Comments

1

The game at Fox News isn't suppression of dissent.

The game at Fox News is saturation advertising.

You won't see the game if you just watch this or that interview once a week or so. The network airs plenty of lefty people saying smart lefty things-- but then they burn the tape. They never rebroadcast anything off-brand.

What they do is collect segments and soundbites that amplify right-wing messaging, and they bombard their audience with those clips, over and over and over again.

You'll never know how Doogie BludgerHowser's appearance went just by watching the initial broadcast. Instead, you'll need to watch the network the way its typical viewers watch it -- for hours at a time, day after day -- and pay close attention to which clips are repeated, and which are disappeared.

2

An hour or two on Fox won't make a dent with their viewership, especially now since Fox has been spending the time since then lying about his statements and attacking his views. The 24/7 Wurlitzer at the network will ensure that any viewers who liked things Pete said will have forgotten them by the end of the week.

3

@1, You are right that Fox News packages propaganda for its audience. You are wrong to make up a dumb nickname for Buttigieg. Are you a 9-year-old?

Buttigieg's appearance on Fox News changed the narrative today on that channel. They spent the day reacting to him, rather than spinning up more lies. He also forced Trump to attack Fox News for even having him on. Also, by appearing on Fox News he took his message to an audience that wouldn't have had even a small glimpse of it otherwise.

IMHO, Mayor Pete is the last Dem to appear on a Fox town hall. The powers that be there won't want another Dem to come on their air and say things that pierce the info bubble. Fox News will say that only Hannity or Carlson can do the town halls in the future because 'the last time a Dem appeared on air he insulted a Fox News host and those hosts need to opportunity to respond.'

4

@3 Gillibrand is doing a Fox News Town Hall in the coming weeks.

5

@2: The Fox viewership includes dems trying to make up their minds about the candidates.

6

Of course candidates should go on Fox News, and yes I think it's good for him to get these messages out, just as it was good for Bernie to do the same a few weeks ago. My guess is that Warren doesn't because she knows she doesn't handle it well when things get under her skin.

But Buttigieg's health care plan (slow transition, private insurance companies, increased access) is shit. If he can't even take a stand on that, I don't know what good he'll do on anything. He comes from private finance industry consulting firms. "Obama-like" is exactly right, but with half the charisma. He's like Obama in the sense that he will talk well but carry water for the establishment in the long run.

If health care is a priority, that only leaves you three choices: Bernie, Warren and Harris. The others are just going for ACA style things - which I agree was better than the evil of nothing that we had before that, but in this moment, it's cowardly to not take a stand for something better.

Until Buttigieg makes some clear foreign policy statements, I assume he's basically pro-imperialism like most of his party.

7

I understand why Ms.Warren refused to engage Fox but I think Buttigierg's right, the left can either talk to them or lose everyone who watches Fox. She needs to move past the anger, etc. she feels towards the right, everyone does, it's holding the whole country back.

There are a lot of conservatives who have serious problems with some of the things Trump's done, the smart move is to talk to them and take them seriously.

8

The viewership of Fox is 20% Democratic and 10% Independent (according to what I heard on TV this morning). There are also 22 states that have open primaries, meaning you do not have to be a member of the Democratic party to vote in the primary. There is a need to reach these voters...Are they going to fall down at our feet asking forgiveness for their past views? No, but I can guarantee you that Pete made thenm start thinking...and, for at least some of them, if they can't find more of him on Fox...they may start looking elsewhere.

9

@3

I am absolutely a nine-year-old in some ways, yes. I find it amusing that this candidate has an unpronounceable name that begins with "butt." I also find it amusing that he looks as if he hasn't started shaving regularly yet.

I don't hold any of that against him as a candidate.

I do, however, start to develop negative opinions about candidates whose supporters seem to be unable to shrug off, never mind laugh off, a half-assed joke made in passing about their candidate in the midst of a largely unrelated comment.

I'm also kind of turned off by disturbingly triumphant followers with laughably elaborate, grandiose delusions about their candidate supposedly "destroying" the opposition in utterly routine media appearances that won't even last a full media cycle.

11

@10: Folks without mind, bodies, or souls (whether they watch Rachel or Tucker) still vote.

12

So, Elizabeth Warren is your top pick. Here is a list of names for you: John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy, Mike Dukakis, John Kerry, Mitt Romney. If you haven't figured it out, all these name were Massachusetts residents with aspirations of being president. All their dreams ended badly. Massachusetts is far out of the mainstream of the American Zeitgeist. Candidates from that state are viewed as out of touch with mainstream America. Warren will be an excellent choice for any one of many cabinet positions in 2021.

13

@12

You forgot George H. W. Bush.

14

@13 He was from Connecticut!

It would have been funny if, back in 2016 people had said the reason Trump would never be president is because nobody from New York had been elected President since... well, since however long its been since somebody from New York was president. Martin Van Buren, maybe? Beats me.

15

I liked Elizabeth Warren too... until she called for breakup of Facebook.. whatever that means...
And until she came out saying she actually is in fact Native American... because she had 1 ancestor 4-6 generations ago that was Native American, which makes it OK that she put Native American on academic applications... and that Harvard could actually call her a minority hire...
That is fraud.
I wonder how that would have gone if it was a minority people actually cared about like African Americans instead of Native Americans... if she had said she was part black because her great great great great great grand cousin was black... seriously she is done. stick a fork in her.
Then to refuse to go on Fox News.. basically calling anyone who watches Fox "deplorable" ring any bells? How could someone so smart be so stupid.

16

Mr Robot - It's a little different when jokes go both ways than when one side is always expected to take being the Buttigieg with a permanent smile. It reminds me of one the best little touches in Emma Thompson's version of Sense and Sensibility, when Elinor has to put up with Sir John Middleton and Mrs Jennings' finding an excessive amount of wit in the letter F.

general - There is no way in World Below or World Beyond that the LBT or the left in general will let a white G win - probably ever. Ms Herzog is already on the He's Not Gay Enough bandwagon, and the He's Stealing Women's Attention bandwagon, and the He's Not Left Enough bandwagon (even though she'd vote for Prof Peterson if he could run), and probably two or three others if she could make them up. Besides, any time he even alludes to his orientation in passing, the pretending-to-be-reasonable right throws the He's Playing Identity Politics hammer at him. But his running could do us some good; it may help to shake loose a few of the gays who think Pres Trump Really Likes Us, and it may convince the LBTQ to kick the G out of the Alphabet Soup without any cost to ourselves, which would probably be the biggest win we're capable of getting for a long time to come.

17

Oh, Franklin Roosevelt was from New York, duh. So there you go.

Anyhow, @12 might as well have enumerated all the women who've run for president and failed. Its just as useful a heuristic.

18

@14

Place of birth: Milton, MA
Class of 1942, Phillips Academy, Andover MA.

19

Pete Buttigieg, the next Vice President of the United States. Sorry, lefties, nobody is going to vote for your crazy socialist reparation heroes.

The next US President is Joe Biden.

20

@16

OK, also not interested in the the double-reverse racewinder homoflip voodoo doll you've sewn together there. But congratulations on putting the bonnet on it and bringing it to the picnic, I guess?

@15 - I think you've spelled "I never liked Elizabeth Warren" wrong there.

21

Well, good on ya, Pete.

People support The "far" Left's positions* so much,
Repubs gotta get Undemocratic -- voter suppression,
lying, cheating, owning the Voting Machines, whateverthefuck
it Takes because they are Determined to Win at All Costs.

*see: Franklin Delanor Roosevelt and his New Deal.
Which is Nothing like Trumpfy's Raw Deal
which is bend the Fuck over.

22

Msr. Venn..(hi, btw, still here)..how would the LGBTQ community benefit by the G leaving? What am I missing..?

Agree w/ previous comments suggesting Warren should let herself do a Town Hall on Faux News. Her thought-out policies are interesting, but she should work on not advertising her reactive quality / thin skin. Running the nation will be a far more high-pressure situation than a news debate with people she disagrees with.

23

"I'm also kind of turned off by disturbingly triumphant followers with laughably elaborate, grandiose delusions about their candidate supposedly "destroying" the opposition in utterly routine media appearances that won't even last a full media cycle."

Weren't you one of the Hillary purists who constantly attacked Bernie supporters even after he lost the primary? Must've been hard when the situation was turned around on you.

24

@22 She's already shown herself to be too thin skinned for Trump. The quotes by Pete show just enough derision towards Trump without becoming butthurt or overplaying his hand. Hillary played too hard into panning Trump, Warren played too hard in defending herself and "proving" Trump wrong. It's oration and rhetoric that will win the presidency from Trump.

@19 You're an insane person. Take your meds and go to bed.

25

@9 People thought Barack Obama’s name was unpronounceable too. But seriously, how brain damaged are you that you can’t learn how to say “Buddha-judge”?

27

@23

Nope. I was critical of the weirdos in Hillary's camp as well, but I expect that's unlikely to be noticed by people with the peculiar habit of chaining a good chunk of their own personal identity onto a frickin' political candidate every four years.

28

@24 Hahaha, none of your "candidates" can poll double digits except Sanders, and he has zero chance. Smoke your pot, do your molly and go to bed.

29

@25

Oh, I'm pretty brain damaged. Years and years of intermittent substance abuse and internet comments boards are bound take their toll after a while.

I can still distinguish "can't learn" from "finds it amusing to pretend one doesn't know," so I'm still not quite as far gone as I might be, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

30

Wrong. Bernie Sanders went on Fox News and showed everybody—including Buttigeig—how it's done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVeXom6HzIQ

31

@12,

Your inclusion of JFK on that list is pretty ruthless. The larger point may be valid and is probably worthy at least of consideration, though I feel it's likely just coincidental (not even a huge Warren supporter myself, though I like her and most of her policies just fine.)

32

"... John Bolton, who was one of the people who built the war in Iraq. How somebody who was behind that, one of the worst foreign policy mistakes in American history, is allowed anywhere near the Situation Room of a president who claims, probably falsely, but claims he was against the Iraq War all along, is unbelievable to me." --P. Bootyjudge

On the far far FAR right, the Wronger you are, the Better you are.
Their total philosphy is based on something Lewis Caroll wrote --
I think it's The Walrus and The Carpenter
And we are all oysters.

33

This article was Awesome.
Thanks, Christopher!

34

You do not increase your reach by only singing to the choir. This alone makes me question candidates who refuse to expose themselves to anyone they disagree with.

35

@14 Franklin Delano Roosevelt

36

@27 Come on, Mr. Edgelord, you have a team that you play for. I get it, you don't want to admit it because it gives you a handicap. That said, your history speaks for itself. You are just as frantic as the people you protest.

@28 Seeing as I haven't done molly and only decided to use marijuana just after I turned 30 very recently, I still recommend you seek therapy.

@29 I guess I should've thrown you in the same pile as Kristofarian?

@30, see @28. You're effectively the same person.

37

Thank you for collecting the clips and providing the post, Christopher. I could only find one or two pieces on the Fox News website. And because the site is even more divisive and dismissive of the truth than the TV station, it was under the ridiculous title "Buttigieg takes on Trump, pitches four new tax hikes in Fox News Town Hall".

Good on Pete for pushing back against Wallace's bullshit framing of the abortion statistic, and how it inherently ignores all the time that leads up to it.

One other observation apropos of nothing: Mayor Pete looks like a guy that should be sporting a mustache. He's got more than enough upper-lip to rock one.

38

@36 My goodness, I'm an edgelord now! Do I get a cape or something?

Or do I just have to content myself with watching self-righteous internet partisan lose their goddamned minds when I have a little fun with the spelling of Mayor Prettyboy Butterfudge's name?

Ooh, I did it again! I feel so EDGY now!

39

P-Butts rides with pride where Warren fears to tread.

40

Here are the Fox News clips of the town hall in its entirety:

Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p97xg-keEKg
Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3sr0RtIfgI
Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLJ90OYJK78
Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnTW4Ufosws

43

Well, we tried a Neoliberal, pro-Corporate status quo Centrist incrementalist Dem last time.

Let's try it just this once more --
what's the Worst that can happen?

44

@22: Eva! Eva Hopkins! How nice to see you here!
@38: Capes are for cosplay! As a costume designer I can tell you that traditionally Edge Lords are identified by their distinctive head gear, either a fedora or, more usually, a trilby. :)

45

Not bad for a guy who’s not gonna get elected...

46

@44

Oh, OK, I thought the fedoras were for... uh, whatever the word is now for what used to be called "nerds" before capitalism discovered the internet... you know, with the acne and the braces and nobody inviting them to sit at a table in the cafeteria?

Anyway.

Do I get to pick a color? Or does it have to be black?

47

@46: The color choice is entirely yours. Plus you can accessorize with a variety of snazzy hat bands if you wish!


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