It's a good segment, and it means that Hayes is at least aware that conservatives are not his friends, and they are not looking for meaningful debate. They are looking for outrage to stoke the resentment of the base, always. That goes for Hayes, Nate Silver, Ezra Klein, and the other young guns on the left: you will never be more than the "Juice Box Mafia" to the right, so stop treating them like they're your pals.
Sadly, Chris's learning curve is a flatline as when Friday came around and he decided to interview Nevada State Assemblywoman (and complete Tea Party nutjob) Michele Fiore, he was bullied, badgered, and steamrolled again.
Fiore was rude, awful, and disrespectful. Chris flopped around like the punching bag he is. Fiore referred to undocumented immigrants as "terrorists", called the attempt by BLM to get Cliven Bundy to obey the law "suspicious" and cut Hayes off several times, eventually justifying the militia threats of violence by saying "Don’t come here with guns and expect the American people not to fire back."
His response later Friday evening?
My exchange w/ @VoteFiore over cows and their ultimate fate might be one of my favorite ever on @allinwithchris http://t.co/sIXfKnjr74
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 19, 2014
The woman makes Michele Bachmann look like Steven Hawking, and Chris Hayes thought the interview was "one of his favorite ever". It was embarrassing and stupid and Chris Hayes walked into the jet intake again.
Jesus wept.
I think Hayes knew exactly what was coming last night and handled it just as he thought it should be handled. His goal wasn't to win one more argument on cable. He knew she would never stop to say, "I see what you mean, Chris. I never thought of it that way before." I wasn't to beat up on her on your behalf simply because he has the venue to do so. His goal was to allow the foolishness of guest's arguments and actions to speak for themselves to the demographic and level of intelligence he knows his show reaches. He accomplished exactly what he wanted last night. There are other places to witness the verbal "fisticuffs" you're longing to see.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I look forward to enjoying Zandar in my RSS feed every single day. We just disagree on this issue. As a Bluegrass native now living elsewhere, I appreciate you very, very much.
ReplyDeleteJuice Box Mafia. That is so perfect!
ReplyDeleteIs Chris Hayes that smart? I don't watch TV, but my twitter feed suggested that his audience was incensed by his performance, so if his objective was to entertain them with the RWNJ crazy, he failed utterly.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that. And I do see your point. Fiore certainly showed her ass to the world last night. But as someone who tries to get out the message that these guys are a real danger, Chris Hayes has a voice orders of magnitude louder and more far-reaching than mine, and I just wish he would use it more effectively sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe entertainment was the objective. His consistent objective, first with Up with Chris Hayes and now with All In has been to report to and educate a different level of audience on MSNBC. (Much like Rachel Maddow, who also eschews the standard operating procedure "head knocking" of cable "news") Many on my Twitter feed looking for the entertainment of a scream-fest expressed their disappointment, as well. They were just looking in the wrong place. They should know by now that that is simply not his style. Honestly, I appreciate the need for cartharsis and/or schadenfreude provided by cable news confrontation. That's what The Ed Show is for, though.
ReplyDeleteHayes is brilliant. He attended Hunter College High School in New York City, a secondary school for intellectually gifted students. The school's curriculum strives for a balance of achievement in the humanities and the sciences, and is widely revered for excellence in both fields. Hunter is noted for sending a very large percentage of students to the Ivy League and other top-ranked colleges and universities. He has a degree in philosophy from Brown University. Since you don't watch TV, I hope you might find some time to read his book, Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy (http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Elites-America-After-Meritocracy-ebook/dp/B006OI2BMC/), or Google some of his articles from his time writing for The Nation magazine.
And I wish we had media that truly magnified our value system instead of baiting people who are nuts to show their asses. Why can't our media talk about progress and show the audience how there are good things and good people in this country who need to be featured for all the positive they are doing. Why does the media have to have as its resting pulse: hatred and ignorance? Why do they have to amplify the crazy at the expense of reason?
ReplyDeleteThe thing is MSNBC's playing games at this point. There is no need to show an audience of liberals how crazy conservatives are(everyone knows). With that said, fuck Phil Griffin. He is now part of the problem. There is so much that a strictly political tv channel should be doing. They're wasting time now.
ReplyDeleteSorry Hayes. As much as I count my fingers every time I shake hands with Chris Lehane, he at least knows how to shank an opponent in the kidneys; putting him on the tee vee with some of these grade B troglodytes would be good politics as well as great entertainment.
ReplyDeleteBrown.
ReplyDeleteI do wish he would do something like this: http://ezkool.com/2014/04/how-to-make-a-republican-stop-talking-about-obamacare-john-fugelsang-demonstrates/
ReplyDeleteHe should book someone to make the liberal argument alongside the Fiore-types and moderate the debate. Or he should save time in the block to respond with facts himself after the Fiore-types are through and dismissed with thanks. His personality type is more of that as reporter/moderator. He must work within his strengths.