WaPo Fires Snark at Conservatives in Item on Mythbusters Cannon Mishap
Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes couldn't resist inserting a poke at conservatives in a sarcastic Thursday piece on a recent cannonball incident involving the Discovery Channel hit Mythbusters. De Moraes emphasized how the popular series is a "darling of conservative Republicans" and overreached to connect right-leaning politics to the wayward projectile that crashed into a house.
The writer led her column, "'Mythbusters' misfires with cannonball stunt" by referencing the latest annual survey from Experian-Simmons, which included a statistic on the favorite and least favorite TV programs of "liberal Democrats" and "conservative Republicans." De Moraes hinted that the mishap was symbolic of the supposedly destructive partisanship that liberals often accuse conservatives of engaging in:
"MythBusters," a reality series we now know is a darling of conservative Republicans, decided this week to bust a few myths in the San Francisco Bay Area (that epicenter of liberalism) by firing a cannonball that crashed into a house, tore through an occupied bedroom, careened across a six-lane highway, skimmed another house and then attacked a minivan, which surrendered immediately.
The columnist added that "it all started when those smarty-pants at 'MythBusters' were trying to make some point or other about homemade cannons — we hope a point such as, 'Never ever shoot a homemade cannon within 10 miles of a residential area' — by firing a homemade cannon at large containers of water, which were supposed to absorb the impact. They missed."
The implication is that the Mythbusters's politics also lean to the right. But this couldn't be further from the truth. Jamie Hyneman, who is the Abbott to the Costello embodied in his co-star, Adam Savage, revealed in a 2006 podcast with a "skeptics'" publication, that he "strongly identifies" with atheists. Savage himself donated to the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama and the 2009 senatorial campaign of Al Franken. Speaking of Obama, the President made a well-publicized appearance on Mythbusters in an episode which aired exactly one year ago on December 8, 2010.
Conservatives may like the "reality series," as De Moraes labeled it, for the guns, explosions, and its overall entertainment value (not to leave out co-host Kari Byron, who definitely appeals to the male demographic), but the TV columnist really stretched in her snark. It's no surprise that she would attack right-of-center TV viewers, as she wanted Vice President Biden to call Elizabeth Hasselbeck a "nincompoop" when he made an appearance on The View on ABC in April 2010.
- Matthew Balan's blog
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Comments
but the TV columnist really
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 8:20pm.
but the TV columnist really stretched in her snark.
Ya think???
That's a stretch that rivals Joan Rivers' last face lift!
So will snark help the WaPo start my charcoal faster...
Submitted by Dave. on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 8:32pm.
...when I wad a couple of sheets up and stuff them in the bottom of one of my charcoal chimneys and put a match to it?
I mean, that is about the only thing that paper is good for, other than house breaking a new puppy.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Matt, good catch
Submitted by retrocon on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 8:55pm.
On several occasions i've seen these guys supporting Obama or taking liberal stances.
Remember, libs make most of the violent movies in hollywood. They may not want us to have guns, but they certainly want to exploit guns at every opportunity.
I keep wondering...
The canon they built, as well as some other things they have done on show, would qualify as DD's under NFA (destructive devices). I wonder if they go through all the necessary paperwork, required by the BATFE, to fabricate them???
I keep wondering...
LAZY LISA.
Submitted by StewartIII on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 9:10pm.
I WONDER IF LISA WOULD OF MADE THAT REMARK IF SHE KNEW THE OBAMAS LOVE THIS SHOW, TOO. SO MUCH SO THAT BARACK WAS A GUEST ON IT:
CNN: Obama goes on 'Mythbusters'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMfI5iLTIDk
I tried to watch this show
Submitted by Dan Diego on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 9:25pm.
I tried to watch this show once, but the couple they have hosting it are unwatchable.
I'm with you on this one
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:36pm.
I don't they could have casted two more annoying people to host this.
I've only seen the show a few times, and that was early in it's run. I didn't agree with some of the rigging they did for certain myths, so wasn't all that convinced with their results. Let's face it, they "fake" things for movies. How do we know they aren't faking stuff for TV.
Oh no you didn't...
Submitted by Kaleidoscopic God on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 10:39pm.
You did NOT just take a stab at one of my favorite shows. Lisa de Moraes, you have just declared war on me.
Really, aside from the
Submitted by LinTaylor on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 12:26am.
Really, aside from the episode with Obama, Mythbusters never gets into politics (and even that wasn't political). This nutcase is just trying to smear Republicans because the crew had one accident, the first thus far in the series' nine seasons, one in which thankfully nobody was injured.
And liberals wonder why we talk about them having some kind of derangement.
History
Submitted by Prisondog1776 on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 2:10am.
Anyone else notice , speaking of T.V. shows, that the History Channel is getting more and more facts wrong and leaning more and more left these days?
Watched a "history lesson" on there 2 nights ago about the French Revolution and they made Robspierre (sp) to be a god.
Disagree, Pd1776...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 2:42am.
The increasingly delusional Robespierre thought himself god-like, and he was in fact deified by his most ardent admirers, but virtually all of the scholars who appeared on the History Channel presentation--and they were an outstanding group--painted a very realistic and critical portrait of this soul and poet of the French Revolution who descended into tyranny, butchery and madness.
I'm sick of watching the story of cheese and the glories of concrete on the HC, but this was one of its better programs of the past few years.
Jer
Can't dispute your take on Robespierre, Jer---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 3:21am.
but it does seem that the History Channel has been drifting to the left.
MD
used to watch..
Submitted by Mark81150 on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 1:57pm.
Only the History Channel, the cooking channel, FOX, the various learning channel shows.. get more news online..
and yeah, I do find the History Channel starting to skew left,..
Vietnam, for example,.. they love to cover it during the Nixon years,.. skipping over the wars beginnings, so McNamara gets little mention,.. Johnson,,
But they'll do an hour about Kissenger.. and if you just went by their narrative alone, you'd get the idea that Vietnam was just another reason to hate Nixon.. as if he had anything to do with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
History shouldn't be a football, something to score points against your political opponents. Facts don't change, but I detect an ever increasing level of spin going on there.
Just how do you know that?
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 12/09/2011 - 2:21pm.
"a reality series we now know is a darling of conservative Republicans..."
And just how do you know that, Ms. Smartypants? Most of the people who enjoy the show are independents. Just because the Hollywood liberals doesn't like it, too many Hollywood myths busted, apparently, it doesn't mean that only "Conservative Republicans" like the show. I'm not a republican, and I love it!
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