I was listening to this exchange and heard Brian said that he is a subscriber of yours. Brian, you should know that the American people have woken up to the gaslighting of your network and no matter what you do in the future, they will never unsee what you guys did to our country and to our people. I have watched the destruction of people I care for due to the treachery of the CNN narrative. And I have watched the nobility of left leaning people such as Bari Weiss, Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi and I would include Megyn Kelley (who is a self described Independent) who left the legacy media out of some sort of courageous nobility without knowing what they would do next. I feel like our children and grandchildren will remember them as the people who heroically risked a lot to tell the truth in a lying world. I don't think the American people will ever trust the people at CNN ever again.
Bari, thank you for writing this. I have often asked myself the question, "What would I have done," while reading about various periods in history including periods of slavery, persecution, and mass murder. It's easy to be on the right side of history when the choice is only in one's own mind. It is much harder when the repercussions actually hit home. We are living in a time when not actively opposing what is going on is, by definition, supporting evil.
It started under Obama (remember the beer summit) but accelerated with the election of Tump. From day 1 the msm, politicians , civic and religious leaders used the term “resistance” as opposed to opposition. In the name of “resistance” , many lost their moral compass and accepted that the ends justifying the means. That a lie was acceptable and those pushing it (Dossier, Collusion , misrepresenting the “Good people on both sides comment”Etc) were not only acceptable, to question the accusations meant you were a bad person in need of help. Bari , using your terminology , you know the world has gone mad when a person like Avanati is taken seriously by news organizations. There were and continues to be zero consequences foe those who pushed false narratives - as long as though those narrative helped get Trump out of office. That is why we are here
I saw the clip with Stelter and wanted to thank you for your courage and using your reputation to get on a network that has supported the squelching of different opinions. Bravo.
I saw part of the interview where you schooled the potato whiny Stelter. He is such a waste of air. And he feigned surprise. I say feigned because literally no one could be that stupid as to not know what was going on at his own station. I love the way you called him delusional.
Speaking of courage, and this is from the UK side of the pond -- BBC journalist Stephen Nolan has just released his 10 part podcast Nolan Investigates Stonewall looking at the relationship the professional lobbying group enjoys with the BBC, OFCOM (the broadcasting regulator) and others, asking how this came about and if any professional lobbying body should have that sort of close relationship with public institutions in a democracy. It is a highly effective piece of investigative journalism. It is now available to listen to worldwide via the BBC Sounds app if case anyone is interested.
Aside from the disaster of the so-called adults in the room refusing to say “no” when challenged with nonsense, we also have a severe crisis in accountability. Because not only do the cowardly get away with their cravenness, the liars, cheats, and grifters that have power and influence are becoming ever more brazen. It seems they fear no consequences for being caught in their deceit. Exhibit A is Anthony Fauci and the fact that he continues to hold his top position directing our nation’s Covid response despite being exposed in multiple serious lies that reveal he helped set us up for the pandemic to begin with.
Courage is indeed paramount to get us out of this chaos. Absolutely. But our first aim must be restoring societal accountability, because there will be no re-establishing order, no possibility of creating a just society without such systems anchored in place.
Well thought out and expressed. Sadly the popular phrase warning against complacency has too many examples in today's society. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
"The replacement of forgiveness with perpetual punishment". A beautiful line. Bari - there is a very interesting conversation to be had about religion. After all, as much as the left looks down on religion and faith their entire orthodoxy looks just like religion. They make claims that can't be proven and require adherents to accept them without dissent. Have faith in the climate scientists. Have faith in Fauci.
The wringing out of religion in our society is a hugely worrisome trend. I do not believe in God. I sure as heck believe in religion though.
"Hello xxxxx. In accordance with The Washington Post's community guidelines, your account has been temporarily suspended. During the suspension, you will be unable to comment, flag or engage with fellow commenters. Please rejoin the conversation in 1 hour. If you think this has been done in error, please contact our community team at comments@washpost.com. Sent by The Washington Post"
And yet WaPo in its woke-blinded wisdom has allowed the following highly offensive comment to appear, "I was thinking that nurse that was at Auschwitz would be a good choice for the Trump people as well."
Many of those speaking vocally for the woke ideology are recent college graduates who are young and idealistic. But where are the adults who should be providing some much needed counterweight? A small portion of these adults are the true believers in ivory towers (those who have developed and perpetuated the ideologies that feed wokeness). Some adults in media and politics must also be true believers, but many—I imagine— are not; they simply chose to turn a blind eye or capitulate for the sake of PR points or career advancement. I feel the vast majority of adults—however—have taken these ideas at face value and have been manipulated, their good intentions taken advantage of.
Take the trans debate that is being portrayed as a sequel to the gay rights movement of the 80s-90s. I imagine very few people realize that serous respectable scientists (e.g., Littman, Zucker) have been aggressively cancelled by trans activist groups. Even less people realize the implications of cancelling scientists in what should be an entirely scientific debate (good science = objective science). How is biased science helpful to individuals who identify as trans?
Another example is CRT. The narrative being pushed is that those who critique it simply do not want the history of racism to be taught in schools. One needs to scratch the surface to realize that CRT stands as a critique of enlightened liberalism, is not objective, and paints science and reason as perpetuators or whiteness/oppression. How many people really agree with this notion that science is oppressive? How many notice how crucial and pervasive these beliefs are to the group of ideologies that feed wokeness?
There is this false dichotomy being promoted: the idea that to question certain beliefs implies that one is immoral or uncaring toward groups people who have been marginalized/mistreated. I think this is the narrative that we need to stand up and oppose most vocally. So many seem too busy antagonizing those with a different political persuasion. In the mean time, it seems as if very few are asking important questions that need to be pushed to the forefront: To what degree do postmodernist-inspired fields of study really come into conflict with the ideas of enlightened liberalism? Is it wise to turn our back on certain enlightened liberal ideals (e.g., the value of objectivity in science)? If we do, will this ultimately be for the long-term benefit of communities deemed marginalized?
Loved your interview w Ben- loved what you said on CNN- you are brave in a mad world - we all need to stand up when we can - I grew up in the 80s-90s, never imagined our country Would become what it is - the statues coming down sicken me ! Our politicians are a disgrace , they are causing the hate and madness ! Such sad times -
I was listening to this exchange and heard Brian said that he is a subscriber of yours. Brian, you should know that the American people have woken up to the gaslighting of your network and no matter what you do in the future, they will never unsee what you guys did to our country and to our people. I have watched the destruction of people I care for due to the treachery of the CNN narrative. And I have watched the nobility of left leaning people such as Bari Weiss, Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi and I would include Megyn Kelley (who is a self described Independent) who left the legacy media out of some sort of courageous nobility without knowing what they would do next. I feel like our children and grandchildren will remember them as the people who heroically risked a lot to tell the truth in a lying world. I don't think the American people will ever trust the people at CNN ever again.
Bari, thank you for writing this. I have often asked myself the question, "What would I have done," while reading about various periods in history including periods of slavery, persecution, and mass murder. It's easy to be on the right side of history when the choice is only in one's own mind. It is much harder when the repercussions actually hit home. We are living in a time when not actively opposing what is going on is, by definition, supporting evil.
It started under Obama (remember the beer summit) but accelerated with the election of Tump. From day 1 the msm, politicians , civic and religious leaders used the term “resistance” as opposed to opposition. In the name of “resistance” , many lost their moral compass and accepted that the ends justifying the means. That a lie was acceptable and those pushing it (Dossier, Collusion , misrepresenting the “Good people on both sides comment”Etc) were not only acceptable, to question the accusations meant you were a bad person in need of help. Bari , using your terminology , you know the world has gone mad when a person like Avanati is taken seriously by news organizations. There were and continues to be zero consequences foe those who pushed false narratives - as long as though those narrative helped get Trump out of office. That is why we are here
Time to speak out, “Silenced Majority.” ALL of us.
Thanks Bari for bringing this message so effectively to a broader audience.
Tom
I saw the clip with Stelter and wanted to thank you for your courage and using your reputation to get on a network that has supported the squelching of different opinions. Bravo.
I saw part of the interview where you schooled the potato whiny Stelter. He is such a waste of air. And he feigned surprise. I say feigned because literally no one could be that stupid as to not know what was going on at his own station. I love the way you called him delusional.
Bari, I am so proud of all of your work. You are the voice of the voiceless in this country. Thank you.
Speaking of courage, and this is from the UK side of the pond -- BBC journalist Stephen Nolan has just released his 10 part podcast Nolan Investigates Stonewall looking at the relationship the professional lobbying group enjoys with the BBC, OFCOM (the broadcasting regulator) and others, asking how this came about and if any professional lobbying body should have that sort of close relationship with public institutions in a democracy. It is a highly effective piece of investigative journalism. It is now available to listen to worldwide via the BBC Sounds app if case anyone is interested.
Aside from the disaster of the so-called adults in the room refusing to say “no” when challenged with nonsense, we also have a severe crisis in accountability. Because not only do the cowardly get away with their cravenness, the liars, cheats, and grifters that have power and influence are becoming ever more brazen. It seems they fear no consequences for being caught in their deceit. Exhibit A is Anthony Fauci and the fact that he continues to hold his top position directing our nation’s Covid response despite being exposed in multiple serious lies that reveal he helped set us up for the pandemic to begin with.
Courage is indeed paramount to get us out of this chaos. Absolutely. But our first aim must be restoring societal accountability, because there will be no re-establishing order, no possibility of creating a just society without such systems anchored in place.
We must start referring to Brian Stelter as ‘Cliche Guevara’ and appoint him Propaganda Minister of the ‘All Trite’.
Well thought out and expressed. Sadly the popular phrase warning against complacency has too many examples in today's society. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
"The replacement of forgiveness with perpetual punishment". A beautiful line. Bari - there is a very interesting conversation to be had about religion. After all, as much as the left looks down on religion and faith their entire orthodoxy looks just like religion. They make claims that can't be proven and require adherents to accept them without dissent. Have faith in the climate scientists. Have faith in Fauci.
The wringing out of religion in our society is a hugely worrisome trend. I do not believe in God. I sure as heck believe in religion though.
The mainstream media now seems to be cracking down harder on any type of dissent.
Look at the lovely little mash note that was sent to me just a few minutes ago by WaPo for my somewhat cheeky comment on their article about Rachel Levine. "With that new uniform and hairstyle, she obviously needs to increase her estrogen." I strongly suspect other commenters had their comments censored, too. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/19/levine-transgender-four-star-admiral-public-health-service/
"Hello xxxxx. In accordance with The Washington Post's community guidelines, your account has been temporarily suspended. During the suspension, you will be unable to comment, flag or engage with fellow commenters. Please rejoin the conversation in 1 hour. If you think this has been done in error, please contact our community team at comments@washpost.com. Sent by The Washington Post"
And yet WaPo in its woke-blinded wisdom has allowed the following highly offensive comment to appear, "I was thinking that nurse that was at Auschwitz would be a good choice for the Trump people as well."
Incidentally, I voted for Biden.
Many of those speaking vocally for the woke ideology are recent college graduates who are young and idealistic. But where are the adults who should be providing some much needed counterweight? A small portion of these adults are the true believers in ivory towers (those who have developed and perpetuated the ideologies that feed wokeness). Some adults in media and politics must also be true believers, but many—I imagine— are not; they simply chose to turn a blind eye or capitulate for the sake of PR points or career advancement. I feel the vast majority of adults—however—have taken these ideas at face value and have been manipulated, their good intentions taken advantage of.
Take the trans debate that is being portrayed as a sequel to the gay rights movement of the 80s-90s. I imagine very few people realize that serous respectable scientists (e.g., Littman, Zucker) have been aggressively cancelled by trans activist groups. Even less people realize the implications of cancelling scientists in what should be an entirely scientific debate (good science = objective science). How is biased science helpful to individuals who identify as trans?
Another example is CRT. The narrative being pushed is that those who critique it simply do not want the history of racism to be taught in schools. One needs to scratch the surface to realize that CRT stands as a critique of enlightened liberalism, is not objective, and paints science and reason as perpetuators or whiteness/oppression. How many people really agree with this notion that science is oppressive? How many notice how crucial and pervasive these beliefs are to the group of ideologies that feed wokeness?
There is this false dichotomy being promoted: the idea that to question certain beliefs implies that one is immoral or uncaring toward groups people who have been marginalized/mistreated. I think this is the narrative that we need to stand up and oppose most vocally. So many seem too busy antagonizing those with a different political persuasion. In the mean time, it seems as if very few are asking important questions that need to be pushed to the forefront: To what degree do postmodernist-inspired fields of study really come into conflict with the ideas of enlightened liberalism? Is it wise to turn our back on certain enlightened liberal ideals (e.g., the value of objectivity in science)? If we do, will this ultimately be for the long-term benefit of communities deemed marginalized?
Loved your interview w Ben- loved what you said on CNN- you are brave in a mad world - we all need to stand up when we can - I grew up in the 80s-90s, never imagined our country Would become what it is - the statues coming down sicken me ! Our politicians are a disgrace , they are causing the hate and madness ! Such sad times -
Excellent piece. Totally agree. Courage. Fortitude. We can win this fight!!