Sally Kohn Offers Lessons From Her Fox News Stint: Those People Are Kind and Human!

Newsbusters.org ^ | April 16, 2014 | Tim Graham

[Kaslin]

Liberal pundit Sally Kohn is on Yahoo! this morning with an article titled "What I learned as a liberal talking head on Fox News." She learned conservatives were personable and human.

What? Yes, she says that would amaze "fellow liberals who had not watched much Fox News but had seen the most outlandish clips of Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity that had made it to 'The Daily Show' or YouTube. They perhaps imagined that walking down the hallway outside makeup, Mr. O'Reilly might yell then, too, instead of just saying hello. That's a funny notion, but it couldn't be further from the truth."

The obvious thought here is: Why can't liberals just turn on Fox News for themselves and spend an hour? Why must they only watch it after it's "curated" by Jon Stewart? I thought liberals were the "open-minded" people that considered all viewpoints. (Okay, sarcasm isn't my strong suit.) Kohn continued:

My time at Fox News was marked by meeting and working with some of the kindest, smartest, and most talented people I've had the pleasure of meeting in life. As I said in my TED talk, Sean Hannity is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet – and even now that I've parted ways with Fox, he remains a good friend and mentor.

For a radical progressive who once harbored negative stereotypes about folks on the right, it was a turning point for me to meet people such as Mr. Hannity, Karl Rove, Monica Crowley, Sarah Palin, and so many others, and see that – though we certainly disagree profoundly on political issues – they're personable and kind and human. Just like me.

It's strange to suggest that a seemingly simple realization such as that is in fact a profound revelation, but in our hyperpartisan era, when we often vilify the other side as being less-than-human, it is.

Once I had that experience with some of the most visible voices on "the other side" – in my case, the right – it was an easy leap to find connection and compassion with everyday conservative audiences. These aren't evil people, either, or stupid, or any of the other things that some liberals, in their lowest moments, have suggested. In fact, in many cases, I've learned that the ideological labels that feel so firm and unyielding among the professional political class are rather malleable among ordinary Americans.

Most people just want a better life for themselves and their kids. And they're worried about the things they see as barriers to that opportunity – whether it's big banks gobbling up all the money and real estate titles or higher taxes or struggling public schools or the cost of food. In real communities in real places across the United States, I've found that liberals and conservatives share many of the same concerns and problems and simply gravitate toward two different sides in searching for solutions.

Kohn made an obvious point that if you want to convince people to share your viewpoint, you can't be viciously hostile.

[Jeff Chandler]

Conservatives are human beings. Who knew?

[clintonh8r]

She hasn’t met me....

[Sarah Barracuda]

Holy Cow this is breaking news..Im human..and here I thought I was a house cat..thank you Sally..I feel enlightened today

[longfellow]

Saw a bumper sticker that said, “Fox news makes people mean and stupid”.

So I ran them off the road.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Good for Kohn. It’s good to see what life is like outside of your bubble.

[envisio]

Liberals always say that about people:
Don’t judge them.
Get to know them.
They are humans just like you.
...and other such feel good crap.

Of course, they are talking about minorities and muslims and such.

But mention a conservative... your average liberal already hates them without even knowing which conservative you’re talking about.

[El Cid]

LOL!

[bigbob]

I feel the same way about a number of liberals I know and have known. Contrary to what some think, it really is possible to judge a person by the quality of their character rather than their political ideology. Doesn’t mean I agree with them, but I can like and respect them, if they are decent and honest people, and that’s what she is saying here.

[Sarah Barracuda]

NICE wish I could have seen video of that!

[envisio]

you know... reading your post... yeah, what she said was kinda condescending and patronizing.

Gee Sally, thank you for telling everyone we are humans.

[oldbrowser]

In real communities in real places across the United States, I've found that liberals and conservatives share many of the same concerns and problems and simply gravitate toward two different sides in searching for solutions.

Side 1> Government is the answer.
Side 2> Government is the problem.

[winner3000]

Unfortunately, I find that the more I talk to liberals, the more I find out that they are more rude, hateful, miserable, vicious, arrogant, and intolerant, than I ever thought possible.

[Kaslin]

^5

[subterfuge]

Just more proof of how childish and stupid liberals are.

[subterfuge]

Well done!

[Nea Wood]

Now let’s take a conservative and let him/her spend a day at a liberal network and see what happens. To REALLY have some fun, make it a black or female conservative.

[darrellmaurina]

It's always nice when the other side realizes that as conservatives, we don't eat kittens for breakfast and puppies for lunch.

Unfortunately, liberals often spend so much time in their own world that they never take time to actually interact with typical conservatives. The same isn't true of conservatives — we can't get away from the liberalism being forced down our throats — but a liberal in an elite university or Democratic think-tank may very well never have serious interaction with a conservative point of view.

I realize there is a certain category of hard-left liberals who aren't just wrong or confused but are actually and deliberately evil.

Most liberals, however, think of themselves as decent human beings who are trying to make the world a better place. Of course they're wrong in thinking the government is the best way to do that.

Attacking people's wrong actions and wrong beliefs is appropriate, but making them into demons doesn't help.

We need to get to 50 percent to win. In many districts that means conservatives need to get moderate votes. Acting as if liberals are demons in human form doesn't help, and actually drives moderates away from us by making us look ridiculous.

There is a time for fire-breathing rhetoric, but Reagan was right in regarding that as the last resort, not the first tactic.

As for those liberals who truly are evil and not just wrong — let the hard-left liberals expose themselves as intolerant haters. It makes them look bad, it exposes them as hypocrites, and helps us win.

[octex]

Now let’s take a conservative and let him/her spend a day at a liberal network and see what happens. To REALLY have some fun, make it a black or female conservative.
**********************************
Read here on FR a couple of days ago that Laura Ingram has been hired by CNN to be a ‘contributor’. She also retains her contract with FNC.

[Yaelle]

Did she touch their hair to see if it could hold water?