Amy Goodman on "Hardball" hilighted my frustration w/both MSM & the Left

[UdoKier]

From the transcript:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6901752/


And so, to me, that suggests that, for all Howard Dean says that he has become kind of a born-again centrist, that he‘s actually pretty much far over on the left.  And we‘ll find out whether Amy is right and that there are oodles of voters waiting to come out and vote.  I think this is going to be a disaster for the Democratic Party. 

MATTHEWS:  Let me ask Amy to speak for herself, to some extent.

Amy, just think right now.  I know this is freeform thinking and it‘s right on the spot.  But think of who you think of right now as having the true voice of the hearts and minds of the Democratic Party.  List a couple of people you think are the true voice of the heart and mind of the Democratic Party right now in 2005 in February. 

GOODMAN:  Well, I don‘t think it is so much about individuals.  I think it is about positions.  It is about people taking strong stands. 

MATTHEWS:  No, who?  Well, give me an example of somebody you think speaks for the Democratic Party right now.

(CROSSTALK)

GOODMAN:  Like against Alberto Gonzales, like against Condoleezza Rice. 

MATTHEWS:  But who?  Who do you trust now?  Who has the true voice of the Democratic heart and mind right now?  Who is it?  Who do you recognize?  Give me three or four names of people you think are true Democrats.

GOODMAN:  Well, I‘m not going to give names.  I would talk about positions. 

MATTHEWS:  Why not? 

GOODMAN:  Because I think it is positions that matter.  And we shouldn‘t focus on personality. 

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS:  If you can‘t say who your leaders are, how can you call yourself a political party?  I mean, what are the Democrats if they don‘t have a leader? 

(CROSSTALK)

GOODMAN:  I think it is about—I think the Democratic Party...

MATTHEWS:  Who speaks for progressive America? 

GOODMAN:  I think the Democratic Party, what we should be talking about is positions that have to do with preserving Social Security, that have to do with being against torture.

MATTHEWS:  Yes.  Well, that‘s why you‘re losing.  Why you‘re losing.  now is, you can‘t even point to your leaders. 

At least George Bush is the leader of the Republican Party.

GOODMAN:  It‘s not about my leaders.  It‘s about...

MATTHEWS:  Name a leader.  Name a leader that you trust. 

GOODMAN:  It is not about my position.  It is about not my thoughts about people. 

MATTHEWS:  OK.

GOODMAN:  It is about positions.  And I think that‘s what counts. 

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS:  Well, that‘s the problem.  If the Democratic Party is tongue-tied about who their leaders are, that‘s the beginning of the problem. 

Thank you very much, Amy Goodman, for coming on.  Please come back. 


Amy - I love you, but PLEASE, just give a straight answer. The guy called Dean a leftist in moderate clothing - point out that he has ALWAYS been a moderate, and that this country has taken a turn to the extreme right!

Then he asks you who the leader of the democratic party is. Okay, I understand that we on the left are supposed to be about ideas and principles and reject the cult of personality, but remember your audience - you are speaking to THE KNUCKLEDRAGGERS WHO WATCH TWEETY, NOT Noam Chomsky. Name a leader - Dean, Reid, whoever. lay out an agenda. Don't be evasive. You make it sound like the definition of a democrat is just being against Gonzales & Rice!

Aside from Goodman's poor performance, I was also annoyed with Tweety for picking her in the first place and putting her on as a representative of the mainstream democratic view. My guess is that (she's not strident, so I'm not sure) her personal politics are significantly to the left of most of the democratic party. He KNOWS she is a leftist, and an intellectual, not a slick talking head, and he sets her up asking questions that someone of her intellectual bent is least likely to respond well too, BECAUSE THEY ARE BS QUESTIONS.

But it doesn't matter that the questions are BS. THAT is the media we've got, and if you're going to go up there and claim to represent the party, then you need to play their game, and spin all that intellectual wonk-talk into something palatable for Joe six pack, who sits and watches Hardball because he thinks it's "bipartisan". Don't believe me? Take my dad. He loves Tweety, because he's one of the few who ever gives dems a shake and grills republicans.

Sure, we know he's a total whore, but as my dad says "Well, he's the best we've got to work with."

Annd he's right there. As bad as Tweety is, if you come prepared, he may give you a fair shake, unlike the "independent" O'Liely, who will CUT YOUR MIKE, if you dare make an effective point contrary to his spin of the day.


Okay, rant over...

[rooboy]

1. What frustrates me is people expecting Amy Goodman and others...

to defend the Democratic Party when THEY ARE NOT representatives of the Democratic Party. Is Amy Goodman is even a MEMBER of the Democratic Party????

[Bees_Bees]

3. Great point

Members of congress and senators should name their leaders. Since Amy Goodman is to the left of the democratic party I can understand why she couldn't name a 'leader'. I respect her fully anyway.

[sandnsea]

7. Then why doesn't she say so?

I don't blame anybody but her. All she had to do there was say she wasn't a Democrat. And for those who do not consider themselves Democrats and are to the left of the party, I wish they would. It would help define the political spectrum a little better and that would help everybody.

[rooboy]

16. She's the host of Democracy NOW....

How could anybody NOT KNOW that she isn't a Democratic Party spokesperson??? She's a well known and highly respected journalist who has a perfect right to expect questions of an analytic nature to be asked. It's ridiculous to blame her for sitting opposite an idiot.

[UdoKier]

22. No offense, but Democracy Now! is way to the left of the Democratic party.

Most democrats voted for the IWR and the Patriot act and Gonzales and Rice.

And DU aside, most regular democratic voters have never heard of her show, and are on average about as left-wing as NPR.

[rooboy]

33. Why would I be offended?

If you think that America has a future by hanging around in bullshit right wing politics, the best of luck to you. In case you haven't noticed, the earth is shutting down, which will soon make your quest for a centerist Democratic Party leader somewhat irrelevant.

Amy Goodman is who she is. Don't get upset at her for not changing her spots. You need to be talking to MSNBC and asking them why they didn't have a Democratic Party spokesman on to discuss the subjects in question. If you were a doctor and I started antagonizing you about dentistry on my talk show, who would be the dickhead - you or me????

Chris Matthews is on the LOWEST rating cable network in America, and the overwhelming majority of Americans wouldn't even know who he is.

Who gives a shit....

[UdoKier]

37. I'm not damning her for being a leftie.

I'm just saying that she's not a mainstream democrat. I'm to the left of the dem mainstream myself.

[sandnsea]

26. When she's asked questions about the Democratic Party

She should be able to say "I'm not a Democrat so I wouldn't presume to speak for them" and even add, "I don't think all Republicans view Bush as their party leader, some of them didn't even vote for him and are as horrified by him as I am" Is that too much to ask of somebody who is so highly respected?

[bklyncowgirl]

34. How could anyone not know she isn't a Democratic spokesperson

Give me a break. Amy Goodman is not a household name. Most people don't have a clue who she is. I think it's great she's getting MSM airtime on Hardball, she's a straight talker and not afraid to take on right wingers.

I do think that Amy needs to state outright that she is not a spokesperson for the Democratic party and if she is not a registered Democrat, she should state that before giving her opinion.

[UdoKier]

8. I wouldn't be surprised if she's not

Tweety asked her to speak on the dems' behalf. She should have either clarified that she's not a dem, or laid out a democratic view of things. She did neither.

I think she does great on Democracy Now! but is particularly ill-suited to this format.

[alittlelark]

2. Goodman is hard-core progressive. Green in 2000

Kerry in 2004 (mitigate the damage). I understand, intellectually where she is coming from.

We Progressives are in a bind.... 70% of the DEM party has sold out, and the Greens haven't a chance in hell.

That said, she did not do a great job in framing her issues.

[cry baby]

4. I admire Amy Goodman immensely, but she is probably not the

best in that situation with tweety. She looked shocked when he kept pressing her. In her mind she gave the right answer (in my mind, too). Tweety came off looking like a bully and she looked like a mac truck had just hit her. I wrote him about the way he treated her and his wrong conclusions.

[Bees_Bees]

5. who is tweety?

sorry, I'm new.

[cry baby]

9. Chris Matthews...Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Bees_Bees]

10. LOL! Really?

It's such a cute nickname for a scary guy. Thanks for the welcome.

[cry baby]

15. Yeah, looks can be deceiving. n/t

On edit: I see you didn't call him cute...you said the nickname was cute! Wow, I'm sleepy.

[UdoKier]

11. Chris Matthews of Harball (for the yellow hair)

Once a democrat, became bitter after being spurned by Clinton, and a (mostly) sold-out whore to the BFEE ever since.

[ashling]

18. Mostly?

Mostly sold out? :wow: you have a nack for understatement. :)

[alittlelark]

6. I wish I had seen it - I've been listening to her for many years

.... I wish I had seen it.

[UdoKier]

13. It was actually kind of sad.

I like her too, and was rooting for her, but I kinda had a feeling where it might go. They had a horrible woman from the NY Whore Post giving the right-wing counterpoint to everything she said, and of course the Post lady came off much more slick and media-savvy. (although her arguments were pure bunk and spin)

[moondust]

12. Saw it. Sent Matthews an e-mail

telling him to take his People Magazine Politics and shove it. We have a government of ideas, not of personality cults.

[UdoKier]

14. You mean we SHOULD have a gov't of ideas

The Cult of Personality has been around a lot longer than any of us, and it is in FIRM control right now.

[moondust]

17. Right.

And MSM is the main culprit in perpetuating the cult of personality crap.

[tsuki]

36. No longer. The M$M demand a "star." For Ratings. Multi-million

dollar contracts. Payola. They must show that they are better and more intelligent than anyone, anywhere. Fact, reporting, bah humbug.

[Melynn]

19. Tweety was looking for a reason to bash Democrats

No matter what answer Amy Goodman gave to Tweety he would have ripped her. If Goodman named a person, Tweety would have criticized that person. Goodman may have picked up on that and refused to name anyone.

[UdoKier]

23. Probably, but she should have known...

... she was stepping into a pit of vipers.


And he couldn't have ripped her if she had been honest and said that she's not a mainstream democrat.

[cornermouse]

27. What is a mainstream democrat?

Please define.

[UdoKier]

29. There is a pretty wide range, from about Wellstone on the left,

to about Hillary on the right. I'm pretty sure Goodman is way to the left of Wellstone, or his ideological heir apparent, Russ Feingold.

Again, she doesn't wear her opinions on her sleeve, but that would be my guess from her show's content and the attitudes she displays on her show.

[ashling]

20. She refused to be pushed around by dipshit

Actually, I usually find Amy Goodman kind of annoying, but I think she was right to stick by her statement and not let that little turd push her into a stupid ill thought out response.

[donheld]

21. You must remember she's a journalist

Since when do we expect Chris Matthews, Ted Koppel, or any other journalist to speak for either Democratic, or Republican party. No other journalist is asked to speak for any particular party. It's always been Amy's job to report the news.

That aside i don't think Amy is the best debater, and up against the screamer who could be a good debater. I wonder if Matthews would have even asked Jon Stewart a question like that.

[rman]

24. With the RW helping us indentify what our problems are,

i'm sure we'll be winning any minute now.

[UdoKier]

28. I dunno, I think we could use a good figure to rally around.

Kerry sure wasn't it. Dean's not quite it. I really think Clark could be it, if he would get out there a bit more. Sorry, but if we are going to get some of the more shallow thinking voters back, we need a figure like that. That type doesn't go for just policy proposals and ideas, no matter how great they are. For them, it's a contest between two guys and they pick the one they like.

[UL_Approved]

25. What if Dean stayed in the center, and we all moved to the right?

How would we know if this was different than him moving to the left? I just don't know... :shrug:

[KG]

30. amy goodman understands the nature of power, unlike tweety

who is an intellectual midget.

she understand that power resides in ideas and getting them into peoples heads and not personality cults which is why she was laothe to give a name.

[Dangerman]

31. If Amy Goodman were on the O'Reilly Factor...

And Mr. Bill badmouths Amy for one single second... I'LL KILL HIM! (i.e. punch him in the face!)

Nobody treats Ms. Goodman like crap and gets away with it!!!

[western mass]

32. Agree

Being a progressive (/liberal/leftist) means having complex thoughts and nuanced positions. That goes without saying. What progressives need to realize is that PERSUASION relies on SIMPLE thoughts and CLEAR, SIMPLE positions. Particularly in the media environment we have in this country today.

Progressives have two choices. They can sit around patting themselves on the back for their moral and intellectual superiority in making sure that everything that comes out of their mouths is complex and correct. And they will continue to lose.

Or they can distill their ideas into good slogans and soundbites. And they will start to win.

Sadly, I think many if not most progressives would rather wallow in their moral superiority than do whatever it takes to win. That's why the right runs this country.

[Disturbed]

35. "Well, he's the best we've got to work with."

No he is not! Tweety is a schizoid dipshit!

Kieth Olberman is far superior and the only one on MSM that is not a RW shill.

[libnnc]

38. I saw that clip too

And it seemed to me that Tweety was baiting Amy. He wanted a name from her so he could turn around and trash it. Amy wouldn't play his game. I don't fault her; actually I'm glad she didn't give him what he wanted. But that's just my opinion.

I think Matthews has Turrets Syndrome. You never know what's going to fly outta his pie hole. I don't think he knows half of what he's saying.

[Stirk]

39. She's not some DLC hack.

Amy Goodman doesn't represent the Democratic Party. She's a voice of the left, and she's talking about a movement, not a party. Political movements are about promoting ideas and ideals, not idolizing politicians and attention whores.