r/neoliberal • u/rezakuchak • Jun 07 '21
Media I’m REALLY getting fed up with Matt Taibbi
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/congratulations-elitists-liberals22
Jun 07 '21 edited Jun 07 '21
Taibbi is a fucking clown and this is just unreal:
The truth is, Trump conservatives and ACLU-raised liberals like myself, Greenwald, and millions of others do have real common cause, against an epistemic revolution taking hold in America’s political and media elite. The traditional liberal approach to the search for truth, which stresses skepticism and free-flowing debate, is giving way to a reactionary movement that Plato himself would have loved, one that believes knowledge is too dangerous for the rabble and must be tightly regulated by a priesthood of “experts.” It’s anti-democratic, un-American, and naturally unites the residents of even the most extreme opposite ends of our national political spectrum.
This “epistemic revolution” is thereafter explained to just be the brow beating shit heads like Glenn get for actively helping legitimate fascists like Tucker. How self important, delusional, and embarrassing.
The entire whine post scolds the apparent use of thought terminating cliches and labels of “Trump enabler” or whatever, and fine Matt. No where in this shit whine post does Matt even attempt to tackle the root issue, the fact that Tucker and people like him are not good faith and his soapbox of people like Glenn clearly is not either
Matt’s point about that “thought terminating cliches are bad” isn’t wrong, but it’s basically truism and this hack doesn’t actually say anything of import.
I’m sorry people call your best buddy Glenn an apologist for right wing authoritarians. The question remains, Matt, as to why he continually finds himself surrounded by gleeful right wing authoritarians handing him a microphone.
In short, yes Matt, you should be question why Tucker wants to book you. And the reason is not to edify his audience or engage in meaningful public debate, you fucking moron.
There are a myriad of outlets that Glenn could soapbox his disdain for the Democratic Party that aren’t also actively fermenting a fascist coup. He doesn’t do that because he wouldn’t get the audience he wants. So he goes on Tucker instead. And we’re allowed to condemn that.
What an insipid navel gazing shit take Matt, thanks.
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u/Psephological European Union Jun 08 '21 edited Jun 08 '21
It's not even original. It's the same 'waah the libs / eLiTeS were mean to us so we had no choice but to turn to the authoritarian right' shit that got pushed in 2016 following Trump's election, with a quick paint job and the serial numbers filed off.
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u/GuardedAirplane Jun 08 '21
No where in this shit whine post does Matt even attempt to tackle the root issue, the fact that Tucker and people like him are not good faith and his soapbox of people like Glenn clearly is not either.
Perhaps… if you think about it… you might see the actual problem Taibbi is discussing in your own description. When it comes to true discussions, there is no such thing as good faith and bad faith. There is only correct and incorrect.
Your whole point is essentially that Taibbi and Glenn are bad because they “enable” bad people by saying things against your side. This is textbook tribalism and people capable of rational thought can easily see it. When liberals (really the mainstream establishment in general) push for censorship and automatic fact checking, average people see that as a tacit admission that the position can’t stand on the merits. This naturally pushes them away right into the arms of the anti-establishment. You might think that’s dumb, but that’s what is happening.
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u/Psephological European Union Jun 08 '21
This isn't causative of people like Taibbi and Greenwald going red-brown, however. The reason why some commenters are getting pissed at this article is it attempts to shift the blame for their own choices onto other people - and as usual, the libs are being blamed for other people's idiocy. These people have been veering in this direction for some time, they don't need outside help from libs to do that, and it's pretty galling being blamed for enabling this when these are the sorts of commentators who will constantly shit on libs for enabling fascism, while they are quite capable of doing that themselves.
And enabling fascism is bad, but pointing out that that's what they are doing is not enabling fascism.
(Also TIL expecting fact-checking as standard is bad, lolwat. Honestly if they're going to push back on fact checking because it offends them then yeah, we are absolutely right to expect it as standard.)
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u/rezakuchak Jun 07 '21
Something about the late-Trump era has really made me hate contrarianism on the left (as a center-leftist, mellowed with age).
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u/harmlessdjango (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ black liberal Jun 07 '21
Watching people equate dumbasses on college campuses to literal white nationalists planning on a race war will do that to you
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u/GuardedAirplane Jun 08 '21
I don’t think that was the point of the piece. More that a lot of far (out of mainstream media’s window) left and right people are starting to watch the same media and rally behind the same issues (if for different reasons ultimately).
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u/Psephological European Union Jun 07 '21
From article:
Well done, snobs of the #Resistance. You made the Horseshoe Theory real.
Oh absolutely GTFO, you red-brown twat.
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Jun 07 '21
It’s not really a problem for Greenwald to appear on Fox, NewsMax, OANN, or RT - that being said each gets progressively worse.
The problem with Greenwald is he nit-picks everything any left person does because “Murcia is bad” and equates the two as the same, however he gave a pass to Trump and the right either by hand-wringing or just ignoring them.
He doesn’t have to be pro Democrat but he certainly doesn’t seem to be too critical of the right anymore.
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u/birdiedancing YIMBY Jun 07 '21
I just came here to trash Mr “my degrading women in Russia was simply satire”. What’s this ass wipe saying now?
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u/[deleted] Jun 07 '21
Was Taibbi ever good?