411 Politics Fact or Fiction: Week 41

Posted by Ryan Latimer on 04.30.2007

You Shouldn't 'a Dun it!!

Good Monday, 411 politicos, and welcome to another edition of Fact or Fiction. I'm your host Ryan Latimer, and I'm sorry to say that I'm the guy who got Rosie O'Donnell canned from The View last week. Strange, too, that I'm mostly receiving support mail for that one. One person sent me $20.

The political gods have been kind to me again this week, as the wheels on the world's bus are still goin' round and round, giving me easy access to come up with some juicy questions. I actually revived the theme concept with this week's being You Shouldn't Have Done It, spotlighting individuals or establishments that said or did something that has caused an uproar. A lot of that going around apparently, so why not go with it? Technically speaking, I could probably run with this theme every week considering how many dunderheads there are out there, but this past week has been more dunderheaded than most.

Your contenders are Movies/TV columnist Steve Vicious and…me. Yeah, I know, "conflict of interest" argument, but one of my boxers apparently decided not to so I stepped in to take on my buddy. Besides, as I so often mention, all questions I pose are taken from discussions I see and hear from many outlets of media, and they are not necessarily how I feel. So, you know, poo on you.

Green…


1) An audiotape has surfaced of actor and political activist Alec Baldwin verbally lambasting his daughter on a phone message, a story that has since been picked up by a number of TV and radio personalities who have chastised Baldwin for his bizarre behavior. Regardless of the fact that the tape was leaked to the media, it should not have been run. It is not our business.

Steve Vicious: FICTION Baldwin is a celebrity, so he's pretty much fair game no matter what. Don't get me wrong - if I were him I would be seriously pissed at the fact that someone leaked some crazy rant that would portray me in a negative way to the public. However, this sort of thing comes with being a celebrity in this day with YouTube and the internet being all the rage now. The networks wanted to run his rant and talk about him so they could pull in some ratings and that's what they're supposed to do. I won't fight that.

Ryan Latimer: FICTION - This one is actually a toughy, but I have to go Fiction on Steve's logic in that he is a public figure and is open for both ridicule and praise. I have no love for Baldwin, a man who I feel is a hot-headed ticking time bomb waiting to explode, but I can't help but think media personalities picked this up just to humiliate a Hollywood Democrat (hello, Mr. Hannity). What he said was borderline chilling and disgraceful to say to your child regardless of how he or she may have offended you, so he obviously needs help. Maybe he'll finally get it.

The biggest issue that I object to in playing this tape concerns what - of all people - Bill O'Reilly brought up: no one is looking out for the actual child here. To this day I don't believe Mr. O has ever played the tape, and for that I applaud him. It's too bad he still sucks. But now I'm off topic…

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2) There has been a backlash of sorts to some media outlets that chose to run footage of Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui's video manifesto that Cho mailed to NBC News on the day of the shootings. Running this tape was in poor taste and only served to make Cho the celebrity he wanted to be.

Steve Vicious: FACT - Cho was seriously screwed up and airing his video tape was the wrong thing to do on the part of NBC. However, they're desperate right now because NBC Nightly News is losing the ratings war to ABC News and airing the video was in their eyes needed to try to win back some of their audience. But from a moral standpoint, NBC should have just kept the tape locked away somewhere. I would have been okay with them showing images of the tape, but I wouldn't want it to be seen in its entirety.

Ryan Latimer: FACT- Ooh, man, now I know how the rest of my FOF participants feel. This one too is extremely iffy in that I believe there are both pros and cons to doing this, but the cons in doing so outweigh the pros here.

Many defended the airing of this with the argument that it identifies and confronts evil and serves as a springboard to getting things done to prevent such tragedies from happening again. Fair enough, but was airing the tape actually necessary to do so? The video didn't really teach us anything we didn't already know through police investigation in regards to how and why Cho did this, for instance. I'll completely admit that watching the tape on TV was fascinating to me, and perhaps that is all it really is: car-wreck entertainment. The media outlets knew they struck gold when Cho mailed them the package, and while I believe that many outlets seriously debated whether or not to do it, airing the tape did more harm than good. It wasn't necessary.

But in fairness, the media knew they screwed up and pulled back once the backlash came. Live and learn. And get ratings.

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3) Nevada senator Harry Reid has caused considerable controversy for recently saying he feels that the "Iraq war is lost." Critics contend that Reid should not have made those remarks even if he was being sincere, claiming it undermines the effort as well as the troops who put their lives on the line. Reid has since elaborated on his remarks, but nevertheless, Reid should not have made those statements.

Steve Vicious: FICTION - Harry Reid has every right to oppose the War in Iraq. Saying the "Iraq war is lost" is nothing new from the Senator, so his comments do not surprise me at all. At least he's not like Hillary Clinton, who seemingly can't make up her mind on where she stands on the War in Iraq. I'll give Reid credit for having the guts to stick to his own beliefs, even though I strongly disagree with the Senator.

Ryan Latimer: FICTION- The Iraq war situation has gotten to the point where practically any thoughtful dissent (i.e., not "Bush is Hitler") or support is completely understandable. People are angry, and rightfully so.

Honestly, how long is this going to go on before we stop and consider the notion that there is no foreseeable end in sight? We are entering our FOURTH year in Iraq, and it's still a bomb factory. Is the Iraq war lost? It most certainly may be. Is the Iraq war salvageable? Again, it mostly certainly may be. But both arguments are valid. The question here is whether or not Reid should have publicly stated it. I answer that with three points: 1) It's our 4th war year; 2) Dissenters -media, citizens and politicians - have been stating this for some time; 3) Some of our own military men and women have said the same thing, just the same many of them have said the opposite.

All in all, we are at the point where people HAVE to start being open about this.

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4) San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has openly described his city as a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants and claims he will do everything he can to discourage federal authorities from conducting immigration raids. Newsom is abusing his power as a publicly elected official and has no business breaking the law.

Steve Vicious: FACT Newsom has been abusing his power for years. Anyone remember when he legalized same-sex marriage in SF? Gavin Newson is a very, very far-left individual. I'm pretty sure most of his political party would disagree with how he handles his duties as Mayor of SF. However, Newson isn't a Senator, or a congressman, he's just a Mayor. That job is pretty much worthless. The government should definitely send Newson a message for violating the law on all sorts of things (gay marriage, legalized drugs and immigration).

Ryan Latimer: FACT - Gavin Newsom is a weasel, and an arrogant one at that. Apparently this man believes that being mayor of San Francisco grants you the keys to not only the city but the country. First he gives the middle finger to the entire state and hands out gay marriage licenses (and this isn't about the issue at hand but the process), then he openly states that his city is a sanctuary city for illegals. Yeah, Newsom, that will solve our immigration plight. Who the hell does this guy think he is? Seriously, people criticize the heck out of President Bush for thumbing his nose at the law and just "doing what he wants" (and perhaps rightfully so), but Gavin does the same thing and he's a great guy for it.

Mr. Newsom, you are not God. Stop acting like it.

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Hmm, I know Steve and I see a lot of things through the same lenses, but total agreement was a bit unexpected. Next time I see him I'll have to sock him in the back of the head. Maybe that will start a feud or something.

-rl