MSNBC: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Vaulted)

[jjj]

I am switching between Chris Hayes and CSPAN for the Al Smith Dinner -- and on CSPAN, you can see everyone chowing down and hanging around, waiting for the main event.  It is also clear that Trump and his wife are rewriting some of the jokes at their place.  I can only imagine how he is "improving" them. 

[Padma]

They both got booed at times. I can't remember if that's typical. (Also, when they choose who will sit on the dais behind the speakers, they really should choose people who laugh easily. The two women seem to (well one was really rolling her eyes at Donald's unfunny barbs) but the men.... is this a dinner or a funeral? Without sound, from  their expressions, it would be hard to tell.

Humor wise, I thought Hillary's was much more humorous, but needed editing and went on too long. Trump's was shorter, had a couple of actual jokes, but then veered into nasty self-serving political hits that got him booed. (For me, his funniest line was something like, "I don't get it.  The first lady gives a speech and its so widely praised, everyone loves it. But Melania gets up and gives the same exact speech and all the critics pounce!"  Hillary had a few that actually made me laugh, even an obvious one like how we all see the Statue of Liberty as a wonderful symbol of freedom, but Donald looks at her "and sees 'a 4'. Maybe a 5 if she loses the torch."

Giuliani glowering humorlessly as she needled him did himself no favors. And I thought Al Smith IV got off some good zingers as the MC.  I enjoyed hearing what Franken and Beschloss had to say about it afterwards. on Rachel's show. Those three would be a great group to watch with!

Edited October 21, 2016 by Padma

[jjj]

Yes, I saw Giuliani grimacing at a lot of what Hillary said.  And on HD, my goodness, most of someone's breasts kept appearing as the backdrop behind the speakers.  (Woman with the long white gloves.)   

Rachel has Al Franken on as a watching buddy.  Jealous!  But at least we get to listen in.

No, I do not recall this much booing in past dinners, but I can't swear to that.

5 minutes ago, Padma said:

They both got booed at times. I can't remember if that's typical. (Also, when they choose who will sit on the dais behind the speakers, they really should choose people who laugh easily. The two women seem to (well one was really rolling her eyes at Donald's unfunny barbs) but the men.... is this a dinner or a funeral? Without sound, from  their expressions, it would be hard to tell.

[BuckeyeLou]

8 minutes ago, jjj said:

Yes, I saw Giuliani grimacing at a lot of what Hillary said.  And on HD, my goodness, most of someone's breasts kept appearing as the backdrop behind the speakers.  (Woman with the long white gloves.)   

Rachel has Al Franken on as a watching buddy.  Jealous!  But at least we get to listen in.

No, I do not recall this much booing in past dinners, but I can't swear to that.

The lady in the red dress and white gloves is Maria Bartaromo("Money Honey").  I watched on CNN, Trump got booed and a lady who had been to the dinner in the past, said NOBODY has ever gotten booed before...you are supposed to be light hearted.  Trump started out OK, but then got some tough jabs in.

[jjj]

1 minute ago, BuckeyeLou said:

The lady in the red dress and white gloves is Maria Bartaromo("Money Honey").  I watched on CNN, Trump got booed and a lady who had been to the dinner in the past, said NOBODY has ever gotten booed before...you are supposed to be light hearted.  Trump started out OK, but then got some tough jabs in.

Thanks for the identification!  She kept trying to say hello to Hillary afterward, but had trouble getting her attention.  I love watching CSPAN when they keep the cameras rolling while everyone is heading for the doors.  Also love that Rachel included some of the David Souter remarks on civic responsibility. 

Funny, CSPAN keeps following HIllary, but we have not seen Trump once since the dinner broke up.  I see Chris Matthews doing selfies! 

[BuckeyeLou]

3 minutes ago, jjj said:

Thanks for the identification!  She kept trying to say hello to Hillary afterward, but had trouble getting her attention.  I love watching CSPAN when they keep the cameras rolling while everyone is heading for the doors.  Also love that Rachel included some of the David Souter remarks on civic responsibility. 

Funny, CSPAN keeps following HIllary, but we have not seen Trump once since the dinner broke up.  I see Chris Matthews doing selfies! 

Just my opinion, but I thought Melania looked uncomfortable, especially when Donald made her stand up to be applauded.

[Medicine Crow]

Melania didn't seem to understand some of the jokes .... LOL.

[car54]

I was hoping when the Cardinal made them stand and pray that Trump would spontaneously combust and go straight to hell.

Should we start wagering on what time in the middle of the night he'll start tweeting that he "won" the Al Smith Dinner?

[Moose135]

2 minutes ago, car54 said:

Should we start wagering on what time in the middle of the night he'll start tweeting that he "won" the Al Smith Dinner?

"It was rigged, that nasty Cardinal distorted everything I said, the Holy Spirit favors crooked Hillary..."

[Medicine Crow]

I was watching Donald & Melania making as hasty an exit stage right as possible when I noticed Melania going between Norah O'donnell (love her) & Gayle King (love her more).  It appeared (to me) that Norah acknowledged her & Melania touched Gayle King on the back ... Gayle turned, looked & went back to what she was doing.  A snub?  If so, Gayle just went up a few notches in my Popularity Poll.  Just sayin'.

[Padma]

Beschloss, I think it was with Rachel, who praised Obama-McCain and Obama-Romney's Al Smith appearances. So I am glad to see that CSpan is rerunning Obama at the dinner in 2012, showing how it's done.

The president's even got those comedic pauses, the broad smile to milk the joke at the right moment, and that little "heh" to trigger an extra laugh. The audience seemed a lot more receptive to him than to either Hillary or Don. Then again, he was a whole lot funnier.

Edited October 21, 2016 by Padma

[shok]

4 hours ago, Padma said:

They both got booed at times.

 

Hillary didn't get booed! Only that ugly humorless Trump did.

[stormy]

It was an interesting night (I watched on CPAN unfiltered).

I kept thinking, who's Hillary going to invite to host her first White House Correspondence dinner?  I'm hoping it's Ellen DeGeneres.

Edited October 21, 2016 by stormy

[MulletorHater]

12 hours ago, car54 said:

I was hoping when the Cardinal made them stand and pray that Trump would spontaneously combust and go straight to hell.

Should we start wagering on what time in the middle of the night he'll start tweeting that he "won" the Al Smith Dinner?

I have to admit that I was wondering how receptive the cardinals and everyone else would be given what occurred the night before.

If this was one of those Hollywood biblical spectacles of the 1950's and 1960's, Drumpf would have been struck down by lightning, turned into a pillar of salt and the ground would have opened and swallowed him up.  Except, the devil would have thrown him right back up here because he would have found Drumpf way too rachet even for him.

The "Butt Hurt Award" goes to Ghouliani though.  Evidently, like his tangerine overlord, he can dish it but he sure can't take it.

[Milburn Stone]

Great article about Hillary's (wonderful) speech:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/10/21/hillary_clinton_at_the_al_smith_dinner_was_hilarious_and_poignant.html

[maraleia]

If Katy Tur is able to wear her glasses on air than Rachel should be able to as well. This idea that she needs to wear contacts to appear more malleable to the audience is so retrograde.

Rant over.

[pivot]

On 10/13/2016 at 9:01 PM, annzeepark914 said:

That would be a perfect fit for Brian.  He used to love going on the late night shows and acting silly.  He could now interview all the celebs in town to promote their various activities and fool around with them on the set...have fun & show his silly side.  Maybe do a little cooking with the celeb chefs.  Good times.  Then we'd be rid of him.

I'd love to see Brian shipped to the Today Show. That man is way too vapid and dim to be anchoring the MSNBC panels on important nights. He rightly should be fired for pulling a Hillary "Bosnia Sniper" lie. But, that doesn't happen to white men unfortunately. But, I blame him for Hugh Hewitt being added to the panel. That man adds nothing of value. 

I continue to wonder where are the minorities on this station. It's appalling they are grooming a whole new set of potential anchors and they are all white. Seriously, it's shameful.

3 hours ago, stormy said:

It was an interesting night (I watched on CPAN unfiltered).

I kept thinking, who's Hillary going to invite to host her first White House Correspondence dinner?  I'm hoping it's Ellen DeGeneres.

The president doesn't get to invite comedians. It's done by the head of the WHC group. I would hope it would be someone who can mock both the media and Hillary. Not sure Ellen has the capability of mocking Hillary. 

[NewDigs]

20 minutes ago, pivot said:

I continue to wonder where are the minorities on this station. It's appalling they are grooming a whole new set of potential anchors and they are all white. Seriously, it's shameful.

This GQ article places some blame for recent MSNBC changes squarely on Joe Scarborough. And Andy Lack.

'For years, Scarborough complained—bitterly in private and not even all that cryptically in public—about the network's lefty slant. But since Andy Lack retook the reins of NBC News last year, he's demoted or jettisoned many of the more ideologically driven MSNBC hosts—from Al Sharpton to Ed Schultz to Melissa Harris-Perry. At the same time, Lack has elevated hosts like Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, and Halperin and John Heilemann—or, as Brzezinski described them to me, "our people." Scarborough appreciates the changes: "I couldn't have said this for a very long time, but I like the people who are on MSNBC. I like the shows that are on MSNBC."

"Our people."

[pivot]

Wow, that is an appalling article and shows exactly what is wrong with MSNBC. Too much white, privledged groupthink. They need to lose Joe, Mika, Andrea, Brian Williams and Chuck Todd.

[NewDigs]

I kind of like Chuck Todd. 

He doesn't make me as stabby and eyerolly as the others. Especially BriWi and Andrea.

I blame Joe for some of the groupthink. And lack of minorities.

Any so-called newsperson who can say, "our people" should be fired, MIKA!

[annzeepark914]

Cannot stand Joe and Mika.  I read an article today about William Kristol accusing them of enabling Trump during the primaries by having him as a guest so often and tossing him softball questions (very true!).  Of course they were outraged but hey, J & M:  if the smelly old enabler shoe fits, so be it.

Speaking of Chuck Todd--he's not so bad during the week and he doesn't seem so condescending any more (at least during the week...don't watch MTP on Sundays).

Oh, Lord...it's slightly less than 3 weeks to go.  Please give me the strength to endure it (altho' actually, when u-know-who wins, it's going to be as if the campaign never ended since it will just be more carping, anger & misery).  

[alias1]

8 hours ago, pivot said:

Wow, that is an appalling article and shows exactly what is wrong with MSNBC. Too much white, privledged groupthink. They need to lose Joe, Mika, Andrea, Brian Williams and Chuck Todd.

I agree with all the people who need to go, except Chuck Todd.  I'm tolerating him a lot better than I used to.  Joe and Mika, on the other hand, are worse than useless.   

[Padma]

I've really come around on Todd, too.  He has a lot of good guests, asks good questions, and actually lets people have conversations. I think he's well-informed and doesn't seem biased (that probably means he might lean Democratic, but that's fine with me!) He seems more curious than trying to push his own point of view and he can get pretty wonky. (Aside from the fact I like him 100 xs more than David Gregory).

I can stomach Andrea. Wouldn't mind never seeing BriWi's smug face again, but I would be happy to see him forever if the trade off was losing Mika and Joe. They are vile and pretty much spoil every actual discussion that begins on their show.

I was happy to read Michael Steele is done with Trump now (not commiting to Hillary). He said the debate made him "want to puke".  Pretty soon Hugh Hewitt and Mark Halperin--other than the loathsome spokespeople--will be the only ones left for MJ (I hope).

[Padma]

12 hours ago, NewDigs said:

This GQ article places some blame for recent MSNBC changes squarely on Joe Scarborough. And Andy Lack.

'For years, Scarborough complained—bitterly in private and not even all that cryptically in public—about the network's lefty slant. But since Andy Lack retook the reins of NBC News last year, he's demoted or jettisoned many of the more ideologically driven MSNBC hosts—from Al Sharpton to Ed Schultz to Melissa Harris-Perry. At the same time, Lack has elevated hosts like Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, and Halperin and John Heilemann—or, as Brzezinski described them to me, "our people." Scarborough appreciates the changes: "I couldn't have said this for a very long time, but I like the people who are on MSNBC. I like the shows that are on MSNBC."

"Our people."

That is pretty awful. I can't wait until Scarborough gets burned by Trump for their partnership in "Trump: The Musical" (What journalistic integrity!)  Here are some sample lyrics:

I'm just a simple man

Blessed with this orange tan

I'm simply titanic

Beloved by Hispanics and Jews

I'm huge

Losers don't understand

The genius of my border plan

They call me a fool

Then they dare ridicule my huge hands

***********
(Psst! As they say in the business, Joe, 'Don't quit your day job!' That is pretty dreadful!)

[Tosia]

23 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Great article about Hillary's (wonderful) speech:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/10/21/hillary_clinton_at_the_al_smith_dinner_was_hilarious_and_poignant.html

Thank you so much, Milburn Stone,  for providing that link.  Beautiful speech and jokes,  beautifully done by my Hillary-- the Hillary I had always hoped was there inside. 

Edited October 22, 2016 by Tosia
Hillary makes me want to be better and classy to correct spelling.

[jjj]

I have not yet seen all of "Meet the Press," but saw a highlights reel that included Kellyanne Conway still spinning away from Trump's lack of focused messaging.  And Tom Friedman (NYT) said "if I were an oil company and had a big spill off the coast of California, I'd get her immediately to work on it."  So, she will be collecting loyalty credits by continuing to spin the news for this death spiral of a campaign.  Also, she looks ten years younger this morning -- finally had time for someone to provide a haircut and professional makeup.  I don't say this to be shallow, but she had been looking seriously haggard in the past few days -- still can't stand her message, but glad she is looking a little refreshed.  Trump is a nightmare for political professionals, and it's hard to side with those who abandon him (his national coordinator over the weekend) or stick with him.  They have a job to do, and he makes their jobs impossible. 

[stormy]

OMG Kellyanne is so programmed she's got a screw loose that might blow at any minute. She tells Chuck that Hillary has a $54 million advantage to run ads that are about personal destruction.

As if trump and his big mouth and billons of dollars of free air time hasn't been doing the same for 16 months.

[oakville]

4 hours ago, jjj said:

I have not yet seen all of "Meet the Press," but saw a highlights reel that included Kellyanne Conway still spinning away from Trump's lack of focused messaging.  And Tom Friedman (NYT) said "if I were an oil company and had a big spill off the coast of California, I'd get her immediately to work on it."  So, she will be collecting loyalty credits by continuing to spin the news for this death spiral of a campaign.  Also, she looks ten years younger this morning -- finally had time for someone to provide a haircut and professional makeup.  I don't say this to be shallow, but she had been looking seriously haggard in the past few days -- still can't stand her message, but glad she is looking a little refreshed.  Trump is a nightmare for political professionals, and it's hard to side with those who abandon him (his national coordinator over the weekend) or stick with him.  They have a job to do, and he makes their jobs impossible. 

Chuck Todd is easier to watch than David Gregory. He mixes up his panel once in a while.

[HyeChaps]

I have it on good authority that Chuck Todd gets hate mail from both sides.  That's a testament to his skill.

[jjj]

I have never been much of a Chuck Todd fan, but I have to say that I appreciate his willingness in the past few weeks to really challenge the ridiculous claims of Trump surrogates.  I think they may be more willing to go on MTP than Rachel's show because they expect more latitude, but he has been a real bulldog with some of them. 

I think I have a teeny tiny piece of sympathy for Kellyanne because she does tweet items that are not totally supportive of the Donald.  A great article in the Washington Post about the decline of Trump's campaign provided this from Kellyanne, in response to Clinton's joke about Kellyanne not getting paid because she is a contract worker:  from Kellyanne:  "A shout out from @hillaryClinton at the #AlSmithDinner" Here is a link to a syndicated copy of that article:  http://www.heraldonline.com/latest-news/article109792342.html 

[Tosia]

Tonight The Simpsons are doing anchorman Kent Brockman's lying abt getting shot while in a helicopter in the Middle East, and then having to apologize and being v disgraced. Sound familiar? 

[33kaitykaity]

Last night Mark Halperin had an episode of showtime's show called "The Circus."  Looks interesting.  It's about Halperin trying to get Julian Assange to answer some questions about the emails from inside the Ecuadoran Embassy.  

I loathe Mark Halperin.  He's odious to me.  But I'm withholding judgment on the episode until I find and watch it.  

Edited October 24, 2016 by 33kaitykaity

[stormy]

33kaity let us know.  I'm boycotting everything Ecuadorian until they toss him out. ( Apologies to the Ecuadorian people).

[car54]

The Circus was very good--it always amazes me how quick they turn around very current news into the Sunday show.

Spoiler

He did not get to speak with Assange but he did send a question in a note and got a brief response in writing that supposedly was from Assange.

[jjj]

Woo-hoo!  Chris Jansing has been promoted to Senior White House Correspondent!  Heard this on Morning Joe, and her new title is below her name when she is broadcasting on location now.  So we will be seeing her at and after press conferences.  So pleased for her! 

[NewDigs]

I think they'll need about 3-4 reporters/journalists to replace her.

Thrilled for her promotion! 

[NextIteration]

5 hours ago, 33kaitykaity said:

Last night Mark Halperin had an episode of showtime's show called "The Circus."  Looks interesting.  It's about Halperin trying to get Julian Assange to answer some questions about the emails from inside the Equadoran Embassy.  

I loathe Mark Halperin.  He's odious to me.  But I'm withholding judgment on the episode until I find and watch it.  

The Circus was excellent last night - it's a Showtime show.

Can't get on the Toad train with y'all, I like him much better as a poll geek as he was in 2008 - and I don't find his Sunday MTP panels any more even handed than Gregory's or Russert's; they are almost always imbalanced towards the right - but at least Toad never danced with Karl Rove.  I only ever really enjoyed him with Savannah Guthrie for the 9 a.m hour back in the day for The Daily Rundown.  He's better on MTP daily because then he tends to just be a political geek.

So, Andrea Bitchell™ and Kasie Hunt are in Manchester, NH where it is 54°, sunny with wind at 12mph, in down freaking coats.  Seriously?

58 minutes ago, jjj said:

Woo-hoo!  Chris Jansing has been promoted to Senior White House Correspondent!  Heard this on Morning Joe, and her new title is below her name when she is broadcasting on location now.  So we will be seeing her at and after press conferences.  So pleased for her! 

That's been her title for years.

Edited October 24, 2016 by NextIteration

[NewDigs]

It's about 55 degrees in Manchester NH and Andrea is dressed for an Arctic expedition. She looks a little more refreshed.

I always liked Chuck on C-Span. I used to watch more of American Journal in the mornings. Partly because they sample headlines and articles from different newspapers with a variety of viewpoints. And they used to have some pretty good guests.  And the callers... But I liked Chuck Todd's additions. 

6 hours ago, 33kaitykaity said:

I loathe Mark Halperin.  He's odious to me.  But I'm withholding judgment on the episode until I find and watch it.  

I don't really have strong feelings about him but partly he just seems so blah. He managed to go against his mealy-mouthed pronouncements when on MJ last week and he was a much better fit there, imho. I was sorry to see him back with Heileman. I like Heileman and DonnyD together and apart. 

[Padma]

2 minutes ago, NewDigs said:

It's about 55 degrees in Manchester NH and Andrea is dressed for an Arctic expedition. She looks a little more refreshed.

I always liked Chuck on C-Span. I used to watch more of American Journal in the mornings. Partly because they sample headlines and articles from different newspapers with a variety of viewpoints. And they used to have some pretty good guests.  And the callers... But I liked Chuck Todd's additions. 

I don't really have strong feelings about him but partly he just seems so blah. He managed to go against his mealy-mouthed pronouncements when on MJ last week and he was a much better fit there, imho. I was sorry to see him back with Heileman. I like Heileman and DonnyD together and apart. 

I heard an excerpt on Mitchell's show this morning and it was obnoxious. He went to the Ecuadoran embassy (did he interview Assange? I have no idea, although I guess that was the intent). Anyway, the only purpose his soundbite served was to compliment how "an Australian working for an Icelandic organization and living in an Ecuadoran embassy" had managed to bring out all this important information for an American election.

He managed to not mention "Putin and Russian intelligence" and "stolen private citizen email" and "trying to throw the democratic election to the Republican candidate" at all in that sentence. The media's willingness to be used by Russian intelligence to undermine our election is incredible.  Maybe if they didn't have the "wikileaks" cover--it's branding as a "whistleblower" rather than simply as it is now--pretty personal, run by the anti-Hillary Assange, motivated by some kind of vendetta against Clinton and throw the election for a man like Trump--rather than the need to right a wrong. 

[roughing it]

I can't seem to find the recently added "Politics" topic stream, so I'll post my question here.  Where has Sarah Palin been throughout this campaign?  She was speech-ing for Trump earlier this year, dontcha know, but she's been seen nowhere (not that I'm complaining).  Maybe she was posturing to be named Trump's VP, and when that didn't happen, she retreated back up to Alaska.  I can't believe she's been invisible, that's not like her (again, not that I'm complaining).  Did the GOP force her to stay clear away?

[NewDigs]

I LOVE how MSNBC people are making all of the Trump surrogates spin KAC's admission that, yes folks, Trump is behind.

I really hate Boris. Now a mention of McAuliffe elicits an "Is he in jail yet" response? 

And all of the surrogates try to keep pushing policy and finding it a tough go 'cuz their candidate isn't talking policy.

[NewDigs]

12 minutes ago, roughing it said:

I can't seem to find the recently added "Politics" topic stream, so I'll post my question here.  Where has Sarah Palin been throughout this campaign?  She was speech-ing for Trump earlier this year, dontcha know, but she's been seen nowhere (not that I'm complaining).  Maybe she was posturing to be named Trump's VP, and when that didn't happen, she retreated back up to Alaska.  I can't believe she's been invisible, that's not like her (again, not that I'm complaining).  Did the GOP force her to stay clear away?

Re: Palin, I've been wondering same!

Here's the link to Current Events and Politics.

it's in the Off-Topic section at the bottom of the Forums page. 

[Milburn Stone]

3 minutes ago, NewDigs said:

And all of the surrogates try to keep pushing policy and finding it a tough go 'cuz their candidate isn't talking policy.

Someone on Andrea's show pointed out that there were some new Wikileaks this weekend regarding Hillary (I don't know what they are), and that in the absence of Trump shooting himself in the foot all over again with his lawsuit threats on Saturday, the Wikileaks would have been all the media was talking about. But no, Trump had to create a new headline. Thank goodness.

[roughing it]

Thank you, NewDigs !

[car54]

Palin did a kind of word salad speech at one of Trump's rallies early on but then Todd Palin got hurt and she went back to Alaska and I think her one rally wasn't very effective so they didn't have her back---Trump did have her at the last debate as his guest.

[NewDigs]

15 minutes ago, car54 said:

Palin did a kind of word salad speech at one of Trump's rallies early on but then Todd Palin got hurt and she went back to Alaska and I think her one rally wasn't very effective so they didn't have her back---Trump did have her at the last debate as his guest.

Took reply to Peanut Gallery in Current Events and Politics.

[jjj]

3 hours ago, NextIteration said:

That's been her title for years.

.  Oh, they said it was *new* this morning!  

[NewDigs]

I wonder if some of the news people have been doing some surrogate-wrangling practice. Kornacke is doing a great job with KAC. Good job hitting her hyperbole.

At one point she referred to what people in "Cappucino Bars" are talking about. Is that a thing now? I know coffee shops are huge and many are quite fancy but she sounded so, I dunno, elitist?

And she continues to do the "Pay no attention to the man behind the twitter account just listen to his speeches" thing. 

Edited October 24, 2016 by NewDigs

[sum]

As for last night's 'The Circus' episode, its official Youtube channel posted a few, four so far, clips.
-James Ball on WikiLeaks & Julian Assange Being an Explicit Trump Supporter
-Julian Assange Claims the Media is Underreporting the WikiLeaks Podesta Emails 
-David Sanger & CrowdStrike on WikiLeaks & Russian Hackers BONUS Clip
-WikiLeaks & Hacking Are Predicted to Be a Part of Future Campaign Culture BONUS Clip

Add me to the list of people who prefer Heileman and Deutsch pair.

[jjj]

Brian Williams' show is showing Elizabeth Warren berating Trump, "He thinks because he has a mouth full of Tic Tacs he can force himself on women."  I love Tic Tacs, and I am resisting the feeling I should give them up after they became such a symbol of Trump masking his predator breath.  But I am careful now not to rattle them in the box when people are around.  Warren's speech is terrific.  "*Nasty* women have *really* had it with you!" 

Edited October 25, 2016 by jjj