Amanda Marcotte on HisSide with Glen Sacks

[Conspiracy Theory]

Thanks Kelly and Dr Evil... Appreciate the welcome.

Humanist..... hmmmmm sounds like a FAIR name for EVERYONE, not man nor woman... just people in general... I LIKE IT!

Al

Sounds like the birth of the one world religeon the New World Order and the UN types are looking for.  However the conflict would be neutralizing to feminists who claim to be about fairness.

[richard ford]

I quite like reading feminists rage against us. It proves we worry them and I am dissapointed that she did not rage against my own site.

We will have more and more of this as time goes on.

[LSBeene]

I love when feminists are brought into the light, and asked fair questions and they lose so much of their stridency.

Sure, she was trying to best present her side and was trying to reflect well on her views ... but she deflated FAST when Glenn and (most) callers (1 guy was a jerk) took her to task with her "female-first" ideology.

Steven

[scarbo]

1 guy was a jerk.

Actually, that "jerk" (no, it wasn't me) raised an excellent point.

What qualifications DOES Amanda Marcotte have such that her opinion on shared parenting and other fathers' issues is sought?

Look, you want to get onto ANY mainstream media show and express your opinion, you gotta have credentials. The guys and gals on Meet The Press usually have to BE somebody!

Amanda has none. Ampersand (Barry) has none (he's a freaking cartoonist, for God's sake).

The guy had a very good point. Having a blog does not make you an authority, it only makes you someone with an opinion. Amanda is just a blogger. She's not a feminist leader, she's not a tenured professor of family or child psychology, she's just an opinionated little girl. She had no "facts" to back up her opinions. Just opinions.

[jaketk]

I think the reason Glenn let her on is because bloggers are sort of becoming the "new media." I don't know how much journalistic integrity there is in blogging, but it has picked up in the last few months. Most of the major newsheads have blogs. CNN and MSNBC even read from blogs on the air.

I'm inclined to agree with you, though. Amanda has no credentials, i.e. no track record. She doesn't have a history of dealing with parental issues. She doesn't have any background in the family court, so yeah, it's just her opinion. But to be fair, that's technically true in the reverse.

[scarbo]

But to be fair, that's technically true in the reverse.

Whoa. You're right. Hey, what ARE Glenn's qualifications? Now I know why he cut that guy off.

[TheManOnTheStreet]

Well, we know that he must have some sort of degree since he WAS a high school teacher at one time....

Secondly, being a MAN, I think that gives him an additional 'credential' as well.  Unlike Amanda....ahem....

[dr e]

Glenn has plenty of credentials.  First, it's his show.  He hosts a syndicated radio talk show.  He has been published in newspapers across the country, has been...oh hell, here's his bio:

http://www.glennsacks.com/biography.htm

Glenn Sacks is a men's and fathers' issues columnist and a nationally-syndicated radio talk show host. His radio show   His Side with Glenn Sacks can be heard on WSNR 620 AM in New York City, KTIE 590 AM in E. Los Angeles/Inland Empire, and WWZN 1510 AM in Boston  every Sunday evening.

Glenn's columns have appeared in dozens of the largest newspapers in the United States,  including Newsday, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle,  the San Francisco Chronicle,  the Chicago Sun-Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Orange County Register, the Newark Star-Ledger, the Minneapolis Star Tribune,  the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Sacramento Bee, the Detroit News, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, the Hartford Courant, the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Salt Lake City Tribune, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, the Providence Journal, the Colorado Springs Gazette, Insight magazine, the Washington Times, and others.  

He has made hundreds of radio and TV appearances, including the O'Reilly Factor, CNN's TalkBack Live, Fox News Live, Fox News America at War,  Univision's Aquí y Ahora, ESPN, Fox News' Day Side with Linda Vester, KCET's Life & Times, KABC News, KTLA News, Fox Morning on 2, King 5 TV News, CNBC's Bullseye, the BBC's A World in Your Ear, the Mike Gallagher Show, the Michael Smerconish Show, the Michael Medved Show, the Tom Leykis Show, Fox News Live with Alan Colmes, the Bill Handel Morning Show,  the Al Rantel Show, the Charles Goyette Show, the Australian Broadcasting Company's Morning Program, Doug Stephan's Talk Radio Countdown, the Michael Jackson Show, the Lars Larson Show, the Roger Fredinburg Show, the Chris Core Show, the Stacy Taylor Show, the Ricci Ware Show, the WOR Morning Show with Ed Walsh, the Blanquita Cullum Show, the Michael Graham Show, Ken & Co. with Ken Minyard, the Sterling Show, the Michael Fleming Show, the Jeff and Jenn Morning Show, the Paul W. Smith Morning Show, American Family Radio, America Live, the George Noory Show, the Dennis Prager Show, Allred and Taylor, Air America Radio, National Public Radio and The Dolans.

Glenn has been quoted in dozens of major publications, including TIME Magazine, USA Today, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes,  the Guardian (UK), the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle,  the Toronto Sun, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, the Australian, the New Zealand Herald, the Miami Herald,  Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden), the Atlanta Journal Constitution, National Review, the Seattle Times, B.T. - Forsiden (Denmark), the Chicago Sun-Times, the Arizona Republic, Indian Express,  the Independent (South Africa), the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the Orlando Sentinel, the Dallas Morning News, and others.

His work has been covered by hundreds of radio and television stations, including NBC, CBS, ABC, CNBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and others, as well as in articles by Reuters, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, the Associated Press, Yahoo News, United Press International, the ANG Newspaper Group, and others.

His opinion columns have been reprinted or his work has been discussed or quoted in numerous books, including: talk show host/author Dr. Laura Schlessinger's Woman Power: Transform Your Man, Your Marriage, Your Life; Larry Elder's best-selling Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies, and the Special Interests That Divide America; Charlotte's Hardwick's Win Your Child Custody War: Child Custody Help Source Book--A How-To System for People Serious About the Welfare of Their Child; Neil Boyd's Big Sister: How Extreme Feminism Has Betrayed the Fight for Sexual Equality; the Prentice Hall college writing textbook The Blair Reader; and others.

Glenn's work has been discussed by dozens of America's leading radio, television, print, and web-based commentators, including: Dr. Laura Schlesinger, Rush Limbaugh, Andrew Sullivan, Dennis Prager, Tammy Bruce, Neal Boortz, Larry Elder, Sharon Osbourne, Mike Gallagher, Laura Vanderkam (USA Today), Dahlia Lithwick (Slate), Tim Blair, James Lileks, Ken & Daria Dolan, Charles Goyette, Al Rantel, Michael Medved,  Jane Ganahl (San Francisco Chronicle), Wendy McElroy (Fox News), Dennis Roddy (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Lars Larson, Roger Fredinburg, and others.

Glenn's work is regularly featured or has appeared on hundreds of websites, including NewsMax.com, WorldNetDaily.com, BBC.co.uk, Economist.com, Heritage.org, Pravda.ru, JewishWorldReview.com, WorldTribune.com, CybercastNewsService.com, Rush Limbaugh.com, iFeminists.com, MensNewsDaily.com, DrLaura.com, AntiWar.com, IndyMedia.org, MediaTransparency.org, FreeRepublic.com, Rense.com, LewRockwell.com, CatholicExchange.com, AgapePress.com, IWF.org, Mensactivism.com and  FrontPageMagazine.com

Glenn taught high school, elementary school, and adult school in the Los Angeles and Miami public school systems, and in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He has been named to "Who's Who Among America's Teachers" three times.

A happily married father of two, Glenn earned a Master's Degree in Latin American Studies from UCLA in June, 1999, and has also worked as a carpenter.

[jaketk]

But to be fair, that's technically true in the reverse.

Whoa. You're right. Hey, what ARE Glenn's qualifications? Now I know why he cut that guy off.

That's not what I meant. Glenn has a ton of background. What I meant was that the weblogs are starting to become the "new media". So while Glenn's appeared in print, on tv and radio, in the "new media" just appearing online is now becoming sufficient. I'm not saying being in print or appearing on tv and radio makes the person more credible. It's just that if you say something in those mediums, you (typically) have to back it up. On blogs, you don't. They're just online commentary.

[scarbo]

What I'm trying to figure out in my mind is this:

On Meet The Press, for instance, you have moderators/interviewers who invite people on to express their views. These folks usually have some sort of credentials. Degrees, positions in their field, etc. The moderators, well, they usually are journalists of some sort, who then seem to develop a reputation for being "smart" about worldly subjects in general, so that they can ask intelligent questions. These moderators usually express their opinions as well.

Using this same setup to look at Glenn's show, Amanda did not have credentials in the same way as a MTP guest might. Whether Glenn needs to have credentials in order for my criticism to not be hypocritical is the issue I'm struggling with. Again, using MTP as the "model", it would seem Glenn's role as opinion journalist only, with knowledge of the matters he discusses obtained through his journalistic activities, seems to qualify him for this job.

BUT. He isn't a lawyer. He isn't a degreed professional in psychology or family law, etc. His credentials on the matters of which he has opinions are really no better than Amanda's, yes?

So, who am I being unfair to? Amanda, Glenn, or both? I can't decide.

[Andyong]

The problem with that fellow who challenged feminist guest of the show, is that he is essentially trying knock down the arguments of the guest speaker by attacking her personally and not her arguments.

[scarbo]

And what I'm saying is that I don't see why that's a problem in this case.

[Andyong]

It does matters in that situation, because it's fully possible that qualifications have nothing to do with a person's capability at making adequate comments on the issues. (whether or not that mra aren't or are misogyist, whether if share parenting is or isn't better than single parenting)

I do agree that there are situations where ad hominen attacks are justified, but that's only when it's impossible to make any useful comments without the relevant experience and qualitications. For example, It's impossible for some year 7 student to challenge the entire scientific community by purposing that the periodic table to be change into whatever he might thinks is better.

[typhonblue]

I do agree that there are situations where ad hominen attacks are justified, but that's only when it's impossible to make any useful comments without the relevant experience and qualitications. For example, It's impossible for some year 7 student to challenge the entire scientific community by purposing that the periodic table to be change into whatever he might thinks is better.

The only way things change is through uncouth beginners challenging things.

[Russ2d]

I'm all for any attacks upon feminists, both fair and unfair- the time for pleasantries is long over...  In a war you don't kiss your enemy !


As for credentials, let's be honest, most 'credentials' are nonsense- what matters is what the person says and how they think when they stand in front of you-  any asshole can buy a PhD (so long as they have enough money to pay the bill)