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


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Chris Jansing is covering the Olympics!  I don't watch the daytime coverage, but just saw her at the end of the news hours this morning. 

What is MSNBC doing in the evenings?  Instead of repeating the Chris Hayes show after Lawrence O'Donnell, they go to Hardball (in what appears to be a new live hour?).  Then Chris Hayes repeats later in the night, where he used to be.  So, airing of his show has gone from three to two per evening. 

Edited by jjj
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CM, aggressive: "How long have you felt like that?"

TIME reporter: "Probably since I saw him being a clown on The Apprentice." 

CM: "So you've been biased from the beginning. He never had a chance." 

Oh, for Pete's sake, Chris. Why don't you go to Fox already? They like your style. Talk about pot meet kettle. 

OK, so I swore off MSNBC, but at least Maddow has gotten back to normal on her show. They haven't managed to prod her too much toward "fair and balanced" BS. I loved her show the other night when she point blank said (re: election): 'This is crazy.'  

Also, Kornacki is a terrible fill in for her, but he brings the laughs with his inability to stay at his desk and not jump over to the map to push on states. Yes, Steve, if you turn South Carolina blue, it will indeed give those electoral votes to Clinton. Yessir, nothing gets past you. And then he must scramble to roll down his sleeves and park himself at the desk again when some herder backstage throws his jacket at him and makes him go back.

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They seem to be trying to compete with Don Lemon over at CNN maybe? I think he's on at 11 PM.  So I guess they decided to have a live show with Matthews on at that same time.  Well I can't take one dose of Matthews much less two, but I'll try to watch tonight because they came to their senses and gave tonight's double duty to Chris Hayes.

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I am so glad that Lawrence O'Donnell spent his first segment on the NY Times Op-Ed by Thomas Friedman, because it deserves as broad a readership as possible.  The first line, which Lawrence read, is: "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated."  An in the final paragraph, about Trump:  "Forget politics; he is a disgusting human being. His children should be ashamed of him."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/opinion/trumps-ambiguous-wink-wink-to-second-amendment-people.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=MostViewed&version=Full&src=mv&WT.nav=MostViewed&_r=0

Even bringing Dan Rather on was a good move, because his perspective was serious and perceptive.  As they said 10-20 times, "it only takes one" of all the extreme followers of Trump to act on what he or she thinks Trump is telling them to do. 

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The LOD segment on "It Only Takes One" was astounding in it's realism.  This is how you connect the consequences with the words.  I have found Lawrence's analysis to be the most thoughtful on so many issues, more so than Rachel's (who I used to adore before her "girl" thing problem with Bill Clinton's speech). 

As a side note, I loved Elizabeth Warrens tweet, that Donald Trump is a coward making death threats because he's afraid to debate a girl.

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Okay, this opening segment of the extra "live" Chris Hayes hour is terrific.  "He [Trump] is like a mutant offspring of a church evangelist and circus performer" said panelist Robert George (I think he said circus).  And Joan Walsh combined reasoned analysis with "he seems to be crazy".

It was fascinating when Chris had the tape of Trump this evening replayed, because you could see how he kept ratcheting up his rhetoric as the audience warmly responded -- and he completely escalated from an idea he is trying out to a statement of "fact" in about 12 seconds:  "What ISIS is doing is like honoring Obama.  [rumble of audience] They are HONORING Obama. [more enthusiasm] He is like the FOUNDER of ISIS. [yeah, now it is a monster truck rally] Obama FOUNDED ISIS, and Hillary Clinton is the CO-FOUNDER od ISIS." [crowd goes nuts, well, more nuts]  Thank you for highlighting this 12 seconds, Chris Hayes. 

Has a presidential candidate ever been involuntarily committed for 72 hours? 

Edited by jjj
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A little more detail about Katy Tur needing a Secret Service escort to her car after a Trump rally (since it's MSNBC-reporter-related, I'm linking to the article):

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/he-knows-exactly-what-hes-doing.html

Digby: I was watching this rally and heard him call out Katy Tur by name. I thought it might be possible that the crowd would harm her:
 

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Just one day after Donald Trump tried to incite his supporters to violence against his opponent Hillary Clinton if she defeats him in the election, it turns out this isn’t the first time Trump has done something like this toward a woman who got under his skin. MSNBC reporter Katy Tur, who has spent more than a year traveling with the Trump campaign, revealed today that the Secret Service had to protect her from Trump’s crowd after he attempted to incite them against her. 

While Tur was covering a Trump rally in Mount Pleasant, he took his longtime grudge with her public. He didn’t approve of how she had covered an earlier incident, so he privately demanded that she apologize, which she refused to do. So Trump retaliated by pointing to Tur and saying to the crowd. “What a lie. Katy Tur. What a lie it was. Third. Rate. Reporter. Remember that.” 

The crowd of Trump supporters turned so fiercely against Katy Tur that she says the Secret Service had to protect her while she was walking to her car, simply to keep her safe. She’s referring to it as an “extraordinary step.” The agents are specifically tasked with protecting people such as Presidential nominees, and it is in fact rare that they would feel compelled to protect a reporter due to the unsafe situation she’d been placed in by the candidate they’re protecting. 

 

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1 hour ago, Sharpie66 said:

A little more detail about Katy Tur needing a Secret Service escort to her car after a Trump rally (since it's MSNBC-reporter-related, I'm linking to the article):

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/he-knows-exactly-what-hes-doing.html

Digby: I was watching this rally and heard him call out Katy Tur by name. I thought it might be possible that the crowd would harm her:
 

Wow, that is an important detail, that he was pointing her out and inciting the crowd to "remember" Katy -- and that the crowd was turning on her.  I'm glad the Secret Service had the flexibility to provide her with an escort. 

Apparently even our "favorite" MSNBC commentator Hugh Hewitt was trying to get Trump to back off the ISIS comments this morning on a radio show, but of course he doubled down.  I will hope someone brings Mr. Hewitt back on the MSNBC evening shows tonight. 

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Ah, I should have DVR'd the late airing of Chris Hayes too!

Thanks potatoradio for recapping that bizarre exchange on Tweety the other night. I just happened to see it and tried to recount it to a friend, but couldn't remember what the reporter said. She seemed quite nonplussed by Chris calling her biased, rightly so.

Lawrence's show last night was stellar. I think he has a unique perspective, having been a working part of government for so long.

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1 hour ago, Sharpie66 said:

A little more detail about Katy Tur needing a Secret Service escort to her car after a Trump rally (since it's MSNBC-reporter-related, I'm linking to the article):

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/he-knows-exactly-what-hes-doing.html

Digby: I was watching this rally and heard him call out Katy Tur by name. I thought it might be possible that the crowd would harm her:
 

Thank you for this. Scary and not nearly mentioned enough in the media. I still remember how nasty Trump was to Peter Alexander, mocking him for being "so perfect"--going on and on when all Alexander had done was ask him a perfectly legitimate question.

I've been in a small pro-Trump crowd, pumped up after a rally, when members of the press walked by. Even when they are 50 year old burly men, it seems a little scary to hear other men, Trump supporters, start shouting at them--just a couple of feet away--"There goes the lying media!!! When are you going to STOP LYING!"

The level of anger and aggression is scary. I remember seeing one rally televised when Trump drew attention to Tur (in the press "pen") and how everyone turned to look at her. You wouldn't want to feel on the receiving end of that kind of emotion. I'm glad the SS felt it and helped out, but....scary thought that Americans might be giving someone like that even -more- power over his (perceived) "enemies".

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Thanks potatoradio for recapping that bizarre exchange on Tweety the other night

Giving credit where credit is due - I think it was Padma who posted the exchange (I don't think I used the quotes in a way that showed that). So, thanks to Padma for actually sitting through a CM show. I can't do it. I commend Padma's liver, blood pressure and sanity for being able to withstand two seconds of that useless airbag bombast. :)

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I do think it's time for Chris Matthews to find another job.  He's getting harder and harder to watch.  I didn't see the exchange that Padma posted, but his segment with Rudy Guiliani was unbelievable.  Rudy was supposed to defend Trump's remarks about 2nd amendment people, but he just kept going on and on about Hillary.  And Matthews not only let him but seemed to take glee in it.  (Guiliani always reminds me of Nosferatu.  I have an extreme dislike for that man.  No, he isn't America's mayor.  He just likes to exploit 9/11 as much as he can.) 

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1 hour ago, SierraMist said:

I do think it's time for Chris Matthews to find another job.  He's getting harder and harder to watch.  I didn't see the exchange that Padma posted, but his segment with Rudy Guiliani was unbelievable.  Rudy was supposed to defend Trump's remarks about 2nd amendment people, but he just kept going on and on about Hillary.  And Matthews not only let him but seemed to take glee in it.  (Guiliani always reminds me of Nosferatu.  I have an extreme dislike for that man.  No, he isn't America's mayor.  He just likes to exploit 9/11 as much as he can.) 

The only way for him to get onto news shows is to be one of the dwindling number of people willing to take Trump's side.  I never listen when I see him on an MSNBC show -- and don't listen to Chris Matthews at all, except on Monday night when they *tricked* me by putting Chris Matthews live in the slot where I was expecting the rerun of Chris Hayes' outstanding Monday show!  (No, I did not stay tuned in, once I realized that *as usual* the "BREAKING NEWS" was not breaking at all.)

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36 minutes ago, car54 said:

Katy wrote about her experience being picked on by Trump in Marie Claire

http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a21997/donald-trump-katy-tur/

Thanks, I really enjoyed that article -- love behind-the-scenes stories, and will appreciate her morning stand-up reporting more.  "Six weeks, tops!"  I thought the same thing.  I heard her say something about losing a French boyfriend over this campaign -- she must have said that during a convention?  "Au revoir, Benoit."   

Edited by jjj
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I thought chuck Todd was great on MTP tonite. His discussion around the consequences of the exaggerations and lies was on point. People aren't going to believe when the government says these are your taxes or don't eat this meat it's bad. Then the absolutely insane discussion with the crazy Trump lady. He really stuck with her and pushed but of course didn't get anywhere. Because no one from the Trump camp feels the need to make any sense at all. 

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Carville was on Chris Matthews. 

1 hour ago, represent said:

Bwaah, thanks for the laugh James Carville, for "He got punched in the mouth and now  he's flailing his little hands all around." 

I think he said flailing his stubby little hands (or something like that).  Love Carville.

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Thanks, potatoradio! Especially since you're right--watching Matthews feels like it takes a physical toll? (And much as I'd have enjoyed Carville's "hands" comment, I can't stand him either. Or Chris and Giuliani--that would be obnoxious, too. Fortunately, Hayes and O'Donnell are still doing great.)

Today, Kornacki introduced a new narrative I'm seeing more and more--"good news for Trump". Today's "good news" was that he was ahead (with likely voters) 41% to 40% in Iowa.  They used to call that "margin of error" but today it led Kornacki to talk about Trump's "strength" in Iowa. (This, after showing the MSNBC poll of reg. voters there where Hillary was ahead  by 5 points). Sorry, Steve, I don't think a one point lead in a state like Iowa is anything to get so excited over. (And apparently MSNBC agrees, at least when Hillary's ahead. Yesterday they were calling her 1% lead in Florida "a tie".  Make up your mind, people!)

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Reading Katy Tur's Marie Claire article gives me a new appreciation of what she and other Trump campaign reporters have had to go through since last summer. I highly recommend reading it http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a21997/donald-trump-katy-tur/

Interesting note in the article- "Fellow NBC reporters Andrea Mitchell, Kasie Hunt, Hallie Jackson, Kristen Welker, and I are the first women-led politics team in the history of network news—just one remarkable shift in a campaign season where the only rule seems to be that there are no rules."

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2 hours ago, jenrising said:

Today in "Seriously, MSNBC?" BriWi the inane is getting a show every night between Labor Day and Election Day. Guaranteeing one hour I won't be watching. 

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/15/media/brian-williams-msnbc-time-slot/index.html

Noooo, is that the reason they have been running live programming at 11:00 PM/8:00 PT starting last week?  That idea is only as strong as the host.  Could not stand it when it was Chris Matthews -- loved it when it was Chris Hayes.   I would MUCH rather have the Chris Haye's rerun of "All In". 

And the alleged "Putin's girlfriend" is Wendi Deng Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's former wife and a long-time friend of Ivanka (she did the matchmaking of Ivanka to Jared).  Wendi claims she has not met Putin, but who knows.  What I find really interesting is that Ivanka and Jared are acknowledged as the masterminds of the Trump campaign (I know...not exactly a brain trust in evidence), but are in *Croatia* while Trump is falling off the edge of the campaign?  (Yes, Jared is on the trip, also.)  Why are they not on the campaign, and Trump, 24/7?  It is astonishing. 

2 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

..... with Putin's girlfriend (according to sources).  WTF????

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Were the Trump sons' hunting pictures current?  I think Lawrence O'Donnell might show older pictures just to remind us of their deplorable character.  Of course, if August is vacation month, I understand that they would not want to let a presidential campaign get in the way of their plans.  Some days I think they believe he is running for the president of the Rotary. 

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Noooo, is that the reason they have been running live programming at 11:00 PM/8:00 PT starting last week?  That idea is only as strong as the host.  Could not stand it when it was Chris Matthews -- loved it when it was Chris Hayes.   I would MUCH rather have the Chris Haye's rerun of "All In". 

If you want me to pay attention that late at night then you need energy.  Brian Williams has no energy. As much as I can't stand Matthews, even he has that in spades, so much so he's out of control. But at least he doesn't put me to sleep, he just pisses me off. 

And of course, Hayes is always a bubbly breath of fresh air.

Williams is an airhead and he's boring. Why do they keep pushing that man?  I guess they feel he needs to earn his keep. If so, have him clean up the damn studio, serve as someone's assistant... just stop pushing him on us.

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Don Jr. said something about killing deer. I think the boys are still close by. It would be funny if even the Trump kids got to the point of giving up on Dad and his floundering campaign.

Brian Williams with his own trial balloon show? Please, no. Every time I see that commercial with him so prominently featured I'm reminded that it's been a few weeks without "special events" and I haven't seen him at all.

It's been nice.

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Disgusting that MSNBC is giving airtime to an admitted serial fabulist, and pathetic that Williams is so needy and his life so empty that he needs to be on an 11pm show on his former network's cable outlet.

Seriously dude. You made serious dough at NBC. You're at an age where some  folks start considering retirement. Take up a hobby. Volunteer.

It also strikes me that Dan Rather lost his job for a mistake that to me, in comparison, is not as bad as what Williams does. Rather keeps in the mix but he will never have the same forum. And Rather was, and is, a real reporter. Not some pretty boy who reads the news between Jimmy Fallon and "30 Rock" appearances.

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2 hours ago, Mumbles said:

Disgusting that MSNBC is giving airtime to an admitted serial fabulist, and pathetic that Williams is so needy and his life so empty that he needs to be on an 11pm show on his former network's cable outlet.

Seriously dude. You made serious dough at NBC. You're at an age where some  folks start considering retirement. Take up a hobby. Volunteer.

It also strikes me that Dan Rather lost his job for a mistake that to me, in comparison, is not as bad as what Williams does. Rather keeps in the mix but he will never have the same forum. And Rather was, and is, a real reporter. Not some pretty boy who reads the news between Jimmy Fallon and "30 Rock" appearances.

Great point about Rather. I'm glad that Rachel and Lawrence bring him back as a commentator (even though I usually don't agree with him, he deserves that respect and visibility--unlike BriWi.)  At the risk of sounding conspiratorial, I thought Rather paid a very heavy price for a story that was never proven untrue. (And, given GHWB's CIA ties, I'm not sure there wasn't some setting up of Rather with a source that could be discredited in order to discredit his story--that GWB was AWOL in the Nat Guard for two years after he got his requested transfer. No one ever really provided evidence that he had honored his service--and it would be just like him to have opted out at that time.) Anyway, Rather paid a heavy price--it ended his career, and yet, here Williams is, getting his own show, briefly or not.

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I knew they must be testing for an 11 pm show --but I can think of 4 or 5 other people on MSNBC that I'd rather see host it (or let them rotate) than give it to BriWI.  He has absolutely nothing interesting to say and it makes me mad to see him given a show even if it's temporary.

And if you add the salaries of those 4 or 5 people together they probably make less total than what they're paying BriWi.

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I do not understand the "half hour".  Some reports say the reruns will start after his show, but does that mean they will start to air on the half hour?  Or something else going into that half-hour segment from 11:30-midnight?  I stayed away from Venezuela for years because of the half-hour time difference!  (They recently changed back to being on the same hour start time as the rest of the time zone.)  It is a shock to the system!  Hoping they will not start Rachel's rerun on the half hour. 

Edited by jjj

So, MSNBC is showing all of Trump's "Law and order" speech in Wisconsin. It is painful. But I have a question (no, not why Hillary "hates the police". I guess you'd expect that from a co-founder of ISIS.)

My question is, when Trump talks to us at a rally, speaking mostly off the cuff (and, yes, I've seen him in person), he puts on a show, like for an audience who's come to see some angry comic stylings, a mixture of Andrew Dice Clay and Louis Black (without the heart of either one). But when, like tonight, he's speaking to us from a teleprompter, he enunciates every word slowly and carefully as if communicating with a group of 5 year olds. 

Why does he speak like this? Are television audiences notoriously hard of hearing and suffering from poor comprehension? It's very strange.

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He's just not good with a teleprompter.  He talks like a robot, not to mention the ridiculous lying about what he's going to do for the African American community.   I lived in Milwaukee.  He's nowhere near Milwaukee.  He's in the republican stronghold of West Bend where there are no African Americans (very few anyway).  That's why they're cheering him.  He's promising to give them jobs and higher wages, when he's on record as saying wages are too high already (they're killing small businesses, you know).  I couldn't listen to all of it because everything he said was a lie and he didn't offer a single concrete solution to anything. What a joke.

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Yes Ari, it's a dumb idea. 

Um, I think it's dumb to attack her stamina because I have eyes, I use them, I know what I see. In other words, my hearing doesn't have any control over what I see. I can hear you say she doesn't have any stamina, but if I see differently, I'm gonna go with my eyes.  Others, maybe not. I can see her stamina like I can see that the damn sky is blue. I've had twenty plus years of her stamina and nothings changed. I'm still looking at her schedule and thinking damn, I'd be dead a long time ago if I had to cover those miles. I'm also quite ashamed given her age vs. mine.

Edited by represent
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What did Ari say about being asked whether Sen. Cantwell is "tough to work for"?  Got distracted while he was answering.

Poor Lawrence O'Donnell, had a whole show shot to hell by that speech.  Which was NOT in Milwaukee, as noted above, and despite what Candidate Trump said.  I did like "peaceful regime change".  That is quite a brain trust he has working for him.  Yes, this is just like a republic changing dictators. 

Trump without teleprompter is like his Twitter account on Android -- the real Trump.  Trump *on* teleprompter is like his Twitter account on iPhone -- sanitized by someone else who has filters. 

Edited by jjj
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Matthews is made for conspiracy theories, and for Trump. Tonight he gave great attention to the latest innuendo about Clinton's health (about just rebutting the "stamina" thing, wasn't it just yesterday?). Grilled the guests, interrupted anyone he disagreed with (like the Dem pointing out that her doctor said her health is "excellent") and badgered everyone until basically concluding where there's smoke there's fire and she should release all her records (and interrupted and criticized the Dem who started talking about Trump's records--particularly that this was a diversion from his taxes). It's people like Chris who give these Republican fictions legs. I have no idea why he keeps doing it.

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2 hours ago, SierraMist said:

I agree about Chris Matthews.  I couldn't believe how hard he was pushing Trump's trumped up idiocy about Hillary's stamina and her health. Apparently he hates Hillary and really is voting for Trump.  He is getting harder and harder to watch.

ITA. I think he's still looking for excuses to vote for Trump. (That way he blasted the reporters last week for honestly answering his question, "Would you vote for Trump?" with "No" still really bothers me. It wasn't his business, firt of all, and second, once he knew the answer, it was inappropriate to rip on them for being "biased". I'm sure lots of reporters have preferences this late in the election. But if it doesn't show up in their WORK, Chris, then there's actually no reason to criticize their "bias".

Those Hannity-Trump led claims about Hillary's "seizures" have been so widely discredited. Why doesn't Chris do just a little bit of homework on things like this?  Also, is he going to give equal time to criticisms (and serious questions about) Trump's ridiculous doctor's letter proclaiming him, "the healthiest individual ever elected to be president"?  The doctor on the letterhead died in 2010 and his son, whose signature is on it, isn't the one Trump says has been treating him for 36 years.  That's the deceased father. Supposedly.  That letter, with its lack of medical content, unprofessional presentation (including fake website) and hyperbole about Trump's "astonishing" health, just screams "fake".  Why is he devoting time to faked smears on Hillary's "stamina" from FOX?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-gunter/im-a-doctor-heres-concerning-trumps-medical-letter_b_11565838.html?section=us_politics  

I guarantee that if this letter had come from Hillary, the rightwing media would be pointing to every inconsistency (lie) and tracking down exactly who wrote this and why.  Chris would be right on it, too. (It is such an obvious fake.) Does Chris care about this at all, since its Trump? Or is he too busy watching Fox for the latest justification for voting for him and spreading it around like manure on "Hardball"?  (Sorry, but that "health" thing and the way he treated his guests about it was just too much.)

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3 hours ago, SierraMist said:

I agree about Chris Matthews.  I couldn't believe how hard he was pushing Trump's trumped up idiocy about Hillary's stamina and her health. Apparently he hates Hillary and really is voting for Trump.  He is getting harder and harder to watch.

Welcome aboard if you're just coming to this conclusion. It's quite validating to see others view this man as I do.  Not to mention, he's just like all the rest they want a story, not the real story, but a story.  They are whores to the sound bites.

I don't know if he hates Hillary, but I do know he has a boy crush on Trump and is living vicariously through him. He knows that Trump has filed bankruptcies and probably isn't worth all he says he is. He knows he's stiffed the small business owners, but he doesn't care. He still wishes he had a plane with his name on it and a "Melania." He's pathetic.  He appears to have had a pretty legitimate career in politics, in political media, he seems to have made a nice family, yet this chump is admiring the likes of Trump.  I see it all the time, he can't hide it and I find it pathetic that a man like him, with his hard earned success, would have googly eyes for the likes of Trump. 

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Those Hannity-Trump led claims about Hillary's "seizures" have been so widely discredited. Why doesn't Chris do just a little bit of homework on things like this?  Also, is he going to give equal time to criticisms (and serious questions about) Trump's ridiculous doctor's letter proclaiming him, "the healthiest individual ever elected to be president"?  The doctor on the letterhead died in 2010 and his son, whose signature is on it, isn't the one Trump says has been treating him for 36 years.  That's the deceased father. Supposedly.  That letter, with its lack of medical content, unprofessional presentation (including fake website) and hyperbole about Trump's "astonishing" health, just screams "fake".  Why is he devoting time to faked smears on Hillary's "stamina" from FOX?

 

 

 

That's what I was trying to figure out, has Trump released his medical records? WTF?  Then they don't want the likes of me throwing around the word sexism. How can I not? He's got himself and folks on the panel out right demanding she release her medical records as if Trump has done the same.  What?  All I see is a bunch of male, sexist surrogates and one males sexist reporter in Matthews thinking they have the fucking right to know more about one candidate's medical history over the other, because they have a right as men to demand it.  That's all I get keeping in mind that I'm already sensitive, but what else should I conclude? Because they show clips of her "tripping", coughing, shaking her head, they are now qualified to demand her medical records? I mean if they were demanding Trump's medical records to see what kind of decease has caused him to turn fucking ORANGE...then that would fair. But they're not so...

Edited by represent
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