Friday July 08, 2011

ANNALS OF CONSERVATIVE VICTIM-PLAY. I have treated the works of National Review's Mark Krikorian here before. He complained when liberals wanted to free Tibet because liberals love Mao and why are Maoists bitching about China; he likes to review movies he hasn't seen, based on their politics; he hates illegal immigrants, but gave George Bush a pass for his wetness on the issue because at least it was based on principle (i.e., Clinton got his dick sucked); he is given to gibberish like "our commander-in-chief is an effete vacillator who is pushed around by his female subordinates," etc.

In short, Krikorian is a fairly typical conservative buffoon. Yet NPR had him on Fresh Air to talk about the Messicans he wants to chase out of the country. This seems generous of them, to put it mildly. In fact it practically qualifies as social promotion.

Does Krikorian appreciate NPR's openness to conservative views? You're new around here, aren't you?

In a post entitled "We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Diversity of Views" (ha ha, get it? Gold-tooth Messicans!) Krikorian first complains that a couple of Fresh Air listeners wrote in to say they didn't like his contribution -- which he interprets to mean they were "appalled at even being made to hear a dissenting view."

Nonetheless he has to admit he was on the show and treated decently, which he does in this fashion:

The reporters and producers at NPR really have tried to put out a less biased product over the past couple of years — not just because of defunding threats but because they really do take seriously the reporter’s duty to present the news fairly. (Don’t snicker — I know a lot of them and, sure, they’re lefties marinated in a lefty environment like fish that don’t know they’re wet, but I think a lot of them have come to realize that their parochial view of things is not all there is in the world and they’re honestly, if often imperfectly, acting on that.)

Which is an encomium on the order of, "My neighbor's wife is trying to be less of a whore, mostly because of police pressure; she's basically a slut but dimly appreciates that she might catch a disease," etc.

But despite such efforts, NPR has a big problem with its listenership. A big part of it doesn’t want to hear anything ideologically jarring — they tune in to NPR for the same reason conservatives listen to Rush Limbaugh.

You will seek in vain for a Mark Krikorian post critical of Rush Limbaugh, so we must assume that the only problem with NPR listeners wanting to listen to like-minded commentators is that they're liberals. So it's basically hopeless -- they could let Krikorian yammer all day and there'd still be listeners who didn't agree with him, which would spoil everything and prove bias.

We don't even have to ask why Krikorian is so ungracious -- this is SOP for these people: Get gigs with the MSM, then bellyache about how you're oppressed by something or other: The host, the audience, the wallpaper. What really needs to be asked is, why does the alleged liberal media stoop so low to kiss these ingrates' asses? (Yeah, I know NPR's on the government tit, but what's everyone else's excuse?)

UPDATE. Many comments are about favorite/least favorite NPR shows. Still good, though. Jay B: "NPR can burn in hell for the toxic shit it helps spew into the cosmos, devaluing actual liberal thought by having Cokie Fucking Roberts on the air and twee, charming, apolticial stories of cute kids having asthma attacks while a clown scared them in an odd, charming way or whatever the fuck they endlessly smirk about." Oh well, when you put it that way...

Kia, on the actual subject, Krikorian: "He must constantly assert his intolerance lest his conviction be doubted. He's not expressing his feeling; he's been doing dirt on his own feelings for years so that that little provincial nest of boobs he considers the world can know his bona fides. It's all he's got to offer, his readiness to take offense and umbrage at liberal perfidy. The rest of the brain might as well be dead. What a sad oaf." Sometimes I think I should just send Kia what I've written, and only post her responses.