Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

T R E 4 5 O N

When we show up, we win.

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / God Help Me I’ve Been Watching The View

God Help Me I’ve Been Watching The View

by | 51 Comments

This post is in: 

Not by choice, but by accident.  In the current Planet Fitness I’m using, the bikes are in front of  the ABC screen, so I’ve seen a couple of episodes.  It’s interesting how all-in they are on hating Trump and electing Biden.  This includes the token Republican, Alyssa Farah Griffin, who was a former member of the Trump press staff.   She sorta-kinda disowned Trump at the end of his term but in the chickenshit way that every Republican who wants to stay a Republican does.  (The insurrection was bad, but he should have been censured, not impeached, we need to move on, blah blah blah.) Still, from the little I’ve seen, she isn’t pushing back on the danger of electing Trump at the moment.

VP Harris was on the show last week and I caught most of it.  She did well, as usual, but I was more interested in the talking points.  First, immigration — she pushed the important point that the Republicans don’t want to make a deal.  I thought she could have shit on Johnson harder, but you can’t have everything.  On abortion, again, a good message focusing on the danger to the health of women who need an abortion to save their lives or because they have a non-viable baby.  I don’t remember if she said “Donald Trump ended the right to abortion” but the Biden ad that is now airing (which I saw but on a different screen, can’t remember the network) says that, and it’s a good, direct and fundamentally true message.

I don’t know who watches The View but I’m guessing that most of them aren’t the average political junkie.  I was frankly surprised at the lack of punch-pulling and both-siderism there — if only the supposedly professional political press could do as well.

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  3. 3.

    J. Arthur Crank

    I ditched the TV 25 years ago, so thanks for the dispatch.  The slow death of both-siderism it promising.

    Also too, how does one “censure” a sitting President?  What practical consequence would that have?  Has anyone ever asked Ms Griffith these questions?

  5. 5.

    $8 blue check mistermix

    @RevRick: The average PF has about 25 screens tuned to everything, so Fox is there, too, but I avoid watching it if I can….

  6. 6.

    KrackenJack

    It does feel as though there is shift underway in the media coverage. More directly addressing TFG’s danger to democracy, lack of mental fitness, patterns of misbehavior, GOP divisions. Not as much as I’d like, but noticeable.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    I actually think it’s harder to “both sides” abortion.

    The GOP can lie about it, but it’s hard to spin it.

  8. 8.

    schrodingers_cat

    KH is good at this, attacking her as not articulate and bumbling is very Rovian first started by the DSA cohort in the primaries.

    ============ ==================== =================

    News flash from India

    The progression of Indian democracy since independence courtesy RSS.

    Hey Ram —> Jai Shri Ram ——> Ram Nam Satya Hai

    IYKYK

    Hint: Each invocation of Ram (hero of the epic Mahabharat) means something very specific.

  9. 9.

    Ohio Mom

    My periodontist used to have TVs hanging over the chairs and the hygienist was a fan of The View. Watching it was excruciating. Such simplistic views (no pun attended) delivered agressively.

  10. 10.

    Princess

    @RevRick: Exactly. If Farah is going along with the anti-Trump consensus, it’s because the producers know that’s the message that will keep eyeballs on the ads they want to sell. The GOp may be in worse trouble than I thought.

  12. 12.

    JaySinWA

    Speaking of god help us television, I caught the beginning of a Full Measure program on Seattle’s ABC affiliate. The intro looked like Anti-Covid vax and anti government vaccine research propaganda. I didn’t stick around, but I looked up Full Measure, and was reminded about its history. The local station was part of Sinclair’s purchases a year or so ago.

    From Full Measure about page:

    Full Measure is a weekly Sunday television news program focusing on investigative, original and accountability reporting. The managing editor and host is Sharyl Attkisson, five-time Emmy Award winner and recipient of the Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting. She is backed by a team of award-winning journalists with decades of experience
    Each week, our cover story explores untouchable and underreported topics in an accurate, fair and fearless way. We’ll never waste your time rehashing the same stories you’ve already seen and read about all week.
    Full Measure is broadcast to 43 million households on Sinclair Broadcast Group stations, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, MyTV, Univision and Telemundo affiliates. The program is also posted Sundays on the Home Page here at FullMeasure.news

    I remember some reporting about the lead reporter being fairly reputable until something drove her around the bend.

  14. 14.

    RevRick

    @$8 blue check mistermix: I went to a local urgent care for a minor infection and they had Fox News on the TV. I sent far enough away that I could not make out what they were saying, but I did get the hostile body language and the shouting.
    I’m sure the average suburban woman would find Fox as repulsive as I did. Meanwhile, the View reinforced the message that Trump owns Dobbs.

  16. 16.

    StringOnAStick

    @Ohio Mom: When I used to be a temporary dental hygienist I once worked at an office that had these TV’s over the patient chair, all tuned to FOX News.  It was one of the most excruciating days I’d ever had, and I refused to go back to that office, ever.

  18. 18.

    Ruckus

    @JaySinWA:

    I remember some reporting about the lead reporter being fairly reputable until something drove her around the bend.

    A regular check to cash?

  23. 23.

    JaySinWA

    @Ruckus: I just looked at the Wikipedia article about her, she left CBS in a dispute claiming they were too liberal in coverage of Obama, including Benghazi. She made allegations of government spying on her and retaliation for her reporting.

  24. 24.

    One of the Many Jens

    @Princess: ​
     

    I don’t think it has anything to do with the producers – she denounced Trump’s response to the 2020 election, and even criticized him prior to January 6th, and is a big part of the reason that Cassidy Hutchinson dumped her Trumpworld attorney and testified truthfully about January 6th. She may have her moral red lines way further out than those I/we find moral – but she does at least actually appear to have some. Not suggesting anyone should crown her as a saint, or give her cookies, or whatever, but I don’t see why her stance on Trump 2024 should be attributed to her bosses instead of herself.

  26. 26.

    Jackie

    @RevRick: I saw a blurb that TIFG doesn’t like Faux and friends Steve Doocy anymore and wants him removed lol

    I recall Doocy pushing back against his couch coworkers by fact checking 😳 their defense and support for TIFG.

    I’ve caught snippets of Doocy going against his co-buddies now and again, and the awkward silence when he refutes their “facts” and corrects them.

    I think he’s going to be demoted soon.

  28. 28.

    sab

    Isn’t Alyssa Farah Griffin the person who got Cassidy Hutchison to contact Liz Cheney and get her own independent lawyer

    ETA One of Many Jens beat me to it.

  29. 29.

    japa21

    @RevRick: I am somewhat worried about this strategy, mainly because it puts all our eggs in one basket.  There is a non-zero chance that Trump won’t be the nominee for one reason or another.  Hopefully somebody is working on a Plan B.

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    I record The View and sometimes, but not regularly watch. You’re right; their audience is targeted to normies who think they’re politically savvy. Those five women really hold a lot of sway with (predominantly) women voters, but their audience isn’t GQP.

  31. 31.

    JaySinWA

    @japa21: There are a lot of baskets with these rotten eggs in them, I posted a link in the previous thread that notes that conservative republicans are doing a lot of stuff with Trump’s approval that makes life miserable around the country

    Quote from link in previous post:

    Its not just Trump. Across a wide swath of domains, conservatives have deliberately and consistently layered more and more bureaucracy onto peoples lives in public services: abortion, voting, and safety net services. Education is another example: An excellent recent piece in the New York Times detailed how DeSantis anti-trans policies has exponentially increased paperwork for all parents and school staff on matters as minor as whether a student can get a band-aid without parental paperwork. The case vividly illustrates how burdens emerge when policymakers distrust both the public and their own employees.

    https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-david-brooks-gets-wrong-about

  32. 32.

    Starfish

    @Jackie: They tend to lean left. There is usually only one Republican, and the one Republican is usually dumb. Who can forget, nepo-baby Megan McCain holding down the job as the Republican? Everyone wondered if her hairstylist hated her because she always had the strangest hairdos.

  33. 33.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: I am mourning India’s descent into theocracy. It makes me mad more than sad

    Hey Ram is what M.K.Gandhi’s last words when Sangh swayamsevak gunned him down.

    Jai Shri Ram is what Sangh swayamsevaks said  when they brought down the mosque which was supposedly Ram’s ( a mythological figure)’s birthplace in Dec 1991.

    Ram Nam Satya Hai is what pall bearers say in a funeral procession. That happened when the Supreme Court ruled that a temple could be built at the site of the destruction.

    Today was the wake of the ideals of the Constitution of India.

  34. 34.

    RevRick

    @japa21: I don’t share your fear. The whole GOP owns Dobbs. And the only thing that stop Trump’s nomination is for him to drop dead before the Republican Convention

  35. 35.

    anitamargarita

    I watched the clip of Harris on YouTube, and while I am all for team D campaigning on abortion rights, I am a bit worried about the focus on non-viable pregnancies and difficult miscarriages. This ignores all the many reasons a person might seek an abortion, and seems to me to cede too much to anti-abortionists who, until Dobbs, picked away at abortion access through trap laws and other “legal” restrictions. Abortion should be legal and accessible to any person who wants one for any reason. Also feel really icky about Harris invoking religious leaders as people to be consulted about healthcare.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    @anitamargarita:  That is a really good catch.  I take it for a divide and conquer strategy by the top of the ticket, and others can make a more full-throated defense of the right to an abortion, period.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    @anitamargarita: For what it’s worth, I think they likely figure that giving “norm” women a reason to fear Trump / Rs because THEY could caught caught up by this, too, will lead the normies to vote D.

    When we have all 3 branches, we can legislate the right to abortion.   And the support of the majority of the American people.

  42. 42.

    anitamargarita

    @Starfish: do you think I don’t realize this? It’s why I think the case for abortion rights and access should be as broad as possible, and not limited to the outlier cases. Is abortion just for rape,  incest, life of the mother? No, it is reproductive health care, and should be available for any one who wants, without having to justify it to anyone.

  44. 44.

    Warren Senders

    @schrodingers_cat:  When the tea-partiers first showed up it was depressing to see how many people I knew from high school were actually ignorant racist fucks.  Now it’s depressing to see how many people I knew from India have completely swallowed the Ayodhya story.  Disappointment with my fellow humans appears to be the order of the day.

  45. 45.

    Starfish

    @anitamargarita: I believe in what you are saying, but I don’t believe that phrasing it that way will get broad support from the people who are morally uncomfortable with the issue.

    Having women understand that, “if you are of childbearing age, the Republican Party doesn’t believe in YOUR freedom and is actively trying to get you killed” may motivate more people to show up than “Hey, we need to take this all the way to repealing the bullshit Hyde amendment.”

  46. 46.

    anitamargarita

    @Starfish: ok, I get that, and I also believe that bit by bit , we need to normalize abortion as part of reproductive health care. And defaulting to discussing abortion only in worst case scenarios doesn’t get us there. And leaves us open to accepting the anti-abortionists terms for regulating health care.

  48. 48.

    sdhays

    @anitamargarita: I haven’t watched Harris’ remarks, but personally I think Democrats should be leaning heavily on the fact that a ban on a abortion is a ban on healthcare for women. Abortion rights advocates have been saying forever that “abortion is healthcare”, and they’ve been laughed and sneered at.
    No one’s laughing now. The proof is in news every day. Once that concept is firmly established as fact for everyone, even those who still support bans, broadening the argument will be easier because it just logically follows.

Comments are closed.