'This is duuuuuumb': CNN's Chris Cillizza can't resist urge to 'mansplain' music to Nikki Haley

Sarah D | 2:21 PM on January 29, 2018

The day after Nikki Haley criticized the Grammys’ bizarre and asinine “Fire and Fury” stunt, the media still can’t wrap their heads around it.

Let's get this straight. Michael Wolff retails disgusting rumors re Nikki Haley. His book is read on Grammys. Haley says it ruined the show for her. And mainstream media people–who know the book is unreliable–attack HER. And then they want people to think they're not biased.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) January 29, 2018

As Twitchy told you, the New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff has been mocking Haley for her very valid issues with what happened. Not to be outdone, CNN’s Chris Cillizza has chimed in with an “analysis” to explain why Haley was wrong to suggest that the Grammys have gotten too political:

What Nikki Haley gets wrong about music and politics | Analysis by @CillizzaCNN https://t.co/SihWgR4P3O pic.twitter.com/KlymV59AQ6

— CNN (@CNN) January 29, 2018

Though Cillizza does acknowledge that “Haley has a right to be annoyed” by the glorification of “Fire and Fury,” he concludes:

What draws people to music is the personal stories behind the music — the “why” of the lyrics. To ask musicians to be robots robs music of its real meaning.

Yes, the fact that musicians are people expressing their views can be uncomfortable. I have been at a show where a musician went off on a long rant about the media and how we were complicit in something or other. People cheered. I didn’t. But I didn’t think to myself: “Why can’t this guy just sing the songs?” Because that’s part of the deal you make when you listen to music: The artist gets to express himself or herself and you get to react to it. It is not the artist’s job to make sure that reaction is a pleasant one. In fact, it may be the artist’s job to make sure that reaction is unsettling — or at the least thought provoking.

That’s what Haley seemed to miss in her tweet. Being frustrated about a book is one thing. Urging musicians to take politics out of their music is another — and misses the point of music totally.