Reason Writers on the TV: Katherine Mangu-Ward on Fringe Candidates on Russia Today

Senior Editor of Reason Magazine Katherine Mangu-Ward talks Tea Parties, fringe candidates, and third-party candidates on Russia Today's The Alyona Show on May 25, 2010.

Approximately 5 minutes.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

First!

Anyway, I guess approximately 5 minutes can mean almost 8 minutes. Regardless, I'm not watching anything whose host wears jeans on the job.

[Tara Davis]

Seriously? I watched every minute of it rooting for a pillow fight to break out all the way through.

[iPhone4 Fanboi]

"host wears jeans on the job"

FOAD!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Okay, can we establish if the tea party movement is a fringe extreme of the Republican Party or not? Can we establish if the tea party movement is a force with which to be reckoned or an annoyance in a scattering of weak candidate-laden races? I need us to settle on a narrative here, people.

[Tara Davis]

1) Not.
2) Both.

Done.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"And you can't be a major political party who's anti-government because your whole hope, your whole reason for existing is to be in government."

From Kathy's lips to any libertarian candidate's ears.

[AA]

She does have a point...

[Wise Ass]

On the top of her head.

[Lou Heller]

Mmmmmm Alyona can be my "fringe candidate" anytime.

Lou

http://www.anonymitybot.com

[Force shits upon Reason's back]

Anonbot's gettin horny!

[heller]

That was me.

[Subsidize Me!]

On Russia Today, anon-bot spoof you!

[Astrid]

Ow, I thought it had finally become sentient.

[Decartes]

I'd like to cogito her sum, knowhatimean?

[sage]

I'd like to be the soap in that shower.

[Episiarch]

You drop the soap in the shower a lot, don't you.

[sage]

With those three? OK!

[Tara Davis]

Sage: A fan of pegging. Noted for future reference.

[Fist of Etiquette]

DeNunzio sure takes it on the chin from the ladies. Fail to give your ex-wife half your paycheck for life (or whatever "deadbeat dad" stuff The View here was yapping about) and the women circle the sisterhood wagons.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Alyona kept using "stoner" as a pejorative and the libertarian on the panel didn't call her on it. Bogus.

[Tara Davis]

KMW knows better than to be an ass about such things. She wants to be invited back for future opportunities to make her points. One of many reasons I consider her a personal hero.

[Cool Cal]

I tend to find Alyona's cutesy smart-ass shtick a little irritating, just a few miles south of being as excruciatingly self-satisfied as Rachel Maddow.

But aside from that, I put it to anyone at Reason to answer my question again - why are you guys always on Russia Today, and in particular Alyona? Not that I begrudge it, I am really just curious.

[Astrid]

I tend to find Alyona's cutesy smart-ass shtick a little irritating, just a few miles south of being as excruciatingly self-satisfied as Rachel Maddow.

Yeah, but unlike Maddow, Alyona is at least pleasant to look at.

[Tara Davis]

I'm not sure what you mean. Maddow is a perfectly handsome-looking fellow.

[Astrid]

I tend to find Alyona's cutesy smart-ass shtick a little irritating, just a few miles south of being as excruciatingly self-satisfied as Rachel Maddow.

Yeah, but unlike Maddow, Alyona is at least pleasant to look at.

[AlmightyJB]

I think Maddow's kinda hot.

[Episiarch]

Are you a middle aged lesbian? If not, you are one sick monkey.

[AlmightyJB]

If I were a chick I would totally be a lesbian. That's probably why I'm attracted to her. Girl on girl is so hot. I'll take sick monkey as a compliment.

[SIV]

Rachel Maddow isn't hot. Lesbianism should be as God intended,with shapely hot chicks wearing latex engaged in heavy bondage and light to moderate S&M.
Hasn't the internet taught you anything?

[AlmightyJB]

It's taught me all sorts of things. Like how to photoshop Rachael Maddow's face onto those latex laden lassies you speak of and how to use my mouse with my left hand. Also, that I am indeed, in the words of Episiarch, a sick monkey.

[sage]

If I were a chick I would totally be a lesbian.

THIS!

[motorcycle installment sale]

I really love your website, it's so useful, i'm just sharing for my friends?Strong winter weather is hitting most of the United States right now

[Silentz]

When did being in favor of limited government become "anti government"? Or did I miss the memo?

[sage]

I know. It's funny sad that the people being portrayed as anti-government are the ones that want to stop the spending that's going to collapse the republic.

[SIV]

Libertarians are the ultimate in cool libertine super-villains. The Really Creepy People Behind the Libertarian-Inspired Billionaire Sea Castles
Quick!, somebody hire me to kill the other half of the working class.

[Astrid]

Only if you agree to use the resulting orphans as slave labor in your Sea Castle.

[Silentz]

We already have a solution to this...our own sort of guillotine. And ironically the French designed this one, too.

[Silentz]

Damn...RC'd the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocet

[Silentz]

There really should be a way to preview what you're going to submit.

[Episiarch]

It's "SugarFree'd" the link. RC has his iron laws; NutraSweet fucks up links with regularity. See the difference?

[Silentz]

Right, right...I had forgotten my handle-to-error translation chart. My bad.

[SIV]

The only way to get those plundering libertarian billionaires in their sea-castles is piracy. No wonder they co-opted the Somalis!

[R C Dean]

Damn...RC'd the link.

Hey, hey, hey.

I think you mean "SugarFreed the link."

[Gason Flame]

I can't say that I was impressed by KMW's performance. Maybe it is too much to ask, but she really should have forcefully made the distinction between a political movement and a political party. By accepting the premise that the Tea Party is a party and not a movement, she accepted a conceptual framework which relegates the concerns of the Tea Party to those of a short-lived, narrow partisan fad with no hope of having any major lasting influence.

Also, she should have challenged the premise that the Tea Party movement is a fringe movement. Ralph Nader has never had the level of support that the TP has and the TP has already demonstrated that it is doing more than just injecting a few ideas into the political debate. The TP has defeated several establishment anointed candidates and looks to be on track to inserting loyal acolytes into the halls of power. People are policy.

Come-to-think-of-it, KMW accepted or only weakly opposed all of the major establishment condoned premises for the discussion. She could use a little more fire-in-the-belly and demonstrate a little more willingness to be confrontational. Soggy noddles convince no one of anything.