Chris Dykstra on Almanac
Different Political Panel
"Two well-known bloggers join the political panel this week. John Hinderaker (powerlineblog.com) and Chris Dykstra (newpatriot.org) join Sarah Janecek and Ember Reichgott Junge on the couch."
Watch the video [Quicktime, 31 MB]
posted by Chuck Olsen @ 3:48 PM |
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23 Comments:
Oh my. Did you see John's face start convulsing when he said that, while in Iowa, Bush "gave a brilliant exposition of why we were in Iraq, what the strategy is."
Of course the reason none of us know that is because of the media.
yeah... apparently Hinderaker is the only person on the planet privvy to the brilliance of Bush's Iraq strategy. pshaw! i also noted the convulsing, which I know so well.
It was Idaho, not Iowa. Either way, the media wasn't interested because the President didn't say anything new. And as a reporter if you dragged me all the way from New York or LA to hear you say the same old thing, I'm not going to make a strong case to give it lots of column inches or airtime.
If anything it indicates the media (and more importantly, its viewers) are starting to realize that there is little news value in canned Presidential statements before a handpicked audience.
You can only fool everyone so often.
Those of you who have consistently pointed out the President won't listen to dissenting opinion and has the audiences screened should take a little bow for the media's lack of interest in this pre-fab news.
Great Job, Chris.
Tom,
Yeah, the "brilliant exposition," and the standard media bash. Those guys are all the same, talking from the same script.
Jeff
Lol, since when is this a well known blog?
You guys really ought to invite cappy Jeff, just for irony. I love how he parrots all you and then says "All them other guys say the same thing."
Beautiful.
-Censored
Sounds like a certain loser is jealous!
-- The Gatekeeper
Hinderaker's fluttering eyelid makes him look like Chief Inspector Dreyfus from the PINK PANTHER movies. Villainous apoplexy is hilarious.
I suppose that, in some quarters, yapping about Hinderaker's eyelids is a reasonable substitute for being able to engage him in facts and/or debating style.
Sadly, it was the only way Chris had Rocketman beat. Sorry, C-Dy, but he served your school, or whatever the flock you kids are saying these days.
With all due respect to you NewPat guys, I think it's an interesting commentary on the local media; the best they can do to "balance" Hinderaker (R: Biggest Blog In Town) is someone from a blog that updates twice a week and averages 200 visits a day.
Note to Cathy Wurzer: Time to update the ol' rolodex.
Dream on. Nobody "won." It was a civil little panel in which each person acquitted him/herself admirably.
But it's well worth noting that "your guy" appeared slouchy and apoplectic for somebody who commands $5,000 for a keynote appearance. I figure that's about $25 per tic.
Awesome. Hopefully Chris will make more appearances on local media programs -- like ABC's Sunday morning show, At Issue or TPT's Face to Face.
I demand a retraction! We've been posting a lot lately! Also, posting video equals 3 text posts. I just made that up.
That's right folks... tune in to Almanac, where you can see underdogs pitted against Big Blog Media.
"Big Blog Media."
Heh heh. Inside joke right?
Three guys in their basement offices.
Okay, so... Biggest Blog in town, but not Big Blog Media. Got it. :-)
I recall Hinderaker blogging on his iMac from a sunny platform overlooking his spacious abode, but perhaps he's moved into the comfy basement area since then.
Or corner office in the TCF building. Whatever.
Right... that would be Scott Johnson.
(Please sign your posts anon.)
I don't really care though. I'm sure Chris Dystra has a pretty nice house. Who cares? And indeed, why compare traffic of the bloggers on Almanac? This isn't a cock contest, this is where we talk about the future of our country.
I will jump in here and say that I thought this was a poor appearance for the liberals.
Sorry Chris.
We just have to get better at saying "Bullshit!" when Hindrocket and his ilk, well, spout bullshit. (NB: May have to tone this down for TPT censors. "Nonsense!" might work!)
Bush's brilliant speech?
What, the same one he's given a hundred times? The one that never defines the task, or says how we can know when it will be done. The same one that never admits what anyone can plainly see with their own two eyes: Iraq is not going very well.
When Bush comes clean about his failure in Iraq and announces a plan to get us back on track, then I will listen. Until then, it's just more BULLSHIT.
And the questioning about unions was very one-sided. I believe that the AFL-CIO split will actually help Democrats, because the splinter unions are more dedicated to organizing than politics (they do that too, but politics comes first).
The most prominent splinter union is the SEIU, about the only growing union, and the union out to organize the most sympathetic workers, the ones who make $6/hour to clean up your shit, the ones who really NEED a union.
Union members are more likely to vote Democratic than non-union members. Nothing grows Democrats like growing unions. Unions fighting to out-organize each other has been responsible for the fastest union growth in the past. More union members equals more Democrats getting elected.
I would also add that I'd love to see Minnesota's most popular liberal blogger, PZ Meyers of Pharyngula onstage with Hinderaker. PZ would rip him a new assrocket.
This is why I'm advocating a once-a-week political videoblog show on Minnesota Stories. No censors. But, sadly, no Republican takers last time I inquired. I'll have to make a more spirited effort. You on board, Luke?
Maybe if you can get a Republican...
No need to apologize Luke. I am sure their are people who would "rip John J. a new ass rocket" and given more than a couple of seconds of response per question I would happily engage him, though probably not as aggressively as you would like.
The format on Almanac is pretty mellow, as you know. For this segment, they didn't tell us what they were going to talk about. Once the camera is on, the hosts say - here's the topic, respond, now you, then you, then you, next topic, respond...etc. There is no virtually no re-direction, no point counter point. I doubt any "ass-rippers" would get asked back.
As an aside...It's really difficult to frame a response that hits a couple of high-level points in a few seconds live. It is really good practice to try. I intend to keep practicing, if given the opportunity.
Further, it's interesting to note that the we seem to have become unaccustomed to hearing a reasonable exchange of views. The standard we expect in media appearances is that, given the opportunity to appear for our "team" we must adopt the ultra-aggressive attack mentality so common on BS TV. I disagree. I'm gonna step out on a limb here and say that one of the best things liberals/democrats can do right now is pitch the ball right down the middle and let Hindraker and co. foul it way right.
I think a weekly vlog with a true exchange of opinion would be a lot of fun.
It's true that Almanac's format does not advance a true debate or even a real discussion.
Perhaps I'm putting it a bit too aggressively by asking that Hinderaker "get ripped a new assrocket", but without some counterbalance, you "win" on Almanac by spouting the most outrageous propaganda, because no matter what you say, it won't be questioned.
Definately keep practicing, Chris. I think Hinderaker had the most experience BSing in front of a camera on that panel. He used that to his advantage. We need to catch up to them on that front.
No doubt, Hinderaker is an absolute pro. And let's not forget, a lawyer. He's a master debater.
Ass-rippers generally don't make it onto Almanac in the first place. Chris is a known quantity, and obviously a reasonable fellow. The format definitely favors snappiness and talking points to some extent, although Chris comes off as very thoughtful which I find refreshing.
Unfortunately the vlog format isn't geared toward a long thoughtful discussion, because video takes too long to download. A podcast might be more appropriate.
I'm imagining a format - very open to discussion - where a story or issue is agreed upon ahead of time. Each person has 1 minute to state their position, then in the remaining 3 minutes they debate/discuss. Perhaps with my as a moderator or facilitator. That's a 5 minute show. Have a beer.
I think we could break at 5 minutes but then continue the discussion for 15-20 minutes if the participants were game, and make that into an optional full-length video download as well as a podcast.
This could be a great opportunity to escape The Patriot and Air America territory. A forum to come together and find some common ground and, I'm sure, sharp but respactable differences. People are much less extreme in person, faced with another human being with different viewpoints.
I should say I only aproached one prominent local Republican blogger. There are tons of lefty and righty bloggers in our bloggihood - I think once we got this off the ground we'd find people from all sides.
woohoo!
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