Why does MSNBC Hate Liberal (Jewish?) Upper West Siders?

This weekend, Jim Rutenberg wrote in the New York Times that "in the last couple of years ... MSNBC, long struggling for an identity and lagging, established itself as a liberal alternative to Fox News Channel in prime time."

This seems to be a point of wide agreement, but the next time someone makes that comparison, ask: when was the last time Fox News gleefully thrashed conservatives, just for laughs? Because we see MSNBC doing that from time to time, most recently on Friday.

Faithful readers surely remember the Times' John Tierney and his visit to Zabar's during the 2004 Republican National Convention, where he purported to be "looking for liberal New Yorkers who might be re-examining their consciences." Exactly why such shoppers should be "re-examining consciences," Tierney did not bother to say. (He also termed the city's Upper West Side "the neighborhood that has called itself 'the conscience of the nation,' " something that is clearly false, not to mention impossible, given that no neighborhood can call itself anything.) And dear readers, The New York Times was allegedly ground zero of the liberal media conspiracy. Four years later, MSNBC, which turns people apoplectic it is so outrageously, indefensibly liberal, sent its Morning Joe crew to Zabar's again -- dressing right-wing pundit Willie Geist in a McCain-Palin T-shirt to see if he could attract supporters. After this probing bit of journalism, Joe Scarborough, apparently a Tierney fan, concluded "I just hope some people on the Upper West Side will take a closer look at themselves."

For what? The same thing that rested in our consciences in 2004, apparently, that requires no explanation. There were no clues in the MSNBC segment -- every West Sider politely declined the offer to support McCain-Palin. They gave responses like "I don't hate you, but I wish you'd change your politics," and "you've got to go the East Side for this one," and "I do not. Thank you, though, for offering."

Since the piece was edited by MSNBC, this was apparently the worst these people could come up with. And yet stung by these verbal broadsides, these poor bubbies on the Morning Joe show where horrified. Mika Brzezinski, who I think is supposed to be the liberal one, said the video was "troubling." Mike Barnicle declared "that is an important cultural piece, and it proves why so many people are so right -- no pun intended -- to really loathe so many on the left. Those people are so close-minded." Scarborough piled on, noting "there's some really, really hostile people on the left who just think that they are intellectually superior." (Hey Mike, any plagiarists on those shopping lines?)

I really do struggle to match what's seen on the tape with the pundits' reactions; one is only left to assume that being liberal and saying so is a "troubling" sign of "close-mindedness" and "intellectual superiority." (Scarborough does narrow his criticism a bit, positing it was a unique New York problem. He believes that educated Obama voters in Nashville would be far more polite; unless they baked Geist a pie while declining to support McCain, I'm not sure how that could be. Also, the anchors don't ask the true inverse -- what do dedicated McCain-Palin voters have to say? Do they show signs of being close-minded? MSNBC could have picked anywhere -- say, Strongsville, Ohio, or Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Maybe next time.)

This exercise of venting deeply held animus toward liberals was free of any journalistic value by pundits with, let's say, questionable ownership of the intellectual high ground. This passes for the country's "liberal" news network, which is why I don't even watch the conservative one.

The report was also factually inaccurate. At the end of it, Scarborough tried to contrast these horrible Upper West Siders with residents of Nashville, whom he said would support McCain but in a nicer fashion. Well, fire the intern who allegedly does your research, bub. Nashville -- and Austin, by the way -- both went for Kerry and will go for Barack tomorrow. They are part of blue America, bub, and we have nothing for which to apologize, now that you and your right-wing friends are done screwing up our country.

What's more, I think it is implicitly anti-Semitic, though I don't think it's intentional. Think about it. All of the attacks leveled against liberal Upper West Siders can just as easily be labeled against Jews, who, as the old saying goes, "earn like Presbyterians but vote like Puerto Ricans." Zabar's, which, in addition to being the greatest supermarket on earth, is what we in my house affectionately call "Jew food." Who shops there? Everyone, but the majority of shoppers are Jewish Upper West Siders. Who lives on the Upper West Side? Well, largely Jews (and blacks, in the not-so-expensive parts). Who was interviewed by MSNBC? Well, not blacks ... I'd be willing to bet a healthy part of what I get paid here that if Morning Joe had asked these very same people whether Israel should be forced to give up its illegal settlements or end its expropriation of Jerusalem lands, they would have been just as unanimous in their rejection of the interviewer's questions. (And perhaps not so polite.) So what? What's wrong with strongly held views? Why is it illegitimate, somehow, to be a proud liberal any more than a proud Jew or a proud anything else? Shame on MSNBC for this stupid, narrow-minded and purposely divisive report. And Joe, maybe a Jew or two might be useful in your crew. After all, we do control the media ...

Comments

[gregaugustaga]

I can assure 99.9% of us who saw this piece in no way as an insult to the Jewish community. It was a depiction of the liberals on the Upper West Side, which has been well chronicled. As for Southerners, whether Democrat or Republican, I can assure you we would not have been rude. Quite the contrary, we would have been cordial and respectful. Believe it or not we are more tolerant than most. Apparently you look at people differently than I. I couldn't tell you if there was one or a dozen Jewish people interviewed. I can tell you they were rude liberals, with closed minds, who expressed hostility because someone seemed stupid to not agree with their politics. Certainly not the "bringing people together" that Obama has expressed time after time. If anyone should be ashamed for being "narrow-minded and devisive" it is you Mr. Alterman. Also, where is your sense of humor? That's what this piece was meant for. You should chill out and lighten up.

[ChristinaStroz]

Hello my good sir, how are you? Freaking out? Me too! As an Upper West Side worker I have some observations. I do think the people in the video were being rude, here are some examples:
"I don"t know anybody of any intelligence who would vote [for McCain Palin]"
That"s rude.
Ignoring someone asking you a question directly is also rude.
The guy who pretended to give a high five and then pulled his hand away at the last second was also rude.
The only McCain supporters (the nice couple) noted that one of them was called a moron at a recent party. That is definitely rude.
You can"t even go to the east side for McCain supporters. New York is the most democratic of all 50 states.
I agree that it is a culturally important piece because of the rudeness. I happen to work in that hood and I have worked all over Manhattan, (midtown, 34th street, and I spent my high school years on the Upper East Side.) The UWS & UES have the rudest and craziest customers I have ever encountered. Everyone I work with notices the difference. Maybe it has to do more with affluence and dense population then ethnicity. Rich people do tend to treat people differently then poor people. Rich people see others as "the help" while poorer people see them as peers. That isn"t scientific but whatever, it has been my experience when I used to live on Park Avenue.

[ChristinaStroz]

Coincidentally I was just talking about the crazy UWS in a discussion on Salon.com yesterday and another person who worked on the UWS corroborated my point:

"I used to work coat check on the UWS. You'd think the concept would be simple enough: leave coat and take ticket, then later give me back the ticket and take your coat. But no. We could probably trade stories all day.
I also used to work in a midtown Starbucks, and we got some nutballs. I can only bloody imagine what the poor baristas in UWS locations had to deal with."

http://letters.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2008/11/03/talking_to_sarah_palin/view/index.html

When you write:
"What's more, I think it is implicitly anti-Semitic, though I don't think it's intentional. Think about it. All of the attacks leveled against liberal Upper West Siders can just as easily be labeled against Jews, who, as the old saying goes, "earn like Presbyterians but vote like Puerto Ricans."
As a half Irish half Puerto Rican chick I find this statement highly offensive! I can"t believe you are perpetuating this saying and excusing it because it is an "old saying"!

JUST KIDDING! Hahahaha I think it"s funny!
Anyway, great piece!

[ChristinaStroz]

My Jewish husband (who grew up on the UWS) doesn"t find this piece anti-Semitic. I think that people far on the left or right do tend to dismiss opinions they do not agree with, and this video is proof of that. For example on blogs, where people are faceless the insults tend to fly. On the feminist website pandagon.net I said Elaine Lafferty is "one of the most objective woman on the planet right now." I didn"t insult anyone; I just expressed my opinion, and in response the prominent feminist blogger Amanda Marcotte responded:

"But she [me]can operate a keyboard, so I suppose Elaine Lafferty would give her a Nobel prize."

That"s rude, but I give Marcotte props for at least having the balls to use her real name and a sense of humor when going into "mean girl mode" on me. For the record I didn"t get rude back, my mom taught me better than that.

Having lived in Texas for 5 years as a child I will tell you that people there are much more friendly. I don"t know if studies have been done, but I have plenty of anecdotal evidence. It is just part of southern culture, you know, the whole southern hospitality thingy. I think this is because in Texas you know everyone, and in New York you encounter so many strangers, that to be polite AND to go out of your way (the way Texans do) would require more energy.

[zenobiadarcy]

One thing that you may find reassuring is that Joe Scarborough does not discriminate among liberals of any background. (They are all hypocritical and self-righteous.) Or anyone who disagrees with him. The fact that the argument he was making does not make sense is the norm. He dwells on incorrect assumptions and after days of debate with others on unsupportable, illogical conclusions, he is consistently unwilling to concede his view. It does appear that since some campaigns claimed of bias, a few of the hosts, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson and Dan Abrams, were very eager to agree, as were the management. They defined themselves as objective and pointed to Hardball and Countdown. Objective no, dismissive of disparate views, yes. After months an NBC anchor changed the narrative and said recently that despite Hardball, Countdown, and now Rachel, the overall message is balanced. I guess after the ratings went up after 7pm, they decided to support these hosts which they had removed as moderators because of the bias. ( Biased liberally or not, the preparedness which is clear since the information is accurate and inclusive, is superior since the broad view of the subject matter results in conclusions that are logical.)

[JamesAndre]

Thanks for this article.

I too failed to understand the reaction of the "Morning Joe" crew given the video they showed. "Loath?" Then the fallacious comparison to Nashville.

Pffft.

http://mentalshift.newsvine.com/

[Johnnn]

I watched that show. You are understating the reaction of those Upper West Siders. They had contempt for everyone who was not supporting Obama. Many times they alluded to how intelligent they were for supporting Obama, in comparison to everyone else. And the show's hosts pointed out that these folks behaved this way even with a camera rolling. I had the same reaction but I conclude that there are places in America like the Upper West Side that are intolerant of dissent, especially very conservative areas.

[mommadona]

"Oh, look...a whole neighborhood of....LIBERALS!"
"They don't LOOK LIKE US.."
"I wouldn't live THERE"
~The Three Stooges of Scarborough, Mika and Willie of the Geist~

Makes me think
of that old "Twilight Zone" episode-
In the Eye of the Beholder...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHp9q3QTmVQ

[chagedorn]

I saw this and thought exactly the same thing...it was through the looking glass...