September 16, 2017

Why did Clay Travis say "I believe in the First Amendment and boobs," and what's the best thing Brooke Baldwin could have said in response?

I put the clip up yesterday, and said little other than that Travis clearly meant to say it and had no regret about saying it. I'm interested in figuring out what he was trying to make happen. He's a radio guy. Is he a shock jock? Was it just: Here's my opportunity, I'll get everyone talking about me? Or did he think he could trigger a substantive discussion about freedom of speech or the looks-based success of women in TV journalism?

Brooke Baldwin, the female CNN host, handled the comment by repeatedly asking Travis if he'd really said "boobs," emphasizing her own status "as a woman," giving the other guest (Keith Reed) a chance to speak (but cutting him off 3 times when he was speaking), and then announcing "I'm done, yanking mikes, bye."

Baldwin has a written piece at CNN now, "Speaking like this to women in 2017? No way." She reveals that her own response to was to "let it hang," but her executive producer (a man) started talking to her in her earpiece, and that's why "I just couldn't let this go."
I quickly felt myself turning red -- getting irritated and angry. My mind was racing. My face, I could tell, was incredulous. In the thick of it all, I could see my other guest, Keith Reed, was equally aghast. The newsroom around me fell silent. I was staring into the camera trying to make sense of what was unfolding on live television.... And then I did something I've done only a handful of times in my career. I told the control room to kill his mic and said "bye."
The stages: 1. Disbelief, 2. Anger, 3. End of discussion.

Rewatching the video, what bothers me most is that Baldwin cuts Reed off. He's saying lucid things, responding to Travis appropriately. Anyway, I understand the reaction that Travis wouldn't have gotten on the show in the first place if they'd known he would say that, but I wish that instead of Baldwin's theater of disbelief, anger, and silencing, she'd confronted him with intelligence and strength. Why — if she's good enough to be a CNN host — couldn't she get out a pithy question requiring Travis to connect up his thoughts? I'm thinking of something like: Did you come on my show to play the clown or do "boobs" — as you inelegantly put it — have something to do with your idea of why Curt Schilling got fired and Jamele Hill did not? 

Dominate him. Don't let him melt you!

Baldwin claims that Travis's remark was unexpected, but according to Callum Borchers at WaPo, "Clay Travis used his ‘First Amendment and boobs’ line long before he shocked CNN." Travis was invited on Baldwin's show after he'd written:
I don’t believe Jemele Hill should be fired for tweeting Donald Trump was a white supremacist and for recently saying police officers are modern-day slave catchers. I also don’t believe Curt Schilling should have been fired for what he said about the North Carolina transgender bathroom law or any of the other conservative political positions he’s adopted over the years. That’s because I’m a First Amendment absolutist — the only two things I 100 percent believe in are the First Amendment and boobs — who is also capable of doing something that most in modern media seem incapable of — distinguishing between a person’s public job and their private political beliefs. (Which are also public thanks to modern-day social media.)
Borchers writes:
And that wasn't the first time. Travis wrote in June 2015 that “absolutism on either the right or the left is scary to me — which is why I’m a radical moderate — who believes in only two things absolutely: the First Amendment and boobs."

When Baldwin appeared stunned and disgusted by Travis's quip on Friday, he replied, “I say it live on the radio all the time.”

This is who Travis is. CNN ought to have known what it was getting.
All right then. I assume CNN did know. In which case, the whole hoo-ha is fake news. CNN got its viral clip circulating, and however many people now view Clay Travis as toxic, I'm sure he getting lots of new listeners for his podcast. Let me look for that page. Oh! Here's Travis discussing the incident (warning: big boobs):
So I just went on CNN to discuss the collapse of MSESPN and said I didn’t believe Jemele Hill or Curt Schilling should be fired because I believe completely in only two things that have never let me down — the first amendment and boobs. And when I said that CNN got totally and completely triggered. Seriously, this thing plays out like an SNL skit. The other guy sputters and goes straight into offended pearl clutching mode.
That has an update:
CNN is so offended by my comments that they already asked me to come back on Monday. And, for the record, I will be on Fox News tomorrow night.
In the end, it's all about ratings. That's what they really believe in. Forget all the I-can't-believe-you-said-that-in-this-day-and-age, if it makes us watch, they'll be saying it more. In the end, they'll give the people what we want. Demand in the marketplace of ideas overcomes censorship. And that thought shines a different light on the remark "I believe in the First Amendment and boobs" and transforms it into a proposition I heartily endorse.

ADDED: For reference, here's how CNN — the woman with a man in her earpiece — presents Brooke Baldwin:



IN THE COMMENTS: Quoting me — "Did you come on my show to play the clown or do 'boobs' — as you inelegantly put it — have something to do with your idea of why Curt Schilling got fired and Jamele Hill did not?" — rhhardin says "Boobs are her job so that domination isn't going to work."

I'd never noticed Baldwin until this boobs thing erupted, but now that I've watched the clip embedded above, I see the problem very clearly. Baldwin is disempowered and silenced. She cannot address the issue head on. She's too implicated.

She's got a man talking into her ear. The producer is prodding her to react, but how can she say the interesting, probing thing I'd like to hear? What does she really think about boobs in media? She can't talk about it.

So we get women on TV, and they're pushed to talk about women's issues, but they can't really do it. Their value is appropriated and drained. And the sexist view of women is amplified: She's put in skimpy clothes, sculpted with contouring makeup, and left with nothing to say about sexism except to get flustered and mad, as prompted by a male ventriloquist.

154 comments:

mockturtle said...

The proper thing for her to have done is to ignore the comment as though she hadn't heard it and to proceed with her interview.

As a child, I once asked my mother if it wasn't rude for a person to 'toot' [we didn't say 'fart']. She replied that it was even more rude to notice. The faux outrage thing is so tacky and immature but it appears to be common among journalists of both genders.

Howard said...

Modern feminism weakens women which creates more "clients" for professional feminists. My liberal progressive working Mom would have laughed at this dude and told him "sounds like you weren't weaned properly as a baby"

Ann Althouse said...

Travis sure did the right thing for his own interests. He's suddenly the most interesting person in the world. I picture him -- in his man cave -- exultantly singing:

I am Travis, hear me roar
With big boobs too big to ignore...

Meade said...

The First Amendment is not absolute. For instance, it's wrong to shout boobs in a crowded fake news network.

Laslo Spatula said...

"She reveals that her own response to was to "let it hang," but her executive producer (a man) started talking to her in her earpiece, and that's why "I just couldn't let this go."

So she is a female presence on screen, doing what a man tells her to do.

Empowered.

I am Laslo.

J. Farmer said...

I, too, am a First Amendment absolutist. But alas, boobs have let me down.

Ann Althouse said...

"The proper thing for her to have done is to ignore the comment as though she hadn't heard it and to proceed with her interview."

That was her initial decision as she admits in writing. She did something else because a man was talking in her ear telling her she had to react.

Ann Althouse said...

"I, too, am a First Amendment absolutist. But alas, boobs have let me down."

Just get a good bra.

David said...

Trying to lift their sagging ratings, for sure.

Meade said...

Br⊙⊙ke Baldwin.

Big Mike said...

Of course she cuts off Reed whenever he starts to make a point. In her mind he's just there as the token black, the "house n****r". In her mind the whole story is about her and her artificially-enhanced mammaries.

Curious George said...

There's only one reason why Brooke Baldwin is on CNN.

Boobs.

OK, technically two reasons.

Laslo Spatula said...

"The stages: 1. Disbelief, 2. Anger, 3. End of discussion."

The disbelief and the anger were pantomime.

The stages I outlined in a comment yesterday:

Contrived incredulity.

Contrived indignance.

Contrived disdain.

I am Laslo.

David said...

"Dominate him. Don't let him melt you!."

Whips and chains. Various plugs and shackles. Must See TV for sure.

TWW said...

I too am a First Amendment absolutist. But the First Amendment is not relevant to the Clay Travis, Curt Schilling nor the Jemele Hill speech.

Big Mike said...

Hey Meade! Not fair to win the thread on your lady-love's blog!

(Nice work. Wish I'd thought of it.)

J. Farmer said...

@Ann Althouse:

Just get a good bra.

Does such a thing exist? Victoria Secret seems to have to invent a new one every year. How much more innovation can really be wrung out of that thing?

Laslo Spatula said...

The First Amendment is what lets us look at naked boobs on the Internet.

The desire to look at naked boobs is NOT white supremacy.

Boobs of any color, baby.

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

So she is basically saying the outrage was not initially hers, but that of her male producer.

Does that make him the better feminist?

I am Laslo.

Bob Boyd said...

The stages: 1. Flummoxed, 2. Embarrassed at being flummoxed, 3. Anger, 4. End of Discussion

I think she was prepped to go after Travis as a racist or a transphobe, then she suddenly had this great chance to portray him as a sexist/misogynist, but she couldn't shift gears, couldn't ad lib, became task saturated trying to listen to both guests, her producer and think of something to say all at the same time. She wound up looking like a boob. She probably isn't a boob, but I don't know. I've never heard of her before. In any case, she didn't do her homework.

J. Farmer said...

If CNN really wanted to up their ratings, they'd invite Ann and Garance Franke-Ruta on to discuss "that whole Brooke Baldwin boobs controversy." It was that (in)famous bloggingheads episode 10 years ago that made me a regular Althouse reader.

rhhardin said...

Did you come on my show to play the clown or do "boobs" — as you inelegantly put it — have something to do with your idea of why Curt Schilling got fired and Jamele Hill did not?

Boobs are her job so that domination isn't going to work.

rhhardin said...

"I am as you can see a serious woman."

rhhardin said...

I'd disagree a little in that boobs themselves aren't as interesting as boobs with some amount of conealment. If you're going for truth, this would have to figure in.

It's like the fire in a crowded theater clause in free speech.

rhhardin said...

The rational basis theory of boobs.

rhhardin said...

Then there's "Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown," a settled science classic.

harrogate said...

This is a great post. It would have been so *easy* for her to render him sputtering, but she and Reed (sure, Reed was lucid, but he also surrendered terms of discussion to Travis) went into "omg" sputtering mode themselves.

Was it all about getting more ratings? This is a compelling argument.

But it's just as possible that the CNN anchors showed they have less sense than God gave a chicken.

furious_a said...

and what's the best thing Brooke Baldwin could have said in response?"

"Um, my eyes are up HERE."

rhhardin said...

She'd be arguing with a white guy, after all. White guys are usually the wittier ones. They've practiced against other white guys all their lives.

Bob Boyd said...

She's no Camille Paglia.

harrogate said...

rhardin,

Did that comment model the "wit" you're celebrating?

rhhardin said...

Of course both could win, one by guys' rules and the other by women's rules.

A win by feminist rules isn't going to play well. That would be firing the guy, for example.

Bob Boyd said...

A speechless scold is best kind of scold.

RBE said...

All these TV people have long lost the right to be outraged by the people they interview. They are hoping for these moments to propel their own image and for ratings.

sykes.1 said...

He's a bad boy jerking their chains. Baldwin and the black guy didn't know what was coming, but I bet the producer did, and scheduled Travis for shock value. Anyway, I loved it.

grackle said...

CNN is so offended by my comments that they already asked me to come back on Monday. And, for the record, I will be on Fox News tomorrow night.

A more authentic response from Brooke Baldwin would have been good natured and slightly condescending laughter, and perhaps a witty riposte if she could come up with one, because “boobs” is only slightly non-PC. She should have asked Travis if he meant “boobs” as stupid people or as female breasts.

I wonder if Travis could get away with “tits,” or “jugs.”

Yep, it’s fake news.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

When you think about it, saying "I believe in boobs" is a bit silly. I mean, boobs are body parts. They may or may not be up for grabs, but their existence is not.

But as I said last night, "boobs" did not even make Carlin's list of "7 Words You Can't Say on TV" over 40 years ago. And Travis was not referring to Baldwin's boobs or the boobs of the ESPN fool, and yet Baldwin and that black Virtue Signaler she had on to back her up immediately reacted as if he had. It was a reaction I would expect if Travis had said, "I believe in your boobs, Brooke" or "I believe in cunt." (The c-word being the most offensive term there is for a female body part, at least in this country. In England, you hear it - often applied to men - at least 10 times before lunch and nobody seems to get ruffled.)
But when did B-O-O-B-S become such an offensively vulgar word that it sends CNN into a tizzy?

Of course, you are right - this was all done for ratings. Travis isn't, in fact, a conservative guy. He voted for Obama. But he'll be labeled as one now, because as everyone who watches CNN knows, it's conservative white guys who say boobs and grab women by their pussies. Liberal men snicker about "teabaggers" and say "cock holster" instead.

Maybe that's why this ditz needs help, because she just can't stop jumping into bed with Trump supporters:

https://www.glamour.com/story/hooking-up-with-trump-voters-essay

This entire topic is not very uplifting.

Danno said...

Modern television is an agglomeration of Barbie-like info babes, which is why I don't watch it any more. The internet has way more opportunities to educate yourself without the eye-candy of television.

AllenS said...

"I believe in the First Amendment and boobs" -- One doesn't have any relationship to the other.

"I believe in titties and beer" -- Now that makes a lot more sense. But, maybe it's just a Wisconsin thing.

gg6 said...

"... Demand in the marketplace of ideas overcomes censorship. And that thought shines a different light on the remark "I believe in the First Amendment and boobs" and transforms it into a proposition I heartily endorse."
Well, I agree with this Althouse endorsement - but I must add it comes in spite of my skepticism that this radio jock knowingly thinks and speaks in such a layered, sophisticated fashion.

J. Farmer said...

I can't imagine why anyone would watch television news for any reason other than entertainment value.

cronus titan said...

Maybe Travis' stupid remark hit a little too close to home. THe caricature of the bubble-headed bleach blonde getting a gig on TV is as old as the medium itself. Don Henly said it best (edited):

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Well, I coulda been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry

We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blond who
Comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a
Running bet
Get the widow on the set!
We need dirty laundry

You don't really need to find out what's going on
You don't really want to know just how far it's gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundry

We can do "The Innuendo"
We can dance and sing
When it's said and done we haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry!

rhhardin said...

I'm a little surprised you can't look up her dress. Fox had that down long ago.

Francisco D said...

The boobs statement was meant to be childishly provocative and throw her off her stride. How should an intelligent person react?

The CNN anchor failed to react as an intelligent adult. She became indignant because she lacked the thinking skills to engage in a humorous repartee as posters on this site have done.

She nicely illustrates how education has changed from teaching students HOW to think to teaching the WHAT to think. Students taught to hit only fastballs look like fools when they are thrown a curveball.

AllenS said...

Damn, there's even a song about them --

Titties and beer

Saint Croix said...

oh I hate catch phrases

the only catch phrase I've ever liked is "back in two and two"

I love that one

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"I believe in titties and beer" -- Now that makes a lot more sense. But, maybe it's just a Wisconsin thing.

9/16/17, 8:42 AM

The question is: do Wisconsin men believe in titties and beer more than they believe in the Packers and beer?

I'm asking the hard questions here.

Saint Croix said...

maybe if he rotates his nicknames

"the only thing I believe in is the First Amendment and ta-tas."

That might work. It would keep us all salivating. When will "tits" make their appearance?

Cosmo has helpfully composed a list.

Saint Croix said...

Is it sexist for women to be allowed to nickname a woman's body part while you simultaneously say it's outrageous for a man to nickname a woman's body part? And is it stupid to make this argument while you simultaneously say that gender is fluid and nobody knows what a man or a woman is anyway?

rhhardin said...

Is "The View" a look up their dress show?

It just occured to me.

traditionalguy said...

Why waste all this EDU time discussing free speech? Men need more boob science discussions. How about some top 10 lists and Hall of Fame nominations.

JAORE said...

"... she'd confronted him with intelligence and strength."

Those are NOT requisites for a CNN personality.

So many are unable to argue effectively because, in the bubble, one never hears a dissenting voice that can not be silenced quickly.

(As to her, I was going to handle it well but the male producer told me statement ..... count me as a skeptic. Those words come AFTER she is revealed as shaken to the point of inability to function by words one hears every day on the media she inhabits.)

AllenS said...

If the Packers are playing, you only have time to watch and drink beer. You might think about titties at half time, so make it quick.

rhhardin said...

In going after ratings, you have to think out who the sought-after audience might be, and whether you'd get them for more than a one-off event.

It's long-term daily bills that matter.

More likely the ulterior motives are the commercial value of the individuals, and most likely it's the conservative guy who'd get the most out of it.

PB said...

Will Brooke Baldwin be wearing an appropriately chaste outfit or will she be wearing a similar low-cut blouse as she did when she gasped for air with the vapors when someone said boobs?

Oso Negro said...

She could have simply laughed. Camille Paglia, would have agreed and tied it into a deconstruction of Second Wave feminism failings and film noir. But in truth, it could have been worse. What if the only things he believed in 100% were the 1st Amendment and pussy??? If men aren't allowed to believe in boobs and say so, just imagine what happens if a man believes in pussy and dares to say so?

Mary Beth said...

"Do we even know, who is this 4chan?"

rhhardin said...

The conservative talkers are pretty much getting tiresome nowadays. Outrage doesn't play well anywhere.

Scott Adams has the germ of a success, if he can get over repetition as a time-filler.

Rush is bad because he no longer does larger-than-life humor, just ethics and bad economics explanations.

Conservative humor works still.

William said...

Yesterday there was a cartoon representation of a clitoris. I didn't pick up on the fact that it was supposed to be a clitoris until I read the comments. It looked like some featureless blob to me. (The may explain the difficulties in my first marriage.). There doesn't seem to be any standard cartoon rep for a clitoris......Anyway, when you think about it, the clitoris has never been a symbol of female empowerment. I think the womb is the source of woman's greatest power, but, here again, there's no standard, easily recognizable symbol for a uterus and no visible way of ascertaining an attractive womb.......If you wish to speak of the power inherent in a woman's sexuality, the boob is the go-to anatomical feature. Boobs are the phallic symbols of women.... By speaking of boobs the sportscaster was either trying to subvert the ultimate source of a woman's power over men or, perhaps, paying due deference to them. I'm not sure which......In any event, boobs are an inherently fascinating topic, and I look foward to a long, frank discussion about their place in our society.

Bob Boyd said...

She had a brain freeze and decided to cover it up by pretending that saying boobs is like saying the N word, which it isn't. She was already in act offended mode so she did that.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Leftists are all the same. Delicate whiny totalitarian babies.

Otto said...

"dominate him' Anmn sounds like my old HS football coach. Today the term is pancake him.

Michael K said...

I mean, boobs are body parts. They may or may not be up for grabs,

Best line of the thread.

Boobs Grabs ?

Laslo Spatula said...

The corollary is:

I believe in the Second Amendment and Ass.

I am Laslo.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

exiledonmainstreet said...
PB said...
Will Brooke Baldwin be wearing an appropriately chaste outfit or will she be wearing a similar low-cut blouse as she did when she gasped for air with the vapors when someone said boobs?"

The best commentary on this came from David Burge aka Iowahawk and I posted it in last night's thread:

https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/908812954576945152

I think that picture should be used every time the Left caterwauls about some stupid insignificant thing they deem "offensive."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

A CNN man was talking in her ear.

Not a man - a CNN man.

fivewheels said...

It's called the boob tube. I don't see what's so outrageous or offensive about that comment. Not that it's clever either.

You know what's outrageous to say on TV? That the Baltimore riots were caused by military veterans who became police officers and were out for blood because they're so crazy and violent, you know. That's something Brooke Baldwin said. Someone should have cut her mike then.

Sebastian said...

"Dominate him. Don't let him melt you!" "Melting" has been a female domination strategy forever, now adapted by "feminists." I am woman, see me melt: a play for sisterly solidarity and prog outrage.

traditionalguy said...


Boob addiction starts young from watching the Boob Tube. And the next thing you know a full blown heterosexual supremacist has been created. And other addictions are erected on the base addiction. Legs become addictive. Winsome smile become addictions. Hip curve addictions appear. And that way women walk entrances addicts.

Before you know it, strong male and female attraction drives out the preferred elites gay life style. Disaster!

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Groucho triggered the hell out of Margaret Dumont and she had no safe space to retreat to.

Groucho believed in the First Amendment and boobs. Harpo just believed in boobs.

Anonymous said...

Love the video. Great example of the exploitation of a woman's body for ratings. Her skirt is too short, her top is too low but clearly that's what the boys at CNN want. I only watched a small portion of the original interview. Brooke, who clearly has had extensive surgery to all parts of her body - nobody is born with both tits and cheekbones like that- was acting out shock with such deep hypocrisy I had to shut it down. I have no idea who this Travis guy is/was, but he must have had a ball busting Brooke's.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Exiled said..
... And Travis was not referring to Baldwin's boobs or the boobs of the ESPN fool, and yet Baldwin and that black Virtue Signaler she had on to back her up immediately reacted as if he had.

It's the same hack media who proclaimed, after Trump disavowed white supremacists for the 100,000th time, that his disavowment wasn't good enough.

Bob B said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
iowan2 said...

Isn't the entire kerfuffle, based on Clay Davis mocking the faux outrage on the core of the controversy that brought them all together in front of a camera? Davis pointed out that neither said anything controversial, and Davis showed them by example how the phony virtue signaling, is just that, phony. Leftist can stereotype and smear with impunity, and conservatives will be fired for pointing out the double standard.

And ratings

Bob B said...

Sometimes I wonder if Ann is blogging or just providing setups for Laslo.

Darrell said...

Never have so many words been written about so little.
The world has passed me by.

Hoss said...

You missed your chance to call it a "boobhaha."

jaydub said...

I have often said that there are only two sure things in this world, death and nurses. This remark once got me crosswise with a party to the conversation who, as it turned out, had a sister in nursing school and took exception to my using that expression. After a few minutes of listening to his umbrage over something that was not directed at him or his sister and was obviously intended as a humor, I finally got pissed and asked him if it was a local school she went to and whether she was currently seeing anyone. I was expecting a fight, but turns out his unbrage didn't go that far.

Sometimes you just have to stick up a humorless twit's nose, and it would seem Ms Baldwin qualifies as a humorless twit.

Sebastian said...

After watching Baldwin, I have to disagree with Travis: I don't "absolutely" believe in boobs.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Did the Russians hack her ear piece?

Gahrie said...

And the sexist view of women is amplified: She's put in skimpy clothes, sculpted with contouring makeup, and left with nothing to say about sexism except to get flustered and mad, as prompted by a male ventriloquist.

Because she didn't choose those clothes, or that make up...the Patriarchy forced her to wear them.

Gahrie said...

I'm just glad that there are no standards of dress or make up required for men on television.........

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

MS-ESPN - hahahahahahaa


chickelit said...

She's put in skimpy clothes, sculpted with contouring makeup, and left with nothing to say about sexism except to get flustered and mad, as prompted by a male ventriloquist.

Bingo!

chickelit said...

Because she didn't choose those clothes, or that make up...the Patriarchy forced her to wear them.

The shorn & uptight look of Rachel Maddow is the Matriarchy.

Ann Althouse said...

"Hey Meade! Not fair to win the thread on your lady-love's blog!"

Meade is also responsible for the "I am Travis, hear me roar" idea.

glenn said...

Brooke is cute but she's no Cokie Roberts, or Ann Curry.

rhhardin said...

She's put in skimpy clothes, sculpted with contouring makeup, and left with nothing to say about sexism except to get flustered and mad, as prompted by a male ventriloquist.

The actual women's view includes men doing stuff, so it can't be represented on TV, even though it happens there as it does everywhere else.

Women have something to do with men doing stuff.

rhhardin said...

Had she said that boobs are how she got her job, she'd have been a hero.

Brookzene said...

See? I just KNEW it was CNN's fault.

rhhardin said...

Just leave men room to do what they do.

Amadeus 48 said...

The Althouse blog-- a careful look into the hearts of men (and women):

double your pleasure; so round, so firm, so fully packed; it's what's upfront that counts; uplifting, globular, perky, "Jane? Is that you? I hardly recognized you!"; "Hello, boys"; "Brassiere! You hold those things I love so dear!

Let's talk about those breasts.

rcocean said...

Of course, contrived outrage. No one believes in this age where peeps on Cable TV say fuck, shit, and goddamn and feminists dress up - with everyone's approval - as vaginas that anyone at CNN is really SHOCKED at someone saying "boobs".

Besides, when have CNN and MSNBC been classy, conduits of serious news and conversation? That stopped 20 years ago.

I knew it was the producer telling her to do something. Most of the CNN talking heads are ventriloquist dummies.

Breezy said...

Given that this is one of Travis's signature lines, Ms Baldwin or her team failed to prepare for it. Or they did.

In the first case, shame on them. In the second case, shame on us.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Why?

1. Misuse of a "news venue" for gratuitous sexual reference :: mususe of a "sports venue" for gratuitous political opinion.

2. Why do you find "boobs" offensive in any context when (e.g. Netflix "Dexter" series) "fucking" is gratuitously salted on every fourth sentence, "dick," "masturbate," and other such references make periodic pointless appearences?

3. ESPN, and CNN also, by their own admission want to be edgy, to push the boundaries. You wanna see edgy? I'll show you edgy.

4. Why are you offended by reference to female breasts? That they are functional? That they are decorative? Really, what's not to admire?

====

(Someone once approached a Libertarian speaker after a talk, remarking that the ideas were appealing except for decriminalization of prostitution. The speaker responded "Prostitution was comprised of capitalism and sex. "With which do you disagree?")

Ron Winkleheimer said...

She's put in skimpy clothes, sculpted with contouring makeup, and left with nothing to say about sexism except to get flustered and mad, as prompted by a male ventriloquist.

And the professor nails it, again. It reminds me of the skimpily dressed Beyonce contorting in various suggestive poses, but not objectifying herself because she is doing it in front of giant sign that says "Feminism." Its all just a show, and in the case of cable news, one with an increasingly shrinking audience. Average age for people watching CNN and Fox and MSNBC, etc is in their sixties. Thus the ads for ED remedies and bath tubs with doors and lift chairs and William DeVane hawking "GOLD!" so you won't lose it all before the next market crash and be forced to live in a rest home paid for by medicare. Cause your rotten kids won't help you.

Anyway, expect way more provocative things on cable news channels than using the word boobs in an attempt to replace viewers as they age and die. Bum fights and the evils of strip clubs are most likely the next frontier.

NSFW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja0R5AayRxo

buwaya said...

I read Baldwins article. Why bother? I don't know, curiosity I suppose, but whats there is entirely predictable.
She is still outrageously outraged because she is outraged, or something like that.

Mary Beth said...

The only time I notice that she exists is when she is ill-prepared for a story. Besides asking if we know who this "4chan person" is, she mocked Trump for suggesting term limits for Congress because she thought we already had them. In an interview about Clinton mishandling classified information, she had her fact-checker check if it was true that the phones and iPads were destroyed with a hammer.

She also blamed the Baltimore riots on military vets who came home from war and became cops.

BudBrown said...

I glanced at that Cosmo article and they didn't include garbanzos.

Narayanan said...

Travis makes his point by drawing our attention to this ... Media believes in boobs to bring in $$ while seeking 1A protection.

Narayanan said...

She could have yanked ear plugs instead she yanked the Mikes ... Another of Hillary's disciples.

Kathryn51 said...

October is "breast cancer awareness month" and apparently it begins even earlier because yesterday my town was full of pink attired ladies of various ages doing their walk - there were water stations here and there and pink "fit-mobiles" driving around but perhaps it was merely a practice run.

So, let's not forget that a few years ago, we were served up "Save the Boobs" ads. October is now a month-long boob fest (pink socks on football players? ugh)and if Travis was smart he would claim he was the newest spokesman for breast cancer awareness.

Big Mike said...

Why are you offended by reference to female breasts? That they are functional? That they are decorative?

Can a woman still produce milk after an implant? Back in the earliest days of the operation they couldn't.

Guildofcannonballs said...

If it's good enough for Buckley, it's good enough for you ^%^|%'s too by God.

Michael K said...

Last night a guy on Fox was interviewing outraged you-know-whos at a St Louis riot., He interviewed this one choir boy in dread locks who commented "Mother fucker." Nobody even blinked. I guess CNN would have gone off the air.

Brookzene would have had the vapors.

Earnest Prole said...

If the blog has a theme this morning then you owe it to your readers to link to this.

mockturtle said...

BTW, it looks as if she shades her cleavage to make it look fuller. Commonly done but easy to spot.

William said...

I sometimes go days, weeks even, without ever thinking of Confederate statues or transgendered bathrooms. I'm grateful to cable news for drawing these items to my attention, but boobs make for far more interesting discussions. I'm grateful to Travis for bringing the subject to the forefront and for Brooke's décolletage for similar reasons.

William said...

Christine Amanpour is a bit of an eyesore, but she seems very smart and brave. Brooke is rather the reverse. I would guess her job is based on her looks........Was Candy Crowley good looking when younger? I was never struck by her intelligence or looks. Maybe she was pretty at one time, and CNN was stuck with her when she got older and put on weight. I don't think you're allowed to fire women for getting fat or old, at least not openly. Still, you rarely see fat, old women in newscaster slots. Lots of fat, old men though.

Brookzene said...

Imma gonna give more credence to the theory that we are being bombarded by some sort of cosmic rays that are making people a lot more idiotic than they used to be. But love the sophistry.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Speaking of boobs, I see Brookzene has made an appearance.

Sebastian said...

"She can't talk about it." Right, because we all know that women are weak and have no agency and are at the mercy of mean men.

"So we get women on TV, and they're pushed to talk about women's issues" "We get" them, just like that, by someone waving a magic wand, and luring all the weak women, pushing them to talk about women's issues, when they really wanted to talk about the anniversary of the Reformation and electrical engineering, like they do on The View, where women are in charge.

"but they can't really do it. Their value is appropriated and drained." Because, you see, these weak women are passive creatures, victims of the patriarchy.

"And the sexist view of women is amplified: She's put in skimpy clothes, sculpted with contouring makeup, and left with nothing to say about sexism except to get flustered and mad, as prompted by a male ventriloquist." Unable to put on her own clothes, she is out in them; brainwashed, she is left with nothing to say about sexism, about which she would otherwise hold forth like John Stuart Mill.

Bill said...

I dreamed I worked for a legitimate news corporation in my Maidenform!

- Brooke Baldwin

Sam L. said...

She's a CNN host. They are not noted for their smarts. Nor quick wits.

Quaestor said...

She's put in skimpy clothes, sculpted with contouring makeup, and left with nothing to say about sexism except to get flustered and mad, as prompted by a male ventriloquist.

Are info-babes really that passive?

Quaestor said...

I am Travis, hear me roar
With big boobs too big to ignore...


Doesn't scan.

Michael K said...

"Are info-babes really that passive?"

Ask Brookzene. She's in charge of cosmic rays today.

Quaestor said...

The First Amendment is not absolute. For instance, it's wrong to shout boobs in a crowded fake news network.

Obviously not. The panicked pearl-clutching would inevitably lead to many deaths by self-strangulation.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

...and what's the best thing Brooke Baldwin could have said in response?

Me Too!

Quaestor said...

Ask Brookzene. She's in charge of cosmic rays today.

Don't scare me none. Got muh lead hat on.

stevew said...

I thought to myself, why didn't she just make a joke out of it? Look at him, with some amount of incredulity, and ask "Boobs? You came here to say 'boobs'? How old are you?". The other guy on the show - a terrific wimp all by himself - could have laughed in support. Clay Travis may have made some sort of attempt to explain himself - likely in the way he's done since this episode became a thing. She would have then shown him to be an attention hound, or whore if you prefer.

But she didn't and so I'm left thinking this was a setup and her outrage designed to attract clicks and views. No more, no less.

-sw

Quaestor said...

Me Too!

With some dramatic bodice ripping.

n.n said...

boob (n.) - "stupid person," 1909, American English slang, perhaps a shortening of booby. For the "woman's breast" sense, see boobs. Mencken seems to have coined booboisie (1922).

gay - late 14c., "full of joy, merry; light-hearted, carefree;" also "wanton, lewd, lascivious" (late 12c. as a surname, Philippus de Gay), from Old French gai "joyful, happy; pleasant, agreeably charming; forward, pert; light-colored" (12c.; compare Old Spanish gayo, Portuguese gaio, Italian gajo, probably French loan-words). Ultimate origin disputed; perhaps from Frankish *gahi (related to Old High German wahi "pretty"), though not all etymologists accept this. Meaning "stately and beautiful; splendid and showily dressed" is from early 14c. In the English of Yorkshire and Scotland formerly it could mean "moderately, rather, considerable" (1796; compare sense development in pretty (adj.)).

What prejudice precedes them?

walter said...

This is a bit like bringing on Larry the Cable Guy and asking him while shock faced "Did you just say...uhh..get her done?!!"

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Brooke has spotty, ugly boobs. I know, because she showed me.

Kevin said...

Brooke Baldwin, the female CNN host, handled the comment by repeatedly asking Travis if he'd really said "boobs," emphasizing her own status "as a woman," giving the other guest (Keith Reed) a chance to speak (but cutting him off 3 times when he was speaking), and then announcing "I'm done, yanking mikes, bye."

They have been "educated". This is all they know.

"Over the past decade a new, and very revealing, locution has drifted from our universities into the media mainstream: Speaking as an X…This is not an anodyne phrase. It sets up a wall against any questions that come from a non-X perspective. Classroom conversations that once might have begun, I think A, and here is my argument, now take the form, Speaking as an X, I am offended that you claim B. What replaces argument, then, are taboos against unfamiliar ideas and contrary opinions." -- Mark Villa

Rance Fasoldt said...

About 80 years ago, my grandfather walked into the wrong apartment at a beach house, an apartment in which a woman was undressing, and he said, ""Pardon me, sir." And closed the door.

Ralph L said...

I am Travis, hear me roar
With big boobs too big to ignore...
Doesn't scan.

I am Travis, hear her roar
With boobies too big to ignore...
And they bounce too much to go back an' defend
'Cause Brooke heard it all before
When she was flatter than a floor
No one's ever gonna keep her flat again.

Lucien said...

How about this --

Baldwin: "Yeah, yeah, we know you've used that line a million times, but what does your absolute belief in boobs have to do with the topic we're talking about?"

walter said...

my initial thought bubble was: "Did I hear that correctly?? There's no WAY he just came on my show and said what I think he said. ... DID HE?" And I let it hang.
My executive producer Eric (who has worked with me for years) knows me, read my face and quickly got in my ear from the control room and asked: "Did he say 'booze'?" Apparently, my producers behind the scenes were all scrambling, trying to figure out the same thing. "What did he just say?"
--
That the voice in her ear was a male's doesn't appear to have anything to do with this...if we are to believe this story. And it's not "prodding her to react" as much as wanting to be sure of what was said. Either it was a setup and she's lying about all this, or the staff are a bunch of boobs for being so uninformed.
I mean..it doesn't sound like this would have gone much differently if Anderson Cooper was moderating.
But you know Brooke, did you really write "I let it hang."? That is sooo.....

Jim at said...

Let's get Anderson Cooper to start giggling some more about teabaggers.
You know. On the air. On CNN.

southcentralpa said...

Does this mean "boob tube" is out now, too ... ?

walter said...

Right Jim..maybe it WOULD have gone differently...
AC: Sure Clay, and I believe in cock. But you don't see me waving that around to make a point.

Bill said...

A beta male with vocal fry was talking into Brooke's earpiece.

Ralph L said...

n which case, the whole hoo-ha is fake news.
I thought the hoo-ha is further south.

Mr. Majestyk said...

I would love to hear an audio recording of the actual conversation that went on between Baldwin and her producers.

Quaestor said...

Baldwin: "Yeah, yeah, we know you've used that line a million times, but what does your absolute belief in boobs have to do with the topic we're talking about?"

That comeback presupposes a brain in that pretty little head.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

“We understand that some people find ‘I love boobies’ offensive,” said Kimmy McAtee, the spokeswoman for the Keep A Breast Foundation, the non-profit that makes the school contraband. “Many others find it refreshing in the sea of pink ribbons. We’re really taking a positive style of communication and taking something scary and taboo, and making it positive and upbeat.”

The slang doesn’t offend Donna Charpied, a two-time breast cancer survivor who had a double mastectomy in 2006.

“I think everybody loves boobies,” Charpied, of Manorville, New York, said.


thechart.blogs.cnn.com

Michael K said...

"THANKS TO YOU ONCE AGAIN DR WILLIAMS"

Hilarious response in next thread.

William said...

I really miss GoT. How long before they finish the next episodes?

Anonymous said...

Ann writes:

Why — if she's good enough to be a CNN host — couldn't she get out a pithy question requiring Travis to connect up his thoughts? I'm thinking of something like: Did you come on my show to play the clown or do "boobs" — as you inelegantly put it — have something to do with your idea of why Curt Schilling got fired and Jamele Hill did not?

Dominate him. Don't let him melt you!


The answer of course is that she isn't good enough to be a CNN host. She's on there for her boobs, not for her brains, which is why she needs a man yapping in her ear.

"Affirmative action" is bad for everybody.

Big Mike said...

Maybe she should have flashed her nipples and said "Now that that's out of the way let's talk about the First Amendment?"

Chuck said...

If you're going to have a kind of a credo -- a self-professed mission statement that you repeat in print and on numerous television and radio broadcasts -- it really ought to be a whole lot better than, "I only believe in two things completely that have never let me down; the First Amendment and boobs."

Clay Travis has largely bailed Jamelle Hill out from what should have been a profoundly damaging professional mistake.

Travis doesn't understand that you should never get in between your enemy and an angry press.

Skilled conservative press critics could have effectively run down Jamelle Hill's professional reputation, and ESPN's political "correctness." Mike Huckabee Junior and Clay Travis are not the guys for that job.

Anonymous said...

This video has been making the rounds on twitter:

https://t.co/XEkYTtVQC2

Here's @kathygriffin saying "Nipple, Nipple, Nipple, Nipple" on @CNN.

@BrookeBCNN response: "Kathy, I love you"

So Brooke's real problem is that Clay violated Female Privilege by saying something "only women are allowed to say".

Tough luck, Brooke. We're not bowing down to Female Privilege, Minority Privilege, or any other one of your BS rules. The rules are the same for everyone. If it's bad when we do it, then it's bad when you do it. If it's ok when you do it, then we can do it, too.



Don't like "white supremacy"? Great! Neither do I!

But it's just another version of identity politics, no more reprehensible than all the forms of identity politics that the Democrat Party engages in. It's evil for everyone, or it's evil for no one.

Pick, and stick with your choice.

Gahrie said...

I really miss GoT. How long before they finish the next episodes?

I've heard Jan 2019.

buwaya said...

Chuck,

Climb to orbit, and look down. Perspective is needed.
The enemy is not Jamelle Hill. He is just a random flunky.
The real enemies are the people who pay the people who pay the people who pay the people speaking in Baldwins ear.

Gahrie said...

The enemy is not Jamelle Hill. He is just a random flunky.

She.

Brookzene said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

> So Brooke's real problem is that Clay violated Female Privilege by saying something "only women are allowed to say".

He combined the proclamation "believe in first amendment" with the bait "believe in boobs".

The PC avatar boob fell for it: ignoring the first to condemn WHO said the second. She can't say what really offends the Correct News Network.

This demonstrates its not WHAT was said, but WHO said it. By interectional calculus, a white male can say nothing but apologies. "Speaking as a man, I can't say anything about the boobs that always turn my head".

He thus demonstrated the line by stepping one inch over it with a baby's favorite word. This was not a stupid remark, it was a calibrated provocation designed for TV.

> I can't imagine why anyone would watch television news for any reason other than entertainment value.

And he created a show about nothing on a network about nothing, where we can all write our after the fact responses.

Mine: "YOU'RE the boob!"

The PC crowd is super easy to bait because they are so Righteous.

LA_Bob said...

"The real enemies are the people who pay the people who pay the people who pay the people speaking in Baldwins ear."

And / or the people who hired her in the first place.

BudBrown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

Without addressing the subject controversy in anyway, I would like to say that it's extremely distracting having to deal with something live in the room in front of you, while simultaneously getting audio input on an earphone. I think there's definitely a brain cognition issue or challenge there. Perhaps training or repeated exposure increases one's ability to deal with it but I find it more than distracting.

EMyrt said...

William, the downward pointing delta as symbol of vulva goes back to the earliest artistic expression in the Upper Paleolithic.
Easy to draw as a grafitto, or can be included in a tits n ass rendering like the Venus of Willendorf.

Boobs have always been much more socially acceptable, peeking in and out depending on the culture or the historical period