HOLY. FREAKING. CRAP.

Posted on | September 18, 2011 | 155 Comments

Just now got in off the road, returning from Ohio where my wife’s parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. On the way — quite literally writing “on the road,” since the trip was seven hours — I composed a long post that I’ll put up later tonight.

But that’s going to have to wait a while, because I just logged on and saw this by Ladd Ehlinger and this by Dan Riehl. Both Dan and Ladd called me yesterday while I was driving to Ohio, but the cell-phone reception on the road was sufficiently crappy that I was unable to understand what they were talking about. And then I caught this link via Dan’s blog and . . .

HOLY. FREAKING. CRAP.

The blog-war aspect of this incident rather dwindles into insignficance when measured against the apparent willingness of a Las Vegas radio station to allow Mike Tyson to spew such filthy and derogatory racial stereotypes. Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clark writes:

Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson is under fire for “deplorable” and “stomach-churning” graphic sexual descriptions in a local radio interview about Sarah Palin’s alleged fling with Glen Rice.
The website, Mediaite.com, also leveled criticism at “Gridlock” hosts Mitch Moss and Paul Howard, of ESPN affiliate KWWN-AM, 1100/ 98.9 FM, for finding humor in Tyson’s shocking take.
“The fact that someone convicted of sex crimes even talked about it in such disturbingly gross ways”… and “so violently like this over mass media” raises serious questions, wrote Mediaite columnist Frances Martel.
Moss, who also serves as “Gridlock’s” program director, and Howard “cackled and guffawed in harmony at Tyson’s deplorable comment,” according to Martel.

Does FCC know about this? How about AttackWatch? Now that I think of it, have we heard from Jill Filipovic, Jessica Valenti, Melissa McEwan or any of the other feminists? Because if Sarah Palin weren’t a Republican, I think they’d probably be outraged by this.

UPDATE: Catching up, I see Jim Hoft wondering:

Is this it? Is there anything else they could say about Sarah Palin?

Dunno. But if there is, they’ll say it.

UPDATE II: Greta Van Susteren calls out Tucker Carlson by name:

I keep asking myself, why would Tucker allow this to be posted on his website? . . .
Tucker has daughters and a wife and I would think he in particular would not want to be a purveyer of smut (and this is actually more, this is violence against women) and allow this to be posted on his website.
I emailed Tucker yesterday and asked him about it. He did not reply. I wanted to know what action he was going to take about it since I really did not want to blog about it and felt some urge to protect him. 24 hours have passed and I have not heard from Tucker and it is still on the front page of his website.
So…I am calling him out on this. This is not about whether you are in favor of Governor Palin’s policies or not — this is about whether women should be treated this way and whether this is journalism. It is also about the willingness to stand up to a friend when he or she has gone way over the top and this is one instance where a friend has gone way over the top.
Tucker can’t hide behind ‘this is news, it was said by Mike Tyson and we are simply reporting it.’ It is not news. This denigrates women. He knows that, I know that, you know that. . . .

Much much more at the link, explaining how a story about what Mike Tyson said became a story about how the Daily Caller reported it.

UPDATE III: Tammy Bruce slammed Daily Caller on Twitter, as did Jedediah Bila, while Sissy Willis wrote a whole post about it.

UPDATE IV: Linked by Da Tech Guy and now a Memeorandum thread.

Category: Dan Riehl, Ladd Ehlinger, Racism, Sarah Palin

Comments

155 Responses to “HOLY. FREAKING. CRAP.”

Bob Belvedere
September 19th, 2011 @ 2:51 am

I just wish people like Carlson would stop thinking and acting like Leftists.
ThePaganTemple
September 19th, 2011 @ 2:59 am

I wouldn’t blame Carlson so much for running with the story if he would do so in context, and present it just for exactly what it is, a further example of leftist racism. What could be so hard about that? I can understand CBS, ABC, and NBC especially, and most newspapers, because that’s who and what they are.

But conservatives sites and stations should not follow their lead. They should call this shit for exactly what it is.

Even Rush Limbaugh probably hasn’t accused McGinness of being a racist. Why? That’s exactly what this is, so why should it be so hard to call it like it is?

Incidentally, why does Fox subject us to these damn left-wingers? Don’t we hear enough of their crap that we have to put up with them everywhere? I swear if somebody would just put up a conservative version of MSNBC the ratings would go through the roof.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 2:59 am

Next up, Jeff will demand to know which road it was, and how I can prove a chicken crossed it.

I’m not going to try to convince you that your conspiracy theory is wrong. That’d just be further proof.
t-dahlgren
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:00 am

Maybe you should, since you are hip deep in this mess.

Giving a megaphone to such vileness is not news, and you damn well know it.

Yet, you persist in this half-assed non-defense defense.

Either own it, or walk away.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:01 am

Glenn, the DC runs stories all the time about people saying stupid, hateful things on TV and radio. This one’s different for some reason.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:03 am

Glenn, the DC runs stories all the time about people saying stupid, hateful things on TV and radio. This one’s different, though, for some reason.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:04 am

Demands noted.
t-dahlgren
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:05 am

Carlson, and everyone at the DC needs to think this through. Do they really want to go down this path? Are they prepared to deal with it when these new ‘rules’ of the game get applied to them and their loved ones?

It is ugly and indefensible.

Treacher, you’ve done yourself no good here.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:05 am

Oh, you mean like telling people who disagree with you to shut up or else?
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:06 am

How in the world could I defend reporting on a famous person saying something vile and outrageous? Better if it was just kept quiet.
Dianna Deeley
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:11 am

What on earth possessed anyone to bring Tyson on to comment on any subject whatsoever, unless it’s boxing?

That was disgusting; it would be nice if no one had reported it, just to sink this incident.
Dianna Deeley
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:15 am

That was remarkably disgusting, so much so that there doesn’t seem to be much to say.

What on earth possessed anyone to quote those remarks? What possessed anyone to let Tyson say things that ugly on the air – that was beyond revolting.

Is this a story? Damned if I know, but I wish I’d never read it.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:15 am

Mr. Treacher, sorry, I haven’t had the pleasure of viewing the DC more than a few times.

Are you suggesting that this is a regular feature/approach at the DC: that they run quotes from (in)famous people saying stupid, hateful things, and that the articles simply list the quotes, without attempting to provide context for them, etc.? Sort of like, Stupid Quotes of the Week, or something like that?

If so, you have a good defense pertaining to editorial consistency in this case, but then I’d have to ask – do these types of almost pure aggregation articles succeed in attracting and retaining readers?

Moreover, does that mean that DC has writing assignments that can be completed by people with no journalistic/writing training? If so, may I apply for one of those jobs?
ltw
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:19 am

Just curious as to the Jan 2010 start up date for the Daily Caller and its vision. Obviously, it was time to start asking the hard questions in light of the post Mike Tyson what “breaking stories of importance” means. Tucker Carlson has some splaining to do.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:22 am

So you want me to do your research for you, or else there’s no proof you’re wrong.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:24 am

So you’d rather not know what the enemy is doing. Alright.
Bob Belvedere
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:30 am

Why don’t you have a good lie down?
JeffS
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:35 am

Got it, Jim. It’s your conscience, after all.

But think of all the pixels you would have saved by simply saying “No Comment”.

Or even…..not jumping in the thread in the first place.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:36 am

Treacher, so I’m “wrong” to ask questions about the DC? Because I haven’t made any declarative statements.

I wondered: I don’t recall seeing these kinds of “news” stories in the media.

You reply: we do it all the time.

I follow up with: you mean, like a regular feature?

You growl: do your own research.

Hmm, so maybe I hit paydirt. Maybe the DC has done other articles quoting people saying stupid, hateful things, but maybe those quotes were always previously embedded in real news articles? I don’t know, but I wasn’t going to sift through the DC archives without some sense of direction. You can still save me the trouble by confirming that DC does in fact run a regular feature along the lines of Stupid Quotes of the Week.
Garym
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:37 am

Still digging.
t-dahlgren
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:39 am

Disingenuous at best. You think that it is not possible to dredge up some lunatic capable of spewing any manner of filth about you, or your family?

There is a distinct line between reporting, and water carrying.

It is very obvious which one the DC is engaged in.

Do you like being a water carrier for the ‘enemy?’
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:40 am

People come up with all sorts of longwinded ways to say “shut up.”
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:42 am

Ah, a turf battle. How tedious.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:43 am

“Just asking questions!” Now where have I heard that one before…
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:44 am

Case in point.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:45 am

“Why won’t you shut up even though I keep telling you to shut up?”
JeffS
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:45 am

Context is the issue, TPT. The Daily Caller reported it as straight news, as if discussing ancient gossip in a vile fashion on a national level is the hallmark of standards for “professional” journalists.

Color me jaundiced, but this almost makes me pine for the days of Walter Duranty.
Garym
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:45 am

It would have been nice to see Poor at the DC have an opinion to denounce it or something, instead they come up with a horrendous headline and they have been defending it from Riehl and others ever since.
Now we have Treacher, who used to be one of the funniest reads on the intertubes, on this site trying to defend this trash.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:46 am

Ironclad logic.
Tom Callow
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:46 am

This whole thing is about decency and honor.
No woman deserves to be mentally raped and then chuckled about by anyone.
Not your Mom, Not your Wife, Not your Sister, Not your daughter.
Letting this stand without challege just emasculates all men. Your loved one can be next but you chose not complain this time.
The shock jocks from ESPN that lead Mikey to this subject and these questions can go to hell, and fire em first please.
Jeff Poor’s article was not real journalism or even good tabloid journalism. If it was meant to be it was missing the important questions about decency, Joe McGinnis, left wing attacks, etc.
He was either a very poor journalist or agreeing with Tyson, but we will never know because now we can not believe a word he might say.
Anyway, Jeff can go to hell too, but first he should be fired.
The editor at the time that ok’ed this post, HELL but first fired.
As far as Tucker goes, he wanted to BE a member of the Journolist, but they turned him down. He lost me over the course of the last several months with comments and having a formor Journolist guy on the payroll.
In the words of the critic, this whole thing just stinks, and the rotting smell is probably The Daily Skin Crawler, a zombie site trying to stay alive by any means even if it means eating conservatives brains.
JeffS
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:46 am

Yet, here you are…..
Guest
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:47 am

So you’re the enemy? The Daily Caller is the enemy?
ThePaganTemple
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:51 am

I think most people’s problem with this is it was reported as a straight news story apparently without comment, judging by what I’ve read here. If you really stop and think about it, the only thing that would qualify it as news is not Mike Tyson’s verbal utterances, but people’s reactions to them. Think about it this way, suppose any major news organization reported some great tragedy, say an earthquake that claimed dozens or hundreds of life. In that case that’s all the context you need to make it a worthwhile hard news story. But just reporting such and such a person said this or that, even if that person is famous, does not make it a story. Even NBC, as egregious as they are in my own personal opinion, would probably report Tyson’s words in the context of other people’s reactions to them.

“So-and-so has called Tyson’s comments vile and despicable and have demanded an immediate apology and a retraction, while such and such organization has issued a press release demanding a boycott of, well, whatever”.

Okay not the best example, but the point is, without the story of the reaction its not news.

Personally, I can give you a pass on this, for the simple fact that the story has to be reported in the first place before there can even BE a reaction. But in that initial absence of response, it just seems to me that it would be appropriate to put this story in an editorial commentary format. Which, for all I know, maybe it was, or maybe that’s coming. If not, it damn well should be.
JeffS
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:53 am

And that deserves more than a sarcastic one liner, I think. But it’s pretty clear that you’re not hear to listen to reason.

Frankly, I think you would have done better to e-mail Stacy directly, instead of jumping around the post, alternating between sarcasm, brief assertions, insulting people, and (rarely) making a valid point. All in the name of defending the posting of an article that no one would want written with their name coming from the lips of Mike Tyson.

But for the fact that I’ve read you for years, I’d be labeling you as a troll right now.
JeffS
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:56 am

Actually, it’s not even Treacher’s turf at the DC, TPT. His name was brought up in the comments (perhaps unfairly), and he’s been here ever since.

So, yeah, I’ll give him a pass on the article: he didn’t write it, and (AFAIK) had not editorial input.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:57 am

I did a quick review of Jeff Poor’s recent archive (the last 20 posts, or so).

Poor does mainly quote people saying things about political figures, events, themes – some of which things might even have been stupid or hateful; however, in all other examples besides the Tyson post:

1. Poor quotes political commentators/figures talking about politics – i.e., not just famous people (or infamous scumbags), but commentors/figures whose perspectives have a following among political junkies.

2. Poor uses the first 3-4 sentences of each post, before simply listing the quotes, to explain why the quotes might be interesting and/or what might be newsworthy about them (or, in some cases, the “lesson” behind them). In the Tyson case, he throws the quotes out for no specified reason(s).
ThePaganTemple
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:59 am

Hamilton brought that on himself. He accused Burr of something so heinous no one he told it to would talk about it after the fact in public, nor has it survived in any known writings to this day. Burr might have been a scoundrel, but Hamilton clearly crossed the line. We just don’t know for sure where that line lead to.
t-dahlgren
September 19th, 2011 @ 4:00 am

Way to avoid the argument.   But maybe it was too fast for you. Here, I’ll draw it out.

Is it ‘news’ when some derelict criminal says vile things? No, that is dog bites man.   Anyone can find someone to say outrageous things, particularly those with a need for the spotlight or an axe to grind.

Serious news organizations do not treat the content of the statements as news. This is as newsworthy as Paris Hilton not wearing panties.

But the DC didn’t merely report it as the crazed ramblings of a convicted
sex offender. No, they let his words stand as the headline. To the DC a rambling
sexually offensive Tyson wasn’t the news, his assertions were what you reported as the
news.

So yes, the DC was water carrying for whoever it is you characterize as ‘the enemy.’ A revealing bit of projection if there ever was one.   And here you remain trying to spin it all away, without ever acknowledging the substance of it.
Garym
September 19th, 2011 @ 4:07 am

Starting to lose your cool now Treach?
ThePaganTemple
September 19th, 2011 @ 4:11 am

I’m really just trying to dispassionately understand what’s going on. From what I’ve seen so far, the biggest news isn’t Mike Tyson saying whatever he said, it’s Tucker Carlson referring to Palin as the MILF. RSM should have had to make an entirely separate Todd Palin Defense Fund for that line. Of course in Tucker Carlson we are looking at a man who once had a barely concealed crush on Rachel Maddow, so that pretty much says it all. You can’t help but wonder how long it took him to blow his way in and out of journalism school.

And “Wombshifter”? What the hell does that even mean?
JeffS
September 19th, 2011 @ 4:25 am

You’re doing a good job there, TPT. At the dispassionate perspective, I mean.

Tucker Carlson is certainly at the center of this discussion, that’s for sure. But is it because of his editorial policies, or his indiscretion? Or something else. But I think I can safely say that Tucker Carlson has some ‘splaining to do.

As for “wombshifter”, I guess I have a really dirty mind! I checked the Urban Dictionary, so no linky there. The best explanation that I offer is a question: weren’t there lads in your high school who were, ummmm, extraordinarily endowed, and extraordinarily popular with the female population?
Monday Morning Blog-War! « Nice Deb
September 19th, 2011 @ 3:32 am

[…] Other McCain sums it up nicely with: HOLY. FREAKING. CRAP. I just logged on and saw this by Ladd Ehlinger and this by Dan Riehl. Both Dan and Ladd called me […]
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:31 am

“No, seriously, shut up.” Yes, I heard you.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:32 am

Just my two cents…..Instapundit repeats vile things all the time without pointing out that he disagrees. He works on the assumption that we know the difference between what is reasonable and what isn’t.

There are some bad people in this story and I think we need to remember who they are…..two are named McGinnis, one is Trudeau and I suppose most of the rest work for Random House or ESPN.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:32 am

You really take willful literal-mindedness to a new level, Jeff.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:34 am

I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:35 am

Well, you certainly did draw it out, I’ll give you that much.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:35 am

The messenger is the enemy? If you say so.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:36 am

It was a news piece, not an opinion piece. Hope that helps.
Anonymous
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:37 am

Thank you.

Now get ready for the righteous indignation.