Is there anything worse than partisan political pundits?

[Jack V Savage]

Ugh, Keith Olberman.

I'm pretty sure that guy's only viewers were masochistic Fox News-types. He was so unlikable and uncharismatic that it made me uncomfortable watching/listening to him. Kind of like the feeling I get when I look at Steve Bannon.

Btw, LOL @ anyone saying Jake Tapper is anything like Hannity et al.

Olberman was great on Sportscenter. I guess the character worked better in sports than politics.

As for the thread, yeah, those guys are horrible, though many people here are just as bad. A couple of days ago, there was someone who really revealed more than he wanted by saying that people's arguments (while true) were not politically useful. That's the kind of calculation that someone like Hannity makes and that no one here should.

 

[sub_thug]

The problem with these people is that they're just in it for the money. They'll say whatever they are required to, to make money.

Having double standards is not a problem when you don't really have any standards to begin with. These people don't approach political commentary from the perspective of having a logically consistent ideological platform.

There's a whole bunch of market researchers, consultants, experts, etc. figuring out the most marketable patterns, as far as news, political stances, social trends, which will create a website/news channel the most profit. After that, come the partisan hacks with the million dollar salaries, to say whatever they are told to say, parroting whatever ideas or stories are the most marketable at the time, to their audience.

To hate these people for their opinions or hypocrisy is misguided. They have no opinions, they have no real solid ideas to be hypocritical about. They're just prostitutes, whoring out themselves and the nation, for a bigger slice of the cake. That's what you should despise them for.

I think this gets into the polarization of the media. As nontraditional news sources become more popular, and as people select those sources based on what they like to hear, the traditional media had but one option: Jump in with both feet, choosing a side, loudly denouncing all others while being guilty of much of the same partisan shit (to varying degrees, as compared to the alternative source). That behavior alienated those who sought strict journalism, so the media corrected by doubling down, catering further to their target audience. That process continued until we arrived at Present Day, with Fox standing firmly on the right, CNN and MSNBC standing firmly on the left. A bunch of others exist around them, although they are much smaller.

 

[HomerThompson]

Like Phil Donahue and Jesse Ventura .

Ventura was gagged for like 5 + years and they canceled Donahue, despite having some of the highest ratings on msnbc

His show was awesome. He was the only legit anti-War voice on TV with any kind of profile. That shit was ridiculous.

 

[SleepyBoy]

Political pundits are just coaches for circle jerks.


Lol@my side isn't as bad as the other side.
Arguing over who is worst when Both sides are unacceptably bad. Being slightly better than the other doesn't mean they are legit and have any credibility.

 

[Gunny]

Hannity is probably the worst partisan hack I've ever seen...

His duplicity and double standards are beyond ridiculous.

As terrible as CNN and msnbc have become over the last 5 years , I can't think of any pundit on the left who has come close to Hannity and just plain ole bullshit.

I would even rank Keith Olberman (when he was on air) over Hannity .

It’s hard to disagree with the notion that Hannity is the worst but the whole discussion is a bit like establishing an order of merit between cat shit and dog shit. I’ll pass on both

 

[HomerThompson]

Political pundits are just coaches for circle jerks.


Lol@my side isn't as bad as the other side.
Arguing over who is worst when Both sides are unacceptably bad. Being slightly better than the other doesn't mean they are legit and have any credibility.

There is no equivalent on the left of Fox News. The right wing media sphere has gone completely off the rails since the 1990's. Mainstream rightwing news is batshit insane. Pretending that both sides are even close to being equally bad is bullshit, nihilistic, bothsideism.

It's intellectually lazy, and 100% inaccurate.

 

[ndwolfwood]

There is no equivalent on the left of Fox News. The right wing media sphere has gone completely off the rails since the 1990's. Mainstream rightwing news is batshit insane. Pretending that both sides are even close to being equally bad is bullshit, nihilistic, bothsideism.

It's intellectually lazy, and 100% inaccurate.

Opinion Censored Sleepy Boy

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

His show was awesome. He was the only legit anti-War voice on TV with any kind of profile. That shit was ridiculous.

In regards to Hannity , I don't see how this guy still has a show or even found remotely credible by his fans..

Even bill O'Reilly had some semblance of consistency

 

[HomerThompson]

Opinion Censored Sleepy Boy

You're a worthless shit poster. Why don't you r-select yourself the fuck out of here?

FYI, disagreeing with someone isn't censoring them.

 

[ndwolfwood]

You're a worthless shit poster. Why don't you r-select yourself the fuck out of here?

FYI, disagreeing with someone isn't censoring them.

Present a counter opinion rather than labeling people you disagree with.

Censorship has all kinds of form. Perception is reality.

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

Hannity is probably the worst partisan hack I've ever seen...

His duplicity and double standards are beyond ridiculous.

As terrible as CNN and msnbc have become over the last 5 years , I can't think of any pundit on the left who has come close to Hannity and just plain ole bullshit.

I would even rank Keith Olberman (when he was on air) over Hannity .

I have to disagree with you there.

Nobody does a partisan hack meltdown quite like Keith Olbermann!

 

[Hit-N-Run]

I can't even watch the whole thing. Right-Wing media is by far the worst set of 2-faced, lying, hypocrites on the planet.

It's just like Animal Farm or 1984.

 

[HomerThompson]

Present a counter opinion rather than labeling people you disagree with.

Censorship has all kinds of form. Perception is reality.

I did present a counter opinion. Perhaps you can't actually read? It's either that or trolling at this point.

 

[Trotsky]

Tbh , I curbed a great deal of my cable news watching after the Iraq war ...
Never again will I be duped by the corporate media propaganda machine.

It was amazing how fox news , CNN and msnbc all pushed for this and crushed/silenced any dissenting voices leading up to the war .

To be clear, and I'm not saying you are doing the opposite, I do think it's fallacious to frame the media coverage of the Iraq War as ideological.

I don't think it was (at least primarily) ideological or based on profit motivations besides those tied in with ratings. It was a response to the market demand. In the wake of the worst foreign attack on US soil in history, news consumers didn't want logical dissent: they wanted pro-nationalist fervor and blood-seeking.

Basically, Americans would have turned the channel on rational pacifistic debate and switched to Toby Keith singing songs about putting boots in people's asses.

And my dad is a big Rachel maddow fan . Even though I disagree with 85 percent of what she stands for, her arguments and positions are well put together .

What "85 percent" of her policy do you disagree with?

She seems to me to be a pretty bland Democratic moderate.

I do find her to be captivatingly handsome woman, though.

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

Present a counter opinion rather than labeling people you disagree with.

Censorship has all kinds of form. Perception is reality.

Dude, follow your own advice.

You didn't formulate an argument at all.

All you said was "commies are worse " with no context whatsoever.

What is your position on this subject

 

[ndwolfwood]

Dude, follow your own advice.

You didn't formulate an argument at all.

All you said was "commies are worse " with no context whatsoever.

What is your position on this subject

My position is communists are worse than political pundits. I don't think that it was very hard to understand.

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

I have to disagree with you there.

Nobody does a partisan hack meltdown quite like Keith Olbermann!

C'mon now, at least those meltdowns were hilariously entertaining....

Sometimes when I'm watching Hannity I ask myself , "is this guy fucking for real?!? You took a 180 position on this just a couple months ago!"

 

[Social Distance Warrior]

My position is communists are worse than political pundits. I don't think that it was very hard to understand.

In what way? Could you provide an example?

 

[sub_thug]

I can't even watch the whole thing. Right-Wing media is by far the worst set of 2-faced, lying, hypocrites on the planet.

It's just like Animal Farm or 1984.

The irony, of course, is that George Orwell's writings were anti-Communist pieces.

 

[Execute]

I did present a counter opinion. Perhaps you can't actually read? It's either that or trolling at this point.

He doesn't agree with you, therefore it's censorship. Don't you see?

If Sleep provided some actual facts in his post wolf would have a point, but both posts are opinions.