MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021
The dumbness of the tribe: CNN's Brian Stelter is a Baltimore area / Towson State guy. In our own past, we have a major Towson State tie.
(Today, it's known as Towson University.)
Brian Stelter seems like the nicest guy in the world. That said, we just watched the bulk of yesterday's Reliable Sources program on CNN. It was one of the dumbest hours you'll ever see on your TV machine when you aren't watching Fox.
The program featured long, virtually incoherent interviews with Professor Jay Rosen and with Russia specialist Julia Ioffe. Most remarkably, Stelter even played Rachel Maddow's astonishing "Vlad the Great" card!
In fairness, it was the briefest of plays. Sadly, it went like this:
STELTER (12/12/21): You know, I mentioned earlier, Chris Wallace has been, you know, increasingly a man on an island at a network that has become more and more radical. I guess we will find out from him if that's why he decided to leave.
But it is so striking to see how figures like Tucker Carlson and others on Fox are rootin' for Putin.
This week, Newsmax ran a cover story titled "Vlad The Great." And Tucker seemed to be justifying a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. Shows across Fox, OAN, and Newsmax keep serving up anti-Biden, pro-Putin messages on the regular...
It went on from there. And yes, he actually said it—he actually said, rhymin' Simon style, that the various individuals and orgs he named have been "rootin' for Putin."
That said, also this:
Just as Rachel did last week, Stelter showed the Newsmax magazine cover with the eye-catching teaser, "Vlad the Great." Just like Rachel, he didn't quote a single world of what the actual cover report actually says.
As you may know, Newsmax is one of the louder and nuttier of the major far-right "news orgs." But are they really "rootin' for Putin" in their "Vlad the Great" cover report?
Newsmax magazine requires a paid subscription. But you can go to the Newsmax web site, as we did, to see their own account of that cover report. Here's the copy you will find, under a double headline:
Putin’s War on The West
The Russian leader exploits every opportunity to weaken the U.S. and its allies.
He’s evil, he’s cunning, and he’s the most powerful man in the world.
And now, the December issue of Newsmax Magazine takes you into the secretive, sordid, and sometimes frightening world of the man who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants — Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In our explosive cover story, “Vlad the Great: Putin’s War on the West,” investigative reporter and bestselling author Kenneth R. Timmerman explores Putin’s beginnings and his goal of exploiting every opportunity to weaken the United States and its allies.
From his days as a cutthroat KGB spy stationed in East Germany to his power-hungry ascension to the presidency of Russia, Putin has given the U.S. and the world unending headaches with his nonstop amassing of nuclear weapons, incessant saber-rattling, and deadly espionage plots.
The iron-fisted tyrant kills his enemies without remorse, invades surrounding regions such as Crimea and Georgia, and works 24/7 to shut down America via sophisticated cyberattacks.
In addition, Putin has had an ongoing flirtation with China and Iran to form an axis to destroy the free world. “Putin has managed to expand Russia’s sphere of influence dramatically, while insulating the Russian economy from any serious impact from U.S. and international sanctions,” Timmerman writes.
In addition, Newsmax exposes Putin’s private life—from his secret girlfriend to his love children, to his favorite books and pop group. And you’ll learn why, incredibly, he has become a sex symbol in Japan!
Newsmax Magazine brings you Vladimir Putin as you’ve never seen him before—and it will change the way you look at one of the world’s most feared superpowers.
You can’t afford to miss “Vlad the Great: Putin’s War on the West”—only in Newsmax Magazine. (Page 54)
Tell the truth! Does it sound like Newsmax is using its Vlad the Great cover report as a way of—pause for entertainment—"rootin' for Putin?"
It doesn't sound that way to us! But first, the ridiculous Maddow said it. Then, CNN's media reporter decided to follow suit!
Our deeply self-impressed liberal tribe is, in fact, remarkably dumb and increasingly propagandistic. The problem starts with a certain self-adoring cable Rhodes Scholar. It goes all the way down from there.
Go ahead—click that link! Is the site really "rootin' for Putin?" Because that's what CNN said!
Whoa, this Newsmax magazine of yours, dear Bob, publishes quite contemptible drivel.
ReplyDeleteBut hey, not hateful enough, of course, for the High Priests of your liberal-hitlerian cult, at CNN.
Gosh, what a comedy. Thanks for the laughs, dear Bob, and for documenting this tiny-little bit of the liberal-hitlerian atrocities.
Many liberals form their ideas of what conservatives say by repeating what other liberals say about them/ This has long been the case.
ReplyDeleteNo one with a half a brain in their head would ever listen to a conservative.
DeleteOther than the bigotry, it's all bad faith arguments.
Even if you disagree with conservatives, listening to what conservative say is the most accurate way of determining what conservatives say.
DeleteI can't think of a greater waste of time.
DeleteI used to listen a lot to rightwing radio while commuting. You need to pick a different adjective, David. "Conservative" ain't it.
DeleteLiberals are comically ignorant about Putin and Russia. About a lot of things really. Yet they think they're the world's smartest group of people.
ReplyDeleteThis statement applies to you more than to liberals.
DeleteThe comical thing about the Newsmax-Putin canard is that Maddow, on Dec. 8th, was echoing a spot that Brian Williams had done on the same Newsmax piece on his Dec 7th show.
ReplyDeleteAs fond as the media is of the “too good not to be true” standard of journalistic verification, you’d think that Brian Williams being the source of such analysis would have been red flag enough to have made Rachel more cautious.
I don't think she cares about being cautious at all. They are all phoning it in over there. She was sued for making obviously false claims and she won the case. The judge ruled that no one can take anything she says seriously. She's a transparent charlatan propagandist once you take the blinders off.
Delete"Reaffirming the decision by a San Diego-based U.S. District Court last year to toss out the conservative outlet’s $10 million defamation lawsuit against Maddow and MSNBC, a trio of appeal court judges has advised the Robert Herring Sr.-founded OAN to chill the hell out.
Delete“Turning to the merits, the panel held that Maddow’s statement was well within the bounds of what qualified as protected speech under the First Amendment,” said the summary of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit’s opinion on Tuesday of Maddow’s July 2019 quip that OAN was “the most obsequiously pro-Trump right-wing news outlet in America really literally is paid Russian propaganda.”
The judge ruled that even though she had used the word literally, it occurred in a context that was joking around and thus was obviously not intended to be taken literally. The judge told OAN to lighten up.
Good advice for trolls too.
The Court ruled that Maddow's audience is used to her making subjective exaggerations. The court essentially confirmed that she could care less about being accurate. People should lighten up when Maddow makes false accusations against them on national tv. She's only joking! The cornerstone excuse of the gaslighting narcissist, I was only joking!
DeleteI just showed you what the court ruled and you repeat your garbage.
DeleteWith what do you disagree, madame?
Delete"Chill out", "I was just joking"
DeletePhrases of a narcissistic gaslighter 101
“Does it sound like Newsmax is using its Vlad the Great cover report as a way of—pause for entertainment—"rootin' for Putin?"”
ReplyDeleteStill haven’t read the article, eh, Bob?
And still no transcript of what Maddow actually said, eh, Bob?
Somerby judges the article which he hasn’t read by the “synopsis” he posts here.
And you can read from the image of the magazine “Post Trump: Putin Becomes Master of the World.”
It sounds to me as though Newsmax and other pro-Trump media outlets have re-discovered their “antipathy” for Putin after Trump’s lovefest with him, but only as a way to discredit Biden. Which, ironically/not ironically builds up Putin into a much more powerful figure. It’s propaganda, pure and simple.
Somerby can’t be this stupid.
Bob just rationalized comparing Dr. Mengele with the fight to get people vaccinated. He is not stupid he is evil.
DeleteThis is fair info, and the liberal outlets are not giving the whole story. But the question remains, why would Newsmax lead with the pro Putin cover? It suggests they count on their readers to read it.
ReplyDelete"And yes, he actually said it—he actually said, rhymin' Simon style, that the various individuals and orgs he named have been "rootin' for Putin."
ReplyDeleteThis from Somerby, who thought it was the height of humor to rhyme droll with Dole!
I've never understood why Trump championed Putin and Russian interests while president. I think Somerby should start by explaining why that was OK. Then it might be possible to understand the conservative viewpoint about Putin. It seems like Trump's approach was to join Putin, not oppose him, given how great and powerful Putin is. Trump admires dictators and strongmen, so he befriends them. It may be that Newsmax was urging that same approach. If so, it might be urging a policy of joining forces with Putin to defuse his attempts to weaken the US (note that most liberals believe that joining forces with Putin weakens the US and that Trump undermined longstanding American policy and did damage to our international relations by selling out to Putin). But this is more complex than Somerby wishes to portray it. If Somerby is going to portray Putin as evil (by interpreting the Newsmax article that way, he still needs to explain Trump's embrace of Putin and the support for Russia on the right, which existed up to the point where Biden started cracking down on Putin.
ReplyDelete