Politicians have finally learnt that they can just deflect for a few days, and most people will have forgotten about it. So much news going on that it gets swept away. 10 years ago, someone like Cummings would have been out on his arse after his Barnard Castle misadventure.
I think the date is significant... Not when you made this comment, but now, we have a PM who built his career on lying I do agree with Mr Mitchell here though... and if we assume everyone of lying, that means the people who don't lie get no credit
utterly brilliant. A lovely insight into the fact that politicians do, in fact, face an impossible task in every confrontation with the media. Our apathy is unjustified; our anger misdirected.
Yep. And we now see what this has achieved. The media built the narrative that all politicians lie, so when the real conmen and women came along we figured why bother calling them out, surely the other side are the same? And here we are. Thanks Paxman. Although of course, can you blame the media? After Iraq, why would we believe our politicians again? And I do think it is sad. Back in the day people genuinely believed in honesty and integrity. Even someone like Thatcher, who everyone seems to now agree was a terrible force in Britain, I have never heard been accused of being a liar, at least not in the Trump/Brexit sense of the word. How great it must have been to have a politician who you vigorously disagreed with, but nevertheless could trust to be straightforward and honest about their beliefs.
We are used to being cynical about politicians and assume they're always lying, but how about studying a little political science and acknowledging how many conflicting advocacy coalitions and opinions politicians need to commit themselves to just to be elected. Politicians lie because that's the only way for them to be elected. There are no miracle solutions to complicated socio-economic problems and sometimes politicians need to undertake unpopular policies. But people don't want to hear that. Who the heck would elect a politician who says: "we're all up for a very rough time and you'll all have to keep a stiff upper lip, but believe me, if you elect me, in 10-20 years things would be much better." ... I mean, the only one who said that was Churchill. And he did it when the alternative was having Britain taken over by the Nazis.
You describe conspiracy theorists to a T. It's one thing to be skeptical, but conspiracy theorists aren't skeptical. They automatically believe the opposite of what is told, irrespective of the evidence. Or maybe you can name the conspiracy theory that you believe has the most evidence to back it up, I'll happily embarrass you :)
Please, name a conspiracy theory that you believe has evidence to back it up. Not just that the "official story" is false, but that the proposed alternative is true.
1:40 “After all it’s very unlikely that their interviewee will be caught out in a demonstrable lie, because then they’d be required to resign”! The world has changed beyond all recognition since this naïve pronouncement was made. Brexit, Trump, BoJo have all revealed how ludicrously optimistic this was, back in the early years of the 21st century. Today, politicians demonstrably lie with impunity, and the Supreme Court has effectively ruled that lying in politics is not against the law now. I think this video needs updating, David.
I love how these are generally good common sense but pretty trivial, then every once in a while you get slapped in the face with something about dodgy media practice or the necessity of sustainability
and the journalists have created that climate. When every politician is automatically a liar it's far easier for actual liars to discredit accusations of lying by simple saying "Well you call everyone a liar, why should we believe you?". Classic case of boy who cried wolf
@@SFgaming007 No, politicians just say "Stop being such a snowflake" and their supporters lap it up. People decry politicians' insincerity, yet turn a blind eye to it when it suits their agenda.
If everything you say is automatically assumed to be a lie, then the best way to keep a secret is to tell them the truth... because they won't believe you!
I always click one of these hoping I've not seen it and when I realise that, yes of course I have I still watch it again and about another ten afterwards! God damn you David you're so compelling.
I love the watching these because you see a random cartoon surrounding, the camera angle moves and David is just sitting there in the same position every time and starts ranting about literally anything... It's also funny cuz in most of them, about half way thru something happens in the background (like in this one a bird shits on the statue's shoulder lol) they're just so random :P
We need this man to be in charge of U.S tv. Not as some sort of snubbery, but as an efficient way of getting the U.S to function, as a society, in the modern world without being, well... american.
There was once a time when we didn't know which way journalists voted. They acted impartially. Now they are egotistical crusaders for a political ideology. They ask questions, then shout down the interviewee before the can get three words out.
It's a good point. I always loved to see Paxman laying into the liars, but it's actually more about enjoying watching a heated argument than getting to the bottom of the matter. I saw Tony Benn tonight and, strangely, he made the same point. Twice in one day. Well coincimental!
Absolutely spot on. Politicians could tell the truth if the media didn't immediately decontextualize, alleviate and distort everything they say and slap it on the front page of a newspaper. Politicians know what they'll get if they tell the truth or answer the question and it's not good for democracy.
1:40 "after all, it's very unlikely that their interviewee would be caught out in a demonstrable lie, because then they'd be required to resign" trump, bojo, bolsanaro: am I a joke to you?
@80snessEj You may be alarmed to discover that Mitchell is actually saying things. Interesting things, that you should be listening to; rather than being placated by the animated background.
People seem to be drawing the line at believing everything or disbelieving everything but very key difference here is that the subject of the (dis)belief isn’t *everything*. The subject is a group of people that time and time again have proven themselves to be corrupt and untrustworthy. I agree it’s I’ll advised to (dis)trust *everything* but it’s just as I’ll advised to trust people that have made a career out of lying.
This is the first time I have seen "lying" and "liars" spelled correctly on UA-cam. I'm still waiting to see someone use the correct forms of "lose," "loss," and "loose."
I like David Mitchell and agree with most of this except his conclusion. Personally, I think that a lack of meaningful discourse between media and politics is a perfectly acceptable situation in the eyes of those making the laws because it means that not only are they rarely brought to account for their actions, but now no one even expects them to be. The journalists may not be handling the situation well, but the situation only arose due to politicians refusing to answer in the first place.
I have to agree. The BBC and Sky feel they have to interrogate politicians and continuously interrupt their answers on "our behalf". This has gone too far. Most times I just wish they would let the politicians speak and when they have both sides present just ask each other questions and get answers. The journalists just get in the way most of time and are unecessarily hostile and aggressive.
The hands on the clock are at 2 and 7. That is the date of the start of the London Olympic games. Notice how the Gargoyles nose extends like a missle heading towards Big Ben. Wonder what that means eh!
in fairness to the paxman/howard interview, people don't enjoy that clip because they believe it is a brilliantly conducted interview, but because of the way howard avoids the questions so blatantly
Speaking as an American, Mr. Mitchell, the BBC's attitude that politicians should actually fucking be questioned is quite refreshing. Our 'journalists' pretty much just write down whatever Romney or Boehner says, without bothering to note the immense lies they spout.
Not being English I have observed that Paxman is almost single-handedly responsible for the dumbing down of political debate in your country. The "do you pray together" and "did you threaten to overrule him" rubbish. He would be sacked for that nonsense by any self respecting news organisation. In your country he's praised. It's like bizzarro world over there.
David Mitchell for Prime Minestrone! He's right of course, Jeremy Paxman puts so much effort into living up to his reputation that he no longer asks the RIGHT questions, and all but the brave fear interrogation at the hands of Paxo. What was a serious political analysis programme has become gutter press journalism aimed at tripping up the unwary.
@derdriui and you don't trust people to decide for themselves whether the politician is lying or not, you'd rather the interviewer decided that for you?
@MultiMelpomene an easy way to find it if you like me see the most popular comments are targeted at a certain person, well if so easy to do go to see call comments and and control F and type the name of the person you will end up finding it quicker than search through what could be thousands of responces
@moonlily1 why did he say that somthing so stupid? also I think assuming politicians are only ever acting in their own self interest is very dangerous and pessimistic
@Johngc390 I'm not quoting him out of context; I didn't supply his full quote; he doesn't care about the plight of the poor "because they have a safety net", which is bullshit, BTW, and I would know; and he also said he wasn't concerned about the rich because they're fine and his main concern is making sure that the middle class doesn't become poor. It's still dumb to ever say that you aren't concerned about the very poor; and I didn't say I despised him or anyone else.
@wintj1000 Allowing politicians to talk freely is a mistake because they simply spread their side of the story. You need to ask targeted questions about specific issues. Jon Stewart on The Daily Show for example tried to have Mitchell's attitude and the interviews were useless. His recent interview with Rumsfeld on the otherhand, Stewart did most of the talking and it actually got somewhere.
@CuckooNow I do listen, and agree with everything he says lol. But I just thought that since the whole video was about him talking, that the talking was already a reason why I liked these vids... Otherwise I wouldn't be watching them. Besides - I've commented on a few other of these soapbox episodes and always just commented about him talking, so I thought why not say something else I like about them? Sorry if I came across differently :P
well if you're an american politician named romney you can lie as openly as you like. get caught in your lies in the same conversation, take on a bullying disposition and threatening tone with the person who calls you out on it and STILL HAVE HALF THE COUNTRY LOVE YOU. i never thought i'd ever say this, but i AM ASHAMED TO BE AMERICAN RIGHT NOW. i really am. i'm embarressed about it. can i come live with you David?
Resign when caught lying? 2010 was such a beautifully naive time.
That hit me on a different level
Now you resign when admit lying, rather than caught.
@@dbrad02 💯%. Truly disheartening 'reality' 😔
Politicians have finally learnt that they can just deflect for a few days, and most people will have forgotten about it. So much news going on that it gets swept away. 10 years ago, someone like Cummings would have been out on his arse after his Barnard Castle misadventure.
Exactly what I came to comment section to look for.
Questioning everything is healthy. Disbelieving everything is ignorant.
Is it?
Flooblegoo, Are you questioning me? Well done! :)
Very well put. Did you come up with that yourself?
@@NottMacRuairi Does it matter?
@@LyricalDJ well it would be nice to know it if it was said by someone else first, don't you think?
caught in a lie forces you to resign. oh to live in that Britain in that bygone age.
I think the date is significant... Not when you made this comment, but now, we have a PM who built his career on lying
I do agree with Mr Mitchell here though... and if we assume everyone of lying, that means the people who don't lie get no credit
@@ChrisInTheNorth That's the point of "post-truth" politics: render truthfulness as unidentifiable and therefore irrelevant.
utterly brilliant. A lovely insight into the fact that politicians do, in fact, face an impossible task in every confrontation with the media. Our apathy is unjustified; our anger misdirected.
Yep. And we now see what this has achieved. The media built the narrative that all politicians lie, so when the real conmen and women came along we figured why bother calling them out, surely the other side are the same? And here we are. Thanks Paxman. Although of course, can you blame the media? After Iraq, why would we believe our politicians again?
And I do think it is sad. Back in the day people genuinely believed in honesty and integrity. Even someone like Thatcher, who everyone seems to now agree was a terrible force in Britain, I have never heard been accused of being a liar, at least not in the Trump/Brexit sense of the word. How great it must have been to have a politician who you vigorously disagreed with, but nevertheless could trust to be straightforward and honest about their beliefs.
Of all the soapbox rants, this is my absolute favourite. I've listened to it a few times now, and my head is sore from all the nodding.
I imagine you are a whole hell of a lot more fun than most people at parties David.
conspiracy theorist ought to watch this "Don't believe everything they tell you but automatically disbelieving is just as bad" Spot on!
not when it comes to politicians. the more of them that are burned alive, the better.
We are used to being cynical about politicians and assume they're always lying, but how about studying a little political science and acknowledging how many conflicting advocacy coalitions and opinions politicians need to commit themselves to just to be elected. Politicians lie because that's the only way for them to be elected. There are no miracle solutions to complicated socio-economic problems and sometimes politicians need to undertake unpopular policies. But people don't want to hear that. Who the heck would elect a politician who says: "we're all up for a very rough time and you'll all have to keep a stiff upper lip, but believe me, if you elect me, in 10-20 years things would be much better."
... I mean, the only one who said that was Churchill. And he did it when the alternative was having Britain taken over by the Nazis.
I have never in my life witnessed such a thing as a smart conspiracy theorist
You describe conspiracy theorists to a T.
It's one thing to be skeptical, but conspiracy theorists aren't skeptical. They automatically believe the opposite of what is told, irrespective of the evidence.
Or maybe you can name the conspiracy theory that you believe has the most evidence to back it up, I'll happily embarrass you :)
Please, name a conspiracy theory that you believe has evidence to back it up. Not just that the "official story" is false, but that the proposed alternative is true.
That's not aged well. Politicians resigning when caught lying! 🤣
As Edna Krabappel would say: "Ha!"
"Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Cynicism"
Me too, David. Me too
Can’t believe how old these videos are. Time really does fly
1:40 “After all it’s very unlikely that their interviewee will be caught out in a demonstrable lie, because then they’d be required to resign”!
The world has changed beyond all recognition since this naïve pronouncement was made. Brexit, Trump, BoJo have all revealed how ludicrously optimistic this was, back in the early years of the 21st century. Today, politicians demonstrably lie with impunity, and the Supreme Court has effectively ruled that lying in politics is not against the law now.
I think this video needs updating, David.
Hillary Clinton is another
Joe Biden is another
@@SophieDainty Could you give some examples? Genuinely curious.
I love how these are generally good common sense but pretty trivial, then every once in a while you get slapped in the face with something about dodgy media practice or the necessity of sustainability
Fantastic. David Mitchell achieves such linguistic fluency without being verbose.
we've got the opposite problem in the US. Interviewers refuse to actually call politicians on their transparent bullshit.
Not surprised when they get banned by the President for asking difficult questions.
wow, how times have changed, when politicians gave a sh1t about being caught out in a lie.
and the journalists have created that climate. When every politician is automatically a liar it's far easier for actual liars to discredit accusations of lying by simple saying "Well you call everyone a liar, why should we believe you?". Classic case of boy who cried wolf
@@SFgaming007 No, politicians just say "Stop being such a snowflake" and their supporters lap it up. People decry politicians' insincerity, yet turn a blind eye to it when it suits their agenda.
very interesting and insightful perspective I hadn't though of keep up the good work!
If everything you say is automatically assumed to be a lie, then the best way to keep a secret is to tell them the truth... because they won't believe you!
And now you know what it's like when YT channels from the states only reference US topics.
Unfortunately, we don't have a David Mitchell.
I like keeping up with some British politics
But what if the PM is a pathological liar?
I always click one of these hoping I've not seen it and when I realise that, yes of course I have I still watch it again and about another ten afterwards! God damn you David you're so compelling.
I love the watching these because you see a random cartoon surrounding, the camera angle moves and David is just sitting there in the same position every time and starts ranting about literally anything... It's also funny cuz in most of them, about half way thru something happens in the background (like in this one a bird shits on the statue's shoulder lol) they're just so random :P
We need this man to be in charge of U.S tv.
Not as some sort of snubbery, but as an efficient way of getting the U.S to function, as a society, in the modern world without being, well... american.
There is an easy solution to all this. As an American I volunteer my country to rejoin the crown, we can both have him
Mathias Knight we knew you'd be back eventually.
We've already given you John Oliver. Don't be greedy.
Question everything in order to increase understanding, not increase doubt.
There was once a time when we didn't know which way journalists voted. They acted impartially. Now they are egotistical crusaders for a political ideology. They ask questions, then shout down the interviewee before the can get three words out.
It's a good point. I always loved to see Paxman laying into the liars, but it's actually more about enjoying watching a heated argument than getting to the bottom of the matter.
I saw Tony Benn tonight and, strangely, he made the same point.
Twice in one day. Well coincimental!
I love the crap animations. It's extra funny. David knows what he's doing.
The animated episode is completely worth the advertisements.
"Why is this lying liar lying to me now?" *Isn't* completely spot-on??
Bird poop on the grotesque was a nice touch. :]
lol @ the "all-seeing-eye" above the churchs' pyramid top!
everythime i watch david mitchell my vocabulary grows a little bit more.
I love your videos, David :P
My god, this man is just brilliant!!!!
I'm not sure why but this really reminds me of hitchhikers guide to the galaxy specifically Arther Dent
The Intellect of this man is commendable
Absolutely spot on. Politicians could tell the truth if the media didn't immediately decontextualize, alleviate and distort everything they say and slap it on the front page of a newspaper. Politicians know what they'll get if they tell the truth or answer the question and it's not good for democracy.
1:40 "after all, it's very unlikely that their interviewee would be caught out in a demonstrable lie, because then they'd be required to resign"
trump, bojo, bolsanaro: am I a joke to you?
The last 150 years of Italian politics 🤣
@80snessEj You may be alarmed to discover that Mitchell is actually saying things. Interesting things, that you should be listening to; rather than being placated by the animated background.
spot on David
oh,what a lovely Pinocchio-Gargoyle...xD
Spot on...
Are there many US journalists/broadcasters around considered sharp interviewers? All I can think right now of is Terry Gross and Amy Goodman.
What about flying lyres?
There's a transcription button along from the 'About' 'Share' and 'Add to' buttons, isn't that exactly what you're looking for?
People seem to be drawing the line at believing everything or disbelieving everything but very key difference here is that the subject of the (dis)belief isn’t *everything*. The subject is a group of people that time and time again have proven themselves to be corrupt and untrustworthy. I agree it’s I’ll advised to (dis)trust *everything* but it’s just as I’ll advised to trust people that have made a career out of lying.
This is the first time I have seen "lying" and "liars" spelled correctly on UA-cam. I'm still waiting to see someone use the correct forms of "lose," "loss," and "loose."
@Onanation Where are you from?
This man is a nugget of gold in a sea of political concrete. Yes, a nugget of gold with a penguin nose.
God this aged badly.
I like David Mitchell and agree with most of this except his conclusion. Personally, I think that a lack of meaningful discourse between media and politics is a perfectly acceptable situation in the eyes of those making the laws because it means that not only are they rarely brought to account for their actions, but now no one even expects them to be. The journalists may not be handling the situation well, but the situation only arose due to politicians refusing to answer in the first place.
1:40 caught out in a demonstrable lie and have to resign, oh my word this HAS aged badly...
Glad to see im not the only person who thought this
HERE HERE!
Even if politician A is lying, the true information that A made statement S is still worth renembering
I have to agree. The BBC and Sky feel they have to interrogate politicians and continuously interrupt their answers on "our behalf". This has gone too far. Most times I just wish they would let the politicians speak and when they have both sides present just ask each other questions and get answers. The journalists just get in the way most of time and are unecessarily hostile and aggressive.
The hands on the clock are at 2 and 7. That is the date of the start of the London Olympic games. Notice how the Gargoyles nose extends like a missle heading towards Big Ben. Wonder what that means eh!
@G0ldenGoose indeed, mine is a "born to be wilde" oscar wilde tribute shirt. masterful!
i see it all the time
(not-so-subtle request for these two comments to be bumped up to that spot o.0 )
2:23 so true.
Dave, do you only have one shirt ?
Brilliant
What a fucking genius. Download "Peep show" if you can. Funniest sitcom ever and Dave's the star.
this is the most true thing ive ever heard
in fairness to the paxman/howard interview, people don't enjoy that clip because they believe it is a brilliantly conducted interview, but because of the way howard avoids the questions so blatantly
Speaking as an American, Mr. Mitchell, the BBC's attitude that politicians should actually fucking be questioned is quite refreshing. Our 'journalists' pretty much just write down whatever Romney or Boehner says, without bothering to note the immense lies they spout.
You know, I think Dave could even manage to sort out the state of English football.
@imoldjosh Maybe, or maybe not, but Stephen Fry's Mustache will live forever. (A QI episode also featuring David Mitchell, series I episode 2)
I cannot applaud this enough :)
Still clapping?
awesome....wicked....minted....
Not being English I have observed that Paxman is almost single-handedly responsible for the dumbing down of political debate in your country. The "do you pray together" and "did you threaten to overrule him" rubbish. He would be sacked for that nonsense by any self respecting news organisation. In your country he's praised. It's like bizzarro world over there.
@Threepwoodist lol ill let you have that one considering whose videos we are watching xD
@derangedyoshi The Apotheose of Stephen Fry!... I look forward to the ceremony :P
David Mitchell for Prime Minestrone!
He's right of course, Jeremy Paxman puts so much effort into living up to his reputation that he no longer asks the RIGHT questions, and all but the brave fear interrogation at the hands of Paxo. What was a serious political analysis programme has become gutter press journalism aimed at tripping up the unwary.
I think he might be turning into Arthur Dent.
@derdriui and you don't trust people to decide for themselves whether the politician is lying or not, you'd rather the interviewer decided that for you?
@MultiMelpomene an easy way to find it if you like me see the most popular comments are targeted at a certain person, well if so easy to do go to see call comments and and control F and type the name of the person you will end up finding it quicker than search through what could be thousands of responces
I can watch next week episode right now?
this needs to be shown to Bill O'Reilly :P
@moonlily1 why did he say that somthing so stupid?
also I think assuming politicians are only ever acting in their own self interest is very dangerous and pessimistic
I think David Mitchell would make a superb Politics lecturer. He'd find the salary disappointing though.
@wrmty56413 kind of see what you mean but Stephen Fry is 53 and David Mitchell is nearly 40. Hardly different generations.
@Johngc390 I'm not quoting him out of context; I didn't supply his full quote; he doesn't care about the plight of the poor "because they have a safety net", which is bullshit, BTW, and I would know; and he also said he wasn't concerned about the rich because they're fine and his main concern is making sure that the middle class doesn't become poor. It's still dumb to ever say that you aren't concerned about the very poor; and I didn't say I despised him or anyone else.
EXACTLY
Mike Hosking needs to see this video.
The solution, of course, is for the same people to own both the interviewer and the politician.
They're probably not? Never let this man on Have I got news for you again!
Excellent, nobody's said 'first' on this video.
Very funny.
im sorry i had to rewatch because i got distracked by a helicopter flying in the background.
2020: Now you cannot even trust the interviewer not to be untruthful either.
@wrmty56413 Mitchell already holds his own baton high. I'd watch Mitchell before Fry.
whoever does this guys green screening....TEACH ME!
@wintj1000 Allowing politicians to talk freely is a mistake because they simply spread their side of the story. You need to ask targeted questions about specific issues. Jon Stewart on The Daily Show for example tried to have Mitchell's attitude and the interviews were useless. His recent interview with Rumsfeld on the otherhand, Stewart did most of the talking and it actually got somewhere.
I would like to see political public worker answering like that once in a while... since this is indeed the case.
"if they were caught in a lie they'd be forced to resign"
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA CHRIIIIST
This man is clearly Yahtzee's long lost brother...
@CuckooNow I do listen, and agree with everything he says lol. But I just thought that since the whole video was about him talking, that the talking was already a reason why I liked these vids... Otherwise I wouldn't be watching them. Besides - I've commented on a few other of these soapbox episodes and always just commented about him talking, so I thought why not say something else I like about them? Sorry if I came across differently :P
Whenever I hear a journalists talk I always think to my self "Why is this lying bastard lying to me."
+Sarah Starmer Then you didn't really understand the video
'Thefreakman' ....I think she actually did understand it you know. Look up 'irony' if you have a dictionary handy.
Then what's the point in any of your news consumption?
@G0ldenGoose .....here, here!
Sadly this video did not age well :(
Never have I seen the 2 top comments conflict on a YT video.
well if you're an american politician named romney you can lie as openly as you like. get caught in your lies in the same conversation, take on a bullying disposition and threatening tone with the person who calls you out on it and STILL HAVE HALF THE COUNTRY LOVE YOU. i never thought i'd ever say this, but i AM ASHAMED TO BE AMERICAN RIGHT NOW. i really am. i'm embarressed about it. can i come live with you David?
BillieJolene1 damn, imagine being in 2012, when Mitt fucking Romney was the worst case scenario.... I miss those days