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Taibbi at this point should start a new news co. He, and to some degree, Glenn Greenwald, have been the only two members of the press who seem to be unable to s
by gfodor 6y ago
Taibbi at this point should start a new news co. He, and to some degree, Glenn Greenwald, have been the only two members of the press who seem to be unable to see the emperor’s new clothes in the parades of the last several years.
- wozniacki 6y agoWe've passed the point where people are willing to buy more tranches of gaslighting masquerading as journalism from existing and entrenched players, who have been part of the problem as far as the memory goes. That ship sailed a long time ago.
- born_a_skeptic 6y agoWhy not Tucker Carlson? Just for the record, I subscribe to The Intercept and am a fan of Glenn Greenwald.
- 34679 6y agoMorally flexible.
- born_a_skeptic 6y agoon what?
- mushbino 6y agoRacism, xenophobia, healthcare, transphobia, authoritarianism, income inequality, workers rights. Just to name a few.
- MattGaiser 6y agohttps://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?speaker=tucker-carlson https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?speaker=tucker-c...
- born_a_skeptic 6y agoAlright, so he was wrong 8 times out of ~10,000 statements in the last 4 years? Or, am I missing something?
- SaltyBackendGuy 6y ago> Says the Potomac River "has gotten dirtier and dirtier and dirtier and dirtier. I go down there and that litter is left almost exclusively by immigrants." I think you're missing something.
- born_a_skeptic 6y agoHelp me understand what is wrong with that statement. If he fishes there regularly and sees (what he believes) are immigrants dumping trash, then isn't that statement true? How do you what he saw? This seems like splitting hairs.
- Woberto 6y agoYou yourself said "what he believes". Not "what he knows". That's not an insignificant detail. That seems like slander, really. Also, without proof, how can anybody say whether it even did or didn't happen? There are so many credible sources with proof of large companies polluting water, why not use that as an example?
- born_a_skeptic 6y agoI get what you are saying and agree there is a difference between knowing something and believing something. However, when someone believes something is true, that can mean multiple things, I take it to mean they think there is a high probability of something being true. He’s basically guessing. That means the only thing we have to go off of is Tucker’s word because he was there. And, as I ballpark estimated above, he’s generally correct when he says something according to the fact checking website, so I think he’s got credibility. Also, Tucker talks about fly fishing every so often on the show, it’s a passion of his, so it’s very possible he has seen people, who he thinks are immigrants, dumping stuff. Again, this feels like we are splitting hairs. He's pretty consistent about his view regarding immigrants (depends on situation). You may disagree with him, but that doesn't mean he is wrong.
- nhod 6y agoTucker Carlson drops hints that he can’t see the emperor’s clothes, but he nevertheless describes their beauty in exquisite detail almost every other night. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
- gfodor 6y agoTucker is partisan, and hence corrupted, so regardless of how wrong or right he is on any given issue he isn't someone who could step into the role of a widely-trusted journalist. Taibbi could.
- born_a_skeptic 6y agoThat's a fair point. I will say that he isn't afraid of calling out the BS on the right.
- scruple 6y agoBut he always pulls his punches when it comes to the right. His book, "Ship of Fools," is the perfect example. He's insincere.
- mibbles 6y agoHe did this a few years ago, basically in parallel to the Intercept. It didn't work out, and he went back to Rolling Stone afterwards https://theintercept.com/2014/10/30/inside-story-matt-taibbis-departure-first-look-media/ https://theintercept.com/2014/10/30/inside-story-matt-taibbi...
- gfodor 6y agoTiming is everything, now's the time.
- wherewillitlead 6y agoHave you seen the news show "Rising"? They have been staking out this space for about a year now. Taibbi and Greenwald appear there regularly. This show is probably the most interesting new development in American political media. The hosts have jokingly described their philosophy as "let's hate each other less and elites more", and present as a mostly-friendly pair of left and right populists. They were on Joe Rogan recently (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA9Tpf5Uuxs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA9Tpf5Uuxs), so their audience will probably spike. I find that even when I don't agree with them, their smartness is usually a breath of fresh air from the fetid stupidities of the mainstream (both left and right) media. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts, and whether they will continue to be able to work together. Regardless of whether one agrees, they're managing to host a freer discussion for the time being.
- zipwitch 6y agoI can't take Taibbi and Greenwald's antagonism against "elites" seriously when they take every chance possible to defend the actions of a billionaire President and his billionaire-stuff Cabinet.
- jmeister 6y agoIt’s their policies and actions that matter. Looking at everything from an identity lens is a disease that has corrupted discourse in this country.
- gfodor 6y agoYep actions > words > identity This concept has been lost on many.
- thu2111 6y ago"Elitism" isn't really about material wealth but a set of viewpoints and loyalties.
- wherewillitlead 6y agoThat's so far from accurate that I'm not sure how you got there. Both are squarely on the left and abhor Trump. Chomsky calls Greenwald his close friend, for example, and Taibbi wrote a book called "Insane Clown President" and was one of the strongest journalistic critics of the financial system.
- drtillberg 6y agoTaibbi is not alone in this, but he's prolific, consistent and the best. If he was anything less, traditional media relentlessly would tell us about his "fake news." It says something about our moment in history that it would take a maverick and upstart working at the edges of institutions to say something true about the great issues of our time.