Apr 7, 2023·edited Apr 7, 2023Liked by Matt Orfalea
Mehdi completely ignored the substance of the material that Matt has reported on the sprawling censorship regime of the US security state and instead turned the interview into an ad hominem attack. Now morons like AOC are claiming that because Mehdi's ambush squad found two tiny errors involving an acronym and a date in Matt's reporting, the entire body of reportage on the Twitter Files exposing state/corporate collusion is discredited. Give me a break, man. Such a fking joke.
Because ad hominem is all they have. And like a Jedi mind trick, it works flawlessly on the weak minded. The fking joke isn't the source it's the consumers.
Typical liberal damn it! These nitwits have no idea what being a leftist is. They’ve crawled so far up the ass of the national security state, they don’t even know what time of day it is.
Augh! These soft-fascist uniparty moderate conservatives who call themselves Democrats *call themselves and their shittiest hijinks "leftist" or "socialist"* to discredit actual leftism and socialism.
It’s by now clear that Matt and others need to up their game when testifying or being interviewed by ‘hostile’ parties. It’s not enough to rely on the well documented evidence and facts. The game is dirty and one has to be prepared to play dirty or be able to think on your feet on how to effectively respond to bad faith questioning.
I agree. Not sure though if it's the best move for him to seek out confrontations of this kind, though, or to avoid them if possible. For one, I'm not sure how easy it is to learn this. Matt is a journalist after all, not a politician or TV personality. Also I don't know how well he could square this with his understanding of his work and integrity ("Get it right at all costs!" is obviously at odds with throwing out zingers like Trump). I think the written word is his best weapon, without having to compromise his greatest strengths.
Yes he need to get tough. I remember seeing Malcolm Gladwell at a debate call Matt a racist and Matt just let him go after him. Matt is a brilliant writer! As a newer journalist, I learn so much from reading his work. Yet he must become stronger at defending himself when he's put on the defensive. Also, remember how Debbie Wasserman went after him at the hearings? She was a witch and cut him off!
See excellent Canadian debate—I think called Munk debate—with Matt and Murray versus Michelle Goldberg and Malcolm Gladwell about the press. Excellent and very entertaining viewing! Matt and Murray won turning an audience leaning toward the other side.
Exactly what I was thinking as I watched the segment.
As an audio professional, I was thinking about how Matt could be more effective in these sorts of “debates” between himself and glib talk show hosts. The first thing is to train himself to remove the “uhs” and pauses. He also needs to control his space and not let the other guy filibuster. It’s hard with the tv delay and walkie talkie thing that happens in those interchanges, but it’s critical to go in knowing exactly the points he wants to make and to appear cool under fire.
Or refuse to engage with the so-called “interviewers” who simply want to interrupt, put their guest on the defensive and launch a smear. The View asked DeSantis to appear on their show and he refused and the staffer who dealt with them stated “they were not to call that number as it was to address the concerns of the citizens of the state of Florida..”
Mehdi's attack is BS... The errors he exposes are minor relative to the amount of data Matt published.
That said... the inability of people on Matt's board to accept that Fox has been proven to have knowingly pushed lies about "stop the steal". My point is that this is not a partisan issue yet most people on this board act as though it is.
MG... thinking "stop the steal" does not have anything to do with Twitter is like thinking that because GOP law makers deny climate change then Dem Law makers are not controlled by Big Oil.
My point was and stands. Both parties are guilty and red and blue media is guilty of pushing misinformation. If you think this is a partisan issue you are misinformed.
exactly. as Russell brand said on Bill Maher, msnbc and fox lie. We need to seriously engage in a discussion with Matt about how to deal with Fox continuing the election fraud lie, full well knowing it's a lie. This is where the far left and far right depart. While there is simpatico about censorship from twitter files, we definitely part ways when it comes to Fox and the Big Lie. We need to call Fox out for the BIg Lie as it's a stain on their credibility as newspeople. And also, continue to call MSNBC out for Russiagate and their lies and demeaning Matt Taibbi who is a real journalist.
Shah - Here is my take on Matt. First of all, it drive me bonkers how he has become so totally one sided in calling out liberal media for their lies while 100% ignoring the right wing media lies.
But here is what i think he is doing. He had a long career where he called out both sides of the media for lying to viewers. And in so doing he build a very small audience of people that were clear eyed enough to see that BOTH sides of the media lie to serve their advertisers.
Now he has to build an audience of payed subscribers. He does not build that audience by focusing on BOTH sides as he used to. The only way to build and grow his audience is to 'tell them what they want to hear". Exactly what FOX and CNN do.. The evidence shows that the people at Fox new they would lose their audience if they called BS on Trump's "stop the steal" lie. I am 100% certain that the people at MSNBC knew equally well that if they stoped hyping "Russia Gate" and started to call out the weakness in the case that they too would lose their audience.
Matt is in the same situation. If he calls out both sides he will lose his audience. So he can't.
Who would you rather someone trust. Matt Tiabbi or Sean Hannity?? I for one would prefer that they trust the liberal Tiabbi over the proven liar Hannity.
The big fuckin' lie that got enormous traction from the new Know-nothin' party of America? That was promoted ad nauseam by a network whose key figures knew it was abject nonsense but went along with it anyway because $$$$? And knew they could get away with it because as P.T. Barnum once said, "there's a sucker (at least) tuning into Fox every minute?"
The "twitter files" may be bullshit, but taibbi presents no evidence that any of the so-called government efforts at censorship had a partisan flavor to it. In fact, numerous pieces of research and studies have demonstrated that twitter's own algorithms tended to favor republican or right-leaning feeds in the past.
Here it's treated like a stealth attack on the freedom of the press, the 1st amendment, yadda, yadda, yadda, by the Democratic Party. Or in Racket conspiracy lingo, the "DNC."
I think you can logically connect the two if you make the effort.
Feldspar - I am calling BS on the right wingers on this site that seem to think the Dems are the only party influencing the media to lie to views. The facts are irrefutable (read Noam Chomsky) the NYT, WSJ, CNN, FOX etc... all push propaganda to keep the state happy.
Agreed. Also, left vs right doesn’t really convey all the different factions. I have had unpleasant encounters with people here who wrongly assumed what my positions were on various topics because I identified as a lefty. But I am not far left on everything. More importantly, the far left and the centrist Democratic liberals strongly disagree on some issues. On foreign policy antiwar leftists have more in common with the anti- interventionist right than with the majority of Democrats, while they may disagree on other issues.
Poor Noam Chomsky got on the wrong side of Covid vaccines, opining the unvaccinated should be excommunicated from society. He is losing his marbles and kissing the corporate ring these days.
Lisa - Chomsky has been right about Vietnam, Nicaragua, WMD's and now Ukraine because of his research on state propaganda published in his book Manufacturing Consent. In that book he proves that MSM like the NYT and WSJ manufactured propaganda. Fox and CNN, today fall into that catagory with their reporting on WMD's, the Financial Crises, Russia Gate and "stop the steal" and now Ukraine. And on top of all of that his research is at the root of Chat GPT, which he has proven is way over hyped.
His views on Covid are quite different than what right wing media clearly told you he was thinking. No different than people that watched MSNBC were fed views on Russia Gate that were laughably wrong. Chomsky has never and never will be kissing the ring of corporations. His work makes him their enemy...
This is true. Censorship is something that various ideologues of all stripes engage in. I read Matt as a source of information on one particular aspect of the problem. I see some commenters say it is just ‘ the left”, roll my eyes, and move on.
It is also the case that a given individual can be right on one issue and completely wrong on another. Ideologues have trouble grasping this. Online one constantly sees people arguing that person X can’t be right about issue Y because they are wrong about issue Z. If I followed that logic I probably wouldn’t read anyone, because probably we are all wrong about something.
I have some specific names and issues in mind here but I have no desire to start several arguments.
Burt - Matt wrote a book on how the NYPD targeted young black men for arrest just to make their lives so miserable they left the city. Lives were destroyed an career crushed.
I'll tell you exactly what Fox did when he wrote that book. They totally IGnORED him. Fox will interview anyone that tells them what their viewers want to hear. They don't care if it is a lie like "stop the steal' or the truth like "the Twitter files". The only thing Fox cares about is producing content that tells their viewers what they want to hear.
Burt- You don't have to watch FOX on TV to have their lies pushed into your head. Just consume any type of right wing media that is funded by advertising or targeted at right wing voters and you are getting the narrative that Fox wants you to get. You are evidence of that, right?
I didn't watch the full Mehdi interview, but did watch recaps on The Rising and Breaking Points. I'm very interested in the upcoming follow-up on the 3,000 vs 22,000,000 tweets and will withhold comments on that topic until he sends an update.
I was disappointed in the classic gotcha journalism from MSNBC. However, I was also disappointed that Matt was not prepared to talk about the Modi/Indian twitter topic since that seemed to have been the driver for the interview invitation. And I think this is the first time that I've been disappointed in anything Matt has written or done.
But kudos to Matt for admitting and correcting mistakes. Sets the example for responsible journalism (or so-called journalism :-) ).
Its just simply amazing. Hasan went full Maddow on his 'show'. These ppl are THE problem, yet think they are some sort of solution. Unfuckingbelievable
It was so irritating to hear the chorus of “imagine doing PR for the world’s richest man” from people who do PR for the White House, the bureaucracy, the legacy media, intelligence officials who abuse their power...
Yes exactly. Hassan is being petty cause he and the corporate network wish to continue to discredit Matt Taibbi because the entire media apparatus has been found out through the twitter files. Supressing free speech, no matter whose, even if it's conservatives, is definitely a first amendment violation. Even Ro Khanna went on Fox, not MSNBC to say that. Medhi ought to be ashamed of himself bullying a first class investigative reporter!
Kind of surprised the moonbat Mehdi didn't start critiquing grammar and spelling errors he spotted. Would have been a better argument than the tripe he was spewing
Right at the outset of the interview, Mehdi asked Matt to summarize what's important about the Twitter Files, that the audience might not be aware of.
Matt responded first by throwing in a couple of hostile digs, then seeming to both reject *and* answer the prompt at the same time.
I don't know what kind of personal crisis Matt is going through right now, but pretending that interview was anything other than a self-own for him is just embarrassing. He ad hominem'd himself by acting like a prick right out of the gate, then compounded his bad press by throwing a tantrum about it here.
But I understand, you're here to farm readers, not provide an objective or critical POV.
I think Matt makes the mistake that a lot moral and ethical people make: assuming others have high standards as well. Hasan is one of those creeps who turns every discussion into combat to see who "wins" according to his own puny measure.
I do agree with this. It is sad. He is of the media class and is noting the rot within like he can somehow save it from itself... get it back to a older better version of itself. But these people are not motivated at all by truth, facts... and evidence that holds a mirror up to show them how bad they screwed up the stories and narratives just makes them more committed to destroy those that would hold up a mirror.
These are not good people. They are ideological cult members and enemies of the country.
Agreed, but actually Hassan appeared to be using a lawyer’s approach, in never asking a question he didn’t already know the answer to. With that, one has to assume that all questions are leading and only by disrupting that flow can one have a chance to not look badly in such situations. For example, at the sound of the 1st question, I would have asked, “before we launch into your scripted questions and for the benefit of your viewers who may not be familiar with what you are launching into, can set the context here? Will this be a discussion and questions on the full body of my part of the Twitter Files I released over the past months and your agreement or disagreement with my broad proposition here of their being a Censorship Industrial Complex that Twitter was being asked or coerced into participating, or will this be questions just on a couple of facts for which you’d like some clarification? Because broadly speaking, you do agree that it could be viewed as a problem if gov’t agencies were making direct requests for Twitter to censor average American’s tweets, correct?” 😃. He would try to cut off the statement, but you’d still want to plow through it to make sure is part of the record of the conversation. That would have set a more even footed tone for anything discussed after this 😃
I think that the standards of others, particularly when those standards are low, are the worst way to measure your own actions. It's always felt like Matt agrees with that sentiment.
I linked above to a Russell Brand interview on Morning Joe in which he just plowed his way through to making his points. Then he started imitating them. Ruthless. Of course, he is a consummate comedian and used to stand up comedy. Matt is a writer, first and foremost. Introverts like Matt do not fare as well in a machine gun delivery venue like the cable news. Tucker can be irritating with his machine gun delivery, but he gets his points across. Matt is our best investigative journalist. He should concentrate on raking the muck. Gather up the ammunition. Then let the Brands and Carlsons, Rogans and Murrays do combat. Or team tag as I suggested above. Here is a link to Brand explaining what happened before and during the interview. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/russell-brand-explains-morning-joe-578578/#!
I’d also argue that going before Congress is an equally fruitless endeavor as it is purely agenda driven and those testifying are simply there for purposes of making one side or the other’s point, never to educate, clarify or provide objectivity regardless of the witnesses intention or expectation. They are whoever invited therm’s window dressing and nothing more. The only way I’d ever testify in front of Congress is with weeks of prepping on every one of their backgrounds, what they’ve previously voted for, researching where their campaign financing has come from and memorizing the list of their major donors, just to level-set in the event of any antagonism 😃
I’m impressed you only made two errors. I made 5 errors so far today, one was watching Mehdi’s pathetic attempt at assassinating your character. What a dick.
For reasons not particularly clear, humanity goes through these cycles of bizarre and twisted rebellions against reality from time to time. And they always perform the same way. Think of the Jacobins and their Reign of Terror. Think of the willing executioners of the Nazi regime. Think of the mass show trials of Stalin's regime. And here we are again. Not sure how the bloodshed will occur this time, but if history is any guide, we know that the perpetrators of this jihad will not be held accountable once the fever breaks. Matt's work, at least, establishes a record--if we can keep it from being shitcanned by deliberate applications of AI.
Unlike in previous cycles though, this time they have technology at their fingertips to impose and enforce totalitarian rule which Orwell could only dream about.
The MSNBC strategy, Matt, is a "gotcha" one. They found two or three mistakes (minor) in your reporting and are hammering those to suggest you're sloppy and/or lack integrity.
Glad to see you're fighting back, but, as you know, they don't care about the truth. It's all about controlling the narrative and serving the needs of the DNC crowd. Hence MSDNC.
It's "Russia bad," "Trump bad," and we (MSNBC) are the only ones you can trust to KEEP YOU SAFE. So go back to brunch and vote for Joe and Kamala.
It's good form to assume positive intent. Matt, you did that during your congressional testimony and you did it yesterday. Unfortunately, many of the people who asked you questions in congress and certainly Mehdi as well - these are not people of integrity. Even after accumulating their wealth, they allow their egos and bank accounts to dictate what they accept.
It's a terrible state we're in - with Wasserman Shultz and Mehdi in roles they are in. And they can't stand to be called out for it. That's what we observed in the congressional testimony and that's what we observed in clips yesterday. I say 'clips' because I haven't had cable news in our house in 7 years.
Sorry you have to go to such lengths to defend yourself. Haven’t seen the intv but if it shows up on YouTube I’ll check it out. Proud of you for maintaining your integrity. Mainstream is so embarrassing it hurts.
You're going to need a drink or five or a joint or *something* after you watch it if you're anything like me. From the two clips I've seen it goes like this most of the time:
HASAN: "You said this, which isn't true, so doesn't that hurt your credibility?"
TAIBBI: "Well, let me explain--"
HASAN: "You're going to explain why you made false claims? Because these are demonstrably false. You're lying to everyone, why are you lying, Matt?"
Over and over again. I wish I were exaggerating more than I am.
The FBI treatment of General Flynn followed the same tactic, severely conflating a simple error made in an informal convo to a massive attack on his credibility. At the time I read of and heard about the intentional ruination of Gen. Flynn I lost more than respect for the FBI and it’s puppeteers. These disgusting soul crusher propaganda mongers are going to forever be known as total dicks. Guess we now anticipate this filthy tactic to be whipped out of the greasy overcoats in future “interviews.” Matt, thank you for your excellent world-changing work.
So how do we break through? Every time I bring up the subject my grown kids either accuse me of being a Trumper or needing a tin foil hat. I tell them I'm seeking truth wherever it can be found which is clearly not found in msm.
My kids, 48 and 42, are pretty much on the same page as me, but my husband of 50 years still watches MSNBC. I keep telling him to get on Substack, and have him listen to Matt and Walt with me, but it must be all those years of watching that has him programmed. I get downright furious at him, but then remind myself that I too was a somewhat brainwashed democrat prior to the COVID craziness.
I'm sorry that this is turning your kids against you. I wish I could come up with a better answer than to tell them that they're apparently too young to understand why censorship--not just government censorship, but censorship by "private companies"--is bad because they've never been on the receiving end. Tell them how in the Bush years they wouldn't even let people protest the Republican president and they made all protestors stay in "free speech zones" far from wherever Bush was speaking. Ask them how they know what they're hearing on TV is the truth after the government lied about Iraq, lied about NSA spying, lied about the Gulf of Tonkin, etc...all the examples of the government and their media allies lying before finally being exposed as liars.
As absurd as it sounds, he should just watch Trump. Never admit mistake and rely entirely on ad hominem arguments. That’s the only thing people understand now. It’s a joke.
Sorry, I can't agree with this. One has to find a way to short-circuit the format without resorting to bad faith tactics like never admitting mistakes. In this particular case, I think Matt could have done this by revisiting Mehdi's early statements about how he agrees that the Gov't shouldn't be spending so much time censoring by proxy. He agreed! At that point, it's just a question on how serious the issue is. Starting from a place of agreement can undermine the entire strategy of these counter-productive TV "debates."
I didn't watch and won't watch ut from what he related and feedback it does seem that coaching and preparation would be a big help. But still I imagine that if he got the upper hand the interviewer turns it into a food fight
Mehdi completely ignored the substance of the material that Matt has reported on the sprawling censorship regime of the US security state and instead turned the interview into an ad hominem attack. Now morons like AOC are claiming that because Mehdi's ambush squad found two tiny errors involving an acronym and a date in Matt's reporting, the entire body of reportage on the Twitter Files exposing state/corporate collusion is discredited. Give me a break, man. Such a fking joke.
Because ad hominem is all they have. And like a Jedi mind trick, it works flawlessly on the weak minded. The fking joke isn't the source it's the consumers.
Bingo! The typical leftist has lost all critical thinking skills, yet they actually think we’re the dumb ones. The brainwashing has destroyed them.
Typical liberal damn it! These nitwits have no idea what being a leftist is. They’ve crawled so far up the ass of the national security state, they don’t even know what time of day it is.
Generalized ignorance and a lack of critical thinking skills is the engineered design and desire of the Establishment.
Augh! These soft-fascist uniparty moderate conservatives who call themselves Democrats *call themselves and their shittiest hijinks "leftist" or "socialist"* to discredit actual leftism and socialism.
indeed! true that
Critical thinking skills are overrated in a capitalist society. Just ask taibbi.
Most people don't really understand argument or logic, it's like you say - a mind trick.
Just as Hasan is but some "poor player"
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. (His) is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
And no Medhi, you'll never get that foul spot off your hands.
and all the world's a stage! thank you for alluding to the bard.
Hassan is from the "foul rag and bone shop" of his soul
He was the best that ever lived :)
"He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again." - Hamlet in Act 1, Scene 2
Coincidentally, I saw on Twitter that Mark Hamill loved it... these Jedis stick together!
Ya, well, the Jedis around here aren't exactly breakaway free-thinkers...
But I thought only a Sith thinks in absolutes :-)
First thing we do, let's kill all the consumers.
It’s by now clear that Matt and others need to up their game when testifying or being interviewed by ‘hostile’ parties. It’s not enough to rely on the well documented evidence and facts. The game is dirty and one has to be prepared to play dirty or be able to think on your feet on how to effectively respond to bad faith questioning.
I agree. Not sure though if it's the best move for him to seek out confrontations of this kind, though, or to avoid them if possible. For one, I'm not sure how easy it is to learn this. Matt is a journalist after all, not a politician or TV personality. Also I don't know how well he could square this with his understanding of his work and integrity ("Get it right at all costs!" is obviously at odds with throwing out zingers like Trump). I think the written word is his best weapon, without having to compromise his greatest strengths.
Take lessons from Russell Brand although nobody can outdo Russell Brand. Here is his takedown of the Morning Joe gang: https://youtu.be/mDCtFTyw6fI
Maybe always go as a team. Matt and Walter; Matt and Douglas Murray. Matt needs an extraverted sidekick to riff and then Matt comes in with a zinger.
exactly. He does his best thinking when he writes. I love listening to him but he needs to be accompanied by a street fighter.
Yes he need to get tough. I remember seeing Malcolm Gladwell at a debate call Matt a racist and Matt just let him go after him. Matt is a brilliant writer! As a newer journalist, I learn so much from reading his work. Yet he must become stronger at defending himself when he's put on the defensive. Also, remember how Debbie Wasserman went after him at the hearings? She was a witch and cut him off!
See excellent Canadian debate—I think called Munk debate—with Matt and Murray versus Michelle Goldberg and Malcolm Gladwell about the press. Excellent and very entertaining viewing! Matt and Murray won turning an audience leaning toward the other side.
Yes - the famous Dunk at the Munk.
clever
but malcolm gladwell called matt a racist and matt didn't really defend himself. Gladwell was so horrid!
True. Gladwell was not appealing though I remember liking some of his books.
Wow, that Russell Brand video was astonishing!
Exactly what I was thinking as I watched the segment.
As an audio professional, I was thinking about how Matt could be more effective in these sorts of “debates” between himself and glib talk show hosts. The first thing is to train himself to remove the “uhs” and pauses. He also needs to control his space and not let the other guy filibuster. It’s hard with the tv delay and walkie talkie thing that happens in those interchanges, but it’s critical to go in knowing exactly the points he wants to make and to appear cool under fire.
What I notice from the podcasts with Kirn is that his voice breaks a lot, simply uncomfortable speaking I think.
A brilliant writer is not always a brilliant speaker, not sure if it’s nerves.
Matt, just imagine the people you are debating are lying c**ksuckers, should be easy after that.
Because it’s true.
Agreed.
I would recommend pepper spray. Works great!
Or refuse to engage with the so-called “interviewers” who simply want to interrupt, put their guest on the defensive and launch a smear. The View asked DeSantis to appear on their show and he refused and the staffer who dealt with them stated “they were not to call that number as it was to address the concerns of the citizens of the state of Florida..”
DeSantis too busy smearing the entire state of Florida...
What's disappointing is watching John Stewart cheer on MSNBC as they "slam dunk" a left wing indepdent journalist speaking truth to power.
Of all the people who have fallen the sharpest, the hardest, John Stewart is up there with Tom Morello.
Very true. Both are a huge disappointment.
Where is this?
Mehdi's attack is BS... The errors he exposes are minor relative to the amount of data Matt published.
That said... the inability of people on Matt's board to accept that Fox has been proven to have knowingly pushed lies about "stop the steal". My point is that this is not a partisan issue yet most people on this board act as though it is.
"stop the steal" doesn't have anything to do with the Twitter files or this post.
MG... thinking "stop the steal" does not have anything to do with Twitter is like thinking that because GOP law makers deny climate change then Dem Law makers are not controlled by Big Oil.
My point was and stands. Both parties are guilty and red and blue media is guilty of pushing misinformation. If you think this is a partisan issue you are misinformed.
exactly. as Russell brand said on Bill Maher, msnbc and fox lie. We need to seriously engage in a discussion with Matt about how to deal with Fox continuing the election fraud lie, full well knowing it's a lie. This is where the far left and far right depart. While there is simpatico about censorship from twitter files, we definitely part ways when it comes to Fox and the Big Lie. We need to call Fox out for the BIg Lie as it's a stain on their credibility as newspeople. And also, continue to call MSNBC out for Russiagate and their lies and demeaning Matt Taibbi who is a real journalist.
Shah - Here is my take on Matt. First of all, it drive me bonkers how he has become so totally one sided in calling out liberal media for their lies while 100% ignoring the right wing media lies.
But here is what i think he is doing. He had a long career where he called out both sides of the media for lying to viewers. And in so doing he build a very small audience of people that were clear eyed enough to see that BOTH sides of the media lie to serve their advertisers.
Now he has to build an audience of payed subscribers. He does not build that audience by focusing on BOTH sides as he used to. The only way to build and grow his audience is to 'tell them what they want to hear". Exactly what FOX and CNN do.. The evidence shows that the people at Fox new they would lose their audience if they called BS on Trump's "stop the steal" lie. I am 100% certain that the people at MSNBC knew equally well that if they stoped hyping "Russia Gate" and started to call out the weakness in the case that they too would lose their audience.
Matt is in the same situation. If he calls out both sides he will lose his audience. So he can't.
Who would you rather someone trust. Matt Tiabbi or Sean Hannity?? I for one would prefer that they trust the liberal Tiabbi over the proven liar Hannity.
The big fuckin' lie that got enormous traction from the new Know-nothin' party of America? That was promoted ad nauseam by a network whose key figures knew it was abject nonsense but went along with it anyway because $$$$? And knew they could get away with it because as P.T. Barnum once said, "there's a sucker (at least) tuning into Fox every minute?"
The "twitter files" may be bullshit, but taibbi presents no evidence that any of the so-called government efforts at censorship had a partisan flavor to it. In fact, numerous pieces of research and studies have demonstrated that twitter's own algorithms tended to favor republican or right-leaning feeds in the past.
Here it's treated like a stealth attack on the freedom of the press, the 1st amendment, yadda, yadda, yadda, by the Democratic Party. Or in Racket conspiracy lingo, the "DNC."
I think you can logically connect the two if you make the effort.
Feldspar - I am calling BS on the right wingers on this site that seem to think the Dems are the only party influencing the media to lie to views. The facts are irrefutable (read Noam Chomsky) the NYT, WSJ, CNN, FOX etc... all push propaganda to keep the state happy.
Both sides are equally guilty.
Agreed. Also, left vs right doesn’t really convey all the different factions. I have had unpleasant encounters with people here who wrongly assumed what my positions were on various topics because I identified as a lefty. But I am not far left on everything. More importantly, the far left and the centrist Democratic liberals strongly disagree on some issues. On foreign policy antiwar leftists have more in common with the anti- interventionist right than with the majority of Democrats, while they may disagree on other issues.
Poor Noam Chomsky got on the wrong side of Covid vaccines, opining the unvaccinated should be excommunicated from society. He is losing his marbles and kissing the corporate ring these days.
Lisa - Chomsky has been right about Vietnam, Nicaragua, WMD's and now Ukraine because of his research on state propaganda published in his book Manufacturing Consent. In that book he proves that MSM like the NYT and WSJ manufactured propaganda. Fox and CNN, today fall into that catagory with their reporting on WMD's, the Financial Crises, Russia Gate and "stop the steal" and now Ukraine. And on top of all of that his research is at the root of Chat GPT, which he has proven is way over hyped.
His views on Covid are quite different than what right wing media clearly told you he was thinking. No different than people that watched MSNBC were fed views on Russia Gate that were laughably wrong. Chomsky has never and never will be kissing the ring of corporations. His work makes him their enemy...
" am calling BS on the right wingers on this site that seem to think the Dems are the only party influencing the media to lie to views."
Citation needed.
Burt - Does Fox News push lies that Right Wing law makers like Trump, Ted Cruz and Bush2 want them to push? Yes or NO?
Case closed
well said! agree completely! Manufacturing consent!
I wasn't responding to your comment.
KJP,
How did you arrive at the alias "feldspar"?
KJP?
This is true. Censorship is something that various ideologues of all stripes engage in. I read Matt as a source of information on one particular aspect of the problem. I see some commenters say it is just ‘ the left”, roll my eyes, and move on.
It is also the case that a given individual can be right on one issue and completely wrong on another. Ideologues have trouble grasping this. Online one constantly sees people arguing that person X can’t be right about issue Y because they are wrong about issue Z. If I followed that logic I probably wouldn’t read anyone, because probably we are all wrong about something.
I have some specific names and issues in mind here but I have no desire to start several arguments.
@
Michael D (Piketty)- you are mistaken and so GFY!.
Quad - What am i mistaken on? If you can show me, with evidence not your feelings, i will gladly GFM...
Shorter Piketty:
- Now Do Fox News!
- What happened to you Matt?!?!?!?
Burt - Matt wrote a book on how the NYPD targeted young black men for arrest just to make their lives so miserable they left the city. Lives were destroyed an career crushed.
I'll tell you exactly what Fox did when he wrote that book. They totally IGnORED him. Fox will interview anyone that tells them what their viewers want to hear. They don't care if it is a lie like "stop the steal' or the truth like "the Twitter files". The only thing Fox cares about is producing content that tells their viewers what they want to hear.
You didn't know that?
I don't watch television news.
Burt- You don't have to watch FOX on TV to have their lies pushed into your head. Just consume any type of right wing media that is funded by advertising or targeted at right wing voters and you are getting the narrative that Fox wants you to get. You are evidence of that, right?
Sounds like you consume a lot of right-wing media. Maybe you should abstain.
I didn't watch the full Mehdi interview, but did watch recaps on The Rising and Breaking Points. I'm very interested in the upcoming follow-up on the 3,000 vs 22,000,000 tweets and will withhold comments on that topic until he sends an update.
I was disappointed in the classic gotcha journalism from MSNBC. However, I was also disappointed that Matt was not prepared to talk about the Modi/Indian twitter topic since that seemed to have been the driver for the interview invitation. And I think this is the first time that I've been disappointed in anything Matt has written or done.
But kudos to Matt for admitting and correcting mistakes. Sets the example for responsible journalism (or so-called journalism :-) ).
Makes them look really weak, even more petty, and even more devoid of any arguments at all. Keep up the fight matt!
These people are seeming to be involved in a slow dose Jonestown Kool-Aid drinking contest
Its just simply amazing. Hasan went full Maddow on his 'show'. These ppl are THE problem, yet think they are some sort of solution. Unfuckingbelievable
It was so irritating to hear the chorus of “imagine doing PR for the world’s richest man” from people who do PR for the White House, the bureaucracy, the legacy media, intelligence officials who abuse their power...
Brings to mind the Balaji quote about evidentiary standards rising to infinity or dropping to zero as the establishment sees fit.
It’s not hypocrisy, they think we’re powerless.
Was that AOC or her Twitter sockpuppet?
Yes exactly. Hassan is being petty cause he and the corporate network wish to continue to discredit Matt Taibbi because the entire media apparatus has been found out through the twitter files. Supressing free speech, no matter whose, even if it's conservatives, is definitely a first amendment violation. Even Ro Khanna went on Fox, not MSNBC to say that. Medhi ought to be ashamed of himself bullying a first class investigative reporter!
Ikr!
Kind of surprised the moonbat Mehdi didn't start critiquing grammar and spelling errors he spotted. Would have been a better argument than the tripe he was spewing
Right at the outset of the interview, Mehdi asked Matt to summarize what's important about the Twitter Files, that the audience might not be aware of.
Matt responded first by throwing in a couple of hostile digs, then seeming to both reject *and* answer the prompt at the same time.
I don't know what kind of personal crisis Matt is going through right now, but pretending that interview was anything other than a self-own for him is just embarrassing. He ad hominem'd himself by acting like a prick right out of the gate, then compounded his bad press by throwing a tantrum about it here.
But I understand, you're here to farm readers, not provide an objective or critical POV.
I think Matt makes the mistake that a lot moral and ethical people make: assuming others have high standards as well. Hasan is one of those creeps who turns every discussion into combat to see who "wins" according to his own puny measure.
I do agree with this. It is sad. He is of the media class and is noting the rot within like he can somehow save it from itself... get it back to a older better version of itself. But these people are not motivated at all by truth, facts... and evidence that holds a mirror up to show them how bad they screwed up the stories and narratives just makes them more committed to destroy those that would hold up a mirror.
These are not good people. They are ideological cult members and enemies of the country.
What country might that be, Frank?
Agreed, but actually Hassan appeared to be using a lawyer’s approach, in never asking a question he didn’t already know the answer to. With that, one has to assume that all questions are leading and only by disrupting that flow can one have a chance to not look badly in such situations. For example, at the sound of the 1st question, I would have asked, “before we launch into your scripted questions and for the benefit of your viewers who may not be familiar with what you are launching into, can set the context here? Will this be a discussion and questions on the full body of my part of the Twitter Files I released over the past months and your agreement or disagreement with my broad proposition here of their being a Censorship Industrial Complex that Twitter was being asked or coerced into participating, or will this be questions just on a couple of facts for which you’d like some clarification? Because broadly speaking, you do agree that it could be viewed as a problem if gov’t agencies were making direct requests for Twitter to censor average American’s tweets, correct?” 😃. He would try to cut off the statement, but you’d still want to plow through it to make sure is part of the record of the conversation. That would have set a more even footed tone for anything discussed after this 😃
It really is all about winning the news cycle.
I think that the standards of others, particularly when those standards are low, are the worst way to measure your own actions. It's always felt like Matt agrees with that sentiment.
was thinking the same
I linked above to a Russell Brand interview on Morning Joe in which he just plowed his way through to making his points. Then he started imitating them. Ruthless. Of course, he is a consummate comedian and used to stand up comedy. Matt is a writer, first and foremost. Introverts like Matt do not fare as well in a machine gun delivery venue like the cable news. Tucker can be irritating with his machine gun delivery, but he gets his points across. Matt is our best investigative journalist. He should concentrate on raking the muck. Gather up the ammunition. Then let the Brands and Carlsons, Rogans and Murrays do combat. Or team tag as I suggested above. Here is a link to Brand explaining what happened before and during the interview. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/russell-brand-explains-morning-joe-578578/#!
I’d also argue that going before Congress is an equally fruitless endeavor as it is purely agenda driven and those testifying are simply there for purposes of making one side or the other’s point, never to educate, clarify or provide objectivity regardless of the witnesses intention or expectation. They are whoever invited therm’s window dressing and nothing more. The only way I’d ever testify in front of Congress is with weeks of prepping on every one of their backgrounds, what they’ve previously voted for, researching where their campaign financing has come from and memorizing the list of their major donors, just to level-set in the event of any antagonism 😃
Excellent point and excellent suggestion for cutting through the doomed-to-fail format of these TV "debates."
MSNBC Repeated Fake News from Hamilton 68 Over 100 Times!!!
(My preferred title :)
The self like power move!
Yessssssss
They can't hold a candle to you, Matt. We got you.
Just upped membership to annual.
I’m impressed you only made two errors. I made 5 errors so far today, one was watching Mehdi’s pathetic attempt at assassinating your character. What a dick.
now there is an error I did not make, thought about it for 5 seconds and then realized I would like to have that time for myself.
Good call. I’ll never get that time back
same
Matt--don’t let them get to you, you are in the right, we all know it and support you. Much love!
Never assume good faith on the part of MSM. They're not interested in facts, logic, evidence or truth, except as these advance their agenda.
CJ Hopkins has some good advice.
It appears to be an effective business model.
Right up until we’re tired of eating metaphorical cake.
Yep. Propaganda is the cash cow of the National Brainwashing Company.
For reasons not particularly clear, humanity goes through these cycles of bizarre and twisted rebellions against reality from time to time. And they always perform the same way. Think of the Jacobins and their Reign of Terror. Think of the willing executioners of the Nazi regime. Think of the mass show trials of Stalin's regime. And here we are again. Not sure how the bloodshed will occur this time, but if history is any guide, we know that the perpetrators of this jihad will not be held accountable once the fever breaks. Matt's work, at least, establishes a record--if we can keep it from being shitcanned by deliberate applications of AI.
Unlike in previous cycles though, this time they have technology at their fingertips to impose and enforce totalitarian rule which Orwell could only dream about.
We are all proles now.
Maybe, but all I know is that the genie of freedom is out of the bottle and will not be put back in no matter how hard we try.
Search the 70 Year Theory. Quite interesting!
The MSNBC strategy, Matt, is a "gotcha" one. They found two or three mistakes (minor) in your reporting and are hammering those to suggest you're sloppy and/or lack integrity.
Glad to see you're fighting back, but, as you know, they don't care about the truth. It's all about controlling the narrative and serving the needs of the DNC crowd. Hence MSDNC.
It's "Russia bad," "Trump bad," and we (MSNBC) are the only ones you can trust to KEEP YOU SAFE. So go back to brunch and vote for Joe and Kamala.
MSNBS
Ooh I like that one better!
I go back and forth. 😀
It's good form to assume positive intent. Matt, you did that during your congressional testimony and you did it yesterday. Unfortunately, many of the people who asked you questions in congress and certainly Mehdi as well - these are not people of integrity. Even after accumulating their wealth, they allow their egos and bank accounts to dictate what they accept.
It's a terrible state we're in - with Wasserman Shultz and Mehdi in roles they are in. And they can't stand to be called out for it. That's what we observed in the congressional testimony and that's what we observed in clips yesterday. I say 'clips' because I haven't had cable news in our house in 7 years.
Sorry you have to go to such lengths to defend yourself. Haven’t seen the intv but if it shows up on YouTube I’ll check it out. Proud of you for maintaining your integrity. Mainstream is so embarrassing it hurts.
Mainstream MEDIA is so embarrassing it hurts.
You're going to need a drink or five or a joint or *something* after you watch it if you're anything like me. From the two clips I've seen it goes like this most of the time:
HASAN: "You said this, which isn't true, so doesn't that hurt your credibility?"
TAIBBI: "Well, let me explain--"
HASAN: "You're going to explain why you made false claims? Because these are demonstrably false. You're lying to everyone, why are you lying, Matt?"
Over and over again. I wish I were exaggerating more than I am.
The FBI treatment of General Flynn followed the same tactic, severely conflating a simple error made in an informal convo to a massive attack on his credibility. At the time I read of and heard about the intentional ruination of Gen. Flynn I lost more than respect for the FBI and it’s puppeteers. These disgusting soul crusher propaganda mongers are going to forever be known as total dicks. Guess we now anticipate this filthy tactic to be whipped out of the greasy overcoats in future “interviews.” Matt, thank you for your excellent world-changing work.
General Flynn was the guy who supported Turkey entering the U.S. and killing one of its dissidents.
So how do we break through? Every time I bring up the subject my grown kids either accuse me of being a Trumper or needing a tin foil hat. I tell them I'm seeking truth wherever it can be found which is clearly not found in msm.
My kids, 48 and 42, are pretty much on the same page as me, but my husband of 50 years still watches MSNBC. I keep telling him to get on Substack, and have him listen to Matt and Walt with me, but it must be all those years of watching that has him programmed. I get downright furious at him, but then remind myself that I too was a somewhat brainwashed democrat prior to the COVID craziness.
You should have an intervention.
Alison, I've got the same issue. They are convinced the MSNBC's of the world, with their smug self-righteousness, speaks only the obvious truth.
And I've sent them articles (especially Twitter files) and videos that they won't even watch. I'm old so I'll be gone by time it's really bad.
Show them Status Coup. Can't fake all those people they interview.
I get it from both sides. I’m either an unappreciative anti-Trump traitor or an Ultra-MAGA Qanon, Putin apologist Alt-right White Supremacist Nazi
If I had some magic words that would snap humans out of cognitive dissonance, I would have shared this secret a long time ago.
I'm sorry that this is turning your kids against you. I wish I could come up with a better answer than to tell them that they're apparently too young to understand why censorship--not just government censorship, but censorship by "private companies"--is bad because they've never been on the receiving end. Tell them how in the Bush years they wouldn't even let people protest the Republican president and they made all protestors stay in "free speech zones" far from wherever Bush was speaking. Ask them how they know what they're hearing on TV is the truth after the government lied about Iraq, lied about NSA spying, lied about the Gulf of Tonkin, etc...all the examples of the government and their media allies lying before finally being exposed as liars.
Patience and determination.
Hahaha, Matt decides to own MSNBC, love it!
Matt, please get some coaching on how to handle hostile interviews. You need to take the interviews, but you approach them with too much faith.
As absurd as it sounds, he should just watch Trump. Never admit mistake and rely entirely on ad hominem arguments. That’s the only thing people understand now. It’s a joke.
Sorry, I can't agree with this. One has to find a way to short-circuit the format without resorting to bad faith tactics like never admitting mistakes. In this particular case, I think Matt could have done this by revisiting Mehdi's early statements about how he agrees that the Gov't shouldn't be spending so much time censoring by proxy. He agreed! At that point, it's just a question on how serious the issue is. Starting from a place of agreement can undermine the entire strategy of these counter-productive TV "debates."
I didn't watch and won't watch ut from what he related and feedback it does seem that coaching and preparation would be a big help. But still I imagine that if he got the upper hand the interviewer turns it into a food fight
^this
Also, ape Trump by throwing in a combo of grandiose claims and outlandish (but hilarious) statements from time to time to keep them off-balance.
Cock on Matthews..very good advise. He needs it to protect
himself from the mental mugging. Maybe a call to Mike Tyson
is in order.
So now we know who the CIA media stooges are, as if we didn't before.