Sam Tanenhaus: This is an Indication of What I Would Call the Death of Conservatism
Howard Kurtz asks his panel of the editor of The New York Times Week in Review and The New York Times Book Review Sam Tanenhaus, the Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody and the Washington Post's Ceci Connolly what they think of the right wing's preemptive freak out over President Obama's speech to school children last week.
Tanenhaus says it is an indication of what he calls "the death of conservatism" which is the theme and name of his book.
Brody thinks the President has a "perception problem". Hmmmm.... I wonder what might have contributed to that. The media overplaying the right wing screechers that should otherwise be dismissed couldn't have possibly contributed to that, could it David?
And Ceci Connolly says the "media are addicted to conflict". And don't blame them for feeding us crap on a daily basis since that 24 hour news cycle is so hard to fill up. Well here's a thought. Why not fill it with something besides crap? Somehow Amy Goodman manages to find an hours worth of news every day that you guys can't find the time to report on in that 24 hour cycle. Imagine that. I would imagine that a good deal of our readers here at Crooks and Liars could recommend more stories that are worth reporting on than there would be time for in the 24 hour news cycle, even on a "slow day".
I'd like to think that Sam Tanenhaus' observation is the correct one and that this over the top rhetoric does mean the death of the conservative movement, but our "mainstream media" along with a lot of other powerful forces are going to do their best to make sure it doesn't happen any time soon.
Transcript below the fold.
KURTZ: Sam Tanenhaus, that didn't sound like a former Soviet Union to me and of course, the elder President Bush -- Bush 41 have given a speech to school kids. So was this a bogus story...
TANENHAUS: Oh my God.
KURTZ: ...and if so, why did the media give it so much attention?
TANENHAUS: Oh my gosh. I mean, absolutely right -- oh my gosh you know, here is a case where the President of the United States actually wants to speak to the schoolchildren. Before anyone's seen this speech he's being compared to Saddam Hussein.
This is, I'm afraid, an indication of what I would call the death of conservatism -- of movement conservatism. The enmity and animosity now goes not even toward a particular president, almost to the Office of the presidency itself and to the understanding that schoolchildren might profit from what turns out to be a very anodyne and tearful and an optimistic speech.
BRODY: To the point of absurdity.
KURTZ: Let me get to David Brody and I just want to throw one thing at you. Florida Republican Chairman, a guy named Jim Greer said that Obama was trying to indoctrinate American schoolchildren to his socialist agenda. Once the White House released the text he flipped and said it was a good speech and he would let his kids to watch. So the media don't seem to make anyone pay a price; this whole pre-emptive strike against things troubles me.
BRODY: Greer clearly jumped the gun but I think that the media missed this story, Howie. The media missed the perception problem that this president has. In other words, you go back to the bank bailouts and I understand George Bush and you can go back and talk about how he was kind of responsible for that at the beginning, but the bank bailouts, the stimulus, health care.
He already comes in as a Democrat -- as a big government liberal Democrat and there are folks, look at tens of thousands of people yesterday on the Mall down in D.C. I mean, you look at these and the town halls...
KURTZ: Right.
BRODY: So all of this is a perception problem for the president.
KURTZ: I want to give Ceci the last word. Media are addicted to conflict. Critics say he may brainwash the kids and this is in advance before he has said anything.
CONNOLLY: Media are addicted to conflict to a certain extent. It's also true now that we have a lot more air time to fill and there are going to be some slow days when somebody is going to grab something like that and toss it out there. KURTZ: Just to be clear I'm all for people criticizing a speech that has actually been given, it's when this person hasn't even spoken yet that seems like this gets a little overheated.
Ceci Connolly and David Brody, thanks very much for joining us this morning.
If this is conservatism it reaLLY NEEDS TO DIE!
republicanism is a mental illness!
let's make sure we run a stake through its heart - just to be sure.
what we're seeing here lately is not conservatism...
it's fascism...for lack of a better word.
What else do you call an astroturf movement sponsored by corporations owned by dominionist right winger fundies, who would rather see this nation erupt into a bloody civil war, than see poor people get heathcare?
It is fascism being disguised as conservatism, while at the same time projecting the opposition as being fascist/socialist/communist. The right wing extremists voluntarily gobble this shit up and it is spreading.
.
I suggest paying for the teabaggers, FoxNews, Wingnut Daily, and the rest of the "conservative" slime in this country for a trip to Guyana.
All expenses and Kool-Aid paid.
and we're supposed to answer back with violence of our own?
Seriously, we shouldn't even entertain those kind of thoughts. It diminishes our movement to even suggest such an idea.
We should do what Jesus would do... Turn the other cheek and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. To resort to violence is to say that we hate ourselves for who we are. Isn't that what the modern conservative movement has become?
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
Wouldn't Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Pastafarians have some difficulty with emulating Jesus?
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
Some of the very teachings of Jesus in regards to universal love, is very much on the same page as Buddhism.
As for the rest... loving your neighbor as yourself... caring for the sick, the children and the widows is a radical idea?
Take away the supernatural aspects of the Christian Jesus and just look at his core message of what he was trying to teach us: Peace, love and empathy.
I don't think any one particular sect, creed or religious following has the exclusive rights to those themes.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
from your first post, and much more inclusive than the WWJD meme.
My point was, why would a Jew or a Muslim, etc., emulate Jesus-that would be a tough sell. I would much rather see people acting like reasonable human-beings with each other, regardless of religious affiliation.
In my experience, some very religious people are the least spiritual people you can imagine.
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
and defend ourselves from these mindless idiots?
I'm not religious, at all.
But I usually try to live my life by the golden rule, ten commandments and the turn the other cheek thing...it's all peaches and cream when things aren't bad...but things are gettin out of hand.
But at some point, in order to secure our very survival we WILL have to defend ourselves.
I'm not gonna go down without takin as many of these morons with me as I can.
I REFUSE to let these ignoramuses destroy what's left of our country!
It all began with the endless showing of Rev. Wright saying GD America. I wish someone could find out how many times that video was shown on tv. The media couldn't get enough of it. That started the kettle boiling and they have stoked the fires ever since.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
all this was, was an exercise in the media letting themselves off the hook for being crappy at their jobs.
And, WTF? Bush did it, but Obama came in as a Democrat? As if that mitigates Bush's crimes; at least he wasn't a big gov liberal??? Wha?
These people are as insane as any teabagger.
The CBN journalist is an idiot. What is he talking about.
People are mad because of bank bail-out at Obama, then he backtracks. Exactly, TARP was under Bush and Paulson.
Talks about healthcare. A bill has not even past yet.
This idiot seems to justify the nutballs reaction to the school children speech because people are mad at all these things for idiotic reasons. That is no justification, it just reflects how idiotic these people are period.
And the other Washington Post woman says, the huge media coverage was all because it was a slow day... what? What an idiot. There are many many important stories to cover around the world. There are no slow days, only lazy reporters. The media is giving far too much "equal time" to these idiotic protestors who represent a very minority view. Where was all the coverage of the protestors of the Iraq war. Christ there was a million people on the streets of London UK at the time, nevermind all the people in this country that said it was a bad idea, including Obama.
What a completely stupid segment with completely stupid commentators.
>The CBN journalist is an idiot....
>A bill has not even past yet.
you mean "passed", fool
Big deal... I type fast...
I think you hit the nail on the head.
I would just add, here is Kurtz bemoaning that there are no ramifactions-then he immediately proves his point by allowing Connolly and Brody to spew crap.
Hey Howard-NEWS FLASH-You ARE the media!!
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
.... the backlash re-birth of FASCISM/CORPORATISM. Born from the ashes of the rich,white,Prescott Bush 30´s Nazi sympathizers. ¡¡Seig Heil!!!! cue heel click.
>And Ceci Connolly says the "media are addicted to conflict". And don't blame them for feeding us crap on a daily basis since that 24 hour news cycle is so hard to fill up. Well here's a thought. Why not fill it with something besides crap?
crooksandliars feeds on the same kind of crap conflict
I suppose we could remind you of both the name and mission of CROOKS & LIARS, but that wouldn't stop you from making your inane comments.
basically C&L uses the same kind of vitriolic and "outrage" which attracts the kind of ad-revenue generating attention as the mainstream media. the mission is to make money, plain and simple.
you are wrong
What's wrong about this is that I myself am Left of center, but this site is so far left, or "wingnut" as you like to say here, that its alienating the very people who share a lot of your basic values and principles. Its "hurting America" by polarizing issues and emphasizing conflict and hate at every opportunity. it's just the far Left counterpoint to people like Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, and conservative talk radio hosts. It's nasty, hurtful, unapologetic and wrong. But it makes the owners money, so they have no incentive to do the right thing, show compassion, find common ground, and build bridges.
Build bridges with people who equate the President to Hitler and don't believe that he was actually born in this country? When there are more reasonable Eisenhower republicans and less of this nativist, hate-filled, rage-driven set then we'll have an honest debate. You're missing the mark blaming C&L for informing us of what we're dealing with.
It keeps commenting on C&L.....sounds like someone is wanting to be fed.
To Brody: Are you sure you want to tout the KKK rally at the mall over the weekend as a retort to why the President addressing school kids issue?
To CC: Slow news day huh? Yeah, there is no need for MSM to do any in-depth reporting on any issues right now, as we have finally reached complete utopia here on the planet Earth.
On an average news day the MSM focuses on the latest celebrity death/public humiliation (not mutually exclusive), and if they don't have that they call up a wingnut to express his/her view, and there you go, you've got a story for at least a week.
I notice that C & L devotes many posts thee days to the media's "irresponsible" coverage of right-wing generated conflict.
Fair enough. But it is an irony then that C & L itself covers not only this same conflict but -- unlike mainstream media, which covers a variety of topics -- covers ONLY this conflict. Does anyone else see a disconnect here?
I do! See my first post on this thread. Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. C&L thrives on conflict, and insulting and hating anyone and everyone with different opinions and values.
You come here.
It's not C&L that thrives on conflict... it's mankind or humankind. We seek conflict where we can, or just make it up, or just provoke it.
In politics, it's very much an Us vs. Them kind of mentality. The very nature of politics is conflict.
I would like you see you make the same kind of post over at Drudge and I predict you'll get booed off the stage even more loudly over there. (can you post things at Drudge... I have no clue...)
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
I live here in Japan, and there is a totally different mindset here and in many other countries. Social harmony is a much higher priority over than the kind of conflict-loving reckless ego-centric individualism you seem to embody.
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!
Do you really have anything to say?
I think we're all in a cranky mood because we're starving for information and our daily serving of news is filled with Michael Jackson's funeral and Kanye West's stunt.
It's filler, and it's unhealthy.
Trying to find thoughtful reporting on important issues, is like trying to carry on an intelligent conversation in a grade-school lunchroom.
I don't know who came up with the idea that we -- the American public -- wanted trash, gore, freak shows, gossip, and titillation instead of news, but I suppose the idea came from people who can't really tell the difference between information and entertainment.
That's why Rush Limbaugh, famous entertainer, is a big part of the news.
And newsmakers are presented as entertainers.
Give us an intelligent choice.
We're not all ignorant boobs.
i don't read celebrity gossip. I don't even know what stunt Kayne pulled. You're the one reading that stuff, not me!
I understand exactly what Trophy is saying, organizations that you would hope would present some news other than entertainment news don't do it. It's infotainment, not news, by organizations, in some cases, that had rich histories of broad and unbiased reporting.
Lie upon Lie and NO accountability I am so surprised. The whack Job The closet Queen hannity, dysfunctional and delusional beck, Drug Addict blimpbaugh, Meet me in the Men's room Craig, their isn't a little boy I didn't like foley, I love Diapers vtter, there isn't a Minority I wouldn't talk to if they know their place Racist Nazi sessions. Notice how these Pukes Scum and Trash are NEVER brought to accountability. The MSM says there is nothing to talk about except twisted and out and out misrepresentations of the news.
Oops! that requires a attention span longer than 30 seconds and the MSM just can't do it.
it was doomed to fail from the outset. an ideology that is anti-govt running the govt, or even being a part of the govt, always seemed to be a recipe for conservative-disaster.
the 3 decades of conservative rule of the federal govt has brought the country to its knees. maybe the teabaggers are none the wiser, but more and more people are waking up to that realization.
now, with the ascension of the racists, militants, fundies, etc, the country is getting a glimpse of the seedy underbelly of the conservative movement--and the country recoils.
if only the democratic party had the intestinal fortitude to take advantage of the situation, instead of screwing it up.
That's what the corporate media is selling. Too many Americans are buying their crap, and it's hurting our country.
'death of conservatism' does that include the subset of neoconservatives?
trying to control it. Not to worry.
They shut down their main web site and now go by another name for their damn think tank. They still try to stir up shit. Antiwar.com is where I go to keep up with all their dirty deeds.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. Albert Einstein
"Tea Party" Leader Melts Down On CNN: Obama Is An "Indonesian Muslim Turned Welfare Thug" (VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fymdNxn82M
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad55/Seefo...
...will do everything it can to keep flat earth conservatism alive in the public square. I suppose if the percentage of self-identified Republicans drops into the single digits (it's at 23% now), they may move the dog-fight to the left and right wings of the Democratic party, but we're a ways off from that.
In the meantime, get ready for more debates on whether the gubmint should provide tinfoil hats to illegal immigrants.
Let's gladly watch them all die and never ever return to ruin and poison this earth anymore.
But don't hold your breath....
Brody complete a thought? The guy rambles and turns without signaling more than Palin. What they fuck does any of what he said really have to do with the ridiculous reaction to Obama wanting to speak to school children?
I guess Ceci comes from the poo-flinging school of journalism, just throw stuff out there, good, bad, unsubstantiated, it doesn't matter. Then again, maybe she went to the Hollywood Upstairs Journalism School...
Can't wait to see how Sam finesses Buckley's synagogue desecration.
is a trend i've noticed about news budgets, so constrained and anemic that there's no cutaway to Baghdad/Kandahar any longer because it's too expensive to produce full time.
CBS recently did a great segment while embedded with echo company.
Where are the aerial drones?
Where is infrared sniper detection?
Having more questions than answers from news is news.
Yesterday morning while walking through the breakroom at work, they had on Fox with the protesters holding "bury obamacare with kennedy" posters. That segment aired right after the exciting announcement that the Osama Bin Laden much anticipated tape was just sent out.
Has the tape been "much anticipated"?
Does Osama really have something to say?
This is the other side of the coin where news attempts to answer a non-existent call to action - typical Fox.
Remember Cindy Sheehan making the left look loony? Nader? Michael Moore? if the left can survive Cindy et al, the right will survive Glenn Beck just fine. Their best ally? BHO himself with his habit of overreaching time and again.
Until the nation is urbanized, rural conservative values will have a voice.
I don't believe for a minute Cindy Sheehan made anybody look loony. I think every compassionate American could feel her pain at losing her son. I applaud her for taking a stand, and sticking to her position no matter how hard people tried to knock her down. That lady had the courage of her convictions.
As for Nader, you don't drive any vehicle with safety features do you? And you probably cannot comprehend the humanist leanings of a person like Nader-He was way ahead of his time, but still fought for us all.
Michale Moore doesn't need me to defend him because if you can prove that anything he has ever included in a documentary is false, he will pay you a million dollars. Have you collected? If not, STFU.
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
Good riddance Conservatism, Hello Evil Right Wing Extremism.
Conservatism is a joke and is a failed and idiotic movement that sounds good on paper and was a simple stupid idea to get votes for the Republicans.
Hey, smaller Government, less taxes sounds good but doesn't stand up to to common sense, facts, and reality. We got so much 'bang for our buck' with taxes (fire, schools, police, retirement, military, roads, etc. etc. etc.)and with a Democratic Government we get efficient over site, and a good balance of capitalism with public/government services.
glad to see Amy Goodman mentioned in your post.
in my opinion, Democracy Now, and Amy Goodman's consistently excellent journalism are among the best sources of real news still available in the US.
i think, as many others have stated elsewhere, that the media elites are greatly promoting the precipitous drop in credibility of American conservatives (and especially that of Republicans) in the eyes of the world.
essentially what the media elites seem to be providing is a positive feedback loop that not only reminds every reasonable person on the planet of the lunacy that is the political party epitomized by George "the incurious" Bush but also that their next assault on out collective sanity will most assuredly be even more ludicrous than their last exhibition of collective mindlessness.
one of the things less mentioned looks to be the overall effect that this mindless confluence of journalistic lack of integrity and bad-faith issues promoted by conservative frauds will have on the future of the "news" outlets in the U.S.A.
(it would be about now that Billmon would draw some historical parallel and remind us all of the ways of historical repetition perpetuated by the historical exemplars of our collective idiocy.)
I wanted you to know that when I read yer post it came with a snotty parisian accent in my head. (Ie; I agreed)
"the Death of Conservatism"
Conservatism isn't dead. Glen Beck, O' Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity are all number one in the ratings. They have congresspeople that do any bidding that they please. They also have an opposition in the democratic party that is more than willing to bend over time and time again and beg for it in the keister.
I'm afraid they are gearing up for something real special. And we ain't gonna like it.
They're fascist propagandists, they do the bidding of those that sign their paychecks.
And there's no use in beating about the bush -- They have a goal. What they want is for Obama to die. They want the ****** dead.
How DARE an uppity ****** sit in the Oval Office?
*
My father was a conservative. He hated Ronald Reagan. Could not BELIEVE he would get elected. THAT brand of conservatism is nearly extinct. He'd never believe what's going on now in the re=Thug party.
Is this Conservatism dead? We can only hope. One thing is clear - it absolutely should die. It is the real threat to democracy.
Is Obama then our St. George to the Dragon? It'll be interesting.
*
Tedy Roosvelt was conservative. He started the National Park system. Ike was a conservative, He warned about the MIComplex. My pop loves Raygun, I avoid political discussion.
Let me fight off the wave of nausea...
OK he didn't say he was concerned but I expected someone
to say in TV style "I'm concerned about the behavior of
my fellow conservative republicans...I guess David Frum didn't
want to write another book concerning the future of *modern*
conservatism so it fell to this guy.
Frum, ex speechwriter for Bush,
wants to be the go-to conscience of conservatives to
take the heat off of Billy Kristol and Charley K
& fight the phony fight against Beck, Lev-in and Thavage.
He only makes me sick b/c I know what his act is about
b/c he has to do it every 8 yrs. People forget so easily.
Amy Goodman is excellent, and so is the Newshour. I like to watch Schuster, Olbermann, Maddow, because the "call" the right-wing on their lies, but of course, they are partisan.
How do you compete politically with the Goliath that is the corporate media? Media controls public perception by framing news presentation in such a way to benefit corporate interests. They over-cover ridiculous unfounded stories (Obamas birth certificate) while virtually ignoring important stories and issues (What percentage of Americans know Kucinich filed 35 articles of impeachment on Bush? Compare that to the percentage that know about Clinton being impeached over "lying" about a BJ)
The truth is the media controls what most people think, and they will always use that for their and corporate benefit. MSNBC seems to be the exception for now, but for how long? They need corporate advertising for survival.
Same thing with newspapers. The right-wing editorials out number moderate/progressive editorials 20 to 1 in the Indianapolis Star.
I feel like our only hope is an educated internet nation that spreads that knowledge to the masses. Truly grass roots.
I agree with most of your post. I don't think Msnbc is liberal though, they keep a known racist Pat Buchanon on, Joe Scraboro is a very vocal far right nut they put on every morning, and their coverage has a strong GE/Mic/Corporate slant as all teevee shows do. If we still had the fairness doctrine or something like that they would have to care for Americans. Right now it's keep the peons divided at all costs. That's their game right now and the corrupt march towards total fascism continues to my amazement.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. Albert Einstein
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