CNN is starting to feel like Fox News “lite”—not as blatantly untruthful, but still skirting the edges of reality. Just watch Kaitlan Collins interview Markwayne Mullin a few months ago, as he twists talking points into pretzels while she smiles for the camera and lets him ramble on uninterrupted for minutes at a time. Who on the Democratic side is ever given that kind of airtime to spin?
Or take Scott Jennings, who reliably bends himself into knots to defend anything Trump-related. This is what gets passed off as “journalism” while the fourth estate is quietly eroded in front of us.
Thanks again, Mike. It’s more food for thought—even if it leaves a bad taste, given the grotesque moment we’re living through.
This is brilliant. It’s the way you focus on how well liberals have been trained to do this. It makes me feel a bit hopeless though. I hope somebody joins you in pushing back.
Yes the climate is utterly reactionary and abhorrent so even slightly leftist commentators must pre condemn their side. But CNN has become, a much more right wing, cautious network careful not to offend their rich right wing bosses who have vowed to be more “inclusive” of conservative opinion to avoid Trump’s ire. Their nonexistent coverage of the Gaza genocide and uncritical reporting on Israel show’s unmitigated bias. Expect the appalling obeisance to the political right to mirror the journalistic collapse of CBS with the Ellison (Zionist) takeover in the works. Stories will be skewed to the right because jobs, money, and prestige are all at stake for everyone working at CNN.
Many thanks for comfort as we grind our teeth out here in the "legacy news" swamp. We can't hope to rebound from this fascist catastrophe until well-meaning "leftish" pundits stop confusing their moral high ground with ammunition to win. "Going high" doesn't quite make the grade. Someone, please jab dear Van with a hat pin.
If you're going to worry about dehumanization, it's not just something done to others. Those around Trump have dehumanized themselves. Assuming they had souls to begin with, they've sold them. Morally they are husks, empty but for their avarice and spite. Where is the Van Jones to report plainly on this: they are no longer human. This is not because anyone in opposition has dehumanized them; it's by their own greedy little hands that their souls have been tossed away.
I have no respect, as in zero for Van Jones or his "analysis". He takes the wrong view as often than not and most often is wrong on the most serious of topics. Just no.
"When violence is committed by figures or movements coded right, the demand for ritual condemnation falls on the right with a feather and on the left with a hammer."
Thoughts and Prayers.
No more need be said. The right is uninterested in solving the problems; only in demonizing the left whenever they have an opportunity.
I appreciated this analysis greatly overall. Like some others I am puzzled about the care taken not to criticize Van Jones specifically. On the one hand, yes, by taking that care, the messages about climate-creation and genuflection-requirement probably land more crisply. On the other hand, Van Jones is a performer at all times, never to be taken seriously as an analyst etc. A true phony.
This ritual is adopted by "the left" because they are actually belief-bereft. No one is forcing the center or the left to condemn any person place or thing, they volunteer. This phenomena reveals the craven and performative qualities of the left. They are happier to be seen as politically correct than either morally centered or effective. It is a real problem and IMHO a lot of the reason regular folks have abandoned politics.
It's not the left that is belief-bereft, it's the media figures who claim to represent the left, and those who claim to represent the right, who are belief-bereft. And it has been going on for a long time...
"I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use
People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry"
Interestingly enough I found myself wondering what had become of Van Jones . I fully expected him to become a mover and a shaker here on Substack . I was once a fan …no more . My short winded take on his latest comment is
He is obviously genuflecting so not to be seen as actually kneeling . Maybe he has political aspirations … Obama light ? Smart , well spoken , handsome , non confrontational etc etc .
Or maybe he just prefers Corporate to Independent because to be gainfully employed as a journalist these days is a crap shoot .
Well , whatever moved Van Jones yesterday to say what he did moved me to walk away .
I actually agree with your analysis, even though I don't love your selection of data points. It is unusual for analyses to be correct when we cherry pick the evidence.
The bottom line is that the common cause between Americans, even that which was class and culture based, has degraded significantly. Each administration presides over something worse, a collective tit-for-tat that alarms me greatly.
When did it start? I think it began with the Gore - Bush election.
September 11th is, to my mind, a convenient marker only because the two events (the election and the attack) were so close to one another.
That election was brutal, pitting Americans against one another in ways that felt quite new, even though there are many prior elections as divisive, as far back as Jefferson's. It felt new and created more durable enemies among the people than I thought possible.
Fast forward to Obama's first presidential, with its alienating racist allegations and ridiculous conspiracy ideas and we had an even worse public discourse. And, through it all, we Americans have somehow managed to make it ever more personal until those of us who actually don't want enemies from among the people and see those in power AS the only proper enemies, see nothing but chaos.
It is a nasty turn of things during my fifty years on earth and, while I acknowledge truth in your overall analysis, I don't love the cherry-picking and one-sidedness of the presentation.
In the words of JFK: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
I have lost all respect for Vans “Dead Gaza Baby” Jones.
CNN is starting to feel like Fox News “lite”—not as blatantly untruthful, but still skirting the edges of reality. Just watch Kaitlan Collins interview Markwayne Mullin a few months ago, as he twists talking points into pretzels while she smiles for the camera and lets him ramble on uninterrupted for minutes at a time. Who on the Democratic side is ever given that kind of airtime to spin?
Or take Scott Jennings, who reliably bends himself into knots to defend anything Trump-related. This is what gets passed off as “journalism” while the fourth estate is quietly eroded in front of us.
Thanks again, Mike. It’s more food for thought—even if it leaves a bad taste, given the grotesque moment we’re living through.
This is brilliant. It’s the way you focus on how well liberals have been trained to do this. It makes me feel a bit hopeless though. I hope somebody joins you in pushing back.
Yes the climate is utterly reactionary and abhorrent so even slightly leftist commentators must pre condemn their side. But CNN has become, a much more right wing, cautious network careful not to offend their rich right wing bosses who have vowed to be more “inclusive” of conservative opinion to avoid Trump’s ire. Their nonexistent coverage of the Gaza genocide and uncritical reporting on Israel show’s unmitigated bias. Expect the appalling obeisance to the political right to mirror the journalistic collapse of CBS with the Ellison (Zionist) takeover in the works. Stories will be skewed to the right because jobs, money, and prestige are all at stake for everyone working at CNN.
Many thanks for comfort as we grind our teeth out here in the "legacy news" swamp. We can't hope to rebound from this fascist catastrophe until well-meaning "leftish" pundits stop confusing their moral high ground with ammunition to win. "Going high" doesn't quite make the grade. Someone, please jab dear Van with a hat pin.
When Charlie Kirk was shot, the right was outraged by anyone posting Kirk's own words.
When Alex Pretti was shot, the right was calling him a domestic terrorist within hours.
This guy missed, and probably was another fake anyway. He’s no Luigi.
If you're going to worry about dehumanization, it's not just something done to others. Those around Trump have dehumanized themselves. Assuming they had souls to begin with, they've sold them. Morally they are husks, empty but for their avarice and spite. Where is the Van Jones to report plainly on this: they are no longer human. This is not because anyone in opposition has dehumanized them; it's by their own greedy little hands that their souls have been tossed away.
I have no respect, as in zero for Van Jones or his "analysis". He takes the wrong view as often than not and most often is wrong on the most serious of topics. Just no.
"When violence is committed by figures or movements coded right, the demand for ritual condemnation falls on the right with a feather and on the left with a hammer."
Thoughts and Prayers.
No more need be said. The right is uninterested in solving the problems; only in demonizing the left whenever they have an opportunity.
I appreciated this analysis greatly overall. Like some others I am puzzled about the care taken not to criticize Van Jones specifically. On the one hand, yes, by taking that care, the messages about climate-creation and genuflection-requirement probably land more crisply. On the other hand, Van Jones is a performer at all times, never to be taken seriously as an analyst etc. A true phony.
This ritual is adopted by "the left" because they are actually belief-bereft. No one is forcing the center or the left to condemn any person place or thing, they volunteer. This phenomena reveals the craven and performative qualities of the left. They are happier to be seen as politically correct than either morally centered or effective. It is a real problem and IMHO a lot of the reason regular folks have abandoned politics.
It's not the left that is belief-bereft, it's the media figures who claim to represent the left, and those who claim to represent the right, who are belief-bereft. And it has been going on for a long time...
"I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use
People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry"
Don Henley 1982(!)
Interestingly enough I found myself wondering what had become of Van Jones . I fully expected him to become a mover and a shaker here on Substack . I was once a fan …no more . My short winded take on his latest comment is
He is obviously genuflecting so not to be seen as actually kneeling . Maybe he has political aspirations … Obama light ? Smart , well spoken , handsome , non confrontational etc etc .
Or maybe he just prefers Corporate to Independent because to be gainfully employed as a journalist these days is a crap shoot .
Well , whatever moved Van Jones yesterday to say what he did moved me to walk away .
“Another one bites the dust “
I actually agree with your analysis, even though I don't love your selection of data points. It is unusual for analyses to be correct when we cherry pick the evidence.
The bottom line is that the common cause between Americans, even that which was class and culture based, has degraded significantly. Each administration presides over something worse, a collective tit-for-tat that alarms me greatly.
When did it start? I think it began with the Gore - Bush election.
September 11th is, to my mind, a convenient marker only because the two events (the election and the attack) were so close to one another.
That election was brutal, pitting Americans against one another in ways that felt quite new, even though there are many prior elections as divisive, as far back as Jefferson's. It felt new and created more durable enemies among the people than I thought possible.
Fast forward to Obama's first presidential, with its alienating racist allegations and ridiculous conspiracy ideas and we had an even worse public discourse. And, through it all, we Americans have somehow managed to make it ever more personal until those of us who actually don't want enemies from among the people and see those in power AS the only proper enemies, see nothing but chaos.
It is a nasty turn of things during my fifty years on earth and, while I acknowledge truth in your overall analysis, I don't love the cherry-picking and one-sidedness of the presentation.