The Most Important Thing In the Universe. It's Day Five of Colbertpalooza!

[Skinner]

If you need any more evidence of the awesome power of the media to decide what qualifies as news in this country, the power of the blogosphere to subsequently re-decide what qualifies as news, and the power of the media to then change its mind and report on what the blogosphere is saying -- look no further than the recent multimedia kerfuffle over Stephen Colbert, and his comments at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

If you're reading this you probably already know how the story goes, so I won't bother repeating the details. The basic gist is that the media was going to ignore it, and then the blogosphere went ape-shit, and now it's become the most important thing in the universe. We're now into day five of Colbertpalooza.

I'm a big fan of Stephen Colbert, I like his show a lot, and I'm not just saying that in the way that inside-the-beltway kool-kids do before they dismiss his performance as unfunny. For one thing, I actually do watch his show, and for another, I thought he was funny. But I can't help thinking that this whole Colbert thing may have been blown way out of proportion. I hope that Stephen Colbert appreciates the spirited defense he has received this week from his friends in the blogosphere, but deep down I fear that he's sitting behind a computer somewhere laughing his ass off at the utter inanity of the whole situation.

Personally, I'm not really in a position to pass judgment, as I've been actively feeding the hysteria myself, as both a news consumer and as a relatively prominent member of the lefty blogosphere (albeit from the red-headed stepchild of lefty blogs: a discussion forum).

But that's not all. I also dedicated a full hour of my public-access cable TV news program "Skinner Box" to discussing the issue. If you've never seen it, "Skinner Box" is one of those journalists' roundtable-type programs, based loosely on "The McLaughlin Group," except instead of John McLaughlin you get me in a John McLaughlin mask. And instead of being tongue-lashed by John McLaughlin, the reporters are sealed inside little glass cages, where depending on what they say I can punish them with electric shocks or reward them with food pellets.

Here's a brief transcript from this week's program:

SKINNER (AS JOHN MCLAUGHLIN): (In booming Boston accent) This week in the "Skinnah Box." Issue numbah one: Colbert in the Crosshairs. Ovah the Line, or Standing O? Elizabeth Boooooo-Millah.

ELISABETH BUMILLER (NEW YORK TIMES): Colbert who? Bzzzzt. Ow! What the hell did you do that for?

SKINNER: Because I can. Richahd Cohen.

RICHARD COHEN (WASHINGTON POST): I am a funny guy. This is well known in certain circles, which is why, even back in elementary school, I was sometimes asked by the teacher to "say something funny." And Stephen Colbert wasn't funny. Bzzzzt. Sonofabitch!

SKINNER: You're both WRONG! The correct answer is: Standing O. Issue numbah two: The Stand-Up Cover-Up. Was there a media blackout? Anonymous Blogger Guy.

ANONYMOUS BLOGGER GUY: (In silhouette, with voice disguised) Absolutely.

SKINNER: Congratulations. You get a food pellet. (Presses button on desk, and a hard brown food pellet is dispensed into a metal tin in the box of Anonymous Blogger Guy)

ANONYMOUS BLOGGER GUY: What the hell is this? Bzzzzt. Jesus Christ! (Food pellet drops onto the cold metal floor of the box, and then falls through the metal grate onto the shredded newspaper below.)

SKINNER: It's Journalist Chow. Keeps 'em lean and hungry. You bloggers should eat some sometime. And so should you journalists. Hungry Howahd Kurtz!

HOWARD KURTZ (WASHINGTON POST): I-- Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Ow! You little twerp! I didn't even say anything yet!

SKINNER: You're so completely full of shit almost all the time that I couldn't help myself.

It's great. Kinda like my own personal Milgram experiment.

So, yes, I've been doing my part to feed the frenzy. But can you really blame me? It's now so big that the TV news channels have each given it a catchy title with full graphical treatment. Here's CNN's effort, which gives a pretty sharp indication of why they're losing market share to the other cable news networks:



Fox News went for a more overtly emotional appeal:



Even the normally staid PBS got into the act. Check out this eye-catching graphic from the News Hour with Jim Lehrer:



And just in case you're wondering (and I'm sure you are): Shields thought Colbert was funny. Gigot -- not so much.

[blm]

1. For some of us we knew about media during 2000 campaign. Then the 2004

campaign when they didn't show up at the Firefighters Convention where Kerry attacked the swiftliars.

When the media worked to ignore the Downing Street Memos - there was NO DOUBT left to be had.

I can't see how there is a lefty left who is still unaware of corporate media's complicity with BushInc.

[AuntiBush]

2. Colbertpalooza: Sounds Great Skinner!

Major

[ballsalicious]

55. how about Colbonaroo festival....

[babylonsister]

3. Props, Skinner! And I learned something new, too,as I had

not a clue what the Milgram experiment was.
(For those not in the know, it's "a lesson in depravity, peer pressure, and the power of authority.")
http://www.new-life.net/milgram.htm
I've enjoyed the feeding frenzy and hope Colbert is sitting back, taking it all in, and laughing his butt off! He has garnered a lot of attention thanks in part to all of us.

[emulatorloo]

11. Burrhus Frederic Skinner would be a good thing to google too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner

[druidity33]

35. i heartily agree!

Walden Two was a fantastic read! (i always thought it would make a great movie)... and Twin Oaks was a great 2-3 week break from consumer nightmares... check them out at:

http://www.twinoaks.org /

this is one of their barns...

[vickitulsa]

41. Well isn't this amazing? I'm new enough here not to have heard about

"our" Skinner's other exploits. I knew immediately what a "Skinner Box" was, however. Ya see -- and you can start callin' me a liar if you want to, but I'm swearin' it's the truth -- I actually had an affair with B.F. Skinner back in the early 70's.

I was a college student majoring in psychology (double major in English), and Skinner's work caught my attention as being the most scientific of all schools of psychology. So I did what I used to do a lot in my younger years -- I wrote him a letter!

When it all began, I was 21 or 22 and he was 68. We exchanged letters for a couple of months (it was a summer semester at a small Oklahoma college), and I still have Fred's handwritten, or should I say scribbled, letters to prove we knew each other. They also prove a bit more, but I don't plan on publishing the letters so you'll have to just guess what's in them.

Fred -- and he insisted I call him "Fred" -- immediately jumped from a "student and mentor" relationship with me to one where he pursued me in a romantic way, in spite of the age difference. He didn't waste much time doing it, either. He also shifted from handwritten letters to recorded tape cassettes, and he made me record over the same tapes he sent me in hopes his own ... uh, er ... "courting" words were not being shared far and wide.

So I don't have the tapes, but I do have the labels he neatly typed and put on them -- and they ARE quite suggestive. I didn't quite know what to make of the guy, but he was such a fascinating and intelligent character I couldn't break off the friendship.

By the end of the summer, he was insisting I come out to Boston -- Cambridge, actually, where he was still a Professor Emeritus at Harvard, to meet him in person and possibly do some work for him (I was already a secretary by trade then). Said that he would pay me out of his own pocket. Harvard provided him with a half-day secretary who typed his book manuscripts and correspondence (except the type of correspondence he had with me). But he said I understood his principles of psychology and would make a great assistant and editor.

I was too poor to have money to travel, but when I told him that, he simply began sending me $20 bills in his letters until I had a couple hundred and could get a bus ticket. He offered first to buy a plane ticket for me, but at that point I'd never flown and was scared to, so we settled on the good old Greyhound route.

And that's what I did ... rode a Greyhound bus from Tulsa to Boston ... 48 hours of grueling bus travel, including a few 2-to-3-hour layovers. When I arrived in Boston, he had reserved a room for me at the Boston Sheraton, downtown as I remember it. I'd never stayed in anything pricier than a Motel 6, so I was duly impressed, but quite out of sync with the local sophisticates. When the bellhop carried my suitcases to my room and opened the drapes and showed me how to operate the TV, I almost didn't understand why he was not leaving the room until it occurred to me I had to TIP him! I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out a handful of the coin change I'd accumulated during the long bus ride and dropped it into his hand. He smiled. Everyone I spoke to during my entire stay laughed at my accent, but mostly I didn't mind. They didn't have good manners like I did, ya know.

Fred called me first thing -- he knew when I would be arriving. I also made a phone call to my former dorm roommate, with whom I had an arrangement that if I did NOT call her within 24 hours, she would notify the police that something had gone wrong. Hey, I wasn't totally dumb!

Well, I guess that's about enough of my story of my affair with Fred Skinner for now. Just wanted to offer enough of it to let ya'll know it was for real. Fred was really different in person than you might have expected from his reputation in the psych field. I mean, he was a warm, easygoing, friendly and gentle guy. When he took me on a brief tour of his digs at the Harvard campus, it seemed unlikely that he'd been the man responsible for setting up all those pigeon cages....

Oh, one more tidbit if you're still interested. Fred wanted me to have his baby. Yep, I swear! He told me our genes would combine to make a wonderful child, and if I didn't want to raise it, his daughter would be glad to do that. I pictured them putting the poor infant in a Skinner Box and nixed that option. Actually, he did invent something called an "air crib" which was like a Skinner Box for infants, but I don't know if one was ever built or used.

Ah well ... those were the days, eh? Ya never know what kind of interesting things a backwoods Okie girl can get herself into when she writes letters to well known people. My friendship with Fred was one of the highlights of my early adult life.

And it had been "Walden Two" that really sold me on the guy's ideas. He told me he wanted me to stay at Cambridge and become "a Skinnerian disciple" eventually, but I couldn't hack the culture-shock and indeed the future-shock of the Great Northeast, so I bolted for home after only three weeks there.

Fred spent the next five years or so trying to persuade me to come back. He even wrote me once when he was about to visit an Oklahoma school to give a speech, trying to get me to meet him for a night or two together, but I begged off. He later wrote me and said he'd "do anything to be with me except move to Oklahoma!" Hah! I thought that was a pretty funny one.

But then Fred was a funny guy, as well as warm and tender. Bet ya never woulda thought it, right?

I'm definitely going to have to check out your own Skinnerian dabblings now, Mr. DU Skinner....

[Skinner]

44. Wow, that's quite a story.

You never know who you're gonna meet on DU. Pretty cool.

To be honest, I don't really know much about BF Skinner other than the Skinner Box. My username was more of a tribute to Principal Skinner from the Simpsons.

[druidity33]

51. you really don't know...

who you're gonna meet here. As for the Skinner Box, BF himself had a lot of explaining to do about this "contraption" idea, when people started to question it. The whole idea of Behavior Modification as a concept is a little disturbing to me.... but his motives seemed well and good.

Recently someone tried to write an article about how Skinner's daughter was all messed up from having been subjected to "the box" as a child, but she refuteed the story and i think sued the author.

But Twin Oaks, the Egalitarian Community in Virginia, is a good example of taking the best of someone's idealistic concepts and employing them judiciously.

Yeah but is your moniker Skinner taken from the real Skinner or from Arman Drazarian (spelling?) the real, but "imposter" Skinner?

[robbedvoter]

4. This story will run and run and I'll never have enough of it!

Why? It's the moment when the media whores get exposed - I mean really - fishnets, lipstick and all.
I had never thought about the political inclinations of commentators until recount 2000.
Then it became painfully clear - to me, and a few others who also joined DU. Eversince I've been screaming my head off:
"NYT is NOT liberal!" "ANY dem candidate will be skewered by the media" etc. It felt a bit lonely.
Even since Colbert stint, - a bit less so. The power of satire is that awesome!

[Karenina]

36. I had 2 friends watch after dinner

They "got it" after the first 3 minutes. (Neither of them is American). You could hear a pin drop as they were glued to the screen, except for the astonished twitters, gasps and howls!

"He's a VERY BRAVE MAN."
"He represents the America we remember."

[leftstreet]

5. Colbert rocked!

[Skinner]

7. That's a great quote.

I hadn't seen that one. I think Froomkin nailed it.

[leftstreet]

10. Yep. Nailed it

[yodermon]

6. Skinner

you are a real piece of work.

[Gregorian]

8. He spoke truthiness© to power.

Skinner The McSkinny, you really know how to make us laugh.

[kaygore]

9. I laughed my head off at the graphics and your comments on them

The access TV show was also a hoot, accents, timing of reinforcement/punishment, and dialog.

Thanks for the laugh. It's good for our health; and with health insurance and health care being what it is in this country, we need all the laughs we can get.

[robbedvoter]

12. Poster on Huffington post:

Bush's routine at the dinner was "Ain't it funny how dumb I am?"

Colbert's routine was "It's not funny how dumb you are."

[tridim]

13. And furthermore Colbert's routine was..

"It's not funny how the press doesn't seem to care how dumb and dangerous he is"

[Gregorian]

15. It was Colbert's job to STOP THE LAUGHING.

A room full of giggling and irresponsible adults. There has been way too much laughter.

A switching of roles, it was.

[EVDebs]

14. MSM takes aim at Colbert, shoots self in foot, film at 6 (or is that a 9 ?

The combined dyslexia and or stupidity of MSM to get a story straight nowadays, due mainly to Operation Mockingbird and the PysOps guys in the newsroom during perpetual-wartime, make Skinner's case self-evident. Once again, a self-evident truthiness no one in their right-mind could miss. Us left-minded thinkers got the point long ago.

[Ganja Ninja]

16. The whole thing just points up how dumb the right and the M$M is.

Colbert was in character the whole time. He didn't go out of his way to skewer Bush or the media. They're in his path on a daily basis. It's what he does. If they ever stopped fellating republican's long enough to come up for air they'd know that.

[Dr Fate]

17. The reason why it REALLY IS the most important thing in the universe...

...is because for the first time that I've ever seen, someone told the media what they were, to their face. No "nuance", no kissy-face nice guy bulls*&^$- just scathing truth with the thinest veil of irony.

If elected Democrats were doing the same, we would be writing about them instead. Perhaps someday, in the far, distant future, Democrats will have the Colberts to tell Wolf Blitzer & Tweeety, to their faces, how their lies got us into a war and are destroying this country.

I dont see how Democrats can expect the public to understand any of the other important issues until their is a coordinated effort confront media bias like Colbert did.

As it is, you rarely even hear top Democrats utter a peep about media bias.

COLBERT IS GOD- THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE MULTIVERSE!!!!!

[EVDebs]

19. Oct 1977 Carl Bernstein's RollingStone "The CIA and The Media" did it

http://danwismar.com/uploads/Bernstein%20-%20CIA%20and%...

But that work needs to SERIOUSLY be updated ! Is the MSM up to that ? Can We at DU facilitate it ? It must be done soon...or it won't get done at all.

[Patiod]

54. If elected Dems do it, they're framed as "crazy" or "far left"

Look how the media treat Dean and Feingold. Most of the non-political Dems I know accept the media frame: "oh, he's too radical" or "he really out of the mainstream".

The "liberal" corporate media hold all the power in this game, and the sheep don't even know who owns them and who pulls the strings. They might know that Disney owns ABC, but a huge defense contractor owns NBC? No way!

[EVDebs]

18. Skinner, DUers, check out this related link at

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I've nominated both for the Greatest Page and would hit the button again and again (if allowed).

[Cha]

25. Exactly!

"No doubt the speech is uncomfortable to watch, even on video. In Chris Durang's words, "It's like Hamlet forcing King Claudius to watch the play that accuses him of murder. Or it's like a man asked to be Court Jester who shows up and tells the king exactly what's wrong with him, and gets out of the building before they can behead him."

[Raksha]

20. The pundits can debate from now until doomsday

(which I hope won't be in the immediate future) as to whether Colbert was "funny" or not, but your behaviorist shtick is HILARIOUS! No debate about that!

[Mr_Spock]

21. It's absolutely amazing how the media/right have promoted this story!

...by trying to pooh-pooh it and/or avoid it altogether.

I'm glad you recognize it for what it has become - it's almost a David vs. Goliath story and even those who wish to make it go away are unintentionally begrudgingly admitting it's greatness!

Thanks for this post Skinner - let Colbertpalooza go down as an event that we remember for years to come!

[Can o Beans]

22. Parsing hairs, but

are you sure that Milgram actually used electricity on the subjects, or was it just the implied threat that he used as the treatment.

I agree with everything else you said...

[Der Blaue Engel]

24. It's more like the "Peter Venkman" experiment

[Skinner]

32. Point taken.

Nobody actually got shocked in the Milgram experiment. But the people pressing the button thought they were shocking people.

I just thought it was funny to put myself in the position of the person giving the shocks in the Milgram experiment, and how I was doing it without any peer pressure at all.

But it's not actually a valid comparison at all. You are correct.

[katinmn]

23. ROTFLMAO! As one who has contributed hours to the Colbert frenzy

I say, thanks for allowing us to have our fun.

We get so little of that these days.

And it is enjoyable watching the media make the story bigger by trying to make it disappear.

[Demeter]

26. Somebody's Having WAY too Much Fun!!

Don't get too giddy, Skinner. Fitzmas is coming, but it's not here yet! (Although it may not be too much longer....I hope for all our sakes!)

[Up2Late]

27. Add to that, I just found it made the Real Player "Real Media" browser

Front and center (it's at I-film, but I haven't looked for it there yet).

The way to find it is:

1) Open Real Player

2) Click the "Real Guide" link at the bottom of the player

3) Click on Colbert's face when you see it.

Plus, it's at Salon as a Quick time movie: <http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... >

[redwitch]

28. "When Comedians Attack" looks like Colbert made that up

Actually the CNN and NewsHour graphics do too. Are you series? I actually haven't watched TV news for two or three days. Haven't missed it at all, but since they are working so hard to be funny, I may have to tune in! Excellent post Mr Skinner! And, dammit, the news SHOULD entertain us!

[Usrename]

29. Ah, you have too much time on your hands...

Cohen's piece was funnier (well, just as hysterical). He's right, he does know how to make me laugh!!

Since he gives his email there at the bottom, I could not resist:

Dear Mr. Cohen,

To mention the President's war when he is in the room will never be acceptable behavior.

Questioning his reasons for the war, in his presence, is a faux-pas that should never be repeated.

Thank you for your concern regarding this issue.

Sincerely (not),
Me

[heartofthesiskiyou]

30. If there was a Colbert stock on the NY exchange

or at NASDAQ I'd
BUY..BUY..BUY

[ToolTex]

31. Colbert reminded me of Dan Rather calling out Dick Nixon!

The beginning of the end. Praise whatever.

[bleever]

33. Very funny stuff. I'm just disappointed that

you don't really have such a cable access show.

Do you?

[Skinner]

45. Sadly, no.

Maybe someday.

[tavalon]

34. Red headed stepchild?

A year ago I would have agreed. Now, not so much. I used to chide people who talked about the awesome power of DU. Now, not so much.

Skinner, you might oughta do a root check. I think our hair is changing color. And it ain't blonde (apologies to the thousands of highly intelligent blondes we have here).

[Skinner]

46. I was wondering how long it would take for someone to mention that.

I hope everyone will take it in the humorous spirit its intended. We do often get told that we're not a "real blog".

[tavalon]

59. Nope

We're blog plus! Have I mentioned lately to you and your cohorts that you have the best website ever, man?! I love ya, man. No, I'm not drunk, just maybe a little hopped up on sleep meds, but I LOVE YA, MAN!

ps Thanks for the new Avatar!

[Skinner]

61. Thanks.

I am quite fond of this place myself. And I honestly think we have come a long way in the last six months, to the point where we can now legitimately claim our place among the top tier of the lefty blogosphere.

[tavalon]

67. You have done a lot of work

That said, I thought it was the niftiest place on the web since I stumbled upon it, um, whenever my profile says I stumbled upon it.

[BrklynLiberal]

37. Kicking because I got such a kick out of this.

[realisticphish]

38. Skinner box

AND Milgram. Two psychologist references in one post!

Props from a psych major

[RevCheesehead]

43. LOL!

I was thinking the same thing (re: Skinner Box)!

[Skinner]

47. That's right.

I took Psych 101.

[Theres-a]

39. Spread far and wide!

I've spoken to 3 people I sent the clip to,who wouldn't otherwise have seen it.I hope they passed it on!

[jokerman93]

40. Project X is proceeding

-according to schedule

end transmission

[crispini]

42. LOL! I love your show!

I would SO watch that!

[bleever]

48. Since I'm still laughing,

here's my favorite part:

ANONYMOUS BLOGGER GUY: What the hell is this? Bzzzzt. Jesus Christ! (Food pellet drops onto the cold metal floor of the box, and then falls through the metal grate onto the shredded newspaper below.)

Please send this to B.F. Skinner's daughter.

[Imagevision]

49. Love the way Colbert told Bush face to face about the deciders stance!

[DFW]

50. Ah, yes, the truth hurts!

Those photos of one very pained Bush during Colbert's roasting tell most
of the story form Bush's end (no pun intended). But the real story (and the
real reason the MSM tried to make it a non-event until the blogs made the earth
tremble beneath their clay-clad feet), is how Colbert finally put in their
face that which they didn't want to face: the fact that they have let Bush & Co.
have a free ride, where they once rubbed Clinton's face in the dirt every time they
heard a pin drop.

One of my favorite political satirists (and your advertisers) has a great song about
how the media has danced to the Far Right's tune for a while now:

From "Sing Along With The Democrats" by THE FREEDOM TOAST
(Clip for free can be heard at CDBaby.com, type in The Freedom Toast in the space marked "artist," and click on the song)

Stoop Low, You Media (sung to the tune of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot")

Stoop low, you media
Gonna leave the right wing alone?
Stoop low, you media
Gonna leave the right wing alone!

Well, I look over yonder, and what do I see?
(Call in this hot story by phone!)
There’s a woman who is littering, and she looks like Hillary!
(Call in this hot story by phone!)

I found out a top Republican had done a felony!
(Gonna leave the right wing alone?)
Got a call from Rupert Murdoch saying let the story be
(Gonna leave the right wing alone!)

Stoop low, you media
Gonna leave the right wing alone?
Stoop low, you media
Gonna leave the right wing alone!


Now, I dreamed I saw Bill Clinton get down upon his knees
(Call in this hot story by phone!)
And he prayed before McDonald’s, asking God “one more time, please!”
(Call in this hot story by phone!)

A trusted source got proof that Rove is guilty as can be,
(Gonna leave the right wing alone?)
I was told, “shut up,” or some truck would run right over me
(Gonna leave the right wing alone!)

Stoop low, you media
Gonna leave the right wing alone?
Stoop low, you media
Gonna leave the right wing alone!
Stoop low, you media:
Never throw a lib’ral a bone!!


© 2006 The Freedom Toast LLC, reprinted by permission (they are very good about stuff like that!)

[katinmn]

52. Scarborough borrowed your line last night:

"When commedians attack."

For real.

[Skinner]

53. That rat-bastard!

Whatta jerk.

[JPZenger]

56. Lack of Coverage Got More Coverage than the Event

From the MSM, I heard more coverage about their lack of coverage of the event, then I actually heard from them about the event. At least they realize they made a mistake.

I'm am constantly amazed that I read major news stories on DU and DailyKos at least 3 to 7 days before I read them in the Mainstream Media. Those guys should spend more time on this website.

[Pacifist Patriot]

57. I have to nominate any post that uses the word "kerfuffle."

I've got to find a way to work that in to my next sermon. Love the word!

[Skinner]

58. It's a great one.

At first I was going to use "brouhaha." But "kerfuffle" is much better.

[CheshireCat]

60. Is there anyway you could

post a video of your Skinner Box show on the web for those of us who don't have access to it on TV?

It sounds so cool.

[Skinner]

62. I wish I could.

But we erase the tape right after broadcast.

[DFW]

63. Not to mention

that it's so much easier to spell, too............

[DFW]

64. I meant:

Easier to spell Kerfuffle than brouhaha, that is

(warning to all: do NOT use spell check on this)

[Skinner]

65. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this...

...but I thought it was spelled "Kerfluffle" with another L in the middle.

[DFW]

66. Well, ya see, it's like this......

My spellcheck went on tilt when I tried it, so your guess is as good as mine, señor.........