Landsnark

Was it my imagination or was Mika especially terrible today reading the news? Also, should we name the Bond villainess top she wore today, and wears most days? It needs its own name.

So none of you heard Donnie say "r*******" on air, and change it to "mentally challenged?" Yeeesh, bro. Calm the fuck down and go 1/2 decaf or something. I heard it and presumed he meant the dictionary meaning of the word, which means to slow or prevent development. But then he sputtered and changed it to "mentally challenged," meaning he was using the term as a pejorative to insult. You're on television, dummy.

Mika is uncomfortable when women apologize, y'all. Because she's a feminist thought leader.

When was the last time she was brought onto another show as a wonk or topic-related expert? "I can handle things. I'm smart. Not like everybody says, like dumb. And I want respect!"

This morning at the gym I found myself shouting at Mika. She was introducing Ari Melber as MSNBC's legal expert, and she asked a 2 minute question, setting up the Cohen situation for Ari and us, because neither Ari nor the audience had ever heard anything about this before. Because of this Ari had no time to get into things.. and I presume that'll be his last shot at it until he's on air later, after Cohen has already testified. So that was a lost opportunity to get his estimation of what may happen and why. For some inexplicable reason, as the show comes out of an extended segment on Cohen's current situation to transition to legal expert Ari, Mika takes it upon herself to recap that immediately preceding segment to "prove" to us she's not the stupidest person working at that network. Ari just sat still with a Mona Lisa smile for 2 minutes as Mika made sounds. If I was him, I would be wondering why I got to work 3 hours early to spend my time listening to the network's bottom rung mind waste my on air time. Her inability to read words aloud is bad, but I think worse is a news host feeding their own ego on air. This is a learned habit from Joe, who is nothing but bloviating ego.

In the final guest segment there was a regular guest on who had written a book. The segment before had something to do with Bernie Sanders, and as they kicked it to commercial Mika said we're going to have an expert on who will explain Bernie Sanders' immense popularity. And as they came out of commercial Joe and Mika both mentioned that this upcoming thought leader is going to break down why there is this politico-social groundswell that buoys Sanders. The guy comes on, and never mentions Bernie Sanders' name - not in his whole segment and nobody interviewing him in the studio asked about Sanders. His book was about Donald Trump and poor white Americans losing hope, feeling existentially displaced and without a community. So either they didn't read the book, didn't listen to their producer, or are trying so damn hard to make Mika seem like a Bernie Bro. I guarantee they want that dude to be a friend of the show so they can surf his controversial popularity.

Are CNN's studios close to 30 Rock? I saw McCabe on set with CNN this morning at the gym and said to myself, "That's a pretty big get. I guess our team of goof balls couldn't pull it off." Looks like I was wrong. I watched from home until after the gentleman with the long face finished his examination of a Biden run and Joe asked about Sanders, and he essentially dismissed him. Then Mika started twitching, making short syllables, blinking, and Joe said, "What. What is it? What are you doing?" "And she said, we're doing it again. I'm not letting it happen. We're doing it again and I'm not letting it happen. It's happening again. We're just going to let it happen?" And joe was like, "Huh?" And she said, "Sanders is who everyone supports and has the popular support and the media just isn't going to cover him." And I clicked it to ESPN to put that twitchy idiot in my rear view.

They really skewered OAC and made her look like a complete fool.

I suppose I should have stuck in there through the 4 minute run up to the punch line. Listening to him rant is a tough row to hoe, though. And he's said the exact same thing non-ironically in the past. He's a mixed bag, our Joe. Later in the show as i watched from the gym, Barnicle asked Victoria DeFrancesco why white Texans support trump. She was nonplussed by the comment. And said, "Well, outside of Austin and El Paso, Texas is very very conservative. It's deeply red. It is a very conservative state." I guarantee she was thinking "Someone should help that poor old man back to his recliner."

He is ranting and raving about Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton this morning. 5 minutes of it, and it's 6:05am. "You know why they chant 'lock her up,' right? She ran thee. most. corrupt. state. department in history." Aaaaaand, I'm out. fuck this. Willie's face is pretty special, though. Joe is high on coffee screaming about Hillary Clinton and Willie has a thousand yard stare, probably imagining what life has in store after this shit show ends and he can live on a Polynesian beach where Joe Scarborough is only a memory.

Was the Bezos/National Enquirer story furthered at all this morning? I listened for a bit, but Joe was being an ass and derailing all topics and interrupting, so I just changed the channel. Did anyone with a bit of knowledge or insight get a chance to speak uninterrupted? The national enquirer said that her brother leaked the photos, but Mika thinks the President did?

For some reason, Joe is being purposefully obtuse and disingenuous on this topic. There could only be a 3rd trimester abortion if the mother's or the child's life is in danger, and 3 physicians approve the procedure. Or, if after birth, it becomes apparent the infant's life isn't viable, an humane option would be available. (how the hell are these things not currently options???? I honestly had no idea) Also, just like Joe Scarborough, Ralph Northam's main career was as a pediatric neurosurgeon. Joe can go straight to fucking hell. He's spreading lies and propaganda like he's a 3rd rate Fox News flunky.

Joe: Democrats are hypocrites - Virginia's Lt Gov. has accusations of sexual misconduct, "late term abortions is a bad look," they support socialism. All while he shouts over other guests, and also his bumbling bride. I can't believe he's never just elbowed her off her chair out of sheer annoyance. This show is fucking terrible.

Peggy Noonan was disemboweled by AOC on twitter last night, I was curious if she'd be on the panel this morning. Ignatius made me ill. The whole vibe of the show put me off. I only watched a few moments. So apparently Trump kept his pants on as he addressed the nation and now he's Presidential.

They're shaminars.

How did Mika introduce the Noah Rothman segment, "We at Morning Joe don't shy away from controversy?" She said that, and then his smug face was on camera, and I was like, "Nah" and changed the channel. The whole thing seemed so contrived and staged.

Tomorrow they will have on the caterers of that lunch 40 years ago.

Schultz just said that Democrats are "far left" and want government backed free health care, free college, and government-assured jobs. I hope that's not actually the case and is not actually the Dems' platform. Willie is right, why doesn't he just join the Dems and change their platform? His notion that he needs to reimagine government is a loser. I don't like him. Mika asked a good question, "How much does an 18 oz box of Cheerios cost?" And he didn't answer. But she's such a spineless idiot, she started giggling and didn't force him to answer because confrontation makes her uncomfortable.

And then, after the second Team of Viper segment ends, she actually takes the time to state how uncomfortable Whitaker looks from being on camera. Mika Brzezinski made fun of someone else being uncomfortable on camera. Joe is ranting right now, she is smirking and sighing and looking through piles of paper and saying background syllables... as if Joe's rants make her uncomfortable.

Mika is so unprepared for this Team of Vipers discussion it's embarrassing. It's hard to watch because of her awkwardness. The way she kicked the first segment to commercial was so cringey I felt uncomfortable for her. Today she's won the Mika weirdness bingo before 7am. Making weird sounds to be heard - check Saying "wow" or "uh huh" - as if reacting with syllables is a reply - check Too uncomfortable to directly challenge a guest, and instead is wishy washy - check Interrupting so that she's heard, but with nothing to say - check Interrupting without conviction to take control of the conversation - check Allowing Joe to speak over her - check Throwing it to commercial so poorly she and Joe are talking over each other as the commercials begin - check (edit - most important thing she did wrong and always does wrong) Is totally unprepared with facts ahead of time so that she can have a substantive discussion with the author, and so that she may push back against erroneous assertions from a position of knowledge and preparation - check and double check A master class in how not to conduct a weighty interview.

Came here to write the same thing. For so many reasons, his comments irritated me to no end.

Directional mics. Also there could be baffles on the ceiling, floor, other walls, and in between them. Potentially the soundboard in NYC pots them down slightly when someone else is speaking, although that's unprofessional. You don't want to hear Mika sound like a whisper for the first syllable she says as the board operator pots her up to normal volume. Usually mics are kept open at the right levels so a spontaneous thought comes through clearly. It's possible that Joe or Mika may have to signal somehow that they'd like their mics to be hot in order to say something. There can be 6 people shoulder to shoulder on set, and we don't hear a speaker come through someone else's mic. Although every know and then you hear a disaster occur in the newsroom where it sounds like a metal trashcan was just heaved across the floor.

Nah. The cameras don't need to move so there's no need for an operator. They just make sure the balances/colors are correct, flip the feed on, get word from NYC that it looks ok before the show, and they're good. They sit in frame, so there's no need for a camera operator. SNL could make a really good skit about this. Joe in bed, writing things, and then Willie opening an envelope and reading on air, "I just got this mailed in from Joe and Mika on assignment, "trump sucks."" See, cuz they're mailing it in.

At 5:30am? They have 10 slots to fill during the work week between the two of them. They missed 6 of the 10. I complain because they're shitty, not because I miss them. The show today is good. Thin, because they weren't prepared to be short-staffed, but it's good. Willie seems PISSED he's there hosting... like maybe he didn't expect to have to be on set at 5am today.

This show is crazy town. Pure crazy town. I bet blondie woke up late and so wasn't briefed on Roger Stone, and so the staff in NYC told her to go f herself and didn't uplink her feed.