This week, New York Magazine posted an article called “12 Young People on Why They Probably Won’t Vote,” that profiled a group of millennials under the age of 30 who have either never voted before, or are so fed up with politics that they won’t start now. Here are some of these millennials’ unbelievably lame excuses for neglecting their civic duty: “I’d rather have an informed nonvoter than an uninformed voter going...
Posted on Nov 01, 2018
Whenever we talk about journalism movies, most of us always immediately reference the big three: All The President’s Men, Broadcast News, and Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas. Well, at least they’re my big three. I’d also include The Paper, Spotlight, and a lesser-known movie that came and went but which ought to be on your list, particularly if you haven’t seen it yet. The movie is called Shattered Glass, featuring Hayden Christensen in the non-Anakin role of his...
The recent right wing terrorist attacks on American soil are evidence of a seething rage that simmers beneath the surface of society. These random, unprovoked acts of unthinkable savagery are almost always committed by men, usually white, and usually unremarkable in every way thinkable. They have failed in life and commit gruesome acts of destruction to give themselves some sense of accomplishment — a desperate cry for attention to...
There will be no contrition. Even if someone had been killed on Wednesday, there's no way Trump, Fox News, or their Red Hat loyalists will ever accept that their behavior led to death. So, we shouldn't expect a casualty-free series of bombings to shake them out of their brainwashed torpor....
Posted on Oct 24, 2018
We've been telling the same lie for over 50 years. It's time to stop....
Posted on Oct 24, 2018
Win or lose in November, we need a better leader to stand up to Trump and McConnell....
I can’t say for certain what it’s like in other countries, particularly those with parliamentary governments and multiple major parties, but I suspect that people are forever calling for “crushing” this party or “defeating” that party as a matter of course. It’s natural to want your party, or at least the parties closest to your ideology, to be one top and that means beating the opposition. That’s certainly how...
Posted on Oct 10, 2018
Ever since the 2016 election, I haven’t really engaged in the “not my president” meme. Don’t get me wrong. It should be obvious to anyone who knows my work that I have a gut-level hatred of Donald Trump. Indeed, it’s the first time I’ve ever hated a president. Even if we strip out his ludicrous policies and agenda, he’s still just a vile, unrepentantly cruel and ignorant loudmouth. He’s Tony Clifton...
Posted on Oct 09, 2018
Below is the full text of our interview with Scott Carter, exclusive to to Banter Members: Jeremy Fassler: Whose idea was it to bring Steve Bannon on to the show? Bannon had appeared on Real Time when he produced a documentary on Sarah Palin called The Undefeated, before many people knew about him. Any time somebody has been on, we generally keep in touch with them. This is the 16year of the...
Posted on Oct 08, 2018
The disgraceful nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court reinforced a notion I have come to understand about America for some time now. Beneath the exterior presented to Americans via the news, America is not a country with two political parties. It is not a country governed by democratic norms either. Without an all out war to preserve the ideals laid out by the Founding Fathers, America as...
