Next time... (0.00 / 0)

Take my advice about how to behave on MSNBC...

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by: Jacob Freeze @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 17:59:51 PM UTC

sausage (0.00 / 0)

The mindless broadcast media has 168 hours per week to fill. So everything goes into the hopper and comes out in the unending stream of sausage at the other end.

With this model it matters little how insightful a guest is, their comments will be gone in the blink of an eye. Even thoughtful, long form, shows like Bill Moyer's leave no lasting impression. I doubt many people go back and look at his video archive.

I don't know what the solution is, but getting past sound bites to substantive debate just isn't going to happen on TV (or radio). Politics is just another channel and if it gets boring the viewer has 499 others to switch to.

I think this is why the blogosphere is such a (potentially) revolutionary development. It is the only place where one can have an open-ended debate, both in terms of how long it goes on for and in who gets to participate. The problem is that blogs are only visited by literary types, a small audience compared to TV and radio.

It's an improvement over the prior generation which was the small opinion magazines (now all fading away), but it still doesn't steer the debate - Fox does.

Policies not Politics

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by: robertdfeinman @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 18:22:50 PM UTC

I have to hand it to Amanda Carpenter (0.00 / 0)

for having the courage to criticize the RNC's sexism.  That took guts.

Adam, you did great.

The Crolian Progressive: as great an adventure as ever I heard of...

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by: Nonpartisan @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 18:40:20 PM UTC

excellent job (0.00 / 0)

you pivoted with ease and intelligence.

thank you.

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by: sisterfish @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 19:46:02 PM UTC

False confessions (0.00 / 0)

Heh. You got that out there. The way the TeeVee snooze thingie works, you have to hit on these points as best you can and "get it out there." I would like to see everyone pivot on false confessions and just flood the discussion with that point and that image.

You pivoted quite well. Good job.

"More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly." -Woody Allen, My Speech to the Graduates

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by: Emocrat @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 19:52:17 PM UTC

You did good! (0.00 / 0)

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by: Michael Harold @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 19:52:50 PM UTC

Perfect pivot! (4.00 / 2)

I'm a little flabbergasted that the fact that the President and VP ordered torture for political purposes isn't as big a story as Susan Boyle--but you did your part.

I write thrillers for a living. I'm considering trying to sell one in which the hero, after being harried around the globe by the killer conspiracy, exposes the awful truth about evil at the highest reaches of the gov't ... and nobody gives a shit.

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by: Joel @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 22:07:08 PM UTC

We need to drive this point home (4.00 / 3)

Every time a progressive gets on TV to discuss anything remotely related, I urge her or him to find a way to make this key point: the purpose of the torture was to extract false confessions.  It wasn't about ticking time bomb scenarios or about keeping the American people safe.  Any distractions from this point are just that.

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by: Joe Buck @ Mon May 25, 2009 at 04:25:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You were very good (0.00 / 0)

nt

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by: Elegresse @ Sun May 24, 2009 at 22:59:31 PM UTC

nice "pivot" Adam (0.00 / 0)

good job

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by: The Big Hurt @ Mon May 25, 2009 at 02:59:50 AM UTC

Excellent (0.00 / 0)

I don't know how you could have done it better.  

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by: richgreer @ Mon May 25, 2009 at 12:49:02 PM UTC

Good job, but... (0.00 / 0)

might I suggest a better framing:

George Bush and Dick Cheney tortured, and now we're debating "why didn't Nancy Pelosi do anything about it?" I want to know why Bush and Cheney didn't stop, why Republicans didn't stop them, why they hushed this up and let the CIA take all the blame?

Your Washington Times counterpart perhaps got the better of you just by repeating her talking point, which more or less contradicted what you said. A quick rejoinder, "Obama does not need to rethink his plans - moving prisoners into Supermax is just as safe now as it was then."

Just my 2 cents, obviously hard to get good retorts real-time on TV, and you held your own, especially bringing Pussy Galore back to the real issue.

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by: Desider @ Mon May 25, 2009 at 12:53:11 PM UTC

Advice and Consent (0.00 / 0)

If Reid would have asserted some sort of legislative prerogative over the closing of Gitmo and the fates of the prisoners beyond what appears to be "not in my backyard," I'd be able to at least respect his decision somewhat.  

That this appears to be a recently realized electoral fear among some Senate Dems makes their position untenable.  

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by: wobbly @ Mon May 25, 2009 at 22:03:01 PM UTC

Good presentation (0.00 / 0)

A terribly conducted interview on the part of the anchor, but what else is new?

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog

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by: Englishlefty @ Mon May 25, 2009 at 22:35:25 PM UTC