The Weekend On One With Brendan O'Connor

No mention of David Davin-Power this morning? I didn't really hear much of the coverage to him this week but would have expected at least a brief mention on this show.

it’s also not a pub discussion. Honestly if they can’t provide some balance then the national broadcaster shouldn’t discuss it.

There is this thinking in Ireland they anyone who votes for Trump is a white, uneducated redneck.

I’m in the states frequently with work and I also holiday there. I have American friends and colleagues who are graduates of Ivy League universities who you would absolutely expect to be Harris voters but who are pro-Trump. It may seem inexplicable to us but that’s their reality, and choice. None of these people are stupid or uneducated. None of them are poor, or dare I say struggling in modern America. I would say 40% of them aren’t white, so it’s not a race thing.

I have one good friend who is an Asian American woman. She’s the daughter of immigrants, educated to PhD level, is liberal by any standard, lives in SF (a much derided city in a much derided state for its liberal views). You’d assume given all of that she’d be pro-Harris. She’s not. She has a daughter doing her masters in Berkeley. You’d again think she’d be pro-Harris, but she’s not.

Trump doesn’t just attract uneducated, ignorant rednecks. I know that’s hard for some to hear, but it’s the truth.

Part of the reason to “both side” it would be to try to analyse why these types of people find the Trump proposition more attractive than the Harris one.

What positive things are there to say?

As I said, I'm not a fan.

But he has tens of millions of people prepared to vote for him. You can't dispel these people as idiots or loons.

They obviously see plenty of positives in the man.

And although I can't, I have to say, not much negative happened to me because of him the last time he was president, and if he wins again, the vast vast majority of the Irish population won't see any change in their lives.

That’s quite the false equivalence there, they’re not remotely the same thing and I think you’re fully aware of that.

I genuinely didn’t hear the James Conner comment, and obviously I don’t condone it. There are “lunatics” on both sides though, let’s not forget that.

The whole thing is poisonous. Biden’s (I’m not calling him a lunatic btw) slip of the tongue the other day calling Trump supporters “garbage” is illustrative of the emotion (dare I say “hate”) on both sides at the moment and the mask is slipping for many.

I’ll return to a point I made earlier though that both candidates are in my opinion wholly unsuitable for this role - for different reasons. Trump is Trump, and I’m not a fan. Harris seems to simultaneously stand for nothing and also for everything - there really is no substance there.

I’ve been reading (in The Hill) and listening to Niall Stanage (you’ll find him on Dubphy’s pod and BBC, and latterly even American News) a lot recently on the election and he’s very good on the minutiae of this election. Worth a listen even if you don’t like Dunphy.

It is not a false equivalence. People talk about balance. But having views from either end of a spectrum is balance. So someone talking about people giving up food and living on sunlight as a way to end the obesity along with a dietican discusing portion control etc is balance.

What is more important then balance is relevance. A helio centric diet is not a relevant way to solve obesity. So has no place in public discourse.

The Irish public have voted on a lot of issues that Trump has made main stays of his campain. I have addressed this in detail in another post. He holds very extreme views that are not supported by the majority of the Irish public as they have made clear in recent referendums.

As for the rest of your post I am a little confused. As you just taking this oppertunity to point out how "poisonous". Or are you trying to made the point that BOC magazine show should be more like the dedicated politics and news podcast that you listen to?

EDIT - Do you just want a guest to critise Harris? It does happen, a lot of Irish contributors are not happy with her policy towards Isreal and Palestine and she has rightly been called out on it.

I didn't say he is directly to blame for them. But has played a part in it, yes.

But since this is the radio forum and not the current affairs forum. I am more intrested in hearing what sort of balance you want in the BOC radio panel. Remembering that it is a magazine show and not a dedicated news or current affaird program.

On the false equivalence, you’re comparing something objective with scientific research behind it versus the rather subjective issue of the competing personalities and policies of two very different election hopefuls; which is hardly the same thing. Balance is also treating both candidates the same way, something which is not happening here, and didn’t happen in the last two elections. Harris by contrast to the scrutiny placed on Trump is given a particularly free ride this side of the pond. Balance would be subjecting her to the same level of scrutiny.

No, I’m not asking for someone to criticise Harris for the sake of it, I'm asking balance in terms of make up. I’m asking for a more balanced panel, one in which all of the contributors and the host are not effectively singing from the same hymn sheet. One with differing and contrasting views, or at least one that asks the same questions (not directly obviously) of both candidates and places both them and their policies under the same scrutiny.

No, I don’t think BO’C’s show should be a politics only show. But again, if you’re going to delve into the realm at least have some balance in the make-up of the panel. As I said yesterday (I think, it may have been earlier in the week) I believe BO’C’s strength is 1:1 interviews. His moderation of panels is atrocious, but we had a different type of atrocious today in a moderator who just nodded her head and didn’t challenge any panelist’s comment. It was just an echo chamber. Whilst BO’C interjects too much, you’d have thought Brenda Power was the moderator today if you hadn’t been paying attention such was the lack of intervention from the host.

For the record, I’m not a fan or a supporter of Trump. If I had a vote it wouldn’t be going his way - that’s not an endorsement of Harris’ ability btw either and shouldn’t be read as such; again, both candidates are in my opinion awful. The man however is likely the next president of the US (as of today’s polls he’s leading) at the very least a former one. I have a large degree of discomfort with the view in this country that each and every person who historically voted for or votes for him is an idiot, a moron, a racist, all of the above, or any of the other things said about them. They’re not.

On Israel, what is her position? She doesn’t appear to have one - it’s just a parroting of Biden’s position (which seems to be let Israel do whatever they want). And this is part of the problem with her; she tries to stand for everything and yet manages it seems to stand for nothing.

"No, I’m not asking for someone to criticise Harris for the sake of it, I'm asking balance in terms of make up. I’m asking for a more balanced panel, "

Why? His views and values do not align with those of the majority of Irish people. A pro Trump panel does not represnte Irish people or Irish discourse. When Berlusconi was running in Italy. Panels were not made up with pro and anti Berlusconi supporters. People talked about his right wing views and bunga bunga parties, same with Durante and Bongbong Marcos. Death squads and shoes. No one was discusing the minutia of their socio econimic policies.

Same thing with Brexit?

Were where you when radio shows where having debates on Brexit. Certaintly not here demanding equal airtime and balance for pro Brexit views.

Also who are you going to find to join the panel?

It is a magazine show. It is not meant to be objective or provocative.

BTW you can support Trump all you want. But just understand that is not the stance taking by the majority of Irish people.

"which seems to be let Israel do whatever they want)."

You realise that is a stance, right? And it is something she is frequntly called out.

I am not really here to argue politics. If you could provide other examples of when BOCs show has not offered "Balance" that might be helpful. Please exclude all references to American Politics. We have lots of Irish politics we can talk about. Things happen here every day.

If you don't have people of different viewpoints on the panel then it's a waste of time talking about it really. A discussion where everyone agrees is pointless and boring radio

I agree - Brenda was the first to mention (on air) Roderic's infamous tweets to the 3rd world to come to Ireland for a great time, as Brendan feigned total surprise with 'And whe, whe, when was that?' - You'd think that a fella on €1560 per hour would know this fairly basic stuff eh?

Can you throw up a link to that tweet

I think your expectations are just off for the show. It isn't a flagship current affairs show. It is a very brezzy magazine show. Not unlike Ray D'Arcy or Oliver Callans show. BOC fear of getting RTE sued again probably makes his show even more sanitised then either of those shows. You are not going to find an unbiased neutral magazine show. It is just not part of the format.

To be clear I am absolultely saying Trump is not being spoken about the same way as Harris on the show. Trumps views are mostly abhorrent to an Irish audience. But again this is not a current affairs or news program. It is not supposed to be unbiased.

I do agree with you somewhat about the make up of the panels. They tend to be the same tired friends of the show. Personally I think it is an element of the show that should be dropped.

We seem to be going around in circles here, and I am going to bed. I will let you have the final word here and disagree with you agreeably.

I think you may be doing a BO'C on it - 'Tweets, what tweets? I've never heard of these tweets, let's move on really quickly…'

There's ignorant voters. And there's self centred voters. Americans are shockingly self interested and transactional. If you are a wealthy person then trump's tax policies will make you better off, so there is that cohort too.

But it doesn't make sense to both sides it. For an Irish audience, apart from the contrarian Trump supporters who don't know what they're talking about, Trump is a bizarre oddity that cannot be properly understood.

It was said that some shows do try with Republican overseas contributors, but they're as weird as Trump himself usually.