Rhodes Scholar Reporting the News Show Discussion

[Grommet]

Ooh, I like the comparison to Bill and Al. I loved Al back in the day and still remember Lawrence O'Donnell telling Al Franken to pay attention to his speech at the 1992 convention because it was serious shit. Good times.

I loved the blue, and the enthusiasm, and those Texas assholes getting slapped by the SC, and the doctor whose name I've forgotten but who was so rightly pleased. A mostly good day and a mostly good show.

Yay, Iceland!

[M. Darcy]

Article about Larry the Cat with lots of pictures http://jezebel.com/a-question-about-brexit-does-10-downing-street-get-to-1782685915

[jjj]

Very snarky Rachel about Trump at the end of the show:  "even when he is reading from the teleprompter and breathing heavily through his nose to prove it" and "perhaps bemused by the beauty of his eighteen holes" (and backing away from the total Muslim ban).  Not sure what the nose-breathing means (he still has to move his mouth, unfortunately), but fun nonetheless. 

[shok]

2 hours ago, jjj said:

Not sure what the nose-breathing means (he still has to move his mouth, unfortunately), but fun nonetheless. 

Big talk out there on the tubez about Trump being a heavy cocaine user and apparently his wheezing and heavy breathing is a sure sign of that. I'm quite sure that's what Rachel was intimating.

[attica]

Bridgegate scoop! Whee!

[jjj]

I share Rachel's fury at the lack of progress in Flint.  What on earth will it take for something to change, beyond, "change your water filter"?  I thought there was a plan to replace the pipes; but no mention of that.  What she did not say is that summer in Flint is so hot and sticky; when I saw the woman with a little window fan in her kitchen window, and learning how to replace her filter, I thought what a miserable, long, hot summer without trustworthy water the people of Flint are facing.  I wish Rachel could drag the governor and his staff to Flint to spend a week there in the conditions that the residents live in every day.  That is a massive difference from drinking a glass of water and getting back in an air-conditioned car.  Oh, and then go to Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands for a trip, as Snyder did after he visited Flint in spring.  Oh, and ordered an awesome Chanel-themed cake for his wife's birthday.  (The cake really is amazing, and unleaded, also.)  http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/02/see_the_cake_michigan_governor.html 

[Grommet]

I had just been wondering about Flint. The mind boggles at how little progress has been made.

As much as I enjoy hearing Rachel saying "PPP" over and over and over again, I was a tad annoyed that she didn't even entertain the possibility that some people chose the meteor as a joke and not as an expression of "anything would be better than those two." I know she doesn't think people would actually prefer a meteor, but her angle on the story seemed off to me.

[M. Darcy]

Plus, she shouldn't be comparing the negative polling numbers of HRC and Trump.  Their negative numbers are not the same thing. 

While walking to work this morning, I saw a headline that the water in the Cannon office building may not be usable for months.   Wow, now they know what the people of Flint are going through.  Except they immediately got bottled water, they don't have to cook or clean in it, and most of Congress will be gone this summer.  Though, the staff of Cannon isn't totally to blame for Flint (I kind of think the world is sort of responsible in that we all let the Government of Michigan poison an entire city if that makes sense).  

[attica]

I'm glad Rachel showed the clip of the Canadian Parliament cheering "4 More Years!" for Bam. It cheered me up and made me wistful too.

And, I thought she's been working  in different digs lately. Glad to get the new studio confirmed. (Or maybe she's mentioned it before while I've been muting all the Trump footage?)

[represent]

Quote

 I kind of think the world is sort of responsible in that we all let the Government of Michigan poison an entire city if that makes sense).  

It does to me, all I was thinking during this report is that they couldn't get enough signatures to petition to recall the governor during their primary. 

So I guess their fellow citizens in all the other parts of Michigan don't give a shit. Or they weren't effective in getting the petition out there. I don't know, but the majority of the voters seem to be of the mind that he should keep his job. 

 

Glad to see one citizen echo what I posted a while ago when it came to Obama drinking that water. Look, I like Obama, but that was some bullshit. I know that he's about calming fears, which is what a leader should do. But sometimes you have to cut the bullshit. Did I expect him to go there and actually say run for your lives? No. But I found it insulting that he would sip if you could even call it that, a glass of this "filtered" water. 

I know Obama damn well knows that for black and poor folks in general, the trust is gone. Filters that we know damn well aren't state of the art, are not going to be enough to build trust when their government already lied to them. Give me a break, change the pipes end of story. 

I don't know why Obama can't call in the army corps of engineers. Does he not have the authority to go over the Governor's head, because the Governor would have to request it first? You know, the red tape bullshit that goes on with anything having to do with government services.

On another note, seems like we might very well have a third party candidate that is pretty close to reaching the percentage needed to get on the debate stage, it's name is Meteor. It's fifteen percent right?   Meteor has about thirteen right? It's getting close.  LOL, such a silly skit flashed threw my mind when she brought up that polling.

Edited June 30, 2016 by represent

[represent]

Speaking of the Flint water crisis, candidate Misty Snow who is a transgender woman, is running against Mike Lee of Utah, who is  BLOCKING funding that would help the citizens of Flint. I wish Rachel would mention his name again, there hasn't been enough light flashed on his ass.

[attica]

All of which goes to show that, in politics, there's really never any penalty for doing nothing.

[jjj]

2 hours ago, attica said:

I'm glad Rachel showed the clip of the Canadian Parliament cheering "4 More Years!" for Bam. It cheered me up and made me wistful too.

And, I thought she's been working  in different digs lately. Glad to get the new studio confirmed. (Or maybe she's mentioned it before while I've been muting all the Trump footage?)

What I loved about that clip was how happy President Obama looked, and that he was surrounded by a happy, smiling, delighted parliamentary body that was thrilled to have him in the room.  So unlike his days in D.C.  Hmmmm, do you have to be born in Canada to run for Prime Minister?! 

I have not heard her say anything about the new set, and I have the show on in my office during the first airing each night, without muting! 

Edited June 30, 2016 by jjj

[Sesquipedalia]

I don't get Rachel's love for those silly PPP poll questions. The 538 people called her out on it the last time she mentioned one of those on the air. I was hoping it would get back to her and she would think twice before doing it again. To me it seems like including joke questions just encourages people not to take the poll seriously and undermines the credibility of the whole enterprise.

[shok]

7 hours ago, jjj said:

What I loved about that clip was how happy President Obama looked, and that he was surrounded by a happy, smiling, delighted parliamentary body that was thrilled to have him in the room.  So unlike his days in D.C.  Hmmmm, do you have to be born in Canada to run for Prime Minister?! 

Actually, no you don't. He'd win in a landslide if he ran. :)  There is still a pretty hardened slice of RWNJs in Canada that he'd have to deal with but there's no FOX News so the general public isn't nearly as poisoned as in the US.

Edited June 30, 2016 by shok

[jjj]

"I know math is hard, but not math where you can count just on your fingers, ya know?"  Rachel on Mr. Trump's inability to understand that a five-vote majority on the Supreme Court would still be a five-vote majority even if President Trump appointed a Scaliabot. 

I didn't *think* that HRC had been born in Scranton -- glad they caught this.  But some of these errors lately have been real clunkers. 

Edited July 1, 2016 by jjj

[NextIteration]

My blood is boiling.  Would someone please put Kornacki in a closet until election night where he can only be a douche at "the board"?

[ebk57]

5 minutes ago, NextIteration said:

My blood is boiling.  Would someone please put Kornacki in a closet until election night where he can only be a douche at "the board"?

I wish I could like your post a million times.  He's awful.  He interrupts - loudly.  And he can't even read. He was stumbling all over the script.  Ugh...

[NextIteration]

He was absolutely infuriating with the Undersecretary, he was brow beating her for really no appropriate reason.  Comey was out of line.  And so was Kornacki.

Rachel would never treat a guest like that, not of any political stripe.  Kornacki should never sub in for Rachel, leave him on Toad's MTP Daily, I can't even tolerate him sitting in for Matthews.

[ebk57]

Thanks for posting that article.  It's the only one so far going against Comey's "integrity" and I somehow missed it while perusing today's paper.

[jjj]

1 hour ago, NextIteration said:

My blood is boiling.  Would someone please put Kornacki in a closet until election night where he can only be a douche at "the board"?

Thanks for the report -- I see his face, and I turn off the device.  He is just not in the league of Rachel -- or Joy -- or even Ari.  I thought Joy did a great job last Friday.  As far as I am concerned, it will be a gift if Rachel is back later this week, but I am not holding my breath.  Heaven knows she has a big stretch of intensive news coming up with the conventions!  And after Brian Williams' latest two flubs (comparing the President's remarks at the rally yesterday to Richard Pryor's "preaching" style; and today calling Obama "President Reagan" after the Afghanistan briefing), I wonder if Rachel will be given more leeway to take the lead in the convention coverage.  (Those are discussed in more detail over in the MSNBC thread.) 

[M. Darcy]

Quote

Would someone please put Kornacki in a closet until election night where he can only be a douche at "the board"?

I haven't even been watching the show this week.  As soon as I see its him, I change the channel.

Quote

Rachel would never treat a guest like that, not of any political stripe.

She was nice and police to Santorum! 

[Egg]

Yeah, at first I wondered if I was being sensitive to his treatment of Tauscher because a) she used to be my rep, and b) she was on defending a candidate that I like. But thank you all for pointing out that Rachel has interviewed total nuts before, and she never shouts over them. I mean, I don't think Steve let the Undersec finish a single sentence. Just unprofessional. 

[Grommet]

I don't watch when Kornacki is hosting and I see I've chosen wisely! I figure Rachel is resting up for the conventions so I'll take the week off as well.

[Skyfall]

I love Steve filling in just for the sheer humor of his short replies to Lawence.

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

This is the second time I've seen Steve Kornacki be incredibly rude to a guest. The first time was with the DNC chair and last Tauscher last night. Is it coincidence that they were both democrats women defending the female democrat presumptive nominee?

[Lexx]

10 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

I haven't even been watching the show this week.  As soon as I see its him, I change the channel.

I usually do the same, but for some reason last night I decided to leave it on.  I should've run screaming for the hills when he started by saying we're back in 90's politics.

I can't believe how rude he was with that guest.  Shouting over her, constantly interrupting her, etc.  I've mentally given him a lot of leeway for the past while since I want to support lgbt members of the media, but as of last night I'm elevating (or downgrading) him to my Inner Circle of Shittiness which, until this point, had only been occupied by Luke Russert.

[alias1]

If Kornacki is on tonight I'm turning it off.  Is he auditioning for Chris Matthews job?  Please let it be someone else tonight (Ari Melber?).  I would love for it to be Joy, but she was just on before Chris Hayes.

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

16 minutes ago, SierraMist said:

If Kornacki is on tonight I'm turning it off.  Is he auditioning for Chris Matthews job?  Please let it be someone else tonight (Ari Melber?).  I would love for it to be Joy, but she was just on before Chris Hayes.

He is.

And I am out

[jjj]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo................(g'bye)

[alias1]

7 hours ago, Skyfall said:

I love Steve filling in just for the sheer humor of his short replies to Lawence.

i did catch the end of Kornacki and had to laugh at Lawrence basically snubbing him. 

[Pepper Mostly]

I used to love Steve. He made me laugh on Up and I loved how engaged and excited he was about politics. And Up Against the Clock was really funny.

I tuned in the other night and--wow. I didn't even recognize the goofy lab puppy of a guy I used to enjoy. He was harsh, rude, and ill informed. Bye Steve. We hardly knew ye.

[NextIteration]

I thought Kornacki ruined Up - it was a painful step down from my nerdy younger teevee machine boyfriend, but now I get one more week of him!

[jenrising]

Just in case anyone sees this before airtime, Joy Reid just tweeted that she's guest hosting tonight. Thank goodness. 

[jjj]

42 minutes ago, jenrising said:

Just in case anyone sees this before airtime, Joy Reid just tweeted that she's guest hosting tonight. Thank goodness. 

Hurrah!  I would have checked the start of the show in any case, but this allows me to plan to stay to watch the show.  Joy is the perfect host for a day like this (if we can't have Rachel).  Thank you, MSNBC and Joy. 

And Joy told us that "Rachel will be back on Monday." Thank you again, Joy!

Edited July 9, 2016 by jjj

[jjj]

Loved the old vice president video in the opening -- but the "Rosemary" was "Rose Mary"! (i.e., Rose Mary Woods, responsible for 18.5 minutes of missing Watergate tape!) ("The Fixer" --no, she was not called that, but she was the fixer!)   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Mary_Woods -- reminding everyone of Nixon while bashing Quayle. 

Edited July 14, 2016 by jjj

[Pepper Mostly]

hahaha, yeah, I laughed when he picked up the phone and said "Rose Mary....". Clever.

[Moose135]

On 7/8/2016 at 8:35 PM, jjj said:

And Joy told us that "Rachel will be back on Monday."

Just in time - David Sampson, former Chris Christie advisor, who was appointed by Christie to head the Port Authorty of NY/NJ, pleaded guilty on federal felony corruption charges today.  He had been accused of using his position as PA chairman to pressure United Airlines to institute a flight from Newark to Columbia, SC, to cut down commuting time to his vacation home, in exchange for his approval on a new hangar the airline wanted to build at Newark.  United had earlier paid a $2.25 million fine and was cooperating in the investigation.

I'll bet Rachel will have an update on Christie, Bridgegate, and his merry band.

[jjj]

2 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Just in time - David Sampson, former Chris Christie advisor, who was appointed by Christie to head the Port Authorty of NY/NJ, pleaded guilty on federal felony corruption charges today.  ...

I'll bet Rachel will have an update on Christie, Bridgegate, and his merry band.

Yes, some other day she will certainly cover this.  Hard to believe that just 24 hours ago, she was rubbing her hands with glee at the thought of the Friday VP announcement.  And it gets harder each week to believe that it will be regular news as usual in the next 24 hours.  #JeSuisNice

[One Tough Cookie]

On ‎7‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 9:13 PM, jjj said:

Loved the old vice president video in the opening -- but the "Rosemary" was "Rose Mary"! (i.e., Rose Mary Woods, responsible for 18.5 minutes of missing Watergate tape!) ("The Fixer" --no, she was not called that, but she was the fixer!)   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Mary_Woods -- reminding everyone of Nixon while bashing Quayle. 

Yeah, I was surprised Rachel didn't catch that reference, she's usually right on top of things like that.

I really liked her dissection of Mike Pence.  She knows how to make a point without knocking viewers on the head. 

[jjj]

36 minutes ago, One More Time said:

Yeah, I was surprised Rachel didn't catch that reference, she's usually right on top of things like that.. 

Yes, that commercial was only 14-15 years after the Watergate hearings and even the younger me knew who Rose Mary was at that point!  It would be like the Republicans creating a commercial showing a room of fake Democrats trying to figure out how to create a diversion, and saying "Let's call Monica."  Everyone would get that, it would be a passive-aggressive swipe -- and even more time has passed since the Starr Report came out 18 years ago.  (I realize that part of the report has been given continual life -- but so were Watergate shenanigans  in the 1980s!) 

[33kaitykaity]

Rachel interviewed the man who did the original ad in 1964.  

Now Hillary has hired the man to re-do the ad for 2016.

Rachel must be proud.  

[jjj]

Rachel telling us that Donald Trump said "they" wanted him to speak every night of the convention, which means that he wanted to talk every night.  Rachel said "they" (organizers) decided having Trump speak every night was not a good idea.  Let's see if they can keep him off the stage each night. 

[maraleia]

I loved Rachel saying she hasn't had a straight face since she was 16 during last night's coverage. Such a stealth lesbian joke if there ever was one.

[stormy]

Boy, I miss Rachel (and Chris Hayes), I can't wait for this hate fest to be over, I haven't watched a single minute only "updates" on Morning Joe.

Which I can tolerate for about 15 minutes.

I'll be so happy I can watch the dems next week!

[represent]

1 hour ago, stormy said:

Boy, I miss Rachel (and Chris Hayes), I can't wait for this hate fest to be over, I haven't watched a single minute only "updates" on Morning Joe.

Which I can tolerate for about 15 minutes.

I'll be so happy I can watch the dems next week!

You said it. 

Although, I watched Chris Hayes today and he's just always a breath of fresh air. For some reason, he keeps me from switching the channel when he's interviewing the most unbearable of guests. 

[jjj]

Rachel said she will be on "Meet the Press," which will be live from Philadelphia on Sunday.  And Senator Sanders will be on the show, also.  Good times.  (I did not hear her say whether anyone from the Dem/Rep tickets will be on the show. )

[33kaitykaity]

Rachel kept plugging that she was going to talk to someone from the Bernie wing of the Democratic Party about the Kaine nomination.  Did she ever do that and I just missed it?  I wanted someone on my TeeVee saying what I'm thinking.  I should know better.  

[kassygreene]

Yeah, she did, but even though it was no more then forty minutes ago, I can't remember which one she talked to.

[alias1]

It was the president of the NAACP, wasn't it.  I can't remember his name. He just wanted to point out the ares where Kaine was too moderate for him.  He conveniently left out the areas where Kaine has been very progressive.