Reader J sends in this bit of ipecac in binary form from Sally Kohn, who apparently occupied the Alan Colmes honorary chair at Fox for a while :
In the fall of 2013, I gave a TED talk on what I learned as a progressive, on-air talking head at Fox News, where I worked for two years before leaving and joining my current home, CNN. After all, one of the most frequent questions I was asked during my time at Fox was how I did it, how I was a fox in the henhouse – or a hen in the Fox house, if you will.
[…]My time at Fox News was marked by meeting and working with some of the kindest, smartest, and most talented people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in life. As I said in my TED talk, Sean Hannity is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet – and even now that I’ve parted ways with Fox, he remains a good friend and mentor.
The piece then descends into a predictable, milquetoast, kumbaya,”we’re all just people at heart” plea for us all to recognize our mutual humanity. “Kindness is persuasive”, you guys.
The point of the headline isn’t that Sean Hannity is like Hitler, but that the “niceness” of a given person has nothing to do with rightness of their views. LBJ was an asshole, philanderer and bully who liked to make his aides come into the toilet and talk to him while he was taking a shit. Does that invalidate the Civil Rights Act? O’Reilly and Hannity might be wonderful, caring people when it comes to the couple dozen people they interact with in person at Fox (though the jury is out on that). Who cares? Their on-air behavior, and the policies they advocate, are anything but kind. So we judge them on that, despite protests to the contrary by someone making their living as a token liberal who is more chicken than fox in that particular henhouse.
eric
It is all a game. Someone has to play the black pieces, and someone has to play the white pieces. What matters is making sure the proletariat (white, black, latino is of no matter) does not get to play at all.
Joe Buck
It just shows that Alan Colmes was and remains a useless, clueless tool. He doesn’t even seem to know that Hannity hired him to be his pet liberal because he (Hannity) could run rings around him. He was the designated loser. Why shouldn’t Hannity be nice to him? Colmes seems to lap up kind gestures like an abused dog might.
evolved beyond the fist mistermix
@Joe Buck: This is Sally Kohn, who I think took over for Colmes at Fox. That intro was probably a little confusing.
Chyron HR
What, did she think “kindest, bravest, warmest, and most wonderful” would have been a little too on-the-nose?
Scamp Dog
Classic Village Values: Getting a blowjob is a dreadful violation of propriety that Must Be Punished (by gossip, of course), but lying about intelligence to start a war? No big deal, none of our sort got hurt.
Belafon
The question was how she stayed sane while working at Fox. There are a LOT of conservatives where I work, like 80+%. I stay sane by not talking politics with them. There probably wasn’t a whole lot of political talk when Kohn wasn’t on the air.
Hungry Joe
Why doesn’t Fox just hire the Washington Generals for the designated “liberal” seat? Except the Generals actually won about five or six of the 12,000 or so games that they played, and that level of competition wouldn’t be fair to Hannity and the Whole Sick Crew.
schrodinger's cat
OT Tech question
What is a free good blogging app for an iPad?
SatanicPanic
“I gave a TED talk on what I learned as a progressive, on-air talking head at Fox News”
Everything about this makes me want to barf
RareSanity
If when you are describing the actions of one person to another person, and you utter the phrase, “but they’re really a good person”…they probably aren’t.
The “but” should be the first clue…
Digital Amish
Yeah, Hannity might be the best neighbor a guy could have. The problem is that I know him only as the despicable toad turd that he presents himself as on TV. That’s the Sean Hannity I know.
schrodinger's cat
@SatanicPanic: Exactly! Who would want to watch that? When you watch Henri or Maru instead.
Bill B
This story showed up on Yahoo, complete with Yahoo’s army of highly trained commenters (MENSA division)
Hungry Joe
@SatanicPanic: “TED talk,” “progressive, on-air talking head,” “Fox News” … You’re right — each of them can stand emetically alone. But you have to admit that it’s a mighty powerful 1-2-3 barf combo.
Cacti
I’m sure Hannity is all sweetness and sunshine, when he isn’t trying to gin up crazies into having a shootout with federal officers in Nevada.
scav
Interviews with Diana Mitford Mosley tended to go the same way. One Two.
HR Progressive
So, basically, she admits to having learned absolutely nothing while at FOX.
Which is pretty much exactly what the channel teaches their base.
I definitely think she can hang a “Mission Accomplished” banner on that stint.
Gag.
RareSanity
I imagine Hannity to be the fake, “nice” type that is only convincing to other vapid, self-absorbed, fake, “nice” types.
I’m sure to everyone else he would come off as smarmy, and either have people waiting for him to make the pitch for his pyramid scheme…or checking for their wallets after having a conversation with him
Schlemizel
This goes right to what I said here a few days ago about those horrible clowns being nice people in person (when they want to be). They play a character on TV that gets them lots of money and they may well not believe the BS they are spewing at any given minute but they understand the con,
I read where Al Capone’s neighbors were upset when he got arrested because he was such a warm & wonderful guy. I’m sure Hitler was a charming diner host. As the Joker says in the first Batman movie:
“Now its true what they say about Boss Grissom, he was a murderer and a fiend. But he had a lovely singing voice.”
muddy
@Cacti: Sweetness, sunshine, and sedition.
RP
It’s a little like saying that so and so might be a total douche when commenting on Balloon-Juice, but in really life he’s a great guy. Your online persona is part of who you are, not a separate entity. I suppose it’s different if the person acknowledges that they’re playing a character like Colbert, but somehow I doubt Hannity et al will come clean anytime soon.
Tommy
I say this over and over again but I don’t think many of the folks on the far, far right believe half of what they say. They just know there is so much money to be made. Books every couple months. Speaking tours. Coffee cups. Tea shirts. Door mats. Subscription based newsletter.
For me Hannity is at the top of the list. Do I think he is a liberal, of course not. But he is the perfect example of a guy that just trolls sites like WND finds a story and then blows it up. The more bizarre the better.
Just my two cents.
Mandalay
Kohn is a progressive gay in the same way that Sullivan is a progressive gay: FUCK YOU – I’VE GOT MINE!
By her standards, Petain was correct, and the Resistance was wrong, Colmes is correct and Sharpton is wrong.
To hear her spew about “emotional correctness” is nauseating. She’s actually worse than Hannity – she legitimizes all the lies he broadcasts.
Cacti
O/T
An Alabama woman guns down her son’s gay lover at a truck stop.
Shot him in the back.
Local law enforcement has already said “we don’t see this in any way being a hate crime.”
Shooter was a 51-year old white female.
Who wants to bet that she’s never convicted of anything?
SatanicPanic
@Hungry Joe: My stomach is churning just thinking about it
Tommy
@Cacti: Wow. If there is any history she has said thing about “the gays” in a negative light this needs to be a hate crime. We have hate crimes for a reason and they needed to be used where they fit. Longer/strong sentences might just stop a handful of people from doing this shit.
kc
Where’s Mayhew. I need a fucking obamacare thread.
Poopyman
No, but if you hum a few bars maybe I can pick it up.
Yes! They’re delicious!
(OK, I’m done now.)
ranchandsyrup
A few years back I had the misfortune of having lunch at a conference with Dana Perino. 80% of the questions to her were of the “How do you put up with Bob Beckel” variety. Oh, how they laughed and/or tut tutted when Perino said “He’s a good man, just misinformed”. I imagine that the librul punching bag grift must pay well to put up with that crap.
Elmo
Anybody read The Loudest Voice in the Room, about Roger Ailes? There is info about Hannity in that book, things he did when he was still a radio host, that should permanently and irrevocably deny Hannity any place in civilized society. He is most emphatically not a nice guy. He’s a fucking monster.
prufrock
Jesus, I wish people would learn that nice is not the same thing as good. If I had the power to bring a fictional character to life, I’d conjure Granny Weatherwax to drive home the lesson.
PurpleGirl
@Chyron HR: No, because many of the people hearing “kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being (I’ve ever known in my life.)” will hear it in Frank Sinatra’s voice and know he means Raymond Shaw, from the Manchurian Candidate.
Tommy
@Elmo: I firmly believe at Fox Noise being a “dick” both on air and off air is like something you have to list on your resume to get a job. A badge of honor. I mean there was a story on Gawker a few days ago where Alias and his wife are suing somebody for a Facebook post. The person didn’t even post anything, just liked a story about them. They wanted them to take it down. When they didn’t they sued. If that isn’t a “dick” move I don’t know what is.
Big R
@RP: You know, mclaren is kind to their elderly mother and gives to charity….
Foregone Conclusion
Yep. I’ve been told times beyond count that ‘such-and-such is very nice, even if you disagree with him’. I’m sure he is, and we can have a beer together sometimes, but I still disagree with him and I want my ideas to triumph over his. It’s not hard.
gratuitous
@Schlemizel: Yes, and at some point what a person does to earn his fat paycheck represents who that person really is. I wonder if Sally of the High Opinion ever asked Sean or Bill a critical question or made a critical comment about something either of them had said on the air? I’m guessing that if she had gotten confused for even a moment on the alleged difference between the on-camera blowhard and the off-camera pussycat, either man would have set her straight toot fucking sweet. Would she still hold her opinion of Sean-as-nice-guy after he tore her a new one?
Pogonip
@Elmo: Do tell, please.
Tommy
@Elmo: Just went to Google Play to get the book. Need something to read on my tablet. What he has done to news, since it seems every station copies Fox cause they are #1 in viewers, makes me sick to my stomach, but I’d still kind of like to know how it did it. But looking at the reviews I am not sure I could stomach it. Maybe I’ll just read the free sample :).
Walker
Sociopaths are very nice people if they have not marked you as a target.
Citizen_X
@ranchandsyrup:
Said the lady who knew nothing about the Cuban fucking missile crisis.
JaneE
My take exactly. They advocate for policies that cause people to die needlessly, from pulling the rug out of cancer trials with a government shutdown to stripping cash out of SNAP. They tell people to stay away from Obamacare, because. They obstruct any effort to even mitigate climate change, and try to make sure that disaster victims do not get help. They have done everything they can to eliminate governmental services that poor people need. And of course they support stand your ground laws and the NRA. They know that people will die because of their actions. By the thousands. And if they are personally nice, good, kind people, what does it say that they do all these things for money? Sally Kohn may think calling them evil is going too far. I think it is not far enough.
Violet
@SatanicPanic:
That’s just the kind of thing you can put in a totebag, isn’t it?
ranchandsyrup
@Citizen_X: Heh. She didn’t come off as all that bright. Sad thing was that I was supposed to be at Donna Brazille’s table that day but she was ill.
Tommy
@Violet: My thought was giving a TED Talk was an honor that only a few people got each year until recently. Now they will let anybody do one.
scav
@Cacti: In Alabama? Ticker tape everywhere when she’s the marshall of the state Mother’s Day parade. Nothin’ says Mother luving like comin’ a gunnin’. Have to maintain Traditional Shotgun Weddings yahno? to indulge in a spot of regionally-based stereotyping as an alternative to self-harm.
To get cultural whiplash, Tom of Finland is getting a Stamp of Finland.
Keith G
TV gas bag is a job category. And just like most other job categories, someone expecting to have a career therein has to play by certain rules. Not garroting the folks at the old job is one of those rules. Someday you will go to apply at a place where a segment producer who you once worked with (and later dissed) is now an executive producer.
It was like that in teaching and especially like that in coaching. Many do not like hiring complainers or those who have revealed office politics since they do not want to be the next target of a serial malcontent.
I am not why one would waste energy expecting different behavior.
Russ
Waht I have thought for a long time is that these people are actors who have memorized a script written specifically for them by the producers and it is all in the search of eyeballs. They might have a political opinion in many cases makes them more believable but it is all about eyeballs and ratings that drive ad rates and sales. They are not news organizations just like Comedy Central is not a news organization. It is all about the money and entertainment. Real news doesn’t sell in today’s world. We have enough bad items hitting us all the time and do not want to turn on the tv to get more bad news, all is good on the tv and the viewer’s choice of what to watch proves it..
Tommy
@Keith G: I think that is very true. I am a media watcher and still am stunned how people move from CNN to Fox to MSNBC and back to CNN. Not only is it common for the “talking heads” but also the producers behind the scenes. You just can’t burn any bridges cause there are literally limited jobs. It isn’t like when you are a lawyer or CPA where there are tens of thousands of firms you could work for. With TV media outlets on a national stage, well you can count those on two hands and maybe have fingers left.
WereBear
We had an election where I spoke with someone about who we are voting for, and Person said they have a vote for So-and-so because they are a nice person. I said So-and-so’s policies are crap: the area needs growth and they are a one trick, tax cut, pony.
Person agreed, but said he can’t vote for WhastisName because they are a phony and a jerk. I said the policy is something I like. I vote for the policy.
Person admitted later he had voted for the policy. But it messed up their head. Because WhastisName is someone he knows personally and he doesn’t like them.
And I recognize the fact that when Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested, a whole lot of people in his grandmother’s church could honestly say he never caused a bit of trouble for them. But that doesn’t make him a nice person.
Phantom 309
@Bill B: It ain’t called Yahoo for nuthin’!
cokane
also add that Fox deliberately lies and misleads its viewers. Anyone who respects integrity or facts should be ashamed to have worked there. All we need to know about Kohn.
Marc
I caught Sally Kohn a couple of times on MSNBC. She struck me as somebody who had carefully cultivated the same visual and cultural affect as Rachel Maddow without one ounce of her intellect or political convictions.
Fox was probably a pretty sweet gig for her.
Seanly
@SatanicPanic:
Ditto.
screams to me
eemom
What about Justice Ginsburg being BFFs with Scalia?
Tommy
@eemom: A lot of my family members and even clients are pretty far right Republicans (some don’t even think Obama is an American). I get along with them well cause I have learned (as they have) we just don’t talk politics. I do all the time with my parents, but they are in fact sane Republicans you couldn’t force to watch Fox Noise or listen to Rush.
thursday
Quite a while back, there was a circling meme flitting about re-writing Mr. Potter’s backstory, making him the ‘good guy’ job-creator. He was really a nice guy, see?
Brings back the Vonnegut we all read in grade school, doesn’t it? Especially this bit in Mother Night:
“Be careful who you pretend to be, because that, in the end, is who you are.”
thursday
@thursday: Sigh. I’ll learn to read what I write before moving on one of these days: Mr. Potter of “It’s a Wonderful Life” fame is who I’m talking about.
WaterGirl
@thursday: Not to worry, it was obvious.
gogol's wife
@thursday:
As WaterGirl says, on this blog you don’t have to identify such canonical references.
mai naem
@eemom: I heard a speech from Elena Kagan where she said they got done with a particularly contentious case and she apparently was supposed to go out to some event with Scalia and she didn’t particularly want to and Justice Ginsburg convinced her to for the comity of the court.
I think FOX thought Sally Kohn was their version of Rachel Maddow and she’s not. She doesn’t get into the weeds like Rachel does and she just plain doesn’t look at the big long picture like Rachel does.
Thoughtful David
@Tommy:
I’m not cool enough to listen to TED talks.
A Humble Lurker
@prufrock:
Sondheim said it best:
“And take extra care with strangers
even flowers have their dangers
and though scary is exciting
nice is different than good.”
Tommy
@Thoughtful David: Well I found this book cause of a TED Talk and it is one of the most amazing things I’ve read in the last few years. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.
A lady that made it her profession and lives passion to study the mind and strokes, has one. As she was having it is knew it was a stroke and thought to herself, cool now I will know what it is like. She then has to relearn to talk and walk. It is uplifting beyond words and her TED Talk is stunning.
Violet
@Thoughtful David: @Tommy: There are so many TED talks these days, it’s hit or miss. Some are really good and some aren’t. I think giving a TED talk signifies you’ve “arrived” to a certain extent. It’s like one more item on your CV. So good for them, but it’s not like it’s any real statement that the talk or the person giving it is full of insight.
danielx
Colmestrato (n.) – An emasculated, harmless “liberal” stand-in included for purposes of fairness and balance.*
Which would make the female version…what?
*From the Wingnut Debate Dictionary, still a jewel after all these years.
Bill Arnold
@mai naem:
If Fox had one or more strong argumentative (aka “non-polite”) progressives, their ratings would skyrocket, IMO.
Culture of Truth
If Sean Hannity is your mentor, what are you aiming for?
WaterGirl
@Culture of Truth: Rock bottom?
Chris
@JaneE:
OMG, this.
I, also, have never understood the liberal notion (not inherently liberal, but I’ve sure as hell never heard a teabagger use it, unless they were losing an argument) that the things people believe in and vote for are somehow completely separate from their worth as a human being. “Oh, we can agree to disagree. They’re such good, well-meaning people, they just have a different idea of how society should work…”
If you’re rooting for policies that stomp on the weakest and most vulnerable people in society, there’s something wrong with you. If you’re rooting for wars and gun proliferation because you’re afraid of being seem as small-dicked, there’s something wrong with you. If you think you have the right to control people’s reproductive or marriage lives when their decisions affect no one but themselves, there’s something wrong with you. You’re not an Honorable Adversary with whom we’re having a respectable difference of opinion – you’re an asshole who’s participating in screwing over millions of people. That “I care about people’s character more than their politics” notion is bullshit – that stuff is their character.
No, politics isn’t the sum of what makes up a person, and no, not every political disagreement is a clear-cut case of Freedom vs. Fascism. But yes, my opinion of a person’s quality as a human being goes down when I find out that they’re conservative, and I really don’t see why it shouldn’t.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Culture of Truth: A spot directly underneath a standard outhouse?
CONGRATULATIONS!
There are a group of people in this nation, some of whom appear on Fox News, who have pledged their non-existent honor, their fortunes and their lives to the destruction of the United States of America by any means possible.
I call them as the traitors they are.
There is only one acceptable punishment for them.
James E. Powell
@Belafon:
The question was how she stayed sane while working at Fox.
It may be that her “liberal” views are just opinions and not matters of policy that affect her life or the lives of any people she cares about. I know a lot of self-described liberals, totebaggers mostly, who are like this. They have very strong opinions on, for example, women’s right to choose. But if a hard-line anti-choice candidate wins, well, no big deal, what’s on for Saturday night?
Ian
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Oliver North?
dww44
@scav: Thanks for that link. One more reason to come to BJ every day.
Paul in KY
@Tommy: To me, that makes him even more of an evil person than some nutwad whoi actually believes that stuff.
Paul in KY
@ranchandsyrup: Boy, would I have liked to comment to Ms. Brazile on her management of VP Gore’s campaign back in 2000.
Might not have made it to the entree before I was escorted out.
RP
@thursday: “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.”
giantslor
@Joe Buck: Colmes was chosen to be the Washington Generals to Hannity’s Harlem Globetrotters.