Steve M. is a connoisseur of right-wing media, which may be why is more readily alarmed and prone to pessimism than I am. When it comes to wingnut media, I barely touch the stuff. The only time I watch Fox is when things have gone badly wrong for the GOP and I want to watch them suffer. The right-wing blogs are not in my daily mix, and I only seek them out when I’m really at a loss to find new content. The truth is, I already know what’s going on in those media spaces. Minds are being poisoned. People are being turned into worse people. Hate-flames are being tended. A despicable and dishonorable alternate universe is being erected.
The details hardly matter.
What matters is how people like Chris Cillizza respond to this alternative universe. Do they watch in detached fashion to evaluate the effectiveness of this poison? Or do they take a stand for truth and decency?
Our Republic may be able to survive the existence of a permanent Mighty Right-Wing Wurlitzer of hate and fear, but not if it isn’t more than counteracted by people in the reality-based community.
Paul Ryan gave a speech last night that came straight out of the alternative universe. How it is received by the actual universe is very important. How it is received by the denizens of the alternative universe is irrelevant. They’d say they loved it even if they hated it. They’d convince themselves they loved it even if they were disappointed. Steve M. senses that the Christie and Ryan speeches were like the twentieth MDMA trip for the wingnuts. They’ve consumed those lies so many times that they need ever-higher dosages to get high on them. Ryan and Christie simply didn’t deliver enough milligrams.
It’s an interesting theory that has some merit. But, ultimately, what matters is whether or not people who don’t live in the alternative universe of right-wing media understand or do not understand that they were just fed a pack of shameless and brazen lies. Are they turned into suckers or are they repelled by dishonesty? Who do they trust to arbitrate the issue? And what are those trusted people saying?
That’s why we have to police the corporate media. That’s why we have to call people like Chris Cillizza a loser.
That’s why we have to call people like Chris Cillizza a loser.
He’s been a certified loser since the whole “Mad Bitch Beer” thing and hasn’t done anything since to redeem himself. It could have been worse though. He could have been doing his best Rich Lowry impersonation, like Wolf Blitzer and Erin Burnett were doing last night.
Did Erin “shed (another) tear) after Ryan’s speech last night? I refused to watch it. But I did notice that even she and Blitzer seem strained to stick to only saying little about the inaccuracies.
well, of course one thing that happened in 2008 was that Sarah Palin became the most popular character on Saturday Night Live since Eddie Murphy left the show. How important was that? If nothing else, I think it helped spread the idea that Sarah Palin was a hopelessly unprepared moron from the small class of people who actively pay attention to politics out to the general public.
So now the same small class of people who were the first to see Sarah Palin as a hopelessly unprepared moron are looking at Paul Ryan and seeing a relentless liar who is devoid of conscience or principle. As more and more people start paying attention to the election, there are more and more ways for that idea to spread.
How come Chris Cilizza misses what Chris Wallace and Sally Kohn of FoxNews got? The meme that is going to stick for the next two months is:
Etch-a-Sketch Romney and Lyin’ Ryan
How come?
Well, if you buy into the idea that the right wing of the PermaGov knows damned well how the fix is going to turn out this time then, the little producer/talking head talks before the newscasts go something like this over at Fox.
Yup.
That’s how come.
Meanwhile the regular, so-called “neutral” networks are giving their own talking heads a little “bend over backwards” speech. Gotta keep the marks involved in the story, after all. Where’s the con if there’s no story to sell?
Bet on it.
AG
Hitler gave great speeches lying about the jews too.
The idea that you can do a great job selling poisoned fruit as he did, is like complimenting Jim Jones on his choice of kool-aid flavor, and disregarding the results of drinking it.
Ryan duplicated their latest false attack ads. They feel the ads moved the polls, the only positives they can point to. this will continue.