MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2024
Information Age warfare comes home: Saturday morning, at 7 o'clock, C-Span's Washington Journal invited viewers to call in with their Top News Story of The Week.
A furious flurry of phone calls followed. At 7:26 a.m., this exchange occurred:
MODERATOR (3/9/24): Next up, we'll hear from Richard in Newport, North Carolina on our Independent line. Richard, what's your top news story?
RICHARD IN NORTH CAROLINA: Good morning.
First of all, it's not the "Democratic" Party. That's a falsehood. It is the Democrat Party.
They've always been known as the Democrat Party. So that needs to be straightened out.
To our ear, it sounded like the caller was speaking literally—was completely sincere in his inaccurate claims. It sounded like he was annoyed to hear references to the "Democratic" Party, when its actual name is the Democrat Party, and it always has been.
After voicing this complaint, the caller went on to identify his Top News Story. He said that President Biden had been "pumped with drugs" during his State of the Union Address, and that he ought to be charged as an accessory to murder because of his border policies.\
(Also, he said that anyone who votes for Biden should be in "an insane asylum.")
So went this one phone call from this one Independent. (You can imagine what the Republican callers were saying on this particular day!)
To our ear, it sounded like the caller really believed that the official name of the party was the Democrat Party—that people who referred to the "Democratic" Party were putting a friendlier face on things.
That's the way it sounded to us. Let us say this about that:
It may be the most childish part of our nation's long-standing information war. Long ago, red tribe bombastics began referring exclusively to "the Democrat Party"—began refusing to refer to the party by its actual name.
Long ago, we saw Chris Matthews complain about this tribal idiocy or at least one occasion. But this practice has been widely maintained for decades—to the point where it sounded to us like this one caller had been completely misled by this braindead, childish behavior.
People who place their trust in princes may not know when they're being misled! For what it's worth, this caller's statement was instantly seconded. At 7:29, another caller on the Independent line ended his call like this:
JAMES IN MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI: ...And the man is right! It is not the Democratic Party, it's the Democrat Party. The last three letters are "rats!"
That last, mathematically bungled jibe was popular years ago. We haven't heard it lately. At any rate:
To our ear, it sounded like this caller probably knew that he was simply engaged in an act of tribal war.
C-Span moderators occasionally (though rarely) challenge factual misstatements by callers. On this day, the moderator made no attempt to speak to the actual fact which lies at the heart of this endlessly childish bit of verbal war.
You can see the name of the party here. People, we're just saying!
For extra credit only: For a convoluted history of this matter, you can just click here.
"MODERATOR (3/9/24): Next up, we'll hear from Richard in Newport, North Carolina on our Independent line. Richard, what's your top news story?"
ReplyDeleteThis caller stated things that are entirely right wing propaganda, from the name of the Democratic party to the claim that Biden was on drugs (which comes directly from Fox News). Yet Somerby says nothing about the fact that Republican callers routinely use both their own line and the Independent line, giving them twice the exposure on this C-Span call-in show that Democrats receive.
This illustrates my belief that what characterizes the right is their unwillingness to follow laws and rules when it suits their self-interest to do otherwise. Democrats don't do this but Republicans like the way Trump has blatantly committed crimes for which he then stalls and obstructs justice to evade consequences for his actions, then urges his followers to do the same.
If there is a sense that our culture is no longer civil, no longer a place where people are treated with respect and where crime is rampant, it is because the former president is a chief lawbreaker who himself has manufactured a crime wave.
Look at Katie Britt who thought it was OK to misrepresent the truth in her State of the Union rebuttal. Look at Marjorie Taylor Greene who thought it was OK to break the rule about wearing hats on the floor of Congress and yelled at the president during his speech, disrupting the experience for those sitting near her by muttering aloud. Look at George Santos who says he will run for office again after lying and grifting his way into office and being expelled.
The right has made a mockery of honor, decent behavior, civility, and crime (exemplified by Dear Leader) but Somerby wants to pretend they have honor by accepting that these partisan Republicans calling on the Independent line are actually Independents and not breaking the rules to push their party agenda.
If Somerby doesn't even point this stuff out, he is a hypocrite when he blames the moderator for not challening these liars.
you wrote 7 paragraphs about this one, minor part of the blog post? please seek help
DeleteSome people care. and others, like you, do not.
Deletesome people keep things in the proper perspective. and others, like you, do not. (prolly cuz of Somerby Derangement Syndrome)
DeleteAppropriate English is not the language that the right uses.
ReplyDeleteSomerby needs to get out and circulate more often.
ReplyDeleteAnonymouse 3:47 pm, the caller from Mississippi could be one of my relatives.
ReplyDeleteIt was me.
Delete
ReplyDelete"In the transcript for last week's hearing in Wilding, et. al. v. DNC Services, d/b/a DNC and Deborah “Debbie” Wasserman Schultz, released Friday, DNC attorneys assert that the party has every right to favor one candidate or another, despite their party rules that state otherwise because, after all, they are a private corporation and they can change their rules if they want."
https://ivn.us/posts/dnc-to-court-we-are-a-private-corporation-with-no-obligation-to-follow-our-rules
The Democrat party can, of course, call itself whatever it wants, but it has been established that it's nothing but a private corporation. And, of course, any citizen (or, for that matter, any foreigner) can call it whatever they like.
What else is there to say?
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DeleteWeirdo Mao, shush. Otherwise you won't be able to hear the voices in your head.
DeleteLikewise the Repub party can call itself whatever it wants but in view of its complete subservience would best be titled the Trump Party, thus allowing for namesake branding and the sale of more red hats and such.
DeleteWatch the first two minutes -- all of it accurate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT2WmC0YS9Q
ReplyDeleteRachel Maddow was great last night. Apparently, magats are allowed to drink Bud light again since they paid off Trump and Trump has given his blessing that they are a good company now. LOL
ReplyDelete