He even refuted his own “silo” argument with this:
First Cooper admitted that Donald Trump “hasn’t changed,” that he is “someone who tried to destroy our democracy,” and that he “predictably continued to spew lie after lie after lie”
If we have sufficient exposure to Trump elsewhere to ascertain he hasn’t changed, and that his behavior is predictable, how are we siloed? Maybe—just maybe—we completely understand this particular individual, AND his supporters, and there’s nothing to be gained by an additional hour of exposure to his lies and bullying being cheered on by his hooting supporters.
If there is a place where I can avoid ever seeing Donald Trump alive again then sign me the fuck up but until then I never want to hear about “information silos” from a rich socially insulated man who doesn’t have to deal with the consequences of trumpism in his immediate surroundings… Save for the ratings bump.
Men like Anderson Cooper profit from men like Trump at everyone else’s expense.
Personally, I think a good silo-ing is just what the doctor ordered for TFG. It might be one of very few containment strategies that finally shuts him the fuck up.
Good metaphor. This really is the problem with CNN entirely. His argument just basically is just a justification for exposing a population to a toxic substance with absolutely no precautions. It really is.
Damn…I really am disgusted by his apologetics here.
Cooper is wrong, but it’s not his words that are the problem. It’s a category error. He’s lumping T**** in with other politicians, like his rhetoric is made up of policy positions that are worth considering. They aren’t. T**** is a criminal and traitor that is a half step ahead of the jailor. Treating him like a regular candidate is wrong.
On top of that, even if he was a normal candidate, creating a one-man-show for him is a campaign finance violation.
The only good thing to come out of this town hall: Massive particularly nasty freshly squeezed-out shit for use as ammo in ads right up to the '24 election. I sense that there are fence-sitters out there who need to be reminded yet again that Trump will never change.
“Do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away?”
This pint would be valid if Republicans hadn’t been vigorously engaged for years in shutting down all other viewpoints by any means, fair or foul, at their disposal.
I’ve had it on my screen as a go to for occasionally checking whether the world is about to blow up and such, but no more after this shit. They’re dead to me now.
Everyone once in a while I get into some arguement with a Fox News viewer online (I try not to in general) but the comeback is CNN is bad too! And I’m like… dude. I cant stand cable news of any sort. I mean it’s nothing near as bad as fox’s 24/7 rightwing propaganda thing, but I can’t stand the whole concept of sensationalizing everything to get viewers addicted and the hyperventilating and repetition involved in even mostly truthful cable news. I haven’t watched it since I ditched cable early in the internet era. Heck cable Tv in general is awful. Cable news is just another version of the reality TV that’s taken over the whole medium. All that is to say, if someone’s comeback is “at least I don’t get my news from CNN” I’m like, yeah neither do I. Ha.
Respectfully disagreeing with this.
It doesn’t matter what Repubs have been doing, that point isn’t valid because it isn’t salient to this particular case.
It’s not like viewers weren’t getting to hear or read what T had to say, it’s not like one of those “If we ignore him, he’ll go away,” type things. This is people being pissed that a known sex offender, grifter, and all around criminal was given an hour, uncontested and with a stacked audience, on national TV.
If a point is valid, it doesn’t matter whether the one making it is a hypocrite (though it can be infuriating), it’s either a valid point or not.
I am struggling to understand the poor reception this town hall is receiving. If Trump’s base is already going to vote for him, then the town hall does not swing the needle closer to him. On the other hand, airing the town hall motivates the left to show up to vote, and possibly reminds the independents of the 4+ years of lies and incessant fact checking that we endured. On this point, I tend to agree with Cooper’s framing of the event.
By giving a fascist liar (and not his rivals for the nomination) a platform and a studio audience that’s sympathetic to him and also prohibited from reacting negatively, a supposedly mainstream outlet promotes the perception that he and his ideology have more support than they do. In doing so they normalise fascism and white supremacy (see also the NYT “Nazi next door” pieces).
Also, as noted above, this “town hall” was not news or an expose. Von Clownstick is a known quantity who already has been handed far too much free publicity over his shady career.
I don’t link to Twitter, but user maryangelaperna responded to Cooper’s ridiculous statment with the following quote about the news media from a history of the Holocaust:
The media played a vital role in producing and sharing the Nazis’ propaganda .Under Goebbels’ new Chamber of Culture, all aspects of the media were Nazified and controlled.
In 1933, prior to the Nazi rise to power, over 4700 newspapers freely operated across Germany. Shortly after Hitler became chancellor, all opposition newspapers were banned. Those that remained were subject to strict censorship laws, so open opposition to the regime became increasingly difficult. On the 4 October 1933 the Editorship Law, the Schriftleitergesetz, was passed. This law stated that all editors must be ‘Aryan’, dismissing hundreds of non-‘Aryan’ editors on purely racial grounds”
Openly LGBTQ+ journalists and publications didn’t fare any better. Gratuitous centrist coverage of right-wing populism for the sake of spectacle and circulation/ratings doesn’t end well.
Again, to CNN and all media outlets and people asking “what’s the big deal?”:
This, recall, is how he got in 6 years ago. The cameras couldn’t look away, 'cause “that clinking clanking sound”. This is a newsertainment organization that would, presumably, platform Goebbels in front of a crowd of neo-nazis because hey, we need to hear all sides.
