A very human interview. Ms. Cramer seems smart, sincere and decent. I believe there are many journalists like her who are trying to ply their craft honestly, but it seems naive to suggest that most journalists, including at the WP, are doing that. I just watched Glenn Greenwald review print and television journalists continue the relentless demonizing of Trump and blaming him for his own second assassination attempt. When Americans see their political system is unresponsive to their preferences and the most accessible media has appointed itself to lie and demonize dissent to the narrative of the powerful, perhaps that creates the conditions in which political violence can flourish.
Here in Canada, I see constant demonization of the other. I was a CBC addict 20 years ago, and stopped because I could not stomach the obvious bias in the words they used to demonize people on the right. In a similar way, I subscribed to the Western Standard for while but the rhetoric they use is so over the top I could not justify giving them any money.
Where this leaves me is living in a province where I have a sincere Premier (Danielle Smith) who is constantly being demonized by the Left Media which is easy to do, because she talks in long form and has complex nuanced ideas. (it is very easy to misrepresent her on any issue because she is nuanced) On the other side, you have Nenshi who talks in platitudes, and talking points. In person, he very nasty and demeans and degrades people he disagrees with. The Left Media never reports that side of him. The right wing media is balanced with respect to Danielle Smith, but can only be described as inflammatory with respect to Nenshi. This leaves me with no media I trust with respect to politics in Alberta.
Interviews like this are why I subscribe to this substack. I love the idea of the importance of "complicating the narrative". I love the nuance, the even-handedness, the willingness to listen, to see others as fully real human beings not dehumanized members of this or that tribe. It is hugely reassuring to hear and read of others committed to similar ideals.
It’s not true that nobody deserves to be threatened. It’s a fact of life
that if you push someone too far in a direction they don’t want to go, eventually they’ll push back. We used to learn this in the school yard when kids were allowed to make mistakes and had to bear the consequences.
As a Canadian, I resonate with this. However, I would specify that the intolerance and demonization of dissent I see comes mainly from political and media elites and is directed at ordinary people, as was demonstrated so clearly during COVID lockdowns and mandates.
Why does this interview have ‘political extremism’ in the title? These guys are not extremists- that’s why they were able to get along. The one is clearly struggling with mental health, and the other engaged in a political protest the story of which has been so twisted by the media nobody will ever know what happened there except those who were present. We do know many of the Jan 6ers in jail have been denied due process however, but that didn’t seem to make it into Ruby’s story.
Hearing her call it an ‘insurrection’ indicates she’s content to push that false narrative, which reduces her credibility significantly.
Hearing her repeat the phrase ‘public service’ is laughable; can she be that naive to consider what is happening at the White House to be public service? I am a political extremist, because I don’t believe government in the US or here in Canada is performing any kind of public service, and we can see our political leaders consider themselves to be in an elite class, far removed from anything resembling a public servant.
Hearing her repeat the word ‘storyteller’ in reference to her vocation is amusing as well. While not technically inaccurate, it’s more often associated with writers of fiction, or shamans recounting myths around the fire. When you accuse someone of ‘telling stories’, you’re calling them a liar.
Ultimately, there is in this conversation the shiny veneer of good intentions, but a sad failure to plumb the depths of the issue to any significant degree. Ruby mentions ‘the system’ once in the whole interview. That’s what they should have talked about. How is the system driving people to such extremes of mental distress? Perhaps because of the insanity inherent in it?
It's not clear to me what this is in response to. The discussion is about a political candidate who was not threatened, but nearly killed because of his political views. Do you believe that's acceptable? If so, would you be content to live in a country where political candidates you like can be killed because others object to their views?
A very human interview. Ms. Cramer seems smart, sincere and decent. I believe there are many journalists like her who are trying to ply their craft honestly, but it seems naive to suggest that most journalists, including at the WP, are doing that. I just watched Glenn Greenwald review print and television journalists continue the relentless demonizing of Trump and blaming him for his own second assassination attempt. When Americans see their political system is unresponsive to their preferences and the most accessible media has appointed itself to lie and demonize dissent to the narrative of the powerful, perhaps that creates the conditions in which political violence can flourish.
Here in Canada, I see constant demonization of the other. I was a CBC addict 20 years ago, and stopped because I could not stomach the obvious bias in the words they used to demonize people on the right. In a similar way, I subscribed to the Western Standard for while but the rhetoric they use is so over the top I could not justify giving them any money.
Where this leaves me is living in a province where I have a sincere Premier (Danielle Smith) who is constantly being demonized by the Left Media which is easy to do, because she talks in long form and has complex nuanced ideas. (it is very easy to misrepresent her on any issue because she is nuanced) On the other side, you have Nenshi who talks in platitudes, and talking points. In person, he very nasty and demeans and degrades people he disagrees with. The Left Media never reports that side of him. The right wing media is balanced with respect to Danielle Smith, but can only be described as inflammatory with respect to Nenshi. This leaves me with no media I trust with respect to politics in Alberta.
Interviews like this are why I subscribe to this substack. I love the idea of the importance of "complicating the narrative". I love the nuance, the even-handedness, the willingness to listen, to see others as fully real human beings not dehumanized members of this or that tribe. It is hugely reassuring to hear and read of others committed to similar ideals.
It’s not true that nobody deserves to be threatened. It’s a fact of life
that if you push someone too far in a direction they don’t want to go, eventually they’ll push back. We used to learn this in the school yard when kids were allowed to make mistakes and had to bear the consequences.
As a Canadian, I resonate with this. However, I would specify that the intolerance and demonization of dissent I see comes mainly from political and media elites and is directed at ordinary people, as was demonstrated so clearly during COVID lockdowns and mandates.
Why does this interview have ‘political extremism’ in the title? These guys are not extremists- that’s why they were able to get along. The one is clearly struggling with mental health, and the other engaged in a political protest the story of which has been so twisted by the media nobody will ever know what happened there except those who were present. We do know many of the Jan 6ers in jail have been denied due process however, but that didn’t seem to make it into Ruby’s story.
Hearing her call it an ‘insurrection’ indicates she’s content to push that false narrative, which reduces her credibility significantly.
Hearing her repeat the phrase ‘public service’ is laughable; can she be that naive to consider what is happening at the White House to be public service? I am a political extremist, because I don’t believe government in the US or here in Canada is performing any kind of public service, and we can see our political leaders consider themselves to be in an elite class, far removed from anything resembling a public servant.
Hearing her repeat the word ‘storyteller’ in reference to her vocation is amusing as well. While not technically inaccurate, it’s more often associated with writers of fiction, or shamans recounting myths around the fire. When you accuse someone of ‘telling stories’, you’re calling them a liar.
Ultimately, there is in this conversation the shiny veneer of good intentions, but a sad failure to plumb the depths of the issue to any significant degree. Ruby mentions ‘the system’ once in the whole interview. That’s what they should have talked about. How is the system driving people to such extremes of mental distress? Perhaps because of the insanity inherent in it?
Swing harder, Tara. Stop bunting.
It's not clear to me what this is in response to. The discussion is about a political candidate who was not threatened, but nearly killed because of his political views. Do you believe that's acceptable? If so, would you be content to live in a country where political candidates you like can be killed because others object to their views?