Wait … what’s this? MSNBC and Microsoft are having a divorce over ideology? Imagine that. Remember when I spoke on progressive (renamed regressive) ideology, and their constant need to recast their ideology? In case you don’t:
“The history of communists and socialists and leftists and liberals is never to take ownership of their past. If one remembers, the Democrat Party is the party of slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism. They are very diligently always trying to rework the unworkable and trying to recast their ideology into some new mold by calling it new names… modifying it, softening it, making it acceptable.”
And yesterday comes news from the heavily liberal slanted “The Daily Beast” announcing:
NBC, Microsoft Getting Online Divorce
by Howard Kurtz Jul 11, 2012 2:10 PM EDT
MSNBC.com to be rebranded under deal
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/11/nbc-microsoft-getting-online-divorce.html
Now there is no question about Tina Brown – she is an Obama sycophant, but the interesting thing (probably much more interesting than the article itself) is that this article is written by the much maligned Howard Kurtz who has a history of slanting both ways as a “freelance” writer, eventually settling here with Ms. Brown. His liberalism (in true liberal fashion) is exposed in his much buried text:
“…as the MSNBC channel has forged a separate identity as the liberal home of Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and others, the company has worried about the brand confusion caused by its straight-news site bearing the same name.”
Yep, there it is. The rebranding of the name I have discussed before.
Now here is the obvious question … Why in the world would NBC concern itself with brand confusion with MSNBC? Could it be the evolving (thank you Obama for giving us this wonderful word) spin over at MSNBC? Something is amiss.
Like I have said before-people get sick of lies, especially in politics. This is yet another side effect of the empire of disingenuity that “Team Obama” has sold the liberals on. Even they are beginning to see that he does not care about them. After having investing their lives in hopes of a president such as Obama, his deception is beginning to embarrass them, and now those that aren’t as in deep are beginning to distance themselves from this cancerous President.
Stay tuned folks, there’s more to come, and the next four months is going to exciting (and saddening) to watch. This is shaping up to be the ugliest Presidential race in our history. And to NBC news, I say :
Hmmm…
Well… bye.
Sorry, Augger, NBC isn’t going anywhere. It has the top-ranked nightly news program, and–like the nightly news programs on both CBS and ABC–it draws a far bigger audience than anything on Fox News, CNN or MSNBC. The entertainment programming draws far more yet, of course.
The Internet site, msnbc.com, also isn’t going anywhere. It’s typically one of the top half-dozen sites on the Web in terms of visitors.
MSNBC, on the other hand is being renamed. Maybe it will even go away, though I doubt it. I would consider it to be no great loss. (We’d be better off with no cable news than what we have now, and most Americans agree–”reality programming” on the History Channel gets bigger audiences.)
MSNBC has been mismanaged from the start. First it wanted to be like CNN, then like Fox News. Remember when Tucker Carlson and Joe Scarborough were prime time MSNBC hosts, Donahue got booted despite having the most popular show on the network, and Michael Savage had an MSNBC show?
Predictably, that also failed, and so MSNBC decided to go the opposite route. Unfortunately liberal audiences aren’t nearly as much into screaming and pomposity as conservative viewers.
“Sorry, Augger, NBC isn’t going anywhere.” – I do not require your apology. It’s not my assertion. If you feel the desperate need to apologize to anyone, you might want to contact Howard Kurtz. It’s his article. Shouldn’t be too hard for you to talk with him after all, he’s on your progressive/socialist side of the field.
Now if you would care to discuss the ever rebranding/recasting of liberal/progressive/communist/socialist/leftist ideology, then I am all ears. I’d love to see if your clever enough to put a new twist on that.
I said “sorry,” because I thought you sounded hopeful about the demise of NBC, and that you’d be disappointed by reality.
“Shouldn’t be too hard for you to talk with him after all, he’s on your progressive/socialist side of the field.”
Yep, we libs all have each other on speed dial. If I disagree with him, though, doesn’t that screw up your idea that we’re all alike?
“I’d love to see if your clever enough to put a new twist on that.”
Nope, barely clever enough to discuss the ever rebranding/recasting of conservative/neo-conservative/libertarian/fundamentalist/fascist/right-wing ideology. Sorry about that.
Nah, haven’t watched either channel since what … early 80s? I do not spend very much time at all on television. Why watch some other fool live their lives, when you can set about living yours?
“Why watch some other fool live their lives, when you can set about living yours?”
Amen to that. And for political knowledge, reading is a much better option that anything on television or radio.
So what do you do if your a progressive, in the Obama camp, and realize that you just got smacked on the job outsourcing claim?
You do what any whack-a-doodle self severing pathological liberal/progressive lying machine would do …
You tout the man as a felon.
Yeah, that smarts, huh?
Romney campaign says Obama spokeswoman ‘demeans’ the presidency with Bain charges
http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/12/12703094-romney-campaign-says-obama-spokeswoman-demeans-the-presidency-with-bain-charges?lite
Presidential rivals trade charges of lying, Romney demands apology over ‘felony’ remark
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/12/presidential-rivals-trade-charges-lying-romney-demands-apology-over-felony/
“self severing”?
Wow, that sounds painful.
But I don’t understand the relevance to the post. Or did you just not want to do a new one?
No James, it was actually meant to be in this thread (I’m all thumbs some days (huntington’s disease): http://therionorteline.com/2012/07/12/death-throes/
It’s called shifting the goalposts, James. When you refute a point, these guys pretend that wasn’t the point they were trying to make anyway
No Greg, it isn’t. I mean I hate to burst your bubble before your third cup of coffee, or your morning throne sitting … but it’s actually a post intended for Utah’s thread, that was accidentally posted here by myself.
Nothing to see here, no conspiracy for you to muse over…. move along, these aren’t the droids your looking for.
Third, on both counts
Augger, I should have known, as you are the least guilty of the crime I describe.
Greg, unlike you communists, socialists, leftists and liberals … I take ownership of my faults (and have done so many times here … recently in fact, and I think with you). I have absolutely no desire to soften my positions, or recast my words to make them more acceptable.
Will I sit on here, and do the very same thing you people do? You damn right, and you want to know one big reason why? Because it is incedibly fun to watch you guys get your feelings hurt when your same tactics are directed back at you. While in liberal boot camp, kindergarden, or where-ever else you get your indoctrination … Alinsky and other’s forgot to teach you, Obama, and the rest of the sychopants one thing … and that’s how to emotionally cope with the same tactics used against you.
You’d better do some more throning, Augger, get it all out of your system.
I am actually pretty good to go on the ‘throne” … Greg.
Just remember that when you go to throne, you wipe front to back.
How did you know that?
I’m in healthcare Greg.
“I take ownership of my faults”
In fact, judging by your random overgeneralized ad hominems, you take pride in them. Congrats.
I actually do James … because it is very different to think like someone you are the polar opposite of. For instance ..
The next time you teach a class (next semester I suppose), task your students to write an in-class response paper to an article written by a right leaning author. Use any of Malkin’s articles (she’s generally concise in her prose). Watch your students as they move forward.
Those leaning to the left will immediately know what to say, and their fingers will start flying. Papers will be printed, and handed in, in short order.
Those leaning to the right will be dumb-struck. They will sit around for quite some time trying to figure out how to refute, or expand on the main point, or talking points of the article. Some will even gripe about the slant of the assignment, but that’s ok. You will be able to easily pick them out.
It’s hard for a conservative to think like a liberal, and I am pretty proud of the fact that I have spent years dealing with those like the old buggerthat, Greg, and yourself. You guys teach me a lot, and I thank you.
That actually sounds like an interesting exercise, though I don’t think it would be as cut and dried here; most of my students are pretty conservative (and both liberals and conservatives are most are more thoughtful than in the two previous institutions where I taught). Thanks for the idea.
An exercise I do use from time to time is to take a case where someone from one side or the other has done something that I think many students will find offensive, then change the names so that it looks like it’s coming from the other side before I share the story and ask for reactions. After we hash it through, I show them the real version and ask how/if that changes anything.
“You guys teach me a lot, and I thank you.”
Same to you. I’ve spend most of my life surrounded by conservatives. Most of them are pretty good folks, even if they’re wrong a lot.
You just reminded me of a blog I read where the fella put up all these quotes from Obama’s book, but stated that it was from Palin’s book. It was very funny to read all the vitriol, and then have them be stunned when he revealed the true author.
I’ve found it’s also a good way to check on our own biases and hypocrisy at times. Another recent example I saw was someone who had put Fox News headlines on a fake New York Times page.
I get the point, really I do. But its the lie of it that is hard for me to swallow. How do you rationalize doing something like that?
But, A., it serves a purpose in that it is a lesson in observing objectively, or perhaps a lesson in doing one’s own research. Fortunately, I have you boys to aid me with respect to that.
That rationale just teaches me not to trust the teacher to teach me the truth.
“just teaches me not to trust the teacher to teach me the truth”
I understand the point, but since I’m a liberal, isn’t distrusting the teacher what you’d want them to do?
In fact, that’s part of the lesson–that we should all check our assumptions and not automatically trust any single source, especially before you then go on to repeat the story. That’s especially true when a story strongly reinforces or contradicts our own biases. Even honest sources make mistakes, but one of the problems with the blogosphere is that lies/errors can go so far so fast. And of course in journalism or public relations (the fields most of my students are studying for), simple mistakes can get you sued and/or fired.
One other thing I’d note: I teach small classes in a small highly relational school where most students call most faculty by their first names. And I don’t do the exercise until late enough in a semester that the students have had a chance to develop trust in me and each other. No one feels stupid for speaking up, because we all have a relationship together, hopefully by them we’ve all been challenged a time or two (and I’ve told them the story about teaching an entire three-hour class with the front of my shirt hanging out of my fly, so they know they can’t embarrass themselves any more in my classroom than they already have).
Finally, I’ve also done the exercise in presentations where I don’t have that same relationship, so I change it up a bit then. I simple present the incorrect “facts” and ask them to reflect on their own feelings and what they think it means. Then, without having anyone speak out (and therefore risk embarrassment), I present the real facts and ask them to reflect briefly on whether their feelings change. Depending on the setting, I may then ask if anyone wants to share their thoughts–and virtually always someone does talk about how their biases affected what they saw/heard, as others nod in agreement.
Keep in mind, I tell any group the right answer after the discussion, so they’re not left with the lie. And as a teacher I (like most modern college profs) don’t view my role as the “sage on the stage,” anyway, expecting to simply feed students a litany of “facts.” I’m more of a “guide on the side,” and we’re all learning together.
James … the moral avoidance (at least in my mind) could be achieved by listing in the course description that this particular exercise could happen in the class at a random time.
If it really is that great an example, why not write it in to the lesson plan?
Oops–”than they already have” should be “than I already have.”
“the moral avoidance (at least in my mind) could be achieved by listing in the course description that this particular exercise could happen in the class at a random time.”
Perhaps. But then students might not participate as fully in every discussion up until then, figuring, “this might be the time” (assuming they actually remembered what was in the syllabus, which they often don’t even when it comes to assignments–I offer regular reminders). Besides, media and other sources don’t give them advance warning when they offer incomplete or incorrect information, intentionally or otherwise.
For me, it’s also a case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The students actually rate the exercise highly, none has ever voiced a negative comment about it (I’ve been doing it for years), I’ve won the school’s top award for creative teaching, and I get very good course evaluations (despite having mostly conservative students who know I’m a liberal). But you have raised an interesting point, and after I do the exercise the next time I’ll raise your point and ask them about it.
I don’t think that would be necessary. I see your point. Granted, in my profession I shoot straight arrows at all times (the patient’s deserve no less), so maybe your exercise is no different (the students need to be prepared in this fashion).
It does however, set up an interesting conundrum if you try to wrap your mind around it too much.
Interesting indeed, and I like discussing teaching and how I might do it better, so thanks for raising the point and talking through it with me.
SBJ, it takes a strong moral code not to push your beliefs on a younger mind. I was constantly graded poorly for disagreeing with the profs’ opinions. So I took matters into my own hands: I slept with them and received A’s. (Yes, I didn’t play by the rules, but neither did they.)
Bad behavior by the profs, indeed. And I’ve encountered a number of bad profs in my time in academia, of course, but am blessed to be at a place that emphasizes and values good teaching and the open exchange of ideas. I also take pride in the fact that some of my current friends are former students. And I haven’t slept with any of them.
I’ve even had conservative students come to my defense on blogs where the comments got much nastier than they do here. I’m a tough grader, but I blind grade major papers and exams to avoid the chance that bias might come into play. I’m less likely to be biased against a conservative student, though, than one who is just lazy or obnoxious–fortunately, we don’t get many of those.
So… the Hispanic guy, with African-Americans in his family, who tutors AA kids on his own dime… he’s NOT a racist? So Sharpton/MSNBC et al lied? What a bunch of hacks.
They should reimburse the taxpayers for those TEN (10!) FBI agents who wasted their time running around Central Florida investigating this case.
George Zimmerman Case’s Newly Released Evidence Suggests No Racial Bias
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/george-zimmerman-case_n_1669153.html
Oh, and where’s E. Holder on this one?
Yeah …..
And just for fun … Could ole HP be on to something here? lol
Chrissy Lance, 37, Is Panhandling For Breast Implants In A Bikini In Ohio (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/chrissy-lance-panhandling-breast-implants_n_1671417.html?ncid=mobile5&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
If I may ask (and obviously you don’t have to answer) will you please tell me your symptoms of this Huntington’s disease? Also, I should like to know if you have inquired into (gasp!) homeopathic therapy. If I’m being too personal, just tell me no comment. (There are many things that I won’t speak on here…..)
So far, fine motor coordination, and heart disease. No, there is no evidence in clinical trials to support the efficacy of homeopathy in the treatment of Huntington’s disease.
I constantly spent my half an hour to read this web site’s content daily along with a cup of coffee.