Discussion for article #244014
[T]he clip (edited by Luntz) CBS aired mischaracterized the group’s responses.
Mischaracterization is Frank Luntz’s stock-in-trade, his claim to fame. They evidently didn’t know who he was or they probably wouldn’t have participated.
Luntz’s assistant told TPM via email that the pollster was traveling overseas and would “most likely” be unavailable to comment.
Nothing represents Happy Holidays like a trip the Dominican Republic with a jar full of Viagra, eh Frank?
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We’re talking about an American television network here. So who would have expected them to show what actually happened? To tell the unvarnished truth? To vary one millimeter from their chosen narrative.
We have a lot of problems in this country. The fading of true journalism is most definitely among those problems, both in and of itself, and for contributing to so many other problems.
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Maybe Luntz could hold a “focus group” on race in America and ask the Black folks why they like fried chicken and water melon. Or why they can dance so well but can’t swim worth a crap. Perhaps he could ask them to denounce the violence and sexism in some Rap music or to disavow loyalty to the Crips and Bloods. That would not be a focus group though. It would be a racist bombardment in the name of “understanding”. It would piss off the Black folks (as it should) and then Luntz could call them down for their anger.
Mr. Luntz doesn’t know these people. He has no idea if they deserve these questions. He’s asking them out of prejudice. I hope that’s the reason they were scrapped.
Frank Luntz is not a “republican strategist”. He’s a propagandist and an architect of misinformation. He made a living head faking people to vote GOP’er by manipulating language. Why would CBS mainstream this guy? And who the hell in that organization thought it was OK to subject these Americans to that ghastly insult?
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Why am I not surprised that CBS cooked the take. Their gasbags and those of CNN, NBC and ABC are so self-righteous when it comes to criticizing politicians about misleading us. I guess I will have to wait until hell freezes over before Morning Joke and the other cats on the main networks give this play:: CBS distorts…no retorts!!!
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Frank Luntz is the top guy for faking focus group research to get the predetermined response his client pays for. Thus, CBS’ deceptive broadcast. It was the product they wanted. How grateful CBS brass must be that Dan Rather isn’t around to call them out for their wingnut proganda support.
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If only Murrow could come back just for the opportunity to punch Les Moonves in the nuts.
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I am somewhat glad it was CBS that did the editing, rather than leave it up to Luntz himself. But what on earth was CBS thinking, even to make a deal with Luntz in the first place? There could be no quest for truth with him, only insight into popular opinion that could be bent into votes. That is all Luntz knows how to do.
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I have to agree wholeheartedly based on the few focus groups Luntz has led that I’ve seen that he’s shepherding the participants (sheeple?) to a predictable, white bread, safe outcome But Luntz remembers very well what happened to Rather when he tried to press the case again dubya and the national guard. It’s heartening to know that Muslims as a group will do what they can to reject the mindless thinking that pervades current discussions. More big media time should be given to them, but who is that fearless?
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“Luntz asked the group how they felt when they learned the San Bernardino shooters ‘held your faith’….”
As horrified as I felt when I learned that Luntz shared my species?
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You win for comment of the day!
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Yes – slanted as the edited product may have been, it could still have been much worse. Case in point – A couple of the participants were upset that the points they shouted at Luntz were not in the piece. I’d disagree, and consider them lucky this was the case. Like most people, they’re probably unaware how poorly frustration, anger and irritation plays on television – viewers tend to take that away, rather than the reasons for it. It would have been trivial for an editor to turn that into a “look how unhinged these crazy-ass Muslims are!” piece.
That’s not taking away from the weirdly biased nature of the whole line of questioning. Merely pointing out that it could have been much, much worse
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Trump: Luntz is an idiot, but why are we putting terrorists on TV. Whats next, special rights for terrorists?
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Luntz’s assistant told TPM via email that the pollster was traveling overseas and would “most likely” be unavailable to comment.
…
I guess there’s no email or phone service in “them ferrin” lands over seas. Y’know our advanced communications technology hasn’t reached “them” yet.
(pounds head on desk)
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An MMA cage match?
Because Luntz is NOT a journalist like Dan Rather — he doesn’t even masquerade as one — he couldn’t care less about what happened to Rather for a story that was essentially true. Hell, he likely had a hand in Rather’s orchestrated take-down.
(Note that neither Rather nor Michael Moore, who made exactly the same claims in Fahrenheit 911, were never sued. I think we can agree that the Titans of Tort Reform™ would have launched a massive defamation lawsuit if they thought they had even half a chance in hell of winning.)
If CBS jettisoned Luntz tommorrow there would be major property damage he would just waddle off to another network. Besides, the bulk of his income is derived from providing Rethuglicans with warm-and-fuzzy messaging that conveys exactly the opposite of their intentions. In short, he wouldn’t care … as long as he was making millions; the collateral damage (to truth, facts, reality, etc.) is just a minor bonus.
And as Gulliver pointed out, CBS paid him.
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Moonves, CEO of CBS, doesn’t support logic and facts - he loves the controversy and so that is what the network promotes, Ka-ching.
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Since CBS is using Luntz for some of their political coverage I won’t be wasting any of my time watching CBS going forward. Luntz is a partisan hack and a complete idiot and that is being kind.
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Kind of breathtakingly mind-bending that they’d hitch their boat to him, isn’t it?
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