Packer Transplants 213: Matt LaFleur calls CheeseheadTV

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January 07, 2021 at 05:23 am

Tonal Deafness

Perhaps I am an outlier amongst die hard CHTV fans and loyal Packers' fans who found the decision of Aaron Nagler and Corey Behnke to go ahead with a live broadcast in the middle of a riot/insurrection taking place at the Capitol building in Washington D.C.

Of course, I understand that CHTV is committed to dedicated Packers' coverage and resolutely attempts to steer clear of politics which is a divisive subject and always alienates both sides in a country which alternates between Democratic and Republican administrations.

However, when an event of potentially catastrophic proportions is taking place, it strikes me staggeringly tone deaf of Mr Nagler and Mr Behnke to carry on with a regular broadcast while right wing extremists are wandering through the corridors of the Capitol building and disrupting an important constitutional proceeding.

While it is not comparable to carrying on with a scheduled broadcast while a 9/11 attack is in progress or some other terrorist attack is taking place, I don't think it would have taken much courage or respect for the state of the union to have postponed the broadcast to another day.

As much as I enjoy Mr Nagler's football commentary, I am very disappointed and dismayed by his seeming objective (not subjective) indifference to a developing threat to U.S. democracy. Instead of encouraging people to turn to national news networks to observe the attack on the Capitol by an angry mob of desperate and demented Trump supporters, Mssrs Nagler and Behnke chose to carry on and talk about football. Further, the fact that neither Mr Nagler nor Mr Behnke are Trump supporters (and I would gather are very much opposed to the maniacal outgoing U.S. President) makes it all the more galling that it was business as usual for CHTV.

I invite other Packers' fans and CHTV followers to weigh in on this matter and any comment from Mr Nagler and Mr Behnke would be most welcome. I did not watch the broadcast except to see whether it was in fact taking place, but at the end I did not buy Mr Nagler's rather weak defense of the decision to proceed with the broadcast as being justified by the mantra of CHTV's commitment to football as if everything related to the Green Bay Packers always exists in a vacuum. I would suggest that last night was one exception to the ruthless devotion to the Packers. Go Pack Go.

Turophile

January 07, 2021 at 05:44 am

They are about football. If you want to follow coverage of what was happening in the Capitol building, there are numerous news outlets to keep you up to date.

I'm just fine with them ignoring this (and being a Brit, I have no axe to grind as either a Democrat or a Republican).

January 07, 2021 at 05:57 am

Thanks for your comment. My point relates to whether sometimes football should take a temporary back seat to what could have easily have seen a riot and mob violence descend into an armed shoot-out. Would you prefer to watch a Man U (just an example) talk show while UKIP lunatics are storming Parliament? I'm simply questioning whether there are moments when even CHTV should show concern (in extreme situations) for things rather more urgent and important that the Green Bay Packers.

Spock

January 07, 2021 at 07:48 am

I don't have a problem with Nagler and Bhenke going with their broadcast as they had lined up the head coach's time to speak with them. That said, I had turned on the t.v. about 11:00 to see who was likely to win the Georgia run-off election only to see the (LIVE) mob over running the Capitol building and spent the rest of the day absorbed in seeing the news coverage as the event unfolded. I kept switching between CNN and FOX just to see how different the coverage might be. Dispicable behavior by Americans egged on by a President who lives in an "alternative facts" universe IMHO. Today I need to get away from the politics and can now watch/listen to the CHTV broadcast as a means of escape.

dblbogey

January 07, 2021 at 11:05 am

Liberals just can't keep politics out of it? Biden is senile and our entire system is corrupt. This was the greatest country in history, and you want to turn us into Europe.

January 07, 2021 at 04:46 pm

Forrtunately, you and your fellow Trumper proud boys will soon be confined to log cabins in Montana polishing your gun collections that help you compensate for lack of education and intelligence. You failed to grasp even the most obvious points I made in my original comment which was not a political statement but one of concern over ignoring the attempted insurrection by a rabid mob of pathetic dregs of society.

dblbogey

January 07, 2021 at 11:01 am

Mixing politics and sports is why ratings, especially for NBA, are tanking. You want to read politics, go to news sites. You want to talk Packers, go to Cheesehead TV. Isn't that simple?

January 08, 2021 at 07:20 am

Yeah, a deplorable such as you is an expert in television ratings. You cultists have been lying about ratings ever since NFL players startted pushing back against your love of murdering Black people.

PackfanNY

January 07, 2021 at 07:28 am

This is not a political website. Plenty of other outlets for you to post your opinion. Let’s talk Packers.

January 07, 2021 at 10:27 am

Freedom of speech applies, except for a Trump supporter like you perhaps...

PackfanNY

January 07, 2021 at 10:45 am

Who said I supported anyone? I support the Packers on a website about the Packers.

January 08, 2021 at 07:31 am

if you refuse to denounce the traitorous deplorables who committed insurrection by invading Capitol you are supporting them. The racism, the misogyny, the pure evil promoted by scum like albert999 and dblbogey will flourish if decent people do not fight back, regardless of the forum.

January 08, 2021 at 09:12 am

Thank you for your support. I agree absolutely that we need to stand firm against those who invaded the Capitol and also those who enable and support them. I further agree that trying to avoid the issue by saying "oh, gee, this site is only about football" is a convenient way for people to tacitly endorse the insurrectionists.

I fear that albert999 and dblbogey are part of the problem rather than the solution. They also reacted with such outrage to my fairly mild comment which suggests I hit a nerve. Finally, the whole point of my comment was not to issue a political statement (although I have done so in Germany where I am known in the media) but simply to draw attention to an interesting ethical point involving the decision by Nagler and Behnke to proceed with Packers Transplants as planned despite a potentially catastrophic event taking place at the Capitol Building which could easily have been a mass casualty event.

(Molotov cocktails and a semi-automatic weapon was found with one of the insurrectionists/terrorists although the media have not revealed if he was inside the Capitol or caught outside the building). That is why I asked whether CHTV would have gone ahead with a live broadcast were a 9/11 type terrorist attack taking place.

The invasion of the Capitol Building was the first such attack since 1814 when the British fought back against the fledgling United States of America! One has to draw the line somewhere, even as a relatively remote YouTube broadcaster serving very narrow audience.

Unfortunately, Messrs Nagler and Behnke have chosen not to respond to my comment although probably they have not read it. They are also acutely aware that their audience is probably at least 50% GOP supporters at least as far as Wisconsin CHTV viewers are concerned.

But thanks again for your support - you're the only one who understood the point of my remarks and addressed the underlying issues involved. (We now know that the Pentagon told the D.C. national guard to stand down and not provide support to the D.C. police). How curious? A coincidence? I wonder if the BLM demonstrators from June are feeling hard done by the massive military and police presence that greeted their march in Washington D.C.

But now I am getting political so I will hold back. But shame on those Packers fans who believe that CHTV takes place in a vacuum. Citizens who believe in freedom - not the QAnon, demented Trump insurrectionists/terrorists - should appreciate that the freedom of CHTV to exist and produce content is granted by a society governed by laws which apply equally to law. Any threat to the American democracy as was the case with the Capitol Building invasion is a threat to all Americans and to democracy not merely in the U.S. but to the world at large.

Finally, Go Pack Go.

January 08, 2021 at 09:21 am

Your welcome! Likewise, I appreciate you fighting back against the insurrectionist rabble and those who support them.

By the way, and not to diminish your original point, I want to point out that Mr. Nagler has taken considerable heat from the racists such as dblbogey and albert999 for his principled support of the players kneeling. He is one of the good guys.

January 08, 2021 at 05:08 pm

There are always going to be psychos and sociopaths like 999 and bogeyman trolling on social media states. Trumpist neo-fascists were even yelling at Lindsey Graham at the airport today. They're so dumb and uneducated and proof of how social media is the only means for low life QAnon fanatics to vent their sinister rage. They're losing their minds now that the Grand Wizard and Supreme Orange Narcissus is about to be impeached and facing multiple legal threats. And I like Aaron Nagler - I was simply disappointed that he decided to go ahead with the broadcast. On PTI, Kornheiser and Wilbon both discussed the Capitol insurrection and revealed that the Celtics' NBA game was nearly cancelled by players. This refutes the "this is a football site" argument which suits the idiots and fringe dwellers like 999 and bogeyman. They are likely incels who live with their mothers and wear MAGA hats to bed.

flackcatcher

January 07, 2021 at 12:19 pm

I like that MLF just shows up....

January 07, 2021 at 12:24 pm

If you wanna watch your politics watch them and don’t bring it to a football website to comment.
RELAX ......it’s called choices.....u make your and we’ll all make ours we just don’t need you on here telling us what choices to make

January 07, 2021 at 04:54 pm

Did you read my comment? I didn't discuss politics but instead questioned the decision to broadcast when a potentially serious mob riot at the Capitol Building was taking place. I never argued that one should be watching news channels but whether it would have been more appropriate to postpone the Packers Transplants show until the next day. Your anger and aggressive tone is exactly the kind of toxic mindset that defines the sociopath Trump and the deluded fringe dwelling mob that followed his invitation to insurrection.

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January 07, 2021 at 07:45 pm

Your the only one aggressive on here and by the way you have no idea of my politics and I sure don’t need to discuss the news or listen to you push your ideas or suggestions that aren’t football related on this site.
There’s news and political sites for your toxic tone

January 08, 2021 at 06:10 am

Give my regards to Q.

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January 08, 2021 at 09:12 am

Aw albert, your poor little deplorable feelings have been hurt. Anything posted by a cultist such as you is toxic. There's breitbart and the Daily Stormer for your ilk, where you can spew your hatred to your heart's desire. Stop polluting the Packers fan base.

January 08, 2021 at 09:30 am

I'm with you, bro! It's extraordinary that albert999 believes that my original comment was toxic in any way. I had to do my best to tone it down and keep it very theoretical in a way that asked Packers' fans on this site to weigh in on the question I posed. But the Trumpists fear dealing with facts and choose to live in their QAnon/Breitbart/alt right bubble which has parallels to my point about whether Packers Transplants should have carried on as scheduled. My view is there was something of fundamental danger taking place at the same time which crossed the threshold that allows CHTV to exist in a bubble. Sometimes a broadcaster needs to demonstrate social responsibility in the context of events. It's a judgment call and I see no harm in inviting Nagler and Behnke to explain their thinking. And I never said that anyone should turn to CNN or other live media to watch the unfolding insurrection, merely that CHTV might have postponed Packers Transplants to give people a clear choice and temporarily exit the Packers bubble.

January 08, 2021 at 11:34 am

No one cares