That the organization that gave us Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite has drawn from the Trump cesspool tells us a lot about what's wrong with television news
IMHO Mick Mulvaney is a cancerous pseudo intellectual that has spread from Faux News to CBS. For anyone, including some big time news executive, to think Mulvaney is not an arrogant self serving jerk and a liar for trumps dictator delusion has not been paying attention. A disappointing move by CBS.
Professor, In my view, what’s most dangerous is co-head of CBS News Khemlani’s remark that “gaining access to both sides of the aisle is a priority…”. Surely, failing to provide context, background, or any sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading is dangerously detrimental to democracy.
Although Mulvaney disgraced himself by diminishing/emasculating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as advocating false supply side trickle down economics during his time on the House Financial Services Committee, and was a dud as head if the Office of Management and Budget, he formed a hedge fund, Exegis Capital, after he left the Trump administration.
“Politics is going to be a very turbulent thing for the near future, and I think it creates opportunities for those who understand how Washington works to provide an advantage over everybody else,” he said on a podcast.
According to a financial site:
{Mulvaney's partner} confirmed that the $1 million was just the minimum they are asking for from investors. The hedge fund, he said, is trying to raise money from both “high-net-worth” and “ultra-high-net- worth” individuals, who can have at least $30 million in assets…. [Partner}said that, so far, they’re aiming to invest into small and mid-cap financial stocks, with less of a focus on banks and more interest in consumer lenders and fintech businesses, among others.
Mulvaney’s role at the firm includes offering guidance on the best companies to invest in, based on what Exegis expects to be tighter regulation on the financial services industry under the Biden administration. No mention whether he will act as a bagman or invoke the Trump/Tea Party connections.
Apparently, the CBS gig is a side job. It would be interesting to see his contract of employment. Also interesting to know whether any CBS officers, executives or directors do business with Exegis.
Did Mulvaney have an epiphany? After Mulvaney stepped down as Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland after the insurrection, called Trump's comments that his supporters were "hugging and kissing" police officers and posed "zero threat," despite widespread violence, "manifestly false."
"I was surprised to hear the President say that. Clearly there were people who were behaving themselves, and then there were people who absolutely were not, but to come out and say that everyone was fine and there was no risk, that's just manifestly false -- people died, other people were severely injured," Mulvaney told CNN's Pamela Brown on "Newsroom."
"It's not right to say there was no risk, I don't know how you can say that when people were killed," he added.
Being an active agent for Team Coup is no “side gig,” Daniel. All these efforts are one and the same effort to weave broader frame for an anti-democracy in the near future.
While being part of the problem (for awhile), its reputation as having fair programs (including the 60 Minutes "tv magazine") allows it to cash in on the drive for viewership tv commercial $$$. (My disillusionment became apparent when it had partisan hack Robert Gates presented as an unbiased expert while biasedly trashing Biden's Afghan pullout fiasco without getting any pushback over his own past blunders. Lara Logan's post-CBS quackery is also telling. But, 60 Minutes has some good Ukraine stories, and access to interviews with world leaders)
After Moonves had to leave due to his scandalous behavior, Cheeks must want to shake things up. Here's a good story about CBS news & its former president: "When I asked a senior exec if it’s apt to call these ‘caretaker’ jobs, the person responded with a different word, ‘undertaker.’”...
"Then again, check out this juicy nugget from Page Six’s Oli Coleman, Emily Smith and Sara Nathan. They write that at a CBS corporate meeting, Zirinsky held up a piece of paper that said, “I hate my job.”"
Mulvaney should only be allowed on CBS News as a guest, and only with an introduction that states that he was an important member of the Trump administration, and a purveyor of the big lie. Also, what he says should be clearly identified as opinion when necessary, not fact.
Jane, I think the same. As a corporation that depends on its sponsors, CBS values the almighty penny more than its former reputation as the house of Murrow, Severeid and many other stalwarts of broadcasting.
George, Your comment raises the prevailing question of whether media can meaningfully engage in “public service” and nurture the “public trust” and still make the sort of money they currently do or whether the desire to make bigger profits will drive media owners to provide expedient rather than useful content. Either way, somehow we must find a way to engage the mainstream, not retreat from it.
Right, Barbara Jo. When Mulvaney says anything untrue, it's our right to call him on it, and CBS will have to deal with him. Anyone can make a mistake, but a serious mistruth ought to have job-threatening consequences.
It's telling that Neeraj Khemlani, co-head of CBS News, is saying that having 'both sides of the aisle' is important because the Republicans may win. It seems that this message is everywhere on MSM. It would not be the first time that major news has put its influence into an election. Remember the endless 'breaking news' image with tRump on the phone and some blurb about him, essentially free advertising? Sickening, and far from 'fair and balanced'.
Republicans may win. So what? Lots of things “may” happen. (I believe the correct word is actually “might.”) Besides, what they’re really doing is advocating. By saying they expect Republicans to win they’re helping to make that happen. Shame on them!
Absolutely Laurie, from the first read of this from Prof. Reich this morning, the move hit me as being of the same mentality that media had, all of them 'grabbing the low hanging fruit', normalizing the trump dump on the country which got him elected.
I have been been very disappointed with our media, CNN has Rick Santorum (at least had) and other Republican extremists as contributors (very few from the Progressive side) and though MSBC still has some unbiased media hosts, to me it has watered down its lineup (thoughthecurrentoneis stillgood), Keith Olberman, Steve Schultz, relegated Al Sharpton to a weekend slot and, most disturbingly, has dramatically reduced the presence of television's top anchor, Rachel Maddow (though she is saying she is working on other media projects). Now this, which only confirms that our fourth estate could soon no longer be relied upon as the guardrail of our democracy.
Thomas Turner ; One needs a supply of salt grains and an ability to pay close attention to get through the news. This forum helps me, along with Journalists like Rachael Maddow, rare and hard to find.
I have subscriptions to The Guardian and Washington Post and sustain PBS and NPR networks in my state. And, of course, I am a proud follower of Robert Reich.
CFR membership should be questioned, a simple review of their agenda/ mission statement is incredibly revealing. When it comes to an media source, question everything!!
Twenty nine years ago, I called "breakfast" and the kids did not come to the table. I called again "come and get it, breakfast is on that table". I found my children in front of the television. They did not hear me come in and they did not hear me when I said, hey turn that off, its time for breakfast. They really and truly did not hear me. I walked over the tv and turned it off. All through breakfast, we talked about this strange event and off they went to school. I called the cable company and had cable shut off. My children, now in their early thirties, never had cable television again - not even in their own homes.
Once a week, I join my kid's families for family dinner together and we still talk about politics, religion, money and current events as easily and regularly as always. We have different opinions about why this comes easily to us, but we agree on two things. One, is our unbroken tradition of sitting down together at the family dinner table. Two, none of us has cable tv in our homes.
None of us are Facebook or social media users - some of us have accounts, but no one uses them - in fact, how we're coping with people who expect us to use them is a common topic.
Many years ago, I read statistics about how many hours the average American spends watching cable television and understood the reason, my family reads so many books, accomplishes so much when we are off work and spends so much time with each other.
Do not mistake me. I am not bragging. I am merely saying, that my time belongs to me and I am not giving the time in my lifetime to strangers talking at me - instead of with me.
While my family is liberal, many of the in-law families are conservative, but we share the same habit of sitting down at the table to eat together. We are convinced that that habit, is the reason we are all comfortable discussing politics, religion and money together. You see, everyone keeps a level head, cause we know we will be right back at this table, with the exact same people next week, and every holiday of the year.
I think Mulvaney needs to go. I am deeply concerned and angry that Mulvaney is with CBS. Our Democracy is hanging by a thread. Where are the Myrriws when we need them? Mr Reich IMI you come close to ERMurrow. Thank you. (GMason)
A big, big thank you for the "Heads Up." And pointing it out? an excellent piece of old fashioned muck raking. Collective letters of protest to CBS from all of us might just have an impact -- particularly if your comparison to McCarthy is included.
Media Matters and Matt Gertz identified this issue as a five alarm fire for “Press” in this country over two weeks ago. CBS News is just the latest, Gertz wrote, to risk its credibility in order to carve accessibility to and influence from a future far-right, anti-democratic regime.
We already know this won’t end well. Mulvaney wrote a piece for the WSJ in November ‘20 saying how he had unique insight into Trump. Media Matters reminded me that the headline for that screed was “If he loses, Trump will concede gracefully.” Mulvaney harshly criticized media outlets for suggesting that Trump would not “participate in a peaceful transition of power.” None of that “aged well.”
Mulvaney, when he was WH chief of staff, also had the power to craft US response to the novel coronavirus just as it was spreading across the country in February ‘20. But it was more important to him that he go to CPAC and excoriate the real villain of the unfolding disaster: the press. Yup, this SOB criticized journalists for giving too much attention to Covid-19 because “they think this is going to be what brings down the president. We know how to handle this,” he said. That’s not “aged well” either.
And please, please let us not avert our attention and effort from the work of real reporters who showed us that Trump “had conditioned vital military aid to Ukraine on its government’s willingness to open an investigation that would benefit him politically, [while] some Trump partisans denied that there had been an explicit quid pro quo. But Mulvaney, who as head of the Office of Management and Budget had overseen the scheme, had the guts to go to the White House lectern and explicitly say that’s exactly what had happened and that reporters should “get over it” (though he later blamed the media for misconstruing his words).”
What is it exactly that CBS thinks it’s getting from putting this guy on air? There is only ONE WAY to deal with this hot mess, which RR elided but which we already know: Call out Mulvaney as an active member of Team Coup, turn away from CBS and make this gambit too costly for them, and remind all the players — including ourselves — that democratic nation has no coin for kleptocrats, sycophants and liars with their hands on the till of authoritarianism.
Carroll Quigley in “Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time”:
"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.”
The GOP platform seems to have morphed into “whatever is opposite the Dems,” though research and polling reveal "what the vast majority of Americans want." Robert Reich:
Joan Blades, cofounder of MoveOn.org, and Mark Meckler, cofounder of Tea Party Patriots, each with a couple compatriots, met in her living room to discuss transpartisanship and where they find common ground, and found they agreed on over 90% of major issues.
Unfortunately there’s a paywall for the San Francisco Chronicle’s article you post. If there’s any actual free report, please post. As a retired county commissioner, here in Ohio I saw this somewhat common ground, IN THE PAST. However, the GOP here started eliminating most reasonable people over a decade ago. Our vastly gerrymandered state only gives space for radical rightists like Jim Jordan.
As a Democrat (elected for 20 years to city council then county commissioner) I was once termed a “raging moderate “. That view is hard to find in the Ohio GOP. I have seen lovely “raging moderate” GOP county commissioners morph into radical right in order to get elected then keep moving up at our Statehouse. Shocking. And now, the home of Walter Conkrite is disgraced by the likes of Mick Mulvaney.
However, if we don’t stop agonizing and start organizing...guess who says that and she’s so correct...we will lose our democracy. I think CBS is vastly dumbed down. So, I won’t watch it. Let’s begin, organizing however, by finding allies on its board, and determining who IS their audience so that we can organize them, if we should and can.
Are you the originator of "stop agonizing and start organizing?" I shall pass that one along. I believe this link is to the same author & article about Living Room Conversations -- see if it is behind a paywall:
I had been wondering why CBS was not covering the fake elector certifications for the 2020 election that seven states submitted to the National Archives. Then I happened upon Reince Priebus' Twitter account where his profile includes "Political Analyst @CBSNews" and I wondered no more.
Hi Susan-the quote has been Speaker Pelosi’s refrain for many years! I love it from my Ohio view. Sorry I failed to respond earlier. Agonizing gets nothing done. Organizing is the key which Robert points out in today’s comments.
Totally agree with this WASHPO opinion. Reporters hold their esteemed place because we are a democracy. They should really try to uphold that value as opposed to an ephemeral slavery to covering ALL sides at the expense of the bigger forest. It seems a fetishized to describing the fire on each tree when the dadblasted whole forest is burning.
@Susan. Doesn't it seem that the opposition of the parties' leaderships to one another is not based on policy, it is based on swaying public opinion in order to be returned to power?
I understand your point but I have always perceived the parties as different, or at least I used to. There were stark differences up until Bill Clinton. Even in the sixties Republican ideology made me nauseous. Now it makes me want to kill myself.
No self-immolation -- see comment from Paula OH above about "agonizing" and "organizing." Yes, we can thank the Podesta brothers for pressuring Pres. Bill Clinton to repeal Glass-Steagall, and then John Podesta becomes Hillary's campaign manager!!
Susan D Oakley ; I wonder if it was his idea for Hillary to focus mostly on posh fundraisers, instead of rural and inner city populations? That did not help, but it would not have been lucrative either. Pandering to the money, and not the common good does not help the common good. Money in politics will kill Democracy.
Susan D Oakley ; I had no idea that MoveOn and Tea Party folks agreed on getting money out of politics. I would ask 'what happened?', but we know that is impossible, isn't it?
IMHO Mick Mulvaney is a cancerous pseudo intellectual that has spread from Faux News to CBS. For anyone, including some big time news executive, to think Mulvaney is not an arrogant self serving jerk and a liar for trumps dictator delusion has not been paying attention. A disappointing move by CBS.
Disappointing and dangerous.
Professor, In my view, what’s most dangerous is co-head of CBS News Khemlani’s remark that “gaining access to both sides of the aisle is a priority…”. Surely, failing to provide context, background, or any sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading is dangerously detrimental to democracy.
Is this the same guy and do you think we should write to him? If so, what would you say? Neeraj Khemlani
Executive Vice President & Deputy Group Head, Hearst Newspapers
https://contactout.com/success
Although Mulvaney disgraced himself by diminishing/emasculating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as advocating false supply side trickle down economics during his time on the House Financial Services Committee, and was a dud as head if the Office of Management and Budget, he formed a hedge fund, Exegis Capital, after he left the Trump administration.
“Politics is going to be a very turbulent thing for the near future, and I think it creates opportunities for those who understand how Washington works to provide an advantage over everybody else,” he said on a podcast.
According to a financial site:
{Mulvaney's partner} confirmed that the $1 million was just the minimum they are asking for from investors. The hedge fund, he said, is trying to raise money from both “high-net-worth” and “ultra-high-net- worth” individuals, who can have at least $30 million in assets…. [Partner}said that, so far, they’re aiming to invest into small and mid-cap financial stocks, with less of a focus on banks and more interest in consumer lenders and fintech businesses, among others.
Mulvaney’s role at the firm includes offering guidance on the best companies to invest in, based on what Exegis expects to be tighter regulation on the financial services industry under the Biden administration. No mention whether he will act as a bagman or invoke the Trump/Tea Party connections.
Apparently, the CBS gig is a side job. It would be interesting to see his contract of employment. Also interesting to know whether any CBS officers, executives or directors do business with Exegis.
Did Mulvaney have an epiphany? After Mulvaney stepped down as Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland after the insurrection, called Trump's comments that his supporters were "hugging and kissing" police officers and posed "zero threat," despite widespread violence, "manifestly false."
"I was surprised to hear the President say that. Clearly there were people who were behaving themselves, and then there were people who absolutely were not, but to come out and say that everyone was fine and there was no risk, that's just manifestly false -- people died, other people were severely injured," Mulvaney told CNN's Pamela Brown on "Newsroom."
"It's not right to say there was no risk, I don't know how you can say that when people were killed," he added.
Being an active agent for Team Coup is no “side gig,” Daniel. All these efforts are one and the same effort to weave broader frame for an anti-democracy in the near future.
@DW. Dictator Delusion!
CBS is now part of the problem. Excellent expose, as usual. I don't watch the network anyway.
While being part of the problem (for awhile), its reputation as having fair programs (including the 60 Minutes "tv magazine") allows it to cash in on the drive for viewership tv commercial $$$. (My disillusionment became apparent when it had partisan hack Robert Gates presented as an unbiased expert while biasedly trashing Biden's Afghan pullout fiasco without getting any pushback over his own past blunders. Lara Logan's post-CBS quackery is also telling. But, 60 Minutes has some good Ukraine stories, and access to interviews with world leaders)
After Moonves had to leave due to his scandalous behavior, Cheeks must want to shake things up. Here's a good story about CBS news & its former president: "When I asked a senior exec if it’s apt to call these ‘caretaker’ jobs, the person responded with a different word, ‘undertaker.’”...
"Then again, check out this juicy nugget from Page Six’s Oli Coleman, Emily Smith and Sara Nathan. They write that at a CBS corporate meeting, Zirinsky held up a piece of paper that said, “I hate my job.”"
https://www.poynter.org/newsletters/2021/cbs-news-names-a-new-president-and-its-actually-two-people/
Mulvaney should only be allowed on CBS News as a guest, and only with an introduction that states that he was an important member of the Trump administration, and a purveyor of the big lie. Also, what he says should be clearly identified as opinion when necessary, not fact.
Unfortunately CBS has become like other large corporations, following the money is more important than protecting our democracy.
Jane, I think the same. As a corporation that depends on its sponsors, CBS values the almighty penny more than its former reputation as the house of Murrow, Severeid and many other stalwarts of broadcasting.
George, Your comment raises the prevailing question of whether media can meaningfully engage in “public service” and nurture the “public trust” and still make the sort of money they currently do or whether the desire to make bigger profits will drive media owners to provide expedient rather than useful content. Either way, somehow we must find a way to engage the mainstream, not retreat from it.
Right, Barbara Jo. When Mulvaney says anything untrue, it's our right to call him on it, and CBS will have to deal with him. Anyone can make a mistake, but a serious mistruth ought to have job-threatening consequences.
Jane Harrison ; Following the money, and protecting their own interests, apparently.
It's telling that Neeraj Khemlani, co-head of CBS News, is saying that having 'both sides of the aisle' is important because the Republicans may win. It seems that this message is everywhere on MSM. It would not be the first time that major news has put its influence into an election. Remember the endless 'breaking news' image with tRump on the phone and some blurb about him, essentially free advertising? Sickening, and far from 'fair and balanced'.
Republicans may win. So what? Lots of things “may” happen. (I believe the correct word is actually “might.”) Besides, what they’re really doing is advocating. By saying they expect Republicans to win they’re helping to make that happen. Shame on them!
Paula B. : polls are often cited saying things don't look good for Biden and Dems. I do not trust polls.
Agreed. And I think they’re dangerous for the reason I mentioned above.
I agree! The whole system here stinks!
Yes and remember the "polls" said Hilary would win easily.
Indeed, she was the 'heir apparent'.
Absolutely Laurie, from the first read of this from Prof. Reich this morning, the move hit me as being of the same mentality that media had, all of them 'grabbing the low hanging fruit', normalizing the trump dump on the country which got him elected.
Is this the same guy: Neeraj Khemlani
Executive Vice President & Deputy Group Head, Hearst Newspapers https://contactout.com/success
Yes
Just added CBS to the list of stations I never watch, along with Faux News. They can feed the lies, but I don’t have to listen.
I have been been very disappointed with our media, CNN has Rick Santorum (at least had) and other Republican extremists as contributors (very few from the Progressive side) and though MSBC still has some unbiased media hosts, to me it has watered down its lineup (thoughthecurrentoneis stillgood), Keith Olberman, Steve Schultz, relegated Al Sharpton to a weekend slot and, most disturbingly, has dramatically reduced the presence of television's top anchor, Rachel Maddow (though she is saying she is working on other media projects). Now this, which only confirms that our fourth estate could soon no longer be relied upon as the guardrail of our democracy.
My kids have been telling me that media cannot be trusted or relied on for years. This CBS hire has proven to me that they are correct.
Thomas Turner ; One needs a supply of salt grains and an ability to pay close attention to get through the news. This forum helps me, along with Journalists like Rachael Maddow, rare and hard to find.
I have subscriptions to The Guardian and Washington Post and sustain PBS and NPR networks in my state. And, of course, I am a proud follower of Robert Reich.
All good!
But where are they turning to for their news? Are they getting it from Facebook, Twitter, etc.
William Cash ; Phew! It's a jungle out there! I rarely Twitter, and F.B. is like the Wild West, and not in a good way, if there ever was one.
God only knows. Probably from nowhere.
CFR membership should be questioned, a simple review of their agenda/ mission statement is incredibly revealing. When it comes to an media source, question everything!!
Twenty nine years ago, I called "breakfast" and the kids did not come to the table. I called again "come and get it, breakfast is on that table". I found my children in front of the television. They did not hear me come in and they did not hear me when I said, hey turn that off, its time for breakfast. They really and truly did not hear me. I walked over the tv and turned it off. All through breakfast, we talked about this strange event and off they went to school. I called the cable company and had cable shut off. My children, now in their early thirties, never had cable television again - not even in their own homes.
Once a week, I join my kid's families for family dinner together and we still talk about politics, religion, money and current events as easily and regularly as always. We have different opinions about why this comes easily to us, but we agree on two things. One, is our unbroken tradition of sitting down together at the family dinner table. Two, none of us has cable tv in our homes.
None of us are Facebook or social media users - some of us have accounts, but no one uses them - in fact, how we're coping with people who expect us to use them is a common topic.
Many years ago, I read statistics about how many hours the average American spends watching cable television and understood the reason, my family reads so many books, accomplishes so much when we are off work and spends so much time with each other.
Do not mistake me. I am not bragging. I am merely saying, that my time belongs to me and I am not giving the time in my lifetime to strangers talking at me - instead of with me.
While my family is liberal, many of the in-law families are conservative, but we share the same habit of sitting down at the table to eat together. We are convinced that that habit, is the reason we are all comfortable discussing politics, religion and money together. You see, everyone keeps a level head, cause we know we will be right back at this table, with the exact same people next week, and every holiday of the year.
Where. What. Who. How. Can this be happening? The Republicans are disaster and why are you and anyone who thinks giving them space?
Excellent summarization. I will never watch 60 Minutes again. (The ONLY reason I ever tuned in to CBS.)
Amen Anne, 60 minutes became a site of propaganda and disinformation years ago, wise choice to turn it off!
Thank you for always stating the issues so clearly.
Robert I think that you are correct. Again. Still. Correct
I think Mulvaney needs to go. I am deeply concerned and angry that Mulvaney is with CBS. Our Democracy is hanging by a thread. Where are the Myrriws when we need them? Mr Reich IMI you come close to ERMurrow. Thank you. (GMason)
A big, big thank you for the "Heads Up." And pointing it out? an excellent piece of old fashioned muck raking. Collective letters of protest to CBS from all of us might just have an impact -- particularly if your comparison to McCarthy is included.
Media Matters and Matt Gertz identified this issue as a five alarm fire for “Press” in this country over two weeks ago. CBS News is just the latest, Gertz wrote, to risk its credibility in order to carve accessibility to and influence from a future far-right, anti-democratic regime.
We already know this won’t end well. Mulvaney wrote a piece for the WSJ in November ‘20 saying how he had unique insight into Trump. Media Matters reminded me that the headline for that screed was “If he loses, Trump will concede gracefully.” Mulvaney harshly criticized media outlets for suggesting that Trump would not “participate in a peaceful transition of power.” None of that “aged well.”
Mulvaney, when he was WH chief of staff, also had the power to craft US response to the novel coronavirus just as it was spreading across the country in February ‘20. But it was more important to him that he go to CPAC and excoriate the real villain of the unfolding disaster: the press. Yup, this SOB criticized journalists for giving too much attention to Covid-19 because “they think this is going to be what brings down the president. We know how to handle this,” he said. That’s not “aged well” either.
And please, please let us not avert our attention and effort from the work of real reporters who showed us that Trump “had conditioned vital military aid to Ukraine on its government’s willingness to open an investigation that would benefit him politically, [while] some Trump partisans denied that there had been an explicit quid pro quo. But Mulvaney, who as head of the Office of Management and Budget had overseen the scheme, had the guts to go to the White House lectern and explicitly say that’s exactly what had happened and that reporters should “get over it” (though he later blamed the media for misconstruing his words).”
What is it exactly that CBS thinks it’s getting from putting this guy on air? There is only ONE WAY to deal with this hot mess, which RR elided but which we already know: Call out Mulvaney as an active member of Team Coup, turn away from CBS and make this gambit too costly for them, and remind all the players — including ourselves — that democratic nation has no coin for kleptocrats, sycophants and liars with their hands on the till of authoritarianism.
Carroll Quigley in “Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time”:
"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.”
The GOP platform seems to have morphed into “whatever is opposite the Dems,” though research and polling reveal "what the vast majority of Americans want." Robert Reich:
https://www.salon.com/2019/07/01/the-center-of-american-politics-is-on-the-left_partner/
Joan Blades, cofounder of MoveOn.org, and Mark Meckler, cofounder of Tea Party Patriots, each with a couple compatriots, met in her living room to discuss transpartisanship and where they find common ground, and found they agreed on over 90% of major issues.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/01/21/moveon-orgs-co-founder-has-the-tea-partys-co-founder-over-for-tea/?sh=28e3aff73c1b
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/MoveOn-founder-Tea-Party-figure-meet-4204384.php
Unfortunately there’s a paywall for the San Francisco Chronicle’s article you post. If there’s any actual free report, please post. As a retired county commissioner, here in Ohio I saw this somewhat common ground, IN THE PAST. However, the GOP here started eliminating most reasonable people over a decade ago. Our vastly gerrymandered state only gives space for radical rightists like Jim Jordan.
As a Democrat (elected for 20 years to city council then county commissioner) I was once termed a “raging moderate “. That view is hard to find in the Ohio GOP. I have seen lovely “raging moderate” GOP county commissioners morph into radical right in order to get elected then keep moving up at our Statehouse. Shocking. And now, the home of Walter Conkrite is disgraced by the likes of Mick Mulvaney.
However, if we don’t stop agonizing and start organizing...guess who says that and she’s so correct...we will lose our democracy. I think CBS is vastly dumbed down. So, I won’t watch it. Let’s begin, organizing however, by finding allies on its board, and determining who IS their audience so that we can organize them, if we should and can.
Aloha, Dear Raging Moderate ..
Are you the originator of "stop agonizing and start organizing?" I shall pass that one along. I believe this link is to the same author & article about Living Room Conversations -- see if it is behind a paywall:
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/MoveOn-founder-Tea-Party-figure-meet-4204384.php#ixzz2RnSRPWmG
I had been wondering why CBS was not covering the fake elector certifications for the 2020 election that seven states submitted to the National Archives. Then I happened upon Reince Priebus' Twitter account where his profile includes "Political Analyst @CBSNews" and I wondered no more.
;
Hi Susan-the quote has been Speaker Pelosi’s refrain for many years! I love it from my Ohio view. Sorry I failed to respond earlier. Agonizing gets nothing done. Organizing is the key which Robert points out in today’s comments.
I agree with this author's position as well:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/16/why-media-should-have-pro-democracy-bias/
Totally agree with this WASHPO opinion. Reporters hold their esteemed place because we are a democracy. They should really try to uphold that value as opposed to an ephemeral slavery to covering ALL sides at the expense of the bigger forest. It seems a fetishized to describing the fire on each tree when the dadblasted whole forest is burning.
@Susan. Doesn't it seem that the opposition of the parties' leaderships to one another is not based on policy, it is based on swaying public opinion in order to be returned to power?
Yes.
I understand your point but I have always perceived the parties as different, or at least I used to. There were stark differences up until Bill Clinton. Even in the sixties Republican ideology made me nauseous. Now it makes me want to kill myself.
No self-immolation -- see comment from Paula OH above about "agonizing" and "organizing." Yes, we can thank the Podesta brothers for pressuring Pres. Bill Clinton to repeal Glass-Steagall, and then John Podesta becomes Hillary's campaign manager!!
Susan D Oakley ; I wonder if it was his idea for Hillary to focus mostly on posh fundraisers, instead of rural and inner city populations? That did not help, but it would not have been lucrative either. Pandering to the money, and not the common good does not help the common good. Money in politics will kill Democracy.
That was the number one the MoveOn folks and the Tea Party folks agreed on - to get the money out of politics.
Susan D Oakley ; I had no idea that MoveOn and Tea Party folks agreed on getting money out of politics. I would ask 'what happened?', but we know that is impossible, isn't it?