The Hosts Thread: Joe and Mika Know Their Value

[suomi]

Jeez, it took nearly 10 minutes to read his bloviating. How much did that print commercial cost? I liked this part, because he is entirely self-aware:

"So we decided that we were going to go on and sort of be the anti-cable cable show and let people know on both sides that when they came on, as long as they didn’t just spout out talking points, they would have safe harbour and that we weren’t going to have shouting matches like you’d see on primetime cable shows."

Bless his heart.

Edited December 2, 2020 by suomi
typo

[oakville]

This is an interesting story. President Obama appointed Mika's brother, Mark to be Ambassador to Sweden in 2011. Joe Biden invites Mark & his wife to the White House. 

For some reason, Mika & Joe tag along with Mark & his wife to  introduce Mark to the Bidens.

Wouldn't Mark already know the Bidens? I don't think other Ambassadors would bring their siblings along to the White House.

Why would Joe have to go to the White House with Mika? He was still married to Susan at the time.

https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/how-biden-administration-could-mark-turning-point-women-ncna1249590

https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/how-biden-administration-could-mark-turning-point-women-ncna1249590

Edited December 2, 2020 by oakville

[suomi]

1 hour ago, oakville said:

Why would Joe have to go to the White House with Mika? He was still married to Susan at the time.

People having affairs jump at chances to be out of the house. Especially when their amour is out of their house as well and the beard is that it's work-related.

If your co-worker cheated with you for many years you know how they operate. If and when you finally get together the first thing you buy is a leash.

[meowmommy]

6 hours ago, oakville said:

The Guardian call Morning Joe cringeworthy viewing:)

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/nov/29/morning-joe-scarborough-joe-biden-harry-truman-book?dg

Actually, other than that throwaway line, the article is pretty complimentary to Joe and the timeliness of his book.

[oakville]

2 hours ago, meowmommy said:

Actually, other than that throwaway line, the article is pretty complimentary to Joe and the timeliness of his book.

True, but it looks like the article was written by Mika & Joe's publicists!

[plumbago blues]

Mika must be worn out from her media blitz...she posted a picture of her mother giving her a foot rub.  Wow.

4 hours ago, oakville said:

https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/how-biden-administration-could-mark-turning-point-women-ncna1249590

Once again, it's all about Mika. No wonder she has her elderly frail mother rub her feet.

[Kemper]

I think Joe was the ghostwriter for that article.  

[oakville]

Joe appeared on the prestigious BBC News. He was interviewed by Katty Kay !

 

https://twitter.com/KattyKay_/status/1334316775954067456

 

[plumbago blues]

2 hours ago, oakville said:

He was interviewed by Katty Kay !

Of course he was. Wasn't she on his show that morning?  I didn't listen because, well, it's Joe, but I wouldn't be surprised if he taped it after (or during) MJ...just moved to the bedroom or living room; in front of a dark curtain to make him look important. He sure looked rough.  Amazing what a difference the lights make on their little set.

[oakville]

29 minutes ago, plumbago blues said:

Of course he was. Wasn't she on his show that morning?  I didn't listen because, well, it's Joe, but I wouldn't be surprised if he taped it after (or during) MJ...just moved to the bedroom or living room; in front of a dark curtain to make him look important. He sure looked rough.  Amazing what a difference the lights make on their little set.

Given Joe's worldwide celebrity, I can't wait for his interviews with Al Jazeera, Australian Television & the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The last time Joe was shown on Canadian TV, it was the day after President Trump attacked Mika's facelift in June 2017. 

[Kemper]

I just checked the Amazon Non-Fiction Best Seller List (I have become a terrible person).  Joe's book is #65; David McCullough has a "Truman" book out that is #35.  Make of that what you will.  However, don't know what the numbers are on the NY Times list.

Just checked the Times...Joe's book is #10!  This is a huge difference between the two lists.  Now I need to have some cranberry juice/vodka/tonic water.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Kemper
Needed to add the last paragraph.

[plumbago blues]

11 hours ago, Kemper said:

Just checked the Times...Joe's book is #10!

I've always been a bit skeptical of the NYT lists. (And of their news, if I'm honest.) It seems to usually be made up of the regular crowd of prolific writers (Grisham, etc.) and the current manufactured media darlings, such as Joe. It's all kind of shady to me; whoever has the pushiest agent rises to the top...I don't believe it really has that much to do with actual sales, and certainly not quality. But that's just me. We will Never. Hear. The. End. Of. This. He (and Mika, of course) will always refer to his NYT's best selling author title, I'm sure.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The last time I heard (retired librarian) the NYT best sellers are actual sale based, but how many copies are shipped to sellers, including the big box stores.    I wonder how many copies of his book were ordered by sellers, and how many copies showed up without being ordered?   Returned copies aren't taken off of sales either, so whatever is shipped, is what's listed as sales.    At least that's what used to happen. 

Edited December 4, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[meowmommy]

21 hours ago, Kemper said:

I just checked the Amazon Non-Fiction Best Seller List (I have become a terrible person).  Joe's book is #65; David McCullough has a "Truman" book out that is #35.  Make of that what you will.  However, don't know what the numbers are on the NY Times list.

And David McCullough's book's been out for years.  I know because it sits on my bookshelf.  And is a damned fine read. 

[xaxat]

9 hours ago, plumbago blues said:

I've always been a bit skeptical of the NYT lists.

You can read about their methodology here. It's been a while since I was in the book industry, but they really do try to give the best sales data. Including identifying attempts by publishers and authors to game the system by doing things like bulk sales. 

[Eliot]

6 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Returned copies aren't taken off of sales either, so whatever is shipped, is what's listed as sales.    At least that's what used to happen. 

Not for royalty purposes, as I learned from painful personal experience. 

In other friends of the show news, Elise Jordan was on Nicolle Wallace today. She has a new baby. They showed a photo.

[oakville]

Joe was interviewed by Robert Costa. He wore a new tie.

 

https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/web-video/live-watch-washweekpbs-full-show-and-extra-livestream-here

[xaxat]

It's really impressive how much mileage Joe has gotten out of a career as a three plus (barely) term back bench representative who took advantage of the fact that the south was increasingly willing to vote for the party of Lincoln.

And in the process, he managed to change his image from the hardcore, Gingrich ally, conservative who wanted to eliminate large parts of the federal government to a moderate conscience of the party.

[ebk57]

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It's Joe - again!!!  On AM Joy - Now Without Joy. 

 

He will probably be on every show except Rachel before this is over.  It's sad that seeing clips of Harry Truman is triggering.

[Eliot]

Ruh-roh....

Phil Griffin is OUT. It looks like it will be a new era at MSNBC. Wonder how the twins feel about this?

Edited December 7, 2020 by Eliot

[suomi]

Oct. 28, 2020, 11:06 AM EDT / Updated Dec. 7, 2020, 5:14 PM EST

On Monday it was announced that Rashida Jones will succeed Phil Griffin as president of MSNBC, starting early next year.

Know Your Value founder Mika Brzezinski recently spoke to Jones — who leads MSNBC's daytime programming and is currently the senior vice president for NBC News and MSNBC— to get her best advice. Here's a look at their conversation:

https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/amp/ncna1244168

Mika Brzezinski: You never actually worked remotely during Covid-19. What has that been like?

Rashida Jones: We still have somewhere between 5 to 10 percent of the staff coming in every day, and I've been here every day.

What has resulted is that on any given day, I'm having, in some cases, conversations that maybe I didn't have before with colleagues or a team that I didn't support before. Through all of it, I've developed a closer relationship to the teams that work out of here.

Edited December 8, 2020 by suomi

[Kemper]

Well well well.

[plumbago blues]

Anyone could have asked those questions. But there's Mika, front and center. Typical. Time will tell if a strong woman can wade through the morning bullshit and shovel it out, clearing the way for a refreshing, dynamic show led by people who are interested in what is really going on in the world outside of their bubble. Mika probably hopes that by adding her to her KYV series, she's gained extra points with her soon to be boss. I hope not.

[Albanyguy]

Last night, Rachel Maddow spent the first four minutes of her show plugging her new book on Spiro Agnew, which gets released today. After which she said "Okay, that's it for the plug, I promise I won't keep talking about it. This isn't going to turn into The Rachel Wrote A New Book Show."

Want some ointment for that burn, Joe?

[oakville]

Joe was interviewed by a friend of Morning Joe, Walter Isaccson about his new book!.

https://twitter.com/AmanpourCoPBS/status/1336777487548821513

[nittany cougar]

1 hour ago, oakville said:

Joe was interviewed by a friend of Morning Joe, Walter Isaccson about his new book!.

https://twitter.com/AmanpourCoPBS/status/1336777487548821513

Walter Isaacson did a good job of feigning interest in the book. 

The book sounds like a retread of well known facts. It's not exactly news that FDR was sick.  

[oakville]

57 minutes ago, nittany cougar said:

Walter Isaacson did a good job of feigning interest in the book. 

The book sounds like a retread of well known facts. It's not exactly news that FDR was sick.  

I found it amusing that Joe took the day off in order to do the interview with Walter but Walter was on Morning Joe today with Mika!

I wonder if Joe will be allowed to appear on CNN or Fox News.

[suomi]

On 12/8/2020 at 4:03 AM, plumbago blues said:

Anyone could have asked those questions. But there's Mika, front and center. Typical.

Mika probably hopes that by adding her to her KYV series, she's gained extra points with her soon to be boss. I hope not.

She jumped on that update to the original October interview right quick, didn't she? The time stamps on the promotion announcement and the update were 5:14pm and 5:24pm. Ten minutes. 

She reminds me of a spider somewhere, maybe in a basement, attuned to the slightest vibration in its web. Did you know that eating their prey is not a spider's only option? They can inject their victims with poison that turns everything inside the prey's outer shell to jelly. The jelly can be slurped now or enjoyed later, as long as the outer shell remains intact and tied up in the web. Like a pantry. 

She spun her sticky KYV web in the MSNBC environment and remains on constant alert for any hint of prey in the vicinity. She runs to keep her eight hairy legs in shape so she can launch herself with vigor when someone gets married, has a baby, gets a show or gets promoted. Also like a spider, she spins silk around her victims and stores them in her web for future enjoyment. No use slurping today what she might need down the road. Gah. 

[oakville]

38 minutes ago, suomi said:

She jumped on that update to the original October interview right quick, didn't she? The time stamps on the promotion announcement and the update were 5:14pm and 5:24pm. Ten minutes. 

She reminds me of a spider somewhere, maybe in a basement, attuned to the slightest vibration in its web. Did you know that eating their prey is not a spider's only option? They can inject their victims with poison that turns everything inside the prey's outer shell to jelly. The jelly can be slurped now or enjoyed later, as long as the outer shell remains intact and tied up in the web. Like a pantry. 

She spun her sticky KYV web in the MSNBC environment and remains on constant alert for any hint of prey in the vicinity. She runs to keep her eight hairy legs in shape so she can launch herself with vigor when someone gets married, has a baby, gets a show or gets promoted. Also like a spider, she spins silk around her victims and stores them in her web for future enjoyment. No use slurping today what she might need down the road. Gah. 

Suomi, I raise a glass of Sauvignon Blanc in your honor for that description of Mika ! It's so true.

[plumbago blues]

10 hours ago, suomi said:

She spun her sticky KYV web in the MSNBC environment and remains on constant alert for any hint of prey in the vicinity. She runs to keep her eight hairy legs in shape so she can launch herself with vigor when someone gets married, has a baby, gets a show or gets promoted. Also like a spider, she spins silk around her victims and stores them in her web for future enjoyment. No use slurping today what she might need down the road. Gah.  

This is perfection, Suomi! The only troubling thing is that she will see this as an accolade, something to be proud of, rather than what many might see as a flaw, that of scheming hubris. She always has to attach herself to someone else's glory.

[neona]

I still think casting Mika as some Cruella de Ville manipulative person is way, way off. yeah her website thingy is a bit bland and mainstream, but it seems pretty innocent to me, and I really have no doubt it's well-intentioned.

There's also no way she'd have the clout to "force" these women into doing interviews etc (especially higher-ups like Jones) - i'm pretty sure it's voluntary. The only thing to really fault her knowing your value thingy for is being a bit too insular and focusing in a circular way on wealthy comcast women as opposed to, you know, the rest of us, who are frankly fucked right now. 

But if people like Nicolle Wallace and Kasie Hunt say Mika actually helped launch their MSNBC careers, i choose to belive them bc why would *they* lie? Nicolle at this point has tons more clout than Mika tbh.      

Anyhoo, suomi, I happily separate style from substance so let me just say that spider thingy cracked me the fuck up and was beautifully written in an M Night Shyamalan kinda way, heh. Or it coulda been straight out of the Origin of Species. Timeless. 

[Kemper]

The other day I had HGTV on; there was a marathon (there is always always always a marathon) of the dark-haired Flipper in Chicago.  The woman with the two names - Allison Victoria; Alyson, Alison..yada yada.  And scary eyebrows. She is the one who got into trouble for substandard work or some such; had a messy, legal battle with her partner.  I digress.

Her show was on in the background while I cleaned up a mess that Barney (orange tabby) had made.  Since I was only listening, not watching, I started to notice how often she used the word "I" when talking.  It was constant; seemingly in every sentence.  That got me to thinking about Joe. And how much he loves talking about himself; so one day, when I am grumpy or vengeful, I will make note of how often he says "I'" it in a five minute period.  Sadly, this is what it has come to.  I am just so exhausted by the two of them and their smugness and self-promotion.  That is why I just drop by the show; the outrage and bragging are just too much for the early hours.  

[oakville]

22 hours ago, neona said:

 

But if people like Nicolle Wallace and Kasie Hunt say Mika actually helped launch their MSNBC careers, i choose to belive them bc why would *they* lie? Nicolle at this point has tons more clout than Mika tbh.      

 

Mika & Joe did give an interview to Vanity Fair a few years ago when they explained that they encouraged  MSNBC to get rid of the left leaning hosts hired after Obama became President like Toure, Kristall Ball & the female black professor from New Orleans & replace them with Kasie Hunt, Chuck Todd & Andrea Mitchell. Mika also approved of Kasie's marriage to Matt Rivera from MTP.

[oakville]

Here is the NY Times article on the infamous episode of Mika & Joe wearing sunglasses on the White House Lawn.

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/fashion/09JoeMika.html

[Kemper]

1 hour ago, oakville said:

Mika & Joe did give an interview to Vanity Fair a few years ago when they explained that they encouraged  MSNBC to get rid of the left leaning hosts hired after Obama became President like Toure, Kristall Ball & the female black professor from New Orleans & replace them with Kasie Hunt, Chuck Todd & Andrea Mitchell. Mika also approved of Kasie's marriage to Matt Rivera from MTP.

Per usual, it is always about them.  I love Kasie Hunt's reporter reporting; she is so good at it; but don't love her as a host.  Chuck Todd?  Is that really something to hang your hat on?  And I believe Andrea Mitchell (as much as she bores me to tears these days) earned her stripes as a reporter years before Joe and Meeka were Influencers! and power brokers at the network.   She Knew Her Value!....long before being an Influencer was a twinkle in wee Meeka's eye.  Andrea can still have The Chops when called for.  Hopefully nowadays she is wearing sleeves.  

[oakville]

4 hours ago, Kemper said:

Per usual, it is always about them.  I love Kasie Hunt's reporter reporting; she is so good at it; but don't love her as a host.  Chuck Todd?  Is that really something to hang your hat on?  And I believe Andrea Mitchell (as much as she bores me to tears these days) earned her stripes as a reporter years before Joe and Meeka were Influencers! and power brokers at the network.   She Knew Her Value!....long before being an Influencer was a twinkle in wee Meeka's eye.  Andrea can still have The Chops when called for.  Hopefully nowadays she is wearing sleeves.  

Mika did recommend the sleeveless dresses to Andrea Mitchell as a way to attract a younger male audience to the network. Mika also encouraged Andrea to spice up her wardrobe to keep her husband, former Federal Reserve Chairman Allan Greenspan excited in their relationship.

Mika is also the network's pregnancy counselor & keeps tabs on all the women's fertility cycles.

Mika took credit for Hallie Jackson, Katy Tur, Kasie Hunt & the reporter Ally's successful pregnancies. 

I

[neona]

ahhhh I know y'all are trolling but i feel bad because honestly Andrea Mitchell is like one of the few people on MSNBC who truly seems confident and comfortable in her own skin and just does her own thing, has her own creative instincts, just all irreverent and bold etc ... i actually really admire her for it. i wanna be her when i grow up tbh. 

Edited December 14, 2020 by neona

[Crashcourse]

I've liked Andrea for years, but when your arms start looking like raw chicken wings it's probably time to wear sleeves.

[neona]

I think she is really beautiful for her age, and has great style. i don't see why women should stop being comfortable in summer just because they get older. Buuuut YMMV of course.

17 hours ago, oakville said:

Here is the NY Times article on the infamous episode of Mika & Joe wearing sunglasses on the White House Lawn.

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/fashion/09JoeMika.html

man, I wish they would do something like this again. A lil bit of craziness is good for the soul.

[suomi]

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/why-does-morning-joe-throw-mika-toilet/

[suomi]

 

[plumbago blues]

"But hoping you’re not going to be flushed down the can isn’t the same thing as love."

From The Nation article. I don't why I liked that quote so much. But it does sum up the dynamic we've witnessed over the years.

I remember those clips and the situations Mika agreed to participate in. That's why (well, only one of the reasons why) her whole KYV campaign rings so hollow to me. 

[Eliot]

On 12/15/2020 at 5:12 AM, neona said:

man, I wish they would do something like this again. A lil bit of craziness is good for the soul.

It was fun reading that article, neona. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since that was published. I did have to chuckle at this quote though:

But when you ask them about their private lives, they gratefully extol their spouses — Joe’s wife, Susan, and Mika’s husband, Jim Hoffer — who understand their gruelling schedules. “Susan and Mika are very good friends, they’re in constant contact and love each other, and Jim is in the business himself,” Joe says.

As the kids say, “Oops!”

[suomi]

I watched a little more of the video a couple posts above, May 2013, the book tour for Obsessed. Gallivanting in DC while she was still married, his divorce finalized a few months back. Puppy dog eyes and giggles. Joe is still parting his hair on the other side, it doesn't stand up yet. The event host compares Mika to Michelle Obama in prominence.

She spots a baby in the audience and runs for it. Joe tells the audience she wants to hide behind the baby because she always looks for ways to hide her body. Uh huh. Everyone knows babies are big and you can hide a lot behind a baby. 

Joe says on the way to the event (about dieting and food obsessions) she kept saying "Do I look fat in this (tight little dress)? I look fat, don't I?" When wearing an outfit like that perhaps those questions are better asked of spouses and significant others. Oops. And she has already been wearing "this" every day at work for 6 years. Joe did his best to reassure her that she looks lovely.

The baby isn't interested, she has to give it back, Joe hands her a tiny cardigan sweater, wearing it won't hide her so she drapes it in her lap as if she is hiding behind it. Uh huh.

Joe was under a spell and couldn't see that hiding was the very last thing she wanted to do. But it played into his fantasy that he would be the one to bring the shy and insecure little thing out of her shell. Her short and tight little shell propped up on stilettos.

Currently, after he put a big ring on it she really does hide her body. There is a weird psychology playing out with these two. 

Edited December 17, 2020 by suomi
clarity

[plumbago blues]

5 hours ago, suomi said:

There is a weird psychology playing out with these two.

So true, I watched bits and pieces of that video and right away, at the beginning I said "Mika I can see your belly button...so, yeah, you're gonna look fat". The dress tugged around her belly and her little pooch was visible. Not exactly a good wardrobe choice if you're going to complain about your perfectly imperfect body. Leaving nothing to the imagination beckons the critic in everyone. I hated the way he ogled her. He seemed so smug; and acting like they were a married couple already. (Frankly, the most disturbing things about her from those sheath dress days were her knees, IMO. Distracting. I didn't notice anything else.)

[oakville]

Joe's rant got the attention of Newsbusters. He is a popular target.

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2020/12/17/ranting-scarborough-wants-rand-paul-sanctioned-lying

[suomi]

That still photo Newsbusters used ~~> wowzer.  

[neona]

I watched the clip thingy above and i don't really understand the problem about about the dress...? it looks like a totally normal dress to me. My mom just turned 60 and it looks like something she would wear in the summer? She's the most fun and interesting human I know and i can't imagine people telling her to dress like a boring nun because she's older and her knees or her arms are weird or whatever, she would just be like fuck that, LOL. 

But tbh the food stuff Mika talks about sounds really awful and crazy stressful. It's insane and ridiculous that something that should be happy like meals with your friends and family could be a cause of anxiety for some people...i honestly hope those who have this problem find a way to heal...

   

[oakville]

On 12/17/2020 at 11:16 PM, suomi said:

That still photo Newsbusters used ~~> wowzer.  

The photos capture the essence of Joe. There are rumors that Joe is working on a book with transcripts of his daily rants during the Trump administration.

[nittany cougar]

On 12/17/2020 at 11:42 AM, suomi said:

I watched a little more of the video a couple posts above, May 2013, the book tour for Obsessed. Gallivanting in DC while she was still married, his divorce finalized a few months back. Puppy dog eyes and giggles. Joe is still parting his hair on the other side, it doesn't stand up yet. The event host compares Mika to Michelle Obama in prominence.

She spots a baby in the audience and runs for it. Joe tells the audience she wants to hide behind the baby because she always looks for ways to hide her body. Uh huh. Everyone knows babies are big and you can hide a lot behind a baby. 

Joe says on the way to the event (about dieting and food obsessions) she kept saying "Do I look fat in this (tight little dress)? I look fat, don't I?" When wearing an outfit like that perhaps those questions are better asked of spouses and significant others. Oops. 

Joe was under a spell and couldn't see that hiding was the very last thing she wanted to do. But it played into his fantasy that he would be the one to bring the shy and insecure little thing out of her shell. Her short and tight little shell propped up on stilettos.

Currently, after he put a big ring on it she really does hide her body. There is a weird psychology playing out with these two. 

It is really weird for people who were married to others at the time.  I am married and would never ask my male co-worker what he thought of my clothing.  When you do that you're really asking the guy to notice your body. 

So I think that Mika was fishing for compliments and attention that she probably wasn't getting at home. As for Joe, I can't imagine that his wife would be happy for him to talk about his co-host's looks.  

My theory about Mika's current clothing is that she wants to tone it down because Joe is insecure about men noticing her.  They have both kind of turned into lazy slobs wardrobe-wise. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by nittany cougar