When Was the Last Time a Boycott Worked?

A few weeks ago, the journalism watchdogs Democratic Party apparatchiks at Media Matters* organized a boycott against Laura Ingraham after she tweeted something snotty about Marjory Stoneman Douglas student David Hogg. She apologized for it, but Hogg didn’t care and neither did his handlers at Media Matters. The grown-ups saw a perfect opportunity to take down one of their most hated enemies, and they had no problem using the kid as a human shield. That’s who they are, and that’s what they do.

It’s not working, and I’m having trouble remembering the last time it did work. Jon Levine, The Wrap:

…In her return to the airwaves last week, [Ingraham] was up 25 percent in total viewers and 36 percent in the key 25-54 demo, compared to her averages for the first three months of the year.

She averaged 3,099,000 total viewers and 685,000 in the 25-54 demo…

The numbers suggest that rather than costing Ingraham viewers, the dispute over Hogg has drawn eyes to her show, which debuted in October.

Her ratings are better than ever. Fox News is standing by her. The advertisers will start coming back when the heat dies down. Same old story. Another failed liberal boycott.

I have a visceral dislike of boycotts no matter who’s behind them, but Media Matters and their ilk sure do have a particular fondness for that tactic. Every time somebody on Fox News so much as farts, MMFA is ready with a list of advertisers. Now they’re doing the same thing to Sean Hannity. Again.

These are Sean Hannity’s advertisers https://t.co/i2MXG3712X pic.twitter.com/ezbbCba5pZ

— Media Matters (@mmfa) April 16, 2018

I don’t watch Hannity, and I’m ambivalent about the “bombshell” revelation that Michael Cohen is his lawyer. (That’s assuming Cohen is telling the truth, which is not an assumption I ever make.) But whatever the case, Media Matters’ reaction is always to boycott. They’ve done it to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly… Hell, just make a list of all the people Michael Moore hates, and chances are they’ve been boycotted by Media Matters.

Lefties boycotted Chick-fil-A because one of their executives spoke out against gay marriage, and now the chicken sandwich chain just keeps expanding, even encroaching into liberal enclaves like Manhattan. Lefties boycotted the National Rifle Association after the Parkland shooting, and NRA membership went up. Lefties are currently boycotting the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which, at press time, is still operational.

Why do these guys keep boycotting stuff? When are they going to figure out that it doesn’t work? When will they realize that by attacking the very livelihood of their opponents, they only harden their opposition? When will they stop turning people like Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity into martyrs?

My guess is: Never. They’ll never stop, because it’s too much fun. As it says in Rules for Radicals, “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” When libs see people on TV saying things they don’t like, they feel helpless to stop it. So they enjoy organizing boycotts and marches and #HashtagCampaigns and other useless crap like that. It keeps them busy and reminds them why they hate their enemies so much. It fills them with righteous indignation. It gives them a reason to live, if you can call it livin’.

I hope they never give it a rest. The more time they spend on fun stuff like boycotts, the less time they spend on boring stuff like voting.

*Maybe it’s petty of me, but I’ve held a grudge against Media Matters ever since they lied about me when I got hit by a car. Nothing they said about what happened to me was true, and they’ve never corrected it. So now I’ll stand with anybody who’s targeted by Media Matters. Even if I’m standing on crutches.