June 10, 2017

The perils of serving as a mainstream media religion pundit.

With mainstream power comes the responsibility to be mainstream.

I don't know why Reza Aslan didn't know that already, but he learned it the hard way.

CNN canceled his "Believer" show after he tweeted that Donald Trump is a "piece of shit." Damn it. I'm reading mainstream media reports of the firing, and I have to do separate research to figure out if Aslan wrote "piece of shit" or "piece of s—."*

Aslan tried to apologize. He said: "I should have used better language to express my shock and frustration at the president’s lack of decorum and sympathy for the victims of London. I apologize for my choice of words."

But he was stepping cloddishly on CNN's hate-Trump game. CNN goes very far in reviling Trump continually. But to blurt right out that Trump is a "piece of shit" impinges on CNN's illusion that it's some sort of a journalism enterprise. CNN is going as far as it thinks it can. How dare Aslan blithely overstep that line!

_______________

* He wrote "piece of shit."

65 comments:

Marc in Eugene said...

I only know of the fellow because of his brain-eating. Tsk.

traditionalguy said...

He was fired for leaking secrets. The idiot communicated the extant that ALL Muslims personally despise all infidels alive on this earth. Sharia Law made him do it.

Glen Filthie said...

Kinda a case wher the turd calls the pot brown...

David Begley said...

Aslan just wrote down what all the CNN people think.

rhhardin said...

Piece of shit is a finely honed piece of language.

You have to work backwards to figure out what the writer's expectations are to put Trump there, though.

Apparently Obama didn't trigger it, a much better target.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

CNN was campaign headquarters for corrupt Hillary. It was sickening.



Trump committed no crime. Democrats need to get over it.
In the Washington Post. Oh no!

trumpintroublenow said...

Is the rule that to be fair and balanced a network must devote equal time pro and against Trump? Do they have to devote equal time pro and against terrorists? Or pro and against tornadoes. Recall, Trump never would have been elected but for CNN and other networks giving him more (favorable)coverage than all the other republican candidates combined. It is natural if they feel a little guilty for their complicity.

Fernandinande said...

A fine example of hasty-witted moldwarp by a ruttish dread-bolted lewdster.

sunsong said...

He is a piece of shit! Trump is a lying, corrupt bullying piece of shit!

FIDO said...

You need to view this through a different lens, I believe.

CNN has, for all intents and purposes, lost 40-50% of their American audience by being partisan ass weasels (As I am not a reporter, I can use such terms)

HOWEVER, a huge part of it's remaining market is international. They are quite a bit more formal out here. Where 'POS' is not acceptable kind of language to state publically as a 'serious journalist'. Nor do most foreign folks understand what Trump is doing wrong. Why CAN'T the PRESIDENT keep out people who are not citizens? It is baffling to them!

So if CNN does not want to ruin the vestiges of their market share, they need to make sure that Indian Moms are not changing the channel because of their intemperate language.

Qwinn said...

Steve Uhr:

Answer this: is it fair and balanced that the media have already given Trump more grief for failing to pass a budget in 5 months than they gave to Obama for failing to pass one for 8 years?

Cause that's what we're sick of. Equal time isn't the issue. Insanely hypocritical double standards about the exact same actions is the issue.

David Begley said...

CNN's coverage of Trump is devolving into its missing jet coverage.

Michael K said...

"It is natural if they feel a little guilty for their complicity."

Awww. Are your widdle feewings still hurt?

Too bad Hillary was such a loser and liar, isn;t it ?

tcrosse said...

He is a piece of shit! Trump is a lying, corrupt bullying piece of shit!

Hillary too. So that's what we had to work with.

FIDO said...

They gave Trump better coverage because he was attacking and destroying Republican candidates. The same reason they give John (Benedict Arnold) McCain all that free glorious air time. He attacks Republicans.

Once Trump could no longer attack Republicans, they went after him like the Hounds of Hell, going through every bit of tape they could find to try to sink him. Steve Uhr doesn't want to recall that little pivot they did.

You don't get to give Hillary Clinton a full pass on privatizing her official documents against black letter law, but then demand full accountability from a Republican.

You set the rules. Now you get to live by them too.

Don't like it much, do you?

Michael K said...

You don't get to give Hillary Clinton a full pass on privatizing her official documents against black letter law, but then demand full accountability from a Republican.

If you do that you also run risks of robberies at 3 AM with nothing stolen, so there's that, too.

And stay away fro Fort Marcy Park.

sunsong said...

Hillary too. So that's what we had to work with.

Sure, but it doesn't excuse Trump. Hillary is finished. She is no longer a threat. But Trump is a danger, not just to America, but to the world and it's past time to call him on his lies, his corruption, and his bullying. The fact that you don't speaks volumes. The right, the GOP have given up any claim they had to morality or valuing character or decency. It's all about power and money and servicing the rich now with a piece of shit leading them!

Kevin said...

"They gave Trump better coverage because he was attacking and destroying Republican candidates."

And because they thought there was no way he could beat Hillary.

Fen said...

Trump has an uncanny ability to make his opponents impale themselves with their own swords.

Michael K said...

The right, the GOP have given up any claim they had to morality or valuing character or decency.

I think there are therapists who specialize in your problem. If not, there soon will be.

I hope you feel better soon.

Unknown said...

Sunsong somehow believes that Trump is the danger here, when we have the entire elite structure in this country openly announcing they no longer care about truth and justice, as long as they can "get Trump."

Getting Trump is all that matters, isn't it Sunsong? How many state secrets would you send to the Russians to get Trump? How many babies will you murder to get Trump? How much theft from the middle class will you commit to get Trump?

Our left and our elite's answer to the above questions is "As much as we need to do!" :

That is why we got Trump.

--Vance

Fen said...

"Hlllary is no longer a threat but Trump is the danger"

Unbelievable. Not even 24 hours after discovering the entire "Russians hacked election" coup was started by Hillary as a false narrative to explain why she lost.



cubanbob said...

sunsong said...
Hillary too. So that's what we had to work with.

Sure, but it doesn't excuse Trump. Hillary is finished. She is no longer a threat. But Trump is a danger, not just to America, but to the world and it's past time to call him on his lies, his corruption, and his bullying. The fact that you don't speaks volumes. The right, the GOP have given up any claim they had to morality or valuing character or decency. It's all about power and money and servicing the rich now with a piece of shit leading them!"

Trump isn't the problem. You and those like you are the problem. Arrogant, stupid, self-entitled and intolerant of any opinion other than the correct opinion people like you are the problem. By the way, Hillary is still a criminal and Obama as her enabler is as well.

Jeff Weimer said...

sunsong, I don't think you should complain about morality, character, and decency; your democrats lost touch with those long ago.

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:

IN THE WASHINGTON POST, OF ALL PLACES: Trump committed no crime. Democrats need to get over it.

Thuglawlibrarian said...

The guy hosted a religion show on CNN. His long history of tweets showed he was pretty hostile towards politicians and public figures (specifically advocatin for the rape of someone) he didn't agree with. Sort of odd for someone who had a show dealing with religion and ethics, unless it was about "the religion of peace."

Bill Peschel said...

"It's all about power and money and servicing the rich now with a piece of shit leading them!"

But never mind Obama, what do you think of Trump?

tcrosse said...

Hillary is finished. She is no longer a threat

She H>erself will deny that.

Seeing Red said...

I think the same about Obama, but I didn't go foaming at the mouth. I ignored. Doesn't mean I didn't post and snark, but there was nothing I could do.

Ignore sun song, you will be healthier.byou see what you want, I see what I want and the world still turns.

At least Trump hasn't said that he found things out by watching TV yet.

Now, about the surveillance of US citizens Obama put into place....

FullMoon said...

sunsong said...

He is a piece of shit! Trump is a lying, corrupt bullying piece of shit!
6/10/17, 9:36 AM


Does he leave a bad taste in your mouth?

Fen said...

And isn't it funny how, whenever the Left is at bat, the barn is a ground rule double. But is foul ball territory for everyone else.

Can we just skip to the civil war already? Too many traitors for the gallows to handle and we could really use a good culling.

FullMoon said...

CNN denied the guy worked for them. Twitter proved they lied.
Then, he apologized using the "out of character" excuse. Twitter provided a lot of examples proving he was a liar.
CNN was left with little choice, they did there best to protect him, but finally had to let him go.
They did not do it out of some sense of decency

trumpintroublenow said...

"You don't get to give Hillary Clinton a full pass on privatizing her official documents against black letter law, but then demand full accountability from a Republican."

I have never given Hillary a pass for her bad -- likely criminal -- conduct.

Trump lies all the time. And now we are suppose to believe that he is telling the truth and Comey is lying? Comey made up the story about loyal-honesty or honest-loyalty or whatever? And Trump says who would do such a thing because he barely knew the guy? But if he knew the guy then he would not need to even ask for loyalty.

A few of Trump's many lies -- I will release my tax returns, I will prosecute Hillary, I never settle lawsuits, I won't play golf if I become president, I will fix the inner cities, I don't have any conflicts of interest, climate change is a myth created by China, the Mayor of London said no reason to be concerned about terrorism, no administration has accomplished as much as me in first 100 days, largest crowd ever at inauguration, Obama had me wire-tapped (that one may be true), murder rate highest in fifty years, millions of people voted illegally, Obama born outside US (my investigators in Hawaii "cannot believe what they are finding"), Cruz dad involved in Kennedy assassination, ...

What has Comey lied about? He has handled a lot of things poorly but he is an honest guy.


YoungHegelian said...

Aslan's core problem is that he was a "poseur". He wasn't qualified to do what he was supposed to be doing, so he made noise & smoke to disguise that fact.

Aslan came into public view as a "Bible scholar". He was no such thing. Let me tell you people, it's hard as hell to be a "Bible scholar". Just in linguistic requirements alone, there's not only the requirement to read two modern languages (e.g. French & German), but also Greek, Hebrew, & one other ancient language of biblical relevance (e.g. Coptic, Syriac, Aramaic, Latin, old Armenian, etc).

Well, Aslan didn't have any of this background. Yes, he had a degree in religious studies. Yes, he a masters in divinity. But that doesn't make you a Bible scholar. Aslan was a pretty boy, & he was supposedly, that rare breed, a liberal Muslim (an agnostic if you ask me...). He wrote a book on Jesus about Jesus was a rebel with a cause. The secular press just ate him & it up with a spoon.

There are so many topics of scholarly interests that someone with a background like Aslan's could have produced (the place of Jesus in Islam for non-Muslim readers, the modern split between the traditional Shi'ism of the Najaf school vs the Sunni-ized Shi'ism of Qom, the place of the Greek classics in traditional Shi'a scholarship, to name three off the top of my head). But, no, he sold out.

That crazy Indian Holy Man who handed Aslan a handful of his own shit saw the truth of what stood before him.

Seeing Red said...

Campaign promises, meh. All presidents lie. I did not have sex with that woman. It wasn't a biggie then, the vile Progs had no problem lowering the bar, what's the beef?

President-Mom-Jeans said...

"He is a piece of shit! Trump is a lying, corrupt bullying piece of shit!"

I'm really enjoying your impotent rage Sunsong. It will be even more delightful in Trump's second term.

FIDO said...

Really? Someone took Trump's accusation about Cruz's dad and started an investigation? They stoned Cruz's house?

Or...some people are just hyperbolic. Who are well known for they hyperbole.

But the humorless or the strident fanatics will try to hang someone by using as literal and damning a take on every statement a person makes.

Using that metric, Obama didn't know enough geography to be president, he openly advocated the use of guns against Republicans and he equated Republicans to ISIS.

See, I can play that game too.

Instead I will ignore your hyperbole. When he lies about something important...don't bother telling me, since you have lost your credibility. Someone I TRUST will have to tell me.

That isn't CNN. It isn't reporters who tweet that Trump having two scoops of ice cream when everyone else has one is evidence of his narcissism and bullying.

trumpintroublenow said...

I don't buy that CNN gave Trump a lot of coverage during the primary as a way to get him the nomination cause he would then lose to Hillary. He is entertainment. They did it for ratings. They are in business to make money.

FIDO said...

I can't speak for anyone else, but the press gives ANYONE who attacks Republicans all the air time they want.

If they are entertaining at the same time, so much the better.

Embrace the possibilities of 'and'.

The incredulity when he won the nomination was evident.

The absolute melt down when he beat Hillary like a drum was spectacular.

So while I can't say they 'nominated' him, they gave him a billion in free press for their own reasons. And if they had Trump 'winning' the nomination to 'lose' to Hillary, well, they need to fill that air time somehow, don't they?

Far better to do so with higher rating as Trump metaphorically decapitates Jeb.

Unknown said...

Steve Uhr: "They did it for ratings. They are in business to make money."

Really? Then why are they so determined to attack the 40% of the country that isn't a marxist? Kind of like ESPN going full leftist the last few years, when sports are mostly appreciated by conservatives.

But party politics always, always, always trumps rational business decisions in leftist world. That's why they are leftists: if they actually followed something sane, they wouldn't be leftists.

See 5-year plan, Soviet Union. Never worked, because party and politics always took precedence over things like "Feeding the people so we don't kill millions of them in a famine."

Whoops.

--Vance

Charlie said...

His POS comment only drew attention to all his previous comments on Twitter. That's what got him fired.

George M. Spencer said...

Why is Anderson Cooper still on the air?

Fen said...

"They do it to make money"

The refs made some bad calls. They are only human and sometimes make mistakes. So let's ignore that EVERY SINGLE ONE of their bad calls benifited Team Blue.

Nothing to see here, move along.

chickelit said...

Was this Aslan chap -- like Reality Winner -- a little bit convfefe with the Taliban?

Thorley Winston said...

Reza Aslan wishes for GOP Congressman to be raped. I'm trying to imagine a scenario where a FOX News host publicly wishes this on a progressive female and wasn't fired within days.

tim maguire said...

I think it's funny, damn near laugh out loud funny, that Reza Aslan was CNN's religion reporter.

khesanh0802 said...

@Steve Uhr As far as I am concerned the jury is still out on Comey's honesty. For an honest man he skips a lot of questions that he should answer. As far as I can tell he did nothing about the inappropriate unmasking of subjects not even under surveillance and illegal leaking of classified information. Watching his performance under questioning by Trey Gowdy has me waiting for the other shoe to drop on Comey. As Gowdy says at one point " (paraphrasing) "How hard could it be to identify the people who had access to the leaked documents?" Comey admitted it wouldn't be too difficult, but he did nothing about it.

Fernandinande said...

Sunsong was the first Chinese based manufacturer to produce Power Steering Hose Assemblies.

William said...

@YoungHegelian: An excellent and informative put down. That's the way it's done........Aslan' put down was simply crude. That's not the kind of insult that draws people to your side, but rather the opposite.

William said...

When you decapitate the king, you are far more likely to end up with Cromwell, Robespierre, or Lenin than George Washington. Those on the left who are so eager to destroy Trump and his presidency should contemplate what's likely to come next.

trumpintroublenow said...

more Trump lies after further thought -- Mexico will pay for wall, "nobody has more respect for women than me, nobody," I didn't grope any of those women, I will sue those women (and subject himself to deposition-highly doubtful), I am the least racist person ever, I am the healthiest person ever to run for president (per his doctor), Comey not respected by FBI agents, thousands in NJ cheered on 9-11, I know more about military matters than the generals ...

But we should ignore all of this for some reason ...



tim maguire said...

Steve, sure if you draw no distinction between lies and bombast. But most people do. For some reason? Yes--because there is no other way to navigate a campaign. The alternative is sitting out democracy. Which you are welcome to do if that's best for you.

trumpintroublenow said...

So it's a lie if your opponent tells a mistruth (e.g. - "you can keep your doctor ...") but bombast if your guy tells a mistruth? Or is there some other more objective standard to distinguish between the two?

Scott said...

"But he was stepping cloddishly on CNN's hate-Trump game. CNN goes very far in reviling Trump continually. But to blurt right out that Trump is a "piece of shit" impinges on CNN's illusion that it's some sort of a journalism enterprise. CNN is going as far as it thinks it can. How dare Aslan blithely overstep that line!" (emphasis added)

I LOVE YOU FOR STATING THIS, ANN ALTHOUSE! CNN is not about journalism -- it's about pimping tendentious cult socialism 24/7. As more respected commentators note this, it may be possible to get CNN out of our airport waiting areas. We need news that is more mainstream in our public buildings.

Yancey Ward said...

How many that work at CNN feel the same way? Probably 90% of them.

The first one gets fired, maybe the second one, but by the time three of them say it, it will be ignored, and by the time ten of them do it will be applauded.

Don't be first.

Michael said...


steve Uhr

Well, at least Gitmo is closed and you can keep your doctor!

Look, Junior year is going to be better. In the meantime the virtual wall has reduced immigration from the south by over 70% . And to top it off, HRC is till not president.

Big Mike said...

* He wrote "piece of shit."

Did you ever really doubt, Professor? :-)

Kirk Parker said...


Fen,

"Trump has an uncanny ability to make his opponents impale themselves with their own swords."

When you study serious unarmed combat/self-defense, this is an actual thing you train on (albeit with knives, not swords.)

" Too many traitors for the gallows to handle"

You are lacking in imagination today. The old manual version from the late 1700s? You are correct! But today's updated, automated, power-driven model? A piece of cake.

Qwinn said...

"thousands in NJ cheered on 9-11"

My girlfriend lived in Jersey City at the time. This is very much true.

Swede said...

Wow. Somebody sure sounds fired up.

She's probably not getting a lot of sleep. And she's binge eating, no doubt.

BECAUSE OF THE DANGER! DON'T YOU ALL SEE?

I hope she's not missing work because of this.

Those Pottery Barn shelves aren't going to stock themselves.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

It makes me super sad that thinking and speaking is so crude now, from supposed professionals. If we can't think clearly and well and communicate clearly and well, we're just sliding backward down the cultural mountain.

FIDO said...

Steve Uhr:

You think that what you did was a put down. And yet, the Left clearly considered Obama's SPECIFIC lies from a NON BOMBASTIC personality 'not a lie', but a bit of necessary misdirection.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. So you have no room to complain about Trump BECAUSE Democrats willfully ignored Obama's lies and distortions.

Don't like it? Try for a higher standard. But this pious hypersensitivity, not winning a whole lot of converts is all I am saying.

mockturtle said...

It makes me super sad that thinking and speaking is so crude now, from supposed professionals. If we can't think clearly and well and communicate clearly and well, we're just sliding backward down the cultural mountain.

We've done slid, Misplaced.

mockturtle said...

When Napoleon famously called Talleyrand 'shit in a silk stocking' it was at least clever.

stlcdr said...

I'm really stunned that the so called left/democrats thinking is so retarded. The hatefulness and prejudice, and outright hostility, reminds me of those zealots on the games of thrones (led by jonathon price; the first thing I could think of).

It seems this Aslan fellow obviously, as noted, crossed a line; but I don't think it's a line. It's a rolling cloud of oppression, control, hatred and if you get out in front you are cut down, because it reveals what they are.