On The Media

Please OTM, next time you interview someone on a serious subject, don't get someone who sees the interview as an opportunity to start a giggle-fest. Being arrested for wearing T shirt that disagrees with the president is absolutely not a laughing matter in any respect. It's the kind of tactics that got the Nazis control of Germany and it has no place in America. And most of all, it's NOT funny. Lithwick's relentless giggling sickened me.

Giggling would be appropriate if the Bushies could simply be laughed off the stage. Unfortunately that is not the case. They are dead serious, and they have the power. Yes it does resemble what we are told about N. Korea.

I must add a third vote to the previous comments. This is my first exposure to OTM coverage, and I'm shocked that both the interviewer and Ms. Lithwick were unable to present this very serious information in a serious way.

How could a show that promises "frankness" and "transparency" use such blatant propaganda techniques; techniques that appear to blunt the serious nature of assaults on our very precious first amendment?

This interview makes me as distrustful of OTM as I am of the mainstream media. And unfortunately, NPR has also recently joined the ranks of the distrusted mainstream; so maybe it's fitting that OTM is part of the NPR shift to the right.

That giggle is the nervous laughter of reporters who have been living with this sort of ax over their head since bush entered the white house. The assault on the media under this administration, especially public media, has been relentless. Give these guys a break. To all of us outraged liberals this is old news, we listen to things like DemocracyNow anyway. We've had plenty of time to work past the ridiculous irony of fenced in "free speech zones". To all the progressives who depend on NPR and its friends to get them this news a year later this must be shocking. It is ridiculous. Any sane person would giggle.

In ’91, the elder Bush was Yale’s graduation speaker.

A local legend is that a Bush stole Geronimo’s skull for initiation rites in Skull and Bones. Another legend goes that he bailed-out on a crucial mission during World War II.

During his speech, he chose to characterize support for most favored nation trading status for China as an act of “political courage.” In response, I yelled one word, in the manner of a paratrooper, “Geronimo!”

Bush took a long pause to collect him self. Later, the local evening news showed a close-up of his startled face, though they cut audio after his “political courage” line.

It is no surprise that the son takes precautions with public appearances. I knew enough to avoid this bozo, even when his daughter lived here.

Free speech in the United States is an illusion. It belongs only to those who own and/or control the media.

Ken, Stan & Jack,

Thanks much for your comments. It's a valid critique, and one we certainly considered before airing the interview. In fact, Bob and I – and acting senior producer Megan Ryan – talked about the tone and wondered whether it trivialized the constitutional concerns raised in the conversation, as you suggest. Two points:

First, if you look back over our archives, you’ll notice that First Amendment encroachments often get our attention. We’re a media analysis show and are as bothered as any by the suppression of protected expression or speech. We mostly take a more sober tack, but sometimes that soberness gives way to a kind of comic outrage. Frankly, it’s hard to hit these issues week after week and not, now and then as T Glaab pointed out above, succumb to nervous laughter.

Second, we have less than one hour each week to talk about some of what we think is important. If we really wanted to trivialize the issue, we wouldn’t have discussed it at all.

From Mark Twain:

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter."

Perhaps the tenor of the show is being missed by those who think the giggling in the segment regarding the Presidential Advance is so reprehensible. (The Bush camp did aftter al go to court and pay off the arrested protesters.) The reason it is laughable is the same reason the Merry Pranksters existed and the same reason that near the sign-off at the end of each show Bob Garfield says, "editing by....Brooke." That is to say, a sense of humor when times are so bad is our final refuge. OTM is a wonderful show.