Our Media Betters Dazzle Us with Higher Order Mathematics
[guest post by JVW]
What do you get when you bring together an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning teleprompter reader and a New York Times editorial board member to react to a politically-charged tweet from a blue-check fashion journalist who worships all of the proper feminist icons? You get Mathapolooza! Behold:
[UPDATE] – Our friend harkin reminds us of the MSM’s penchant for showcasing their own learning while questioning the intelligence of those of us outside of the bubble.
“With yer fancy book-learnin’ and maths” pic.twitter.com/3cR8fQ2bZL
— Jackson Valhalla (@JacksonValhalla) March 6, 2020
– JVW
Keep this mathematical aptitude in mind whenever a journalist insists that a politician’s plans for expanding the social welfare system is fully paid for.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/6/2020 @ 10:33 am“When I read it tonight on social media, it kind of all became clear.”
Don’t ever change, Brian.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/6/2020 @ 10:35 amFinancial math tip, zeros are important.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/6/2020 @ 10:36 amThis is how we got Trump.
And, no, I don’t mean it the way you think I mean it, Trump supporters. I mean that for every person who is intelligent enough to benefit from schooling beyond third grade, there are 40 who are not.
nk (1d9030) — 3/6/2020 @ 10:43 amHahahahahahahaha
Dustin (9c58b3) — 3/6/2020 @ 10:46 amThere is a branch of mathematics called “fuzzy math.” I am not making this up. The problem is that “fuzzy math” requires considerably more academic rigor than that demonstrated by TV News Entertainers.
John B Boddie (286277) — 3/6/2020 @ 10:50 amJVW -please consider adding this to your post. A perfect example of elite media looking down their noses at folks in ‘flyover country’, Trump voters, whatever they wish to call them:
https://twitter.com/JacksonValhalla/status/1235925483709239297?s=20
harkin (8f60f8) — 3/6/2020 @ 10:58 am_
This is how they think “the rich” can pay for everything. They cannot even do basic math.
NJRob (4d595c) — 3/6/2020 @ 11:00 am[UPDATE] – Our friend harkin reminds us of the MSM’s penchant for showcasing their own learning while questioning the intelligence of those of us outside of the bubble.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/6/2020 @ 11:03 amWaPo columnist Phillip Bump, who has a made a cottage career of trying to exculpate bone-headed moves from paid-up members of the progressive establishment, suggests that lots and lots of Americans have difficulty dealing with numbers way up in the millions. That may be true, but most of them don’t end up as millionaire news anchors or with a seat on an editorial board that dictates the Democrat party’s agenda.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/6/2020 @ 11:10 amJVW – glad u liked it. Thx!
harkin (b64479) — 3/6/2020 @ 11:44 amSexists at the d.n.c. change rules to keep tulsi gabbard off debate stage.
corona virus (14a3b6) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:28 pmThis is hilarious. How many people touched this thing without thinking critically about it at all?!
Time123 (b87ded) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:34 pmThank god we have a stable math genius in the White House who is smarter than EVERYONE:
DONALD TRUMP STUPID MATH ERROR While Honoring Mariano Rivera
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:37 pmThe rules for the next debate had not been decided.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:38 pmAnd let’s not forget the time when the greatest business man, financier and economic genius in history (“so great looking and smart” according to, er, himself) taught us that 1/1024 is “1000/24”!
Could the secret of his success be that he, and he alone, truly understands fractions?
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:46 pm“The rules for the next debate had not been decided.”
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:38 pm
The way to keep Tulsi off the stage had not been decided, just like the way to get Bloomberg on the stage weeks ago had not been decided.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:48 pmDave’s on a Whaddabout binge.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:50 pmThe Trump Files: Watch The Trumps Not Be Able To Multiply 17 By 6
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:51 pmRight on cue.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:52 pmNope. I do not defend innumeracy by anyone.
Just pointing out the glaring double-standard in JVW’s post and the comments!
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:55 pmAlso, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Brian Williams or the NYT chick claimed to be geniuses, or smarter than everybody.
They also do not control a $5T budget or nuclear weapons.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:58 pmDave, Munroe, admit it guys, both Donald Trump and every involved in this mistake are complete effing morons.
Time123 (c9382b) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:58 pmDave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 12:55 pm
I guess “Trump is a moron” wasn’t yet baked into your consciousness — in which case Dave, you are very much an outlier.
The point of the post is to note the irony of those who’ve been responsible for baking that in over the past three years.
But, you obviously don’t get it — maybe because the joke’s on you.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:00 pmSuggesting that the DNC should allow someone who has managed to receive 0.7% of the votes (note for Trump fans: that’s much *less* than 1/7) onstage for the debates at this point is completely insane.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:01 pmMara Gay attempts damage control with self-deprecation:
Mara Gay
@MaraGay
Buying a calculator, brb
__ _
J-DUBU_25
harkin (b64479) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:02 pm@JDUBU_25
·
Replying to
@MaraGay
Let me really blow your mind….that thing you tweeted with is also a calculator
_
Just pointing out the glaring double-standard in JVW’s post and the comments!
You know, Dave, at this point my feelings about the President ought to be clear and I really don’t think I am obligated to toss in a “but Trump also says stupid things” each time that I point out when somebody else says stupid things. Our host does a more-than-adequate job of keeping us abreast of the President’s inanity, so I leave that bureau to him.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:04 pmThe point about Little Aloha Sweetie is that she obliterated the candidacy of Intersectionality Bingo, Kamala Harris, back at a point when most of the Big Thinkers in media thought that Sen. Harris had an inside track to the nomination, and they have never forgiven her for that since. So the networks like CNN and MSNBC have been happy to collude with the DNC to ensure that Rep. Gabbard continually falls just short of the threshold to qualify for future debates.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:08 pmDo I remember correctly that the first debate she missed was because she chose to boycott it?
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:14 pmThis brings up an interest point: In the past, I have felt pressure to provide a qualifier with posts that are critical of either Trump or Democrats. Example: if it’s criticizing a Democrat, I need to note that Trump has done something equally stupid, or worse. And if I’m criticizing Trump, I am compelled to point out that Democrat X did something equally stupid or worse. I haven’t kept formal track of the criticisms that come if I don’t add the caveat (but I would say they’ve mostly come from Trump supporters). I’m no longer doing qualifying my critiques though, because I just don’t care. We shouldn’t have to do that, and people shouldn’t expect it. We already know the basics about Trump and the Republicans, and the basics about Democrats. The only thing missing is the specific X. No qualifiers necessary.
Dana (4fb37f) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:14 pmOur host is on a fine run of adding a ‘but Trump/Trump supporters’ point to just about every non-Trump post over the past year or thereabouts. After a while it does not surprise that some would expect it to be automatic.
harkin (b64479) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:27 pm_
The “our media betters” part is FakeNews and red-meat that feeds the false narratives of the Trump-worlders.
Indeed, two media figures made a stupid math mistake on the air. Right-wing and left-wing media figures do the same, as do right-wing and left-wing politicians. Moderate politicians probably would too, if there were any.
Inventing false context (“our media betters”) and casting it in sinister ideological terms doesn’t seem very honest to me.
They also admitted and corrected their mistake before the end of the show, something the media does routinely, and Trump never does:
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:29 pmAbove should read ‘non-Trump post criticizing/ridiculing someone else’.
harkin (b64479) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:29 pm_
I would also like to point out my Comment #4, within 13 minutes (or 0.217 hours) of JVW putting up the post.
nk (1d9030) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:30 pm“ They also admitted and corrected their mistake ”
People are being totally unfair to the media that was so quick to correct their mistakes on:
The Covington kids
harkin (b64479) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:37 pm“If you like your plan you can keep it”
Ferguson
Pallets of cash
Fast & Furious
Denver & Oberlin bakeries
IRS targeting of conservatives
Russian collusion
Schiff vs Nunes
Jussie Smollet
etc. etc. etc.
_
“Inventing false context (“our media betters”) and casting it in sinister ideological terms doesn’t seem very honest to me.”
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:29 pm
LOL
Lordy, do you read your own comments, Dave? Ex: @16?
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:37 pm“ This is how we got Trump.
And, no, I don’t mean it the way you think I mean it, Trump supporters. I mean that for every person who is intelligent enough to benefit from schooling beyond third grade, there are 40 who are not.”
_
Another way you didn’t mean it is the electorate of people the elites in politics and media considered no smarter than third-graders being absolutely sick and tired of the BS they were being spoon-fed 24/7 by these supposed ‘big brains’ and throwing them a huge F U in Nov 2016.
harkin (b64479) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:42 pm_
LOL.
Trump claimed – in the very tweet where he said “1000/24” was a number less than one – that he was a “great looking and smart” “stable genius.” In those exact words, which I quoted accurately.
How many video clips of him claiming to know more about everything and be smarter than everyone else would you like me to provide links to, as further documentation?
Can you find clips of Williams or Gay doing the same?
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:45 pmYes, someone came along whose BS was much better tasting!
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:51 pmBon appetit!
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:51 pmThis exchange with Dave and whichever harkin highlights the problem. Trump’s awful character and intelligence represents a nice way to send an FU to the other side. Biden and Bernie are ridiculous and also represent an FU to Trump and Trump’s fans. Both sides are actively lowering the bar, or at least totally OK with the bar being lowered, because what could be more insulting to the other side than to lose to how awful the good side’s candidate is?
We are living in a Monty Python bit.
Dustin (9c58b3) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:59 pmInventing false context (“our media betters”) and casting it in sinister ideological terms doesn’t seem very honest to me.
How else should I describe a crew that comes up with smug banalities like “this is an apple” and “democracy dies in darkness” and goes on as if they have struck some motherlode of intellectual depth?
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:02 pmOnly the first of this laundry list of right-wing grievances involved inaccurate reporting where a correction was called for, and it was corrected within a day or two. The rest have nothing to do with the media.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:08 pm“Can you find clips of Williams or Gay doing the same?”
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 1:45 pm
Did you seriously doubt there were any? Of course you did.
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/new-york-times-editorial-board-member-compares-gop-opposition-to-impeachment-to-defense-of-jim-crow/
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:18 pmI think that the former NY Mayor did give about a million dollars to every political “expert” he could financially persuade. None of which were savvy enough to convince him of the one message he needed to hear…. “DO NOT GO OUT ON THAT DEBATE STAGE, MR. BLOOMBERG!”
noel (4d3313) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:35 pmStick to the facts?
Trump’s agenda is to eliminate or undermine all sources of truthful reporting and contrary opinion. Just days ago, he even railed at FoxNews for having the audacity to put viewpoints that differ from his own on the air!
Extrapolating from a trivial anecdote to reinforce the faithful in their conviction that Trump-skeptical sources should never be believed seems irresponsible to me. Granted, it’s the kind of grievance-stroking post they adore.
There certainly are legitimate cases where the media (left and right) exhibits bias and stretches, ignores or makes up the facts, and those I consider more interesting topics.
Obviously just my opinion. The “glaring double-standard” remark was intentionally hyperbolic and mostly intended for laughs. Mostly.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:37 pmYes, and if that’s the best you can do, it looks like I was right.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:39 pmLiars figure; figures lie.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:54 pm“The numbers, Mr. Keith! The numbers!” – ‘Marooned’ 1969
A perfect example of elite media looking down their noses at folks in ‘flyover country’
Pretty much everybody looks down their noses at folks in ‘flyover country’– usually from about 45,000 feet.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/6/2020 @ 2:57 pmThis is kind of frivolous crap that Duh Donald squanders his time and the court’s time on.
On Friday, the Trump campaign filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN over false claims regarding collusion with Russia. The suit demands “compensatory damages in the millions of dollars,” along with punitive damages. This is the third such lawsuit against major media outlets regarding allegedly “false and defamatory” articles about Russia collusion. The campaign sued The New York Times last month and The Washington Post earlier this week.
It’s just stupid and thuggish.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/6/2020 @ 3:24 pmFrom Jonah Goldberg…
“But I think my friend Charles Cooke has the best read on it. An excerpt:
This, right here, is why so many left-leaning Americans think that “the billionaires” can pay for everything. It’s why Elizabeth Warren was enthusiastically boosted by the media despite her ridiculous pretense that she could pay for a series of gargantuan initiatives without raising taxes on anyone but the extremely rich. It’s why Democrat after Democrat promises not to raise “middle class taxes” while promising programs that require the raising of middle class taxes. How did this bad tweet make it onto TV to be endorsed? Why did Mara Gay agree with it? Why didn’t Brian Williams notice? Because the people involved in this clip thought it was true. This is how they see the world.
Bear in mind: Brian Williams had already seen this tweet and talked about how blown away by it he was. They had this graphic ready to roll. This means people in the control room saw it. At least one producer saw it. And everyone involved just simply accepted this math, even though it’s not math, it’s not even poetry, it’s catechism. For over a year now we’ve heard from Elizabeth Warren and others that a tiny tax on billionaire wealth could pay for everything on her wish-list. “Just a couple pennies” taxed from every dollar of wealth above $50 million would deliver us from inequality, poverty, crippling debt, and washing machines that steal our socks. As I keep shouting, you could confiscate all of the wealth of the top 1 percent and it wouldn’t come close to paying for what Warren, Sanders, et al are pushing for.”
True dat!
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/6/2020 @ 4:04 pmFundraising fodder. The rubes eat it up.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/6/2020 @ 4:57 pmOT- BREAKING, – NBC NEWS reports U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows will replace Mick Mulvaney as WH chief of staff, and Mick Mulvaney will become special envoy for Northern Ireland, President Donald Trump said Friday.
Ambassador to Antarctica is being saved for somebody extra-special.
Hey, Mick, it’s just like the Coronavirus: — “Get over it!”
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/6/2020 @ 5:25 pmnow other than the obvious irish roots..
what could this assignment really mean?
ireland is how almost all US tech firms have sovereign wealth accounts and massive bank deposits, as well as massive network infrastructure. From microsoft, apple, google, oracle, amazon, etc…each of these gigantic corporations have established some very interesting OUTCONUS cloud and networking infrastructure that is not subject to US laws and is a well known tax avoidance country. In fact the facilities that operate in ireland are also KNOWN to be one “upstream/downstream” surveillance hubs that provide intelligence by NSL, backdoor, prism and others, for every 5 eye IC members.
I have a feeling that Trump realizes that some interest in developing how they dark spying operations and offshore tax avoidance schemes are really the pinnacle of the spying apparatus.
And then, this might just be mulvaney getting a different job.
we shall see….this is interesting.
mg (8cbc69) — 3/6/2020 @ 7:04 pmobvious irish roots…
Doesn’t that make Mick a ‘Mr. Potato Head’?! 😉
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/6/2020 @ 7:36 pm@54 I think those in are actual Ireland, not N. Ireland.
Nic (896fdf) — 3/6/2020 @ 9:24 pmI think Mulvany my have slit his own wrists at CPAC by inadvertently telling the truth.
The thug in the Oval Office won’t tolerate that.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/7/2020 @ 7:24 am