DonkeyHotey, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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By Dave S., Mark Mamerow, Dennis Curley, and Geoff Carter
So many of our recent topics are at least partially echoed in the below. Do you gents ever read this NY Times version of the old 60 minutes: Point-Counterpoint? Gail Collins and Bret Stephens. I find it humorous and informative.
Collins & Stephens
- I found the identification of Roger Ailes, (Fox mastermind), as a villain in the race to the bottom (name calling rather than honest debate ugly phenomena we’ve touched on re “Woke”) as additive, (Newt-Rush-Ailes-Bannon-Trump…I like the way they relegate Trump to merely a symptom of a greater disease). They also (properly) elevate the devious power of nutcase (and drug addict), Bannon.
- The recent de Klerk death in South Africa reminds me of another example of Mark’s liberal-good eventually triumphing theory, (the end of Apartheid)—it just takes decades. I didn’t read the piece they reference but it sounded kind to de Klerk. However, I’ve seen other articles about “FW” that were not kind…stating his turnover of Apartheid was self-preservation, and the furthest thing from enlightened or noble.
- As I recall Mark was/is a Phillip Roth fan, quoted in the below for his “indigenous American berserk” tag.
-D.
This column is great, Dave. I love their sense of humor, especially “the eunuch at the orgy” imagery. Roger Ailes—along with Reagan, who annihilated the Fairness Doctrine—as the main actors behind disinformation, but Limbaugh, Coulter, and Charlie Sykes (before he realized he’d gone too far and turned back) are all culpable. I don’t give de Klerk much credit; as you say, I think his stance on Apartheid (post-Mandela) was an act of survival.
Later gator,
Geoff
A little Sykes background for you:
Ah, Charlie Sykes. He was a smarter brand of librul-hatin’, white fear mongering populist. Whenever I did catch a few minutes of his show, I would find myself involuntarily whispering “What a jerk”. He wasn’t just an observer of the great polarization of politics. He was an architect of the local version. To paraphrase his book title—how DID the Right lose its mind? Take a look in the mirror, Charlie.
But I believe in redemption. I am willing to welcome Charlie back to the table of political discussion, after suitable penance. Three or four hundred years in Purgatory ought to do it.
Mark
Yep. I think Sykes has gotten off far too easy. You’re right, he is more than a little responsible for the right losing its mind, and he’s never (not that I’ve seen) ever acknowledged or apologized for it. He simply goes on MSNBC and ignores the damage he’s caused. The pundits sometimes bring up his experience with the Republican party, he’s never been held accountable for enabling Trump’s rise. At least apologize, Charlie. You are—at least partly—responsible for this.
Geoff
Sheesh. Charlie Sykes. The damage he inflicted was in part due to his faux-reasonable persona–He didn’t come off as a vituperative, rabid partisan like Rush or his various clones like Mark Belling.
Kind of like pseudo-intellectual, almost culturally palatable Paul Ryan. I admit I often keep my head buried comfortably in the sand (in fact, I’m actually on a beach in Costa Rica right now—where there is plenty of sand for head burying), so I ask you pundits what’s going on with Paul Ryan? Is he engineering a Phoenix rising/conservative savior act for 2024 elections?
Anyway, Sykes may be a slippery opportunist slithering over to where the grass is greenest, or he may be a deeply principled man who follows his conscience to where things just happen to be more lucrative; either way I hope it settles down his followers.
Dennis
It is interesting to see him as one of the talking heads on MSNBC. While the pundits seem to respect him, I suspect a lot of his credibility stems from the fact that he—like Darth Vader—came back from the dark side, and so became a poster boy for political (and moral) redemption. I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too harsh on the guy, but I can’t help remembering him on local AM radio. You’re right, Dennis, he had more of a rational persona, but at times, he was as bad as Rush or Belling. As to Ryan, who knows? He’s probably closeted with Scott Walker somewhere, playing rock paper scissors to see who gets to be Trump’s next lapdog.
Redemption? Forgiveness? Who am I to say? Sykes has got a long way to go before I’m convinced he’s not in it solely for personal gain.
Geoff