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. 

Oh CBS--Why are you not Newsing Correctly?

I have been hypercritical of the 60 Minutes Benghazi story because I do indeed care about whether our major news outlets get news right. I'm a blogger. I don't have a staff, or an organization. I depend on my solid news sources to get things right so I can riff on them, and when they screw up--they might screw me up. That's dumb. I need my solid news sources to really be decent. So when I know CBS is doing news wrong, I worry--

Here's CBS.

According to Chao, the two modules the CBS report referenced are not currently active on the exchange website and that neither module used personally identifiable information.
Connolly, while questioning Chao on Wednesday, implied that the partial leaked transcript came from Republican committee staff. 

“So when CBS Evening News ran its report based on a leak, presumably from the [Republican] staff, but we don't know — of a partial transcript — excerpts from a partial transcript — they said the security issues raised in the document, and I quote, 'could lead to identity theft among buying insurance,' that cannot be true based on what we established in our back and forth. Is that correct?” Connolly asked during the hearing, as quoted by the Washington Post. 

Chao responded that Connolly was correct.

 Um--the bottom line is that personal info isn't used? And can't be? Am I just being ridiculous? That would be good news. Is CBS missing this? Why are they trusting leaks from GOP staffers without checking them?

I wonder about whether my news sources are any good.