centuries old, being a transliteration of the Latin name of a Roman province, which Latin is itself a transliteration from ancient Greek. Etymologists can trace the name to its Hebrew origins. But the area carrying the name varied over the centuries, and the people living in the area didn’t call themselves Palestinians.

      The idea that today’s Palestinians have a centuries-long historical tradition as members of an ethnic nation-state attached to a well-defined territory is anachronistic ignorance. It’s as absurd as calling the Israelites of the kingdom of the Biblical King David Israelis.

      The modern history of the Palestinians goes back to the Palestinian Mandate given to the British by the League of Nations. The Mandate included what is today Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. The British attempted to identify those who lived in the Mandate as Palestinians. In one of the more ironic (which is to say, bitter) historical details, the Arabs of the area objected to the label “Palestinian” in their British-issued identification papers because they didn’t want to share a designation with Jews.

      Delete
  6. I know someone who is Trans who doesn't give a damn about pronouns. I have taken him at his own self-identification as long as I have known him -- about 45 years now. He comes from Wyoming and couldn't have had an easy youth. Is it a crime to want to make things easier for the kids coming up? Somerby doesn't think so, but why then is he writing an essay that opposes acceptance for kids? How hard will it be for them to gain acceptance if they are not only labeled by their biology but also by their political party? Has everyone forgotten Matthew Shepard?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How can you read

      No one should want young people consumed by depression. No one should want young people to be taking their own lives.

      Beyond that, the world is a much better place when young people experience social affirmation.


      and conclude that TDH "opposes acceptance for kids"?

      I used to think it was because you couldn't read for comprehension. Now I think you're just the Kneejerk Troll.

      Begone troll!

      Delete
    2. Somerby always states an overall vague sentiment like this before he goes on to state the opposite. It doesn't fool anyone. He spends the bulk of his essay contradicting the platitude that he first expressed.

      People here besides me have noted this attempt to deflect criticism. If Somerby truly believes that young people should receive social affirmation, why would he write an essay against it?

      Delete
    3. Go ahead and make your case that the blog entry supports the idea that young people should not receive social affirmation. You'll need to quote passages from the entry.

      Spoiler alert: you won't be able to because the blog entry is about a communications failure of the NYT and not about "young people" at all.

      "People here": you mean the clueless like you? Or possibly you mean trolls like you?

      Try to make your case with actual quotes. Do that or

      Begone troll!

      Delete
    4. Matthew Shepherd wasn't trans.

      Delete
    5. Somerby implies that the pronoun issue is another example of liberal PC gone berserk that people in middle America (the real Americans) won't understand because it is a made up thing that has no value except to show liberals who is liberal and let them do more virtue signaling. He is dismissing the importance of this to the people involved, by making it a liberal issues instead of an issue of social acceptance that applies to everyone.

      It is what conservatives do too.

      Matthew Shepard was a kid who received no social acceptance to the point that he was killed for being different. We need to remember where the lack of social acceptance leads.

      I find Somerby so offensive that I cannot understand how you, deadrat, can find the nerve to defend him.

      This isn't an intellectual issue for many people. Treating this like a game played with trolls makes you one cold hearted SOB.

      Delete
    6. Let’s start with this:

      Treating this like a game played with trolls makes you one cold hearted SOB.

      First of all this is a game played by trolls, and I suspect that you’re one of them. Secondly, as for the condition of my metaphorical heart, you have no idea how right you are. I’m the oldest whore on the block with a heart containing the least gold and the most cold. Even guiltier than as charged.

      But what I think about gender issues in general and pronoun usage in particular isn’t relevant to the discussion at hand. If you want to know what I think about these things, ask and I’ll tell you. I can’t imagine you or anyone else would find much in the telling to interest them.

      Here’s the point of the blog entry (and I quote):

      We're also struck by reporting which doesn't attempt to explain basic points the readership won't understand.

      Here’s the conclusion reached by the blogger (and I quote):

      Our tribe often seems to go out of its way to adopt the arcane kinds of private language which exist, on a secret level, as a way of establishing Tribe. Unfortunately, Tribe tends to drive Others away.

      For the record, I think TDH’s thesis absurd that the bungled journalism of the NYT is an exercise in establishing a private code that sends inclusive signals to the elites and a dismissive, exclusionary message to outsiders. Absurd with a touch of paranoia.

      So let’s examine what you consider the point of the blog entry:

      [T]he pronoun issue is … liberal PC gone berserk….

      [TDH] … is dismissing the importance of [gender issues] to the people involved….

      and finally

      I find Somerby so offensive that I cannot understand how you, deadrat, can find the nerve to defend him.

      But your first two claims simply cannot be reconciled with what TDH actually writes:

      In our view, the most important part of this Times report involves the possibility of reducing human suffering—the possibility of reducing depression and death at one's own hand. We shouldn't want young people to feel depressed or to feel disregarded.

      In other words, far from dismissing the importance of gender issues, TDH takes the NYT to task for failing adequately explain those issues. No wonder you can’t meet my challenge to back up your claims with quotes from TDH.

      Your last conclusion surprises me not in the least. You are so determined to take offense that you have to maintain that TDH holds positions that are opposite to those he claims.

      Either that or you’re simply a troll.

      Delete
  7. What Somerby isn't telling us is that there was this same kind of opposition to use of Ms. when that was proposed by feminists back in the 70s. All the same bogus arguments. And now it doesn't seem to matter to anyone.

    There are men (especially in the South), who make it a point of calling women "sir" even when it is obvious by their self-presentation (feminine attire, makeup etc) that they are identifying as female. This is happening in contexts that have nothing to do with politics.

    Maybe someone can explain to me why they are behaving this way. It strikes me as rude, gratuitous and inappropriate. Maybe the nametags are a way of circumventing this "movement" or political gesture that some men have been aggressively pursuing.

    Or maybe some men just get off on insulting people, as an act of hostility or some misguided MRA activism. There are certainly lots of ways to be insulted when you are female, why not another one?

    Somerby perhaps has never encountered this, which suggests that he doesn't go around dressing in women's clothing and hasn't spent his life as the butt of other people's hostility. Maybe that is the secret he wants "in" on. If so, all he has to do is change his appearance a little. He'll find out what it is like to be mis-gendered.

    Or, just change your "nym" online to Mary or Alice. It will make you a lightning rod for the all the crap that angry people dish out when they feel threatened by others who are different (or who hold different opinions, @2:01 pm).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "There are men (especially in the South), who make it a point of calling women "sir" even when it is obvious by their self-presentation"

      Not really. That's just a myth perpetrated by spoiled, young, dumb dykes in sociology programs.

      Delete
    2. Now, 7:36 seems like a troll, but it is a guarantee that deadrat won’t respond to this one. He seems to respond only to the “trolls” who trouble him with criticism of Somerby. In fact, it is only the critics of Somerby who get a response from him, which seems to suggest that they aren’t really trolls, like 7:36 clearly is.

      Delete
    3. "There are men (especially in the South), who make it a point of calling women "sir" even when it is obvious by their self-presentation"

      What is your source for this claim?

      Delete
    4. I have experienced it myself several times, most recently in Gatlinburg, TN, but also in Memphis and in San Diego. I am female, with chin length hair, and I do not dress like a man. The last time it happened, I asked the man to repeat what he said to me, and he said "sir" again, so I am certain it was deliberate.

      I also witnessed this happen to a friend of mine in Long Beach, CA. The man made a point of referring to my friend (a woman) using male pronouns.

      Delete
    5. Are you a tranny?

      Delete
    6. So you think there is a movement of men (especially in the South), who call ordinary women sir just to get off on insulting people, or to be hostile? Why would they do that though? Men want to fuck women. They want to charm them and feel their glorious otherworldly femininity and maybe fuck them. Why would they call them sir or insult them? It doesn't make any sense. Were you acting like a dumb bitch like you do here? Then it would make some kind of sense but I would just call you a dumb bitch to your face instead of beating around the "bush". Everyone hates you. It's too bad you were born. I'm sorry you are treated so poorly everywhere you go but it does make sense that you are with your constant spouting of bland feminist groupthink and paranoid and ponderous snowflake grievances. Stop being such a drag.

      Delete
    7. Why would they do that though? That was my question.

      Delete
    8. Next time ask them dumbass.

      Delete
  8. Nobody is excluding conservatives or non-liberals by using alternative pronouns for themselves and asking that others do so. It just seems odd that the consequence of asking people to do this is to alienate “others”.

    I have found that people who object to alternative pronouns seem to object to the fact that the person is transgender in the first place. Why they think it is horrible that people want to use alternative pronouns just escapes me. The “others” seem to be saying that they can’t or won’t be bothered to respect a disapproved person’s wishes about pronouns.

    It’s the same impulse that, when confronted with Black Lives Matter, replies scornfully “why don’t White lives matter?”

    Transgender people occupy the same space in conservatives’ heads that gay people did, or still do.

    Somerby stresses that his objection is “journalistic”, but people’s objections to alternate pronouns aren’t tied to the reporting about them. No “other” is going to give a crap what any of it means.

    Now, is Somerby right, that people do react this way, and it “causes” them to vote for Trump? Well, duh. They also didn’t like civil rights, and that caused them to switch to the Republicans, but that doesn’t mean the Democrats were wrong to champion civil rights.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sorry folks. Mother nature picks your gender, you don't. If you don't like your birth gender, then get professional help to accept it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Does She also pick your sexual orientation?

      Delete
    2. Then who picks the sticker on your nametag?

      Delete
  10. deadrat can’t help him/her/itself. He/she/it doesn’t respond to trolls, he/she/it said yesterday.

    That lasted all of 24 hours.

    Next, he/she/it will complain about commenters being anonymous...after replying to them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's definitely a stupid dick.

      Delete
    2. You may use male pronouns for ease of reference.

      I respond to some trolls, mostly to call out their trollishness. My choice. I don't respond to trolls like Mao or commenters like 7:39P because they're uselessness is obvious.

      I counter the rudeness of Anonymous commenters using a common nym by simply considering them one person. That you figure that my response to him/her/it is related to that rudeness is your problem to reconcile, not mine.

      Delete
  11. Anon 6:58 said:
    “Somerby is trying to make Democrats the party of all of the "deviants" that "deplorables" love to hate.”

    In fact, Somerby has already defined liberals this way, all the way back in 2014:
    “We liberals are the problem now too! We’re lazy and we aren’t very smart. We exude a moral squalor.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Democrats ARE the party that "deplorables" love to hate. Why would they not? They are deplorable and Democrats are not so it's good.

      Delete
    2. Today Somerby defends the ignorance of those who read the NY Times but don't understand it. He claims they don't know what a pronoun is.

      It is certainly everyone's right to be and remain as stupid as dirt, if they want to. No one disputes that. But the idea that the NY Times should be remedial education for obstinately ignorant readers is ridiculous. Such people only get mad if you try to explain things to then.

      Somerby never explains what such people are doing reading the NY Times in the first place. That is the kind of odd illogic that he used to point out but now demonstrates only by example.

      Delete

    3. Somerby never explains what such people are doing reading the NY Times in the first place. That is the kind of odd illogic that he used to point out but now demonstrates only by example.”

      I don’t think it’s odd logic at all, and I think the notion that these terms are fairly commonplace is not an argument, it’s a pretense.

      We’ve gone from two genders to having..202 variations of gender identity terms often strung together.

      Most people do need an explanation every time they read them and will for awhile. These terms are not intuitive to say the least.

      Delete
  12. What is this threat that Somerby keeps making about The Others votes? They lost the popular vote to Hillary in 2016 by 3+ million. Without Russian interference, The Others would not have come anywhere close to the presidency. They lost the House in 2018.

    Somerby talked about what a horrible candidate Hillary was, but he hasn't said a single word about the help Bernie got in 2016. Nor has Bernie said anything about the help he has been getting from Russia, despite being briefed a month ago.

    The biggest threat to Democrats isn't from The Others. It is the disunity that Bernie created in 2016, and the attempts of the bros to stir things up this time, by viciously attacking other Democrats, and attacking the party itself, all intended to weaken Democratic unity and make way for Trump (who they are helping in other ways too).

    Meanwhile, Somerby does his bit. Today he portrays Democrats as the party of weird pronouns, pretending that The Other will be put off, when he is perhaps hoping that his focus on gender will lessen turnout among Democratic leaning Catholics and immigrants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here's what TDH actually says:

      In the classic way of elite upper classes, it seems to be fairly clear that you're just supposed to know what those pronouns mean. If you don't understand what those pronouns mean, you're supposed to just play along.

      It's not that Democrats are the party of weird pronouns, it's that media outlets like the NYT fail to properly explain things leaving the impression that they're in the know about some big secret, excluding others who don't know about the topic.

      This isn't a focus on gender, but on the failure of the NYT to inform its readers about gender.

      Catholics and immigrants? Are you serious?

      Delete
    2. One story that Somerby decides to pick out and deride from the Times doesn’t represent the sum total of their coverage of gender.

      And given how Somerby’s main objection is to “identity politics”, why would you think it would matter to him how the issue was covered in the Times? The “others” who object to this don’t object because of lack of explanations in New York Times stories; they object to the public presence of transgender people and the use of alternate pronouns. Period.

      Delete
    3. If you keep making sense, @11:28A, your claque is going to stop you from using that Anonymous nym.

      Delete
  13. Back to Maddow and Somerby’s weird obsession with her:

    Recently, Chris Matthews has launched vociferous attacks on Bernie Sanders. Rachel...has done no such thing, and never will.

    Where is Somerby’s attack on Matthews?

    ReplyDelete
  14. “Reporting which may not exactly make sense!

    Also, which may elect Trump:”

    Can anyone seriously think of a way in which a story about transgender people and the use of alternate pronouns *wouldn’t* possibly help elect Trump?

    It’s ludicrous to think that it’s really the way this particular story handled its subject matter would make any difference to Trump voters, or even potential Trump voters.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Here is the kind of analysis of the media that Somerby should be writing:

    https://digbysblog.net/2020/02/the-news-media-isnt-up-to-the-task-dont-expect-it-of-them/

    ReplyDelete
  16. "The independent senator [Sanders] added, "I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections."

    Unfortunately, when asked contemporaneously about Russian funding of his campaign in 2016, Sanders said "who cares?"

    This Russian support is nothing new. Sanders did nothing to root out Russian cash contributions in the 2016 primary and nothing to deal with Russian bots supporting his candidacy and encouraging the bros. Now he sounds good, but what did he say or do back when it really mattered? Nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. If Bernie knew about Russian support and said nothing for a month, as it appears he did, then he has been acting as a Russian agent:

    https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2020/02/further-proof-that-bernie-sanders-is.html

    ReplyDelete
  18. Whoa. You dembots praise Bernard "Bernie" Sanders so much, we'are beginning to doubt he's a phony.

    ReplyDelete
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