www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Political Pundits who aren't Shills

Can anyone provide an example of a Political Pundit or Talking Head who isn't a shill for one of the existing parties?

I cannot think of anyone on "the news" who isn't so blatantly biased for the Democrats or the Republicans that I could trust to actually give me the account of the happenings of the day.

Dr. Eric, I haven't found one either. But the media and the general public are not interested in fair and intelligent discourse. They are interested in sensationalism, stirring up panic, scapegoating, and anything else that leads to making money.

Joe

I totally agree... like totally, for sure.

Politics isn't about truth so I wouldn't expect to find an impartial (whatever that means) pundit. Why would there be?

CDL

I wish I knew what a "Shill" was.

You and me both

Is "shill" perhaps the past tense of "shell"?


Fr. Serge

A "shill" is "one who acts as a decoy" for a pitchman or gambler. In other words, it's a term of derision for someone who fronts for another person or party pretending to be impartial in his words. You might also consider a shill someone who fronts for a con man, though himself a con man, pretending to be impartial.

BOB

I can't really think of any Political pundit who isn't a shill. We also have to look at the fact that news media in general including the pundits are first and foremost entertainers, although I think they would try to argue against that point.

What I'm suggesting is this: if you are looking for truth don't look to politics or to political commentators. That isn't their interest or their product. They are not interested and you should not waste your time looking for it there. It is difficult for a Christian of any kind to participate in politics to any degree. It's like walking on quicksand knowing that it's quick sand but pretending it is a superhighway and doing so with a straight face as you try to entice people to come onto it with you.

Our goal is sainthood. We can see through all of it. The demands of telling the truth all the time will mean that you are continually harassed from all sides.

CDL

He wasn't a political pundit nor a talk show host but the closest I can think of the kind of person you are looking for just died at the age of 90. His name is Paul Harvey. Milt Rosenberg is a close second. But then neither could be called a Political Pundit.

How would anyone determine the objectivity of a political pundit when in Western Society there is no objectivity.

CDL

Sorry! A cut and paste mistake. I agree with you.

Not long after the earthquake, my great-grandfather bought the land he built the house on at an auction--the very first lot.

While the family lost track of whether he paid $5 or $10, the coin was provided by the other Irishman (the seller) to drive up the price of the first lot.

That, my friends, is a shill

hawk, whose father and uncle still own that house in Menlo Park up the street from SRI . . .

What I like to do is read admitidly biased sources from both sides instead of people who pretend to be neutral.

That's why even though I'm a paleo-conservative I read the Huff Post every morning.

Is there any guarantee, given the nature of politics, that this effort gets you any closer to the truth about anything?

CDL

Good point CDL!

As I left from Mass last night after leaving the hospital, I accidentally had Sean Hannity on (I guess the station was on before I turned off the car.) He was calling President Obama the Messiah and screaming how everyone thinks he is entitled now. Of course there were the token liberals that called in to defend the President and his policies. I got sick of it very quickly and put in my Nat King Cole CD. "The very thought of you..."

Well,there is me

But I haven't written anything in a couple of years. I'm trying to gear up to kick out op-ed pieces again, but the ideas just aren't flowing.

hawk, rarely speechless

That's easy.

Michael Savage.

He goes after both parties. He has been a critic of Bush for many years calling his fiscal policy socialist.

He is very conservative however especially socially conservative.

http://michaelsavage.wnd.com/

Though I don't care for his yelling rants I do like Savage. I like Dennis Miller even better. I consider Shawn Hannity something of a wannabe but everyone is entitled to make a living. I do like Rush's positive encouragements he gives to people to never give up even in this economy. They are much needed. There are several others like Dennis Prager and the like that I listen to not so much to gain truth but just to hear how others may interpret what they think they see.

Jesus said, "Seek first the Kingdom of God". The Buddha said, "The gods are as real as the farmer who plows the field but neither knows the way to truth."

All these pundits have words but lack the Word.

CDL

BTW Here are some words to remember "When you’ve dealt with Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra and Stan Musial, the people I’m dealing with now are kind of down the scale."
SENATOR JIM BUNNING, of Kentucky, a former major leaguer, on some of his fellow Republicans.

I guess at the end of the day the best we can hope for is to, if we want to , listen listen to both lib and conservative pundits, analyze and synthesize their ideas with our own. The hard part is being impartial. A pundit's persuasive style makes gleaning the facts out of their statements that much harder. An argument for a good liberal arts education! And I mean Liberal Arts in the classical sense!
Phil D.

I have heard Savage a couple of times, but he is a shill as well. There are "liberal" ideas that are good.

Plus, Savage is for sterilizing poor people.

I have heard that maybe Tim Russert was the most impartial pundit. I don't usually watch these people so I can't say for sure.

What, no V_ Monologues for you? Isn't that an example of "liberal art?"

Conservative and liberal are politically shifting terms. One day one believes in one thing the next they hold the opposite view. There's no terra firma in either nor is there in thing they call "moderate" whatever that means. I'm a traditional Christian. I believe that any culture with integrity will be traditional. That's why I was led to the Eastern Catholic Church. I can't imagine being led or even interested in anything else. Heck, I even believe in...gasp...Christendom.

CDL

[quote=Dr. Eric]I have heard Savage a couple of times, but he is a shill as well. There are "liberal" ideas that are good.

Plus, Savage is for sterilizing poor people.

I have heard that maybe Tim Russert was the most impartial pundit. I don't usually watch these people so I can't say for sure. [/quote]

I don't know where you are getting this Doctor Eric. Michael is one of the biggest if not the biggest philanthropists in the radio business. One of our Bishops even met him at a fund raiser where he was performing the job of MC for free.

Michael is a very religious man, albeit he is not a Christian. He is very, very respectful towards both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches and has defended the Catholic Church in America when there were various problems having to do with inapropirate behavior of the clergy.

Dr Savage is also for having a minimum wage and he DOES want to protect the workers against predator bosses. He has been attacked by Mark Levine and others for this very reason.

Another wonderful thing that Michael is doing is bringing to light the many abuses in the medical industry and the over drugging of our children by so called anti depression drugs.

Finally Michael is the only radio talk show host who reads from the bible on the show and tries to explain the things that are happening today based on scripture.

Yes he does have angry outbursts sometimes, but I can not blame him for being intolerant towards intolerance and evil. I am not going as far as to say Michael's outbursts are Orthodox :), but I will say that many fathers taught that anger was actually a capacity that was given to us by God. We are to get angry at evil.

Your fellow Monarchist also believes in Christendom. Would that we could reclaim it.

No V. Monologues for me, thank you!

This may interest some http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/03/01/ann-coulter-debate-bill-maher-boston

Maybe George McGovern isn't the Commie Pinko we thought he was or he has converted recently. George McGovern to fight Card Check in debate ad
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/07/george-mcgovern-to-fight-card-check-in-debate-ad/

Then check this out http://www.employeefreedom.org/

It really is hard to tell the players without a scorecard.

I am to the point now where I do not listen to either side in the media. I can't stand the hate and the bickering I see on cable news or on the radio. I listen to Relevant Radio (but not shows that deal with politics a lot) in the car, and listening to music at home. It is not that I do not car about the world, the news, and politics. But the acerbic nature of the discourse have gotten old for me. I like to come home, crack open a cold frosty, and put a Beatle or U2 LP on the record player, and chill. I get up in the morning and read the Bible at my local coffee shop. I tune a lot of it out.

I find Michael Savage's views to be bigoted sometimes.

As for Tim Russert, he did seem pretty impartial to me. he also was a practicing Catholic, always went to Saturday evening Mass.