Gary Kasparov makes Tom Ashbrook's show sound like Sean Hannity's

[arendt]

When I can stand the manufactured melodrama and the libertarian leanings of Tom Ashbrook, I sometimes listen to him driving home in the evening.

Tonight, I tuned in in the middle; and I thought I was listening to Fox News. This guy with a heavy Russian accent is bashing Putin, and the first sentence I hear from him is that Putin invaded Georgia in 2008. Well, since Georgia invaded Russia first, I knew this was some propagandist talking. But, the guy was so loud and angry you could see the spittle flying over the radio.

He talked over everyone, including Tom Ashbrook. He responded to callers-in by calling them ignorant and their statements ludicrous. Eventually, Tom brought in Professor Walt (of Meersheim? and Walt - the guys who dared to write about the Israel Lobby) - and Kasparov shouted him down for stating the fact that Neo-Nazis took part in the Kiev coup.

Later, I learned from a Russian caller that Kasparov hates Putin, and has hated him for over a decade. I learned that Kasparov is one of many who are quick to label Putin as a Hitler. Of course, Kasparov quickly beat him down, which is easy when the guy didn't get to respond.

Bottom line: the whole shown felt like a Fox News setup. Belligerent guest whom the moderator refuses to control. Guest thinks in black and white (gee, Gary, the real world isn't that simple) and goes nuclear whenever someone disagrees with him. Guest plays fast and loose with the facts.

If I wanted to listen to right wing bullies insult me and anyone who agrees with me, I would have turned on Hate Radio. NPR used to have some standards. After this disgusting display, I am done with NPR news and with Tom Ashbrook's phony show.

As for Kasparov, this guy is a serious politician? He sounds like an angry control freak who can't wait to hurt someone. Oh, wait, that means he will get tons of money from the neocons.

[tkmorris]

1. This is some strange sarcasm

[functioning_cog]

2. You are way, way off. I listen to On Point most mornings

And while Gary Kasparov was rightfully emotional about the issue of Russia invading and now attempting annexation of Crimean region of Ukraine, he was nowhere near the level of Sean Hannity shouted propaganda.

He and the guest from Harvard's Kennedy school of government provided some strong arguments for why the U.S. and the west should or should not act immediately to put pressure on Putin.

Another caller corrected the Russian caller and said he is well aware Kasparov has for years vocally opposed many autocrats--not just Putin.

Your readout of how the show went is highly skewed.

P.S. your declaration that Tom Ashbrook is a libertarian is either based on other readings about his views or your reading too much into what he says. Again, I have listened to his show a lot, and he does a very good job of drawing a variety of views out from panelists and callers without inserting himself into it. He challenges people strongly to defend their views, but he's not on there opining about his views.

[arendt]

5. I've listened to Ashbrook for years

He is a smart guy who hides behind the breathless melodramatic dichotomies that are the trademark of his show. (Will the world come to an end tomorrow, or will X save it?) Some of his tech stuff is listenable; the political stuff has the classic formula of one weak liberal versus a lot of well prepped conservatives.

What I said is he leans libertarian, not that he is one. But I wasn't expecting people to get that nuance.

As for Kasparov, whom Ashbrook pretty much turned the show over to, he displayed a level of bullying and condescension that was way past what I expect on NPR. He is the first guest I have ever heard repeatedly insult callers; and the first to go off on a qualified expert (Walt) for stating an absolutely undeniable fact. (That there are neo-nazis in the illegitimate rump government that America is rushing to prop up.) Ashbrook did very little to rein him in.

My readout is not slanted. It is informed by ten years of listening to this man skew the discussion his way. He "challenges" people with loaded dichotomies and inflammatory talking points, all camouflaged by the trademark melodrama. In a way, the melodrama is his version of "it was only a joke". Of course, I don't expect you to get "in a way". And, mostly, he challenges lefties, while simply giving right-leaning guests an open mike. I suggest you listen to some shows and count the number of times Ashbrook jumps into the middle of a leftie's time to press him versus the number of times he does that to a "rightie". Again, the word is mostly. The man is smart enough to not make it blatantly obvious. You have to be disappointed time after time with the way he steers the discussion to realize how cleverly it is done.

[LisaL]

3. Kasparov used to be a world chess champion.

[arendt]

6. And that is relevant exactly how?

That excuses his bullying?

I didn't notice Bobby Fisher become a politician on the grounds that he knew how to play a game where the world is very small and completely in the open.

The experience of chess is almost the opposite of the experience needed for politics in a democracy.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. So it's a requirement to love your country's president?

And if you don't, it makes you into some kind of reactionary?

I guess I was a fascist for hating George W Bush.

[arendt]

7. Its a requirement to be civil on NPR. That is what set me off.

Is there any place on the corporate media that I can get an honest discussion without it degenerating into a shouting match?

If this guy is a politician, he is one I would never vote for. He showed up as just another bully supporting the neocon agenda of more war for more oil.

In case you didn't notice, Ukraine is a twofer for the neocons. They grab some oil pipelines; and they move the border of NATO five hundred miles east (the Eastern end of Ukraine is EAST of Moscow). That kind of move is going to make Russia very nervous and defensive. Funny how this is all happening just when Obama wants to cut the Defense budget. Nothing to see here, move along.