See it to believe it

This video deserves a flog. It is amazing to see a TV reporter actually insist that a confrontational guest answer her question and stay on topic.



No better way to expose how hollow the right's propaganda really is than to turn their SOP against them. If you watch the video through the link provided or have seen this elsewhere, it should be titled "how to stop a hijacking." The amazing part is, a reporter actually grew a spine and the world did not end. The incident is probably a one-time fluke, but imagine if it started a trend and 'wingers whose only goal is to control the message were actually put in their place on a regular basis when they refuse to answer questions. I suspect that the right wing noise machine is actually a shakier contraption than they allow anyone to believe. Tamron Hall here would be called biased and part of the liberal media, a horrible elitist regardless of how she handled this situation. So why not call bullshit on a 'winger apparachik?

The amount of money needed to keep the noise machine well-oiled has to be pretty staggering. If 'wingers all of a sudden did not automatically get a free pass on non-noise machine venues, that could knock a pretty significant peg from their strategy. Fear has sufficed until now to give 'wingers that free pass. Not only did Hall show here how easily that pass can be revoked, it has created a minor sensation on left-leaning sites and venues. Imagine that, do your job and get supported by viewers and participants? This could be a great precedent to overcome that fear, like I said, all "mainstream, non-noise machine" venues are considered biased by 'wingers and they will hurl their lame epithets regardless of the coddling their agents receive. So why not actually earn the reputation and stand up for decency and standards for a change?

Combine growing a spine with direct action to cut off funding for well-fed propagandists like rush, or at least the venues that have turned radio into an unabashed hatefest and we could a rebalancing of messaging for the first time in over a generation. Spreading the message of hate and fear is expensive, rush is sucking the life out of the companies who handle him. Do you think he'd continue for free? Can the right wing radiosphere afford to subsidize a costly albatross?

It is too early to tell of course, but imagine the possibilities if there was an absolute cost to spreading the hate message? A trend that started to push the goalposts back toward the center would be an amazing achievement, it could even arrest the relentless drive toward fascism.