60 Minutes: Ugly is as Ugly Does (UPDATED)

 

Still reputable CBS news program 60 Minutes did a spot on second term Congressperson Marjorie Taylor Greene, noting that she has amassed considerable political heft in a short time, and almost but not quite conveyed what is wrong about her. She is a conspiracy theorist who behaves in hostile and disruptive ways, often does not know what she is talking about, and simply does not care to do any better. But this is what they did: they let an extremist blow off her more radical statements (but by far, not the worst) and get soft-focused as she worked out and talked about her political journey. 

Lesley Stahl, a veteran interviewer, should have understood that 60 Minutes is a platform in this instance, a megaphone (or a MAGAphone), not the actual lab where a political character like Greene should be properly examined. She did bring up Greene's shameful ambush and stalking of James Hogg and staggering claim that the Parkwood shooting was a false flag, but she also allowed it to be blown off. She expressed wonderment at MTG's insistence that liberals are pedophiles, which she should have fucking expected, and had a follow-up for.  She also had nothing to say re: MTG's insistence that the 2020 election was stolen.

By not being able to press back, she let MTG air those lies in a way that lets them be validated for her fanbase. They see her say those things without pushback, and assume it is Stahl who tried a "gotcha" and failed. And the reason Stahl is unable is because she doesn't understand what Greene is: not a person guided by facts and reason, graced with the solemnity of a political office for merits we have yet to understand. 

Greene is a bullying asshat flying through life sporkfooted and factfree whose utter ugliness should not be fluffed. Forget about the short, slightly gross clip of her stalking James Hogg, teenage survivor of the Parkwood shooting, when there is this video of her more menacing behavior to her future congressional colleague:

 

 The woman is not stable, and shouldn't be treated as if she is. Also, regarding her 2020 election denialism, it is journalistic malpractice not to note that she was a conspirator in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election in LOSER Donald Trump's favor. Her signifying idiocy and its elevation is a problem, and giving it not even 20 minutes' real introspection only serves to remind us she is important, not that she is a menace or even demonstrating why.  She is actually hateful. 

60 Minutes, as a mainstream media joint, failed to do the real work and instead, gave her haters reason to hate them, and her fans reason to think 60 Minutes is made of inept would-be liberal shills who got played--and those people aren't wrong. Stahl and them got played--because there is no way to platform this THING correctly. MGT isn't so much a persona as a bad political phenomenon wrapped up in the internet and shitty schooling. And it takes way more than 20, more than 60, more than the time we have to address how she got to be where she is, or how to not make people like her be where she is. But being frank about her worst moments, and not letting her defend herself by whatabouting her recent statements by demanding to know if she was going to be pull-quoted about her primary school opinions, would have been a fine and dandy start. 

"No, we are only going to address the weird things you actually said as a grown woman and politician."

The only way to confront MGT kind of ugly is with real-ass ugly, and a Lesley Stahl, while a professional, isn't the way. 

BTW, my rates would be reasonable. 

UPDATE: I'm just kidding about my rates being reasonable because doing journalism publicly would just end my day job, but here's the scumsucking bullshit 60 Minutes enabled:

Oh my God. Marjorie Taylor Greene is running a new ad calling Democrats “pedophiles” using footage of Joe Biden comforting a kid who had a stutter.

Here is the ACTUAL footage she doesn’t want you to see. pic.twitter.com/DTeC4vPnjL

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) April 4, 2023

The folks at 60 Minutes don't have some other job and they are truly more well-compensated than I've ever been. And they didn't pause to really study on a person who believes in Frazzledrip (so help me) or where the head of someone who thinks the Rothschilds have "space lasers"--or is that ((((space lasers)))) is at? They opened with Stahl repeating things Greene has been called without ever really getting at why people think she's a whole monster. They made it seem like this asshole is the actual bullied or attacked person. 

Not really. No.

Lesley Stahl thought "Wow" was enough of a response to Greene's pedophile pronouncements or was too unprofessional to have expected that.  She really thought that response was a surprise? No, this is what many mainstream Republicans are fine saying. Conspiracy theorists of the most batshit flavor are no longer a foothold situation but have taken over conservatism. 

That's the real story. That's the failure. Greene and her little pals could be causing who knows what ruckus tomorrow in NYC, and CBS will just have to shrug or--

Well no--they could go back and do a spot on the shit they missed about her and fucking apologize for doing Lara Logan level investigation. Do it whether tomorrow's a cluster or not, in fact.