I'd never heard H.R. McMaster interviewed, and I was laughing hearing him sound like the guy in line ahead of me at a South Philly cheesesteak shop.
At the same time, in a country like Israel that actually reveres dedication to national service, a soldier/scholar like McMaster would be a very viable candidate for PM, and rightly so.
I don't have 45 minutes for this one, but I bet it could be summarized in print for a four or five minute read. That would be a good thing for those of us who subscribe in order to read good reporting.
Oh, my, what a charming interview! For a second I thought I was at The New Yorker Radio Hour!
For all his charisma, McMaster blows his credibility out of the water when he suggests that Trump‘s incoming administration is “the A-Team.“ Tulsi gabbard, Kristi Noem, Steven Miller, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, Scott Turner, Linda McMahon, and please help us understand, Pete Hegseth, are easily enough to drag the “A – Team” Bell curve into the mud. I can’t believe how hard McMaster works to normalize the idiocy.
At least those hard-hitting interview questions during Hegeseth’s Armed Services Committee hearing (most definitely not testimony!) really brought home the bacon. Like a bunch of residents in a nursing home querying one of the service staff about the dinner selections. CNN called it contentious. Oh my God I might have to take one of my heart pills. That’s who we want: supremely unqualified, yet defiant, and with that adorably cute little pretend American flag pocket square? Heck he’s got my vote. Does he also skateboard?
But this interview. So congenial. Me? So grateful. I’m surprised but relieved that there aren’t more lap dancers in the incoming bro-culture administration. But wait a minute, most of them have been chosen specifically to be lap dancers for our geriatric Caligula. It has nothing to do with competence or experience, it’s all loyalty, right? And a healthy dose of how they look on TV. So glad that’s all been normalized. Everybody has to hope that the president does well, right? Otherwise you’re not being patriotic. The number of clowns declaring themselves patriotic in recent years as they committed unconscionable fratboy nonsense no longer rings patriotic, somehow. I guess the phrase would be “devalued the brand.“ Like the dimwits that wrap their pick up trucks in Trump graphics and drive around with three flags flapping in the wind. Not buyin’ it.
How about having some respect for the American people? This cabinet pick season has been a smug, embarrassing roadshow so informed by popular mass media culture as to be meaningless. And that, ultimately, is also your interview with HR McMaster, somebody I want to like, but ultimately seems to be auditioning for something. Maybe it’s book sales?
A shame we did not get his perspective on Iran in more detail. Or perhaps not discussing Iran says it all. Is the real story in Israel, sacrifice Israel, suck up to Saudis, to depress oil prices to bring Russia to its knees? Where is the "hell" Trump promised for Hamas? How did Trump coerce Israel to surrender to Hamas so ignobly so unexpectedly? 30 days and the plot unfolds I suspect.
I prefer not to put the linear time into a podcast. I can read a half an hour pod in a couple of minutes. If I miss something I can scroll back with my eyes quickly. Please maintain your focus on printed form.
Ah Mikey, could you put in a bit of effort to remain objective? Right at the beginning we know how you feel about President Trump when you say ‘we are about to face another Trump administration’ as if we have to suck it up and endure chaos for another 4 years, maybe akin to a long lasting colonoscopy.
Can anyone imagine Mikey uttering anything similar upon Obama’s reelection?
For anyone listening, this type of attitude is why the press is held in such low esteem and why President Trump was reelected.
A lot of people dislike Trump. That is the reality. Perhaps it is more of an opinion, and perhaps it doesn’t belong in a piece of objective journalism.
Honestly podcasts are what had me become a paid subscriber. They are very well done w questions asked and much opportunity for interviewees to speak. As I read the articles though, I'm becoming less clear on what a free press is. I was hoping to find articles presented in a variety of perspectives and information shared so that readers can make an informed decision as to what they make of what has been reported. I may be unclear on what The Free Press is; since becoming a paid subscriber in December, I'm hearing one perspective in the articles. The one today on Rubio gave a better breadth. Hopefully I'll see more of that type, otherwise Bari or someone help me understand the reporting of Free Press for a reader who is looking for information to make informed opinions of one's own, not to be swayed, convinced of someone else's opinion.
I’ve never been able to get into podcasts, but I agree that a lot of the article choices seem focused more on providing opposing angles on hot-button issues (admittedly, a better approach than most news sites) rather than actual, unbiased reporting (more challenging, but the ideal).
The editors do seem to listen to some of the criticisms in the comments. Hopefully, they’ll balance away from so much both-sidism reporting and editorializing (though that has its place) and more toward an unbiased depiction of the actual situation. Tell us the news, let us decide our own opinions.
I'd never heard H.R. McMaster interviewed, and I was laughing hearing him sound like the guy in line ahead of me at a South Philly cheesesteak shop.
At the same time, in a country like Israel that actually reveres dedication to national service, a soldier/scholar like McMaster would be a very viable candidate for PM, and rightly so.
I don't have 45 minutes for this one, but I bet it could be summarized in print for a four or five minute read. That would be a good thing for those of us who subscribe in order to read good reporting.
Oh, my, what a charming interview! For a second I thought I was at The New Yorker Radio Hour!
For all his charisma, McMaster blows his credibility out of the water when he suggests that Trump‘s incoming administration is “the A-Team.“ Tulsi gabbard, Kristi Noem, Steven Miller, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, Scott Turner, Linda McMahon, and please help us understand, Pete Hegseth, are easily enough to drag the “A – Team” Bell curve into the mud. I can’t believe how hard McMaster works to normalize the idiocy.
At least those hard-hitting interview questions during Hegeseth’s Armed Services Committee hearing (most definitely not testimony!) really brought home the bacon. Like a bunch of residents in a nursing home querying one of the service staff about the dinner selections. CNN called it contentious. Oh my God I might have to take one of my heart pills. That’s who we want: supremely unqualified, yet defiant, and with that adorably cute little pretend American flag pocket square? Heck he’s got my vote. Does he also skateboard?
But this interview. So congenial. Me? So grateful. I’m surprised but relieved that there aren’t more lap dancers in the incoming bro-culture administration. But wait a minute, most of them have been chosen specifically to be lap dancers for our geriatric Caligula. It has nothing to do with competence or experience, it’s all loyalty, right? And a healthy dose of how they look on TV. So glad that’s all been normalized. Everybody has to hope that the president does well, right? Otherwise you’re not being patriotic. The number of clowns declaring themselves patriotic in recent years as they committed unconscionable fratboy nonsense no longer rings patriotic, somehow. I guess the phrase would be “devalued the brand.“ Like the dimwits that wrap their pick up trucks in Trump graphics and drive around with three flags flapping in the wind. Not buyin’ it.
How about having some respect for the American people? This cabinet pick season has been a smug, embarrassing roadshow so informed by popular mass media culture as to be meaningless. And that, ultimately, is also your interview with HR McMaster, somebody I want to like, but ultimately seems to be auditioning for something. Maybe it’s book sales?
A shame we did not get his perspective on Iran in more detail. Or perhaps not discussing Iran says it all. Is the real story in Israel, sacrifice Israel, suck up to Saudis, to depress oil prices to bring Russia to its knees? Where is the "hell" Trump promised for Hamas? How did Trump coerce Israel to surrender to Hamas so ignobly so unexpectedly? 30 days and the plot unfolds I suspect.
I prefer not to put the linear time into a podcast. I can read a half an hour pod in a couple of minutes. If I miss something I can scroll back with my eyes quickly. Please maintain your focus on printed form.
The Long War Journal is worth a look
Ah Mikey, could you put in a bit of effort to remain objective? Right at the beginning we know how you feel about President Trump when you say ‘we are about to face another Trump administration’ as if we have to suck it up and endure chaos for another 4 years, maybe akin to a long lasting colonoscopy.
Can anyone imagine Mikey uttering anything similar upon Obama’s reelection?
For anyone listening, this type of attitude is why the press is held in such low esteem and why President Trump was reelected.
A lot of people dislike Trump. That is the reality. Perhaps it is more of an opinion, and perhaps it doesn’t belong in a piece of objective journalism.
Honestly podcasts are what had me become a paid subscriber. They are very well done w questions asked and much opportunity for interviewees to speak. As I read the articles though, I'm becoming less clear on what a free press is. I was hoping to find articles presented in a variety of perspectives and information shared so that readers can make an informed decision as to what they make of what has been reported. I may be unclear on what The Free Press is; since becoming a paid subscriber in December, I'm hearing one perspective in the articles. The one today on Rubio gave a better breadth. Hopefully I'll see more of that type, otherwise Bari or someone help me understand the reporting of Free Press for a reader who is looking for information to make informed opinions of one's own, not to be swayed, convinced of someone else's opinion.
I’m glad to learn that I’m not alone in feeling this way.
I’ve never been able to get into podcasts, but I agree that a lot of the article choices seem focused more on providing opposing angles on hot-button issues (admittedly, a better approach than most news sites) rather than actual, unbiased reporting (more challenging, but the ideal).
The editors do seem to listen to some of the criticisms in the comments. Hopefully, they’ll balance away from so much both-sidism reporting and editorializing (though that has its place) and more toward an unbiased depiction of the actual situation. Tell us the news, let us decide our own opinions.