Do you trust people like David Brock and Arianna Huffington?

[Syrinx]

I find it difficult to do so.

They mostly seem to say things I agree with these days, so there's that.

But I remember back in the nineties when they each spouted Fox-ready sound-bytes, before Fox News Channel even existed.

Both Brock and Huffington were the worst kind of sleaze, spouting innuendo and rumor and slur, at every opportunity to denigrate liberal politicians and liberal causes.

Now they both profess to have switched sides, and they've each turned the rhetoric down a notch.

I'm not denying the possibility of personal growth on their parts. It's entirely possible that they, and people like them, have learned from the errors of their ways, and have repented and learned.

But I am skeptical of them, and wonder if they are merely self-promoters, spouting whatever opinions that will win them the most air time, the most followers, and ultimately the most dollars in their bank accounts.

I was watching Arianna earlier on CNN, and I noticed she spouted the URLs of a few websites that she says she likes. I wonder if she has a financial interest in them.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. I trust Brock because his conversion was driven by conscience...

...as noted in his book Blinded By the Right. I can't say I feel the same about Huffington. There seems to be an opportunistic streak in her.

[GoCubsGo]

9. Yep.

Brock has stayed consistent since he saw the light. I have yet to hear him backslide. Huffington, not so much. I think you are correct about her being an opportunist. A few days of perusing her web site and it becomes obvious.

[blondeatlast]

15. Yup--and he lays the machinery bare in "The Republican Noise Machine."

Huffington is just driven by fame, no more nor less than Barbara Walters or Oprah.

[glowing]

2. Didn't Huffington have the blinders lifted when her Republican husband came out of the closet?

Or am I totally thinking of someone else?

[madrchsod]

3. you are correct...she saw the light when she found out.

she made a bundle on the divorce that helped her develope huffington post

[mmonk]

4. Yes.

In fact, I think media matters is one of the best sources on revealing the right's lies.

[WinkyDink]

5. "Like them," or actually them? Arianna and DB, yes.

[Zephie]

6. I love Ms. Huffington!

But I was a child in the 90s and didn't follow politics much then, so I have no idea what her past was. I know now that she's very loud about causes I support, so I have no reason to dislike her. I don't know anything about Brock though.

[caraher]

7. Brock's story is a must-read

Brock was the chief source for RW character assassination efforts in the first half of the Clinton administration. If you can't find time to read about his role and defection from the RW noise machine in "Blinded by the Right" at least read Brock's Wikipedia entry.

[Zephie]

10. The wikipedia page for the book cites DU!

I'll have to pick it up.

[bluestate10]

8. I don't know much about Brock, but Huffington seems to be the real deal.

She speaks passionately about causes and does not appear to be doing that because of financial interests. She seems liberal to me, even far liberal. I don't know what turned her, but now her circle of friends and associates seem only to be among the liberal elite.

[Telly Savalas]

11. You shouldn't trust any pundits and there's no reason to.

Punditry works by starting with a set of facts and using reasoning to make an argument.

Any facts from a pundit should be corroborated with other sources to make sure they're accurate and complete. Critical thinking is applied to determine if the reasoning makes sense. Trust doesn't really come into play, although I guess if a pundit has a bad track record you could call them untrustworthy. But just because a pundit has a pretty good track record, it doesn't seem prudent to blindly trust any new statement they make.

[WCGreen]

12. Don't pay too much attention to any of them....

Especially huffington and brock...

I gather info and them make up my mind.

I do not need to be spun by whomever is chosen to spin me.

[Stevenmarc]

13. Pundits are like appetizers, you shouldn't make a full meal of them.

[SidDithers]

14. Brock, yes...

Huffington? Not as far as i could throw her.

Sid

[NoPasaran]

16. I'd trust 'em to make a beer run

But not with my car.

[Overseas]

17. Media Matters is a great resource. I trust Arianna and David as much as many other liberal

commentators. I check their sources and agree with some of their opinions and some I do not.

Media Matters is an excellent resource-- they assemble direct quotes from the professional and amateur right wing hate speech promoters to combat the professional right wing talking points that are given far too much time on our national broadcast networks.

http://mediamatters.org/search/tag/glenn_beck?tab=clips

I really liked David Brock's "Blinded by the Right" with an inside view of the Republican smear machine.

I'm okay with former Republicans who have seen the failures of the GOP "Supply Side" cruelty and want a more balanced, democratic society.

[toddaa]

18. Brock yes, Huff no

Brock's Media Matters has a focus. It puts RW quotes in context and shows just how disturbing their rhetoric is. The fact that Brock knows how the RW machine works, makes it all the more effective. More importantly, it destroys the whole "both sides do it" argument.

The HuffPo, on the other hand, is nothing more than a money making aggregator Arianna has thrown together to push schlock. Aside from the front pagers, it's mostly celebrity gossip, psuedoscience quackery, and links to boob pics. Arianna is as shallow as her web site.

[UTUSN]

19. BROCK, yes. Ariana has been in financial bed with BREITBART & others

I trust BROCK more than Tweety. Just "Blinded by the Right" was acknowledgment of wrong and repentance. Media Matters is better than anything.

When Ariana started the H-Post she did it with BREITBART (Matt PUDGE's partner) as HER partner. She's certainly done a lot on the Lib side and her celebrity status gets her on all the shows.


That said, I get the o.p.: I tend to distrust those who switch to my side and obviously to despise those who switch to the other side. There were Al CAPP the cartoonist and RAYGUN, who were big FDR followers then went to the other extreme.

Then there's THIS, that will be unpopular here: Jane FONDA. Now, she crystallizes the switcheroo personality. There she was a child of celebrity and privilege with the cold father and suicided mother. Then she became a sex kitten. Then she became a swinger, slave to the powerful male's fantasies. Then a political activist. Then exercise guru. Then wife to another totally powerful man. And Xtian convert. But always, always lecturing everybody, preaching down to people about politics or exercise or whatever her current "conviction" was. And the common thread through it all-----desperate for Daddy's attention and approval, either rebelling to get it or outright begging for it. Tolja it wouldn't be popular.