I completely agree with the thrust of this article. I am certainly guilty myself of being paranoid about Conservatives. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to be wary, politically, of Conservatives, but literally fearing for your Liberal life (which, to be honest, I have felt twinges of in the last few years) is pretty fucking sad.

Having said that, I don’t think the “return to civility” bullshit we’ve been hearing so much of lately is the answer. What is political “civility” but a way to paper over disagreements without addressing their substance? It seems that what is missing is respect – respect for opposing views & sentiments, respect for the idea that people are entitled to live their lives the way they deem best (within the constraints of the law, obviously).

Ultimately, the real divide in this country is between the rich (of which there are increasingly few) and everyone else. If we (everyone else) could just leave off with all the red/blue paradigm, culture-war bullshit, and address THAT issue, we could (maybe) change things for the better in this country. Who knows?

Excellent article.

I don’t think that “we all just need to get along” will work. The media model described by Mr. Taibbi is not just a successful marketing strategy; it’s a direct symptom of the underlying motivations for media sources in our society, described by Chomsky & Hermann in Manufacturing Consent.

The basic point is that traditional, capitalist news media exists to sell consumers to advertisers, not to supply information to subscribers. What’s really needed is a popular media model that doesn’t rely on advertising revenue. However, almost all news media sources, even alternative ones like blogs and other alternapress outlets, accept (sometimes almost apologetically) as a fact that advertising dollars are the only practical way for an information outlet to earn money. I’m not surprised that Taibbi doesn’t point this out — there are at least 6 advertisements (including one obtrusive pop-up) on this very page, not counting self-advertising.

The culture wars are merely a symptom, not the disease. I think Taibbi’s wrong though. I don’t think that the divide is widening. I think that the Internet, and particularly the birth of the semantic web in the last couple years, has has made public discourse more democratic (with a small ‘d’.) Traditional media is churning out more invective — strangling on itself because it is starting to be cut out of the loop. There is reason for hope after all.

In Somalia, they sentanced two hate radio talk show hosts to twenty
years in prison. That’s to light
for Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Coulter et al.

So Matt and RS, a group which spews as much or more rhetoric and hatred than ANYONE, says we should all get along. Excuse me while I barf. Matt, Tim, and anyone else who does “political journalism” for RS gets paid to lie and distort and cause hate. Ann Coulter, Michael Moore, and especially RS, are the very ones fueling this hatred. You’ve got to be kidding me Matt. It would be great if we could all get along, but I don’t want to hear that from a magazine who gets paid (and a lot) to polarize every fucking issue therefore causing more rift and hatred. And then you show a pic of O’Riely, wishing more people to hate on him. Sickly hypocritical.

I think most of us share Taibbi “pox on both of their houses” take on the parties, but it’s still important to separate them in terms of things like intent, competence, etc. The Democrats have played the enabling mommy to the Republicans’ abusive daddy, mostly out of fear and utter gutlessness, but it’s still clear that the latter are by far the worse of the two parents. And until a viable third party comes along, we still gotta go with, as Chomsky calls it, the evil of two lessers.

So liberals and Democrats, tired of being called pussies, have seen the lucrative dynamism of the hate market, and opted to fight fire with fire. This is not a great thing, but given their recent history, it’s not such a bad thing either. It’s going to be this way until enough of us take a serious look at ourselves and our neighbors and decide to stop letting ourselves get leveraged and distracted with toys and bullshit.

And since the bread-and-circuses dynamic has effectively atomized what was left of our communitarian impulses, it’s going to be a while. We just muddle along, protect what’s left of our nut, and try to muster enough energy to find the least offensive candidate to vote for once in a while.

Hey, look! There’s Britney Spears’ pussy!

The birth of the hate era? A new state of spiritual decay? Where have you been for the last 2000 years?

The oldest military ploy there is,divide and conqeur.

It seems all the “hate” began with the demise of the Fairness Doctrine during the Reagan Administration. Back then, broadcast political opinion had to be balanced with the opposing view. Under that format, the Limbaughs, Savages, Hannity’s, et al, could not function. Maybe it’s time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

Wow. I think this was the first time I actually agreed with Taibbi. A little cognitive dissonance, but agreement throughout.

Liked the article a great deal. Disagree with Matt’s analysis of the way ‘traditional’ news has always been. Prior to the corporate take overs of the 1980’s and 90’s, news was seen by the networks as an obligation to the country. They didn’t insist on making money from it, because it wasn’t about making money. It wasn’t until the Reagan era insistence on everything being for profit that it changed. Granted, there were always copmmercials, but they weren’t the reason fro the news being on at that time.

Not to mention the quality of the news itself, then. Watch a rebroadcast of Cronkite, Brinkley, or any of the other REAL newspeople, and you will find intelligence, substance, and actual information. They expected you to have a brain and to use it. Now we get Brittney and J-Lo. I can get that crap from the rack at the check out at the grocery, thanks.

Interesting article Matt. I personally don’t hate anyone, except for Al-Quieda, and maybe Rosie Odonnell.

I just have different opinions as is all our right to do so. I hate the fact that if you mention your a registered Republican the hate that comes your way is overwhelming. Family and Friends of mine are divided over what? A bunch of politicians that say they are for the people as long as the people are for them?

I find it iroic that President Ford passes away in a time when this country is as divided as it was when he took over office. Ford was one of the great Fiscal Conservitives. Unlike the man I have voted for in the last two Presidential elections.

C Co., I agree with your take that RS and others like them spew hate in their articles, but again, that is their right. But don’t expect us all to get along after doing so. RS political article create the reactions that RS expects which is fine. I am a firm believer if you don’t like something you hear or read, then don’t listen to it, or read it. I have more than once read articles in RS, Newsweek and Time that I have simply turned the page because I found it to be bias and “truthfully challenged”. I have done the same with Right leaning publications.

Yogibard,
Hannity,Orieley,Limbaugh and Fox News are the “Fairness Doctrine”. Otherwise we would have nobody but Olberman, Couric, Lauer, Frankin, and the other Left leaning pundints and journalists. The Left has historicly owned the airwaves, and I feel have had a great influence on past elections with their selective reporting.

I may not agree with Tim, Matt and RS. But, I enjoy reading their side of the issues and I appreciate them providing an avenue for which I can give my re-buttal. I enjoy it for, if anything, a few good laughs and controversial dialogue with people I couldn’t pick out of a police line up. And I am sure a few of them have participated in a few police line ups in their day. Let’s also not forget that when it comes to good ol Rock N Roll, nobody does it better than Rolling Stone Magazine. And for me it has always been about the Rock N Roll.

Anyway, Thank you Tim and Matt, and all the bloggers I have had the pleasure to agree and disagree with this past year. And I will see you all next year.

I wish a Happy and Safe New Year to all of you.

Hallzee

PS
I think Ann Coulter is Hot!
I love to see a little rib on my girls.

I totaly agree with the article. How about starting with cleaning up Rolling Stone?

Abysmal personal and national debt, vitiated inalienable rights (INCLUDING life), global warming and collateral ecosystemic collapse (e.g., US coral reefs) are not “LIFE-THREATENING”? To me, they ALREADY ARE, but if We the People can’t believe it, DO NOTHING effective and STICK AROUND (not for long) for the imminent precipitous crashes!

Absolutely none of us leave this burnt out cesspool without paying up.
At the table of they go in threes Gerald Ford, you will forever be trapped in hell with James Brown and an asshole ex-dictator with an elongated neck.
You knew you should have never pardoned that ratfucker. Now its payback.
Gonzo Baby!

Ever since the Republican Party got handed its ass in November, there has been a lot of media “can’t we all just get along”, kumbya bullshit that had been, shall we say, somewhat absent during the years the GOP ran roughshod over government. We must win the war against all forms of fundamentalist tyranny, both foreign and domestic, and then we can save our country and maybe the planet. This is not about civility. It’s about survival.

Rupert Murdoch needs to be stripped of his citizenship, tarred and feathered and shipped back to Australia; His NY Post and Fox News network are the genesis of all the polarization and hate in America.

There are too many people to name, but I really can’t stand the two tools in the picture you’ve posted–even if they are just cogs in one giant noise machine.

Diva,
Its ok you feel that way. But its only because they are right handed tools.
Get some left handed tools like AL Franken and Michael Moore and I would not be surprised if your view changes.

“For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled ”
HT

Yikes, it seems that everyone has like, an opinion. No problem with that. But guys, it helps if you are at least literate. You know, spelling, grammar, maybe a little style. Makes your point a little more, er, pointy.

Jack D
First amendment allows me the right to say what I want in a responsible context. RS hates conservatives. They distort “info” and knowingly deceive millions of people to push their agenda. I come to this site because I like to point what I feel they are doing wrong. It’s not fun going to a site where everyone agrees with me; I don’t get anything out of that. Maybe you’re so pissed all the time because I’ve disrupted your little utopia of misguided rhetoric, I don’t know. But I know that I have a right to say what I want and hope that people respect my opinions. I read all your comments objectively because I respect everyone who comments UNTIL they say something wildly inaccurate or ridiculous. You do the exact opposite however. You hate my comments bacause it’s me making them. You don’t read what I actually say, as evidenced by by numerous mistakes in your rebuttals and useless mud-slinging that has nothing to do with any issue. I base everything I write off of issues, not other people. Only ignorant people attack first with no reasoning found in the issue. You are looking to drive me off this site because you don’t like what I say. Look, I don’t insult you first. You need to look at how you treat other people before telling me off. I respect you all the time until you disrespect me. Perhaps, even if you don’t wish to read what I actually comment on issues, you can at least show me the respect that anyone on this site rightly deserves. Golden rule bud.

Some people are probably earning hatred, even if I think we shouldn’t really go there. Ann Coldheart would be one.

Rush Limbaugh earns it. One lie in particular stands out in my mind, that I caught him in. I can’t remember where this was, but there was a fire in a suburban area, and the local fire dept. didn’t have the equipment (long enough hoses?) to use the water from a nearby lake to put it out. But el Rushbo was on radio the next day saying that these houses burned because state laws (which supposedly only tree-hugging environmentalists had lobbied for) prohibited the use of this water. Turns out the law in question only forbade the water’s use for industrial development, and said nothing about emergency use. Rush is such a contemptible fork-tongued jackal.

How about Bush for creating this Iraq shithole of a mess? The septichead didn’t even know until a few weeks ago that Islam consists of Sunnis and Shiites, and he and his team profess they knew what they were getting us into. I’d laugh if I didn’t have to puke first.

Bugjackblue,

The second paragraph of your leftist rant begins with “It is just this sort of liberal concern with reasonableness and willingness to see both sides of an issue”. Thats fair enough.
but you yourself go on to use the following to describe right wingers.
republican/fascist/primitivist party
a life-threatening wildly-contagious disease
disease-vector vermin of the right
snake-oil salesman with a diploma-mill divinity degree.
hate-mercants and pitbulls of the right.
common enemy
truly evil bad bad bad guys.

Gee, I hardly think the liberals can be considered reasonable and concerned if they use this dehumanizing dogma as a tactic to attack anyone with whom they disagree.
These tactics accomplish absolutely nothing to present your point to others and win on an intellectual level.
Instead they seek to dehumanize your political oponents.
Joseph Goebbels would have agreed with your tactics, He used them for the NAZI party to eradicate the Jews.

“For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled ”
HT

Thank you. I’ve always been unhappy with the demonization of FOX, well deserved or not, when the rest of the mass media is nearly as bad.

I stopped paying attention to U.S. mass media years ago. For me, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the utterly surreal show on Minnesota Public Radio interviewing a military college professor on “Socrates, the Soldiering Years” in Bush’s drum beat to the Iraq war. Only someone who loved Monty Python could have come up with that theme for a propaganda show.

That’s funny C Co, I have the very same opinion of you and your kind. (ie: those that believe the same crap you do)

By the way, we liberals live by the golden rule, pal. We think it makes more sense than some religion.

I think the article misses the mark. The current atmosphere is not just about the media. The media just makes it worse, by selling it.

When a self-labled conservative stands in the “school house door” and shouts NEVER!, those who would like to see America progress beyond where the country is currently “stuck” (currently, we’re “stuck” with the immoral occupation of Iraq, the selling off of our economy by demonic global corporate conglomerates, the drugging of our people by the pharmaceutical wing of those conglomerates,and on and on)sometimes yell NO! back at those standing in the doorway. And they yell so loudly that they get red in the face.

The global conglomerate media apologists idntify that as hatred. Believe me, it is just frustration.

Jack D
Did I say liberals don’t live by the golden rule? No. Did I mention anything about religion? No. Do you have any REAL idea what I believe in? No.

Stop putting words in my mouth and addressing things I’m not talking about. I’m trying to reach out but you just slap my hand away. Your intolerance for people who view things even a little differently than you is amazing. Again, as long as you’re respectful, I have no problem with anything, mkay.

I disagree that we don’t have any economic problems right now and that our economy is just fine.

I do agree with needing to put a stop to the divide and conquer media and politicians that has us hating each other and wants to to continue so they can act in their interests and not ours.

i will tell you who i hate………tina turner…..star jones……(geez why couldnt she have died of overweightness)…..matt taibbi(who is that guy anyway?)…..basically anyone from the view……..rolling stone…….and all politicians

Hey Jack you do realize the golden rule comes from religion?

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Mathew 7:12).

Just asking.

Pig,

Don’t quote Mathew 7:12 to these people. They think Mathew is a reporter for FoxNews and he comes on at 7&12PM est.

Happy New Year!

Fight On!

yea, don’t quote matthew since you obviously don’t know what it means or what the surrounding context is all about.

I hear that alot now… republicans telling the democrats who are now in power to work for bipartizanship, to work together. Particularly hipocritical after more than a decade of forcing things past the democrats and ignoring all their pleas for bipartisanship. I say… well, they showed for over a decade how they wanted to be treated. They should accept the treatment just as the democrats had to.

CW,

As mentioned, I dislike a lot of people. I don’t like Michael Moore or others of his ilk, either. It is hard for me to like anyone who is intentionally vicious and cruel to others in order to create controversy–and thus buzz–for his or her views. (By the way, I don’t think I was being vicious to Ms. Coulter or Mr. O’Reilly when I called them tools. I think it’s pretty obvious that the Republican press machine does use the opinions of people like them to instigate and thus frame debate. That’s what I meant by the term “tool.”)

We should all be careful about quoting the bible among cons. That “it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” might upset them, and force them into strained and insane contortions of “logic” in order to justify thier belief that they really aren’t the nazis they say they aren’t.

Pig,
Yes, I did happen to know that. Religion would have been well served had they stopped at the golden rule, instead, they went on to make a bunch of nonsense.
Keep It Simple Stupid.

Yeah Jed, The Democrats have been so helpful since Bush won the election in 2000 with their constant hammering of everything he does. They have done nothing but bash Bush in an attempt to keep the country from believing he is succeeding at record low unemployment and an economy that rebounded after inheriting a recession from the previous administration and 9/11 which crippled both the airline industry and the economy. They have done nothing but fight the President tooth and nail on everything including the war on Iraq which they voted for. We have been fighting the Iraqis and their ally The Left Side of the Isle and the rest of the world sees this. If Bush fails then they win. That was their strategy from the beginning. So let’s not talk Hypocricy please.

Diva,
Point well taken.

I disagree with the just of this argument. I suggest the Author Read, “The German Revolution 1918-1923″, by Pieere Brue. It is clear in this book, that the thinking that Tabbi supports, led to Fascism and World War 2. I see this as another indication, of centrist thinking, taking a middle ground position. This is seen clearly in American Politics, where clearly overtime, the politics have shifted further and further right, to the point where a center position, is opposing abortion, and support for the war. The fact is, the media, only presents one side of the news. Those which own and control, the media Americans view, are the whealthy, elite. A majority, of the population has no representation, in the media. Further more, nearly no critical debate about issues is seen. The fact is, debate , discussion are healthy for our nation. It is essential, that people chose what is important to themselves on issues, and engage and debate those opposing them. It should be pointed out, who the other side is, the mistakes they make, the lies told, and true motivations are brought out. Fighters for social change, may at one point appear on the fringe, and be demonized for their actions and beliefs, such as African Americans in the civil rights movement, GI’S and Students in the Vietnam Antiwar movement along with the proud heritage, of the American Working Class in the Union Struggles and fights for an 8 hour work day. These people fighting for these causes, took a position, and undertook great personal sacrifice, to fight for what are important changes. Their is a clear correct and incorrect position, for the majority of people. Unfortunatly, in our country those with the correct beliefs have no say. To end the war in Iraq, those with the correct position of “Immediate Withdrwl”, will win eventually, the question is how long will this take, and how many Iraqi and US lives will be required. Should we not engage in any taking of side, as the author suggests, this important change will not occur. In order succeed we must take our position, and fight and expose why we are involved in this criminal war.

Facism is nothing new and neither is preaching hatred for politcal advantage. Wingnuts like Coulter and O’Reilly are offensive, but I dont pay too much attention to them as they dont directly affect my life (I just turn them off if they happen to cross my TV set). Hatred is just their ’schtick’ and they will continue to peddle it as long as people listen to their shows and read their books.
I am far more concerned with politicians who preach hatred. Unfortunately they have the power to directly affect my life and I follow them closely. It takes a lot of mental energy to actually hate someone. I personally don’t believe there is that much enthusiasm for hatred with the larger population – it would be like a second job, and who needs another job that doesn’t pay? Rather, I think it is just mindless parroting so people can feel like they’re part of the ‘in crowd’. The down side to that kind of mindless cheerleading is that eventually the brownshirts will march down their street and knock down their front door. In the end, you can’t really be part of the ‘in crowd’ – it has a very exclusive membership and none of us are invited.

my god brian, slow down with the commas.

I only can agree with this article in very small part.

It seems to me quite foolish and superficial to equate competing hatreds without considering the content or the hater. Is the loathing a member of the black underclass might feel toward the idea of white, middle-class hate groups, for instance, equivalent to the hatred the members of those groups feels toward the black underclass? I don’t think so.

Also, a publicly expressed vehemence in regard to someone who is truly loathesome, can serve as a reality check. Bush is too often presented, even by his most vocal detractors, as a mere bumbling dumbass rather than the violent, narcissistic sociopath all the evidence makes him out to be. This has the effect of tempering the public animus toward him which in turn tempers the political response.

However, Taibbi is correct when he states that this discursive tendency distracts folks from real problems and real solutions. But that’s largely because the folks doing the counter-hating right now, are keeping the discourse within elite-approved limits. So even brilliant satirists like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are relatively polite in regard to the Democrats complicity in the national nightmare, and frequently join with the mainstream media when it decides to pile on the likes of Hugo Chavez or some other foreign enemy of the moment.

The other problem with the whole business is that by painting with such a wide brush, Fox has made folks who really don’t sweat the details of political reality, believe that genuine political riff-raff like the Clintons really are the opposite of everything Fox stands for, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

The problem isn’t hate. The problem is lies.

I think Chomsky/Herman’s Propaganda Model is dead-on.

My view is that, while socially liberal, mainstream media does not stray from a dangerously constricted boundary in its coverage of wars and economic policy.

Goddammit, Taibbi! Why can’t you write more columns like this? Pundits and yell-heads such as those you (rightly) excoriate here–their only virtue is the ability to make boatloads of cash on harmful products that help nobody. The intellectuals and columnists you typically call such filthy names–their only sin is to be white, middle-class, and misguided. BASH PUNDITS MORE OFTEN. And do it in this manner. You’re so much more charming when you nix the potty mouth.

I do, however, have to disagree with Michael’s post below. Using mutual hatred between blacks and white supremacists seems to me a false analogy in this case–both far-left and far-right ideologues pose a mutual threat to each other. I don’t think liberals can say with a straight face that they are the sinless victims of conservative aggression–their ideology isn’t nearly as “live and let live” as they let on. Neither is conservative ideology. Each wants to force the other side to conform to its will, Michael Moore’s recent “Pledge to Conservatives” completely notwithstanding.

Also, I thought it was interesting that Michael brought up the name of Hugo Chavez. There’s a good reason that man gets dumped on by our media–he epitomizes the very cycle of hate, invective, and demonization that Taibbi describes in his article. He keeps power by scurrilous insults, broad, unprovable generalizations, and more consitutional meddling and media manipulation than ten Bush administrations could manage. While Bush indirectly, slyly demonizes anyone who disagrees with him as on the side of terrorism, Chavez directly accuses anyone who disagrees with him as being an evil, Bush-paid-off traitor to the Working Class Of The World. True, he’s not exactly a totalitarian or an enemy of America or anything–he’s just a deceitful, egotistical asshole. Still, I wouldn’t bring his name in a discussion of this subject. If people like Coulter and O’Reilly are poisoning national discourse, people like Chavez (and Bush) are doing the same on a global scale.

Sorry Matt I think it’s very superficial to think that all the hate and conflict in the US is being stirred up by books and pundits selling their products. The hatred was already there and it’s based on ideology, history, class resentments, racism and many other things with deep roots that no amount of well-meaning “can’t we all just get along?” piety will overcome. Frankly I’m not convinced that another US Civil War wouldn’t settle some outstanding issues. There are two fundamentally different worldviews and political cultures operating in the US and one way or another this has to be resolved, not glossed over.

Read the last couple paragraphs of this Taibbi article and then read the title of another one of his columns: “Find Out Why Matt Taibbi Hates Christmas.” Hmmmm. “Keep on Hatin’” Matt.

I just think this one is a bit ironic considering you insult Friedman and other journalists, sometimes on a juvenile level–not saying this isn’t hillarious. While I usually enjoy your work, I can’t say that I was able to take this article seriously.

As much as I like your rants Mr. Tiabbi, I have to disagree with you on this one. Fox News was not founded to be a buisiness model, it was indeed founded to promote a certain idealogy and wipe out another, whatever else it may have produced in the process. This makes it the threat that all of it’s critics say it is. To say that those of us who fear the religious right are paranoid is also a fallacy, the religious right and their church going suburban footsoldiers are indeed trying to wipe us off the face of the earth, you can argue all you want about how likely it is to happen, but it is irresponsible to simply deny that it is there. It isn’t paranioa if they really are out to get you.

I hate fox their bias is unreal it is hard to belive that people want to watch a backwards hatful nrtwork which is more farright opinions than news.

matt taibbi is a genius.

[This may duplicate a comment I attempted to post earlier, which disappeared from my screen before I could click "Post."]

Taibbi’s column largely ignores the patent inequality in the supposed battle between conservativism and liberalism. It sounds judicious to denounce the so-called partisanship of left and right alike. But partisanship of the right has long had the advantage of powerful financial backers and has systematically worked, at least since the Reagan years, to stigmatize and marginalize liberalism with a virulent hate speech. The mainstream media, meanwhile, typically espouse a pseudo-centrism that is ultimately a validation of the conservative position, a kind of Fox News-lite. Few, if any, of the main news outlets complained about Republican partisanship during the rabidly anti-Clinton Congress of the ’90s, or during the dismal first six years of the George W. Bush era. Then, suddenly, when the liberal mood of the electorate made itself known vigorously in 2006, the news media were suddenly lauding bi-partisanship and urging the Democrats to “govern from the center.” Meanwhile, the genuinely bipartisan domestic and foreign policy that had prevailed in America since the New Deal is still attacked by the right as “extreme left” and still allowed by the supposedly centrist media to languish and die a slow death. One doesn’t have to hate conservatism to recognize that there are powerful special interests behind the message of Fox News, and it has worked to poison public discourse in America in a wholly unprecedented way.

Thank You

Great work.

28e4479dd2bffbc2ffc68c4c0f8165d6

c773t

c809t

qbdmliyt sjnmfryit kpdcaqvgi nhedoy dskwn nozb nwtyoge