potatoradio

This was...as they say on Great British Baking..."uhhhnduh-baked." Except McCarthy. Dear lord, if there's any good left in the world, do not let this be a one and done appearance. Like another poster said, I'm getting through the next four years only with steady, solid doses of political satire. I also like the idea of Rosie as Bannon, although I did chuckle at the Reaper's nods and shakes of head. I didn't have to google "My Struggle," but I did have to google whether the Donald's tweets about KS and her boy were real. OMG, of course they were. Why would I expect that something so bizarre would be fiction? KS is pretty hard to watch, but she wasn't awful. Che's schtick (the "aw, c'mon, it's not THAT bad") would hold more appeal for me if it really weren't that bad. Che, I'd like to forget about the political shitstorm raging, too, but it'll take more than Tom Brady and bean dip to do that.

I took his Rachel escort line as another tiresome false equivalence: librulls don't believe in free speech that doesn't agree with their viewpoint. Ergo, they're all hypocrites and Joe never passes up the opportunity to point out a ridiculous scenario to "prove" his point, thus showing that it's the librulls/Dems problem that there's no "reaching across the aisles." It's a total weaksauce, wienie move, but hey, who am I to argue with the great Fatsby? He probably sings T. to sleep every night after he's done reading T. The Giving Tree and concurring that said Tree is a loser because it gave away everything for free and it deserves to be made into T. bobbleheads.

I saw that on LOD the other night, too. Really freakin' annoying. Yeah, MSNBC, doesn't add anything to the story to watch T.'s mouth move. I'm all too aware of what comes out of it, thankyouverymuch.

Are the town hall shows new? I really appreciate a show that focuses on any other aspect of government besides the presidency, because he needs no more attention. I vastly prefer to see other politicians get some exposure. I thought Pelosi seemed off - still a bit shellshocked and trying to get her bearings - but I appreciated the chance to hear from her directly and I think having town halls like this, with voters from both sides, could potentially go a long way to beginning discussions that might bring us to rally around common pain points. I actually watched the town hall instead of Maddow, because I don't need any more tea leaf reading on what the S.C. nom might mean for "both sides." I know what it means. I also like the idea of Cruz/Sanders debating Obamacare and would tune in for that.

Right?! I mean, of all the networks that should stay on top of this destruction, MSNBC should be first in line. We should absolutely be having more discussion about just what the fuck Bannon intends to do with his new title and power. He's not known for his humble, civil servant attitude. If his little fantasy is to destroy the current system, then we need to understand if that's really the end game and whether that's what the swing voters "really" wanted. Joe Blowborough will make some noise on Twitter about the inappropriateness of Bannon's appointment, but on his show? Nary a peep that I caught (granted, I only watch once in a while when I'm scrolling through the Twitter feed and see a vid I think might be worth checking out - note that I am usually dead wrong, but anyway...) I do hope the prime time lineup is ready to go. LOD, Maddow and CH all have plenty of ability to stay caught up with the real stories here. They're smart and aware and would give a shit about a neocon takeover.

Am I misremembering or was there a time in this great country when a goddamned White House press sec actually relayed information and facts in a calm, rational manner? I caught some of Spicer's appearance today. I mean, it's about as effective as having some drunken, loutish sports coach whose team has shit the bed scream that his team didn't do a damn thing wrong - it's actually an alt-loss. I particularly liked his defense of the EO because the U.S. needs to be safe NOW, damn it. NOW. No waiting! Hurry! And the WTF look on Peters' face when he asked Spicer if there was an imminent threat and Spicer screamed back, "would you wait, Jeremy? Would you wait?" was kinda priceless. Even though Peters then looked like he was going to throw up for the rest of the segment. I imagine I would also get queasy sitting with the mean girls on a Monday after a particularly backstabby weekend party. Also, saw Ellison's segment. OK, so now we know that every time Joe tries to be "fair and balanced" and invite a Dem on the show, he will find some bullshit false equivalency between an Obama policy and the shit streaming out of the current admin clown car. Dems would do well to be prepared for this - it's Joe's assigned propaganda homework. Small voice - I think Mika effectively paraphrased Ellison's perspective and sometimes can be quite incisive and demonstrate the rare skill of listening. Now, blink and you'll miss those moments, but they're an unexpected and pleasant surprise every now and again. Honestly, I don't see why Joe just doesn't out his friendship with the current sitting president and tell the truth about what he observes. He's not gaining anything by trying to be coy about it. The current admin already has plenty of propaganda puppets. I'd really like to hear an honest, centrist perspective on the current admin and its apparent plans to destroy the government to rubble, but Joe's nothing more than a third-tier apologist blowhard who gets to eat popcorn and NOT attend NYE parties with the current admin. Sad!

Aside from the annoying plug for Greta (we get it, MSNBC; you're fair and balanced and we MUST EMBRACE your right-wing barnacles because ratings, but you can knock it off now), last night's show was a must-see. No time wasted on the usual 'hmmmm....let's think about what a lie really is' or 'he's not really going to cross THAT line, is he?' bullshit tea-leaf reading crap. Nope, down to a detailed and terrifying report on the building of the Bannon propaganda machine. I shouldn't watch Maddow as my last show of the night, but as far as I know, she's the only one reporting on the consequences of what this new tyranny is actually doing.

Yeah, I think that's the tinkle/trickle down-effect of the scramble for the spotlight. Joe worms his way to some kind of visibility and 'cred' and then the panelists either worm into visibility via Joe by kissing his ring or he shouts them down as a step up for more visibility. It doesn't look good on anyone. Nobody looks good crushed in a desperate climb for attention and two seconds of camera fucking. But hey, at least I think Joe and Mika know their worth and who they depend on to hand it out.

Hee! Makes sense that hairstyle would be the way Mika would know a journalist's value. Deep, that one.

On this MLK day, the esteemed panel of MJ invites Sean Spicer on the show and then fall all over themselves to get a whiff of whether tRump will 'reach out and call' Lewis. Spicer says, "Sure! Why wouldn't he?" Uhhhhh......dunno, Sean! Mebbe because he knows Lewis is one person who will call him what he is: illegitimate and an ignoramus who doesn't deserve to wipe Lewis's shoes? A giddy Jeremy Peters (cos he landed the hard question with Spicer!) then has a light bulb over his head and says, "It's almost like the Democrats wanted this! Almost like they put the bait out and..." Joe sez, "Yes, Jeremy, you texted me that very proposition...and you were right! He took the bait!" A sticker in hard-hitting journalist Peter's column, plus extra stars for bashing Dems. Atta boy, Peters! He did not work in a Hillary jab, though, so sad. Yes, because Democrats have been wringing their hands devilishly together and treating a dignified, heroic civil rights activist as lure. Because this all seems like so much fun and games for Joe and Jeremy while Mika shakes her head at "the boys." Also: apparently, tRump's remarks about "insurance for all" and how he will "crush" republicans who don't provide it just SHOW and PROVE that he's not a conservative! He's acting like a democrat! And that's not good because Bannon et. al, want to tear apart the two parties, sez, again, a starry-eyed, can I play with the mean boys now Peters. I don't know why they're confusing "apoplectic destruction of democracy" with "change," but then, I probably haven't had as much Starbucks as Joe. Do the panelists get to drink any Starbucks? I never see any of them with anything other than Morning Joe cups. That seems rude. If I were sitting at that table at 5am, I for goddamned sure would demand at least several cups of dark roast.

Well, hell, SOMEBODY should. MSNBC is trying to meld into Faux Lite, FreeSpeech TV doesn't have the corporate backing to go big, C-SPAN is getting hacked and will be eventually taken over by Russian propaganda. Go for it, CNN. Maybe the networks can get back to plain, boring factual news and ya'll can go hog wild. Please?

I agree - so repugnant. What's next? A cooking show where they all giggle over who makes the best cookies or fried chicken? Can't have the wimminfolk fighting with each other. Only men are allowed to have strong, forceful opinions. Women are so post-feminism now, so into "uniting" and "friendship" that integrity just gets in the way. Better to be polite and chum it up with the woman who would just as soon grind her nail file into your eye than to try to call her out on her violent, anti-social tendencies. So discouraging in an age when we need women, more than ever, to drop this kumbaya bullshit when they are clearly at political odds. These are not the days of fun, fluffy disagreements over a latte or glass of chardonnay. I can see having a drink with Wallace. Dementor Conway? Megyn Kelly? Oh fuck no. Those two are not worth it. There's nothing there except lies and conniving twists of words for their own self interest. They don't want to debate issues. They don't care. That alone should piss Rachel off to the point where she puts her foot down and says no. But yeah, rock on, grrrrrrl power. Tee hee. So fun.

SAD! Oh, seriously didn't want to see this heartbreak come to pass. It has meant the world to me to find out that I'm not alone in my devastation and confusion and to read so many hilarious and spot-on commentaries. This was seriously a mental lifesaver for me and I will miss these threads so much. I haven't ever put time and dedication into my own forums, so I can only imagine how much work goes into keeping these discussions well-groomed. Thank you so much for fronting these threads, mods. They were far and away superior to any comments sections on MSM or other political boards. Much more open and thoughtful and real than I have found anywhere else on the interwebs. And I know that doesn't come without a megaton of effort on your part, so thank you for giving us time and space on your boards. Sorry the trolls and ids and dark side of human psyches overwhelmed this space. Ya did good and I am grateful. Hope to see a lot of you on the specific show boards, where we can keep up our media critiques. And I'll be checking out any leads for a meet-up/political reunion for us. I'll be thinking of a lot you as I work on my own political activism because ya'll kinda helped kick start it. If 2018 or 2020 gives us any hope, I'll be cracking the bottle of champagne and toasting all of you. Sky still isn't fucking green. Resist.

I don't know whether to love or hate you for making me click, damn it. The fuq is that mess? It looks like a douche, not so-fresh-feeling ad all done up in pastels. Because one thing both of them need help with is freshness. They reek. I think I'll choose the high road and love you because I'm cackling like a rabid hyena at the idea of Joe Blunderbuss, serious rocker and put upon Republican. Dude, seriously...artists are supposed to suffer, doncha know? Use the pain, Joe. Use the pain.

You're right - thanks for the correction. I had the impression that he was conservative because he was generally brought on to MSNBC panels when discussing Republicans, so I considered him, Wallace and Steele the more center to center right commentators. But, Robinson is liberal, according to the further digging I did. The search for a bigger pool of center to center right conservatives continues, I suppose...

Uggggghhhhhh. Just caught an MSNBC promo. The tag line was "all sides need to be held accountable." No, MSNBC. No. Stop it. You are not "fair and balanced" with a slight lefty flavor. Go sit in a corner and think about what you did. Also, I will not, no matter how much you try to trap me, watch Rachel Maddow try to interview Dementor Conway. Stop replaying the interview and stop playing clips of it when Melber subs. *small voice, really embarrassing confessions moment* - I hate their politics lead in music and am glad it's gone, but, um...uh....I kinda sorta like the music for "the 11th hour." I'm a sucker for melodrama. I never watch the actual show, but I've kept the teevee on long enough to enjoy the theme song. *crawls away to private shame room*

Ha! Pretty fitting, considering that I always picture the Jabba scene from ROTJ when I hear about a Tubby shindig. Why should such a dignified and time honored tradition like, I dunno, the inauguration be any less cheapened or sullied? By the way, Tubby - about your fire dumpster "show": Mormons start petition to stop MTC from performing. Sad!

I have ventured into the comments section of a few fascist sites and it's generally a ballpit of assorted, usual talking points. Usually goes: MURRCA WINS! Fucktard librulls! Cry, librull, cry HUSSEIN Obummer needs to *racist comment* Clinton is *gender slur* Trump is king. No more freebie money for librulls and welfare queens. F*ck global warming hoax. Drill, baby, drill. Palin is still a *gender slur* MURRCA! YEAH! I'm gonna get me some fresh hot Chik Fil A tomorrow and then go to hobby lobby with my confederate flag flying for FREEDOM. The *gay slur* can FOAD. At least, that's what happened on the stories written by Faux News favorite bots like Ingraham or Hannity or Rushie Pooh. I've checked out Red State once in a while and can confirm the presence of racist, sexist, homophobes that can string entire sentences and arguments together, but not often. And if you read comments on stories from the few remaining RINO commentators like Eugene Robinson? Essentially screaming essays on why people like Robinson fail their purity test and are nothing more than librulls anyway. So, it's kind of like, in your other example, when you try to sit a table with your friend of a friend of a friend's cousin and her whole gaggle of insufferable queafing magpies* and you try to listen and view them as fellow humans, but invariably the sound of their voices and stench of Schlitz and watermelon shooters and confusion has you slamming straight tequila, no lemon, no salt, and you wake up from the nightmare stinking and with a worm in your mouth. *with no disrespect meant to the actual birds, of course.

Personally, I'm going to curl up in my new safe space on a freshly fracked land and wait for those great coal jobs to come back so I can live on coal coins and live in a real coal village and own nothing except black lung and a grisly, early death. MURRCA!!! Or maybe I'll be the first to sign up for the new reality tv show, "gonna grab me some librull by the pussy and smack the b*tch up" Chris Hayes had a good segment on his show comparing Nixon and Tubby. They're essentially both crooks and liars, but Nixon was klassy about it. He tried to hide what he did. Tubby don't play that. Tubby essentially takes massive shits in the American punchbowl and everyone says it's the new alt-poop that doesn't smell and isn't wittle Tubby Wubby a good boy for shaking things up? In today's bellwether media note: NYT is thrashing around with the alt-fair and balanced attempt and ran this odious crapload of an op/ed column. Dear NYT: If you think you're going to survive by "balancing" your columnists like Charles Blow with David Kuhn - aka, bringing in a little bit of white male butt hurt to balance that uppity liberal POC columnist - yur doin' it wrongz. But what was interesting was that Blow's columns always have comments on. Kuhn's didn't. Chickenshit much? Don't want to give us paid Soros professional comment trolls a chance to vent their thoughts? That's OK, because your little Alex P. Keaton wannabe reporter Tweeted the article with a poorly rewritten headline and got dragged. Bigly. Not just by paid professional trolls, but other journalists/pundits. It was ALMOST enough to make me sign up for a twitter myself, feeling all wolverine-y. I've never actually read a full on Twitter drag and I gotta say, it was heartening to see so many people call this guy on his BS. NYT should just let this guy move over to Breitbart so he can make his living claiming racism isn't a real reason Clinton didn't get elected and is a made-up librull idea and it surely has no business at a political discussion table. Let's, instead, talk about "real reasons," like how fascinating Tubby and Bannon are and how librulls need to just get over it. It is beyond vile that so-called journalists are trying to make career moves trying to tell the majority of American voters to ignore racism and sexism (which, of course, doesn't even merit a mention) and really focus on why she lost. Uh...so, our bellwether media is moving to the right because propaganda sez racism isn't a real reason and sexism isn't ever mentioned. It's not even a word. It's also annoying because I, at least, am still searching for a Washington insider who can actually write or discuss Tubby without resorting to MURRCA or bashing Democrats or Hillary. The resistance needs actual, objective centrist reporting to take this shit down. But, I guess this is not to be at the NYT. Have fun getting over your 1k+ twitter drag, Mr. Peters, as you add Dem bashing to your repertoire and present it proudly to Bannon and ask to be let in the club. Alt-smart is a really bad look on you, btw.

Yeah, I'd rather hear the original, tang-flavored diarrhea from Tubby himself than watch Dementor Conway polish up the mess like a good housewife in a paper towel commercial. The only acceptable angle for Maddow to take, in my opinion, is to present this as "see how hard it is to work with a fascist propaganda tool? Watch this: Dementor, I'm going to ask you a question about policy, climate change, something substantial. And I'm going to give you one minute to give me an answer with substance. Ready? Go. Oh....so sorry, I have to stop you the second you say Clinton, Obama, emailz, Benghaazzzzzzi, or Democrats or liberals. Try again. Two minutes. Nope, sorry, you cannot turn my question into a question. One more time...last chance...if you can't produce any substance, I'm dismissing you as a liar and spin artist with nothing to say and I'll never have you on this show again....ready? Set. Go! Oh....so sorry, no, I'm afraid a Brietbart faux news lie is not substance. Be gone, Bellatrix." That totally will not happen. WHich is why I won't watch and simply read the comments the next day. It's the one RM show that will not be worth my time. Sigh.

As I watched, I kept wondering when in Juno's name one of those bystanders in line was going to say something instead of giggling nervously or looking at the floor. Nobody did. Hey, folks, ya know that standing there and staying silent makes you complicit in everything that vile woman said, right? You don't have to deliver a sermon on the mount or get into a screaming match, but a simple, "you're acting like a hateful, ignorant fascist right now and if you don't stop it, I'm going to ask management to make you shut up and wait your turn or kick you the f*ck outta here" would have done wonders. Remember: if you see something, say something? That goes not only for seeing POC in public, okay? That applies to white supremacists, too. Say something or take responsibility for staying silent and being cowards. I particularly thought it was rich how the ignoramus kept saying "I'm sorry I'm like this, but..." Um, WTF? You don't have to "be like this." It's a choice, dear. If you speak English so well, you can clearly read a Miss Manners column and understand that if you think someone jumps ahead of you in line, the civil way to handle it is to say, "excuse me, but I believe you may have taken my place in line." You don't use it as an excuse to let all your racist spew come out in public. And, I'm sorry I'm this way, but man, I wish I had been in that line. I would have said something. In fact, I now consider this part of being prepared for venturing out in public these days. Must be prepared for random acts of racist hate speech and prepared to tell said ignorant entitled people that I ain't gonna tolerate that shit and if they keep it up, I'm going to ask management to deal with them. Duly noted, as I have Christmas shopping to do tonight and I hate shopping to begin with. I could use an outlet. Bring it on, you racist fucks. I'm ready.

^^^^^^ great points in that article (from USA Today? Who da thunk it?). I'm especially taken with: "Absolute resistance seemed risky at the time but has resulted in one of the most consequential victories in the party’s history...the GOP’s [resistence] was backed up by tens of millions of dollars of support from outside groups and free advertising from Fox News, which promoted the Tea Party movement like it was gold, a mesothelioma class action lawsuit or a new book from Bill O’Reilly. Republicans were also blessed with an opponent who was a constitutional law scholar with an almost religious devotion for working within the system, not a guy who just had to settle a $25 million fraud lawsuit and shows little to no respect for the norms that will make him the most powerful man on earth. Most important, their congressional leaders weren’t weighed down by the delusion that voters would reward them for trying to make Congress functional. Republicans have proved that treating your opponents as entirely illegitimate is a path to success — even when they lose." So...this may belong on the media thread, but I'm afraid corporate greed will soon leave us with a few people on MSNBC as crumbs for progressives, and those few people will still likely need to talk more about Tubby than any resistance the Dems are doing. There's no cable network left that's the left equivalent of Fox, and Tubby's Legion of Doom knows it needs to stay that way. Progressives are very good at ferreting out what's left of the independent, leftist outlets, but we need, I think, to focus on developing an easily accessible unifying source that can get the message out. More time building our own "spin," if you will, instead of fighting that well-oiled (and oily) machine of the fascists/hard right or trying to battle MSM that clearly wants to adopt the right's narrative of liberalism. I do not have the foggiest idea how to do that. The gap between the power of grassroots and the power of media corporations is immeasurable to me. But, I think we have to focus on building something new and innovative and bold. And clearly, they'll be blamed for any prophylactic they try to apply to the Rethugs' pillaging of our safety nets or Tubby's insanity and therefore, denying those poor, poor Tubby supporters their wet dream of opening coal factories and reviving KKK rallies and turning the Grand Canyon into Trump Water Park. So, they have to change the narrative and promote their own bills and resolutions on jobs, climate change, civil liberties, privacy, decency - every issue that has popular support? Especially (and I hate to say this) the support of the younger generation? Get on that and shout your ideas from the rooftops and let everyone see how a fascist regime kills good ideas and hurts the majority of people with its own greed and power mongering. I was pissed beyond belief when I had a conversation with a Stein supporter who smugly said, 'well, the Greens are just going to sit back and watch people get what they wanted." I said, "well, that's your choice, but I can't do that. In a few weeks, I have found over fifty different ways to do one small thing in my corner of the world that might make a difference in resistance to Tubby and growing a new progressive party. It's trench work. It's discouraging. I will be likely ridiculed from all sides. And I admit, my optimism is at a low and I admit that we're foundering as a movement and we're not going to evoke a sea change overnight, but sure, you sit back and watch. Enjoy your latte. I'll enjoy my sweat equity in my little part of history, thanks." OK, I didn't actually say all of that... But I do have a Dem meeting in January that I'm going to and I'm actually looking forward to it.

Agreed. This was the one thing he said that I took "seriously, not literally" and it made me so sad and angry that he was not proven wrong. I suppose, to finish the quote, he really should have added, "...and, because I am a sociopath, I will use whatever propaganda machine works on you and you will believe that getting conned and worse is the best thing that could have happened to you and anyone who tells you differently is....well, probably Hillary or Obama or some other librull idiot...." I mean, I have no trouble believing that Dementor Conway could spin his shooting someone point blank on the street and the MSM would find a way to blame Hillary anyway. I can hear it now: "Well, but remember, if this five year old child had had a gun/wasn't a POC/wasn't a girl/wasn't a terrorist/wasn't insulting me/wasn't being unpatriotic/simply had opened her mind....this wouldn't have happened." Headline from CNN: Hillary's emails kill a child. Don't ask us how. Heil! Good luck with this one, GOP/TeaBaggers/Freedom Caucus. He's all yours. This is your crowning achievement after eight plus years of obstructionism and hate. Congrats, and pray like hell the other side still has some mercy left when the pendulum swings back...

Joy Reid had a great article that I have since lost the link to (it's buried somewhere in her Twitter feed), but one of her telling points was that with Tubby in office, the presidency will become so degraded and distrusted that it will no longer be the holy grail for politicians - especially for Dems, who can now stop saying "whew, at least we have the WH" - and maybe now we can focus on the rat bastards in Congress who will do the real damage (Tubby Tweetertantrum start to WWIII not withstanding). I'm down with the theory posted here and elsewhere that the Rethugs are using Tubby as a useful idiot figurehead for a hard right agenda. So, yeah, congrats, Tubs. Helluva win. Enjoy your four years. Because the mockery and manipulation and ridicule and division and nastiness are just getting started. Though who knows if you can actually handle your four years of being the most unpopular, disliked, disrespected "president" to ever con your way to office.

I have the same reaction as you do, @Kemper, which is why MSNBC is pissing me off to the point where I can't watch anything except Maddow or I will lose whatever food I happen to be able to keep down in my now-constantly nauseated stomach. I don't hold out much hope, but maybe our country's swing to the right will open up a big new market for the angry liberal left. By the popular vote count, I'd have to think there are at least 2 million of us thoroughly disgusted and angry and looking for a new or revived source of progressive viewpoints. Because, Meeka whining about how we have to give that...thing...a chance or more and more cable pundits telling the liberals to shut up and not be closed minded? Yeah, not gonna work. There's a big market out there now for furious Dems and progressives who want ideas on how to fight to get our country back. I sure hope SOMEBODY figures this out... There's a new forum for politics and current events here, btw. Pop on in if you like - Resist.