Virtue Signaling: NPR Haz It

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura) 06/26/2020 at 08:31 • Filed to: None

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Right at 3:00 in this interview, Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan refers to an epiphany he and his kids have and the interviewer, Ari Shapiro, turns around and lectures him. NPR gets a high-level pol from a deep-red state who opens up on national radio and gets told what he should have experienced. *FLAGGED AS NOT CONSTRUCTIVE*

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phenotyp > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 08:36

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I quit NPR (after having grown up with its absolutely ubiquitous presence in my life since childhood) after their coverage of the 2016 election. Their both-sidesism narrative creates this false equivalency where bullshit is given the same deference as fact.

I still listen to Car Talk, though. 

KSUENGINEER > phenotyp 06/26/2020 at 08:50

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For over a decade I was an avid listener and donor to my local NPR affiliate . I too quit listening after the 2016 election. There was a noticeable shift on their reporting. 

Jason Spears > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 08:56

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I’m not hearing the lecture, or any mention of an epiphany. Sounds to me like most other interviews with politicians, where I’m straining to find actual answers in the word salad.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > phenotyp 06/26/2020 at 09:24

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Listen to Wait Wait, they like to rip into Trump

phenotyp > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/26/2020 at 09:52

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Used to be part of my Saturday AM forever. I like Peter Sagal a lot.

The past few years have mostly been Pod Save America and other Crooked Media podcasts. 

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > phenotyp 06/26/2020 at 10:02

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Wait Wait is distributed as a podcast now so  you can listen to it whenever

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > phenotyp 06/26/2020 at 10:03

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I think if one perused the Fox News website on a regular basis they might reach a similar both-sidesist conclusion. NPR was a ubiquitous presence in my life growing up as well, as were Today Show and NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. I’ve stuck with NPR, but dispensed completely with all forms of television-based news, be they cable or traditional network.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/26/2020 at 10:04

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Wait Wait can be VERY funny , but it’s too biting for my age and taste. Not constructive.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 10:05

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I love their guest segments (when it's someone I've heard of)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > phenotyp 06/26/2020 at 10:06

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Very clever writing and sharp-witted people, and some good laughs, but too  cynical and sarcastic and biting for my age and taste.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/26/2020 at 10:07

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Yeah. Fun and good laughs, for sure, and very clever and witty people.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 10:16

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Exactly , that’s why I pay no attention to either of them anymore. Or any news organization for that matter in this country. It’s all editorial and opinion. Both sides leave things out that don’t fit their narrative, or pump things up that do. It’s all a waste of time. Whenever someone asks me, “Did you see the news today?” I reply, “Why would I want to ruin my day?”

phenotyp > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 10:16

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See, I guess I don’t see them as cynical— in fact, just the opposite. I mean, they raise huge amounts of awareness, money, and real progressive action.

Future next gen S2000 owner > phenotyp 06/26/2020 at 10:20

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I feel like there must be a middle ground somewhere. Some issues require both sides of the argument and some don’t.

For example, flat Earth theory or vaccines causing autism. There really isn’t two logical sides to that.

On the other hand, reaction to proposed/passed legislation like the ACA. There are two sides to that.

phenotyp > Future next gen S2000 owner 06/26/2020 at 11:33

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An debate  requires both sides to argue in good faith. 

For Sweden > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 11:44

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Only nerds listen to public radio

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 11:51

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Sorry, like Mr. Spears I’m not seeing what you’re saying here. He talks about his experience with his kids and the bill being passed, and after that the reporter pivots to a different question.

I don’t see this in any way as virtue signaling - and also I don’t know what exactly you’d expect from a reporter...for them to praise the guy? Especially if trying to maintain impartiality it’d create questions in many peoples minds as to why he’s sucking up to him.

Agreed with others who have mentioned the 2016 election and their poor takes trying to make sense of or present the Trump campaign and its positions as co-equal. But also see how if an organization is *trying* to remain impartial completely shitting on a campaign, as shitty as it might be, could also achieve the opposite result. I don’t know - I’ll say it’s pretty hard right now to be ANY media organization because guaranteed pretty much half the population will see you as being biased and evil, no matter wrong or right. 

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 12:45

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NPR is just another case of the so-called left being civil.  Look at what it has made for us.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Future next gen S2000 owner 06/26/2020 at 14:04

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Well said.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > For Sweden 06/26/2020 at 14:05

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And people who drive Volvos. And Teslas.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 06/26/2020 at 14:11

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Shapiro does pivot, right after smugly summarizing the experience the guy had with his kids. Perhaps my point is overly subtle, but I find it glaring, if subtle. People don’t know how to talk constructively with  other people about these important things.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 06/26/2020 at 14:12

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But in this instance, NPR was not civil; they were, Mr. Shapiro was, smug , with is a particularly counterproductive way to be less than civil.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > phenotyp 06/26/2020 at 14:13

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But who is in the audience? They preach to the choir.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher 06/26/2020 at 14:18

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I think we need to survey the sources and individually construct our own narratives. I read a lot of headlines and filter for TLDR. So-called headlines that end in question marks, I generally skip because they’re only journalistic click bait.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 14:43

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That ’s just as bad as being too nice, IMO. Smug is pretending to fight but not having the stones to go through with it. People in the wrong need to be flatly called out, we are long past the time for passive-aggressive nothings.  The so-called right can do it, the left need to follow suit, or start writing their own epitaph. 

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 14:51

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Fair enough.

MrSnrub > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 15:39

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“You say y ou’re proud of the bill but to the question of ‘why now? ’. Earlier this year you did not take a stance on the hate crimes bill yourself. What made you decide to champion it at this moment?”

“Yeah, certainly there’s a sense of urgency, the absolute tragedies that have played out all across the country, they’ve been brought into our living rooms, including mine, sitting on a couch with my three kids, trying to explain to them what was happening and what were the remedies.”

“Sounds like you’re saying you went through an education process with your family, with your kids, seeing what was happening in the state.”

I really don’t see what Shapiro did that’s virtue signaling here. He’s just summarizi ng what Duncan said, pretty standard reporter stuff. “Trying to explain to them what was happening” = “Went through an education process”

For Sweden > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 15:39

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Terrible people all of them

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 06/26/2020 at 16:03

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I don’t know that you and I are actually very far apart on this. I wrote to NPR about the thing I posted, and I also wrote to Geoff Duncan’s chief of staff. If anything, you and I differ on style , I think. My approach is that the most effective ass whippings are the kind and gentle ones, thought butt kickings they remain. Ari Shapiro passed up a golden opportunity and was simply smug, and from now on, I will be disposed to think of him as a little s**t.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > MrSnrub 06/26/2020 at 16:06

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He was dripping with self-righteous smug when he made that statement. Listen for it. It may be subtle, but it’s bright white.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > For Sweden 06/26/2020 at 16:07

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I have to thank you for making me aware of Otto Dix. His self portrait catapulted itself to be one of my favorite paintings ever.

MrSnrub > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 16:11

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Maybe, but that’s kind of up to individual interpretation. It just sounded like his default intonation to me.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > MrSnrub 06/26/2020 at 16:17

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Exactly. And that’s why I take issue with it.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 16:21

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I think we are on the same track for sure. Speak softly but carry a big stick is a good plan - but you have to not be afraid to use that stick when the time comes for it. That’s the problem with the opposition for the past long while - they don’t use the stick, rather, they just speak softly as the opponent hits harder and harder . Smugness is perhaps the softest speaking of all.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 06/26/2020 at 16:34

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I’d use a different metaphor, that of keeping my power dry until I need it.

I remember reading a story about basketball games at the Whitehouse during the Obama administration. An invitation to play in those was a big deal and only people who played Division I ball in college got invited, and if you played in a deferential manner toward POTUS, you got cut. But BHO was a sneaky and selective player. He’d never engage until he could be successful at whatever. Very selective. As an individual, I did not like President Obama all that much. I thought his presidential was a little overwrought, and some of his speaking mannerisms I found annoying. But I dug the identity politics of having him — and his family — in the WH.

Did you listen to the clip from NPR? Could you detect the smugness I was complaining about? I think it’s simply too subtle for some to notice, as indicated by some of the replies I’ve received.

That’s how I roll; selective engagement, subtlety, language... But most of all, first and foremost, considering how the other guy feels. Progressive militants do not understand this approach. They decry it as making racists comfortable . I’m as impatient with wokeness as I am with MAGA troglodytes living in caves. I’ve caused a few of the former to stop and think.  

MrSnrub > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 17:17

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I don’t deny that liberal smugness is a thing, but I don’t think NPR i s being too mean to conservatives either . Like phenotyp I stopped listening to them due to their Trump coverage. My work commute became much more relaxing  once I stopped subjecting myself to their seemingly daily interviews with Trump supporters in a diner in Racistville, Indiana.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > MrSnrub 06/26/2020 at 18:18

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I thought this was a particularly egregious example, so I called them out. I am a steady and regular NPR listener and have been for more than 40 years.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/26/2020 at 19:08

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That one works. Regarding Obama, his regime accomplished far less than promised and wasn’t nearly as progressive as IMO what is needed - but it is superior to the alternative. That’s all we can ask for in this world.

For a long time much NPR content has had a “smug” aura to it to my ears , a few shows notwithstanding. It reminds me of high school/college radio sometimes. Regarding the clip, there’s a funny tone of voice at the 3 minute mark as you mention, but it seems pretty normal for the source.  The “have a great day” ending was also good.

Oh yeah, I’m glad I don’t live in GA, too. There’s a lot to be called out in that place.   It’ll be interesting to see how they suppress votes and try to cover up their ‘Rona outbreak.