All In With Chris Hayes - General Discussion

[netlyon2]

I'm so relieved that the Ferguson grand jury announcement is scheduled for 8pm.  I was worried that it would happen during Hardball and I'd have to endure Tweety's bumbling through the topic.  With the reporting that Chris H. has already done on the topic, I feel confident that the verdict (no matter which way it goes) will be treated with the respect, thoughtfulness, and common sense that such an issue deserves.

[Sharpie66]

During the 10:00 (CST) livecast, Chris was talking with someone when all of the sudden "POPPOPPOP", and they both half-ducked and Chris said, "That's gunfire!" Then they were told that they had to pull back.

[Wax Lion]

Sigh. In discussing the Sony hack, Ari was talking with two cybersecurity experts. When one turned out to be from the Heritage Foundation, I initially scoffed and almost dismissed everything he said before hearing him. However, I convinced myself to give him a chance since that kind of expertise probably means he'll have to say things other than stupid Fox News blather. I should have listened to my first instinct since he seemed largely concerned with calling Hollywood hypocrites for not criticizing North Korea more. (I wouldn't be surprised if he used the phrase "liberal Hollywood" he was such a cliche.)

[attica]

In tonight's coverage of the Sony hack, the former Sony exec made (and remade) the claim that 'this isn't Sony's fight to fight.' Which, okay, I get on the level that if it's the action of a nation state, the response should be bigger than just a corporate response. On the other hand, however, that attitude pisses me off. Sure, corporations, take all the profits, and if there are losses or burdens to bear, well, that's on the taxpayers. Go ahead and sit back and let everybody clean up what is your fiduciary mess.

 

Rachel's coverage seems to be backing up my position on this, which cheers me up inordinately.

[attica]

OMG, little Ryan Hayes is Teh Cute!!!! I hope she got extra squeezes for tossing to the break. Or, you know, a union card. :)

[Sharpie66]

Loved Chris's defense of Chris Christie's Cowboys fandom! "Once you choose [your club while in childhood], you cannot change or deviate. You must <i>suffer</i>, as I have [as a Chicago sports fan]. Of course, the Cubs are perhaps the most finely engineered machine to producing human misery ever known to man."

Preach it, Chris, preach it...

Edited January 6, 2015 by Sharpie66

[Wax Lion]

I was way too amused by Chris' fake advice column.

[Sharpie66]

11:00 time slot Chris gets the Frozen reference FTW!! "I am Chris Hayes, standing outside in a blizzard. We'll be back because the cold never bothered me anyway."

Hee!

Edited to add: OMG, he added a Peter Gabriel riff when explaining "bombogenesis"!!! That was brilliant.

Edited January 27, 2015 by Sharpie66

[M. Darcy]

That was amazing to watch - the funniest episode ever.

[Wax Lion]

God, I hope they plan of repeating it in the future. That was too funny to only air once.

[attica]

I've been tuning out of/ fast-forwarding through Up on the weekends, because so much of the show lately has been devoted to horse-race/predictions/what-ifs, which I find neither enlightening nor entertaining. So I was trepidatious about last night's hour of All In. Fortunately, the game was played for laffs, which made it fun for me.

 

I especially liked:

• Joy's flashing the Beyoncé "Single Ladies" gesture at Huckabee; Chris explaining said gesture it for the olds in the audience.
• Chris's use of 'yooge' as a descriptor, and spelling it out just that way.
• The crowd chanting HRC! and Mitt! Mitt!. That's so derpy, I couldn't help but be charmed.

 

We will note, speaking of Mitt, that Sam's roster has had its first bust of the season. So soon to be so disappointed, poor thing. I wonder if Mitt timed his announcement to spite him particularly. :)

[Wax Lion]

Too bad I couldn't find a video where Chris says "on a Reddit AMA, the palm tree spilled the beans" online. That sentence just begged to be shared.

[Sharpie66]

I loved his sneaking in a Jaws reference in there--the one he chose to use was a bit macabre (the Kittner kid spilling out onto the dock), but that made it even funnier.

[M. Darcy]

I'm not a fan of Michael Steele but I think last night proved my theory that he was the last sane man in the Republican Party. 

[attica]

Yeah, he was surprising off-book (the wingnut play-book, that is) on the vaxx subject. A point to him.

[Wax Lion]

By the way, here's a link where you can see the Vaccination documentary Chris discussed Monday. Some of the media clips are infuriating.

[nowandlater]

MSNBC shakeup....?

 

http://www.thewrap.com/inside-msnbcs-impending-shakeup-cancellations-reboots-and-chief-phil-griffin/

[attica]

The lady Chris had on to discuss net neutrality looked and sounded so much like comedian Maria Bamford, I kept waiting for her to do a funny voice.

 

If they yank All In from the 8:00 hour, part of me hopes they move Rachel up.

[shok]

MSNBC shakeup....?

 

http://www.thewrap.com/inside-msnbcs-impending-shakeup-cancellations-reboots-and-chief-phil-griffin/

 

I don't understand why Chris doesn't get better ratings. He's smart, funny, very intelligent, has interesting guests on his show and delves into subjects often not covered by others.

 

One thing I wish MSNBC as a whole would lay off is all their coverage of the idiocies of the Republican presidential candidates and pay a little bit of attention and give some air time to potential Democratic candidates. The constant mocking of the right wingers gets tiresome after awhile on show after show after show regardless of who the hosts are and certainly doesn't attract new viewers. The right won't watch, of course, the left knows they're idiots and get tired of the constant cuckoo sound bites which aren't often refuted with facts, and the middle is just fed up with the bickering and fighting. MSNBC is the only cable network where progressive values and policies could be touted and find an audience but instead we're inundated with right wing nonsense. No wonder their ratings are down.

[Egg]

I watch Chris on occasion and enjoy him but I can't watch too much because a) Chris, more than anyone else among the evening broadcasters, treats his show like New York local news. It's really off-putting. And b) he's a pretty big know-it-all, and I feel like his inner monologue is always "I'm so much smarter and wittier than anyone who's ever existed."

 

I like him in small doses but I'm not surprised that he isn't blowing everyone out of the water.

[attica]

Well, I'll admit I was relieved to hear Chris obliquely admit last night that broadcasting while driving around in a blizzard was not the best use of a news program's hour. May they all take a lesson!

[DXD526]

Well, I'll admit I was relieved to hear Chris obliquely admit last night that broadcasting while driving around in a blizzard was not the best use of a news program's hour.

 

That's a new 'thing', apparently, my local newscast did it the other night. They were on the highway in the middle of a snow storm while a car fishtailed in front of them. Real smart. A bad idea that for some reason is catching on.

[stormy]

Chris totally missed the irony in the Scott Walker didn't graduate from college story and does it matter if he aspires to be POTUS?

His current state budget proposal will cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin system over the next two years.

Good work electing this guy three times in four years.

[Wax Lion]

I was waiting for Chris to bring that up, he brought up both facts separately but didn't tie it together.

[Wax Lion]

Sigh. So Oklahoma wants to dump (excuse me "find alternatives" so I guess they're signing up for the International Baccalaureate program, riiiight) AP history because it's not "Murrica effyeah!" enough.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Sigh. So Oklahoma wants to dump (excuse me "find alternatives" so I guess they're signing up for the International Baccalaureate program, riiiight) AP history because it's not "Murrica effyeah!" enough.

 

I heard about that yesterday, it made me really depressed :(. Nothing like dumbing others down for the sake of wanting to teach them only your side of history.

[attica]

With the cancellation of Ronan's and Joy's shows, speculation is heating up that Rachel will be moved to the 8 o'clock hour to replace All In. I like this show a lot, but I think Rachel would be stronger in the time slot. I hope they don't can Chris entirely though. He's a valuable asset.

[Sharpie66]

Yeah, I saw this article about the shakeup over at MSNBC and had the same hope that they don't get rid of Chris entirely.

 

(I did find this description of Al Sharpton's on-camera style very funny: "[T]he Rev. Al Sharpton—a larger than life personality who attracts a 35 percent African-American audience but continues, after 3½ years of nightly practice, to wrestle with his Teleprompter--could eventually be moved from his weeknight 6 p.m. slot to a weekend time period...")

[AntiBeeSpray]

With the cancellation of Ronan's and Joy's shows, speculation is heating up that Rachel will be moved to the 8 o'clock hour to replace All In. I like this show a lot, but I think Rachel would be stronger in the time slot. I hope they don't can Chris entirely though. He's a valuable asset.

 

I hope they don't can Chris either. He's not perfect, but he's a hard worker.

[shok]

I hope they don't can Chris either. He's not perfect, but he's a hard worker.

 

An MSNBC spokesperson has said that neither Chris or Rachel are going anywhere. Thank goodness.

[Wax Lion]

The thing is, I get the impression that Chris is the direction Phil Griffin wants MSNBC to take -- thoughtful, more policy focused than chasing sensationalism or featuring the loudest pundits for attention. I think the additional hires support that impression, MSNBC isn't hiring as many political operatives as much as people like Janet Mock and Tom Colicchio who are experts in particular issues. I suspect the goal is to get the Tumblr audience, that's pretty young and has a strong interest in equality issues.... except that MSNBC Tumblr pages are pretty awful.

 

I suspect that it's going to come down how much Griffin can defend his vision from Comcast corporate.

[Wax Lion]

The Daily Show had what sounded like a frustrated dig at the cancellation rumors with a joke about "msnbcitis" where basically you try to stick with facts "while bespectacled" while trying to explain things to idiots who keep failing to understand. "Symptoms include cancellation"

 

Unless Ronan or Joy wore glasses on their shows.

[attica]

I liked the panel on the Oscars; I thought many good points were made. However, they fell into (....again) the trap that libs often do, re: P-Arq's comments. I know they're problematic in precisely the ways the panel did, but why do we on the left always make Perfect the enemy of Good? Patricia's point about 'it's goddamn time, people' is what we should be focusing on. The right will do the 'no, because: reasons' work for us, why do we have to help them?

 

A million floating hearts are circling around me today because Chris asked Greenwald "who were you wearing?". God, that was beautiful.

[Wax Lion]

I love that Chris is decided to spotlight the different Hillary faux-scandals. I remember the Clinton campaign and the way the media seemed like a bunch of old fogeys aghast at things people my age took for granted. I forgot what a controversy it was that Hillary thought she could do more than look pretty standing behind Bill and I didn't realize the First Lady cookie bake-off started with Clinton, but in hindsight it makes sense.

 

I wonder if Gennifer Flowers is another segment. The surreal part of that came (IIRC) when Hillary defended Bill saying she wasn't a "stand by your man kind of woman" and reporters went to Tammy Wynette for comment. I remember someone getting a lot of media time for being horribly offended on Ms Wynette's behalf (not Leslie Jordan, unfortunately) while she tried to stay out of it. It was the only reason I knew who Tammy Wynette was when she performed the vocals on "Justified & Ancient" (it was a hit techno song that came out a few weeks later).

[Sharpie66]

I lovelovelove the idea of "Hilary Clinton for Millenials"!

 

It's a great idea, but it still will never fully demonstrate the complete lunacy of the scandal fever that DC and the media wallowed in for 8 years (well, 9, if you include the campaign before the '92 election, and a few extra months after if you include the lingering effects of Pardongate). I cannot wait for him to get to the truly evil attempt to pin Foster's suicide on both of the Clintons.

[Wax Lion]

This has to end with the Clinton body count. That had to be the peak batshittery. I'm not sure if the right has been able to reach that point with Obama.

[The Solution]

What's awesome about "Hillary Clinton for Millenials" is that it reminds us that Hillary had a southern accent back then.

[stormy]

I noticed that southern accent too. I really don't get it. Did she acquire it to fit in in Arkansas?

[Wax Lion]

I thought Hillary said she tends to pick up that southern accent if she's surrounded by it. It came up in another potential faux controversy, during the 2008 campaign she attended a civil rights commemoration and spoke with a bit of a southern accent. People accused her of faking it and MSNBC hosts dug up tape from Hillary's Arkansas years where the accent is stronger.

[shok]

This has to end with the Clinton body count. That had to be the peak batshittery. I'm not sure if the right has been able to reach that point with Obama.

 

Which is worse? Outlandish claims about what you did(n't do) or attacks against who you are(n't)? I sort of think the nut jobs denial of Obama's right to exist is worse than fairy tales from lala land. (It goes without saying that both should be unacceptable.)

[M. Darcy]

Chris is a nerd!!  Says the person who got no work done at all yesterday afternoon once the trailer hit the internet.

[Sharpie66]

Not just a nerd, but a Star Wars purist (like me)!!  He hates the prequel trilogy as much as I do.

 

Even better was the use of the MST3K silhouettes (I have a Ghostbusters dvd that has the three participants in silhouette form while they're doing their commentary, and it makes me laugh every time).

[M. Darcy]

There were no prequels!  They never existed.

 

And, I know he borrowed it from Proust which he said, but his explanation of why seeing Han and Chewie got such a reaction was spot on.  I seriously yelped out loud when I saw them at the end of the trailer - even though I already knew they were in the movie so it wasn't a surprise.

[nowandlater]

I generally record Maddow, Lawrence, Hardball and Chris.

 

The percentage of each I watch is something like:

 

Maddow: 75%

Last Word: 35%

All In: 15%

Hardball: 2%

 

But I'm really enjoying Chris a lot more these days. Whilee it seems to me like Maddow has been kinda wonky and boring lately, Chris is kind of diverse and interesting (well, except for the Sean Penn segment tonight).
 

I love Hillary for Millennials, even though I'm not a millennial. (Clinton took office during my first year of high school. And I ended up writing an AP govt' paper on Hillary.)

 

I take issue, though, with his use of Saved by the Bell graphics. Yes, millennials are obsessed with the '90s. But Saved is a Gen X thing. The Saved by the Bell class (and Beverly Hills 90210 class) graduated from high school a few months after Clinton became president in 1993. And people who were born in 1993 are graduating from college.

 

Anyways, here's my pick for the most surreal moment from the Gennifer Flowers controversy.

Edited April 18, 2015 by nowandlater

[stormy]

What a frustrating interview Chris had with Judith Miller last night.

I thought he might just call her a lying tool for the Bush administration to her face. Which she was and still is.

I would have to hear her explain that why after the shit hit the fan she was only invited on FOX?

[M. Darcy]

I thought he was going to do it a few times but never did.  She still won't admit what she did - not that anyone else did from the Administration. 

[attica]

With the horserace reporting in full force, the only show's approach I can still stand is All In's Fantasy Draft. That Chris continues to make it all about the Drafters and not about the candidates, with appropriate trash-talk, always makes me smile. (Seder better step up! Time's a-wasting!)

[Sharpie66]

And Denny Hastert gets busted.

 

I wasn't surprised to see Andy Shaw appear on All In to delve into Denny's Illinois political background. I was hoping that Chris would bring him on, not just because he's Chris's FIL, but because Andy is an icon in political reporting in the state, especially in Chicago--he reported on the subject for the local ABC affiliate since the 1980s until only recently when he retired from the daily reporting grind.

 

(Hastert's from just up the road from where I grew up. When he was Speaker and would head home for the Labor Day break, he would bring back caramel apples from Dan's Candies in Joliet to share with his fellow congress critters; I've heard a few long-term staffers and congresspeople say that they miss those apples. Understandable, since they are yummy! Also, his cousins started and still operate a Joliet-area restaurant that is equally legendary, White Fence Farm, which is known for its excellent fried chicken and amazing corn fritters.)

[attica]

Yeah, I was watching that news wondering why the victim of blackmail is the one under indictment rather than the blackmailer, but I read this morning that there's a lot of prosecutorial leeway in these cases depending upon what-all the blackmail is about. Which means this is going to get way crazier.

[etexlady]

Chris, Chris, please come back to Up on Saturday/Sunday AM.  If you can't do that, please teach Steve K. (1) how to dress - there are other things he can wear besides khaki pants and a light blue shirt; (2) if he insists on wearing the light blue shirt, please show him that those things on the sleeves are cuffs and they have buttons so he doesn't have to roll them up and show his hairless arms; (3) and, most of all, tell him to BE STILL - those constant waving hand gestures drive me insane.  Thank you.