NPR now hits up Erick Erickson as a go-to opinion guy for Republican thinking. Besides being slightly more dense than most, the major thing that distinguishes him from other GOP commenters is the way he tries to make himself a player by tearing down GOP officials who don’t adopt his suicidal, ideologically extreme strategeries. Ewick’s gig is to bitterly resist any effort to ratchet the party back from extremist crazytown on any issue, ever.
Somewhere David Frum just checked whether it’s too early to start drinking.
cleek
well, the decision to donate to NPR or not just got a lot easier!
brantl
It’s funny how Frum is now bemoaning the very partisanship he helped create, now isn’t it. Shadenfrum, that’s when you pull a rhetorical argument out of your ass, and then find some nutbags have run your party off the cliff with it.
Napoleon
I feel better about the fact that I tossed my local NPR station’s fund raising request in the garbage this weekend.
OT but NPR also reporting on HCR law this morning noted that the Republican’s are simply continuing to refer to HCR as a bill and not the law. After last nights reach around to the teabaggers that was the first 10 minutes of the NBC Nightly News its clear the strategy is to pretend the Dems did not win and pass a law.
They create their own reality.
fucen tarmal
@brantl 7:29
perine-frum, conservatively speaking, when you try and remain distinct from the nuts and the assholes of your ideology…
see the taint, be the taint.
mistermix
@Napoleon: I’m considering doubling my NPR donation if they keep using people like Son of Erick to represent the Republican party.
The only thing that would be better is if they hired the guy who made the “moran” sign for the gig.
Frum wants to keep the devil down in the hole, where he’s useful but not visible. I say let him out for all to see.
Lisa K.
Lookls like Frum picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue…
A Mom Anon
Meanwhile in GA,the head nitwit,Sonny Perdue has asked the AG to decide whether he will file a wingnut lawsuit to deny Georgians health care reform. The AG has til noon today to give his answer. The good news,such as it is,is that Thurbert Baker is a Dem and wants to get the Dem nomination for the Governor’s race. At the moment,former gov Roy Barnes is the top contender for that nomination. Baker said he’d have to study the bill and the possible case against it before he could give his answer. I’m gonna be all hopey and changey and take that as a “umm no,you morans”.
Napoleon
@mistermix:
You know in reality I pretty much agree with that. It is worse when they use the David Brooks and basically dress up the right as nice as they can.
Bill E Pilgrim
@brantl:
The sense of pleasure derived from seeing a monster turn on and destroy the ones who created it.
Also known as Frumkenstien.
Comrade javafascist
More moves like this and I might believe the media really is liberal and capable of playing 11th dimensional chess. Much rather hear from Erick the armchair Viking than Cokie Roberts and Mara Liasson on political issues.
Cervantes
At the same time, one has to admire Erickson’s entrepreneurial instincts — and Palin’s, and Beck’s, and so on. Charlatans all, but they’re making money hand over fist, while the rest of us laugh all the way to the poorhouse.
Some Guy
Combining this with the WA AG story and Franken’s successful change in “rape-proof” contracting policy, I was just socked with how hateful the right it. No “Duh’s” please, I knew that. It was just one of those moments when what you know hits down deep. The bricks and epithets thrown this week, the completely heartlessness toward the needy.
Even David Frum. For God sake, he laid out in very concise, accurate terms was is so sick about the GOP today, and yet he still opposes HCR. Why? All he offered was a political analysis of why GOP opposition was so badly managed. Nothing on why it is bad to make sure children don’t have their lives ruined by serious ailment, for instance, or what sucks so bad about small businesses being able to afford to cover their own.
GOP means hate today and just about nothing else. The politics run on hate and the “policies” run on hate too.
I think politically this is something HCR will open up: a clear way to corner GOPers on their viciousness. They have to come out of the closet and say “yes, I think your ailing child should suffer because the wealthy won’t be able to buy quite as much shit as before, although still more than when Reagan was president.” Nothing could be more moral, I am sure.
stuckinred
@A Mom Anon: More B.S. by Governor Moonpie. Let’s see how his stance impacts the education grants Georgia is seeking. My guess is that it will turn out as well as the mass transit debacle.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Fucking NPR. And they wonder why people like me refuse to give them a dime.
And what’s it say about the state of the modern Republican Party when David Fucking Frum is the voice of sanity on the right?
Again, fucking NPR. Die.
Jamie
well, my recent decision to no longer fund NPR has found another justification.
demo woman
@stuckinred: What I want to know is how much is it going to cost the state? Maybe we can lay off another 1000 teachers to pay for this.
cleek
@Some Guy:
the GOP is the anti-Democratic Party Party.
RedKitten
I think it would be great if all forms of media used Erick son of Erick as their representative for the right. The man is so unhinged that it would only be a matter of time before he said something on air from which he would never be able to walk back.
stuckinred
@demo woman: But it looks good to the “base”!
Anachronym
@RedKitten:
Unfortunately, having heard him on the XM POTUS channel back when they were using PJM for some of their content, he is entirely capable of sounding like a normal, rational human being when he’s in mixed company. He saves the vileness for his blog.
RedKitten
@Anachronym: Ah, nuts. Never mind then.
Bill E Pilgrim
They’re going to lose their “Nice Polite Republicans” nickname if they keep this up. They’ll have to change the acronym to NAAPR, for Not At All Polite Republicans.
PaulW
The older I get the crazier the politics get.
I thought it was supposed to get saner when you hit 40.
ricky
Somehow I think having Erickson on NPR is less harmful than having Hamsher on CNN. So far all she has done is bash liberal Democrats.
Barry
Tim F: ” the major thing that distinguishes him from other GOP commenters is the way he tries to make himself a player by tearing down GOP officials who don’t adopt his suicidal, ideologically extreme strategeries. ”
It’s worked for him; he’s gone from being just another wingnut blogger to being a bit-time blogger to being a professional presstitute.
El Cid
NPR is a pile of sh*t as far as ‘news’ and analysis goes in its main broadcasts. If you like their other shows, fine, but I wish Joan Kroc hadn’t left them so much money.
Ever since the Reaganites went after their funding, NPR and PBS eagerly went out to court corporate funding and now I can’t bear a bit of it.
Violet
@mistermix:
Agreed. Let people see what the GOP is all about. Why hide reality?
Toast
Heard that this morning and I went ballistic, yelling at the radio to the point where my wife was concerned I might have a coronary. Here’s this guy who knows nothing, who made a name for himself spouting the sort of outrageous, inflamatory filth that should have gotten him forever shunned from polite and/or serious company, and NPR – NPR! – is tapping him as a source of right-wing insights? Absolutely insane.
Lisa
I heard him this morning and I laughed my ass off. NPR is brilliant. If that idiot is the voice of the right, they are superfucked. The wingers always trot out their best “most articulate” people to talk to Morning Edition and Diane Rehme. In the past that meant Colin Powell, Condi Rice, or Ted Olson (all assholes, but not mouthbreathers). If Erickson is now the new standard, that is lulz.
deminoz
I live in Aust (expat US’ian) and today crashed an Insurance Conference (I can beat any of you in “most boring life” stakes…they had free wine) As each delegate that I spoke to heard my US/Canadian accent (they are polite/smart enough to ask which country) they all asked “What’s up with the Repubs in US…don’t they want people to have health insurance?” These were vendors of insurance software and providers of insurance in this country. And they think the Repubs are nuts. I heard all the stories (over and over) of how Australia got there (Universal in 1974 and expanded in the 80’s)….and WTF with US? These are people that would have benefited enormously from a Financial standpoint if we didn’t have Universal coverage here and they are saying “What is wrong with you people?”
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
@Lisa:
Exactly. I can’t take a damned thing Erickkk says seriously, he is a political buffoon. If I ever saw him driving around I wouldn’t be surprised to see him behind the wheel of a clown car. IMO any ‘news’ organization that hires him can’t be taken seriously. He is a snotty fuckwit with a mind that would only be fully appreciated by someone who has had a lobotomy.
If I ever see him on air I will be sure to change the channel immediately. I would rather watch paint dry.
tesslibrarian
You can probably donate to your local NPR station if you don’t want to donate to NPR or your state public broadcasting group, which really is an investment in the community: local jobs, local news, local shows (provided your station does them).
I used to donate quite a bit to NPR. That ended in ~2002, but now I hold my nose, donate a bit to the state system and just think of Nina Totenberg. Yes, Morning Edition is an abomination unto news since they fired Bob Edwards, but Nina still gets to cut through the krap in a way few other reporters there can (Daniel Zwerdling excepted, most of the time), and she seems to have the clout to shake off the idiot producers now running the place. She’s got to be worth $35/year.
Wilson Heath
I still find the regular resort to AEI commentators more infuriating. Especially when Amity “what do you do with a B.A. in English?” Shlaes is on for economic commentary and there’s no mention of how Nobelists say she’s dead wrong on the point. Oh, and McGargle now spewing her vomit for the end-of-the-week wrap up.
Not a dime. Facts and my checkbook have a liberal bias.
Punchy
Only in GA does someone willingly run around with that moniker.
cleek
just heard that segment with Erickson. damn, that story was 100% “good news for Republicans”. and not a hint of a mention of the irony in the fact that the GOP, who ran around for years calling Dems “the party of No”, is proudly telling the world that its current plan is to obstruct, delay, and repeal.
Punchy
Will FDL become the new No Quarter, run by a bitter, angry former progressive that now roundly trashes their former friends? Does Hamsher have The Whitey Tape?
Robin G
@Wilson Heath: Four years of college and plenty of knowledge have earned me this useless degree…
rob!
Next time NPR calls me for a donation I will tell them exactly why I’m not giving them a goddamn nickel.
Persia
@tesslibrarian: I really like my local station, so I just support them and figure that it’s worth it for BBC World News in the early mornings.
toujoursdan
What mystifies me are the number of [online] conversations I have had with people who can afford health insurance (albeit sometimes with some sacrifice in other areas), choose not to buy it because they are relatively healthy, and are now incensed… no outraged (!) because government is forcing them to do so.
Ummm.. So they are angry because their democratically elected government is telling them to do something that will keep them out of financial ruin and take the burden off of others? In most countries this is a no brainer, but these are people that seem to be angry that government is forcing them to be responsible. “When did America become a soci*list nanny state?” and “I can’t afford Obamacare!”
I know Canadians and Americans are supposed to be similar but it’s at moments like this that I become fully aware at how different we are.
eyepaddle
I know John Cole doens’t really want to go on TV, and I think DougJ does some local stuff in Upsate NY, but is there ever a chance that there will be an actual Balloon Juice voice in an MSM format?
Has anybody been contacted? I remember when Rachel Maddow cited BJ for the “American Auto Industry in Three Parts” comment, so I think it is safe to say that y’all are at least on the radar scopes.
JGabriel
Doesn’t the “denser than most” make him a better representative of “Republican thinking”?
.
cleek
@eyepaddle:
i think pie-filtered-BoB would be a nice addition to any morning line up. who wouldn’t want to start their day with an exaltation to the glory of pie ?
Wilson Heath
@Robin G:
I did the same with a similar discipline. Had to go and get a professional degree after because I enjoy having a roof over my head and food. My hat’s off to people who can survive on a liberal arts degree, since I was just scraping.
But Shlaes is just so remarkably bad at trying to present a coherent and credible argument on her subject matter that it’s easy to mock her. Only by the grace of wingnut welfare does she manage to make a career off of this fraud.
(Oh, and “What do you do with a B.A. in English?” is an Avenue Q song.)
JGabriel
Cervantes:
There are times when I’ve thought, you know, maybe I should become a right wing pundit, and reap the wingnut welfare. Could I sleep at night? I don’t know, but money does buy a very comfortable bed.
And then I think, ” … and date Republican women?” Shudder.
I like’em smart and liberal.
.
Sinister eyebrow
I don’t see the problem with having EE be the go-to guy for the GOP on NPR. When it comes down to it, he really is your basic Republican voter–filled with resentment, prone to deny reality if it conflicts with his beliefs, carrying a racist chip on his shoulder, paranoid, susceptible to conspiracy theories (as long as they’re not too far out) and beneath it all, scared. What better person to be the face (or voice) of the GOP? I think more media outlets should dump the slick operatives who can give it the old George Will bowtie gloss of civility and let the real neanderthals step up and be the unvarnished spokespeople. Fewer and fewer people would be enamored of their “ideas” and magic pony arguments if that were the case.
JGabriel
@eyepaddle:
That depends. Do you consider Stewart, Colbert, and Maher mainstream?
.
eyepaddle
@cleek:
Well, yes–especially if it conveys the feel of a nice slice of apple or cherry pie while sitting at the counter of some small town cafe with a bottomless mug of coffee!
eyepaddle
@JGabriel:
Yeah, I think there numbers and influence pretty much speak for themselves.
eyepaddle
@eyepaddle:
Oops, “there” = “their”
SIgh. Really, I can spell people–I just can’t type.
slag
@mistermix:
I used to agree with this. But the problem I see is that usually when they put morans on their shows, they tend not to balance them with smart people. So, all it ends up doing is increasing the moran quotient nationwide. Unfortunately, many Americans don’t have good internal barometers for what’s reasonable and what’s not. The state of our nation is such that we’re not the best critical thinkers.
So, no, I don’t think this is a good idea as things stand right now. In the same way I don’t think it’s a good idea that we let Tom Friedman go into polite society and tell Iraqis they need to “suck on this”. All it tells people is, “Well, Tom Friendman said it, so it must be ok”. Same with NPR: “Well, I heard it on NPR, so it must be true.”
Dumbasses. All of us.
chuck
@Anachronym:
And that’s precisely when I’m going to pull a muscle grinning when one of the interviewers begins a question with “You write on your blog…”
Mister Colorful Analogy
@cleek:
Cleek, did you have to end the thread with the first comment?
I know that NPR has good entertainment shows, and I regret that my withholding funds will hurt them. But, the damage that NPR does by providing airtime to BS artists from the right wing in the name of “balance” is worse than what Faux Noise is doing.
NPR lost me when K-Lo was on as an expert, and Tom Ashbrook (sp?) failed to push back on any of her BS.
How about this for a new slogan: “NPR: We’re all Judith Miller Now”
MrCA
Tim F.
@eyepaddle: No.
ricky
@Punchy:
Don’t know. She does have Orly’s hairdresser and maybe the birth certificate.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@ricky:
Another example of Hamsher being all about Hamsher. The idea is to get on the rolodex so that you’re a “go to person” for such interviews. While you don’t get paid for it, it increases your “brand” exposure.
And what do you mean “will FDL become the new ‘No Quarter'”? It entered that territory some time ago. Which is too bad because there are some great people at FDL, all of whom in effect contributed to the site’s original “rep” more than Hamsher ever did.
reid
I read “Ewick’s gig” as “Earwig”. I can’t stand earwigs. I think it’s an appropriate nickname.
eyepaddle
@Tim F.:
To be perfectly honest I think discussing skull fucking kittens is less of the wall than the BS Erick trowels out.
Having said that, you’d probably have to start small, and pen a few editorials–sooner or later one of them would get picked up, and then just wait for that ol’ phone to ring!
Tsulagi
Good ole teabagger boy E2. He envisions himself on the Wasilla Wingnut’s path. He’d walk a mile in her pumps for a chance at fame and
bucksglory.RedState was funny over the weekend. “Unhinged” and “meltdown” are way overused, but spot on for those RS dweebs leading up to Sunday’s vote, and for a little after. Lots of shrieking anger, loony threats, strategeries, manbreast thumping, and more from the frontpagers. Of course it all culminated in the only way ever possible-they were betrayed and victimized yet again for the eleventy billionth+ time. In their minds even by the left appeasing Fox News. These guys should use their talents to write a teabagger soap opera.
Wallowing in their victimhood, Stupak really got their juices flowing in multiple posts. Judas! Of course RSSF Commander EE swung into action. He ordered his troops to send plastic silver colored coins to Stupak for the low, low price of $4. One insubordinate troop in the comments noted S&H for the plastic was $7. Doesn’t he know freedom isn’t free? True RedState patriots gladly pay the S&H price.
kezboard
My girlfriend and I were listening to On Point last night while driving in the rain and we nearly caused a serious accident. Tom Ashbrook was discussing states’ rights and nullification with a normal, vaguely liberal law professor and Thomas Woods, the author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History”, a neo-confederate, paleolibertarian and all around super wingnut, and at no point did Ashbrook make it even remotely clear how totally out of the main stream, radical, and absurd the things Woods was saying were. At the very end, the normal professor said something along the lines of “If Mr. Woods thinks the states can and should nullify the health care reform, then presumably he also thinks they can and should nullify Social Security, Medicare, and huge other parts of the modern American state,” but that was basically it. It’s as if they had a geologist on to talk with a member of the Flat Earth Society to talk about the Chilean earthquake.
Keith G
@mistermix: @RedKitten:
Exactly. Let the hounds of stupid off the porch. Between Erickson, the entire GOP delegation from Texas (and their/my fucking SBOE) and the brick throwers, this isn’t good news for Michael Steele et al.
Their base may be energized, but the independents are thinking, “WTF?!” Can the Democrats give independents a reason to show up in Nov is the issue.
My problem with NPR is just that some of their producers and reporters have gotten lazy and go with cw instead of digging down – a real fucking shame.