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


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14 minutes ago, Decoda said:

Don't worry though, Brian Williams has showed up to take over all coverage.

He really has become the face of doom on MSNBC.  When we see his face on the screen and it is not a primary night, we know something bad has happened.

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So this isn't MSNBC strictly speaking but there's no Meet the Press board and that show is so lame that it's pointless to start one....but Chuck Todd was so infuriatingly stupid this morning:

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/chuck-todd-asks-sanders-to-stop-trying-to-politicize-orlando-shooting-by-talking-about-guns/

Summary: he accused Bernie Sanders of "politicizing" the tragedy by calling for more gun control. 

I am readying myself for some cringe-worthiness from Brian Williams ("It used to be that 'gay' meant 'happy'...."). Throw in Luke Russert for some good old fashioned fearmongering for good measure.

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7 hours ago, Decoda said:

Don't worry though, Brian Williams has showed up to take over all coverage.

 

I was wondering what happened to him. I watched MSNBC's contuing live coverage through 2 pm ET, when Obama spoke. And Williams wasn't there.

It  had been nearly 4 hours since the 50 death toll had been announced, and at least six hours since they initially said it was 20.

I wonder why he wasn't there. Maybe Hamptons traffic?

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Fortunately for us all, he eventually showed up to offer his usual brilliance. "No one goes to a nightclub expecting something like this." Can this man only say things with any intelligence when he's making up a story? 

He was also pushing interviewees hard on the whole people should be afraid to go anywhere line. And getting no takers, of course. We get it, Brian. The more scared people are the better the ratings, but come on. 

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Gawd he really is a parody of himself, isn't he.

I do love and am farklempt that the message being spread, especially from the LBGT community, is - screw them, we can't let this stop us from dancing and singing and loving each other. So opposite from what the media would like the message to be.

 

 

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Did anyone catch the tense-ness between Rachel Maddow and Nicole Wallace last night?  Wallace did not like the criticism of Trump's speech (she seems to have had second thoughts about that on Morning Joe today...but I digress) and was testy with Rachel.  Rachel pushed back a little and Wallace did not like it at all..she was haughty and got sort of a mean-girl vibe.  At the end of it, Rachel tried to shake Nicole's hand...and Nicole seemed to hesitate for a moment before she reluctantly shook.  I didn't see her much after that, but maybe her segment was over.  This is the woman who was a spokesperson for "W"...worked for McCain and knew what Palin was like but went along and pushed her anyway.  Then there were the crocodile tears after.  Can't stand her; is she still on The View?  What happened there?  By the way, during the exchange between the two, Brian Williams and Eugene Robinson looked like a pair of living statues.  Girl Fight!  Girl Fight!

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I just watched the end of a cringe-worthy Hugh Hewitt interview....him giving a back-slap to The Donald for his Muslim views...agreeing with The Douche.  And then Brian Williams fell all over himself congratulating Hewett on his radio show/program/network whatever.  And that it is nice when we "can all agree to disagree"...or some such.  Oh how I wish Ed Schultz or someone like him had been doing the interview.  Now Brian W is going to "the other side" for their view.  You know, not everything has a side....at least a sane side.  The "other side" is Ben Cardin or some such from Maryland.  I think.  A seemingly nice, sane person.  Or so it would seem.  I weep.  Just once I would like someone on MSNBC (or CNN) call someone out on their crazy. Brian Williams is not that guy.  Geez, I can't stand him.  Can't staaaaannnd him.  The MSNBC on-air personnel must be under a death threat to force them to be civil and reasonable with these thugs.  And that is exactly what they are.  In my opinion, anyway.  lol   God, now I need a glass of wine.

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So sorry for the "repeat" of a previous post..I just figured out that you have to sign in every time you comment.  I was so irritated that I wasn't paying enough attention.

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Didn't Donald call Hewitt ugly or something after one of the debates?    I had to turn off Brian today.   More than an hour and I just have to change the channel.   When I changed back I was actually grateful to see Chris Matthews, mostly because he wasn't Brian.

In terms of Rachel and Nicole--yes they got a little testy during primary coverage last week.   Nicole is only tolerable if her guy is utterly losing.   Rachel would not back down tho--I was proud of her.

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(edited)

I will admit up front that I don't much like Lawrence O'Donnell, but his repeated attempts at prompting a survivor of The Pulse attack to give us personal remembrances of friends who were killed so that we could "know them as people" (paraphrasing) seemed gratuitous and almost grief porno. The woman began to tear up and I thought, okay Lawrence, are you satisfied?

Something about O'Donnell irks me. His displays of emotion in the face of tragedy, whether grief, outrage, or some mixture, always seem to me a little too perfect and practiced. Like he's an actor who's prepared before going on camera. I get that all TV commentators are performers to an extent, but I don't get that same feeling from any of the other MSNBC personalities. (At least among the ones I watch).

Edited by bluepiano
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Something about how slick he is?

I've also heard that he's a notorious ladies' man, and while I don't think someone's off screen behavior should be an issue, I've heard him slip in some subtle come-ons while interviewing attractive female guests. Maybe it does become an issue if you're going to take Donald Trump to task for his comments about women.

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1 hour ago, bluepiano said:

I will admit up front that I don't much like Lawrence O'Donnell, but his repeated attempts at prompting a survivor of The Pulse attack to give us personal remembrances of friends who were killed so that we could "know them as people" (paraphrasing) seemed gratuitous and almost grief porno. The woman began to tear up and I thought, okay Lawrence, are you satisfied?

Same thing with the young man he was interviewing in the first segment of his show -- the fellow was clearly looking for help or an escape when the emotions began to catch up with him, but LO'D kept pushing him.  I shut it off after that.

Chris Hayes is being so much more compassionate in talking to friends of the victims in Orlando.  And Chris Hayes looks like he is about 19 years old; I think his hair reverted to a natural young style in the heat. 

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(edited)

Oh, ouch, Andrea Mitchell.  She tried to compare the Obama remarks this morning to the film The American President, and "that moment when Michael J. Fox finally had enough of his political opponent and went to the press room to make his position clear."  Not Michael J. Fox, Andrea (he was in the film, but not the president!), but Michael Douglas.  And President Obama did not need to be compared to a film. 

Edited by jjj
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(edited)

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.  Get rid of Hugh Hewitt NOW!  I cannot bare his smugness and his one-note attacks against Clinton are constant.  I cannot tolerate this for five months and I hate CNN even more most of the time.  (Though most of the great analysts that used to be on MSNBC are now on CNN, but I still hate it, weird.)

Nicole went all mean-girl on The View and got tossed after one season, she started out pretty enjoyable but then she signed on to The Whoopettes™ and became unbearable.

Dangit, so angry that I forgot Craig Melvin's heartbreaking sign off from the 6 pm edt hour, something like "I'll see you again soon after the next mass shooting". :(

Edited by NextIteration
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1 hour ago, NextIteration said:

Get rid of Hugh Hewitt NOW!  I cannot bare his smugness and his one-note attacks against Clinton are constant.  I cannot tolerate this for five months and I hate CNN even more most of the time.  

I swear, a couple of months ago Hugh Hewitt was one of MSNBC's go-to talking heads for the Stop Trump movement. And now he is all onboard with Trump vs. Clinton and Obama. Which convinces me yet again that many of these "commentators" have no real convictions and blow which ever way the wind blows. (Or more accurately which ever way the wind blows that will get them air time)

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(edited)

I like Michael Steele. I like Steve Schmidt. I loathe Hugh Hewitt with his smugness and hypocrisy. I'd even prefer Rick Tyler to him, and that's saying something. I'm not crazy about Nicole Wallace, but I'd settle for her being the only GOP woman analyzing this for the next five  months if it meant never seeing either of those women who come in to lie spin for Trump.

Hewitt, on with Kate Snow right now, just did incredible gymnastics of linking Obama withdrawing from Iraq...Hillary not negotiating the Withdrawal/Status of Forces Agreement properly...the rise of ISIS and spread of terrorism....to Omar Muteen and the murders in Orlando. He also criticized Obama for setting up "strawmen" in his criticism of Trump yesterday ("as he always does"). Hewitt is 100% on board for Trump currently and apparently willing to spin it all in any way he can.  Wonder if he's had any one-to-one contact with Trump behind the scenes?  Don't like him. Don't trust him.

Edited by Padma
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Is Jeff Corwin always so annoying? And does he have the authority to absolve that poor child's parents of doing anything wrong 'cuz they were wading not actually swimming in a lagoon with "Do Not Swim" notices posted? 

His whole affect seemed odd. Kind of a breathless, Gee golly gosh!

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20 hours ago, NextIteration said:

Get rid of Hugh Hewitt NOW!  I cannot bare his smugness and his one-note attacks against Clinton are constant.  

Wow, I finally saw him -- he said "Democrats need to stop politicizing this shooting".  Horrifying.

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MSNBC showed the tape of this middle schooler's imitation of the presidential candidates. He did his valedictorian speech via imitations of Trump, Cruz, Obama, Clinton, and Sanders. He was absolutely fantastic, the most entertaining thing on this network and a welcome laugh in the midst of such horror and sadness that is the news these days. It's on Youtube as well, I got a good long chuckle out of it.

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I gotta say, the first time they ran the imitation kid I turned the channel because I assumed it was going to be lame. Then they ran it at the end of Morning Joe and I couldn't get to my remote in time and I was ready to roll my eyes and snark but dammit the kid was pretty good. I liked his Bernie (except for the hacky part about Bernie making everything free.)

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(edited)

That kid was great.  He did great with Trump but I don't think he's that hard to mimic.  I was really impressed with the Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders impressions, and he even was spot on with Hillary.  I expect to see him on Steve Harvey's show pretty soon.  Somehow I missed the Obama one.

Edited by Ohwell
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So, on the one hand I was glad that "All In" showed Mike Diva's pseudo Japanese valentine-y Trump video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbM6WbUw7Bs   But I really don't think it's right to edit out the controversial parts (the negative parts--a Hitler salute, rows of pink tanks, other militaristic images--all in a happy pink, of course). Especially not cool not telling us they had edited it, or that the full version was available online.

If they showed a political cartoon, would it be okay to white-out the critical parts? Anyway, on the one hand I'm glad they gave it some attention--including Trump's. But I like to think that if Chris Hayes had been there instead of Joy Reid, he wouldn't have supported the censorship.

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23 hours ago, Padma said:

So, on the one hand I was glad that "All In" showed Mike Diva's pseudo Japanese valentine-y Trump video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbM6WbUw7Bs   But I really don't think it's right to edit out the controversial parts (the negative parts--a Hitler salute, rows of pink tanks, other militaristic images--all in a happy pink, of course). Especially not cool not telling us they had edited it, or that the full version was available online.

If they showed a political cartoon, would it be okay to white-out the critical parts? Anyway, on the one hand I'm glad they gave it some attention--including Trump's. But I like to think that if Chris Hayes had been there instead of Joy Reid, he wouldn't have supported the censorship.

I saw it on Rachel Maddow's show -- those parts weren't included & she didn't say that it had been edited.  

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I am so very very very sick of Trump, all day long, from morning til night, nothing but Trump Trump Trump. (Can't flip over to CNN either as they're just as bad or worse.) There's cold hard data out there, put out by reputable respected groups such as Harvard, that nobody has ever gotten so much free publicity as Trump but MSNBC and the rest of the media have no shame at how they're being used and actually fill up their airwaves with stories about how little money Trump has paid out for media coverage. Are they really that stupid???

Even the prime time shows that I used to like so much such as Chris and Rachel are nothing but Trump Trump Trump. The only time Hillary can get a mention is if they replay her saying something about Trump. It's insanity.

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(edited)

I agree there's too much Trump. And for all that there is, the content often reminds me of what Colbert said the journalists' job was with GWB, "The president talks and you write it down and repeat it."

For example, I'm extremely tired of Katie Tur's "reporting" on Trump. Today, when she was introduced as "doing fact checking" (which a simple look at the internet would have given plenty of content for, in about two minutes), she blathered on, paraphrasing the speech he had just given and telling us, "some people disagree; others agree" as her fact check. This, for a speech in which he called Clinton, "maybe the most corrupt person who has ever run for president of the United States" and said she used the State Department as her "personal hedge fund". and that she wants to "bring in thousands of people who want to enslave women and MURDER gays with no screening!!!"

To all that, Katie Tur blandly repeats Trump's talking points? Really?

Since we have to be subjected to Trump, Trump, Trump 24/7, would it be too much to ask for MSNBC to hire some actual journalists and empower them to do genuine reporting, even if it means they will soon join Trump's media banned list?

There's no reason they need access to him anyway so why be so worried about displeasing him. They can watch the speeches, do some research and file reports just as well--probably better--without him.

Edited by Padma
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(edited)

Someone give Kornacki the hook.  He's the last person I want to see covering the House sit-in.  He was just so disrespectful to Rep. Clyburn, and stupid too - didn't even know that Clyburn is part of Democratic leadership in the House.

What an awful week for Matthews to be on vacation.

smdh

Edited by NextIteration
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(edited)
10 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I swear Katie Tur looks genuinely excited and giddy talking about Trump.  I hate her.

Thank you for saying it. I was trying to be polite, but I can't stand her either. I know Trump's been particularly rude to her but she is like a doormat--and a lousy journalist, too.  Take him on, please, somebody! His speech today was a horrible mess of insults and bald-faced lies about Clinton*, but the press is all "he seemed more presidential like he's trying to pivot now. Did you see he used a teleprompter?"

I'm not a big Matthews fan, but he's unpredictable so I'm going to think if he'd been there, he would have called Trump out over that speech. I guess it's okay now to call your opponent a thief and a liar and the most corrupt candidate for president ever--and falsely accuse her of stealing a $58,000 necklace in exchange for political payback--its okay, that is, as long as your name is Donald Trump.

(Okay, it was a teensy bit funny when Trump said Hillary's lie about being shot at in Bosnia "was even worse than Brian Williams and his ended his career" -- cut to  end of speech and BriWi, of course, sitting there doing the coverage. lol.

Olberman would have ripped that speech to shreds and served Trump up to the audience on a platter, with none of the usual BS. I really miss him.

*Per "Andrea Mitchell Reports" and "All In" for MSNBC today with Politifact and Factcheck.org weighing in as well. 

Edited by Padma
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I realize this is tough, given what the subject material relates to, but again, please do not go too far into the actual politics and try to keep things to the talking heads and their shows and show content rather than insulting one side or the other, as that is when debate can turn contentious.

Thanks.

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I know Luke Russert has been up for a long time, but if he was not up for this long stretch, he should have been replaced at some point.  He has been
teetering for the past few hours, and keeps telling us that the House does not have a filibuster process like the Senate.

Also:  "This is unprecedented, and has only happened a few times previously."  I'm trying to cut him some slack, but that one made me laugh. 

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Luke was driving me crazy yesterday. He is totally useless as a reporter, only repeating what was already known. His worse moment last night, IMO, was when he didn't even bother trying to explain what the fiduciary law that the Repubs were trying to repeal in mid-sit-in actually was, and just pushed that duty over to Chris Hayes. It's not that hard a concept, Luke, and could be explained in less than a minute if you could just refrain from repeating crap over and over again! Every time he was on, I had my remote ready to mute. Ugh.

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(edited)
1 hour ago, Sharpie66 said:

Luke was driving me crazy yesterday. He is totally useless as a reporter, only repeating what was already known.

What was worse were his condescending comments about us, the viewers.  It was fine to say once that only the Senate has filibuster processes (or even to say that once an hour), but he said it so many times.  And twice, I heard him say to the anchor that "so, for people who are not *in the know*, like you and me, here is an explanation of why the House can't filibuster."  Yeah, Luke, the only people who are *in the know* about Congressional process are standing in the marble hallways with you.  He referred a couple of other times to the non-insiders (= us).

ETA:  Noooo, Luke is back on the air!  And he said "they have to figure out how to land the plane" *again*. (about the Democrats) He said that over and over last night.

Edited by jjj
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On June 23, 2016 at 4:55 PM, Sharpie66 said:

He's worse than that--he's a stupid frat boy who only got into the college, let alone the frat, because he was a legacy admission.

I can't believe I am defending li'l Luke, but he went to Boston College, and neither of his parents went there?

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(edited)
11 minutes ago, ktwo said:

I can't believe I am defending li'l Luke, but he went to Boston College, and neither of his parents went there?

Aw. That's okay.

We'll always have his NBC-gig to snark on. 

"He has openly acknowledged that critics in the media, including colleagues, have leveled accusations of unqualified nepotism, because of both his father's position at NBC and his mother's position as a Vanity Fair correspondent, given that he had virtually no professional experience under his belt whatsoever at the time of his hiring. He stated that he merely attempts to ignore it.[9]"

I doubt that he would have advanced as quickly as he did if his dad had not died.

Above quote from Li'l Luke's Wiki.

eta didn't he start doing that electoral colleg dri-erase board thing right after Tim died? I could easily be mistaken.

Edited by NewDigs
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I'm another who resents how Luke leap-frogged over other more qualified reporters into the MSNBC gig because of his father and related connections. That said, when he said yesterday he'd been covering Congress for 7 years, I did have to begrudgingly acknowledge his work ethic. I mean, it's not the most glamorous assignment and he's stayed committed to it rather than using it as a springboard to something more fun. As I understand it, he's also been good at keeping up with his father's charity work, including MC'ing something (apparently successfully)...maybe fundraisers for the Boy's Club?...can't remember... for many years.. So I give him credit for a kind of stability, commitment and maturity in a way.

That said, I will never forgive him for telling Nancy Pelosi she was basically too old for the job and should make way for someone younger.

On a different note, even the Brexit vote is all about Trump.  If we went to Mars next week, would that be "all Trump, all the time" too?  I'm sure, somehow, it would.

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