If Barack Obama ONCE, just ONCE denounced the sexism that has been heaped on his opponent I would have much more respect for him, and might even consider voting for him in the GE.
But he never does.
Posted by chrisc at April 24, 2008 08:08 PMi suggested a year or so ago
elsewhere
that there needed to be a congressional review in public under oath of the conduct of the network "news" folk.
my suggesting was to call, not the news men and women themselves, not the journalists,
but the heads of their corporations, their executive editors their producers, their writers
put those folk under oath and discover why news is skewed like it is.
this democracy simply cannot survive the extraordinary insouciance media talking heads and pundits, not to mention judy miller-style print journalists, display toward accurately informing citizens.
i would guess that matthews is a crippled individual, (so was joe mccarthy), but matthews is not the problem.
the problem is media corporations who look the other way at inaccurate, mendacious, sloppy, biased journalism on teeveee or in the newspapers and magazines.
i would like to see rupert murdoch, richard parsons, john walsh, and their successors, donald graham, "the nitwit" sulzberger, summner redstone, marty peretz, and dozens of others whose names are not on the end of my tongue at this moment,
appear in public,
under oath,
in the well of the congress
to be forced under relentless questioning to reveal to us how the flow of accurate political information has been corrupted by their corporations.
and yes,
matthews is misogynistic; but matthews is not the problem.
he could be fired in the time it takes to make a phone call, as could tom cruse.
the public is forced to endure inaccurate, misleading, propagandistic political reporting for no other reason than because there is no pressure on the corporations who produce this meirde to do anything different.
Posted by orionATL at April 24, 2008 08:22 PMSexism, sexism, sexism, the same cry used over and over again by Clinton supporters. It's as if their queen can't be attacked otherwise the PC whining will start.
I would also submit that if you want to refer to any network as misogynistic Fox not MSNBC should be at the top of your list. Oh, I forgot, Hillary's Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe has praised Fox. I guess they're the good guys now.
Posted by Upton at April 24, 2008 08:32 PMupton,
as civil and rational as we expect from you. oh, and obama's apparently going to be on fox, now. too bad. oh, and i guess sexism is okay with you. how impressive.
Posted by Turkana at April 24, 2008 08:35 PMEven though I've gone on record supporting Hillary, the longer this thing goes on the more amusing it becomes. It also showcases how fractured the Left truly is.
The first realistic female candidate vs. the first realistic black candidate, and no matter who you're against you get labeled as a sexist or a racist.
Now imagine the decision the superdelegates face. If they vote against the first black candidate, even though that candidate received more popular votes and more delegates, there is going to be some really hard feelings from the Obama supporters. And rightly so. In that situation, how can anyone label it anything other than racist?
They won't do it. That's why Hillary is out of it. She's not in the race anymore.
So where do the Hillary supporters go? Do they feel disenfranchized and sit out? Do they recognize that some of Hillary's centrism is readily available in McCain? And then maybe wait until 2012 and try again?
Interesting.
Posted by Muck at April 24, 2008 08:36 PMmuck,
if hillary doesn't win this year, she's not going to win in four years. and this post wasn't about clinton vs. obama, despite the usual from an obamabot. this post is about the media, and one network in particular. and if people are too unhinged to understand what i wrote, i have little patience for them. sexism and racism from the media are unacceptable, and the misogyny in the media could not be more clear.
Posted by Turkana at April 24, 2008 08:43 PMMuck... what a silly pseudonym, Rep. Clyburn!
Posted by magisterludi at April 24, 2008 08:46 PMif hillary doesn't win this year, she's not going to win in four years.
That's what they said about Nixon.
I think you're overreacting about "misogyny in the media." I think you're engaged in some rorschach-ing, and seeing what you want to see. And you're certainly entitled to have that opinion. I'm sure MSNBC has an email list where you can direct a complaint if you like.
I just pointed out at what I see is a bigger issue in 2008, and that's the labeling anyone receives for supporting one candidate over another.
If anyone on TV says something negative about Hillary, that's sexist. About Obama? Racist. And the media is left of center. That's the amusing part. Maybe Matthews can use the same excuse Hillary did about the sniper fire. He says millions of things everyday in the daily grind of TV, after all. He's bound to mix-up his words and misstate things from time to time.
Posted by Muck at April 24, 2008 09:03 PM>If they vote against the first black candidate, even though that candidate received more popular votes and more delegates,
Obama is extremely unlikely to have more votes when the primaries are over.
Posted by tdraicer at April 24, 2008 09:33 PMNot only are Shuster's comments sexist but also dumb, especially since MSNBC repeats over and over the Tweety laugh as if it were endearing; and now MSNBC can add Norah O'Donnell to their stable of laughing hyenas as well.
Posted by at April 24, 2008 09:38 PMIf Hillary campaigned in a burka, would her laugh be muffled down to an acceptable Tweety level?
Posted by TIKI AL at April 24, 2008 09:41 PMIf I, as a 60 year old male, can clearly see the sexism and misogyny anyone not seeing it is not perceptive or fooling themselves.
Posted by formerhoosier at April 24, 2008 09:55 PMyes, muck. media matters is always known for their bias. funny how anyone who doesn't hate clinton is wrong.
Posted by Turkana at April 24, 2008 11:17 PMI am not a fan of Obama's, I am not a fan of Hillary's, and neither for racist nor sexist reasons, but because I have problems with the history and record of each one of them in addition to their policies on Iraq, and other foreign policy and military issues (their ACTUAL policies, not just the sound bites about "withdrawal", which, if you look at their plans in detail, neither intends to seriously undertake).
Having said that, I find that hideous, derisive, insulting, artificial-sounding, overly-lengthy cackle that Hillary has unleashed a few times on opponents to be worthy of all the derision it has received, and that has nothing to do with sexism. Were a male politician to rear back his head and emitted such a sound, there should be cartoons and joke pens about that as well. It is unbecoming of a candidate for President of the United States. Period.
Posted by Shirin at April 24, 2008 11:37 PMI am not a fan of Obama's, I am not a fan of Hillary's, and neither for racist nor sexist reasons, but because I have problems with the history and record of each one of them in addition to their policies on Iraq, and other foreign policy and military issues (their ACTUAL policies, not just the sound bites about "withdrawal", which, if you look at their plans in detail, neither intends to seriously undertake).
Having said that, I find that hideous, derisive, insulting, artificial-sounding, overly-lengthy cackle that Hillary has a habit of unleashing on Obama and other opponents at carefully chosen moments to be worthy of all the derision it has received, and that has nothing to do with sexism. Were a male politician to rear back his head and emitted such a sound, there should be cartoons and joke pens about that as well. It is unbecoming of a candidate for President of the United States. Period. More importantly, if this is her way of responding to something in a debate, imagine how that will go over in a discussion with, say, a representative of Iran's government - oh, wait! She will never have such a discussion, will she. After all, she has recently announced her genocidal intention to obliterate Iran, hasn't she?
I think I want to look into obtaining a nice piece of real estate on the moon. This tiny village in Syria, from which I am typing this, is not far enough away from the increasing insanity of the United States government.
Posted by Shirin at April 24, 2008 11:46 PMI haven't heard HRC's "cackle" but I must say I know a few people with really annoying laughs, and it's irritating, but WTF, who cares? HRC's voice is pretty messed up from campaigning and speechifying. I would think only an idiot would worry about her "cackle" and her cleavage, and whatever other stupid shit the media obsesses on. The Dean Scream? That got us into a whole lotta shit, now didn't it?
Posted by Sharon at April 25, 2008 04:01 AMWow, this thread is really sad...especially when the people deny it and then use it to ridicule and defile her, if it walks like a sexist, and talks like a sexist...you know the rest.
Speakin of female bashing, there was a pundit/political analyst on cnn the other night (he came in later and took Donna Brazile's place I believe) who said of Hillary's victory in PA, "She's not ready to be put out to pasture yet"....classy.
The whole MiSogyNBC network is filled with beligerent males with some huge ego's and serious strong woman issues(I'm including KO too did you see him hold it back when he interviewed her -yet when she's not there, he goes off on her like there's no tomorrow...what a wanker).
And yes, the first commenter is correct, but don't expect it from him...remember he threw his pastor under the bus..and now his pastor is saying Obama's first and foremost a "politician".
Posted by emal at April 25, 2008 06:38 AMI wonder if Microsoft, MSNBC's co-parent, will stand by this grotesque derision of half its users.
Is it their official company policy to grant this forum to gratuitous bigotry? Would they allow the same kind of attack against a race or religion to stand?
I'm going to ask them, and urge anyone who uses MS products, to do the same.
Posted by Amelynde at April 25, 2008 06:42 AMOf course Tweety and a lot of the other blow-hard pundits display misogyny.
And if Obama wins the nomination then the korporate media will be giving their usual tongue bath to the ReThug nominee.
The pampered princes of the korporate media are looking out for the interests of korporations, not regular Americans.
Posted by Gay Veteran at April 25, 2008 11:24 AMCough...cough...
If you can't stand the heat you should get out of the kitchen. Hillary Clinton
Posted by phidipides at April 25, 2008 12:17 PMphid,
it's so charming seeing you obama supporters reveal your tolerance for misogyny.
Posted by Turkana at April 25, 2008 01:46 PM"I know a few people with really annoying laughs, and it's irritating, but WTF, who cares? HRC's voice is pretty messed up from campaigning and speechifying."
I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it is not an "annoying laugh" thing, or the quality of her voice, it is the sarcastic, derisive, arrogant purpose behind it. It is a particularly nasty, deeply disrespectful way to dismiss and belittle her interlocutors, and I do not find that kind of behaviour the least bit "presidential" whether it comes from a man or a woman. Further, it is a dishonest debate technique as it dismisses the interlocutor without rebutting on facts or logic. It certainly does not encourage me to expect a mature, measured reaction when discussing sensitive matters with international interlocutors.
Posted by Shirin at April 25, 2008 11:51 PM