Rhodes Scholar Reporting the News Show Discussion

[nowandlater]

2 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

I don't understand why Rachel didn't host the event last night.  She has always covered Veterans issues and keeps reminding us that we are still at war.

Well, my guess is Trump refused to do it unless someone like Lauer was the moderator.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/08/media/nbc-news-forum-trump-clinton-postmortem/

[car54]

It probably didn't help Rachel's case that she did a segment on her show last week about how Kellyanne Conway lied to her face. :)  (Which she did).

Trump used to call into Today a lot last year before he stopped talking to anyone but Fox.   They know Lauer isn't a heavy hitter.

[Medicine Crow]

They know Lauer is a doormat & doesn't have the guts to confront or refute Trump, but seemed to not mind being unfair to Hillary.  (I think NBC is afraid that Trump will banish them from any coverage & are walking on eggshells.

[kassygreene]

As I recall some of the morning shows began to refuse to talk to Trump on the phone; they wanted him to come in or at least do a remote, i.e. make an effort.  As to the moderator list, yeah, everyone on the right would veto Maddow as moderator, but if the Clinton camp has any sense, they would veto Andrea Mitchell, she who always sneers just a little bit when talking about things Clinton.

Lauer is the Most Serious Guy in NBC Morning Television.  His paycheck proves it.

[Medicine Crow]

Seeing Andrea Mitchell = automatic channel change for me!!!

[attica]

18 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

I don't understand why Rachel didn't host the event last night.  She has always covered Veterans issues and keeps reminding us that we are still at war.

Although I agree that the R camp would certainly veto an appearance with Rachel, I think this was down to the suits. Give the mediocre white dude the spotlight, let the brilliant woman clean up after him. Lauer is certainly more well-known than is Rachel among people who aren't news/politics junkies, so maybe they thought he'd be a bigger ratings draw?

I'm almost afraid to ask this, since the answer will most likely horrify me, but does anybody have any light to shed on the underlying ethos of all the Infowars conspiracies? I just don't get who they think benefits if OK City and 9/11 were 'inside jobs.' Okay, so maybe the gun massacres are faked to shock the public into taking Alex's guns away, which is standard libertarian/ reactionary fare, but the terrorist attacks happened on Clinton and Bush's admins respectively, so who's the overarching villain?

[alias1]

40 minutes ago, attica said:

I'm almost afraid to ask this, since the answer will most likely horrify me, but does anybody have any light to shed on the underlying ethos of all the Infowars conspiracies? I just don't get who they think benefits if OK City and 9/11 were 'inside jobs.' Okay, so maybe the gun massacres are faked to shock the public into taking Alex's guns away, which is standard libertarian/ reactionary fare, but the terrorist attacks happened on Clinton and Bush's admins respectively, so who's the overarching villain?

The government.  Any government.  They are not to be trusted.

It does surprise me that he has the following that he does (Donald Trump, Jr.?)  Scary.

[M. Darcy]

Quote

The government.  Any government.  They are not to be trusted.

I think that's it also.  They just hate the government that much.  

I used to be facebook friends with a 9/11 truther and at first I was kind of well, she can think what she wants but when she posted that crap on 9/11, I instantly defriended her.  Nope - I live in the DC area, and I work near Capitol Hill and I was at work on 9/11 and it happened.  The attack on the Pentagon was real and I don't need to see that crap.

[BobH]

I usually like Rachel, but I wish she could be more free to be critical of her own network sometimes. Seriously, Matt Lauer was a terrible choice, and if any other network had aired the forum with a moderator like that she'd have been far more critical. But I understand, she can't really question her own bosses judgement in any direct way. That path leads to Olbermannian exile...

[MulletorHater]

I thoroughly enjoyed a particular snippet from Rachel's show last night.  She effectively showed how the misinterpretation of a single word by Putin fed Trump's insatiable narcissism.  So, of course, Trump is going to compliment a man who thinks he's "brilliant!"  Apparently, in Trump world, Putin is a "strong" leader--much stronger than the Kenyan, socialist, uppity Black man illegally occupying the White House.  Never mind that Russia's history is replete with "strong" leaders, who used murder to silence dissidents and enriched themselves to the tune of billions from "state controlled" industries.  The clip of the increasingly uncomfortable and dewy eyed Speaker Ryan trying to meekly disavow Trump (and Pence's) support of Putin was a sight to behold.

This was not a misstatement or a gaffe.  It's a oft-stated position from Trump, married to his racism and narcissism.  Now, he's so emboldened that he has no problem coming out of the closet and trumpeting his authoritarianism.  

Please keep up the good work, Rachel!  You are one of the few in mainstream media these days who is keeping me sane.

[jjj]

21 minutes ago, MulletorHater said:

I thoroughly enjoyed a particular snippet from Rachel's show last night.  She effectively showed how the misinterpretation of a single word by Putin fed Trump's insatiable narcissism.  So, of course, Trump is going to compliment a man who thinks he's "brilliant!"  

I'll have to catch the show online -- thanks for pointing that out.  I have to say that found hilarious Trump's interpretation of "body language" of *trained intelligence officers* -- whose training in part consists of learning how not to give out non-verbal clues.  What Trump *really* meant was that he was sitting in a group of people who were not totally leaning into him to suck up in order to maintain their lifestyle.  Yeah, I would not be at all surprised if he picked up a whiff of disapproval -- but it sure was not about our sitting President!  Mr. Trump, this is what a meeting is like in the real world.  You would not recognize impartial dispassion, because it is not allowed in TrumpWorld.  (Soon to be an unamusement park either in Florida or the entire country, depending on how things go in November.) 

You know what else strikes me about him?  He has zero sense of humor.  All the brain region for humor got eaten up by paranoia and narcissism.

[represent]

Quote

but the terrorist attacks happened on Clinton and Bush's admins respectively, so who's the overarching villain?

Both

The Clintons and Bushes are one in the same to the Alex Jones of the world. Clinton and Bush both represent the establishment. These people want to take down our way of governing, our entire system, then take over what's left.  They'll keep the Bob Corkers, the ones that supported Trump, but they want the John McCains and Paul Ryans , Bushes and the left gone.  The Paul Ryans think that they can stand back and play on the fence and once Trump gets elected they can take over and all will be well, so they've pretty much done nothing. 

But yeah, they want to destroy our government, it's what Ted Cruz wanted to do, but on steroids.

Edited September 9, 2016 by represent

[represent]

Quote

 Nope - I live in the DC area, and I work near Capitol Hill and I was at work on 9/11 and it happened.

Yeah, and I lived in NYC. I watched those buildings fall. I watched one fall from my window, and when I went back to the window the second one was gone.  Of course, at the time,  I couldn't stand at my window for long because I was in a classroom with kids and I had to pretend that the world might not be coming to an end, to keep them calm. Yeah it didn't happen, then please explain where the ashes that covered my dad's suit came from? He was covered in ashes from head to toe as he walked  over the Brooklyn Bridge to get home from One Wall Street. Shit, it was even raining ashes in certain parts of New Jersey for that matter. 

But I think with this conspiracy theory are they saying it didn't happen or that it happened because our government was in on it? I think with 9/11 they aren't saying it didn't happen, worse, they are saying that George Bush and the government was behind it. 

Edited September 9, 2016 by represent

[represent]

Quote

Apparently, in Trump world, Putin is a "strong" leader--much stronger than the Kenyan, socialist, uppity Black man illegally occupying the White House.

Right and they keep bringing up the Birther Movement without realizing that to these black ears, calling President Obama weak is also a dog whistle to me. Since I can't recall any leader being called weak by so many government officials, so very often.  It's not just Trump, they like to put all this shit on Trump, not going to work with this voter. It's one of the reason I don't watch Morning Joe as much, Joe has consistently called Obama's leadership weak and it rubs me the wrong way.  Talk about his policies as being bad, that's not a dog whistle to me, that's fair. You can even say that when he came into office he lacked experience because before that he was only a junior senator, all fair criticism. But there is just something about repeatedly calling him weak on top of the Birther Movement that give me a bad taste in my mouth, somethings off.  I think it triggers for me the history in this country that goes way back to systematically trying to emasculate the black male, that is exactly what I get from it.

Edited September 9, 2016 by represent

[attica]

Hey, that Kiernan guy who spoke about Afghanistan is very pretty. [/shallow] He handled his first-time-teevee nerves very well, imo. [less shallow]

[jjj]

41 minutes ago, attica said:

Hey, that Kiernan guy who spoke about Afghanistan is very pretty. [/shallow] He handled his first-time-teevee nerves very well, imo. [less shallow]

He has a gaze that is not the "male gaze", but very focused on the person he is addressing.  I'll be watching again on the repeat...the shallow end of this pool is rather crowded. 

[Quilt Fairy]

11 hours ago, MulletorHater said:

Never mind that Russia's history is replete with "strong" leaders, who used murder to silence dissidents and enriched themselves to the tune of billions from "state controlled" industries.

This is their current state of affairs as well.

[Grommet]

I liked Rachel telling her newbie guest he should be on the "tv machine" more often. It was a nice way to compliment him.

[33kaitykaity]

19 hours ago, represent said:

But I think with this conspiracy theory are they saying it didn't happen or that it happened because our government was in on it? I think with 9/11 they aren't saying it didn't happen, worse, they are saying that George Bush and the government was behind it. 

Richard Gage et. al. don't speculate about the who did it or why.  The part of the 9/11 Truth movement I follow is based on science -- provable, repeatable science based on the scientific method, i.e. irrefutable laws of physics and so forth.  

[M. Darcy]

16 hours ago, attica said:

Hey, that Kiernan guy who spoke about Afghanistan is very pretty. [/shallow] He handled his first-time-teevee nerves very well, imo. [less shallow]

He was 11 on 9/11! Way to make me feel old awesome guy!  

It's always good when Rachel has guests on who talk about suicide among veterans.  It's an important subject which others need to start covering also. 

[stormy]

Rachel made me feel like a terrible person.  I couldn't stop laughing at some of the fainting clips.

What a great segment about presidential health.  No one else spent a minute on any of this.

[Grommet]

I also laughed at some of those clips., so maybe I'll see you in hell!

[attica]

I was a little bit frustrated by this show.  The clips were fun, and highlighted how not uncommon fainting is.But then she seemed to get all exercised about the couple of hours between 'dehydrated' and 'pneumonia'. Which to me is a nothingburger! And it's not like HRC didn't keep a full schedule anyhow,  so how debilitating could the episode have been? 

I know Rachel doesn't equate the behavior of the two candidates, but I think she got tangled in her own weeds there. 

[NextIteration]

@attica I think most of the press just wants Clinton's campaign staff to own up to the fact that Hillary didn't tell them about the pneumonia until Sunday (because I bet she didn't - it seems to be her nature that she'd think she should just power through).  It's a scoop that tells us all how untrustworthy and opaque she is.  Serves their stupid narrative (and ignores the rotten double standard between Clinton and Trump).

[sadiegirl]

These are the same people that saw nothing wrong with hiding the fact that a sitting VP shot someone in the face.  In that instance, there was nothing to tell and the public has no right to know.  In this instance, well, just shows how awful Clinton is. 

I don't know what's happening to this country.

[M. Darcy]

Quote

@attica I think most of the press just wants Clinton's campaign staff to own up to the fact that Hillary didn't tell them about the pneumonia until Sunday (because I bet she didn't - it seems to be her nature that she'd think she should just power through).

I have a feeling she didn't either.  Some people talk about their medical issues non stop and some never talk about them at all.   Heh, I know we've all had that coworker who just won't shut up about every single detail. 

[Medicine Crow]

Oops.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Medicine Crow
Wrong thread.

[teddysmom]

Quote

 

Hey, that Kiernan guy who spoke about Afghanistan is very pretty. [/shallow] He handled his first-time-teevee nerves very well, imo. [less shallow]

He was 11 on 9/11! Way to make me feel old awesome guy!  

It's always good when Rachel has guests on who talk about suicide among veterans.  It's an important subject which others need to start covering also. 

I did click it. It's odd that Rachel's ratings go up when Megyn is off.   Would Fox viewers really just watch MSNBC just because someone is off? 

 

Shallow Club!!!  He's the same age as my niece and I was sitting there thinking "my God that man is VERY ATTRACTIVE" .    

Edited September 13, 2016 by teddysmom

[represent]

1 hour ago, teddysmom said:

Shallow Club!!!  He's the same age as my niece and I was sitting there thinking "my God that man is VERY ATTRACTIVE" .    

I was thinking that he's about the same age as the kids that were in my classroom on 9/11 would be. They were fifth graders and he said he was 11 years old on 9/11. So as soon as I heard that, I was like wow, I hope those kids grew up to be as on the ball as he turned out to be.  

[Medicine Crow]

I joined the Shallow Club five years ago when I saw Dustin Johnson walking on the golf course.  Now I love golf & a few "other" golfers.  Just sayin'.

[M. Darcy]

Aw, Rachel played an old story by David Bloom. I still miss him. 

[shok]

14 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

I have a feeling she didn't either.  Some people talk about their medical issues non stop and some never talk about them at all.   Heh, I know we've all had that coworker who just won't shut up about every single detail. 

Would there be such an uproar if Hillary had been diagnosed with a bladder infection instead of a lung infection and hadn't told everyone about it? This whole 'scandal' is just ridiculous and Rachel and everybody else at MSNBC is just as culpable as the rest of the media.

[attica]

Well, now, I'm picturing Hillary beginning each press-avail with a rambling overshare of all her lady-parts care. And I gotta say, that would be awesome.

My coworkers and I have been giggling over the 'Hillary's Body Double' stories. Because as anybody who truly knows can tell you, it's not a body double, it's a whole team of FemBots, controlled behind the scenes by a John Houseman-type evil scientist. All the better to enact her Vagenda of Manocide!

[Hanahope]

On 9/13/2016 at 10:24 AM, NextIteration said:

I think most of the press just wants Clinton's campaign staff to own up to the fact that Hillary didn't tell them about the pneumonia until Sunday (because I bet she didn't - it seems to be her nature that she'd think she should just power through).  It's a scoop that tells us all how untrustworthy and opaque she is.  Serves their stupid narrative (and ignores the rotten double standard between Clinton and Trump).

She probably didn't tell the staff because they might have made her stay home and she knew if she didn't show for the 9/11 ceremony, the Trump camp would accuse her of being unpatriotic, and of course if she said why she didn't show, we'd still have the 'not healthy enough to be president' accusation.  She had no choice, she had to go and just try to 'power through' it.  She probably would have made it had it not been so hot.

[alias1]

9 hours ago, shok said:

Would there be such an uproar if Hillary had been diagnosed with a bladder infection instead of a lung infection and hadn't told everyone about it? This whole 'scandal' is just ridiculous and Rachel and everybody else at MSNBC is just as culpable as the rest of the media.

I agree about almost everyone at MSNBC, and even Rachel, sadly.  But Lawrence did a really good job of debunking the much ado about nothing scandal.  Everybody else had their panties in a bunch over Clinton and glossed over the fact that Trump would go to war over a gesture.

[jjj]

And apparently (according to several news sources this AM), Trump did not provide a medical report to Dr. Oz, but Trump read out loud from a one-page summary.  But the Oz producers say Dr. Oz saw a fuller medical record.   Given Rachel's terrific rant about the many restrictions Trump placed on the interview, this should give her more to rant about today or tomorrow, when the show will air.  

And it is the SAME DOCTOR who wrote the original letter who did this exam!

What a weird, weird election campaign. 

Edited September 14, 2016 by jjj

[car54]

My first thought when I heard that he used the same doctor was " Oh, Rachel's going to have something to say tonight!"

[alias1]

When I first heard about this Dr Oz appearance, without knowing any details, it sounded like a side show.  And of course every channel is going to cover it.  What a boon for Dr Oz!

[Hanahope]

I don't think Dr. Oz has all that much credibility anyway, so I'm not surprised that Trump would use him.

[jjj]

Rachel has gone rather easy on Dr. Oz, aside from venting about the restrictions of the Trump interview.  A year ago, the faculty colleagues of Dr. Oz sent a request to the dean of the Columbia School of Medicine asking that he be removed as a faculty member because of his questionable advice.  Don't think it had any result, and boy, this event will sure show those stuffy docs how credible Dr. Oz really is, right? 

I hear Trump wanted Dr. Doug Ross, but George Clooney has moved on from that gig.  ETA:  I'd totally watch that show.

Edited September 14, 2016 by jjj

[attica]

1 hour ago, jjj said:

I hear Trump wanted Dr. Doug Ross, but George Clooney has moved on from that gig.

I can see why: Doug's a pediatrician, and Trump's hands are child-size.

[Grommet]

Thanks for the laugh, attica. I always think of Trump as the short-fingered vulgarian Spy  magazine pegged him as. Tiny fingers, tiny hands, tiny heart, tiny intellect.

[jjj]

Rachel, disgusted:  "It's a con.  What happened in the news today makes me want to wash."  This about the fact that Trump did not actually release any medical information today, except to Dr. Oz, but the media were so dazzled by his "showmanship" (her term) that they are focusing on the shiny object and not on the lack of content.  Rachel really wants to see the new letter, as does Dr. Natalie Azar, the doctor she interviewed.  

Dr. Azar also mentioned the CT scan, and I have to say that if you are 68 (I'm not, but know some who are) and coughing and the doctor requests an immediate CT scan, you are pretty relieved to get a diagnosis of pneumonia instead of something dire and very serious. 

Glad to know from Rachel there are gummy Vitamin D chewables available -- I also got a diagnosis of "need to take Vitamin D" and did not become as assiduous about that as perhaps I should. 

[Grommet]

Most of us are vitamin d deficient. We all need to get outside more!

[M. Darcy]

Me too! Mine was really low so I've been taking the pills.  But as Rachel suggested, I should start taking the gummies!   Its funny that she was a little proud she has something in common with Senator Kaine because I thought the same thing.  As I did when I heard President Obama also takes Nexium.

I really liked Dr. Azar.  She seems like a someone I would like to use a doctor.  Sometimes the tv doctors are just a little scary.

[attica]

12 hours ago, Grommet said:

Most of us are vitamin d deficient. We all need to get outside more!

And forgo the sunscreen every now and again... (I know, heresy. Still.)

[alias1]

14 hours ago, jjj said:

Rachel, disgusted:  "It's a con.  What happened in the news today makes me want to wash."  This about the fact that Trump did not actually release any medical information today, except to Dr. Oz, but the media were so dazzled by his "showmanship" (her term) that they are focusing on the shiny object and not on the lack of content.  

I was happy to see how much Rachel called this out as being just a big show.  Two show people (at least one of them a con artist) pretended that they didn't know Trump was going to bring out this piece of paper as a teaser to his medical records.  I felt like taking a shower too. 

Lawrence went one further and wondered if we can still call Oz a doctor.  It was the Mr Oz and Mr Trump Show.

[stormy]

Excellent show last night with the doctor and the Mayor of Flint.

[car54]

NBC interviewed Oz  this morning and he said it may have been scripted but he didn't know Trump was going to pull that report out of his pocket until he did it.

I love the Mayor of Flint--she is a force of nature.   I hope the financial assistance she is in Washington trying to lobby for goes through.

[alias1]

15 minutes ago, stormy said:

Excellent show last night with the doctor and the Mayor of Flint.

I love when Rachel asked Dr Azur if there were any red flags in Hillary's medical records, she said, no they are actually very reassuring.

And the clip of the pastor asking Trump not to make his speech political, priceless!  I guess he is now saying she was a nervous mess.  Another example of how Trump likes to belittle people (especially after the fact).  At the time he just said oh, ok, and was led off the stage like a meek little lamb.