CNN anchor gets visibly uncomfortable when Nathan Fielder suggests there are moments when she doesn't want to express criticism to Wolf Blitzer given his prominence at the network.
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) May 29, 2025
"We like each other and we talk to each other," Blitzer insists. pic.twitter.com/K3d4l9YovI
May 30, 2025
"You have to say that now...."
Posts
20 comments:
I know I will get shit for this, but way back when I watched CNN, I never really had issues with Wolf Blitzer. Thought he was solid. Now Jim Acosta, that guy is a piece of work. Never ever forget the 1988 Presidential debate where Bernard Shaw asked Michael Dukakis the devastating question on rape and the death penalty.
This is a well known phenomenon. I remember some decades ago when there was a big fuss about error rates in medicine, having to go through training on overcoming this tendency to stay silent when someone at a higher level was making a mistake. (And I don't for one minute think Wolf Blitzer has no ego. That's why he can't conceive that there might be this dynamic in their relationship.)
I think this "power dynamic" is common.
I like how the guy continues to press the issue, despite the fact Wolf and whats-her-name are clearly uncomfortable, thus proving his point.
Sure. Wolf never pulls rank, and she never defers. But, what was the segment about? He's wearing a 737 hat and talking about pilot / copilot interactions - but he's an actor on the show 'The Rehearsal'. As the actor in the setting of such a complicated premise, he's really not terribly well-spoken, is he?
He's really talking about the dynamic of dominance and deferral in superior/inferior employment situations, but he never says it plainly - which I think is part of the problem with this segment. A lack of plain, honest speaking. The the reluctance of Wolf and his co-host to discuss it, kind of speaks volumes in its own right.
Captain Obvious here, pointing out The Obvious.
Teh Girl Who Cried Wolf.
She's definitely better-looking.
I think they're uncomfortable because aspie blue-hat guy is belaboring a point that could have been stated in ten seconds.
The junior-pilot reticence thing comes in part from not wanting to offend a senior, but it also comes from second-guessing oneself: if this experienced guy is not seeing what I'm seeing, then maybe I got it wrong.
Crew drills that force you to say what you see, before you get a chance to second-guess yourself, can help. So can a truth culture instead of an honor culture.
JSM
Also absent-minded professor mode helps: seeing the senior as someone with deep insights, but who really can't be sent across the street by himself.
This maybe --- maybe -- partially explains Biden.
JSM
In councils-of-war, it is traditional in many militaries that the junior officers speak first.
Fielder's behavior makes me uncomfortable. The antics he pulls to make his point diminishes the safety efforts he is trying to promote. Here, Fielder is demanding others, from a point of authority (I'm a certified 737 pilot with a hat), to agree with him or face ridicule if they do not.
That's not how you promote speak up culture. You ask them if they ever been in such a situation. If they don't respond positively, then be open to explain a situation you've been in where you didn't speak up or describe a known situation where someone didn't speak up and led to a catastrophe. You create an environment for people to speak freely. You don't demand that they do perform by speaking.
Joe Rogan does this better than either Bari Weiss or CNN.
I'm at work and can't watch this, but.... I have no idea who this is. His wikipedia page says he's an actor/comedian who became an "FAA certified pilot" in 2025. Has he ever flown a 737? If so, how many times? Who should I listen to in these matters? This guy or the guy lives down the street for me who is a retired airline pilot with close to 20 years in, even though he never flew 737's?
Has he ever flown a 737? If so, how many times? Who should I listen to in these matters?
I wondered about it too. By certified, he actually means all the required FAA certs (class, category, and type) to lawfully operate a 737 with passengers, which he did at least once, albeit it seems as a charter service. I'll give credit that getting those certifications requires years of commitment. But his take on Crew Resource Management being just a line in a powerpoint is BS. I'd hate to be his airline's chief pilot.
I was a little surprised to only find this one post when I clicked onto the Nathan Fielder tag. I feel as if Althouse had mentioned The Rehearsal, but maybe l am, and for the same reasons as the AIs, hallucinating.
Old C-130 Nav here. When landing, if a good pilot heard a crew member say, "Go Around," he initiated a go around. He didn't ask why or what is going on, he went around. A bad pilot did not do this and it took a more forceful intervention. And then there was an occasion where we were Number 2 while formation flying under Visual Flight Rules, entered weather and lead declared Lost Wingman. The pilot hesitated, and the co-pilot, new, but an experienced pilot that had to leave F-15s due to an injured back issue (could not take the force of an ejection) stated, "If you don't take action in the next 3 seconds I will take control of the aircraft." I flew with plenty of shitty pilots, and many more good ones. We knew who we had to watch closer than normal, and often the crew was built around the experience or competence level of the Aircraft Commander.
"I was a little surprised to only find this one post when I clicked onto the Nathan Fielder tag...."
Sorry. I created a new tag then neglected to apply it retroactively.
Thanks for pushing me to do that. Click on it now. You'll find 2 old posts.
Jupiter: "In councils-of-war, it is traditional in many militaries that the junior officers speak first."
Yes, so the seniors can identify the troublemakers more easily.
JSM
I guess we are truly in la la land because my basic knowledge of The Rehersal (never watched, heard about it) I assumed this whole thing was a bit.
The only fair test of truthfulness of this conundrum is to loudly criticize Blitzer to his face every night continuously until either nothing happens to the critic or the critic no longer appears on CNN with Blitzer. Either way, useful information will be gained.
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.