Escalate To Babble Tantrum, Do Not Advance To Squeal Frenzy
O hai, it’s Accuracy in Media, the once-formidable wingnut institution that now sucks its nutrients from Brent Bozell’s used mailing lists.1
Direct Your Tweet Outrage To Katie Couric
Two days ago, journalist John Ziegler was arrested for trying to ask questions at an event where Katie Couric of CBS News received an award for her interview with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin last fall. The Couric/Palin interview is a central subject in Ziegler’s “Media Malpractice” documentary about the slanted coverage of the 2008 presidential race. He wanted to ask people why Couric won an award for a biased interview.
Oh, this will be a good one. Ziegler is an outstanding private citizen.
The journalism school at the University of Southern California would have none of that. They refused to let Ziegler practice journalism on their journalism campus. They handcuffed and manhandled him and forced him off the campus.
Ed Morrissey put the story in context yesterday at Hot Air: “Would Walter Cronkite have approved of police locking up reporters for merely covering an event and walking on property that is very obviously open to the public in doing so?” Quin Hillyer at AmSpecBlog said the incident “is quite literally the sort of thing that calls for a public rebuke from the highest levels of both journalism AND government.” He also wondered aloud what Couric thinks.
That’s a good question, and you can put it…
Maybe I’m getting old, but if you’re going to ‘practice journalism,’ i.e., if you’re going to crash a barricade at a journalism awards ceremony on USC property, handing out copies of your hagiographical Sarah Palin DVD and yelling at random people, and then refuse to leave until security drags you to the edge of the premises and deposits you there — and crucially, if then you’re going to send out an outraged press release to the right-wing media, whipping up a rage of sympathy and appearing in wounded triumph on FOX, and having the right-blogs defend you with their usual inaccurate fist-wavings, and so forth — then maybe I’m just old-fashioned here, but is it some kind of edgy new statement to be drunk on-camera?
I mean, am I totally imagining this, or is Ziegler hiccuping with little circles floating above his head,2 as if he were perhaps two drinks away from a red schnoz and a lamppost, and three from ‘X’es for eyes and a wavy line for a mouth?
Here to defend this behavior, as above, is Cap’n Ed of HotAir:
When will Reporters Without Borders lodge a protest against the Annenberg School of Journalism for having journalists arrested?
Um, the fact that Ziegler wasn’t arrested certainly doesn’t let them off the hook, because if they paid any attention to the conservative media, they would not think that he had not been arrested, and that just goes to show you?
I’m starting to think we could almost do this conservative commentator thing, like we could start by filling in for Frank Salvato and work our way up to being Ed.
Would Walter Cronkite have approved of police locking up reporters for merely covering an event and walking on property that is very obviously open to the public in doing so?
Let’s help Ed!
Would Walter Cronkite have approved of
police locking up[security guards removing]reporters[filmmakers] for merelycovering an[promoting a film they made outside an] event and walking on [private] propertythat is very obviously open to the public in doing so[after having been asked multiple times to leave]?
A: We can’t know for sure because Cronkite is dead?3 So maybe he would not have?
Oh crap, we corrected the things in the sentence by mistake. So fine, maybe this isn’t a realistic ambition, but what is a dream but a light which beckons unto your feet, drawing them outward, or — what, so I guess that’s wrong too, huh? Fine, great.
2 In all reasonableness here: If you were a cop, and you saw this guy heading into a parking lot with car keys in his hand, wouldn’t you radio in a possible 10-51?
3 Cronkite is not dead.
So… this is different from when Amy Goodman was asked by a riot officer, during a riot, to move to the sidewalk, then refused and was promptly arrested exactly how?
All I see are black pots and black kettles.
When will Reporters Without Borders lodge a protest against the Annenberg School of Journalism for having journalists arrested?
Send them a copy – a vault copy – of the police arrest report and they’ll get right on it.
You liberals will not admit how unfair and biased journalism it was to ask Sarah Palin hard questions like what newspapers she reads and how she has experience with foreign policy. If you would just watch Fox News and re-read Hal Lindsay’s The Late, Great Planet Earth or Erich von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods then you would understand what real journalism is.
“Tweet Outrage” is the greatest two-word phrase since “open cahoots.”
Walter Cronkite, while very old, is still alive and with it; so we actually could know for sure.
Now we see the violence inherent in the system!
I should add a footnote, actually. Cap’n Ed apparently thinks he’s dead, so I was just running with it.
That video needs a title. I’d like to suggest The Radicalization of Dobie Gillis.
Priceless how the cameraman pans down when Dobie says “seven feet!” to show us the distance between point A and point B. That’s good journalizin’.
I’m thinkin’ it’s less Dobie Gillis, more Jerry Lewis.
Cap’n Ed apparently thinks he’s dead, so I was just running with it.
Yeah, well, considering the general accuracy of other things Cap’n Ed believes, if he were to tell me that the sun rises in the east, I’d still feel the need to verify it.
I didn’t realize the extent to which psychotic breaks with reality can… grow into even bigger psychotic breaks with reality.
I’m surprised there’s been so little far right domestic terrorism so far.
At least nobody tased him, bro.
File under IOKIYAR.
Tweet(y) outrage.
No, I take it back, I totally didn’t see the Cronkite error. I’m remembering things sideways and wrongly. Thanks; that’s a huge thing.
If he aint besotted, if that’s his normal condition, that would explain a lot.
John Zeigler was the guy whom David Foster Wallace profiled in his essay “Host.” It was about as sympathetic as it possibly could have been, given who Zeigler is–it certainly could have been much more vituperative without being a hatchet job. In response, Zeigler’s reaction to Wallace’s suicide was every bit as classy as you would imagine from a right-wing radio host.
Drunk? I dunno. Really goofy. Sounded more like someone who was sure he had something very, very important to say, so he kept saying it over and over. So, drunk or stupid, take your pick.
The funny thing is, USC is a very conservative campus. When a few students tried to protest something a couple years ago (I think the university buying from sweatshops) the school called their parents on the spot and told their parents that their children would be kicked out of school with no refund of the semester’s tuition (20K or so) unless they left IMMEDIATELY.
So his fierce determination to prove that he was being singled out for his conservative views is a little odd here. USC, unlike their cross-town rivals, has pretty much zero-tolerance for anything resembling even the mildest of rabble-rousing.
He’s a “journalist” the same way Limbaugh is, i.e. not. A real journalist would have contacted the awards committee directly with any questions, not attempted to disrupt a ceremony because his interest would be in getting answers/getting to the truth/etc rather than making a partisan statement. Not that I’m against partisan statements or disrupting ceremonies, but the people who do that are called “agitators,” or “activists,” or some such, not journalists.
The behavior of that last cop is the very kind of thing I’ve come to despise in police officers – peremptory, authoritarian, and threatening. OTOH, this was after the first officer spent HOW long trying to talk this idiot down, in what seemed to me a fairly gentle manner (for a cop)?
And what was that guy’s reward? To get shouted down and talked over constantly. Wow. I think I begin to see a little of why cops are like that last one with everybody. When the police are polite with you, it helps to reward that behavior instead of grandstanding like a winger asshole.
Of course, we are what we are, and can be no other.
What happened before the “arrest?” Was he just shouting at people, or was he stopping them from entering?
A tweet of outrage. Is that like a yawp?
A bet a zillion dollars most of AIM’s readership have no idea USC is a private school, just like Liberty University or Bob Jones U. “Open to the public” indeed.
“I bet”
How barbaric…
Oh noes, taken down by mall cops.
Fucking wingnuts, everything they touch turns to shit.
Tweet outrage? Fuck.
Allow me to remind you of how Twitter was actually worthwhile not that long ago.
What happened before the “arrest?” Was he just shouting at people, or was he stopping them from entering?
From the looks of it, he was drinking Mad Dog straight from the bottle.
So… this is different from when Amy Goodman was asked by a riot officer, during a riot, to move to the sidewalk, then refused and was promptly arrested exactly how?
I think the difference is that she was arrested on public property, wasn’t she? That doesn’t really work in this asshat’s favor though.
Wait. Annenberg School of Journalism? Like as in Bill-Ayers-Annenberg-Foundation-Weather-Underground-Obama-is-a-Kenyan-Terrorist Annenberg?
OMFG! It’s a shame that Walter and Leonore have passed on, because these insults are demanding a Congressional Inquiry into Heinously Traitorous and Islamofascitsically Un-American Acts. I mean, holy moly, these Annenbergs must’ve been some pretty hardcore SOCIALESTEST’s.
“Tweet Outrage” is the greatest two-word phrase since “open cahoots.”
Must. Start. Band.
Twitter was actually worthwhile not that long ago.
Until the wingnuts got a tooth in it and turned it into shit. TCOT!!!!!!!!!
Fuckweasels.
Admittedly, twitter has always had the potential to be incredibly useless and navel-gazing masturbation, sort of by definition, but hey.
The best twitter page evar.
Pay attention to meeeeee!!!
If that guy isn’t drunk, I’m a life long tee-totaller.
Yep, that Annenberg.
So what happened to him afterward? Did they just detain him there till everyone was inside? Escort him off campus?
Apologies if this was at the end of the tape. Guess I should go back and see.
It was getting both painful and boring to watch after the first minute or so.
Gavin, do you ever find yourself to respond to an Accuracy-in-Media post by writing the Lillian-Hellmanised version, i.e. by listing the words that aren’t lies?
Like ‘and’ and ‘the’?
Like ‘and’ and ‘the’?
Nah, I’m pretty sure those are lies too.
I mean, am I totally imagining this
I would have to see other video of him for comparison’s sake before I came to any conclusions about his sobriety. But the false bonhomie and slurring are certainly consistent with intoxication.
Most punctuation, not including some question marks and exclamation points?
This guy must be our parody troll.
Memos parallel claim 9/11 suspect’s children were tortured with insects
Next up: Rush spreads honey on his butt and sits on an ant colony.
I would have to see other video of him for comparison’s sake before I came to any conclusions about his sobriety. But the false bonhomie and slurring are certainly consistent with intoxication.
Here’s some more video for comparison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pet9M0DtXM8
What I’m taking from it is that he’s always a smarmy self-serving asshole, but that he also had a few drinks before stumbling over to USC’s campus.
Yes, he seems to be under the impression that he is on public property–keeps asking why all these other people can walk by, why he can’t. I wonder if they would have left him alone if he hadn’t been accosting people?
Watching the ending–still don’t know what happened. Did he finally just leave? Did they actually call the police and have him arrested?
What I’m taking from it is that he’s always a smarmy self-serving asshole, but that he also had a few drinks before stumbling over to USC’s campus.
Concur.
And to whoever just did that to Mr. Ziegler’s wikipedia page: That was very, very wrong of you indeed.
[snicker]
Now that’s what I call journalism!
Y’know, I have enough trouble with my rep without getting tangled up with this ridiculous drunken idiot.
Cut me some slack, wouldja?
More from Wiki:
Clearly, he’s quite capable of appearing mentally unbalanced and proud of it without the help of alcohol. Or maybe he’s just drunk all the time.
Can’t watch the video where I am now, but my understanding is that he was handing out copies of his Sarah Palin video, and haranguing guests who were trying to enter the awards ceremony (invitation only event) which was presented by the Norman Lear Center (private non-profit organization) at a venue on the USC campus (private university).
this is different from when Amy Goodman was asked by a riot officer, during a riot, to move to the sidewalk, then refused and was promptly arrested exactly how?
Well, she was on a public street covering the RNC and the protests, you know, actual newsworthy events, she was wearing a journalist badge from the convention which was torn off her, she was asking about colleagues who had been bloodied by the police, she wasn’t just escorted to the edge of the property- she and several other journalists were manhandled, arrested and charged. She was put in a “protest cage” and held for 3 hours. All charges against all the journalists were later dropped, 39 cases in all. So yeah, a teensy bit different.
From USC’s Department of Public Safety’s daily report log for 4/15/09 to 4/16/09 (pdf).
You know, it seems to me that if you want to be a cause celebre to the right wing, you might want to make sure that when you go out to provoke an incident, you don’t behave in a way that makes you look like a fool whenever the footage is run.
Frankly, if I were going to provoke an incident, I’d make sure I was sober before going there.
I’d say that John Ziegler’s pic ought to be in the dictionary next to the definition of “smarmy asshole”.
Frankly, if I were going to provoke an incident, I’d make sure I was sober before going there.
2 possible problems with this entirely rational position. First, if you are a substance abuser, you will be [drunk or high] whenever you do anything, because you will be [drunk or high] essentially ALL the time.
Second, in many cases people who act out do not have the courage to act out unless they are under the influence. If your entire schtick is acting out, it may very well be that you learned long ago that in order to really push the limits, to challenge authority and get maximum attention, you need some chemical courage operating first.
Either would explain his, er, incapacity during the altercation…
mikey
Well, you might think that–but apparently behaving in a way that makes one look like a fool is exactly the right path to take when one wishes to become a right-wing celebrity.
See Malkin, Michelle.
Sober seems to be optional too.
See Limbaugh, Rush.
You’re expecting that sort of forward-thinking and mental acuity from Bush supporters and Galt-goers? You are beyond an optimist!
Either would explain his, er, incapacity during the altercation…
True…but it doesn’t explain why, the next morning, he watched the footage of his exploits, and then promptly peddled it to all the wingnut news outlets around town.
Instead of putting his throbbing head in his hands and muttered, “Oh, mother of god, how drunk was I?”, lighting a cigarette with shaky hands, and deleting the file.
Nice work, J-.
Here is the announcement for the event. The location is the same as in the incident report.
He’s hammered. I wonder why anybody would deny him access?
John Ziegler (born March 28, 1967) is an American former radio talk show host and documentary film writer/director/Dooshnozzle.
Is this Ziegler bozo the same guy that Nate Silver had the trouble with a while back?
And Gavin, you continue to be a very funny communist.
That was to g, btw, the other comments weren’t there when I started oh-so-slowly typing. Darn little paws!
Yes. He called Silver an expletive or two, I believe.
Lolly mentions the place across town –
If I recall correctly, at that place when the Iranian kid who refused to leave the library was tased by the University PD, the voices of the right (and I’m sure Ziegler was one of them)
vehemently criticized the violation of civil rightscheered it on.This one.
Is this Ziegler bozo the same guy that Nate Silver had the trouble with a while back?
Yes, Z. commissioned a poll which asked stupid leading questions which assumed right-wing ideology is correct and then crowed that McCain voters did better than Obama voters.
One can always visit the site of spruiking for the movie and read how poor Zieglar was handled so roughly.
I love how it says ‘witness the death of journalism’ with no appreciation of the double meaning.
Also note; “Endorsed by Rush”
Actual questions from his poll: “Which of the four [candidates] said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket?”
“Which of the four [candidates] started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground?”
“Which of the four [candidates] quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism?”
“Which of the four [candidates] won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot?”
What an objective journalamist!
tigrismus / t4toby: Thanks! Thought he looked familiar. And dumb and annoying.
Hee hee. I googled to find the Iranian-student-being-tasered-at-the-neighboring-University, and just a few entries down the page was the link to Malkin’s take on the incident, where she said:
The Los Angeles Times, naturally, is trying to turn this latest videotaped incident into a broad-brushed excuse to tar all law enforcement……Look for the administration to eschew a fair hearing of the guards’ perspective, take the p.c. line, convene police brutality awareness week, hold anti-profiling forums, indulge the baiters, and use the incident as a pretext for protesting the PATRIOT Act, border security, Gitmo, Iraq, the GOP “climate of fear,” and every other left-wing hobby horse in academia.
my my.
But I am just learning that USC is private. Who knew?
But in my defense, I can’t imagine why I would have ever learned that.
Ah–forgot (how could I!) about the UCLA tasering.
Still, a quick look at Bruin Walk should convince anyone that protesting and being annoying is part of life in Bruinville.
I also underestimated USC–according to the Huffpost article on this, Jonny notified the folks at SC that he would be protesting, and they told him fine, we’ll give you a spot near the entrance where you can pass out books and talk to people to your heart’s content.
Then he showed up claiming to be a “journalist” and starting shoving mics in people’s faces and asking obnoxious questions. That’s when they asked him to leave.
Not trying to show favoritism here–I go both ways on the Bruins/Trojans rivalry.
Man, t4toby, I’d forgotten the details of that interview. Ziegler is so fucking unprofessional it’s actually shocking.
t4–The “California” in the name throws people–they assume if a school has a state name in it, it must be connected to the state, which seems logical.
t4–The “California” in the name throws people–they assume if a school has a state name in it, it must be connected to the state, which seems logical.
Yeah, I’ve run into a lot of people who thought MIT was a state school.
Better than the ones who conflated it with ITT, I suppose…
Hee hee, didn’t some ‘nut troll diss our own fair Dr Mrs because he thought MIT was a state technical school?
StoptheACLU on the Iranian kid tasering:
My question: What part of “stand up” does this moonbat retard not understand? Didn’t the ACLU teach you anything on how to assert your rights in a civil manner? But then again, maybe the shock was so much he was having trouble standing up. But if you listen you can clearly hear the kid tell the cops “F you” when they tell him to stand up…..Maybe they should have said “pretty please” stand up before resorting to the tasers? I think it is clear that the kid provoked this…..Everyone is quick to blame the cops. That is easy. Maybe they were excessive. If so, they should be punished and trained properly. This kid was also excessive in his resistance and a lot could have been avoided had he cooperated.
StoptheACLU hasn’t weighed in on this Ziegler incident yet, theyre still wetting their pants over the DHS report.
DARN YOU DR MRS AND YOUR QUICK FINGERS! DARN YOU TO HECK!
The “California” in the name throws people–they assume if a school has a state name in it, it must be connected to the state, which seems logical.
See also, Portland, University of.
Interesting. This is from the comments (some of them very painful) where the video is linked at breitbart.tv
[Waving at Lolly]
I know a bit about UCLA and their policy regarding free speech, and, I have to say that they have a method and a process down as to when they shut someone up. I know some of the folks involved in drafting the policy. I worked with some during a speech by an Iranian activist, that drew a lot of protesters.
The tasering incident shocked the heck out of me and a lot of people I know because it was a departure from the usual.
That said, even with their quite liberal (saying it ironically) free speech policies, if the guy had been hassling people they would have removed him from campus, too.
Yeah, I’ve run into a lot of people who thought MIT was a state school.
Let me guess. The T is short for Tennessee?
Well, of course.
As I was just saying to arnold this morning over croissants and fine peruvian flake, it’s important to retain as much ambiguity as possible when seeking private funds. Any assumption that can be left open only contributes to a general lack of understanding about where state and federal funding ends and private funding begins.
And to see arnold with a croissant with butter and plum jam dribbling down his pampered jowls while a steady stream of un-absorbed sparkling flakes fell out of his nostrils and he made the most aggressively teutonic sniffing noises was something I hope never to have to deal with in real time across a coffee table again, so help me gawd…
mikey
If the wingnut welfare machine ever stops spewing dollars to those most upwardly-failing, we’re gonna have an entire class of unemployable people on our hands.
Imagine this dude’s – or Michelle Malkin’s – resume in the currently favored “Objective – Summary of Skills – Work History – Education” format.
Objective: To secure a well-paying position as a professional victim.
or
To be generously compensated for being incessantly outraged.
or
To obtain a handsomely-renumerated position as a whiner and inept kabuki theater performer.
The punchline is, these are the people who keep warning us of the dire consequences we face if they and their ilk decide to “Go Galt”.
Let me guess. The T is short for Tennessee?
Montana Institute of Trucking! I’m in it for the long haul, baby!
Truckers do it on the… on the… damn I fergit.
[Hi G]
Well, I admit it’s been a few (ahem) years since I’ve spent much time on the UCLA campus. Let’s just say pre- (pre- pre- pre-) Patriot Act.
Here’s how I still remember Bruin Walk.
Montana Institute of Trucking! I’m in it for the long haul, baby!
Pish-tosh. MIT’s got nuthin’ on DDA (Diesel Driving Academy).
Truckers do it with a Round Tuit!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist the easy rhyme).
Truckers do it with a cup fulla coal black coffee and a pocket fulla west coast turnaround…
(Thanks to Jim Croce – He seems sorta under remembered, y’know?)…
mikey
None of you can honestly say that MIT’s got a better song than DDA.
None of you can honestly say that MIT’s got a better song than DDA.
Well no, but if we hired a hair band singer with a bad synth, we could probably do something with this:
heh. She said beaver.
Oh, man, there are some great comments over at the breitbart site. I really hope this one is a parody though:
The U.S. Constitution says so.
Can’t find any mention of “sidewalk” in the constitution.
Anybody know what I’m missing?
mikey
Can’t find any mention of “sidewalk” in the constitution.
Anybody know what I’m missing?
I think it was in there and then removed in some later amendment. It was discussed at great length in the well known legal treatise “Where the Sidewalk Ends”.
I think it’s in the section right after all the “begats.”
Trukese do it with Tang!
All
collegesbanksanduniversitieslarge insurers take federal money. Therefore, there is no such thing as a truly privatecollegebankoruniversitylarge insurer.I was not robbing the bank, I was exercising my First Amendment right to say “Give me money” in a public place.
The fact is, you liberals are really stupid. And biased.
ziegler: “i’m being handcuffed for standing on a sidewalk asking questions outside of an awards ceremony on journalism excellence. you can’t get more irony than this.”
really? how about a self-described journalist who doesn’t know the difference between “irony” and “ironic“?
Silly Smut! The constitution only applies to REAL MERKINS. You don’t qualify by er, virtue of nationality. The rest of us don’t qualify by virtue of our political inclinations. If you were a Republican, it would be different.
I am, in point of fact, uniassed.
That’s funny, because I don’t recall which founding father it was who felt that the rights of false female public hair should be addressed.
Let me guess. The T is short for Tennessee?
Hey! That sounds like a slur of some sort. If my state weren’t so retarded I’d resent that, I think. Oh well.
Simba, it was Franklin. He had a particular interest in such things.
If you haven’t already, I’d really suggest wandering over to Ziegler’s site to view the longer portion of the video (via *gag* Breitbart).
At the beginning of the video, this jackhat gives Campus Security every reason to remove him from their property. At the end of the video, when the officers remove the handcuffs, Ziegler screams “FREEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!!!” at the top of his lungs. Seriously. Gotta hear it to believe it.
Personally, my fave-rave Ziegler video ever is when he proves he has absolutely no game when he goes on a dating reality show.
Perhaps this is the biassed situation that Gary is has in mind.
I have no idea what the donkeys are attacking, in that Biass picture. A pair of giant hedgehogs perhaps.
Moronic Ideology of Texas?
OK, I thought JenJen was just joking about that dating video, but it was not a joke.
If my man smut can’t identify the chimerical and mythological creatures, I’m pretty sure they defy taxonomy…
mikey
No more taxonomy!
DMM, gold. And not surprising.
This is like discovering some major Right Wing Republican is a draft-dodging ex-exterminator who isn’t very bright, and is also corrupt.
Like, of course!
but it was not a joke.
I needed a good cringe.
http://www.justicetalking.org/images/guests/drivkin2.jpg
resembles the dentist in Marathon Man
Withstand waterboarding? Really?
Withstand eleven days of sleep deprivation?
Would any of these fucking idiots who take the position that knowing what the torture method is allows you to resist it be willing to demonstrate this? Give them six months to “train” to resist just TWO methods – waterboarding and sleep deprivation, and lets see how well they “resist”.
You can’t train against torture. The inquisition made their methods quite well known. So that you FEARED having to face them. This is the most specious, ridiculous argument possible, and the easiest to debunk.
Torture makes people say ANYTHING to make it stop. You can’t TRAIN to learn to resist. You MIGHT be able to plan a few bogus stories you’ll let out when they start in on you, but the fact that the US has been torturing people makes that a reasonable approach for years, without having to know exactly HOW they are going to torture you.
I don’t like it here very much anymore…
mikey
Rivkins spewl epitomises the neo- con Republican view of things. It begins at Stragelovian and ends up as a nodding acquaintance of some people from Germany who came to power in the 1930’s.
Nice find, Lesley
m1k3y, were you discussing a high position in the Schwarzenegger admin. over breakfast?
You can watch the whole thing here.
Best part? Where he screeches “FREEEEEEDOMMMMM!!!!” toward the end.
But Kee-rist on a pogo stick, some of those comments are frightening. Really, frightening.
I’d be fine with air dropping Rivkin (and anyone who thinks like him) in an insect-filled single passenger coffin over the middle East. Parachute optional. In the interests of saving wood, cram Yoo in on top of him.
No harm, no torture!
What’s ironic is that looks at a biased journalist criticizing another biased newscaster–
all the while being biased itself!
We say that we’re searching for objectivity in media but always end up somewhere on the side of subjectivity.
Instead of criticizing others for being biased, take a look at how you yourself present the information.
Oh irony.
Hmph. I think you’re biased.
I think I need a wider toilet seat.
I think I need a wider toilet seat.
Who doesn’t? Except Larry Craig, who only needs a wider stance.
Because you’re triassic?
My favorite geological period is the Triassic. So many asses!
Curses! Foiled by the Bouffanted one!
It’s like you’re The Countass or something.
I’ve got so many asses they call me CPAC.
This conversation grows assinine.
BUTT…
Mmmmmmm-kay.
So the city was tearing up the streets where I work, so it was only prudent to decide to miss Rush Hour by leaving our cars in the company lot and spend an hour or so at a local Happy Hour…….
So now I’m home and finally got to see the Zeigler video.
Jeebus, what a fucking idiot. Just listening to him argue with the cops put my teeth on edge. It reminded me of every asshole ex-boyfriend, or jerk-face client, or dickhead underling I’ve ever dealt with.
If I’m right, Ziegler will managed to transcend partisan politics with his dickheadedness. Even hard-core supporters on his side of the political spectrum are going to see this video and go, “Oh, Christ. What an asshole.”
People who act like him eventually act like this in any dispute, even with people they share an ideology with. No one on the right will ever want to be on a committee, or involved in a collaborative endeavor with him. I can just imagine the not-so-friendly disputes over shared credit, partnerships, even internal discussion over logistics and strategy. Hell, this guy would probably even make a disagreement over a catering menu turn into a poisonous rivalry!
Good luck to Sarah Palin for hitching her star to this asshole!
whooo!
punked katie couric ass, bitches!!!!
whooooo!
did you see me?
did you fuckjing see me??
i so owned those rentacops!
how dare couric think she could become respected upon the back of sara palling!
i’m there to represent!!!
my man!!!
@Doctor Missus Marita: You know, I should’ve posted the link, but I assumed everyone had already been awestruck by Ziegler’s unstoppable dating skillz. 🙂
Wasn’t he especially charming when he told his date that not only are women irrational, but they also get “old”, while men become “distinguished”? I always found the dating show video to be like a case study on narcissism, and combined with his USC display, all doubt is removed.
@Zuzu: “Best part? Where he screeches “FREEEEEEDOMMMMM!!!!” toward the end.”
And he said it with the kind of yearning howl usually reserved for screeching, “WOOOOOOOLVERIIIINES!”
If you’re not quite convinced he was half-crocked at USC, the “Freedom Yalp” should seal the deal for anyone who watches it.
Help! I’m being oppressed!
f you’re not quite convinced he was half-crocked at USC, the “Freedom Yalp” should seal the deal for anyone who watches it.
Couldn’t this become the rightwing version of the so-called “Dean Scream?”
Hmm…wonder if Ziegler is on record talking about that….
Seriously, I really do think that if Sarah Palin has this guy as her media champion? Her goose is cooked.
As many of the post-literati may have missed it, the written intro to the YouTube item above:
“To witness?” Religious conflation or crappy writing? Oh. Both. OK.
The sequel – Triassic Pork!
The video speaks for itself,
Indeed it does, and I don’t think he will like what it’s saying.
While, on the one hand, I find the continuing meltdown of the wingnut superconscious to be highly entertaining, on the other hand this is very scary. What happens if 28% of the populace goes stark raving mad? At our best, we didn’t have inpatient capacity for that many loons in our state institutions. And now? Well, these people are going to be running around gibbering for a long time to come.
. All colleges and universities take federal money. Therefore, there is no such thing as a truly private college or university. Citizens have the right to stand on sidewalks for as long as they want to as long as they are peaceful and do not harass others. The U.S. Constitution says so.
Whitney O gets all three points wrong!! Congratulations, Whitney.
1).
Shit, what the fuck happened?
All colleges and universities take federal money. Therefore, there is no such thing as a truly private college or university. Citizens have the right to stand on sidewalks for as long as they want to as long as they are peaceful and do not harass others. The U.S. Constitution says so.
Whitney O gets all
threefour points wrong!! Congratulations, Whitney.1). Private businesses are private businesses. period. Private colleges and universities may get federal grants, just like other private organizations, but they are private businesses. I’m talking to you, Heritage Foundation!
2) Sidewalks on private property are open for citizens to stand on by invitation from the property owner (I am shocked, deeply shocked, at the right wing’s disregard of the sanctity of private property!)
3) “as long as they are peaceful and do not harass others” – Ziegler disqualifies on both accounts.
4) Nope, the Constitution says no such thing.
I am really lovin’ this guy. So, next chapter in the Ziegler saga: he decided to go on Laura Ingraham’s show and tell his story! Of course, nobody could have predicted that he would completely embellish it:
Ziegler to Ingraham: “I wasn’t just handcuffed, I was bullied! My wrists are still sore! I was dragged to the ground! My property was taken away! I was told I was under arrest! I was told I was going to be booked by the LAPD! I was told that our cameramen would be arrested! This was Gestapo-like!”
Seriously. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ErmwEX83p0
So why didn’t Mr. Filmmaker get any of footage or audio of that part? Because none of that happens in the video he posted on his own website.
What happens if 28% of the populace goes stark raving mad? At our best, we didn’t have inpatient capacity for that many loons in our state institutions.
Well, I suppose that depends on how many in that 28% you’re assuming will go mad, as opposed to already starting there.
Grandmother Alba-Shemika Konofo’s Courteous Feral Cat Pancakes
Now, for this one, there is little doubt in my mind that if anyone tries making it on their own just by following the recipe, it would flop. I know because that’s what happened to me. However, I went to the person who made these once, and got all the secrets – just for you! Aren’t I generous?
Ingredients:
1 jigger feral cat
1 fromage frais, inelegantly swirled
1 quick ultra-pasteurized cream
7 bunches enchanting flier foot, irreligiously salted
7 tablespoons jasmine
1 pound sesame
Sacrifice a nearby Kermode bear or a creature of similar size. Discard remains with care. Cream the feral cat with a really big cleaver. Use a food processor to stir the ultra-pasteurized cream with the fromage frais. Drip resulting potion over the feral cat. Find some sherry wine vinegar and drink it. Crush – very sobersidedly – the flier foot, jasmine, and the. Pound everything together. Abandon for 92 minutes. Serves 15 deathly enemies with obnoxious stomachs.
You know, it’s just April. If they’re this crazy now, what are they going to be like by the end of four years?
Well, I suppose that depends on how many in that 28% you’re assuming will go mad, as opposed to already starting there.
Good point, that. I’d guestimate that a good 5% were SRM to begin with. The McCain defeat probably drove another 10% clear around the bend. That leaves what, another 13%, to go barking mad? Still an impressive number. About 39.5 million, I’d say.
Now my head hurts.
Never attempt to do math while drinking cheap wine.
And just what is so bad about being a loon? It’s always worked for me.
I think it depends on which variety of loon one is. I meant no disparagement of the avian viariety, btw. The loon is a noble bird.
whoa, herding cats makes me dizzy. I have an art class in the morning. Must pass out soon.
Never attempt to do math while drinking cheap wine. Hell, I’m drinking …er…sort pricey wine, and I’m still incapable of doing math.
Jeezus H. Fucking Keerist on a Crutch. They just won’t give up.
I don’t even want to get gay married. These dickwads are getting me ever more inclined to do so, if only to ram it down their throats. And such as.
I don’t think Ziegler’s drunk here.
He’s acting like he always does, which looks very similar to being drunk, so if he’s drunk here, he’s drunk 24/7/365.
What happens if 28% of the populace goes stark raving mad? At our best, we didn’t have inpatient capacity for that many loons in our state institutions.
Good point. We would have to build enormous makeshift camps so that they could receive their psychiatric treatment en masse. Fortunately, Obama has already started… oh, sorry, forgot Gary was listening. Yup, carry on, nothing in the works.
Why doan we ship em to Texas? Then nuke it.
It’s the only way to be sure.
Self-fulfilling prophecy.
Larry Johnson’s down with the Zig:
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/04/17/the-most-ironic-irony/
Just watched the thing. What an absolute fucking wimp. They offered to arrest him, but he wasn’t willing to stand up for his rights as a journalist, or his (here we really get funny) “principles,” or something? He could have claimed (ad nauseum) that he was more of a journalist than Katie Couric, since he’d been arrested for journalism.
Another opportunity sadly missed.
Larry Johnson’s down with the Zig:
I wonder if Larry’s still waiting for his friend to get him a copy of that Michelle Obama “whitey” tape.
Man, those No Quarter people are just as batshit crazy now as they were before the election. One of the commenters manages to work a “Welcome to the Untied States of Obama!” into his/her outrage over the denial of John Ziegler’s constitutionally-protected right to be a public dick on private property.
Also, I realize this is several days late and many dollars short, but did this guy show up at any of the teabagging events?
http://www.basetree.com/thumbs2/Healthy_Penis.jpg
You know, it seems to me that if you want to be a cause celebre to the right wing, you might want to make sure that when you go out to provoke an incident, you don’t behave in a way that makes you look like a fool whenever the footage is run.
It’s beginning to look, to me, as if ‘behaving in a way that makes you look like a fool’ may actually be a requirement if you want to be a Big Honkin’ Noise* among our fReichtard/Talibangelical/Robber-Baron opposites. Of course we’ve had forty-plus years of hearing the Wingnut Wurlitzers brand dissent and dissenters as ‘crazy talk’ by ‘loony lie-bruls’, so perhaps they’ve just internalized the idea that all protest of standing authority must be enacted along the lines of an amateur-theatre production of Marat/Sade?
*‘Cause celebre’ is too
gheihFRENCH a description for a good Murkin Pay-tree-ott, ya lie-brul!Why is Ziegler – who supported Bush, the shredding of the constitution, the detainment of American citizens without charge, secret prisons, etc.. upset? If you can call a guy who laughs and chuckles while he’s being handcuffed, upset.
Notice how Ziegler’s cameraman zooms in on the name plate of one of the security guards? Is this to entice the hordes of conservatards to look him up, maybe go to his house, and terrorize him for doing his job?
Good point, that. I’d guestimate that a good 5% were SRM to begin with.
These transhumanist people who dream of setting up space colonies are star-craving mad.
UPDATE:
Surely, that’s a Martin Short character?
Righteous Bubba:
One, Two, Three Buttocks. Ah ah ahhhhh.
That guy’s three sheets to the wind.
And why are the campus cops humoring him by letting him keep talking to his microphone and letting his cameraman run the camera? Wouldn’t they be escorting the cameraman off at the same time?
Snarla, I think the cops understood that
a) Ziegler true-believers would support him video or no video
and
b) Upon seeing what actually transpired, any rational observer would realize the Ziegler is Bug.Fuck.Nuts. and if anything, campus security treated him MORE kindly that he deserved.
@Leslie: “Notice how Ziegler’s cameraman zooms in on the name plate of one of the security guards? Is this to entice the hordes of conservatards to look him up, maybe go to his house, and terrorize him for doing his job?”
Mobilize the Granite Countertop Inspection Squad!!!
All this talk of bias reminds me I need to adjust the tubes in my Marshall stack.
Candy said,
April 18, 2009 at 5:52
This conversation grows assinine.
eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two..one
Let’s see if the wordpress hamsters can be arsed to process my admittedly trivial observtion this time. I’ll try to post as slowly as possible.
The most pathetic, fucked up part of this ridiculous mess is the fact that someone decided to give Katie Couric an award for merely doing what a journalist is supposed to do.
The most pathetic, fucked up part of this ridiculous mess is the fact that someone decided to give Katie Couric an award for merely doing what a journalist is supposed to do.
Nah, I think Zeigler’s characterization of Katie’s softball questions like “What newspapers do you read?” as “blatant, left-wing advocacy journalism” gets the award.
I mean, crossed-up by Katie “Colon” Curic? There’s dumb and then there’s Palin dumb.
This conversation grows assinine.
PROTIP: If one is going to be a smart ass, perhaps one should spell-check first.
Or I would just be humor-impaired today. Too much teabagging this week.
By describing in great detail the most assertive set of interrogation techniques, that the United States has ever used — [bullshit] — we have rendered them essentially unusable in the future.
Yeah, so did Obama saying they weren’t to be used in the future, and that interrogators are limited by the Army Field Manual, international law, etc.
“To witness?” Religious conflation or crappy writing? Oh. Both. OK.
He also lades on the adverbs and apparently doesn’t know another word for “literally.”
” According to [James Grant, Executive Director of Media Relations for USC], in the days before his eventual appearance on campus, Ziegler publicly announced his intention to demonstrate at the Couric event. USC was happy to accomodate Ziegler, and provided him with a designated area, where he could register his protest, be seen by event attendees and the student body, and pass out whatever materials he wished. These arrangements were ready upon Ziegler’s arrival.
However, according to Grant, Ziegler showed up for the event making unexpected demands. He was no longer a demonstrator. Now, he was a journalist, with cameramen in tow, insistent that he had a right to enter the event. Told that the event was invitation only, Ziegler contended that he had the right to range up and down the entryway and stick microphones into the faces of attendees.
Said Grant, ‘The University both respects and facilitates the right to free speech, but we reserve the right to set reasonable ground rules that respect the rights of everyone, and provide for the safety and security of the University community.’ Ziegler, opting against the ground rules that had been mutually agreed to, was given the choice of leaving campus or being arrested, and eventually chose to leave campus.
A choice comment from No Quarter:
Huh. I wonder. If there were only some way to tell.
Some way to tell, part II
Most people, if they were truly being roughed up by cops, would not giggle incessantly like this buffoon. He acts like a five-year-old being tickled, not an adult in pain.
That dating show…oh my fucking god! You just know that the camera crew were suppressing laughter through it all, and thinking, “We’ve got a live one here. This is great!” Belittling the entire female gender with your mouth full, yeah, that’s gonna get you laid tonight, dude. That girl was remarkably patient.
This Ziegler character is pure gold. When the righties are tired of the snooty intellectual elitism of Glenn Beck and “Joe” the “Plumber”, I hope our John is ready to step into the spotlight as the new face of the conservative movement.
Also, Ziegler is considering filing a lawsuit.
PLEASE let this happen. ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease
@J Neo Marvin: “Most people, if they were truly being roughed up by cops, would not giggle incessantly like this buffoon. He acts like a five-year-old being tickled, not an adult in pain.”
I know! It’s almost like he’s lost all inhibition. As if he were crocked off his ass, or something. I’m thinking three-martinis-two-xanax, but I might be off by a pill or two.
The Dating Game remains his best work. Like the Tea Parties, I wish they’d throw a Ziegler every week!
@Righteous Bubba: “Larry Johnson’s down with the Zig.”
It’s been ages since I’ve waded through a FloBee Comment Section, but many are suggesting that Greta Van Susteren was right to suggest Ziegler retain an attorney.
Which of course makes one wonder how shitty an attorney Greta Van Susteren is.
Nope, that’s obviously a textbook 5150. Book’em, Dano.
Or look at a campus map–available at the usc.edu website–
But I can tell you–Annenenberg is smack dab in the middle of campus. Not on the periphery.
FWIW–right across from Heritage Hall, home of the athletic dept.
Or maybe not–looks like the awards weren’t actually held at the Annenberg building.
Professional television journalists from across the country and a group of USC Annenberg students and faculty gathered April 15 for the 5th Walter Cronkite Awards Ceremony, administered by the Norman Lear Center, at USC’s Davidson Conference Center.
Google Street View of the location is linked in my previous comment.
I’m thinking three-martinis-two-xanax, but I might be off by a pill or two.
One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy sentiments.
PeeJ said,
April 17, 2009 at 23:47
Tweet(y) outrage.
That’s just too many kinds of WRONG !!!
PeeJ said,
April 18, 2009 at 7:00
I don’t even want to get gay married. These dickwads are getting me ever more inclined to do so, if only to ram it down their throats. And such as.
Hell, I’m not even GAY and I’m inclined to get gay married for the very same REASON. Figure that one out.
commie atheist said,
April 18, 2009 at 8:42
Larry Johnson’s down with the Zig:
I wonder if Larry’s still waiting for his friend to get him a copy of that Michelle Obama “whitey” tape.
O, I died laughing, just now. Poor Larry.