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July 9, 2014 - Sargon of Akkad - Carl Benjamin
17:07
Progressiveness Disappears Up Its Own Arse
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Fox News was always looking out for women who want to be successful in businesses, who want to be career women, so they decided to create this segment called Girls Gone Mild.
I swear to God, if the sort of far and extreme left-wing people are going to actually make Fox News sound reasonable again, I'm going to get really pissed off.
Where they're giving women advice on how to succeed in their careers, and of course, it's absolutely awesome.
Don't make me fucking do this.
I don't want to say they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.
They are just not going to give the same advice that you would give.
They are still doing what you would want them to do.
They're just not going to give the advice you think is appropriate.
But they are still trying to empower women.
They're saying, look, this is how you can climb the ladder.
You should be congratulating Fox News and not being so stupid as to think they are going to present your argument.
Let's go to the first video.
So when it comes to women, you have some do's and don'ts.
Some of the do's wear simple statement clothes, well-cut jeans with a colourful top.
Now, I never thought you should wear jeans.
Oh yeah, that's awful.
I mean, at worst, it's a little patronizing.
But to be honest with you, from the media I've seen from the US, maybe that is valid advice.
To start with.
But in World State, you know, obviously, a well-cut skirt, you know, that fabulous shift dress, you know, that's the way to go.
That's a woman using her asset.
Exactly.
So.
Okay, I actually don't think that video is the worst of their conversation.
I think that was actually the mildest part of their Girls Gone Mild segment.
The mildest part.
They were obviously going to be terribly misogynist bastards.
It's just how terribly misogynist were they going to be?
That was not so misogynist.
In fact, I would go as far as to say that's not misogynist in any way.
That is actually precisely what I would expect from a progressive position from Fox News.
Because it's true, the same goes for men.
You want to be presentable when you go to work.
But when he added the, you want to use your assets, I mean, it's basically saying, you know, you better look foin in the workplace, because if you do, you might get that promotion.
Girl, get it.
I would do the same if I had those assets.
Results speak for themselves.
That's what I, you know, went oh to because look, that's a perfectly fine joke.
That's the kind of joke I might make.
See now, I know a lot of you guys really dislike the young Turks, and Chenk in particular, but I don't, and it's things like this that I don't.
It, you know, that's not a bad thing to say, and it's, it's just a thing, it's nothing, it's not a big deal, and he can recognize that and that's what I like about him and his monologues about the corruption in the US government and all that sort of thing.
They're fantastic, they're really good.
He does genuine journalism and he actually exposes the corruption that takes place in the system.
So I there is a lot About the young Turks, or at least Chenk's journalism that I like and his persona.
And he seems like a nice guy to me.
But I mean, if you don't think so, that's fine.
You know, that's fine.
But I only like Chenk for as long as he's not being a dick.
And this next bit pisses me off.
But in the context of telling women how to dress at work, like if you're telling them, hey, let me see your ass, nobody said that.
Because that might help you out your job.
Especially if you're a guy.
The gender is irrelevant.
Nobody said that.
That's not the direction I would have gone in.
Good thing it's not the direction they went in either.
The woman was making the point: you can use your assets, just don't be slutty.
And the guy was trying to confirm, probably for the audience, that that is what the woman was saying.
But in Wall Street, you know, obviously, a well-cut skirt, you know, that fabulous shift dress, you know, that's the way to go.
That's a woman using her asset.
Exactly.
Right.
As Anna said, they're just warming up.
They're just warming up.
Alright, so let's go to the next video where they talk about how women should really focus on using their minds.
Take a look.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It sounds like Fox News is really, really arguing for the oppression of women.
Appearance comes in a distance third.
You know, your workwear needs to make you feel invincible, not vulnerable.
So make you feel good for sure.
But they come under fire for it, too.
Focusing too much on looks, people say, that women shouldn't be so focused about what we look like and what we're wearing, but what, you know, what our mind can do, what our voice can do.
Oh, truly bigoted.
Oh, my God, Fox News.
You're just stuck in the dark ages, aren't you?
If only you were progressive.
Go on.
How exactly did they get that wrong?
Yeah, so don't care too much about the way you look.
I just find it a little ironic that that's coming from someone who's wearing the shortest skirt possible on a cable news network.
And I find it ironic that that would come from someone covered in so much fucking makeup.
But unfortunately for the pair of us, they're simply ad hominems and are not actually arguments.
So well done, Fox News.
Well, as we've said before, there was an insider called The Mole, he called himself The Mole, that wrote a book about Fox News.
He was a producer there for a long time.
And they literally say at the sexual harassment things: no, no, no, your boss can tell you that you must wear skirts on air.
We need to see your likes.
Yeah.
Okay.
Don't just say yeah.
You need to now retract what you said.
You have just been shown to be wrong about your criticism.
She does not have the choice but to wear short skirts.
It's probably in her contract, the same way that being naked is probably in the contract of a porn star.
Real female empowerment there.
Yeah, and so.
Stop you there.
I'm not going to argue the bosses of Fox News aren't misogynists, but you need to retract what you said.
Don't just say yes again.
You're not in the right.
So far, the majority of the conversation is focused or centered around the way the woman looks.
That's because for most women, it's a really important thing.
As opposed to, hey, you need to be more assertive, you need to be more open-minded to different ideas.
Don't say it like it wasn't mentioned.
The woman placed looks at, quote, a distant third.
That was the least important point they made.
Stop focusing on it.
Take a leadership role.
Just to note, you're not the leader here.
I mean, there are all these little things that you can pinpoint that could actually help you do better in the workplace.
But Fox is actually against that.
And you now have completely missed the point.
I haven't seen the rest of that interview, so I might be wrong.
But it seems like when she's saying your mind is the most important thing, she's not saying use all these positive bits of reinforcement to fake your way into being brilliant.
She is saying, become clever.
You don't need all these stupid tricks.
You don't need all these stupid social justice warriorisms.
You just need to be more like Christopher Hitchens.
You need an agile mind.
And the guess that they had on to talk about this is kind of against that as well.
In fact, the woman should not be dominant in the workplace.
Take a look at the last video.
Why?
Why do you have to strawman Fox News?
Why?
I don't want to make a thorough defense of the case for Fox News.
I just don't.
But you are going so far, ridiculously left, that you have lost sight that your opponents might be able to make a good point.
Let's just, let's watch this.
Go on, go on.
Yeah, women should shut up and not be dominant.
Also, a little thing that she thinks important is your presentation and your voice.
Keep it low, don't speak loud.
Right, you know, under stress.
Well, men too, I think.
Right, so from that clip there, we know that she is saying, keep your composure.
And she says for both women and men, if you want to be successful at work, remain in control of your emotions.
Tell us how that's laughable.
Okay, so I think that that's hilarious.
They basically say that women should not talk so much.
Keep it low, don't speak loud.
Right.
No, they didn't.
All that was said is not to speak loudly.
Remain calm.
The frequency with which one talks was not included in the conversation.
Later in the segment, they're like, don't talk too much, don't be too loud, don't be dominant in the room, because that could come off as obnoxious.
I'm paraphrasing.
I don't believe you.
And not because I think that you are lying.
It's because I don't think you're capable of understanding what they were saying.
I think you are so far left, Anna, that you have no idea what their position actually is.
You have created a straw man in your head of what their position is.
And I don't think you understand why that's wrong.
Dominance does not necessarily equal loudness.
That says more about you than them.
But that's what they were saying.
And that's terrible advice.
It would be terrible advice if that were the advice they were giving.
You're telling your female viewers that they need to shut up and not take a leadership role when they're at the workplace.
This is literally the opposite of Fox News's position, you idiot.
They are directly advocating for women to go into leadership roles.
And they are trying to help women succeed in those leadership roles in the way that they think will help.
It's just not the way you think would help.
Because hey, that might be a little intimidating and that might be a little obnoxious for some people.
No, no, I love it.
Oh, yeah, who doesn't love obnoxious people?
I mean, and especially because you got the two male anchors talking for most of the time, right?
You got Killmead who says, keep it low, don't speak loud.
That's a quote, right?
And then Doocy adds that, for women.
Okay, let's be clear.
Men can say whatever the hell they want.
Okay, but you ladies, shh.
That is precisely not what happened.
Keep it low, don't speak loud.
Right, you know, under stress.
Well, men too, I think.
For women was a question that was then followed up by the woman speaking who then said, no, men as well.
There was no implication that only women need to and men can say what the hell they like.
You saying this makes your position absurd.
Okay, hush up already.
www.com, right?
And then later in the segment as Anna pointed out, Deucey comes back and says they already talked about how you should be quiet, right?
In terms of the decibel level.
And Doocy adds, quote, don't talk too much.
That's good advice for anyone at any job.
I imagine that was said within a reasonable context as well.
And I imagine this because you have been so unreasonable with the context and the things that Fox has said so far, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
So when you're talking shush, but mainly stop talking.
Okay.
Now, how are you supposed to get promotion?
How are you supposed to get ahead in the world?
When you're quiet at the workplace.
When you don't say anything.
Yeah, that's.
Yeah.
Or you could sit there and be a little chat box all the time.
Or you could do some fucking good work that will get you noticed on merit.
Fucking hell, what's wrong with you fucking guys?
Listen, I think you've been in the system too long.
I think you have been staring into the abyss for too long.
You are becoming worse than Fox in certain regards.
And this, your gender obsession, is one of them.
Would they ever say this to a guy?
No, but they didn't say it to a woman either.
They would never say it to a guy.
But what I always find really fascinating is whenever we talk about equal pay, one of the biggest arguments, and I actually think it's a legitimate argument, is that women are not as aggressive at negotiating their salary as men are.
I think that's absolutely true, right?
See, this is one of those things.
They're almost reasonable.
Yes, part of the gender pay gap is that women don't negotiate their salaries enough.
But I bet you don't believe that the majority of that pay gap is based on the fact that women make different choices to men.
Because if you did, you wouldn't go on about the gender pay gap.
So conservatives will make that point all the time.
They're like, well, of course they're not going to get paid equally.
They're just not good at negotiating.
They're not aggressive enough.
And then you have segments like this where they're like, just shut your mouth and take it.
You know very well that is not what they are saying or doing here.
They are hosting a little show to try and encourage women into positions of leadership.
The problem, you fucking idiot, is that they're doing it Fox News style.
They are actually doing exactly what you are suggesting from their point of view.
Okay, you're going to take whatever you're going to get.
We don't want to hear your ideas.
Don't be too loud.
And as Jenk said, just shush.
Where they're giving women advice on how to succeed in their careers.
Hey, you're going to take whatever you're going to get.
We don't want to hear your ideas.
Don't be too loud.
And as Jenk said, just shush.
Where they're giving women advice on how to succeed in their careers.
Do you see my point?
You have talked yourself around just because you don't agree with the methods Fox uses.
There is something wrong with your argument, not their argument.
Their argument is not very progressive, but they do not profess to be progressive.
And so is it any wonder that their argument for the same results is a different argument that you use for those very same results.
You ideologue.
That's not going to get you far in the workplace.
I literally can't believe this segment.
It seems like it was down in the 1950s.
You know, I can see how you think that.
Because they're actually accepting that women are female.
And females do have a certain level of innate power when they're around males in social settings.
And the people at Fox are saying, look, that's something you could use.
And you're like, you can't possibly say that there's any difference between men and women.
So this does seem ludicrous and absurd.
But it is a timeless constant that will always exist.
You know, you see those things, like the old advertisements for what a wife should do when a husband comes home and he's tired from work.
Yeah.
Now you're a pair of idiots.
They are advocating for the literal opposite.
But they're giving women advice on how to succeed in their careers.
Like have all the food ready, make sure your makeup's ready and you're ready to get on your hands and knees.
But they're giving women advice on how to succeed in their careers.
All these like insane things, right?
Yeah, they would be insane things, but they're coming out of your mouth.
They're not coming out of the mouths of the people at Fox News who are giving pretty solid advice to women.
Don't get histronic.
That's what they're saying.
And for women, that is damn good advice because there are a lot of men who will say, oh, she was just being histrionic.
And you're coming out with this insane bullshit.
Like, I mean, that would be lovely, but it's not all wife is supposed to be.
It's crazy, right?
So in this case, they have two guys sitting there.
You're like, oh, yeah, yeah, they should shut the fuck up at work, right?
Oh, yeah, I'm sure those guys are well up for oppressing women.
Maybe they're paedophiles as well.
I mean, like, we already let him into the workplace.
I mean, look at our co-host here.
Lovely legs.
Yeah.
But bring it down.
Bring it down.
He didn't write a contract, did he?
But then I realized, well, their audience is from the 1950s.
Oh, that's a good point.
So they're pandering to their audience.
They're petting their audience.
The average age of a Fox News audience.
Aren't they retired?
Are they retired?
Literally retired above the age of 70.
Above the age of 70.
So those 70-year-old geezers are going there and going, ah, that chick with the nice legs.
Yeah!
Just tell her to shut up.
Yeah, you get him.
Don't see him.
Kelvin.
I love these Zaney guys in the morning.
Yeah, I don't think she's quite feeling this joke in the same way you are.
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