Contemptible
D.R. Tucker has a good piece out at Washington Monthly about the Megyn Kelly/NBC decision to broaden Alex Jones’ platform by airing a prime-time interview of that disgraceful, contemptible human being:
Tucker’s piece includes an excerpt from an article in WaPo by one of the Newtown mothers who lost her daughter. I’m sure you all know what these families have suffered on a general basis, but here’s a link to her piece and I urge you take a minute to read it, because I think it makes a difference to see in her words what the Newtown families have been viciously subjected to — on top of suffering through the unspeakable pain of their children’s/siblings’ deaths, the families have, for example, received death threats from these twisted denialists. Here’s a flavor:
Deniers of tragedy cause unfathomable pain to families who have experienced catastrophic and public losses. It disrupts the grief process, which is unending. Sometimes, it threatens their physical health and safety. I cannot begin to describe the pain of experiencing death threats and harassment on top of mourning the loss of a beloved family member. Five years after the Sandy Hook shooting, we receive emails weekly suggesting that our daughter did not die. Or that President Barack Obama was behind her death.
The ways in which Jones’ denial-ism has endlessly re-traumatized and caused additional, new trauma to these families is grotesque. Frankly, I wish it were criminal so that he could spend a few years behind bars for the pain and suffering he has inflicted. He is repellent and so are Kelly and NBC for giving Jones a broader platform.
As for Kelly’s putative defense of the decision to interview, it’s risible. Here’s what Variety reported that she said:
“President Trump, by praising and citing him, appearing on his show, and giving him White House press credentials, has helped elevate Jones, to the alarm of many,” Kelly wrote. “Our goal in sitting down with him was to shine a light — as journalists are supposed to do — on this influential figure, and yes — to discuss the considerable falsehoods he has promoted with near impunity.”
If Kelly had any interest in “shining a light on” this “influential” (a positive term) figure, she would have approached this very differently, such as by looking at the relationship among the NRA, rightwing media, rightwing politicians, and their constituencies, not sucking up to one of the progenitors of conspiracy theories. She might have looked instead at the ways in which the man who occupies the presidency has promoted Jones’ agenda in exchange for being promoted by him, and inflicted additional untold suffering on these families, and the tie-ins there. Perhaps in a broader context of examining this question, a short interview of Jones would be defensible. But no — the fact that Trump has elevated Jones becomes the justification for also elevating Jones? For God’s sake, you cannot get more contemptibly pretextual rationale. And given her simpering, cringe-inducing sit-down-rapprochement with Trump after the “blood coming out of her wherever” incident — not to mention the tapes Jones has released revealing that Kelly finds Jones himself “fascinating” and promised not to do a “gotcha” piece— does anyone for one minute believe this interview is going to be hard-hitting “journalism”, or provide any kind of public service, such as by revealing to the InfoWars consumer (who surely is not NBC’s audience anyway) that Jones himself is the hoax?
Please don’t give this show airtime tonight. Please respect the victims of Jones’ vile attacks and lies, and ensure that there is no profit, only financial pain, felt by Kelly and NBC for giving him an even broader platform for his lies and abuse.
