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You are here: Home / Failing Upward

Failing Upward

by John Cole|  February 2, 20143:33 pm| 87 Comments

This post is in: Our Awesome Meritocracy, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Heckuva job, ABC:

Bill Kristol, the editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard, has joined ABC News as a contributor, “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos announced on Sunday.

A source familiar with the negotiations says the former Fox News commentator has landed with ABC in a handshake agreement that they’re about to sign. ABC News spokesperson Heather Riley also confirmed Kristol’s move in an email.

The agreement, one source said, includes regular appearances on the Sunday show, as well as special events and other political-relaed events. But there’s also a window that allows him to do other shows on cable television.

Kristol ended a decade-long run as Fox News contributor last summer two years after he and Roger Ailes got into a disagreement that had a cooling effect on their relationship.

Why? The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life, and he is evil, to boot.

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Previous Post: « RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman
Next Post: Open Thread: “A man, a plan, the Cuttlefish of Cthulu and the Super Bowl” »

Reader Interactions

87Comments

  1. 1.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    February 2, 2014 at 3:35 pm

    Why? The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life, and he is evil, to boot.

    Why? You should know better, John. You know how things work. It’s better to be wrong for the right reasons than right for the wrong reasons. And Kristol is always wrong, but for the right reasons! See, he’s perfect!!

  2. 2.

    max

    February 2, 2014 at 3:38 pm

    The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life, and he is evil, to boot.

    That would be why. The point is not to report what’s actually going on, and have debates concerning real fact – the point is to move the preferred propaganda of the elites. And ABC obviously wants those sweet sweet neocon eyeballs.

    max
    [‘Old people who vote Republican watch the news. Young people who vote Democratic do not. They are catering to their audience, which, hilarity of hilarities, are the most malinformed of all groups.’]

  3. 3.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    Isn’t he responsible for talking up Sarah Palin as a viable VP? No mercy.

  4. 4.

    Walker

    February 2, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    It is not like he is a stranger to This Week. He has been on it many times. It is just that his appearances were guest things, like Krugman.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    February 2, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    Maybe this is where sponsors get asked why they want to buy ads on a program with such low standards?

  6. 6.

    Ash Can

    February 2, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    ABC is a garbage dump, so it’s a good place for him.

  7. 7.

    cyntax

    February 2, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    OT, but Phillip Seymour Hoffman just died, apparently he OD’d. Bummer.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    February 2, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    Finally, there’ll be someone at ABC News to counter their otherwise extremely liberal slant on the news.

  9. 9.

    dmsilev

    February 2, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    @Violet: Yep. He was the one who pointed the McCain camp in her direction. For inflicting Sarah Palin on an unsuspecting nation, I’m not sure what the appropriate punishment should be.

    Maybe being locked in a room with Sarah Palin for the next 30 years.

  10. 10.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    @cyntax: Just one post below this one, there’s an entire thread devoted to Mr. Hoffman’s death.

  11. 11.

    Reflectionephemeral

    February 2, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    Network news is entertainment. Kristol will present the GOP side at any given moment. Accuracy– at the moment, or over time– is simply irrelevant to how networks cover the news.

  12. 12.

    cyntax

    February 2, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    @Violet:

    My bad.

  13. 13.

    MattF

    February 2, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    Gold sinks, shit floats.

  14. 14.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    @dmsilev: Being locked in a room with her daughter Bristol and her out of control son. And her other daughter who went to hair school and supposedly does Sarah’s hair now.

  15. 15.

    Alex S.

    February 2, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    Doesn’t Stephanopoulos have any kind of self-respect? I mean, Kristol played a huge part in killing Clinton’s health care reform when Stephanopoulos was part of the White House.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    February 2, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    @Alex S.:

    Stephanopoulos is well ensconced within the Village. So, no.

  17. 17.

    Cervantes

    February 2, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    @Walker:

    It is not like he is a stranger to This Week. He has been on it many times. It is just that his appearances were guest things, like Krugman.

    In fact he was an ABC panelist on retainer throughout the ’90s. It was his primary media gig after the job with Dan Quayle evaporated in late ’92.

  18. 18.

    Mike G

    February 2, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    He’s a Made Man of unassailable privilege in the Village, as a propaganda mouthpiece for powerful interests. William the Bloody is not there to speak truth or make accurate predictions, he’s there because corporatist media has decreed that the propaganda he represents Must Be Heard.

  19. 19.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    @Alex S.: Maybe Kristol has something on Stephanopoulos. Affair? Drug use? Prostitutes? Blackmail can be effective sometimes.

  20. 20.

    Linkmeister

    February 2, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    @Alex S.: No. If Stephanopoulos had any self-respect he’d resign from his job, since he’s so bad at it. An honorable man would refuse the paycheck.

  21. 21.

    MattF

    February 2, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    @Mike G: There aren’t a lot of people who have managed to lose regular commentary jobs at the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time magazine, and FOX news. Bill’s just a special guy.

  22. 22.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    February 2, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    This is Culture of Truth’s beat, but I put on MTP this morning and it started with David Gregory expressing concern about Christie’s long string of lies and obfuscations: “So Chuck, does it really add up? Or is it more hype than real?”

    Oh wait my bad, Gregory wasn’t engaging in this tough, hardheaded newsman approach toward Christie, but toward press “treatment” of Christie.

    Click.

    I check in every now and then to remember what a ridiculous, pro-Republican infomercial that show is, though I don’t know why I bother even checking.

    http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032608/vp/54250687#54250687

  23. 23.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    February 2, 2014 at 3:54 pm

    Kristol is the personification of Chris Hayes’s theory about the end of “meritocracy”. If you’re seen as part of the meritocracy–and Kristol is one of them, since the meritocracy is nothing if not inbred and insular–you can do anything and still keep your membership. Anybody who hasn’t yet read Twilight of the Elites should get it right away.

  24. 24.

    Jay C

    February 2, 2014 at 3:54 pm

    @Alex S.:

    Doesn’t Stephanopoulos have any kind of self-respect?

    No.

    Next question?

  25. 25.

    Glocksman

    February 2, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    If this was going to be ABC’s attempt to duplicate Hannity & Colmes, with Kristol playing Colmes’s part as the token opponent too dull witted to realize he’s there mainly as a foil for his colleague, I could see it.

    As it’s not, it’s ABC’s attempt to be more ‘fair’.
    Dontcha’ know that ol’Georgie worked for Clinton?

  26. 26.

    Woody

    February 2, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    Wm. “Merits” Kristol should be the poster child for every teachers union’s reply to how They’re Failing The Children.

  27. 27.

    Barney

    February 2, 2014 at 4:02 pm

    A source familiar with the negotiations says the former Fox News commentator has landed with ABC in a handshake agreement that they’re about to sign.

    I assume this was about how much Kristol will pay to have access to time on network television.

  28. 28.

    danielx

    February 2, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    Why? The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life, and he is evil, to boot.

    Because dafka, that’s why. (One of Yiddish words that doesn’t translate well.)

    Also, too – Bloody Bill serves what in my opinion is a very important purpose. Whatever he says should be done, or whatever he says will happen, do or expect the exact opposite. This method can’t miss.

  29. 29.

    JGabriel

    February 2, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    John Cole:

    Why? The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life, and he is evil, to boot.

    For BALANCE!

    Krugman is also on This Week sometimes. Since PK is both righteous, and right about most things, it’s self-evident that a fair and balanced jourmanilism program must also include viewpoints from the wrong and evil contingent.

    Now I know your’re going to say that This Week already has appearances from Cokie Roberts, Peggy Noonan, Karl Rove, and other assorted people who are evil and wrong, BUT … people who are right and good have an unfair advantage over wrong and evil.

    So in order to be fair, as well as balanced, you have to give the wrong and evil side way more time. And what better way to bring up your quotient of wrong and evil than by hiring Bill Kristol?

  30. 30.

    Alex S.

    February 2, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    @Jay C:

    Yeah, that was of course the shortest and correct answer. But I was struck, reading his Wikipedia bio, that he found Clinton “both awesome and appalling”, which is the kind of both-sides-do-it attitude that gave him access to the Village. But when was Bill Kristol ever that ambiguous about his own team? Republicans get free entry, democrats need to pay their impartiality tax.

  31. 31.

    Ken

    February 2, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    @danielx: Exactly. It’s either The Peter Principle or Parkinson’s Law that points out how valuable people who are always wrong can be. Just put them in a sinecure position where they have no real authority, and have the rest of the organization do the opposite of whatever they advise.

    Unfortunately this does not seem to be what ABC has in mind.

  32. 32.

    CaseyL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    Well, I never watch ABC news or its talk shows, and now I have another reason to continue to never watch ABC news or its talk shows.

    One wonders how Stephanopoulos will greet his new Mephistophelian co-host. Will it be just an “honor” to have Blood-Stained Bill aboard, or an “honor and a pleasure”?

  33. 33.

    eric

    February 2, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    this is why all that bully pulpit nonsense is nonsense. they want the news to be what they want the news to be. Protect and preserve the monied class of which they are a part even if not the .1%, they are the 1%

  34. 34.

    Glocksman

    February 2, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    @CaseyL:

    They’ll just play his theme song

    Please allow me to introduce myself
    I’m a man of wealth and taste

  35. 35.

    RaflW

    February 2, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    OP @ top:

    Why? The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life, and he is evil, to boot.

    Who cares?!? ABC & in particular This Week is irrelevant to anyone under the Depends target market age.

  36. 36.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:23 pm

    @RaflW: Aren’t those Sunday shows watched a lot in Washington? I think you’re right about the rest of the country not caring unless they’re Depends age, but in D.C. being on the shows is a big deal I think.

  37. 37.

    Mike in NC

    February 2, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    There must be a lot of people who owed favors to Irving Kristol. Nothing else makes sense.

  38. 38.

    Culture of Truth

    February 2, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life, and he is evil, to boot.

    True, but they need a conservative voice.

  39. 39.

    JPL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Fox TV just told me that the President’s interview is coming up next. I’m not sure what they mean by next, but I’ll be cheering for a take down of that smug ass O’Reilly.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 2, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    @Violet:

    Yes. Which is why the proper place for Kristol’s head is on the end of a pike.

  41. 41.

    Churchlady320

    February 2, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    @Violet: Yes – it was Kristol who insisted McCain take on Palin to appease the religious zealots. He later repudiated her, but so what? It was all venal pandering, and when she lost her utility, she was discarded. He has NO principles, only power politics. I saw him at a restaurant with two sycophants in Jan. 2009 right after the inauguration. He was sitting in a banquette with them straining forward listening to his every word. His self image as a wheeler and dealer may have been slightly bloodied right then, but it was clear he was unbowed.

  42. 42.

    andy

    February 2, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    @JGabriel: So ABC is just fulfilling it’s Wingnut Affirmative Action quotas.

  43. 43.

    mai naem

    February 2, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    I am not sure who was on which Sunday gasbag show but isn’t ABC basically doing a switch with FOX? George Will for Bill Kristol. I think the Magic Dolphin lady switched networks too. I think Carville and Matalin didn’t manage to find chairs at the end of the Musical Chairs. BTW what the hell has happened to Mary Matalin? I don’t remember her looking as awful as she does now. Is it botched plastic surgery?

  44. 44.

    Culture of Truth

    February 2, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    Yes Fluffy played defense for Christie this morning. There was a begging and pleading for Christie’s innocence in those sad puppy dog eyes. Even Rich Lowry told Gregory to give it up, it’s over.

  45. 45.

    Anya

    February 2, 2014 at 4:34 pm

    Who watches the Sunday shows anyway? I don’t know a single person who watches them.

  46. 46.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:35 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I’ll settle for his head, along with the rest of him, being in a prison somewhere. If not that, then banned from the Village and any wingnut welfare circuit for the rest of his life.

    Good Lord. Bill O’Reilly is interviewing President Obama. Bleh. Right away asks about the healthcare.gov website. Seriously?

  47. 47.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:37 pm

    @mai naem: I didn’t see it, but heard that Matalin looked and acted completely drunk on Bill Maher’s show a week or so ago. She’s increasingly looked more and more haggard as she’s aged. Her hairstyle, last I saw it, didn’t do her any favors.

  48. 48.

    raven

    February 2, 2014 at 4:37 pm

    WTF, O’Rielly all up in the Prez’s face on the pregame!

  49. 49.

    JPL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    @raven: He politely told Bill to shut up.

  50. 50.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    @raven: He’s all BENGHAZI! And obsessively focusing on “Was it a terrorist attack?” Yawn.

  51. 51.

    raven

    February 2, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    @JPL: It ain’t over.

  52. 52.

    JPL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    @raven: Someone needs to tell Bill that terrorist is just a word and shut the fuck up.. .

  53. 53.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    @raven: Obama is always so calm. He’s the adult in the room.

  54. 54.

    JPL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:41 pm

    Thank you Mr. President.

  55. 55.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 2, 2014 at 4:41 pm

    @Violet:

    Stephanopoulos once worked in the White House at the pleasure off the Clenis. What more of a damning circumstance would one need in the Village?

  56. 56.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    Good Lord, these questions are like Wingnut Greatest Hits. Who the hell cares about the IRS head visiting the White House?

  57. 57.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    Oooh! Bill goes with “Some people are saying…” So lame. And the President calls out Fox News! Yay!

  58. 58.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 2, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    @mai naem:

    BTW what the hell has happened to Mary Matalin?

    It’s all that soul-splitting to create horcruxes, you know.

  59. 59.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    The President schooled O’Reilly. The President is always the adult in the room. So calm. So reassuring.

    And…commerical for the latest Hunger Games movie with a shot or two of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Sad….. :(

  60. 60.

    JPL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    @Violet: Even though I’m biased, I think the President did okay. He was cutoff several times and it’s unfortunate that he didn’t punch him.

    Crap, I just had a Catching Fire preview.. just crap.

  61. 61.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    Oh jeez. Now a Duck Dynasty guy in an ad. They really do look ridiculous with those beards and their outfits.

  62. 62.

    JPL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    @Violet: hmmm.. Why did your 4:45 post beat mine?

  63. 63.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 2, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    @Violet:

    Banned from the Village? Are you kidding? The guy is a personification of every reason why my nym. The Village loves him. Which is why my nym.

    That goes for George S. as well. AND George Will.

  64. 64.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    @JPL: FYWP doesn’t hate me today maybe?

  65. 65.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Of course. But if we’re looking for a fitting punishment, being cast out of the Village would be among the most painful things he could experience. Imagine if he had to move to Des Moines and deliver pizza or something. And no one in the Village would return his calls. Justice.

  66. 66.

    Jewish Steel

    February 2, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    @Anya:Olds. Who skew conservative. I’ve never understood the outrage at the media for pandering to its audience.

  67. 67.

    JPL

    February 2, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    @Violet: haha.. I was going to say John likes you best. I really thought that the President did the best he could in that format. The letter was bullshit because it’s not the President that started the downward spiral.

  68. 68.

    Mnemosyne

    February 2, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    I guess this is what I don’t get and why I probably need to read Hayes’ book: how is a guy who got his position on the strength of his family position part of a “meritocracy”? It sounds like good old fashioned nepotism to me.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 2, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    @Violet:

    Billo is always right on top of the latest news.

  70. 70.

    Violet

    February 2, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    @JPL: Heh. John threatened to “turn this car around, Violet!” because I pointed out his use of “bear” and “prace” in that thread the other night.

  71. 71.

    Anne Laurie

    February 2, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    @Ken:

    It’s either The Peter Principle or Parkinson’s Law that points out how valuable people who are always wrong can be. Just put them in a sinecure position where they have no real authority, and have the rest of the organization do the opposite of whatever they advise.

    That was Professor Parkinson. His immortal Parkinson’s Law also had a great essay on ‘injealitis’ — that combination of incompetence & jealousy that causes certain middle managers to surround themselves with even-less-competent flunkies for fear of being ‘shown up’ by a smarter subordinate.

    Hmm. As the 2016 race heats up, maybe we should do a Parkinson’s Law book chat, because it covers a lot of the modern GOP’s tactics…

  72. 72.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 2, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    @Violet:

    Well, yes, turning him into a schnook would be Schadenfreudelicious, to be sure.

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    February 2, 2014 at 5:06 pm

    @Jewish Steel:

    I’ve never understood the outrage at the media for pandering to its audience.

    Um, because they have a First Amendment to protect them, in the event they want to do their jobs?

    Because a free press that values accuracy is a safeguard in a democracy?

    Because “public affairs shows” shouldn’t be just profit centers? Or sources of manufactured consent?

    I know you are not personally in favor of any of this, but it’s sad how fall ABC and the legacy networks have fallen.

    This and Jonathan Karl. No more ABC News in my house.

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    February 2, 2014 at 5:07 pm

    @Violet:

    Yeah, that was funny.

  75. 75.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    February 2, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    @Churchlady320:

    I think that word you’re looking for is “refudiated”.

  76. 76.

    Jewish Steel

    February 2, 2014 at 5:11 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better.
    But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.
    You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you’ll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it.

    Newton Minow 1961

    Call me cynical, but I think the “commercial broadcasting in the public interest” ship has sailed.

  77. 77.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    February 2, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    That’s the weird thing about our meritocracy. It tends to set those in it off from everybody who isn’t. It’s a complicated idea, but Hayes lays it out well in a way that anybody can understand. The institutions of meritocracy, the best schools foremost among them, favor the children of the meritocrats of the generation before. And those who graduate from them intuitively trust others from the same schools. They know them. They understand them. And they will kind of wave away any mistakes, or even outright lawbreaking. Everybody needs to read the book.

  78. 78.

    drkrick

    February 2, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    @Jewish Steel: “when your station signs off” was a bit of a tell that it wasn’t recent. When they figured out that news could be a profit center and not a loss leader, it was all over.

  79. 79.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 2, 2014 at 5:25 pm

    @Jewish Steel:

    It’s a vast wasteland.

    Or, 57 channels (and nothin’ on)

  80. 80.

    Jewish Steel

    February 2, 2014 at 5:28 pm

    @drkrick: @Villago Delenda Est:

    I think that Michael Franti can be a bit of a tiresome scold, but I sure liked this when it came out.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD9pJzZ1XGI

  81. 81.

    PurpleGirl

    February 2, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    @Violet: That family is soooooo blue collar/working class. She may have a governor, she may make a 6-figure income. But the way they live their lifes, what the children are doing or not doing is not middle class. It’s survivor working class, at best.

  82. 82.

    Ruckus

    February 2, 2014 at 6:26 pm

    @Jewish Steel:
    And that was in 1961. TV has not gotten better in the intervening years. Not in the least little bit. Last time I had a chance to sit in front of a TV I noticed that it had gotten a lot, lot worse. Sure there are some shows we like, but for the vast majority of the time TV just sucks and is a gigantic waste of time.

  83. 83.

    muricafukyea

    February 2, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    ALERT ALERT…low hanging fruit…ALERT ALERT

    “…The man has been wrong about EVERYTHING his entire life,”

    He’s your brother from another mother.

  84. 84.

    Fred

    February 3, 2014 at 4:54 am

    @drkrick: They figured out news was a profit whore when the FCC (under Regan o’course) abolished the Fairness Doctrine cutting the broadcast media free from any public oversight of their responsibility to the public. News became infotainment over night.
    If Obama wants to use his executive authority to make meaningful change he couldn’t find a better place to start than the FCC and a reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine. Ain’t gonna happen.

  85. 85.

    Midland

    February 3, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    @Alex S.: No, He doesn’t, really. Stephenopolus sold out Clinton to get his network job all those years ago and he’s been whoring for the Beltway ever since.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. HorsesAss.Org » Blog Archive » Open Thread 2/3 says:
    February 3, 2014 at 9:55 am

    […] – Why the crap does Bill Kristol still get work? […]

  2. A Superlatively Poor Decision | Library Grape says:
    February 3, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    […] Taking as read that Bill Kristol is evil and that he’s wrong about everything, the three legitimatish reasons you, a mainstream media organization, hire him to provide commentary are as follows: […]

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