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This is a topic that has been bugging me recently and that I think could actually stoke some productive input from right wingers here that might otherwise be disposed towards more vapid criticism of liberals.
In the 2000s, liberal news comedy took hold to counterbalance the outrage propaganda model of Fox News. With men like Jon Stewart at the helm, it was supposed to make the center/center-left message more accessible to citizens who weren't captivated by the then-very dry CNN and MSNBC. However, with guys like Bill Maher, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert, the latter two of which are very knowledgeable and policy-competent figureheads, the message has become increasingly (and more apparently) classist, most notably towards lower class and rural white citizens.
With passing jokes about how fast food tastes is disgusting (Stewart/Colbert), to Mountain Dew being radioactive waste (Oliver), to big chain retail stores being a cesspool for oddities (Maher), the liberal comedy news seems to more and more casually engage in, and saturate their message with, distinctly condescending and elitist commentary.
This, along with the effects of right populism, has helped strengthen the perception that the center-left, which by all policy bases much better represents the poor and advocates for their interests, is in fact the elitist network that actually forms the right-wing policy platform. Thus, instead of making the Democrats more palatable to the people they help and making their pragmatism more accessible, the exact opposite effect is seeming occur.
What do you think?
In the 2000s, liberal news comedy took hold to counterbalance the outrage propaganda model of Fox News. With men like Jon Stewart at the helm, it was supposed to make the center/center-left message more accessible to citizens who weren't captivated by the then-very dry CNN and MSNBC. However, with guys like Bill Maher, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert, the latter two of which are very knowledgeable and policy-competent figureheads, the message has become increasingly (and more apparently) classist, most notably towards lower class and rural white citizens.
With passing jokes about how fast food tastes is disgusting (Stewart/Colbert), to Mountain Dew being radioactive waste (Oliver), to big chain retail stores being a cesspool for oddities (Maher), the liberal comedy news seems to more and more casually engage in, and saturate their message with, distinctly condescending and elitist commentary.
This, along with the effects of right populism, has helped strengthen the perception that the center-left, which by all policy bases much better represents the poor and advocates for their interests, is in fact the elitist network that actually forms the right-wing policy platform. Thus, instead of making the Democrats more palatable to the people they help and making their pragmatism more accessible, the exact opposite effect is seeming occur.
What do you think?