John Oliver Tackles America’s Homelessness Problem. Harris Faulkner Falls Down the Slippery Slope. | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room
THE DAILY NEWSLETTER – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021
MEDIA WINNER: John Oliver
John Oliver brought his trademark wit to America’s homelessness problem Sunday, as the host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight devoted nearly twenty-five minutes to tackle misperceptions about the roots of the problem and — most importantly — some solutions.
There are over 580,000 homeless people in the United States, Oliver reported, noting that the figure had increased for the fourth straight consecutive year.
He aired a Fox News segment, as well as several local news clips, on the homeless population in Austin, Texas to illustrate not just the media’s “alarmist” rhetoric, but also the conflicted feelings of local residents about the issue. “Every time I have to pick up human sh*t, my liberalness gets lowered,” said one woman.
Oliver concluded by discussing “housing first” programs that literally provide housing first, establishing much-needed stability so that issues of unemployment, mental health, drug abuse, etc. can then be addressed. It was a more substantive discussion than we’ve seen from many elected officials on this very important topic, and worth watching in its entirety.
MEDIA LOSER: Harris Faulkner
Your friendly neighborhood Mediaite newsletter correspondent was suffering a bit of ennui this morning over the tedium of writing up Tucker Carlson as the Media Loser of the Day yet again (to be fair, he does seem to be aggressively campaigning for the title on a regular basis), when one of Carlson’s own colleagues jumped in to claim the title for herself.
Specifically, on Monday, a Fox News guest pushed the absurd claim that the Biden administration would send parents to Guantanamo Bay for protesting school policies, and network anchor Harris Faulkner treated the idea as more than just a hyperbolic suggestion.
Parents who were “exercising their First Amendment rights” were not domestic terrorists, said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovitch. “If we allow the Biden administration to continue this, God forbid, you’re gonna end up with Mom and Pop at Gitmo.”
Faulkner treated Brnovitch’s suggestion far more seriously than logic should have allowed, asking “Could that really happen?” and describing the possibility as “a slippery slope.” It was a moment of ridiculous, needless fearmongering.
Links We Like:
Hot Streaks in Your Career Don’t Happen by Accident
– Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
Josh Hawley Wants to Make the Supply Chain Crisis Permanent
– Eric Boehm, Reason
New technologies are promising a shortcut to enlightenment
– Sigal Samuel, Vox
Defining Deviancy Down: No, Ron DeSantis is not the answer.
– Charlie Sykes, The Bulwark
Read the full Mediaite Green Room Newsletter here, including the latest on Biden’s trip to Europe.
