Zack Beauchamp, Vox:
Self-help guru Marianne Williamson was the breakout star of CNN’s first Democratic debate — at least if internet chatter and pundits are to be believed.
Williamson was the most-searched person on Google after the debate in 49 out of 50 states.
CNN analyst and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm praised her “really compelling and authentic” answer on reparations, saying, “Honestly, I think she brought it.” GOP pollster Frank Luntz tweeted that “she’s cutting through the clutter tonight.” A Washington Post article claimed she had “a big night,” writing that she “used her limited time on the microphone to maximum effect, attracting attention for meaningful answers on race and Democratic ideology.” Even current Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) singled out her “surprisingly eloquent answers” to some of the debate questions during his post-debate MSNBC appearance.
This all needs to stop.
Something that I think would go a good long way in trying to stop it is exactly what Mr Beauchamp is doing - ie: take every opportunity to bitch at the Press Poodles whenever they hint at the standard bullshit of "horse race" or some other worn out metaphor, or when they start with the bromides like "Bringing some common sense..." or "a much-needed fresh perspective from outside the beltway..."
(BTW, ever notice how often the inside-the-beltway puffballs complain about how stuffy and stale it is inside the beltway, as they limo their way from one Georgetown cocktail party to the next?)
Marianne Williamson is not a serious candidate for the presidency: She’s a self-help celebrity who openly disdained policy debate onstage Tuesday night. Worse than that, she looms as a menace to public health — someone who has attacked antidepressants and vaccination in a manner that “can literally kill people,” as my colleague German Lopez (who covers public health) put it. She has no business being on the debate stage; the more famous she gets, the more harm she can do.
The fact that a lot of media figures aren’t recognizing this — that they’re either celebrating her flashes of insight on issues like reparations for slavery or enjoying her kookiness — shows that they haven’t fully internalized the lessons of Donald Trump’s rise to power. Williamson is vanishingly unlikely to win, or even come close, but the amount of press attention she’s getting is troubling. Even if public interest in her mandates some level of coverage, at least it could be more muted and skeptical than what we’re seeing.
“As far as I can tell, Williamson has zero experience or expertise that would prepare her to effectively do the job for which she’s auditioning, and that’s terrifying to me,” Seth Cotlar, a historian of the US at Willamette University, tells me. “It’s fun to cover politics as a circus, because it often is a circus, but the stakes of what happens in DC are incredibly serious and have real consequences for people’s lives.”
It's not a game show. It's not a beauty pageant. It's not Wrestle-fucking-Mania.
We're trying to figure what's best for the most, and while we don't get real close to it very often, we do manage to move things along when we're not encumbered by Rent-Seeking Media Leeches who think the point of the exercise is to sell cut-rate insurance bundles, mail-order housewares, and boner pills.
Hey, Press Poodles - wanna know why about 80% of us hate "the media"? Take a look at about 80% of the shit you guys put on cable all day every fuckin' day.
Bring back Bobbie Battista and HLN. We got 30 minutes of actual news, followed by another 30 minutes of actual news, followed by another 30 minutes...
And when something else happened, they covered it like - you know - a fucking news story. They didn't treat every little thing like it was the Hindenburg in 1937, and they made sure they checked their shit before anything got on the air.
And when they fucked up (because people fuck up once in a while), they went on the air and they said, "Dang - we fucked up. Sorry, guys. We'll try to do better."
It's like we've lost our ability to have an internal dialogue with ourselves before we blurt out whatever the fuck is rattling around in our heads. We're like 5-year-olds who just start yapping and end up asking grandma if she really is "ignorant hillbilly trailer trash, like Mom said you were a coupla days ago when she was talking to the neighbors...?"
We're trying to figure what's best for the most, and while we don't get real close to it very often, we do manage to move things along when we're not encumbered by Rent-Seeking Media Leeches who think the point of the exercise is to sell cut-rate insurance bundles, mail-order housewares, and boner pills.
Hey, Press Poodles - wanna know why about 80% of us hate "the media"? Take a look at about 80% of the shit you guys put on cable all day every fuckin' day.
Bring back Bobbie Battista and HLN. We got 30 minutes of actual news, followed by another 30 minutes of actual news, followed by another 30 minutes...
And when something else happened, they covered it like - you know - a fucking news story. They didn't treat every little thing like it was the Hindenburg in 1937, and they made sure they checked their shit before anything got on the air.
And when they fucked up (because people fuck up once in a while), they went on the air and they said, "Dang - we fucked up. Sorry, guys. We'll try to do better."
It's like we've lost our ability to have an internal dialogue with ourselves before we blurt out whatever the fuck is rattling around in our heads. We're like 5-year-olds who just start yapping and end up asking grandma if she really is "ignorant hillbilly trailer trash, like Mom said you were a coupla days ago when she was talking to the neighbors...?"
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