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

[stormy]

Well too bad they found it a good idea to dump Ed Schultz. At least he was always a true unapologetic progressive voice.

[Guest]

Ed Schultz is a grifter and fraud. He's now appearing on RT "News" -- the propaganda cable network (besides Fox News) for Russian interests. Here's a nice little article and video of him from back in September lambasting Hillary Clinton for not granting any interviews to RT and claiming her tying Trump to Putin was something "manufactured by her campaign." 

I never liked him when he was on MSNBC; I'm glad my misgivings about him where substantiated. 

[Ohwell]

Yeah, interesting article about Ed Schultz:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/how-ed-schultz-transformed-from-msnbc-lefty-to-the-american-face-of-moscow-media/2016/12/20/320713f4-c322-11e6-8422-eac61c0ef74d_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_schultz-415pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.045ab910575f

[Jaded]

Guess RT is paying him well if he can afford Arnold Palmer's old plane. I tried to like him when he was on MSNBC but he came across as a hot headed bully who was trying his best to keep himself in check while on camera at least. Weren't there rumors of him having fits off air due to not getting his way?

Edited December 21, 2016 by Jaded

[annzeepark914]

I am really shocked re: Ed Schultz's 180 degree swivel.  Anything for a buck, I guess.

[alias1]

I wish they would give Joy Reed the Chris Matthews spot permanently.  It's been so nice to have Joy on this week instead of Chris.  And I like Ari Melber in the next hour, too.    

[car54]

I think Ari was really excellent on that 6 pm hour for the last couple of weeks.    I would like to see him get a regular show.     Joy was great--she kept to the Hardballl format but she made it her own.   

Oh my today is Jacob Soboroff's first time hosting, and he seems nervous.

[NewDigs]

I've been away from much news for the better part of the last week.

Thought I'd take a chance and listen to MTP Daily on the way home from work. I could not believe that they are still rehashing what-went-wrong-with-the-pollsters this election. 

Still? STILL??? I guess there's no new news? Geesh.

At least CNN was actually talking about how we only have one President at a time, Donald.

[annzeepark914]

On 12/23/2016 at 6:37 PM, NewDigs said:

At least CNN was actually talking about how we only have one President at a time, Donald.

Such a tool.  Here he is, just a prez elect, not sworn in, and he's got China sending an armed ship out into the South China Sea.  Just wait til this village idiot is in the oval office.  It's going to be more than a bumpy night.

[madfortv]

I much prefer Joy R over Chris M.  Chris annoys me when he has a great guest and doesn't give that person a chance to speak.  There have been many times when an interesting topic is under discussion and Chris takes over the conversation. Each time my husband and I commented about what a waste of time it was to even try to watch the show. I have only watched a few times since the election and mostly when Joy is host.

I enjoyed With All Due Respect that used to be on at 6pm ET. It is hard to pinpoint what I liked, but I think it was their coverage of a number of different topics with various guests and the respect they gave the guests to talk.  Heilemann was better than Halperin. Halperin seemed prejudiced by his politics.

[potatoradio]

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*

[slensam]

2 hours ago, potatoradio said:

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*

Yeah, and I think they're using Green Day in one of their commercials but not "American Idiot" which would be more appropriate for this moment. And Morning Joe is not the "rebels" or the "disrupters" they're the fucking establishment. They need to get out of here with that nonsense.

[NewDigs]

7 hours ago, slensam said:

Yeah, and I think they're using Green Day in one of their commercials but not "American Idiot" which would be more appropriate for this moment. And Morning Joe is not the "rebels" or the "disrupters" they're the fucking establishment. They need to get out of here with that nonsense.

Does Billie Joe know? He's not shy at calling people out. Wonder which song they've besmirched. Green Day or not.

MJ is up Trump's ass.

10 hours ago, potatoradio said:

Just caught an MSNBC promo. The tag line was "all sides need to be held accountable." 

NOW they fucking decide that accountability is important?

Gah!

Edited December 30, 2016 by NewDigs
I'm having an ADD-day

[slensam]

20 minutes ago, NewDigs said:

Does Billie Joe know? He's not shy at calling people out. Wonder which song they've besmirched. Green Day or not.

MJ is up Trump's ass.

NOW they fucking decide that accountability is important?

Gah!

I believe it's "Are We the Waiting" from the American Idiot album.

[NewDigs]

3 minutes ago, slensam said:

I believe it's "Are We the Waiting" from the American Idiot album.

Wow. Is MSNBC trying to not take any responsibility for their campaign reporting? Are they pretending that they "Are the Waiting" and not part of the problem?

Starry nights
City of lights coming down over me
Skyscrapers
Stargazers in my head

Are we we are, are we we are
The waiting, unknown
This dirty town is burning down in my dreams
Lost and found the city bound in my dreams

And screaming
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting
And screaming
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting

Forget me nots and second thoughts live in isolation
Heads or tales and fairytales in my mind,

Are we we are
Are we we are the waiting, unknown

Rage and love, the story of my life
The Jesus of suburbia is a lie
And screaming

 

Hey! MSNBC! I'm waiting for a real reporter!

[NewDigs]

Just saw promo and heard, "Are we the Waiting".

Fuck you MSNBC. 

We've been waiting. For honest news. Assholes. I guess we're still waiting. Unfortunately, now for the GreenDay vision.

Edited December 31, 2016 by NewDigs

[maraleia]

MSNBC is a joke aside from Hayes, Maddow, O'Donnell and Reid and some of the commentators. Seriously WTF happened to this channel?

[Kemper]

Has anyone see the promo they are doing for Chris Matthews?  Three black celebrities (I think it is three...cannot remember their names because I have blocked the whole ad) sit around his desk and tell him how wonderful he is.  Maybe he used to be good; now he is nails-on-a-chalkboard for me and is past his prime.  Waay past.  I just cannot stand to listen to him anymore...the braying laugh, the interrupting, the spittle, the talking over, etc.  I love when they have a guest host in for him.  Joy or Ari Melbar; used to look forward to Steve Kornacki subbing for him, but I am exhausted by him, too.  How about giving new talent a chance?  Especially in Matthews slot.  Morning Joe...it would take a complete overhaul with all new people.  Maybe with the exception of Willie.  I can't stand Nicole Wallace, but even she would be an improvement of the blond scarf-wearing joy-killer.  Oh, I think one of the celebs in the Matthews ad is John Legend.  Why would he take part in this?

[Ohwell]

I've seen that ad, and another panelist is Pharrell Williams, who really sucks up to Chris.

Oops, I remembered Janelle Monae.  

The whole thing is just disgusting and head-scratching.

Edited December 31, 2016 by Ohwell

[oakville]

21 hours ago, maraleia said:

MSNBC is a joke aside from Hayes, Maddow, O'Donnell and Reid and some of the commentators. Seriously WTF happened to this channel?

The ratings dropped after Obama was elected President. They tried the Lean forward message. I think they will do better under a Trump administration because people will tune in to complain about Trump. Fox News did very well under the Obama administration. 

[maraleia]

3 minutes ago, oakville said:

The ratings dropped after Obama was elected President. They tried the Lean forward message. I think they will do better under a Drumpf administration because people will tune in to complain about Drumpf. Fox News did very well under the Obama administration. 

It's not the same because most of MSNBC programming isn't hosted by liberal people. Fox on the other hand is fully right-wing.

[shok]

On 12/31/2016 at 3:11 PM, oakville said:

The ratings dropped after Obama was elected President. They tried the Lean forward message. I think they will do better under a Trump administration because people will tune in to complain about Trump. Fox News did very well under the Obama administration. 

The ratings drop for everyone after every presidential election. Geez, Obama gets blamed for everything, even a small cable channel's ratings.

[oakville]

34 minutes ago, shok said:

The ratings drop for everyone after every presidential election. Geez, Obama gets blamed for everything, even a small cable channel's ratings.

Yes, ratings drop after every election. I think that Fox did better than MSNBC after the 2008 elections, because they got the anti- Obama voters riled up. I suspect that MSNBC & CNN will compete for viewers that are riled up by President Trump's policies. 

[oakville]

On 2016-12-31 at 6:17 PM, maraleia said:

It's not the same because most of MSNBC programming isn't hosted by liberal people. Fox on the other hand is fully right-wing.

I recall that most if not all of the MSNBC prime time lineup was supportive of President Obama after he was elected in 2008. The Fox prime time lineup was virtually all opposed to Obama.

[jjj]

Oh, sheesh, there is now a Spokesperson for the Jeff Sessions Nomination -- not for Jeff Sessions, but for his Nomination.  That is her actual title, displayed while she talked:  Sarah Isgur Flores, who was just on "All in with Chris Hayes" (with Ari Melber tonight).  And she.would.not.stop.talking.over.everyone.  I mean, she was always like that, but this seemed particularly obnoxious, maybe because she is the spokesperson for a nomination of a reprehensible person.  Sessions is now a product to be sold to Congress. 

[bad things are bad]

Quote

 I suspect that MSNBC & CNN will compete for viewers that are riled up by President Trump's policies. 

The Bush administration was pretty good for MSNBC ratings IIRC...those were the days of Keith Olbermann and his righteous indignation. My mother died in 2008 and her obit mentioned how much she loved watching Countdown. 

[annzeepark914]

7 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

The Bush administration was pretty good for MSNBC ratings IIRC...those were the days of Keith Olbermann and his righteous indignation. My mother died in 2008 and her obit mentioned how much she loved watching Countdown. 

And those were the days when "Keithie" was really good (Worst Person In The Wooorrrrllllddddd), before he got carried away by his anger.  I miss the old Keith.

[alias1]

I really like Ari Melber.  He's subbing for Chris Hayes this week.  And I really like Jaime Harrison from SC.  He's my choice for Chairman of the DNC and yet Schumer and Sanders keep pushing Keith Ellison, who just seems like another beltway insider to me.  At least Jaime talked about the grass roots movement, which is what it will take for Democrats to take back the states.  I like that he mentioned it was the people who successfully objected to the gutting of the Ethics Committee.  It wasn't the lawmakers in Congress.  And it was the people who have successfully stopped the Dakota Pipeline for the time being.  It wasn't Congress. 

Where was Sanders with his rallies when the Wisconsin Senate seat was at stake.  I thought he was going to work to elect Democrats in the down ballot races.  

[alias1]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, last night after Lawrence O'Donnell, they gave the Brian Williams spot to Nicolle Wallace (ugh).  I immediately turned it off.  I just can't stand her, and now they are giving her a show.

[alias1]

And I learned today how thin skinned Joe Scarborough is.  (Remind you of anyone?)  He's in a twitter war with a journalist because she reported that he and Meekah were at Trumps new years eve party.  Well, he was there, but he claims not to party, just to get a future interview.  Yeah, right.   The twitter war apparently went on most of the day.  Even Chuck Todd tried to tell him to knock it off.  I don't watch MJ because I can't stand him or her.  Scarborough is a pompous ass.

[Medicine Crow]

1 hour ago, SierraMist said:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, last night after Lawrence O'Donnell, they gave the Brian Williams spot to Nicolle Wallace (ugh).  I immediately turned it off.  I just can't stand her, and now they are giving her a show.

I don't think they gave the spot to her ... she's filling in for Brian & doing a great job, IMHO!!

[shok]

2 hours ago, SierraMist said:

Where was Sanders with his rallies when the Wisconsin Senate seat was at stake.  I thought he was going to work to elect Democrats in the down ballot races.  

He did back several candidates. They all lost, as did some referendums he was pushing, plus the Dem lost the governor's race in his home state of Vermont. And yet there is still a vocal army of BoBs out there who are sure he could be the saviour of the Democratic Party (which he doesn't even belong to!).

[jjj]

20 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

I don't think they gave the spot to her ... she's filling in for Brian & doing a great job, IMHO!!

I would MUCH rather watch Nicolle's interviews than Brian's -- she actually is good at creating discussion, and whether or not you like her, the insider background she brings to the table is very useful.  Not pompous about her executive branch background, like Lawrence O'D is about his legislative staff work.  And I loved learning about the West Wing "jumbo photographs" that are scattered around the halls, when she was talking to the Obama communications strategist last night.  ("You should take some!  *I* took some!") 

[Padma]

I've been pleasantly surprised by Nicolle, too.  She's polite and listens (i.e. isn't Matthews), can ask good questions, and doesn't seem too full of herself (i.e. isn't Williams). So far, I haven't seen her trying to push a rightwing agenda, although she's inoffensive enough that it might even be interesting to see what she came up with if she was. At the moment, her dislike of Trump is crossing many barriers for her.  I doubt they're thinking of dumping Brian, but maybe they're thinking of teaming them. He doesn't seems to work well with Rachel at all, but might do better with Nicolle.

[Medicine Crow]

10 minutes ago, Padma said:

I've been pleasantly surprised by Nicolle, too.  She's polite and listens (i.e. isn't Matthews), can ask good questions, and doesn't seem too full of herself (i.e. isn't Williams). So far, I haven't seen her trying to push a rightwing agenda, although she's inoffensive enough that it might even be interesting to see what she came up with if she was. At the moment, her dislike of Trump is crossing many barriers for her.  I doubt they're thinking of dumping Brian, but maybe they're thinking of teaming them. He doesn't seems to work well with Rachel at all, but might do better with Nicolle.

Actually, I'm hoping for the The Eleventh Hour with Williams & Wallace ... has a nice ring to it.  I think she compliments his style (by toning it down a bit).

[jjj]

Well, another new face at MSNBC: "Greta Van Susteren is joining MSNBC, taking over the channel's 6 p.m. time slot with a new show called 'For the Record' [snip] Her show replaces Bloomberg's "With All Due Respect" time slot, which ended in December."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2017/01/greta-van-susteren-to-join-msnbc-233228 

[MulletorHater]

2 hours ago, jjj said:

Well, another new face at MSNBC: "Greta Van Susteren is joining MSNBC, taking over the channel's 6 p.m. time slot with a new show called 'For the Record' [snip] Her show replaces Bloomberg's "With All Due Respect" time slot, which ended in December."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2017/01/greta-van-susteren-to-join-msnbc-233228 

And, that sound you heard was the sound of glass shattering as I kick in my TV screen.

This network is determined to become Faux-lite and I'm fucking sick of it.

[alias1]

Wow, I did not expect that.  But it might explain why (a week or so ago) Rachel singled her out for a comment about some segment she did when she was on Fox.  I found it odd that Rachel called her "my friend" Greta Van Susteren.  I think it will be interesting.  I'm not quite ready to kick in my tv yet, but who knows.

They already have Nicolle Wallace subbing for Brian Williams.  She is only semi-palatable because she's not a Trumpite.  I'm curious how these two new additions will fit in.

Edited January 6, 2017 by SierraMist
grammar

[maraleia]

Greta is a Scientologist which makes her horrible on two accounts. Screw MSNBC.

[annzeepark914]

5 hours ago, MulletorHater said:

And, that sound you heard was the sound of glass shattering as I kick in my TV screen.

This network is determined to become Faux-lite and I'm fucking sick of it.

What the heck is happening at MSNBC?  Greta?  Best friend forever with Sarah Palen and her hubby?  They must be desperate for viewers.

[Padma]

Rachel had a long piece welcoming Greta tonight, including having her on (remote, from DC where her new studio is being built).  Show starts Monday, replacing "With All Due Respect".

Rachel used every ounce of her liberal cred to sell the idea that she LOVES Greta--respects her as a journalist and that they are "long-time close friends".  Rachel, Greta and her hubby have shared "many bottles of win" together.  She's also know Chris M. for "years and years" and thinks she'll be a good fit at MSNBC because "I like facts".

I never watched her FOX show, but the elephant in the room is, of course, that's not what their hosts are known for.  I'd give her a chance, but even if she's been unhappy at Fox, she still was part of that kind of "journalism" for an awfully long time. I'm hoping maybe hiring her provides some "cover" for their liberal team at night.

[bluepiano]

7 hours ago, SierraMist said:

Wow, I did not expect that.  But it might explain why (a week or so ago) Rachel singled her out for a comment about some segment she did when she was on Fox.  I found it odd that Rachel called her "my friend" Greta Van Susteren.  I think it will be interesting.  I'm not quite ready to kick in my tv yet, but who knows.

Yes, I caught that too. Rachel was all giddy about Greta asking some Republican Congressman what his source was for saying Isis was coming across the Texas border. Rachel's praise of Greta seemed excessive and weird. Now we know what it was about.

One time calling out a Republican on obvious BS does not make up for years of spewing the Fox agenda. They will probably sell her as the voice of moderation and reason, but at Fox she was reasonable only compared to Sean Hannity.

On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 6:06 PM, jjj said:

Oh, sheesh, there is now a Spokesperson for the Jeff Sessions Nomination -- not for Jeff Sessions, but for his Nomination.  That is her actual title, displayed while she talked:  Sarah Isgur Flores, who was just on "All in with Chris Hayes" (with Ari Melber tonight). 

She was Carly Fiorina's campaign manager, and previously worked for Ted Cruz. Just another Republican shill. MSNBC gives way too much air time to these people, IMO.

[rcc]

18 hours ago, maraleia said:

Greta is a Scientologist which makes her horrible on two accounts. Screw MSNBC.

I didn't know that. I guess Leah Remini won't be making an appearance on her new show.

Yes, I would say that Greta is horrible. Never liked her and less now.

[stormy]

I actually liked Greta when she was on CNN.  But since then, can't say cause I don't watch FOX.

I'm glad, in any event that Greta and Meghan jumped ship.  If nothing else, for me, it just a great fuck you FOX from two women.

I only watch Chris Hayes now, so I don't care what NBC or MSNBC do anymore.

[rcc]

I don't watch Fox either and remembered Greta from CNN. Didn't like her on CNN and can only imagine that she was worse on Fox.

[jenrising]

Ugh, the commercials are so terrible. Especially recently. This morning I caught the one with Rachel praising Greta and the one with her chuckling with Kelly Ann Conway like they're best buddies. One of the reasons I had to leave DC was how many people treated serious political issues like a game. "La la la, we're like coworkers. Isn't it cute how you spread lies and bigotry? I'll be indignant and then we can go have cupcakes."

Barely watching anymore and every single time I do, one of the commercials remind me why. 

[slensam]

1 hour ago, jenrising said:

Ugh, the commercials are so terrible. Especially recently. This morning I caught the one with Rachel praising Greta and the one with her chuckling with Kelly Ann Conway like they're best buddies. One of the reasons I had to leave DC was how many people treated serious political issues like a game. "La la la, we're like coworkers. Isn't it cute how you spread lies and bigotry? I'll be indignant and then we can go have cupcakes."

Barely watching anymore and every single time I do, one of the commercials remind me why. 

The commercials are terrible. It's not only that it is a game but that they're all in the same high school clique. Don't know who they're trying to get to watch with these commercials. Washington insiders seem to be a small group. I have to hope at same point things are going to change back a little to the the way they were. There's got to be an alternative to the Trump regime. He's not that interesting. I still watch Lawrence as he's the only one to give it to the GOP hard like they deserve at this time.

[bluepiano]

3 hours ago, slensam said:

The commercials are terrible. It's not only that it is a game but that they're all in the same high school clique.

 

5 hours ago, jenrising said:

Ugh, the commercials are so terrible. Especially recently. This morning I caught the one with Rachel praising Greta and the one with her chuckling with Kelly Ann Conway like they're best buddies. One of the reasons I had to leave DC was how many people treated serious political issues like a game. "La la la, we're like coworkers. Isn't it cute how you spread lies and bigotry? I'll be indignant and then we can go have cupcakes."

This phenomena is why true tough political journalism is almost dead in this country, whether it's broadcast or print. The media largely identifies with the politicians they report on, and life is so good in big time journalism that they don't want to risk getting thrown off the gravy train by alienating anyone, or getting a reputation for being difficult.

This has worked the detriment of the country, when during the Iraq War (and earlier, in the Vietnam War) we saw much of the media report, without question or investigation, official government versions of "the facts" that later were proven to be fabrications.

What bugs me most about MSNC now, especially Rachel, is the soft ball questions and almost giddy fandom shown towards liberal Democratic politicians. I am a liberal-left Democrat myself, and I don't think that ultimately it helps our "cause" to pretend that everything is just peachy. Maybe MSNBC feels that since everything the Dems do is going to be blasted on Fox, they need to be the counterbalance. But I'm not interested in watching a network that is the liberal's version of Fox, with biased reporting and relentless cheerleading.

[oakville]

It's like musical chairs at MSNBC. Two Fox refugees, Greta & Megyn Kelly join MSNBC & NBC.

Mka & Joe are becoming Morning Trump. 

Is MSNBC trying to get Fox viewers?

I think MSNBC should try to rally anti Trump voters like Fox did with anti- Obama voters from 2008-2016

[Jaded]

As much as I like Rachel...

It's easy for her to act giddy since she makes enough money to not be affected as much by what Dumph and his cohorts are going to try to do for the next 4 years.