BuzzMachine

The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

Baiting Bernie

34 comments on Baiting Bernie

James Wolcott, antimatter to Bernie Goldberg’s matter, taunts him in promoing an appearance on Al Franken’s show:

As many of you are no doubt aware, Al outranks me. He’s #37 on Bernard Goldberg’s list of the 100 people screwing up America–a book that should be more properly titled, Hey, You Liberals, Get Off My Lawn!–while I place at #64. Yet I’m not envious. If anything, I’m embarrassed that my ranking is as high as it is. I’ve only been screwing up America for a few paltry years while Oliver Stone and others who placed below me in this feebleminded gimmick of a fake book have spent decades of blood, sweat, and tears trying to undermine everything Goldberg holds dear in the studios of Fox News, where he seems to have set up a cot in the green room so that he can be always on call.

And, I know, by merely quoting that, I’ll be asked by commenters: “Haven’t you learned?” Oh, yes, I have.

34 responses to “Baiting Bernie”

  1. CaptiousNut Avatar
    CaptiousNut

    Ouch, I clicked on the link. Wolcott also calls Bernie a “little careerist f*ckrat”.

  2. joe Avatar
    joe

    James Wolcott: the fellow who cheers as hurricanes ruin people’s lives.
    Nice to know where you stand, Jeff.

  3. Duneview Avatar
    Duneview

    Wolcott’s characterization of Goldberg must be his contribution to correcting the “loss of civility” he was mourning in yesterday’s thread.

  4. Right of Center Avatar
    Right of Center

    at least now you have read some of the book!

  5. John Avatar
    John

    We could have had this same debate — albeit on a higher plain of civility on the author’s part — a dozen years ago. Blogs were few and far between back then, but talk radio, CNN and Howard Stern were all well-established concerns.
    Bernie Goldberg’s focus is to play to the masses (and sell more books for Bernie Goldberg) by naming names of people in the pop culture. But it’s not as if his argument hasn’t been recognized by others with more impressive credentials in the past.
    As for going on Al’s show, I don’t see any problem with Golberg doing that, if he wants to debate his book against one of his main targets (which he really should, if he stands behind his statements in the book). At the very least, it will be a one-on-one or 2-on-1 headbanging festival, instead of the 5-on-1 scrum on Donnie-the-adman’s show Wednesday night.

  6. John Avatar
    John

    My fault for trying to multi-task with hotels.com and post at the same time — this is the link the post above should have gone to. Hopefully, I don’t have similar problems with my reservation.

  7. penny Avatar
    penny

    Wolcott should be teaching creative writing at some rural community college. He’s talentless:
    “I root for hurricanes. When, courtesy of the Weather Channel, I see one forming in the ocean off the coast of Africa, I find myself longing for it to become big and strong–Mother Nature’s fist of fury, Gaia’s stern rebuke. Considering the havoc mankind has wreaked upon nature with deforesting, stripmining, and the destruction of animal habitat, it only seems fair that nature get some of its own back and teach us that there are forces greater than our own. Sure, a hearty volcano can be enjoyable. Burning rivers of lava: so picturesque. But a volcano is stationary, like Dennis Hastert after a big lunch. It doesn’t offer the same dramatic suspense. Hurricanes are in unpredictable flux. They move, change direction, strengthen, weaken, lose an eyewall, repair an eyewall; they seem to have volition and opera-diva personalities.”
    Gag. Just for pomposity and garbage writing alone he deserves to be on Bernie’s list.

  8. Charlie (Colorado) Avatar
    Charlie (Colorado)

    Actually, Jeff, I don’t think so. The people you annoyed aren’t annoyed about Goldberg (I do have the book, read about 100 pages, thought “this is silly” and put it down) and we’re not annoyed about Wolcott, you thinks that he’s entitled to be arch because Dad and Granddad were funny.
    We just wish that someone who can be very insightful would figure out that he got his ass fact-checked, and failed. Then we watched an attempt at covering for it as embarrassing as watching a kitten trying to cover up an accident on a linoleum floor.

  9. John Bono Avatar
    John Bono

    You want us to respect you? Fine. Call your masters at CNBC and put up the entire unedited segment of the clusterf*ck you call the Donney Deutsch Show.

  10. brendan Avatar
    brendan

    Wolcott is a mincing little fairycake.

  11. Gunther Avatar
    Gunther

    The accusation that James Wolcott is a bad writer is blatently stupid. I mean really. Furthermore, the description of Goldberg as a “little careerist f*ckrat” is probably the most honest assessment of him that you’ll ever see printed.

  12. whodat Avatar
    whodat

    Yeah Bernie is a careerist. So he went out and wrote op-ed pieces on bias in MSM, stood by them and practically ruined his career–all for the sake of journalism–when he had a great job. Jeff Jarvis and James Wolcott could not even carry his jock.
    James Wolcott is going to dig at Hastert for eating too much? Has he seen himself in a mirror?
    I’m finding these more popular bloggers to be arrogant and act as if they are some sort of journalism police. But they are not even rent-a-cops. Hacks. And timefillers on weak cable shows that will be gone in a blink.
    Gunther wrote: “The accusation that James Wolcott is a bad writer is blatently stupid. I mean really.” It’s not an accusation, you need to learn how to spell and you need to take a class on forming valid arguments. I mean really.

  13. The Warden Avatar
    The Warden

    Will James Wolcott be joined by 4 other liberals when he attacks Goldberg on Air America?
    That’s the correct ratio, 5-1, right? I just want to be sure.

  14. The Warden Avatar
    The Warden

    I’m hoping Wolcott will say something like, “Poor widdle Bernie. Waaah wahh waahh,” cause when Jeff Jarvis said it, it was the ULTIMATE burn!!!
    Wooooooh! I haven’t laughed that hard since I last heard that awesome put-down in junior high!

  15. tony Avatar
    tony

    i still dont understand Bernie’s point about this book. Jeff, mostly due to you, i have seen Bernie now interviewed on three different shows. Donnie D, the Daily Show (where Jon gave him two segments), and some other that was forgetable.
    He claims that he 1)doesnt want to make shock radio or rap music or anything that he rallies against illegal 2) hes not being partisan 3)he’s serious in his volleys against those on the list.
    And yet I have yet to hear him fully explain how Babs and Al Franken are on the list and Limbaugh and O’Reilly aren’t.
    Once you finish reading the book, Jeff, would you consider interviewing him for a piece on one of the magazines you occassionally freelance with? Or even better, an unedited podcast? You both seem to be intelligent gentlemen with differing views – what better than a civil 45 minute one-on-one discussion?
    Also, and its off topic, but whaddup with being deemed a “professional blogger”? I dont see any adverts on your blog. Not that it’s any of my business, but is Buzzmachine secretly sponsored by someone or something? And if not, how then can you be considered a professional blogger? Not an attack, just a sincere question.

  16. Richard Bennett Avatar
    Richard Bennett

    Wolcott should be teaching creative writing at some rural community college.
    That would be a hard gig for Jimmy to get since he flunked out of teacher’s college and has no degree. I think cat washing would be a more suitable occupation. There’s a natural affinity between cats and weasels.
    BTW, Howard Stern is Paris Hilton’s daddy, and Gore Vidal is Jimmy’s.

  17. carsonfire Avatar
    carsonfire

    You know, I remember how feted, praised, and huzzahed the author of “Blinded by the Right” was by comparison to these silly cat calls directed at Bernie Goldberg.
    It seems that we only appreciate whistle blowers who are whistle blowing on the right people.
    Somewhere, Sandy Berger’s pants are full of secret documents while he laughs at Karl Rove on TV being hounded for saying true things to a reporter.

  18. Jeff Dickson Avatar
    Jeff Dickson

    Sorry Jeff:
    You have progressed into the pathetic category. You didn’t read the book and you think that’s OK. You participated in an ambush and now you think you were justified. And lastly you are continuing to try and justify your silly behavior by pointing to things and people who you believe help your case.
    Bottom line—you lost the high ground on this issue at the close of the TV taping. A taping that was edited! What is dissapointing is that you haven’t the capacity to say you were wrong and apologize.
    I know—the dog ate your homework.
    Sheesh!

  19. Charles Thomas Avatar
    Charles Thomas

    I would like to see the unedited video of the show on which Mr. Goldberg was attacked. I don’t regularly read BuzzMachine. I choose LGF, Captian’s Quarters, Powerline, and Best of The Web. I did hear this discussed on Rush’s show

  20. tonynoboloney Avatar
    tonynoboloney

    Ha ha ha, Jeff I should have known you were on the list. At first I did not understand your facination or even interest in Bernie’s book.

  21. James Wolcott Avatar
    James Wolcott

    Some points of enlightment, my pets.
    1) When I mourned “the loss of civility” among our media folks, I was being ironic.
    “Irony,” it’s in the dictionary. You should all have one handy.
    2) I did not flunk out of college, I left after my sophomore year because a certain American writer offered to write a job recommendation for me to Dan Wolf, the editor of the Village Voice. He came through on his promise, I arrived in New York in 1972, started out in the Voice’s circulation department, and, after being fired for meditating at my desk, was rehired by then-editor Clay Felker.
    The rest, of course, is showbiz history.
    3) I can’t speak for Jeff, but I have no interest in carrying Bernard Goldberg’s jock, which I suspect is as frayed and yellowy as the CBS anecdotes he has stretched into an exciting career camping out in Fox News’s green room.
    Ta ta for now.

  22. Charlie (Colorado) Avatar
    Charlie (Colorado)

    James, there’s a big difference between thinking yourself funny, and having other people think you’re funny.

  23. SteveMG Avatar
    SteveMG

    Hmm, I must question Jeff that quoting Mr. Wolcott will greatly raise the level of discourse on this topic. After all, Mr. Wolcott is a fan of one George Galloway who the less said about the better.
    Wolcott likes Galloway = Walcott doesn’t like Goldberg. Which side of that equation would you want to be on?
    Perhaps he’d like to respond but I doubt it.
    If you want bloggers to document statements made by people apologizing for Islamic terror, you’d have to set up a separate blog just for Mr. Galloway. Lot of bandwidth needed for that exercise. I wonder is Mr. Wolcott would like to contribute?
    Having said that, Goldberg’s “more sinned against than sinner” routine is getting a bit frayed around the edges. Sure it was an ambush but there’re two approaches one can take when one is victim of that tactic. Viz.: (1) leave immediately or (2) slug it out. Had he done (2), slugged it out, using humor, self-deprecation et cetera, he could have won the debate (if we can call it that).
    To characterize Goldberg as a “careerist” after all he’s gone through makes little sense to me. Accusing your employer of, in effect, selling a faulty product doesn’t sound like a smart career move to me. It wasn’t; Goldberg’s a pariah to any news organization.
    SMG

  24. kl Avatar
    kl

    “‘Irony,’ it’s in the dictionary.”
    So are “tedious” and “sophistry.”

  25. Duneview Avatar
    Duneview

    Thanks for the bio update and English lit lesson, James.
    And speaking of frayed and yellowy – is it true that CNBC can’t get the stain out of your seat on Tina Brown’s couch?
    Ta, ta.

  26. HT Avatar
    HT

    When a klutz falls down, he says “I meant do do that”. When a writer sticks his foot in his mouth, he sniffs “I was being ironic.” And then, if he’s really determined to win friends and influence people, he adds “You do know what that means, don’t you?”.
    Although Mr. Wolcott will never admit it, his original construction cannot be construed as irony unless he is really saying that he approves of cheap shots, sarcasm, and tantrums. Which is quite an immature position to adopt, frankly.
    Being petty and snide is neither persuasive nor constructive; using it as a substitute for substantive argument is just an annoying waste of everyone else’s time.

  27. EricH Avatar
    EricH

    Jeff Jarvis teams up with James Wolcott?
    I guess if David Duke and Barney Frank can both agree that Bush should be impeached, anything can happen. Politics does have strange blogmates.
    Trotsky once observed that if one wanted to live a quiet life, one was born into the wrong century (20th). Appears we can update that to this century as well.
    EH

  28. Gunnar Avatar
    Gunnar

    I just read the book. Goldberg is fabulous! Thanks for bringing this fine book to more people’s attention, Jeff. It truly deserves it!

  29. Randal Robinson Avatar
    Randal Robinson

    I finally got around to seeing the Donnie Deutsch video and I’ve gotta go with Bernie Goldberg on this one — it obviously was intended by the producers as an ambush. Could Bernie have been more polite than he was? Sure, but there was no way he was going to come out of that dogpile without bite marks and he obviously knew it.
    I haven’t read Bernie’s book yet so I can’t comment on it (unlike others, ahem) but it’s obviously been a popcorn husk embedded in the soft gums of the likes of James Wolcott – who is as nasty as they come – so I’ll be sure to throw a few bucks Bernie’s way and pick it up.

  30. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    Jeff, I am surprised you made anyones list for anything. I had never even heard of you prior to that disgraceful appearence on Donny Deutsch when you and the rest of the dog pack attacked Bernie Goidberg. And please, please don’t try to flatter yourself by saying I must not be well informed or well-read if I haven’t heard of you. You just aren’t that important little buddy.

  31. Dmac Avatar
    Dmac

    Lest we forget, Wolcott writes for that paragon of journalism, Vanity Fair. Joe Queenan once wrote that VF was the “kind of magazine read by cool waiters in St. Louis.” But that wouldn’t be fair to actual waiters in St. Louis, come to think of it.
    You don’t get to be chief water – boy for Graydon Carter by accident, and of course Jame -sy is British, so we can all marvel at his witty repartee from our own proletarian depths.
    Jeff, next time you want to enlist some allies in this hopeless cause, try not to name silly fops like this twit.

  32. carsonfire Avatar
    carsonfire

    Pure Woolcott: “…an exciting career camping out in Fox News’s green room.”
    There’s something obscene about this. Goldberg reported (correctly) that a large segment of the media culture is liberal and biased (here we have two reps of that liberal culture lecturing us); the self-appointed keepers of the flame of Free Speech, unwilling to directly challenge him (because they cannot) shun and blacklist him from most traditional venues (don’t tell me that an unknown show on a cable station even less well known that MSNBC is a traditional venue, or even an invite to another ambush on AirAmerica); that same liberal establishment then sneers and giggles about how he has to concentrate his appearances on the few outlets that have *not* blacklisted him.
    This would be bad enough, but I know the snarls that would appear on these same giggling faces if thoughts were to turn to Joe McCarthy, HUAC, and communist blacklisting.
    The post-apocalyptic Oscar Wilde act doesn’t mask the lack of serious thought on Woolcott’s part. I’ve objected to snark before; it’s not the sarcasm or irony that’s objectionable. It’s the pettiness, the innate meanness of thought that is utterly repulsive unless you happen to share the same common denominator of hate. When Woolcott wishes tornadoes on red staters, he imagines that these same stupid yokels just don’t have the refined sense of humor that he does; but, in fact, they get the joke. It’s that they fully understand the depth of the hate behind the joke, the hate that Woolcott would rather you mistake for perception and wit.

  33. whodat Avatar
    whodat

    Wolcott is a joke. I have 2 words for you James: Banal prose.
    TA TA

  34. tracelan Avatar
    tracelan

    If you were smart you would shut up about Goldberg, you just make yourself look small.