TV: Trusting the audience versus attempting to manage it

It was Monday, which meant that Katie Halper and Matted Aaron were taking a break on USEFUL IDIOTS from promoting registered sex offender Scott Ritter to take a look at what happened Sunday on the chat and chews.  They call it work and, while we disagree, it is better than their constant platforming of a convicted pedophile.

Week after week, on YOUTUBE, very little work ever takes place.  Usually, a day or two -- or three -- after some news event takes place, you'll see Jimmy Dore, Jackson's Hinkle, Katie Halper, Sabby  Sabs and others try to offer their version of a "hot take."  They call them "hot takes" on THE VIEW and the reason for that is the hosts on that show are offering takes on news that had just happened -- as opposed to a take on something that might be, for example, six days old.  

For the most part, YOUTUBERs ignore Congressional hearings.  For the most part?  If one of their friends -- such as transphobe Matt Taibbi -- testifies to Congress, they'll suddenly be interested in Congress . . . for a day or two.

The hope with independent media has always been that it would allow for more coverage of issues and events -- especially those ignored by the corporate media.  There is the hope and then there is the reality.  It's never really done that.  PACIFICA RADIO?  Public affairs programs is pretty much all that they offer. FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS was an actual news program.  When it had budget issues, there was no call to support it or save it.  It was just allowed to die.  Contrast that with SUNDAY SALON.  That dull and conventional wisdom program was always under this threat or that threat and we were always being told that we the listeners had to save it and save Larry Bensky's job.  They raised a lot of money with the claims that it was under threat -- the repeated claims.  But the reality is that program ran for a long time -- too long -- and only 'died' in the end because Larry wanted to retire.  

THE NATION, THE PROGRESSIVE, YES, et al?  They're mainly opinion journals.  And THE NATION is a lot like KPFA in that there is dead weight that needs to go.  The original Karen, for instance, should have been nudged out the door long ago.  We're referring, of course, to portly 'poetess' Katha Pollitt.   She has no wisdom to share.  She has no writing style. and her takes have so often been racist.  The NAACP, please understand, does not need a White woman telling them what to do.  And she was wrong to call them out for their demands for better representation in the media.  It takes a Karen, a paunchy Karen who thinks she looks cute when she confesses to stalking an ex.  Katha has nothing to offer and that's been clear for some time.

 

It would probably also help to stop 'sharing.'  Dave Zirin, for example, should be as exclusive not someone who regularly writes columns for both THE NATION and THE PROGRESSIVE.  

THE NATION likes to point to their work regarding the Cuba missile crisis.  Over and over.  And while we might be impressed, we always remember that 1963 is a long, long way from 2023.  Or, as the question's put to Janet Jacskson in the video, "I know he used to do nice stuff for you but what has he done for you lately?"

After that?  Blogs were supposed to be the answer.  And not only were they going to provide more news coverage, they were also going to hold politicians accountable.  But the reality quickly became that they saw their duty not only as corralling voters but also as raising funds for political campaigns.

If for instance DAILY KOS had raised all that money to address homelessness instead of electing a bunch of do-nothing politicians, would the country be better off today?

 

THE VANGUARD sees itself as a humor program with Zac confessing recently that he's always saying something he thinks is funny and will then tell co-host Gavin he's going to use it on the program and he noted that Gavin still acts like he's hearing it for the first time.  Which is fine.  If you're not being pompous, do whatever you want.  We say "pompous" instead of "not serious" because THE VANGUARD hosts are very serious about the issues they believe in.  They can be funny and they can be serious and they're not pretending to be journalists or wonks.  Good for them.

Is there anyone less serious and more pompous than Briahna Joy Gray?  

She is the Rachel Maddow of YOUTUBE with all that entails.  She 'debates' on her show and pretends that's a good thing.  It's just Bri-Bri trying to flaunt what passes for intelligence while enforcing both-side-ism.  No, Bri-Bri, there are not always two sides to an issue.  Sometimes, there are many more sides than two and sometimes there's only one side.  Bri-Bri tries our patience when she brings on, for example, a known racist and tries to tell society that we need to listen to the racist.  No, we don't.  The verdict's been in on racism -- a bad thing -- for centuries now.  There's nothing of value that will be gleaned by platforming, for example, Charlie Kirk.  

Nor is there any point to platforming Medea Benjamin to talk about a peace movement.  Medea pulls a lot of stunts and makes a lot of statements and, naturally, does a lot of press.  Media Benjamin would have been a far better moniker for Susan Danaher.  Or even just Me-Me-Me because her stunts do not promote peace, they only promote her.

We've long called out their racism (how many times are they allowed to say "we're working on diversity" before you respond, "You've had over two decades, put up or shut up."), their lack of progress and/or success and their general fake assery.  We're not the only ones.  Back in April of 2009, Megan Carpentier (JEZEBEL) noted:

Code Pink was a protest organization founded by Medea Benjamin to encourage (mostly) women opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to make their voices heard by politicians and the media. Times have changed. Now?

They're still opposed to the war, and to campus recruitment, to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and to the bail-out — the big issue of the day — and basically anything else that gets their faces on TV. Benjamin argues that having a continued media presence by chasing the issue of the day around Capitol Hill hearing rooms allows them to get more attention for their signature issue — the wars. Other people disagree.

Ivan Eland, director of the Independent Institute's Center on Peace & Liberty, thinks that the anti-war group, and some others like it, suffer from the nonprofit version of the bureaucratic politics theory, "where the organization becomes the end goal."

In other words, the goal isn't to change anything in particular, it's to continue to be able to protest things. Even Congressman Barney Frank — a vocal anti-war advocate himself — is sick of their shit and told them so in a hearing they interrupted last week.

In the manner of a had-it-up-to-here schoolteacher, Frank told the activists to "act their age."

"I do not know how you think you could advance any cause to which you might be attached by this kind of silliness," Frank said.

[. . .]

Code Pink was — at its inception — a good idea, which is why it gained prominence. It wasn't about jeering politicians for the sake of jeering politicians, or protesting something for the sake of protesting anything. It was about giving women prominence in the anti-war debate, about reclaiming the color pink in an aggressive way, and about trying to end what its members viewed as an unjust and unjustifiable war. But 6 years later, with one war drawing to a supposed end, and a popular new President scaling up the other (and most Americans seemingly in favor of him doing so), their stop-the-war shtick is no longer popularly unpopular, it's just shtick.

It's shtick because there doesn't seem to be any ideology or issue or even thought that their silly dress and deliberately ham-handed protests are subversively getting you to pay attention to. Their strategy is to get attention, to follow the cameras if the cameras won't follow them and to be seen while being against things, rather than for anything, or helpful to anything. It's the middle-aged equivalent of the professional college-age protester, all white kid dreds and puppets and unfocused rage at the system. And it gives me another reason to dislike pink.

As THE MONTEREY HERALD noted in 2008, CODESTINK and Medea regularly lie and then fall back on "it was a joke!"  But there's nothing funny about their nonsense

There's so much more we could note.  Bri-Bri brought her on and either knew nothing or just didn't care.   Medea whined about talks being cancelled. She doesn't realize how loathed she is.  It has nothing to do with the goals -- or the goals she pretends to care about.  It has everything to do with her seizing the spotlight and, once she has it, defocusing.  There was her outreach effort to the right-wing in 2009.  She'd given up on the left, she explained, and she needed to focus on the right.  They would have her on their shows and they would still rebuke her.

The title of the segment is "Why there's no peace movement from the left in America" and Medea could certainly speak to that.  She doesn't want to.  She doesn't want to and Bri-Bri's not going to force her.

One of the biggest critiques is about how she and CODESTINK regularly drop the issue of peace to chase after some 'hot topic' item which Medea insists is important for publicity.

Publicity is not going to bring peace.  Publicity just gives Medea more attention and, all this time later, isn't it sad that CODESTINK's legacy is going to be the promotion of Medea Bejamin?

How stupid is Bri-Bri?  (Not that stupid, she's more of a huckster -- we'll get to it.)  

Medea went on and on about Ukraine and how we have to work to end the war and force Joe Biden to the negotiations table.  Change the location of the war and the name of the world leader and we heard this on Iraq.  

That is what destroyed the US peace movement.  

Barack Obama.  

CODESTINK's Jodie Evans was a bundler for Barack.  To make sure he got the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, she harnessed the rank-in-file to 'bird dog' Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.  Oh, and she forgot to tell anyone that she was a bundler for Barack.

The so-called peace movement -- or as these fakes preferred, 'anti-war movement' -- was turned into a get-out-the-vote for Barack Obama.  And people remember this.  CODEPINK does not poll well today.  Even with all the pimping and publicity  and the easy interviews from Katie and Bri-Bri and so many others, CODEPINK does not poll well.  

People came of age with the Iraq War.  They remember CODEPINK statements about ending the war and they then remember how CODEPINK just walked away.  US troops remain on the ground in Iraq.  CODEPINK will use the Iraq War each and every anniversary because the press is paying attention.  They will use that ongoing war then to get publicity for themselves.

And if Bri-Bri gave a damn about ending any war, she would have realized that you can't glorify CODESTINK.  It is the problem.

Last Friday, BLACK POWER MEDIA offered a segment entitled "A Green Party Response to Cornel West."  It was entertaining -- as BPM usually is -- and it was informative -- again, as BPM usually is.  However, it was also groundbreaking.  Reality is not allowed on YOUTUBE.  But somehow, we got some.

 

 

It was served up by Kamilah Harris and Renee Johnston as they spoke with Dr Jared Ball about the Green Party.  Jill Stein?  Not liked.  Not liked in the rank-in-file.  And people are asking about the 2016 bill she left the Green Party with and why she continues to receive funds.  

In fact, tea was getting spilled left and right.  A long code of silence was exposed.  Bri-Bri?  She got name checked.  The Medicare For All campaign that Jimmy Dore was promoting.  People jumped on it and Bri-Bri was one of them.  Renee  pointed out that there was the whole issue of why are they just focused on The Squad as opposed to pushing all Democrats in the House to support Medicare For All: "Why are we only trying to force a few people to support this? Why aren't we going after all the people who claimed they would sign on to Force The Vote?"  That is a good point.  We learned that this 'spontaneous' movement wasn't so spontaneous -- and that Jimmy Dore pocketed money -- money raised for that cause but not spend on it.  "Nothing came of it," Kamilah noted, except a tiny march in DC with Jackson Hinkle. 

This group was previously activated with regards to The People's Party -- Jimmy, Bri-Bri, Cindy Sheehan, serial plagiarist Chris Hedges . . .

The People's Party was not accountable to the people and refused to be answerable to their so-called membership.  "Nobody was elected to this top board, by the way," Kamilah explained.  "Nick Brana appointed everyone to this board." Pressuring for accountability led to scripting on what could be said at the meeting with the top board.  Another response?  Appointing Cornel West and Jimmy Dore to the board.  No, there was no input from members.  Nick just made another decision yet again.  

Listen and note how the same group of people keep popping up -- behind the scenes -- Bri-Bri, Jimmy Dore, Jill Stein, Cornel West, serial plagiarist Chris Hedges, Medea Benjamin, etc etc.  As Jared pointed out, "the same people caught up in it.  You've got Chris Hedges, you've got Cornel West, you've got Jimmy Dore, you've got talented microphoned, you know, spokespeople.  You got somewhat celebrity -- football players, who ever." 

Darryl LC Moch (chair of the Green Party's Black Caucus)  joined the discussion briefly and he noted how the MPP tried to meet up with the Green Party and Peace & Justice and other third parties -- "In terms of trying to build a national front and to move the conversation and to work better together in some ways without tearing each other apart."  Why, Darryl, asked were they trying to build a new party when they had the Green Party already with ballot access. 

Darryl was the one who came up with the notion of the Green Party doing a shadow government and it was noted that when Jill Stein later ran with the idea (we'll note she did so without crediting Darryl for it), that she couldn't even do that correctly.  She created a shadow government or announced she had but failed to follow through -- the plan was to present what the Green Party would be doing so that you could show the differences between the Democratic Party and the Green Party. And no one's being gifted with the nomination, not Cornel, not anyone, "We not handing you s**t.  You've got to do the work. .. . You've still got to earn it. "

 

Jill Stein, Chris Hedges and Ajamu Baraka were called out for their underhanded maneuvers. "Just be real with the public," Kamilah Harris said with exasperation.  "There's a whole lot of this that should be discussed, that should be part of the process," Renee Johnston noted.

 

Reality, Cornel is not even a candidate for the Green Party's presidential nomination.  Not only is he not the nominee, he's not really even a candidate.  He has filed no papers, no one has yet.  Which is what Darryl tried to walk viewers through as he said point blank, "We have no recognized candidates at this time."  And then, "We are nowhere near the nomination yet."

The sainted Jill Stein.  When did that happen by the way?  She was a lousy campaigner in 2012 and in 2016.  Oh, that's right.  This same group embraced her because they need to take on Russia-gate but couldn't without her because they are that pathetic.  And that's why they can't -- and won't -- tell you -- whether it's Katie Insipid Halper or whomever -- that Jill's not popular in the Green Party.  A two-time loser, she's not popular.  Kamilah noted all the rumors currently swirling around her (including that she's trying to get on the Green Party ticket again but this time as the vice presidential nominee). These things come up because she is so hated and because her actions are so questionable. 

 

"After 2016, the campaign she ran with Ajamu Baraka ended up in debt, " Kamilah explained. And "she's still collecting money from her principal campaign committee through the FEC. Like they just had a report that she had just brought in, already in the first quarter,  over $14,000."  And, as Renee pointed out, she's involved to this day in a lawsuit with the FEC.  But let's not talk about that, let's ignore real issues and all be whores like Katie Halper.

These behind the scenes tricksters.   The first time we called out Jimmy Dore, we gave him the benefit of the doubt.  We thought he wasn't seeing his own hypocrisy.  He was seeing it, he just didn't give a damn.  We're talking about his 2020 and 2021 whines that the Green Party did not make Jesse Ventura their presidential nominee. Now 2016 saw the Democratic Party fix the primary to benefit Hillary Clinton.  And some Democrats found that outrageous. Then in 2020, Barack Obama and others orchestrated the mass exodus to ensure that Joe Biden got the nomination.  So to hear him say that Jesse should have been given the nomination?  This wasn't a misunderstanding on Jimmy's part.  He truly believed that Jesse, who refused to run for the nomination, should have just been given it.  Why?  Because Jimmy knows best, Jimmy knows better and you damn well better go along with him -- that is his attitude. And that's why you need to pay attention to all the backdoor deals and efforts that they are participating in because they don't believe in democracy, they don't believe people should have a say, they believe people should be told what to do and told what to think.

 

Last week, BLACK POWER MEDIA trusted their audience and it's really sad that we think they deserve a standing ovation for that.  Taking nothing away from BPM, why in the world are we wanting to stand up and cheer for BPM doing what everyone should be doing?  Why?  Because no one else seems to want to do it.  No one else seems to actually trust their audience.