An "elite Northeast establishment liberal"
October 1, 2010 2:29 PM   Subscribe

 
Technically what Sanchez is describing isn't prejudice or bigotry, it's privilege...
posted by muddgirl at 2:32 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


"Oh wait, what the fuck is this shovel? Fuck it, I'll dig!"
posted by Artw at 2:33 PM on October 1, 2010 [9 favorites]


Rick Sanchez is an idiot. This is just more of an idiot saying idiotic things.
posted by birdherder at 2:33 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


Something about getting into a war of words with the guy who buys ink by the penny. Also something about a war of wits against an unarmed man...
posted by muddgirl at 2:33 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


oh I just love these pot and kettle moments. Except the kettle doesn't really deserve it in this case.
posted by scrutiny at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


I miss that mealy-mouthed Aaron Brown. What a magnificent son of a bitch he was.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2010 [4 favorites]


Nice knowing you, Rick Sanchez.
posted by infinitywaltz at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


I don't know how Rick Sanchez ever reconfigured himself into appearing to be a semi-respectable national newsman after his work in Miami. I had a comedy group in South Florida in the 90s back when Sanchez was working at the local Fox station there. His hyper-delivery of nothing stories was comical. All we had to do was say, "This is Rick Sanchez" and the audience would be laughing before the jokes came. "This is Rick Sanchez on the lookout for dead people. We don't have any details, but somewhere, someone in Dade County is dead."
That was us. Or you could go with a story he actually interrupted a newscast to break in with: "A hand, a human hand, was discovered in Minnesota. More details as they come in."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2010 [65 favorites]


Technically what Sanchez is describing isn't prejudice or bigotry, it's privilege...

Sanchez:
"I'm telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah."
Yeah ... and did'ya hear 'those people' also control the banks and are always wanting another 'pound of flesh?'

Sounds like bigotry to me!
posted by ericb at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2010 [8 favorites]


I have never seen a Jon Stewart do or say a single thing that would lead me to believe he is a bigot. If anything, he's demonstrated that he's extremely evenhanded.

He doesn't even strike me as someone who is only where he is because of white privilege. Dude has worked hard as hell for a very long time to get where he is. And he's so competent at his job, it hurts.

In other words, Sanchez is talking out of his ass. What else is new?
posted by defenestration at 2:38 PM on October 1, 2010 [15 favorites]


Does he even know what a bigot is? This is coming from a guy who was amazed, absolutely amazed, that a volcano could originate in the northern hemisphere.
posted by DonnyMac at 2:38 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]


And in related news ...

Rick Sanchez And Keith Olbermann Trade Jabs About MSNBC, CNN.
posted by ericb at 2:38 PM on October 1, 2010


"Yeah ... and did'ya hear 'those people' also control the banks and are always wanting another 'pound of flesh?'"

I heard they like their "pound of flesh" in Gentile baby form.
posted by MikeMc at 2:39 PM on October 1, 2010


This is like manna from heaven.

Stewart and his writers will have to choose from so many ways to go with this. . .my money is that he gets ganged up on by the correspondents (John Oliver calling him out for being anti-Anglo).

They have all weekend to think about this. Must. Watch. Monday's show.
posted by Danf at 2:39 PM on October 1, 2010 [6 favorites]




From the transcript I can sort, of kind of give the guy the benefit of the doubt here, in that he seems to have backed himself into a position of sounding like an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist, but seriously, what kind of idiot lets themself go that way without knowing they are pulling a Gibson?
posted by Artw at 2:40 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Nice knowing you, Rick Sanchez.

Olbermann's tweet from this afternoon:
"You may not have noticed this, but Rick Sanchez is not on his own CNN show this afternoon."
posted by ericb at 2:40 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


I didn't know who Rick Sanchez was. Had I known he was a CNN anchor, I wouldn't have spent those two seconds before I clicked through taking this seriously.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:40 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


And then he got on a boat...
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on October 1, 2010


Occasionally I have been called an idiot by idiots. I lost about as much sleep over that as I imagine Jon Stewart will lose over this.
posted by Decani at 2:44 PM on October 1, 2010


He doesn't even strike me as someone who is only where he is because of white privilege. Dude has worked hard as hell for a very long time to get where he is. And he's so competent at his job, it hurts.

It doesn't work like that, of course.
posted by muddgirl at 2:44 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


The funny thing is, I don't doubt his sincerity. I generally don't. He's a blubbering fool, but he's a sincere one, at least by cable news standards.
posted by discursor at 2:46 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Yeah well, Jon Stewart's never killed anyone.

It's weird how many famous people have killed people while drunk/reckless driving.
posted by defenestration at 2:47 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]


I would like to wish I could see Rick Sanchez getting tazed off his feet, but I can't because I don't have to, cause I can watch it over and over again thanks to the internet. Stop preempting my wishes, internet!!
posted by nola at 2:47 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


He doesn't even strike me as someone who is only where he is because of white privilege.

probably misreading, but it sounds to me that you're saying white people are privileged? wtf does THAT mean?


(still furious)

posted by hermitosis at 2:48 PM on October 1, 2010 [4 favorites]


THE WEST WING
"PILOT"
WRITTEN BY: AARON SORKIN


MARY
[to Josh] It was only a matter of time with you, Josh....
That New York sense of humor was just a...

CALDWELL
Mary, there no need...

MARY
Reverend, please! They think they’re so much smarter. They think it’s smart talk.
But nobody else does.

JOSH
I’m actually from Connecticut, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, Mary...

TOBY
She meant Jewish. [A stunned silence. Everyone stares at Toby.] When she said "New
York sense of humor", she was talking about you and me.

posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:48 PM on October 1, 2010 [44 favorites]


I don't know much about Sanchez, but I will say that TDS had a segment the other day where John laid into him for a long time, for seemingly no reason. It wasn't the usual pointing out of hypocrisy or misinformation stuff, it was almost completely personal. Maybe Sanchez said something to inspire it, but it just came off as childish and mean on TDS.
posted by toekneebullard at 2:50 PM on October 1, 2010


Well, Stewart aside what's crazy about this rant is that Sanchez takes criticism of himself as criticism of all Hispanics, and turns it into thing where stewart is doing it because he's "uncomfortable" with minorites being equal to him somehow.

But that's totally absurd. The newspeople he makes fun of the most by far are Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson on Fox and Friends. At least in terms of acting stupid.
posted by delmoi at 2:50 PM on October 1, 2010


"I'm telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah."

"Sugar tits," he added.
posted by [citation needed] at 2:50 PM on October 1, 2010 [30 favorites]


"Everybody else who's not like him. Look at his show, I mean, what does he surround himself with?"

Wyatt Cenac, Larry Wilmore, Aasif Mandvi, and Olivia Munn? Yeah, that Stewart guy is a compete isolationist.

I can't believe I never saw his bigotry before now!
posted by quin at 2:52 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]


He doesn't even strike me as someone who is only where he is because of white privilege. Dude has worked hard as hell for a very long time to get where he is. And he's so competent at his job, it hurts.

It doesn't work like that, of course.

OK, muddgirl. Allow me to fix that through emphasis:

He doesn't even strike me as someone who is ONLY where he is because of white privilege. Dude has worked hard as hell for a very long time to get where he is. And he's so competent at his job, it hurts.

Or do you disagree with that too? If so, can you please elaborate?
posted by defenestration at 2:52 PM on October 1, 2010


"He doesn't even strike me as someone who is only where he is because of white privilege."

probably misreading, but it sounds to me that you're saying white people are privileged? wtf does THAT mean?


Well, there is that word 'only' there, as defenestration emphasized. My view is that, yeah, Stewart is privileged in many ways, but he's also competent and decent enough that, in a perfectly just world, it's quite possible he'd still have the job he has on merit alone.
posted by jedicus at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2010


hermitosis, it's 'cause we got an invisible knapsack. And potions that make shit invisible.
posted by defenestration at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2010


Speaking of Rick Sanchez and the Daily Show, this never gets old.
posted by peep at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


Does he even know what a bigot is?

I went over this the other day, but this reinforces my belief that there is a segment of our country that firmly believes "bigot" means "bad person."

cf. socialist, liberal, progressive, conservative, etc.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:55 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Well, Stewart aside what's crazy about this rant is that Sanchez takes criticism of himself as criticism of all Hispanics. . .

This. There's a moment in the interview where Sanchez say that maybe he's just sensitive about it because its hard to turn on the TV every night and list to a guy talk about how stupid you are, and the interviewer responds, essentially, "well, if you're saying he's 'bigoted' against stupid people, or against lazy, apathetic people who won't get off their butts, then I guess. . . "

Sanchez doesn't realize that the interviewer has just said "Jon Stewart isn't a bigot, Sanchez, he just likes calling you out on how stupid you are".
posted by The Bellman at 2:56 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]


This reminds me of the time someone called my feminism into question because of my opinion of a certain female political celebrity, and my response was just "You can't really just decide what a word means to you and then hold me responsible for meeting your definition. 'Feminism' has an actual meaning". And so does "socialist" and so does "bigot", and man, it's frustrating to watch people try to coopt words by twisting them into whatever definition suits their agenda.
posted by padraigin at 2:58 PM on October 1, 2010 [39 favorites]


He doesn't even strike me as someone who is ONLY where he is because of white privilege.
Think about the world before the ADA where buildings didn't need to have wheelchair ramps. There were lots of people who worked hard at their jobs and were successful - no one would say that they were successful only because they were not handicapped, or in other words only because they were 'abled privileged'. But for most jobs handicapped people literally couldn't get their feet in the door.
posted by delmoi at 2:59 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


Well, if he wants to take a swing at someone making underhand jabs at Hispanics it seems like he's got more than enough choices on his own network.

Though I guess with the departure of Dobbs there isn't anyone there lobbying to make the murder of mexicans legal anymore.
posted by Artw at 2:59 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


Yeah, but what the hell does that have to do with Jon Stewart?
posted by defenestration at 2:59 PM on October 1, 2010


I gotta hand it to Rick Sanchez, I was not aware dumbass was an ethnic group. Good to know
posted by slapshot57 at 3:00 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


I think Jon Stewart's commenting on Rick Sanchez was related to these fantastic incidents:
9 Meters in English
Hawaii
posted by dhens at 3:01 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


I can't see Jon devoting all that much time to this. Debating Sanchez just legitimizes him. Jon's miles above this guy...
posted by Capt. Renault at 3:01 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


And where does this leave our opinion of Mind of Mencia?
posted by Artw at 3:01 PM on October 1, 2010


A guy named Sanchez working at a network based in Atlanta, Georgia think that it's Jews that run the media.

Hokay then ...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:02 PM on October 1, 2010


Note to Sanchez: Hating people for being assholes doesn't make you a bigot.
posted by rocket88 at 3:04 PM on October 1, 2010


One day people of all races will be allowed to take jobs as stand-up comedians.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 3:05 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


Sanchez misses the point. He gets made fun of because he's in the mainstream media (which is arguably a bigger target of The Daily Show than politicians) and because he's a goofy, gregarious loudmouth who has a tendency to subject himself to ridiculous stunts on live television. Kinda like Patrick Warburton at his most-typecast. Sanchez seems to be conflating perceived racism at his workplace with his perennial appearances on TDS, and it's pretty sad. Now he'll be seen as an anti-semitic creep with a chip on his shoulder instead of as CNN's most likeable lunk.

Here are all of Sanchez's mentions on the show so you can judge for yourself if his comments were at all warranted.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:07 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


But, he claimed, Stewart "wouldn't pick on me if I didn't matter."

The word "pick" here brings to mind "booger."

Which sounds like "bigot."

(Wipes finger under desk.)
posted by chavenet at 3:08 PM on October 1, 2010


"I am a complex human being. I am not some moron."

Opinions vary.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:09 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]




Here are all of Sanchez's mentions on the show so you can judge for yourself if his comments were at all warranted.

Ad lib a tease. That's what it says right here...
posted by delmoi at 3:11 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


"I am a complex human being. I am not some moron."

I propose that one can be simultaneously complex AND a moron.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2010 [11 favorites]


@KeithOlbermann: Rick Sanchez fired by CNN

If true, it is proof of Sanchez's Jew media cabal.
posted by birdherder at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2010


He needs to go have a long drinking session with Michael Richards.
posted by Artw at 3:13 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


Modernomad calls Rick Sanchez a sub-par intellect.
posted by modernnomad at 3:13 PM on October 1, 2010


So The Daily Show piece is going to be even crazier now that he's been fired. Score!
posted by defenestration at 3:15 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


But, he claimed, Stewart "wouldn't pick on me if I didn't matter."

Highly likely that Stewart is about to stop picking on him.
posted by Ironmouth at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


I don't know - it would be crazier if he WASN'T fired. Now TDS would just be tazing a dead man. Or something.
posted by m@f at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


@KeithOlbermann: Rick Sanchez fired by CNN.

Moral: If you're going to go all crazy and attack the Jews for running your network, make sure the Jews do not actually run your network.
posted by The Bellman at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2010 [48 favorites]


@KeithOlbermann: Rick Sanchez fired by CNN.
Rick Sanchez on Fox News in 3...2...1...
posted by Thorzdad at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]


@KeithOlbermann: Rick Sanchez fired by CNN.

What makes this kind of funny is the gleeful look Keith has in the photo in the upper left of the page.

The great thing would be if Jon Stewart hired him and just let him act like he normally does as a correspondent. They wouldn't have to write anything for him... he could just go out, do stories "straight," and let the laughs fall as they may.
posted by MegoSteve at 3:22 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]


^him meaning Rick Sanchez, BTW
posted by MegoSteve at 3:22 PM on October 1, 2010


CNN seems unable or unwilling to gather together a respectable group of listeners to get a focus group on their anchors and thus discover what does and does not work.
I am not at all alone in finding Sanchez (I am ignoring the dumb remarks he made in his spat) or boring, slow to make any point, tiresome in putting on and taking off his reading glasses, assuming that what he says in a rambling manner is an insight that others had not known .
I got pissed at his remarks but felt that simply badmouthing him in a comment was insufficient so I wrote CNN and told them I would not turn to their station till he was dropped.
posted by Postroad at 3:24 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


You're not gonna have old Ricky to kick around anymore Stewart!
posted by ghharr at 3:25 PM on October 1, 2010


21 clips tagged with "Rick Sanchez" on The Daily Show's archive, 11 of which are "moments of zen." That's going back to 2005, but more of those clips are recent material.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:26 PM on October 1, 2010




@KeithOlbermann: Rick Sanchez fired by CNN.

CNN Statement:
"Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well."
posted by ericb at 3:27 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wait a sec ... his 8 p.m. show was replaced by the new Parker-Spitzer show.

Dude, CNN just replaced you with a show hosted by the disgraced former governor of New York, who resigned after a prostitution scandal. A prostitution scandal where it came to light that the prostitutes were warning each other that he could be dangerous because of his particular kinks.

And you're angry ... at Jon Stewart???
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:28 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


Now that that's that, when the fuck is CNN gonna fire Erick Erickson?
posted by defenestration at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


I heard they like their "pound of flesh" in Gentile baby form.

Alas, you've made that all-too-common error. It's not a pound of flesh; it's more like a gram. And they like it in baby genital form.

*ducks*
posted by Sys Rq at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2010 [4 favorites]


@KeithOlbermann: Rick Sanchez fired by CNN

So did his statements about Stewart have anything to do with this or is it just a hilarious coincidence?
posted by quin at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2010


WSJ confirms Rick Sanchez firing.
posted by spiderskull at 3:30 PM on October 1, 2010


I'm starting to think that Sanchez knew he was done on CNN. So he took the opportunity to let off some steam - as implied above, bashing Jon Stewart can only help his chances with Fox News.
posted by m@f at 3:32 PM on October 1, 2010 [9 favorites]


So The Daily Show piece is going to be even crazier now that he's been fired. Score!

I don't know - it would be crazier if he WASN'T fired. Now TDS would just be tazing a dead man. Or something.

Well, they could have the other correspondents start calling Jon out, but stopping short of it because they think they'll be fired. I imagine a quivering Mandvi; a despondent Cynac; an incredulous Oliver; and well, Munn is there, and I'm not really sure what she's doing, but I keep looking at her for some reason.
posted by defenestration at 3:34 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


And you're angry ... at Jon Stewart???
To be fair, that was before he got fired.
So did his statements about Stewart have anything to do with this or is it just a hilarious coincidence?
Probably more the stuff about Jews in general.
posted by delmoi at 3:34 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Moral: If you're going to go all crazy and attack the Jews for running your network, make sure the Jews do not actually run your network.

Ted Turner is Jewish?
posted by desjardins at 3:34 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Isn't flaming out on CNN like this just a way to bait Fox News into hiring you?
posted by mikeh at 3:35 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


I'm starting to think that Sanchez knew he was done on CNN. So he took the opportunity to let off some steam - as implied above, bashing Jon Stewart can only help his chances with Fox News.
Uh yeah, except if you listen to the entire thing, he calls fox news racebaters who deliberately tilt the news to make minorities look bad. So I don't think he'll be working there any time soon.
posted by delmoi at 3:35 PM on October 1, 2010


Ted Turner is Jewish?
Ted Turner hasn't run CNN for quite a while.
posted by delmoi at 3:35 PM on October 1, 2010


CNN seems unable or unwilling to gather together a respectable group of listeners to get a focus group on their anchors and thus discover what does and does not work.

Long, long ago CNN was a watchable, respected, non-flashy-all-substance broadcast news organization. Then, for some reason, they decided to take a stupid pill and try to compete with Fox and it all went downhill.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 3:38 PM on October 1, 2010 [6 favorites]


THIS IS RICK SANCHEZ WITH AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT THE LEARNED LEADERS OF ZION
posted by Avenger at 3:39 PM on October 1, 2010 [6 favorites]


Actually, the head of CNN was Jonathan Klein, but he actually left a week ago. Maybe the change in management had something to do with the fact he was fired so quickly. Apparently the new guy is Ken Jautz is taking over, and he ran HLN in the past.
posted by delmoi at 3:40 PM on October 1, 2010


Ahem.

LOLSANCHEZ YOU IDIOT!

Hello, Mr. Sanchez, my name is Rupert Murdoch and I may have an opening for you on one of my news outlets.

Fin.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 3:40 PM on October 1, 2010


*working up my outrage and pathos . . .

rrrrghhhhhhh



....


rrrrggghhhhhhh*


Sigh. It's no use.
posted by Think_Long at 3:40 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


I wish they would can everyone on that whole fucking channel and just bring CNN International to the US, so we'd have some idea what the hell is going on.
posted by Auden at 3:41 PM on October 1, 2010 [35 favorites]


Sanchez made his comments while promoting his book “Conventional Idiocy” on Pete Dominick’s Sirius radio show on Thursday afternoon.

o_O
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 3:42 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


What's amazing is how much power Stewart has over CNN. He was pretty much responsible for them taking Crossfire off the air after his appearance where he implored the hosts to "stop hurting America" and now Sanchez is fired for crossing him.
posted by MegoSteve at 3:46 PM on October 1, 2010 [12 favorites]


Wow, this was great. I went--in the course of this thread--from not knowing who Rick Sanchez is, to finding out that he's a CNN anchor, to discovering that he's a moron, and kinda feeling sorry for him for thinking he'd win a fight with Jon Stewart, to ashamedly laughing that the man got fired WHILE I WAS READING this thread.
posted by thebrokedown at 3:46 PM on October 1, 2010 [35 favorites]


Really, I heard Rick Sanchez owed his whole career to (1) Affirmative Action and (2) not looking TOO Hispanic.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:47 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wow, what a meltdown. Easy decision for CNN to make.
posted by inturnaround at 3:49 PM on October 1, 2010


You know what would be fitting punishment? They should make his name a slang term for some really gross sex thing, a la Santorum.

Oh, right...
posted by condour75 at 3:58 PM on October 1, 2010 [12 favorites]


he calls fox news racebaters who deliberately tilt the news to make minorities look bad. So I don't think he'll be working there any time soon

Are you kidding? They pride themselves on that bullshit! They'll probably give him a Mr Fox News sash.
posted by theredpen at 4:00 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


and now Sanchez is fired for crossing him.
It's hard to imagine that Stewart would even want Sanchez fired over this -- I certainly wouldn't if I was in his position. I think it had a lot more to do with his comments on the higher ups at CNN.
posted by delmoi at 4:00 PM on October 1, 2010


My sources tell me that Rick may be going to Al Jazeera TV English edition. This has not
yet been confirmed.
posted by Postroad at 4:01 PM on October 1, 2010


My sources tell me that Rick may be going to a bar to get shitfaced.
posted by PenDevil at 4:17 PM on October 1, 2010 [21 favorites]


My sources tell me that Rick may be going to Al Jazeera TV English edition. This has not
yet been confirmed.


That terrible noise that most of North America just heard was not the Yellowstone super caldera re-awakening, but merely my head exploding.
posted by loquacious at 4:18 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


Megosteve: I think it's less about crossing Stewart than it is the bit about the Jews controlling the media as he attempted to explain why he had a tougher time than Stewart did rising through the ranks.

Which strikes me as a pretty common form of bigotry. Some white guy thinks about how hard he has it with a mortgage and dead-end job, sees some non-white or non-dude person enjoying more success and resents it. Rather than checking that resentment, he spins some crazy theory* about how the non-white or non-dude person came by success illegitimately to justify the resentment. "I'll bet she slept her way to the top." "They wouldn't be here if it weren't for affirmative action." "I'd be rich too if the Jewish Conspiracy were helping me." The twist here is that Sanchez is Cuban, but it's the same narcissism: Stewart can only be successful dumping on Sanchez because the Jews are protecting Stewart.

The non-crazy version of this is, "Man, being white, straight, certain kinds of Christian, male, able-bodied, wealthy, etc. in the U.S. confers a lot of benefits that come at the expense of people who do not share at least one of those characteristics." That critique would have included Sanchez, though, and required he evaluate the contents of his own invisible backpack.
posted by Marty Marx at 4:19 PM on October 1, 2010 [10 favorites]


Alas, you've made that all-too-common error. It's not a pound of flesh; it's more like a gram. And they like it in baby genital form.

You, sir, have made the all-too-common error here. We don't even want our own foreskins, what the hell would we need with yours?
posted by griphus at 4:19 PM on October 1, 2010 [14 favorites]


As mikeh said, the first thing I thought was 'Now reporting for FOX News, I'm Rick Sanchez.'
posted by Ghidorah at 4:25 PM on October 1, 2010


The twist here is that Sanchez is Cuban

Well, that and that Stewart isn't "some non-white or non-dude person". You seem to be working rather hard to work the white-people-invisible-backpack angle here.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 4:27 PM on October 1, 2010


I almost expect/hope that Stewart starts his show with something like "Hot damn! I got me another CNN idiot fired!"

Followed by Colbert being totally on Sanchez's side, maybe even inviting Rick to his Keep Fear Alive" rally.

The Right-Wing Blogosphere should right now be pushing Erick Erickson into doing a defense of Sanchez on his little chunk of CNN. This has hardly begun to "blow up real good".
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:30 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


Is this the first time a non-white person has committed a highly public racial gaffe? All I can recall in recent times is the "nappy-headed hoes" incident, the Dog the Bounty Hunter incident, and Mel Gibson.
posted by norabarnacl3 at 4:38 PM on October 1, 2010


Combustible: Sure, Stewart is a white dude, but he's also Jewish, which Sanchez has a problem with. Consider "sees some non-white or non-dude person" to be amended to more properly read: "sees some person not sharing any of the characteristics that confer benefits at the expense of those who don't." The point is that Sanchez is doing something that is a common form of bigotry,

I've got no idea what you're on about about me working hard to work the white-people-invisible-backpack angle. I'm talking about privilege generally, and list a bunch of ways people can be privileged other than whiteness. (Or are you objecting to the very idea that being white confers privilege in the U.S.?)
posted by Marty Marx at 4:42 PM on October 1, 2010


Is it me, or is Stewart not joke-lashing this guy because of the form, and not really the content, of Sanchez's journalism? Since when is it liberal to imply that journalistis ought restrain the spectacle-crazy stirring inside themseves, and that they ought make clear sense, whatever their ultimate slant may be?
posted by rudster at 4:44 PM on October 1, 2010


Is this the first time a non-white person has committed a highly public racial gaffe?

Don't let me down, Hymietown. People forget about this one. Damn thing happened during an otherwise surprisingly successful presidential run, before later making an even better run in 1988.

Shirley Sherrod doesn't count, but that's what it looks like when it happens today.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:46 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


My sources tell me that Rick may be going to Al Jazeera TV English edition.

My sources tell me that Rick may be going to a bar to get shitfaced.


My sources tell me that everybody that Rick knows is more relevant than everybody that I know.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:46 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Hold on, everybody!

I'm supposed to have an invisible backpack? Why wasn't I informed before now?

That's awesome.
posted by vibrotronica at 4:46 PM on October 1, 2010


My sources tell me that Rick may be going to a bar to get shitfaced.

My sources tell me that that's what Rick may have already been doing when he phoned in.
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 4:49 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


My sources tell me I'm drunk right now. in fact, my sources need to bring me another cocktail.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:50 PM on October 1, 2010 [17 favorites]


My favorite part of this is imagining how a former friend of mine who's become a virulent white supremacist is parsing this. "YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT! THE JEWS CONTROL EVERYTHING! JUST LIKE THE FUCKIN' SPIC... oh. Uh. Crap. Head hurts."
posted by scody at 4:50 PM on October 1, 2010


My sources tell me I'm drunk right now. in fact, my sources need to bring me another cocktail.

Oh, and if you have to ask about your invisible backpack, other people will tell you you're already wearing one.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:51 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Whoa, totally drunk. Wheee ...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:51 PM on October 1, 2010


And of course it happens on a Friday, when The Daily Show won't be on until Monday.

Hold on, everybody!

I'm supposed to have an invisible backpack? Why wasn't I informed before now?

That's awesome.


Actually you might have two of them:

Knapsack I

Knapsack II
posted by hippybear at 4:52 PM on October 1, 2010


I'm supposed to have an invisible backpack? [...] That's awesome.

My invisible jetpack, now that was awesome. If only I remembered where I put it.
posted by Zed at 4:52 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


This is the fundamental thing that gets me about Stewart and TDS, and possibly what set Sanchez off: Stewart's whole schtick is "lol look at how sensationalized and shoddy all these other news networks are" while ignoring the fundamental reality that these networks are out for one thing: profit, and their content represents what sells the most ad time. TDS produces no original/serious content of its own; its whole thing is pointing fingers and laughing, and is really simply a lockstep part of the whole clusterfuck it holds itself out as better than: identity politics and the like -- TDS appeals to pseudo-intellectuals with superiority complexes and allow these individuals their collective circlejerk. The most significant facet of the whole affair is a) who the fuck watches this much tv to even give a shit and b) why?
posted by norabarnacl3 at 4:58 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


My invisible jetpack, now that was awesome. If only I remembered where I put it.

I think I saw it over by the invisible baby björn.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:58 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


TDS produces no original/serious content of its own

Weird ... when I watch The Daily Show, I tune to Comedy Central. What channel do you watch it on?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:00 PM on October 1, 2010 [15 favorites]


I just saw this guy Sanchez on CNN for the first time yesterday at the nail salon (bugs me that they have CNN on, but whatever). I didn't identify him as Cuban at all. In fact there was so much make up on him, I identified him as creepy-looking-corpse-make-up-guy.
posted by NoraCharles at 5:01 PM on October 1, 2010


Stewart's whole schtick is "lol look at how sensationalized and shoddy all these other news networks are" while ignoring the fundamental reality that these networks are out for one thing: profit, and their content represents what sells the most ad time.

I suspect that they aren't ignoring that fundamental reality, I suspect they're annoyed at how news networks have become just another form of entertainment designed to sell ad space, instead of performing their ostensible mission of reporting and informing. I think that fundamental reality, as you put it, is entirely the point.

TDS produces no original/serious content of its own;

Other than interviews with world leaders, ambassadors, former Presidents, authors, historians, lawmakers, philanthropists... other than that, nope, no original or serious content.

TDS appeals to pseudo-intellectuals with superiority complexes and allow these individuals their collective circlejerk.

Guilty! Oh, you might not want to stand there, it's about to get sticky in here.
posted by Errant at 5:05 PM on October 1, 2010 [14 favorites]


while ignoring the fundamental reality that these networks are out for one thing: profit, and their content represents what sells the most ad time.

I think he is painfully aware of that. The thing is, he expects better.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:05 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


This is the fundamental thing that gets me about Stewart and TDS, and possibly what set Sanchez off: Stewart's whole schtick is "lol look at how sensationalized and shoddy all these other news networks are" while ignoring the fundamental reality that these networks are out for one thing: profit, and their content represents what sells the most ad time. TDS produces no original/serious content of its own; its whole thing is pointing fingers and laughing, and is really simply a lockstep part of the whole clusterfuck it holds itself out as better than: identity politics and the like -- TDS appeals to pseudo-intellectuals with superiority complexes and allow these individuals their collective circlejerk. The most significant facet of the whole affair is a) who the fuck watches this much tv to even give a shit and b) why?

No. You are wrong.

Jon Stewart's shtick is not LOLNEWS; it's WTFNEWS. The Daily Show doesn't ignore the profit angle; it's pointed out again and again.

Did you mean to suggest that the quest profit excuses shitty non-journalism? 'Cause, like, it doesn't, you know.

Also, where's this supposed "superiority complex" to be found in a circle jerk? IT'S EQUALITY IN ACTION, DUMMY.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:05 PM on October 1, 2010 [7 favorites]


TDS appeals to pseudo-intellectuals with superiority complexes and allow these individuals their collective circlejerk.

Wow, it seems like somebody has some kind of complex, that's for sure. What's the opposite of "superiority" again?
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 5:07 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


(Or are you objecting to the very idea that being white confers privilege in the U.S.?)

Sanchez is a Cuban immigrant from a working class background and the target of his rant is (was) a middle class white guy from New Jersey. What's in his backpack of privilege in that context? He just seems like a garden variety dick with dubious opinions.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 5:08 PM on October 1, 2010


From the transcript:

RS: I wrote this book because I want people to know that I don't just sit there and read the teleprompter. Now, here’s my second point on that if I did just sit there and read…

PD: The book is written on a teleprompter, Rick.

RS: Shut up.


So good. So, so good.
posted by Amanojaku at 5:08 PM on October 1, 2010


Shirley Sherrod doesn't count, but that's what it looks like when it happens today.
Huh? Sherrod was slandered. What has that got to do with anything?
And of course it happens on a Friday, when The Daily Show won't be on until Monday.
Olberman might be pretty entertaining (Note: I hardly ever watch the show, but I imagine he'll be covering this)
I just saw this guy Sanchez on CNN for the first time yesterday at the nail salon (bugs me that they have CNN on, but whatever). I didn't identify him as Cuban at all. In fact there was so much make up on him, I identified him as creepy-looking-corpse-make-up-guy.
Yeah. I had no idea he even considered himself very "Hispanic" when I first saw him on TV.
posted by delmoi at 5:18 PM on October 1, 2010


Shirley Sherrod doesn't count

...because she was slandered. But if she did make a real gaffe that's what it looks like when it happens today.

posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:21 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Did you mean to suggest that the quest profit excuses shitty non-journalism?

Yes because otherwise it assumes that people SHOULD be listening to TV 24 hours a day and making decisions based on it. It's like day in, day out being critical of WWF wrestling because it's not "pure" or something. It's ALL shlock people, including TDS. I'll pay more attention to Stewart when he gets back into actual entertainment and not daytime news' Messiah.
posted by norabarnacl3 at 5:24 PM on October 1, 2010


Actually, Olberman mentioned he'd be talking about Sanchez later on his show.
posted by delmoi at 5:25 PM on October 1, 2010


"I'm Rick Sanchez Bitch!"
posted by Fizz at 5:27 PM on October 1, 2010


If you mix shlock and people, you get sheeple!
posted by defenestration at 5:28 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


If good 24 hours news is impossible why do we have 24 hour news?
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:32 PM on October 1, 2010


Yes because otherwise it assumes that people SHOULD be listening to TV 24 hours a day and making decisions based on it. It's like day in, day out being critical of WWF wrestling because it's not "pure" or something. It's ALL shlock people, including TDS. I'll pay more attention to Stewart when he gets back into actual entertainment and not daytime news' Messiah.
I... don't even know what this is supposed to be about. While everyone knows the WWF is fake, lots of people think what's on the news is real, and the daily show does a good job of illustrating how that's not the case.

24h/day aside, of course people want to learn about the world and make decisions based on what they find out. What the fuck? They don't watch it all day but they may watch it at any part of the day - thus the 24h news networks.
posted by delmoi at 5:34 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


@KeithOlbermann: Rick Sanchez fired by CNN

Say what you will about the misusages of the word "EPIC" but the dude getting fired mid-thread is pretty fucking epic. Like, Roots-epic. Aeneid-epic.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:37 PM on October 1, 2010 [8 favorites]


TDS could just stick with being funny about current events . . . Stewart can do that with ease. TDS could, for example, live on pointing out politicians being completely inconsistent with their own videotaped statements. That never gets old.

But, because he actually cares about news coverage, Stewart's show works hard on holding the news media accountable for constantly dropping the ball. And Sanchez dropped the ball repeatedly -- he is not only rather stupid, he didn't do the work to understand the stories he covered. TDS will call out any so called journalist who screws up. Apparently Sanchez not only wouldn't do the work, he couldn't take a hint either.

I predict Stewart won't bother with this (except perhaps to have fun with who CNN is bringing in to replace Sanchez.)

I did enjoy these comments immediately following the linked story in the post:

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky. Don't pick fights with someone who will demolish you.

Lucky Jon. Material just keeps flowing his way.

Poor America. The material writes itself.

rick...you can put that paint can down now that you're in the corner

posted by bearwife at 5:41 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


"You're Fired."
posted by wallstreet1929 at 5:44 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


The direct link is down to Pete Dominic's page, but here's a fun quote:
"When Pete suggested Jews (such as Stewart) have at least some sense of what it’s like to be an oppressed minority, Sanchez seemed to make the claim that Jews run CNN and the news business in general and that Stewart thus did not in fact know what it was like to feel the sting of prejudice.

“Yeah,” Sanchez snickered sarcastically at the idea that Jews are as much minorities as Latinos in the US.

Very powerless people… [snickers] He’s such a minority, I mean, you know [sarcastically]… Please, what are you kidding? … I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they — the people in this country who are Jewish — are an oppressed minority? Yeah. [sarcastically]"
Wow.
posted by zarq at 5:46 PM on October 1, 2010


TDS produces no original/serious content of its own; its whole thing is pointing fingers and laughing

They also serve who point and laugh. Because sometimes it's very important to point and laugh at things that deserve it.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 5:52 PM on October 1, 2010 [6 favorites]


If good 24 hours news is impossible why do we have 24 hour news?

Good question. It might be useful if they used those 24 hours to go into depth on stories, to cover all parts of the world, all types of news. Instead they mostly use the 24 hours to repeat the same shit over and over and over, or waste half a day bitching with pundits waiting for some big story to "break", or cram the schedule full of filler in the form of "opinion".

I mean, I have access to some 24-hour radio news networks (ie. NewsRadio in Australia, BBC World Service)...they could take that format and make it into TV and it would be professional and useful. Instead, they fill it with talentless "talent", garish colours, flashy graphics, and repetitionrepetitionrepetition.

24h/day aside, of course people want to learn about the world and make decisions based on what they find out.

Thank fuck for the internet, then.
posted by Jimbob at 5:58 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


Actually if you listen to the whole interview, Sanchez didn't come off that badly. He just jumbled up his words and ended up sounding really anti-semetic. I think what he meant to say was:

1) There is racism at networks, and white people tend to look down on minorities. and
2) Jews 'don't count" as minorities, so someone is Jewish would be just as racist as any other WASP

I think it was a dumb thing to say, especially about John Stewart, but the way he expressed it was just horrible and he made himself sound like an anti-semite.
posted by delmoi at 6:01 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Hey delmio. You always write John Stewart. Like, every single time. What's up with that?
posted by defenestration at 6:04 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


It's a pity. His grievance with bigotry is legitimate, and his attempt to explain seemed to be going somewhere. His first example was fair - the boss who saw him as more suited to reporting to anchors instead of being an anchor. (Normally I'd say the boss was clearly correct, 'cos Rick just isn't a great anchor, but in context of the quality of other US anchors, that point falls completely flat. Rick is up the job, unfortunately).

There was no way to know the boss has ethnic stereotypes affecting his judgement, but that's the insidiousness that Rick was trying to explain; while it's clear from the big picture that you're facing bigotry, there is never a smoking gun in any specific instance, just a massive statistical deviation, and you get a feel for when it is happening, but you can't really ever act without a smoking gun.

Then he lets a personal peeve derail his point onto Steward and lays waste to his own point and job.
posted by -harlequin- at 6:05 PM on October 1, 2010


He just jumbled up his words

He's actually anti-semantic.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 6:07 PM on October 1, 2010 [35 favorites]


Hey delmio. You always write John Stewart. Like, every single time. What's up with that?
uh, oops
posted by delmoi at 6:07 PM on October 1, 2010


delmoi: I had no idea he even considered himself very "Hispanic" when I first saw him on TV.

What the fuck is this supposed to mean? "He's not very brown, so he can't possibly identify with his ethnicity."
posted by joedan at 6:09 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


I've never heard of Rick Sanchez. I think this means I win.
posted by neuron at 6:21 PM on October 1, 2010 [4 favorites]


The real problem: Rick always jumbles things up when he babbles on TV.
posted by Postroad at 6:22 PM on October 1, 2010


The real problem: Rick always jumbles things up when he babbles on TV.

Solution: Stop letting Rick babble on TV.

OH HEY PROBLEM SOLVED YOU GUYS WHO WANTS NACHOS
posted by palomar at 6:28 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


Ladies and gentleman, I present the Palin/Sanchez ticket.
posted by malocchio at 6:28 PM on October 1, 2010


What the fuck is this supposed to mean? "He's not very brown, so he can't possibly identify with his ethnicity."
No, it's that I wouldn't have expected him to suffer much discrimination because of it.
posted by delmoi at 6:33 PM on October 1, 2010


Rick Sanchez: “You watch yourself on his show every day and all they ever do is call you stupid.”

No they don't, they just play VT!
posted by opsin at 6:35 PM on October 1, 2010


Is anybody besides me sick of this High Verbal SAT WWF playground bullshit disguising itself at as debate?
posted by jonmc at 6:39 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Sanchez has actually committed journalism a few times in the last year or so on CNN. I think it was accidental.
posted by unSane at 6:43 PM on October 1, 2010


UPDATE: CBC National News just reported Sanchez has been fired by CNN over this.
posted by Mike D at 6:46 PM on October 1, 2010


UPPER Update
posted by Mike D at 6:48 PM on October 1, 2010


Whoever wrote that TDS doesn't create any content up thread is wrong.

The jokes, usually do not write themselves so easily, in this case with this Rick Sanchez blowhard all they have to do is have a graphic of this goofball over Stewarts shoulder and just let him sit there looking shocked and speechless, and it will be so funny.

Of course they will also probably give Sanchez a teary good bye with all the pieces about him over the years.

It would be a coup if they can get Sanchez on and bury the ax. That would be classy and maybe help Sanchez not seem like such a humorless uptight schmuck.

I mean, really what a dumbass, from what I saw the teasing he got from TDS and Stewart was harmless fun and probably elevated his profile way more than it ever should've been...
posted by Skygazer at 6:51 PM on October 1, 2010


TDS produces no original/serious content of its own; its whole thing is pointing fingers and laughing

Actually not true. Stewart often does pretty serious interviews with major world leaders, many times extending beyond the show's half-hour format and having to post the full interview online so the record will be clear and they won't have to rely on editing to make it fit.

Just in the month of September 2010, alongside his other more standard interviews, he has had King Abdulla II of Jordan speaking on Middle East peace, Jimmy Carter reflecting on his presidency and parallels that can be drawn with today, Bill Clinton addressing economic issues, and Tony Blair making clear his stance on global extremism.

Not to mention the court jester truth telling that the show regularly does about the polarization of issues within our modern culture, lately personified by Aasif Mandvi and John Oliver often wearing slogan-bearing t-shirts, summing "both sides" of an obviously grey-area argument, and making excellent points about how extremism is causing the country to divide and talk beyond each other.

Yes, a certain amount of TDS is based in mocking what others are doing, but if you're convinced that is ALL they do, then you're obviously not actually watching the show.
posted by hippybear at 7:02 PM on October 1, 2010 [20 favorites]


lately personified by Aasif Mandvi and John Oliver often wearing slogan-bearing t-shirts

I'm pretty sure Wyatt Cenac is in there too. (It started as N-word vs. R-word, no?)
posted by Sys Rq at 7:26 PM on October 1, 2010


Sanchez is a Cuban immigrant from a working class background and the target of his rant is (was) a middle class white guy from New Jersey. What's in his backpack of privilege in that context? He just seems like a garden variety dick with dubious opinions.

Well, he's so unaware of how he has benefited from not being subject to antisemitism that he denies Jewish people are discriminated against in any meaningful way in the U.S.: "[T]o imply that somehow they — the people in this country who are Jewish — are an oppressed minority? Yeah. [sarcastically]" and "I can't see somebody not getting a job somewhere because they're Jewish.". This is made worse by the fact that his evidence for this claim is itself an antisemitic conspiracy theory: that the Jews control the media.

So there's that.
posted by Marty Marx at 7:35 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wait...Rick Sanchez is Hispanic?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:55 PM on October 1, 2010


The interview is actually pretty amazing - Sanchez is wildly unprofessional throughout. That's the problem, not anti-semitism.
posted by Mid at 8:14 PM on October 1, 2010


Since I stopped watching TV because of the way the news coverage of the first Gulf War was twisted, I don't know anything about Rick Sanchez, but I really enjoyed the narrative arc of this thread.

I wonder what will happen next...
posted by warbaby at 8:20 PM on October 1, 2010


Wait...Rick Sanchez is Hispanic?
posted by TheWhiteSkull


Not anymore, they fired him.
posted by haveanicesummer at 8:22 PM on October 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


I'm pretty sure Wyatt Cenac is in there too. (It started as N-word vs. R-word, no?)
I think it started with "Team Muhammad" (Mandvi) vs "Team Jesus" (Cenac)
posted by delmoi at 8:38 PM on October 1, 2010


Stone Phillips was gay?!? Zapp Brannigan was a Hindu?!?!
posted by peppito at 8:55 PM on October 1, 2010


Fantastic. Now if someone can trick Nancy Grace into doing something similar, we'll be making some real progress here.
posted by xbonesgt at 9:06 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


Ah, Rick Sanchez was a Ron Burgandy? of sorts.
posted by peppito at 9:42 PM on October 1, 2010


Sanchez is a white Hispanic. Stewart is a white Jew. This is not the controversy you're looking for.
posted by Eideteker at 9:59 PM on October 1, 2010


I don't know anything about Rick Sanchez, but I really enjoyed the narrative arc of this thread. I wonder what will happen next...

Turns out he was a ghost all along.
posted by MegoSteve at 9:59 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


This is seriously the feel-good internet thread of my week. :)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:21 PM on October 1, 2010


This story is just fabulous. I honestly find CNN far more offensive than FOX. It's much easier to accept that the TV viewing public is as willfully biased as FOX assumes them to be than it is to accept that they are as stupid as CNN assumes them to be.

I've always been mistrustful of cable news but these days, when I find myself involuntarily exposed to it, like at the gym or the airport, I look at people like Sanchez/Wolf Blitzer/Robin Meade and all I see are clowns. There is literally no shred of integrity. And were it not for The Daily Show, I might never have realized this is something worth being outraged over.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:26 PM on October 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


It's weird how many famous people have killed people while drunk/reckless driving.

It's not really weird at all. Cars are extremely dangerous and kill shitloads of people all the time. But we love cars. So, don't worry about it.

Also, Rick who?
posted by fartknocker at 10:33 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


DS appeals to pseudo-intellectuals with superiority complexes and allow these individuals their collective circlejerk.

I'm sure this is just my pseudo-intellectualism talking here, but I think that The Daily Show is, though funny, an often deadly serious program. To my unbelievably pretentious mind, it's the most lucid (and more often than not, fair) thing going in media criticism. Now: if you'll excuse me, I'm going to return to my Franzen reading group to give this week's host a backhanded wrister.
posted by kosem at 10:33 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


GUYS THEY FIRED RICK SANCHEZ

er, CNN fired RS like 7 hours ago
posted by flotson at 10:36 PM on October 1, 2010


Ok, I'm a fan of Stewart's and I think it's fine and completely appropriate that he's picked on Sanchez, but when I listen to this, it's the dominic guy who brought up Stewart's being Jewish and brought that into the conversation. "Bigot" is completely the wrong word to use and the anti Semitic stuff is insane, but I do think there's a point he's trying to make here that's legitimate, but it's really diminished by his inability to articulate his thoughts and because he's really incensed by Jon Stewart's picking on him on TDS.

However, I think the dirty Sanchez jokes are completely inappropriate in this thread and completely disgusting.
posted by sweetkid at 10:42 PM on October 1, 2010


"I honestly find CNN far more offensive than FOX."

Amen. As a lib, the way CNN normalizes Republican crazy is so fucking disgusting. At least FOX is consistent.
posted by bardic at 11:00 PM on October 1, 2010


His first example was fair - the boss who saw him as more suited to reporting to anchors instead of being an anchor.

Here's the quote, Sanchez describing what he was told by top brass as CNN:

"You know what, I don't want you anchoring any more. I see you more as a reporter. I see you more as a John Quiñones."

If Sanchez wasn't so dense, he may have realized that wasn't a racial/class judgement, but a qualitative one.

I think his boss was really saying: "Sanchez, you're no anchor. Your particular brand of arrogant, patronizing, pandering, anti-intellectual, stunt-reporting is better suited to the type of non-journalism practiced by guys like (that slimeball) John Quiñones."

At least, that's how I read it.
posted by BoatMeme at 11:07 PM on October 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


You disappoint me, Metafilter.
posted by anigbrowl at 11:17 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


I've gotta just chime in here and say that, while I understand that the whole "Jew-controlled anything" thing is anti-semitic and all, I often work in a major network newsroom where the Jewish stage manager and the Jewish director are constantly joking around with the executive producers and the line producers, maybe 90% of whom are also Jewish, about how "Jews control the media....if they only knew!" as the writers (2/3 Jewish) behind them chuckle and pretend to write related copy. On headset? You can hear the jokes continue in the control room as well, where the tech director (only half Jewish) and the lighting director (fully Jewish) make "rusha homa" cracks while checking the clock.

The conspiracy aspects often attributed to Jews and the media are ridiculous hogwash and Sanchez is a hopeless, clueless douchenozzle, but damn if we don't have a tough time controlling all the tumbleweed in the studio on Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays, and there's never a shortage of people available to work Xmas day....
posted by nevercalm at 11:21 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


"You know what, I don't want you anchoring any more. I see you more as a reporter. I see you more as a John Quiñones."

If Sanchez wasn't so dense, he may have realized that wasn't a racial/class judgement, but a qualitative one.


Yes, and it's just a total coincidence that the comparison happened to involve another Latino reporter. It's like, if I felt I had to criticize the way President Obama uses the media to articulate his political thoughts and mentioned Al Sharpton by way of comparison, that would be a total coincidence. The fact that someone might, even for a moment, consider any other interpretation of my remarks would say a great deal about who really has racist thoughts. Because if someone wasn't already a racist, that someone wouldn't be hearing a racist undertone in a perfectly innocent remark, amirite?

/grar
posted by anigbrowl at 11:30 PM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Because if someone wasn't already a racist, that someone wouldn't be hearing a racist undertone in a perfectly innocent remark, amirite?

I didn't mean to imply that Sanchez was racist because that's what he was perceiving from his boss.

I meant to imply that Rick Sanchez sucks, and in almost exactly the same way that John Quiñones sucks.

It is fully possible, I admit, that his boss' remark could have been (un)intentionally racially motivated.

I just find the comparison between Rick Sanchez and John Quiñones particularly apt, I guess, and having seen Sanchez at work, it is not difficult to imagine that comparison flying straight over his head into the æther.
posted by BoatMeme at 12:02 AM on October 2, 2010


Ok, I'm a fan of Stewart's and I think it's fine and completely appropriate that he's picked on Sanchez, but when I listen to this, it's the dominic guy who brought up Stewart's being Jewish and brought that into the conversation. "Bigot" is completely the wrong word to use and the anti Semitic stuff is insane, but I do think there's a point he's trying to make here that's legitimate, but it's really diminished by his inability to articulate his thoughts and because he's really incensed by Jon Stewart's picking on him on TDS.
Here's the thing. If he'd just said Stewart was a bigot, that would be one thing. People would be talking about it. It would have ginned up some controversy and ratings for both shows.

But with the Jewish stuff, I mean, the guy was walking through a rhetorical minefield. And if he had half a brain he would have realized it and tread lightly. But he didn't, and... he didn't.
posted by delmoi at 12:26 AM on October 2, 2010


But with the Jewish stuff, I mean, the guy was walking through a rhetorical minefield. And if he had half a brain he would have realized it and tread lightly. But he didn't, and... he didn't.

Agreed. The firing may not have been based primarily on the Jewish stuff, but on the fact that this is a media figure who should have known better, but didn't. It's like when he called Obama the "cotton-pickin' President." Maybe this was just the last straw. An anchor this stupid cannot possibly be a trusted news source.
posted by zerbinetta at 12:36 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]




Is this the first time a non-white person has committed a highly public racial gaffe?

Umm, Rick Sanchez looks pretty white to me. Many Latinos are. To quote the Census FAQ, "People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino or Spanish may be of any race."
posted by msalt at 1:31 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


This is the fundamental thing that gets me about Stewart and TDS, and possibly what set Sanchez off: Stewart's whole schtick is "lol look at how sensationalized and shoddy all these other news networks are" while ignoring the fundamental reality that these networks are out for one thing: profit, and their content represents what sells the most ad time. TDS produces no original/serious content of its own; its whole thing is pointing fingers and laughing, and is really simply a lockstep part of the whole clusterfuck it holds itself out as better than: identity politics and the like -- TDS appeals to pseudo-intellectuals with superiority complexes and allow these individuals their collective circlejerk. The most significant facet of the whole affair is a) who the fuck watches this much tv to even give a shit and b) why?

Yeah, when I don't give a shit about something, I tend not to bother reading threads or commenting on that subject. So I'm guessing that the answer to question a.) is You.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:35 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm glad this dolt was fired. Not because he insulted Stewart, but because he deliberately and grossly misused a word. Bigotry is not merely "attacking everyone you disagree with".

Sanchez was playing the all-too-common, predominantly right-wing game of grossly misappropriating words in order to slur unjustly. I hate those bastards and no fate is too dire for them. He'll be right at home at Fox.
posted by Decani at 3:17 AM on October 2, 2010


The conspiracy aspects often attributed to Jews and the media are ridiculous hogwash and Sanchez is a hopeless, clueless douchenozzle, but damn if we don't have a tough time controlling all the tumbleweed in the studio on Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays, and there's never a shortage of people available to work Xmas day....
posted by nevercalm at 7:21 AM on October 2


I sympathise. I mean, I've always worked in places that are white-Protestant-controlled and it sucks! Christmas is a nightmare; as are Good Friday and Easter Monday. Yet there's never a shortage of people to work on Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays! I'm not saying it's a white Protestant conspiracy or anything but, you know...
posted by Decani at 3:27 AM on October 2, 2010 [5 favorites]


I don't think that Fox News is going to touch this guy with a ten-foot pole, and he's way too trashy for Al Jazeera English.

Say Hi to the new US correspondent for Hugo Chávez' Telesur...
posted by Skeptic at 3:56 AM on October 2, 2010


I'm sad that he got fired. I hate the way people bumble on live tv and instantly have to disappear forever. It's pretty clear what he meant to say which isn't nearly as bad as what he actually said, and unless someone can provide examples where this is a pattern of his thoughts in general then the best thing would be to disagree with him until he does it again.

Plus it's all about the sort of bigotry and what is tolerably edgy - Lou Dobbs seemed to hang around for a long long time spouting his dickish opinions on immigrants. No tv channel is so PC that one comment can't stand if the presenter is popular or controversial enough. But if they want to prove something they can afford to dump individual mediocre presenters as a sort of token sacrifice.

If he's said this sort of thing twice, I withdraw the above and no longer give a fuck.
posted by shinybaum at 4:13 AM on October 2, 2010


SANCHEZ LIKE FOOTBALL
posted by Scoo at 4:25 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I almost feel bad for Sanchez, too. He probably knows full well how many feet are in 9 meters, but CNN's target audience has a 9th-grade education so it's his *job* to ask. If he stuck to his point that he's just doing his job and he doesn't have amount of freedom that someone like Stewart has, but that doesn't mean he can't not work ...he could've made a point appealing to an 'immigrant work ethic' or something. But he didn't, and he failed at his primary job:not to sound smart, but to be in control of what he is saying at all times.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 4:50 AM on October 2, 2010


I'm sad that he got fired. I hate the way people bumble on live tv and instantly have to disappear forever.

I'm sympathetic to your basic point of PC over-sensitivity, though I'm not at all sad to see him lose his job.

I think it says an awful lot about CNN that it took this incident to fire the guy. Hell, it says way more about CNN that they hired him in the first place.

He's a terrible journalist / anchor / news presenter. I wasn't even aware of his specific political beliefs before this gaffe. I only knew he was extremely unselfconscious and anti-intellectual.
posted by BoatMeme at 5:17 AM on October 2, 2010


Sanchez is/was pretty much the definition of a doofus. I referred to him above as committing journalism once by accident, and what I was remembering was him ambushing David Vitter, which he did very memorably. Sanchez was at his most interesting when he got on his high horse about something. It was usually a train wreck but in this case... well, watch.
posted by unSane at 5:22 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


TDS produces no original/serious content of its own; its whole thing is pointing fingers and laughing

It was much better at the beginning of Stewart's tenure, when he was the guy fawning over the second lead from Felicity.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:44 AM on October 2, 2010


...someone is Jewish would be just as racist as any other WASP

delmoi, I think you should research what the 'P' in WASP stands for.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:01 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Maybe Sanchez can hook up on a show with Tucker Carlson. You know, Victims of Jon Stewart!
posted by etaoin at 7:30 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I almost feel bad for Sanchez, too. He probably knows full well how many feet are in 9 meters, but CNN's target audience has a 9th-grade education so it's his *job* to ask.

Oh. Come. On.

I get that Americans are wedded to their idiosyncratic system of weights and measures, but the fact is he didn't know that 9 metres is about 30 feet. He probably doesn't know that an inch is about 25 millimetres, or that 6 inches is roughly 15 centimetres, or that a yard is about 90 centimetres, or that a mile is about 1.6 kilometres. If he knew, then when the guy said "9 metres", Sanchez would have interjected "about 30 feet" like a professional instead of petulantly asking for a translation LIKE A FUCKING MORON.

Also, how do you explain his mistaking the Galápagos Islands for Hawaii? Is this something else done for the benefit of viewers?
posted by Ritchie at 7:41 AM on October 2, 2010 [4 favorites]


Rick Sanchez is just angry because he really is a clueless moron working for a network that has degenerated over the years so that I can barely tell the difference between it and E! HOLLYWOOD; constantly running inane and irrelevant shock stories and squeezing in only a fact or two here and there in between bouts of insipid commentary by the dumbest newsanchors ever to have the job. And don't get me started on their so-called analysts, who are nearly always wrong and yet get paid for their blabbering (unlike me who blabbers his dumb opinions for free). He's probably upset and filled with self-hatred over having slowly realized that he's wasted years of his life at a completely worthless and profession filled with morons racing to the bottom. So who could blame him for his little outburst?
posted by r_nebblesworthII at 7:50 AM on October 2, 2010


delmoi, I think you should research what the 'P' in WASP stands for.
I know what "WASP" stands for.
posted by delmoi at 8:23 AM on October 2, 2010


Regarding Galapagos, he's clearly clueless.

But yes, in the case of measurement, that's exactly what most hosts or anchors do. Even if they know the answer, you *ask* the expert for a translation, instead of just spouting it off yourself. That's how a good interviewer works. Wait, did I just call Rick Sanchez a good interviewer? Uh, I didn't mean that.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 8:38 AM on October 2, 2010


But yes, in the case of measurement, that's exactly what most hosts or anchors do.

No, it's not. Sanchez said 'What's that in English?' A real reporter would add, to clarify for their audience, "That's about 30 feet, right?" or something to that effect.

If your audience is dumb you don't lower yourself to their level, you clarify so they might understand.
posted by graventy at 9:05 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I read the New York Times story on Sanchez' firing. It didn't look like he said anything career-destroying, just his-CNN-job-destroying. Also, I did not know that John Stewart is Jewish. Also, I do not see much anti-Hispanic prejudice or anti-Jewish prejudice in my city, neighborhood, &c.

Having an Hispanic white guy and a Jewish white guy engaged in a public dispute over who is the more underprivileged minority is pretty freaking stupid.

Dress for success! Wear a white penis!
posted by bukvich at 9:45 AM on October 2, 2010


Having an Hispanic white guy and a Jewish white guy engaged in a public dispute over who is the more underprivileged minority is pretty freaking stupid.
Jon didn't engage in anything, the interviewer brought it up to make a point about
posted by delmoi at 9:56 AM on October 2, 2010


delmoi, I think you should research what the 'P' in WASP stands for.

I always thought it stood for ptyalist
posted by found missing at 9:58 AM on October 2, 2010


I know what "WASP" stands for.

And it stands for P.A.R.T.Y.!
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:02 AM on October 2, 2010


WASP Tea Partay.
posted by ericb at 10:41 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


but damn if we don't have a tough time controlling all the tumbleweed in the studio on Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays, and there's never a shortage of people available to work Xmas day....

Right. And most sane people can grasp that there may be lots of Jews who work in the media industry, but that's different from The Jews controlling The Media.
posted by lullaby at 11:00 AM on October 2, 2010


Right. And most sane people can grasp that there may be lots of Jews who work in the media industry, but that's different from The Jews controlling The Media.


Exactly. Maybe, just maybe, there was a time when antisemitism was more accepted, and jews couldn't get jobs in certain fields, so they tended to be overly represented in the fields in which they could get jobs. Rick Sanchez seems to not know this or not care.
posted by wittgenstein at 11:17 AM on October 2, 2010




Right. And most sane people can grasp that there may be lots of Jews who work in the media industry, but that's different from The Jews controlling The Media.

Turns out that the "most" qualifying your "sane people" is surprisingly small.

I'll say this: I bought into the "The US isn't ready for a black president" trope, mostly because I was constantly hearing assholic, strangely racist comments from unexpected friends and relatives. But never in my wildest imaginings did I ever think about just how badly it would knock so many people off the rails. It's frightening how large the totally ignorant, racist percentage of this country that's reared up since November 2008 actually is. I know I've been living in NYC, but really, flyover states?

And I mean, I knew that Rick Sanchez was a moron....5 minutes watching him showed that. But to be an anti-Semite moron, as a Hispanic guy, in 2010 USA??? I triple-took my double-take.
posted by nevercalm at 11:49 AM on October 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Having an Hispanic white guy and a Jewish white guy engaged in a public dispute over who is the more underprivileged minority is pretty freaking stupid.

Jon didn't engage in anything, the interviewer brought it up to make a point about


My comment did not clarify itself in my mind until after I posted it. The New York Times did not portray Sanchez' remarks as anti-Jew to me; to me it sounded like he was saying Jews do not have it as bad as Hispanics. That is pretty freaking stupid for a male Hispanic to say. They portrayed the interviewer as disputing it. Maybe there is some inference in my logic that the interviewer was Jewish? He was a white male, right?

In any case Sanchez got gotcha'd pretty good; since he is (was and presumably soon will be again) employed doing television interviews and knows all the inside baseball moves of a well-executed gotcha, that is pretty damn funny.
posted by bukvich at 12:11 PM on October 2, 2010


Maybe there is some inference in my logic that the interviewer was Jewish? He was a white male, right?

Yes, he said he was a white male.

There's no "gotcha" when all of it was offered by Sanchez. The interviewer tried to have him pull back the rant, but Sanchez kept going. I recommend listening to it. The transcript alone doesn't give you the tone of conversation. It's pretty embarrassing.
posted by zerbinetta at 12:35 PM on October 2, 2010


I think Rick Sanchez has had a few good moments on CNN. His conversation with Lou Dobbs about racism and illegal immigration was, while not journalism, quite interesting and actually sort of made me like the guy a bit better. And he did also do a good job with Marsha Blackburn (TYT, the CNN clip starts about 15 seconds in).

He has, during his tenure at CNN, been big on pointing out racism. And I respect that -- for instance, here he prefaces a story about birthers by showing viewers a copy of the president's birth certificate. His bluster serves him well occasionally.

That doesn't excuse his behavior (a) on the radio yesterday or (b) after the Chilean earthquake/during the Hawaiian tsunami warning. He's one of the reasons I turned off CNN pretty much for good, though I do still tune in when there's breaking news, because at times it seems the network isn't so much "the most trusted name in news" as it is "the only name in news."

The reason Sanchez has appeared on Stewart's "Moment of Zen" so many times is that his on-air mistakes don't require any comment. A fifteen-second clip of him talking is hilarious on its own.

In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Bill Hurt's character in Broadcast News: starting out life with a lot of disadvantages, but working hard to be successful. Unfortunately, there's a certain cluelessness about what is news, or journalism, or whether your opinion is what people are looking for when there's a breaking story. In the movie, eventually Hurt's character realizes that he lacks good news judgment but still has an intrinsic quality as a great presenter when he edits himself properly. I think Sanchez needs to come to a similar realization (except that he's not a great presenter, though he is a skilled interviewer).

I do hope that this incident doesn't mean his career is over. I hope he learns a lesson about how carefully a news presenter needs to manage his public profile, and I'm sure we'll hear a very sincere apology out of him by the end of the weekend. After he's sobered up from going on a nice solid bender -- in private, where he can't say anything stupid.
posted by brina at 12:41 PM on October 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


Did Sanchez actually call Dobbs on his racism? That would actually raise my respect for him considerably.
posted by Artw at 1:29 PM on October 2, 2010


Apropos: (Youtube)
posted by unigolyn at 2:23 PM on October 2, 2010


Oh and the above is NSFW.
posted by unigolyn at 2:23 PM on October 2, 2010


It's frightening how large the totally ignorant, racist percentage of this country that's reared up since November 2008 actually is. I know I've been living in NYC, but really, flyover states?
Excuse me but Carl Paladino? The guy's polling 40% in the NY govoners race after emailing image macros of black people getting run down by an airplane with the caption "Run Niggers Run." Last I checked your town was the one that was flipping it's shit over a mosque. And Christie O'Donnel is running in Conneticut, not Minnesota.

So spare me this bullshit.
posted by delmoi at 3:08 PM on October 2, 2010 [3 favorites]


And Christie O'Donnel is running in Conneticut, not Minnesota.

Delaware, actually.
posted by zerbinetta at 3:12 PM on October 2, 2010


Delaware, actually.

Delaware, Connecticut...what's the difference, you're all just a bunch of East Coast elitists.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 3:23 PM on October 2, 2010


Guilty.
posted by zerbinetta at 3:30 PM on October 2, 2010




DAG NABBIT I MISSED THE DRUNK THREAD
posted by tehloki at 11:28 PM on October 2, 2010


AGAIN
posted by tehloki at 11:28 PM on October 2, 2010


I know what "WASP" stands for.

Then you consider Judaism to be a Protestant sect?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:31 AM on October 3, 2010




Haha! I was about to say, all shocked 'Rick Sanchez is hispanic?' And then I saw his last name in someone's post. I can't decide if I should be ashamed I didn't realize it earlier, or if I should be impressed that his 'good ol' boy' impression is that good.
posted by LD Feral at 7:08 AM on October 3, 2010


Excuse me but Carl Paladino? The guy's polling 40% in the NY govoners race after emailing image macros of black people getting run down by an airplane with the caption "Run Niggers Run."

That same poll found NYC favoring Cuomo 70-18%.

Last I checked your town was the one that was flipping it's shit over a mosque.

Nah, it's assholes from Wassilla and other out of towners who are freaking out. I have yet to run into anyone in NYC who gives a shit. We all know and interact with Muslims all day every day, and we know they're not the boogeyman.

And Christie O'Donnel is running in Conneticut, not Minnesota.

Christine, actually. And I saw upthread that someone else pointed out the other problem.

So spare me this bullshit.

Whatever. Nice attitude.
posted by nevercalm at 10:14 AM on October 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


Jon Stewart Breaks Silence, Jokes About Rick Sanchez Firing.

Was Jon Stewart really maintaining a long-held policy of silence on this issue? I mean, he said this like two days later. How many long is one allowed to not make a public comment about something for it to be considered maintaining a silence? Did he have to refrain from saying anything to his friends and colleagues for this to be considered a silence?

And Christie O'Donnel is running in Conneticut, not Minnesota.

Not to pick nits, but she's running in Delaware, not Connecticut. Connecticut can be blamed for Lieberman and that crazy wrestling lady who is running this year, but they're not responsible for the non-masturbating hobbit loving former witch.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:30 PM on October 4, 2010


METAFILTER's whole schtick is "lol look at how sensationalized and shoddy all these other news networks people are" TDS METAFILTER produces no original/serious content of its own; its whole thing is pointing fingers and laughing, and is really simply a lockstep part of the whole clusterfuck country it holds itself out as better than: identity politics and the like -- TDS METAFILTER appeals to pseudo-intellectuals with superiority complexes and allow these individuals their collective circlejerk
posted by Student of Man at 4:28 AM on October 5, 2010


Ha ha.
posted by muddgirl at 7:21 AM on October 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Christopher Hitchens comments on Sanchez in an article delicately titled "Is it so offensive to note the effectiveness of the Jewish lobby?" (Answer: he doesn't think so). Andrew Sullivan comments on Hitchen's article by asking "if calling a very powerful lobby a very powerful lobby is inherently anti-Semitic when we're talking about the pro-Israel lobby, then how on earth can we accurately report what's going on?"

So now it's all clear. Rick Sanchez was fired for criticising Israel.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:04 PM on October 7, 2010




Rick Sanchez was fired for criticising Israel.

No, he wasn't. Not even if Christopher Hitchens and Andrew Sullivan say so. They want to talk about the Jewish political lobby, which is certainly pro-Israel. Sanchez wants to say that Jon Stewart is an establishment bigot with the power of the majority. When confronted, he then needs to prove that Jews are not a minority, which he equates of his own volition to powerlessness. Then he invoked the spectre of Jewish power in the form of network and media control to demonstrate that Jews have power and therefore they are not, by his definition, a minority, because people who have power can't be from minority.

This is all incredibly stupid, especially considering that Sanchez considers himself a minority despite being a mainstream news anchor on a major network, so his definition excludes himself. But it isn't discussing the nature of Jewish political influence, it isn't criticizing Israel, and it doesn't really have anything to do with Israel, so take your pet hobby-horse elsewhere.
posted by Errant at 12:02 PM on October 8, 2010


I think Joe in Australia was being a bit dry.
posted by muddgirl at 12:15 PM on October 8, 2010 [1 favorite]


If you were, Joe in Australia, then my sincere apologies for intemperance.
posted by Errant at 12:20 PM on October 8, 2010


Nah, it's assholes from Wassilla and other out of towners who are freaking out.

NYC has it's very own rotten festering hole of a Wassilla.

It's called Staten Island.

I know, because I grew up there.
posted by Skygazer at 12:32 PM on October 8, 2010


That's OK, Errant. Sarcasm doesn't come across well via text. Sanchez, as you note, was venting about his workplace peers and superiors and I'm glad to see that he admits he made a mistake. Hitchens' article is less excusable; he used Sanchez as an excuse for a rant about how You Mustn't Mention The Israel Lobby when it's quite obvious that this had nothing to do with what Sanchez was upset about. And Andrew Sullivan preemptively leapt to Hitchens' defense, once again without stopping to consider whether his rant had had anything to do with Sanchez's complaint. I just thought it was funny that two such well-known pundits were writing with such little insight.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:57 AM on October 9, 2010


It's a testament to the blind spots of many people, including the two pundits named, that they can't hear "Jews with power" without immediately leaping to "pro-Israel". You describe it as little insight, but I suspect that insight was not their goal; preaching to their respective choirs about the dark influence which must not be named is all they care about.
posted by Errant at 6:56 PM on October 10, 2010


preaching to their respective choirs about the dark influence which must not be named is all they care about.

Indeed, Hitchens and Sullivan never write about anything else. week after week, year after year. You'd think they were obsessive anti-semites.

On the other hand, Muzzlewatch does a good job of demonstrating how pro-Israel organizations work to silence any anti-occupation voices (including those within the Jewish community). A key part of their strategy is to brand anyone who talks about the pro-occupation lobby as anti-semitic.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 11:44 PM on October 10, 2010


I've just been at a convention for a vast media conspiracy run by Jews, and it was fucking awesome.

sadly the media involved here was comics, so it has little effect on the outside world asides from inspiring some attrocious movies to be made.
posted by Artw at 7:27 AM on October 11, 2010 [1 favorite]


On the other hand, Muzzlewatch does a good job of demonstrating how pro-Israel organizations work to silence any anti-occupation voices (including those within the Jewish community). A key part of their strategy is to brand anyone who talks about the pro-occupation lobby as anti-semitic.

I'm a regular reader, but these days I mostly follow their links to (often more) objective news sources, rather than pay close attention to the Muzzlewatch posts. They use a lot of biasing words and it can get tiresome to try to pick through the outrage being voiced for outrage's sake. I feel the same way about Camera. It's fine to be for or against the Settlements, for example. But not everyone who discusses the matter is an "apologist" or "smearing" the other side. The (hopefully isolated) acts of a bunch of schmuck teenagers in their local campus Hillel are also less important than AIPAC lobbying Congress. Perspective is important.

Ah well. I like to read, then draw my own conclusions. I wish Muzzlewatch would reopen up posts to moderated comments. The discussions at the beginning were quite illuminating.
posted by zarq at 11:25 AM on October 11, 2010


Indeed, Hitchens and Sullivan never write about anything else.

I meant "all they care about" with regards to this story, not "all they care about" as in "they think about nothing else ever in their entire lives". Sorry if that was unclear.

Is there a pro-Israel lobby which tries to suppress criticism? I think so. Does that lobby have anything to do with this story? No, it doesn't.
posted by Errant at 11:43 AM on October 11, 2010




That would seem to be a pretty fair assessment of the situation.
posted by Artw at 10:16 AM on October 22, 2010


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