I read the front page of Reddit too! I thought we hated Congress. Suddenly we respect Congresspersons? Or are only journalists to respect Congresspersons? What are the rules again?
Shame on you MSNBC. I expect this kind of behavior from Fox News, but you are supposed to know better. Now go to your room and think about what you have done.
Shame on you BoingBoing. If all of the journalistic outlets stopped reporting on this insignificant little shit, then no one would care.
I expect the mainstream outlets to not know better, but you, BB?
I remember when BoingBoing used to be about wonderful things. It seems more and more like concern trolling and SEO linkbait every day.
We hate Congress, but they’re probably more important than Justin Beiber. “Sorry, we can’t talk about free speech and surveillance right now, SOMETHING CELEBRITY SOMETHING CRIME MAYBE IT IS SEXY OH WOW.”
Maybe MSNBC has a huge fanbase of tween girls who watch expressly for the Bieber highlights? Maybe that is their core demographic? I have no idea who else would watch MSNBC.
I think we can carry scorn for the actions, position and character of congress members (And I hope we alot that on an individual basis and not with a broad brush) while at the same time acknowledging that their opinions and actions have serious consequences for us and are unquestionably a priority of serious news reporting.
I don’t care for terrorists, but if a newly released al-queda statement were interrupted to talk about Beiber, I’d say that would be problematic up news priority.
Do you regularly view MSNBC for “serious news reporting”? Interesting.
I usually agree with you, but the point is really how low things have sunk, and how short the attention span is in this country. It would have been fascinating to watch her interviewing the president, I wonder if she would have interrupted then. It’s not about news covering entertainment, it’s about breaking away from actual news to cover entertainment. It’s so absurd, I was at a loss for words when I saw this posted.
editing issue had to add more
I suppose they get more mileage from the abundant Beiber “haters” with a story like this.
I don’t think MSNBC knows who would watch MSNBC, either.
You see ridicule of media triviality as trivial in itself.
I used to think people like you were the problem, but the truth is that you’re the victim. The first thing to do about it is to stop expecting other people to take responsibility for how this stuff makes you feel.
Yes.
No. But good attempt a pop psychology!
And there was a point when BoingBoing was above the fray. But, I agree, things around here have sunk. A lot.
Troll harder.
This is about the media’s priorities, and BB is pointing at that issue.
“Sunk” is implying a hierarchy of things that are more valued devolving to things that are of little, or trivial, value.
Personally, I value how many of the BB contributors are willing to occasionally take up the role of ombudsperson or public editor when other organizations betray a lack the discipline to pursue anything but self-interest.
But, certainly, this doesn’t have to be your cup of tea.
I seem to recall Harman being pretty much a patsy for the defense and intelligence communities, so there probably was no big deal in her being interrupted.
Conversely, we can be interested what celebrities do and say (we can even admire, be fascinated by and even “like” them) whilst acknowledging that their opinions and actions carry no special weight. Well some of us can. Others have a hard time differentiating between popularity and significance.
Man, ostentatious disappointment at Boing Boing is so 2008.
Harmon is an ultra-hawkish Blue Dog Democrat and traitor who fully supported all of Bush and Obama’s attacks on civil liberties and their multiple wars. She also supported inciting ethnic violence in Iran as a means of destabilizing the country. Bieber deserves a helluva lot more respect than she does and I mean that seriously. This woman should be in prison as a war criminal.
Calamity Jane Harman Shoots Herself in the Foot
Candidate for CIA Chief Jane Harman Advocated Ethnic Breakup of Iran
