FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2024
We badly need new language: We thought we'd go ahead and offer a footnote to this morning's report.
In that report, we discussed the latest silly statements, and the latest silly topic selection, by the press corps' silliest boy.
Also, we touched on the ridiculous conduct on daily display on the Fox News Channel program, The Five, with a special point of emphasis on the perpetually irate finger-wagger, the furious Judge Jeanine.
In recent weeks, we've mentioned the fact that this daily nonsense transpires with nary a word from the upper-class, high-end press:
In part, that represents a form of "professional courtesy," wed to a strong desire to avoid getting into a conflict with Fox. On the other hand, it also represents an inability to communicate, due to a lack of acceptable language.
Here's what we mean by that:
Our journalists are familiar with the idea of challenging a statement for being "false" or "misleading."
Given the conceptual limitations of our journalists, any such statement is now routinely denounced as a "lie." That said, our mainstream journalists do know how to challenge a statement as "false."
They know how to lodge such a challenge; such critiques are an accepted part of the game. At present, though, they have no acceptable way to critique a network news show for being spectacularly silly or stupid.
"False" and "misleading" are widely accepted terms of art. At present, there is no acceptable way to say that Watters, Pirro and their ilk are just mind-blowingly stupid on a daily basis.
There's no simple way to report such an obvious fact. What we have in an inability to communicate, thanks in part to a lack of will, but also thanks to a paucity of (acceptable) professional language.
Something we've been withholding has been making us weak! The refusal to come to terms with this daily nonsense is part of what that is.
Brian Mulroney has died.
ReplyDeleteYet another dumb post from Somerby.
ReplyDeleteFox News and their presenters are not “mind-blowingly stupid”, they are corrupt. And laughing all the way to the bank.
When you are as ignorant as Somerby, it’s time to gain some knowledge or do something better aligned with your capabilities.
They're undoubtedly corrupt. That in no way rules out that their shows are mind-blowingly stupid, which they are.
DeleteI drive a pos Toyota (they all are), but I tell people I drive a Mercedes and can speak languages that aren’t even languages.
ReplyDeleteAs horrible as Trump Stench is, is not a danger to society like Trump’s Cognitive Decline.
I drive a Honda. It's completely satisfactory.
DeleteI drive a Tesla but I bought it before I knew what a pos Elon Musk is.
DeleteToyotas are some of the highest performance-per-price cars ever made. Reliable, low-maintenance, and long-lived.
DeleteMany years ago we went to a Toyota dealer. The salesman was a jerk, so we went to the Honda dealer. We've never looked back.
Delete"Given the conceptual limitations of our journalists, any such statement is now routinely denounced as a "lie." That said, our mainstream journalists do know how to challenge a statement as "false." "
ReplyDeleteSomerby has never accepted that Trump tells lies. He has asserted that if Trump believes what he is saying then it is not a lie, even if it is a falsehood. And then he says that because we cannot climb inside Trump's mind and share his consciousness, there is no way to know whether he is deliberately lying.
This is, of course, pure sophistry, because we do not accord obvious liars the courtesy of being believed on the basis of unknowable phenomenology. If they say enough things that are obviously self-serving and provably false, then we assume they are lying to further their self-interest. We do not ask them questions about whether they know they are speaking nonsense. And with Trump, it doesn't matter because: (1) he is a liar from childhood, (2) it doesn't matter whether he is crazy or lying or both, because either makes him unfit to be president, and (3) Trump is the most ignorant man to have ever held high office and thus may be grossly mistaken without being aware of it, and (4) it is likely Trump gets conned by others because of his ignorance, but that is no excuse for not checking and figuring out what is true himself.
The press has learned to distinguish lies because of Trump, who has told so many that they cannot be ignored or considered mistakes. Grifters have not been permitted into the mainstream as much as lately, which has forced the press to identify them as grifters.
That is progress by the press, but not of the sort Somerby describes. Somerby is negative about labeling lies, still, but it is important to label someone who tells a lot of lies, a liar.
Calling such people silly is no better than calling Trump crazy. Silly implies that they are having fun with us or being playful, funning us but not being serious. That does not describe what happens over on Fox, where the audience is taking the host-grifters very seriously and they are being lied to on a regular basis. Dismissing Judge Jeanine Pirro as a silly person does not debunk her lies, no matter how angry she acts while delivering disinformation and presumably attacking the "liberal" who tries to tell the truth. This is propaganda, and propaganda is deadly serious, destructive to our information-based society and harmful to democracy, which relies on an informed voting populace.
I’ve said the same thing here about Somerby’s nonsense on lying, but you say it better.
DeleteSomerby calls Pirro "silly" to persuade us to believe what Pirro says. Got it.
ReplyDeleteNow you’re being silly. He calls her silly to assert that even the silly boys and girls at Fox get something right. He may ultimately argue we should watch them so we don’t miss the occasional right stuff they say.
DeleteSomerby calls Pirro “right” to persuade us to watch Pirro and her ilk.
I like to monitor this blog all day and try to hurt people's feelings. Please give me ammo to hurt your feelings.
Delete10:23 - That's my job you ignorant POS.
DeleteCat Janice has died.
ReplyDeletePirro’s pussy died in 1985.
ReplyDeleteThat’s why she’s so irate.
The latest from Kevin:
ReplyDeletehttps://jabberwocking.com/there-sure-are-a-lot-of-people-who-want-to-give-donald-trump-money/
Bob had always been correct that reporting should not make assumptions about people lying. Alas he has never had the basic intelligence to admit Trump, with the obvious lies he throws at honest people, has changed the rules. Bob excuses this with his dubious assertion that Trump is simply “disordered.”
ReplyDeleteIt would be a highly important question for Bob consider: has the press done a good job holding Trump or his defenders in confronting their obvious falsehoods? I would say the tragic answer is that their obvious failure to do so is a big part of this endless crisis. But, I’m thinking of the old Bob, when journalism critique was his mission, not fulsome moralizing at the left.
Well that's somewhat unintelligible, but I get the gist of it I think. Probably a glass or two of wine contributed, but no worries. The problem is, Bob just called for Fox to be held accountable by the blue media in yesterday's post. Remember this?
Delete"We'd start with the way our major blue orgs let this red tribe idiocy go without any serious attempt at reporting or criticism or comment. "
Oops, you're a dumbass.
Oops, you missed 10:30’s point.
DeleteBob used to do the criticism he’s calling for, now he just yells at clouds.
That aside, earth to Bob and his fanboys, “major blue orgs” have been attacking Fox News for decades, indeed there are media that do little else.
Bob’s notions are not well thought out, assuming his intent is genuine. Trump voters are not significantly persuadable, media should be focusing some attention on identifying societal issues and their solutions, but that would involve airing progressives or even leftists, something corporate media is loathe to do since it would interfere with their neoliberal agenda.
11:04, you need to drink some more so the obvious validity of my points can completely disappear. As is pointed out every time Bob falsely states it, MSNBC and others often illustrate Fox’s nonsense with clips. There are many examples now of Bob defending the right and Trump with idiotic hair splitting (legitimate political discourse, which wasn’t even hair splitting) when the left does call Trump out.
DeleteMy point, my dim drunk friend, was how well do they do confronting Trump and his bozos to their faces? The answer has to be “pretty bad.”
"At present, there is no acceptable way to say that Watters, Pirro and their ilk are just mind-blowingly stupid on a daily basis."
ReplyDeleteI'm not at all clear on how--and where--such a thing would be said even if there was an acceptable way to say it. Aside from the scant time news outlets devote to reporting on the news media itself, where would analysis of a rival outlet's performance even fit into the daily schedule?
I'm forced to admit that I can't envision the Washington Post (just to choose an example) running a regular feature listing stupid stuff said on teevee last week.
I fear this is a sign that I lack imagination.
If you posted the 10:30 comment, nice touch with the intentional mistakes. Particularly like the lack of the space between paragraphs. Cheers. Hic!
DeleteIf you posted the 11:44 comment, you seem a bit addled and troubled. Hope you find some peace of mind.
DeleteThe idea that there is no language to address the propaganda spewed by Fox talking heads is nonsense. Somerby has been rather late in the game to be doing so and even there employs words like silly to describe activity that is considerably more serious. He would do well to dial up some old Jon Stewart commentaries from when the proper response to that media outlet was forcefully argued on a nightly basis. Stewart didn't dabble in such tepid language as to use the word "silly" to describe the nefarious, and routinely got under the skin of his subjects by relentlessly pointing out the obvious inconsistencies and hypocrisy that was and is their currency.
ReplyDeleteIris Apfel has died.
ReplyDeleteThree days ago I bought one of her rugs at Ruggable. She was a flamboyant character.
DeleteI appreciate someone taking a few seconds to think about the deceased. Thank you, Cecelia.
DeleteOh, you’re doing a public service , Anonymouse 1:03pm.
DeleteExactly. Somerby’s assertion that we should make peace with right wingers is naive, when taken at face value, but is likely a ploy Somerby employs towards his twin goals of expressing his general bitterness at life and of manufacturing ignorance.
ReplyDeleteDefund the Supreme Court.
ReplyDeletePeople should be raising hell over price gouging and Gaza genocide just to show the media we are tired of being fucked around. Voting is not enough anymore.
ReplyDeleteRobots are taking over California:
ReplyDeletehttps://jabberwocking.com/waymo-is-ready-to-take-on-highways/
IMO the media had long given each other the “courtesy” of not criticizing each other. Maybe they’re all sinners and nobody dares to cast the first stone. They all risk payback.
ReplyDeleteOf their many faults, one that annoys me is failing to draw fairly obvious conclusions. It often seems that they are not permitted to think.
IMO, YMMV, SMH, LOL.
Delete