LeeAbe
1807
Two of those no longer have shows on TV. Not sure the others have that huge of ratings to matter.
And therein may lie the answer. The conservative right has essentially bludgeoned Middle America with a constant stream of talk, “news” and theories designed to play on their fears. They intersperse this with funny memes and a marked religious bent to broaden the appeal. It’s going to be more difficult to maintain this now that they are the party in power. You can’t rail against the establishment all the time when YOU control the establishment.
The left is not going to be able to play on Middle America’s fears like the right did, people aren’t going to buy into it. Instead, the left needs to wage a war of education, but without making it appear as if they’re attempting to educate Middle America. This can be done with comedy. If late-night TV, Facebook, Youtube and social media are all inundated with clips from comedians and others who are making jokes about the current administration while at the same time educating their viewers about WHY something that’s happening is bad and worthy of disdain, then the viewer will not just laugh along with it, but come away thinking they are smart for having understood the joke. Jon Oliver’s bits are a fantastic example of this. The comedy draws them in, the education stays with them. 4 years of that kind of media saturation and you will have a slightly smarter electorate, and slightly smarter is all it will take to swing the election back again.
@slaintemhath, I like your way of thinking but you are much more of an optimist than I am.
I’m not sure I have that much faith in the American people to receive and internalize said education.
None
1810
My concern is how long people like John Oliver will have a voice before they are suppressed.
Scuzz
1811
The only thing that will suppress Oliver is ratings.
You can, though. “This current mess is Obama’s fault. It’s the fault of the Democrats in Congress blocking legislation. It’s the fault of the system the libtards set up that spends our tax dollars on Medicaid and schooling for illegal immigrants. It’s the fault of the liberals on the Supreme Court. Etc.” Just look at how willfully they ignore evidence of global warming.
MikeJ
1813
I don’t think writing it off as stupidity really works. My parents would be on the left wing by US standards, but I still get still get forwarded emails from them that frankly make them look like idiots. Yet I know from a lifetime of conversation that it’s not true.
There just seems to be something about the media environment that they react way too credulously to things that are pitched a certain way. Maybe they grew up in an era where you could trust the news more or something. It’s like they don’t consider the possibility that this stuff is being crafted to press their buttons. Stuff that to me screams manipulation seems to slip past their filters.
Also, I do see that sort of manipulative information coming from the left as well, and those are just the ones that I can notice. How much just slips through my blind spots? I do worry that all discourse will descend into battles between memes that are highly evolved to undermine rational defenses. Truly, “to see what’s in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle”.
Soma
1814
John Oliver shows exactly what’s wrong with leftwing propaganda. Most of the time he is harmless fun, but his make-Trump-Drumpf-again campaign is insidious. He should not have fought xenophobia with xenophobia. He should have called out Trump’s hypocrisy by playing it straight. You don’t fight fire with fire. And I’m pretty sure Jon Stewart wouldn’t have done the same thing. He would have just mined the hypocrisy for laughs without incitement.
(And it is no surprise that his Trump-Drumpf play didn’t work: immigrants from Europe aren’t taken to be “them”. John Oliver himself is an immigrant from UK and nobody in the street would ask him to go home, because by default white people are taken to be “us”. Brown people will by default be taken to be “them”.)
And the blurring of fact with fiction is dangerous, from rightwing or leftwing. I look that the Michelle Obama meme “An immigrant is taking my job” and for a second I thought it WAS real, then I remember that pose comes from her real #BringBackOurGirls campaign. And Snopes confirmed my suspicion. If people really believe that Michelle Obama really said those ironic comments, even if it serves to expose Trump’s hypocrisy, it is still a disservice to the fight for truth and reason in public discourse, a fight waged since Socrates and Plato.
PS: I’m not saying Socrates and Plato’s politics is all sunshine and happiness, I’m just saying using propaganda in public discourse is a step back, not forward.
Just for fun, let’s hear what you think is wrong with right wing propaganda.
Timex
1817
We covered this previously.
That is not, by any stretch of imagination, xenophobia. Making fun of the fact that it’s ironic that a guy badmouthing immigrants, is the son of an immigrant, is not xenophobic.
Quaro
1818
Talking to Trump supporters is depressing OMG. Rich 60 year old dudes sipping wine in a fancy hotel lobby talking about how the crime rate is the worst in their lifetimes. You try to say, it’s not, it’s really not, but you just can’t get past their wall of Sean Hannity every day telling them that. We really are post-truth. Are we just totally screwed?
This guy is clearly smart and rational but just can not be convinced crime is completely out of control.
Soma
1819
So I guess you have read this from WP?
It is not xenophobic in so far as the intention is ironic. But the tactics are all the same: to belittle and vilify. If it is not ok for Donald Trump to belittle and vilify immigrants, then why is it ok for John Oliver to belittle and vilify Donald Trump’s ancestors?
And calling people by their chosen name is simple human decency. Even if Trump doesn’t want to give that to Jon Stewart, it doesn’t mean that we should do the same to Trump. An eye for an eye leaves the world blind.
Timex
1820
Yes, we read that. It’s not a legitimate argument. It’s wrong.
Nothing that John Oliver said, in any way, belittled any immigrant.
Feel free to try and make a coherent case explaining exactly what you believe John Oliver said which attacked immigrants.
But Snopes is part of the liberal media conspiracy…
Clay
1822
Timex
1823
It seems like ignoring the vote and making him gunshot would be pretty insane and unprecedented.
The boards of elections seems to be pretty uniformly resisting challenges, and there has been a lot of public comment on the Tuesday meeting plan. It portends to be about how much they can change the rules after the election, to discount votes. Which seems a crazy thing to be discussing, or soliciting public input on. Maybe they should be talking to lawyers.
A couple of ® legislators are on record now denying there is any change planned to the courts. Lets hope they don’t.
It makes me sick to my stomach. While I don’t think Cooper can get a lot done due to how stacked the state is it will be a great relief once he is sworn in. If he isn’t, and if it is due to McCrory stealing the election, I hope we have an honest-to-goodness 24/7 Argentina style banging pots non-stop protest outside the Governor’s Mansion.
There’s actually a protest planned in front of the governor’s mansion by Equality NC tomorrow evening at 6PM, @BigWeather, @sillhouette, @Alstein, @clay, @Skipper (haha, my North Carolinian Qt3er list is the larger!).
I almost certainly can’t make it due to my need to go fail a Calc 3 test, but maybe some of y’all can go out.
Goddamn this state, the people in it, and the politicians running it make me sick.
