There are many copies

Last updated on: September 20, 2005 at 12:15 am by Fred Clark

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There are many copies 2005-09-20T00:15:18-04:00 Fred Clark

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Atrios points us to this U.S. News "Whispers" item, which helps to explain the precise process that leads to all those GOP pundits uttering the same, exact talking points. They're just following orders. It's called the "Friends & Allies" program:

The project, started by the Republican National Committee in the 2004 re-election campaign, is simple and effective: Give opinion makers, media friends, and even cocktail party hosts insider info on the topic of the day. How? Through E-mailed talking points, called D.C. Talkers, and conference calls.

"Message discipline" is one thing, but Republican pundits are starting to sound like the hypnotized audience members exiting "The Amazing Alexander" show in that old SNL skit ("It was better than cats. I'd see it again and again …"). Having everyone saying the same thing in the same words makes the propaganda so artlessly transparent.

Part of my complaint here, I suppose, is aesthetic. Propaganda may be the lowest form of art, but it's still supposed to be art.

Once Karl Rove demonstrated that blatant manipulation of the press and bald-faced lying were just as effective as subtler forms of deception, then it seems everyone just stopped trying. There used to be at least some artistry to it. The parade of conservative and slightly less-conservative pundits on CNN and MSNBC was like jazz. An official spokesperson would sing the main theme, then all the unofficial spokespersons would offer their variations on it. Now there is no variation. There's just theme, theme, theme, theme, theme. (See, for example, the recent enthusiasm for the phrase "blame game>.")

My main complaint, though, is with journalists — particularly those on TV. Of course, expecting TV journalists to be anything other than naive and gullible is probably, itself, naive and gullible. But still — when pundits just blatantly parrot the same lines verbatim, knowing they'll never get called on it, it's hard to see that as anything other than an expression of utter contempt for TV journalists. You'd think they'd at least be insulted into responding.

I'm a fan of the BBC's interviewers for the way they aggressively refuse to let their subjects sidestep a question. They're not afraid to call bullshit when some official, "friend" or "ally" tries to get away with just parroting the official talking points. That's because the BBC interviewers are, you know, journalists. The same cannot be said for the entertainers who read the news on American television. They're in show business, so maybe they should adapt a show-biz response to the unimaginative exploitation of their airtime being committed by pundits who merely regurgitate the "Friends & Allies" talking points.

If I were a producer on, say, "Hardball," I'd get a hold of one of those old Groucho-duck puppets from "You Bet Your Life." Whenever a guest started repeating the same, exact line from "D.C. Talkers" that the previous guest used, the duck would drop down from the ceiling in a rain of confetti, holding a sign reading "The Blame-Game" (or whatever that day's particular magic words happened to be). Chris Matthews would then push the button (I'd have installed one of those giant red prop-buttons on his desk) and the guest's chair would whoosh out of the studio (oh, and I'd also have installed one of those Broadway-style automated set-change track systems).

Maybe that's a little too elaborate, but I bet ratings would go up. And it'd beat the current practice at "Hardball" — responding to blatant media manipulation with a hearty "Thank you, sir. May I have another?"

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