Posts filed under ‘MSNBC, NBC, CNBC / GE (General Electric)’
Our Disgusting “News” Media
I kid you not: MSNBC just interviewed a lady named Irene who is getting married on Saturday.
Un. Believe. Able.
Get the Mark Halperin ExxonMobil App Now!
Mark Halperin is a commentator on MSNBC’s “liberal” morning show, “Morning Joe,” starring GOP’er Joe Scarborough.
He is also the “senior political analyst” for Time magazine and for Time.com and oh, a few weeks ago he was suspended from MSNBC for calling President Obama “a dick.”
Read more about the alleged professionalism (cough) of this “journalist” here.
Anyway, Halperin’s got a new gig and a new app and guess what? It’s sponsored by ExxonMobil!
So, the next time you see Mark Halperin on the teevee, remember: He unabashedly — he’s proud of it – takes money from ExxonMobil. I.e., they own him so he just might, you know, (for example) advocate against global warming because it’s ah, “controversial.” And he might say a Democratic president is a dick because that dick doesn’t capitulate to the corporations who want to have their way with our planet.
USA! USA! Where corporations control the news so they can fuck the people who watch it.
We the (Invisible) People
The media is covering “the markets” today from the perspective of the top 2%:
Lying Billionaire Winger: Obama Hates America Because He Doesn’t Wear a Suit Jacket in the Oval Office Every. Single. Minute.
This would be Ken Langone, the co-founder of the Home Depot, on CNBC last Thursday:
“Let me make it very clear, and I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of hate mail because of this, and that’s okay,” Langone said. “I think our sitting president is acting so unpresidential …. He is dividing us as a nation. He is not bringing us together. He’s willfully dividing us. He’s petulant. …
“The reality is we believe in a government of three legs, all equal. So if (House Speaker John) Boehner and (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid — well, Reid will do whatever (Obama) tells him — if Boehner had said I am not coming unless you speak to me in a respectful way, I am third in line to the president, (then I won’t come).
“Ronald Reagan would never go into the Oval Office without his jacket on — that’s how much he revered the presidency. This guy (Obama) worked like hell to be president, okay? He’s got it. Behave like a president.”
Langone isn’t exactly a spring chicken so you’d think he might have a smidgen of historical reference to draw on but I guess not. Let’s help him out.
Here’s Reagan not behaving like a president:
Ah! Say it ain’t so already. Here’s W being petulant:
Oops. Then again, facts be damned right?
I wonder if CNBC issued a correction. (Now that would be breaking news.)
Congrats to Chris Hayes But Chris, Please, Don’t Become an Insider!
MSNBC has hired the wonderful Chris Hayes:
The Nation’s Washington editor Christopher L. Hayes will join MSNBC as host of a new weekend morning show, MSNBC announced today. The new program will debut September 17, 2011. Further details about the program will be announced in the coming weeks. Hayes will remain at The Nation as its editor-at-large.
[...]
“When I hired Chris some thought it was a gamble, bringing on a 28-year-old to run the DC bureau. I knew then what so many have come to recognize—he was a star: an intellectual omnivore, a person of integrity, independent mind, with an unwavering commitment to journalistic excellence,” said The Nation‘s editor and publisher, Katrina vanden Heuvel.
Love that — He’s an “intellectual omnivore.” That’s for sure. He has an amazing brain.
Anyway, let’s hope he doesn’t get sucked into the insider hole, like they tried to do to Cenk Uygur.
“Liberal” Blog Cheers Obama/Boehner Deal
This is how far right our politics have gone. This is the headline from the radical, liberal, socialist Huffington Post:
This, sadly, is the new norm in the “liberal media” but as for me and my friends? Our heads are exploding.
MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan Thinks Murdering Liberal Kids Might be a Good Thing
This would be Pat Buchanan, the former Republican presidential candidate and a guy MSNBC (that liberal bastion) holds out as their wise old sage:
Today, in a World Net Daily op-ed, failed presidential candidate and conservative pundit Pat Buchanan offers an example of the ethnic bigotry and racial insensitivity that has come to define him. Offering his take on the horrendous terrorist attacks in Norway, Buchanan joined the Wall Street Journal and the Jerusalem Post in arguing that the far-right extremist perpetrator Anders Breivik may have had a valid point.
[...]
As for a climactic conflict between a once-Christian West and an Islamic world that is growing in numbers and advancing inexorably into Europe for the third time in 14 centuries, on this one, Breivik may be right, [Buchanan said].
There are lots of posts up about this today but for the most part the wording of the articles are way too deferential to home boy Pat. (You know: misspoke and stuff like that.) It’s time to cut through the crap. Pat thinks mowing some people down (liberals and Muslims I presume) is, hey, a good thing.
He’d be off the air if he was an Ed Schultz, a Cenk Uygur or a Keith Olbermann, all MSNBC’ers who’ve been disciplined or fired for not being a part of the establishment. So, this is “the establishment??
If Larry Kudlow Backs Harry Reid’s Plan, I’m Scared as Hell
This would be let-them-eat-cake corporatist Larry Kudlow on Harry Reid’s “deficit reduction plan,” which Obama endorses:
What’s so bad about the Reid plan?
The big sticking points between the House GOP leadership and Sen. Harry Reid’s latest plan are 1) the House wants two debt increases, one this year and one next year (Reid has just one increase) and 2) the House Republicans want a guaranteed balanced-budget-amendment vote.
Regarding the Reid plan itself, it really looks like a Republican plan: A $2.7 trillion spending cut to raise the debt ceiling by something like $2.5 trillion, and no tax revenues. So, really, what’s so bad about the Reid plan? Increasingly, Wall Street gurus want one debt-ceiling increase, not two.
Time for some Quaaludes. Oh, and I think we’re watching the implosion of the Democratic Party.
Huge Explosion in Norway
10:06 p.m. ET:
Norway: Blast near prime minister’s office in Oslo
A large explosion has hit near government headquarters in the Norwegian capital Oslo.
The blast is thought to have caused damage to the offices of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and a number of other official buildings.
Witnesses have said several people were injured in the incident in the centre of the city.
Pictures from the scene showed shattered windows and smoke drifting in the streets.
A journalist with Norwegian public radio station NRK said the headquarters of tabloid newspaper VG were also damaged.
As I post this, the U.S. cable “news” networks are covering: Fox - the deficit negotiations; CNN – the deficit negotiations; MSNBC – the heat wave.
UPDATE: 10:31 p.m. ET: U.S. cables still aren’t covering it. Follow Doug Sanders of the Globe & Mail here for updates.
(Image via.)
“People in Washington” Were Concerned About Cenk Uygur’s “Tone”
Here is Cenk Uygur explaining why he is “out” at MSNBC:
Bottom line:
I got pulled in and they told me, ‘Hey, listen.’ Ah, we were just, or it was actually one specific person, the head of MSNBC. He said, ‘ I was just in Washington and people in Washington tell me that they’re concerned about your tone. … Outsiders are cool. I’d love to be an outsider, but we’re not. We’re the establishment.’ He said, ‘Look, you’ve gotta tone it down.’
Cenk refused to “tone it down” so now he’s out.
Think about it. Cenk asked actual questions of coddled potentates in D.C., something they’re not accustomed to and don’t like. They want to be free to yammer on without regard to whether what they say is true or not. So they went crying to the head of MSNBC and got that pesky Uygur fired so they could continue to lie their asses off without being challenged.
What this tells us is that the “journalist” on the cable “news” shows and the major networks are acceptable to the “people in Washington.” So, why watch any of it? It’s a farce.
And we thought we had a free press.
Slow-News-Day Fear Mongering
Gosh, golly, gee. It seems the 24/7-what-are-we-gonna-do-to-fill-all-that-time cable “news” shows covered a “terror alert” this evening (absent a “high-speed” LA car chase), as in a “suspicious package” at the White House:
Thank God I missed it.
Think: Manufactured fear because the cables are lazy ass, cheap “news” organizations and turning a “suspicious package” into an hour’s worth of “news” is easy.
Bye-Bye MSNBC
It’s official. MSNBC is done with Cenk Uygur. Stay tuned. Tomorrow Uygur will hold a teleconference during which he will ”boldly discuss his departure…” Sounds juicy.
Anyway, this means Rachel Maddow is the only real “liberal” remaining at the network.
Oh well. Take it away CurrentTV.
Is Cenk Uygur Out at MSNBC?
Dateline: July 16, 2011:
Cenk Uygur was thrust onto the MSNBC schedule in January, when Keith Olbermann‘s departure set in motion several host changes on the progressive channel’s lineup.
Now TVNewser hears Uygur may be moved out of the 6pm hour, possibly to be replaced by Al Sharpton. When the host changes happened earlier this year, the 6pm hour was simply known as “MSNBC Live,” a telling sign that MSNBC was trying out Uygur.
Sharpton has hosted the 6pm show for the last two weeks. This past week, the hour was second, to Fox News, in A25-54 viewers Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Insiders tell us that Uygur will remain a part of MSNBC in some capacity. His site, The Young Turks, says Uygur has been on vacation and will return Monday.
Today is Monday and Al Sharpton hosted the 6:00 p.m. hour on MSNBC.
If MSNBC thinks I’m doing to watch Al Sharpton they’re insane. I read an article several years ago (by whom and where I have no idea) about how the “liberal media” seems to think Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are leaders in the black community but members of the black community don’t feel that way at all. They know how to play they game and they play by the rules so they’re thrown on the tube so media execs can say, “Hey, we have blacks on our channel.”
Why Did Al Sharpton Fill in for Cenk Uygur This Week?
Just wondering — what’s with Al Sharpton filling in for Cenk Uygur this week? Where was the amazing Chris Hayes (who is worthy of his own show) not to mention other potential hosts
David Barsamian for one — who would have energized the viewers no end.
Is Al Sharpton really — really?! — the best MSNBC can do?
Speaking of Dicks
The big brouhaha last week was that Time magazine’s dickhead editor, Mark Halperin, was suspended from MSNBC for saying that President Obama seemed like “kind of a dick” during his June 30 press conference. Meekly calling GOPers out for holding the United States hostage in the debt ceiling negotiation means to D.C. pundits that you’re “kind of a dick.” I.e., Democrats should just shut the fuck up.
I have a problem with someone being suspended for calling the president a dick. Last I knew, it wasn’t a crime to call the president a name. That said, look at this old Richard Nixon campaign button:
(Image via.)
Imagine the scandal if that was around today.
Geezus. As a nation, we are becoming oppressively conservative.
(As an aside, I think that’s a union-made label there on the lower right. Horrors!)
About Mark Halperin Calling Obama “Kind of a Dick”
The internet is abuzz this afternoon with faux outrage over Mark Halperin, the editor of Time magazine and a “political analyst” at MSNBC saying this morning that President Obama was “kind of a dick” yesterday at his press conference. It’s as if we’re in kindergarten and the kids are snickering and pointing over to lil’ ol’ Mark who’s standing in the corner facing the wall because he got in trouble. (MSNBC has since suspended Halperin “indefinitely” as if to prove it cares about the quality of commentary on its airwaves.)
But the snickers and gossip and the suspension totally miss the point, IMHO:
The real problem is the dickishness of our mainstream political analysis, especially from the “savviest” practitioners. Back during my days as media critic, I argued in Breaking the News and a related Atlantic cover story B that the laziest and ultimately most destructive form of political coverage came when journalists seemed to imagine that they were theater critics or figure-skating judges. The what of public affairs didn’t interest them. All they cared about was the how.
In this case, the “what” of Obama’s press conference — the unbelievable recklessness of mainly House Republicans in inviting the largest self-inflicted economic wound in American history — deserves every bit of frustration Obama showed, and lots more. In the long run we’ll have some sense of whether Obama’s typical surreal unflappability, whatever its origins (I have my theories, but for another time), was the wisest long-term response to today’s Republican party — and whether this unusual flash of emotion worked in directing public attention to a looming and entirely unnecessary blow to America’s wellbeing.
But the real news of the press conference, of course, was the economic, financial, political, and Constitutional showdown Obama was discussing. Not to understand that, and to act as if this was a free-skate program where a contestant should be judged on poise, costume, and sticking the landings, is just dickish.
Bravo, and that about sums up what’s wrong with our media in general.
Says it All
Watch this amazing video compilation from TalkingPointsMemo showing how all three cable “news” networks cut away from a presser being given by Nancy Pelosi immediately after she announced she was there to talk about jobs, and would not comment on Anthony Weiner:
I just heard MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell say that Weiner had to resign because coverage of other news “just stopped” and Democrats couldn’t get any other messages out (about the deficit, Medicare, etc.).
Well Andrea, given that ya’ll cut away from Pelosi when she wanted to talk about jobs, you tell me who has control over that.
This is such clear proof that if it bleeds it leads and our 24/7 cable “news” organizations don’t deserve the privilege of being called that.
Yes, “Weinergate” Was the “News” Last Week
If you watched cable “news” last week, you probably wondered: Is there anything else happening other than the Anthony Weiner scandal?
The answer is essentially no. Check out this graph showing how much time the cable “news” channels devoted to the Weiner story last week:
33%. 33%!
So, considering all the things that happen every day all around the world, the cables spent 33% of their “news” time talking about Anthony Weiner.
I think it’s insulting.
Read more here at the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
MSNBC Suspends Ed Schultz
Ed Schulz said this today:
President Obama is going to be visiting Joplin, Mo., on Sunday but you know what they’re talking about, like this right-wing slut, what’s her name? Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she’s a talk slut. You see, she was, back in the day, praising President Reagan when he was drinking a beer overseas. But now that Obama’s doing it, they’re working him over.
And as a result, NBC/MSNBC suspended him “indefinitely.”
(1) Though I agree with the substance of what Schultz said, calling a woman a “slut” is about as low as a man can go. Is Ed trying to be MSNBC’s Glenn Beck? Going totally freakin’ overboard?
(2) Rush has said worse. Hannity has said worse. O’Reilly has said worse. Beck has said worse. Tammy Bruce has said worse. Mark Levin has said worse. (To name but a few.)
(3) Why does one side apologize and suspend while others don’t (I’m lookin’ at you Fox)?
and
(6) Thanks to Obama’s FCC, Comcast owns NBC/MSNBC. Is Schultz naive enough to believe he isn’t on the chopping block?
Comcast is all conservative corportocracy, all the time.
Rachel is next.
The free speech standards for liberals are different than they are for conservatives.
Michael Steele Joins MSNBC
Michael Steele, the outspoken and unguarded former Republican National Committee chairman, has inked a deal for the job he was born for: talking head on cable news.
MSNBC announced Monday morning in POLITICO’s Playbook that Steele will join the network as a political analyst, contributing regularly to its programming.
Howard Fineman: Fox is in Control
Quickie: Howard Fineman on “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell four minutes ago:
Re: Fox: “We only get to report on the candidates they take seriously.”
What?
Fox dictates who you “get to report?”
Geez Louise.
Sad. Especially since Fineman thinks of himself as a big bad DC, ahem, “journalist” along these lines.
FCC Commissioner Cashes in on Comcast Merger Vote
This — the Tweet of the day — is disgusting and it should be outlawed. FCC (and other) commission members are supposed to be regulating companies, not voting with dollar signs in their heads, hoping for a cash reward:
I wonder if Comcast promised to make Baker a $enior VP five days before the vote or five hours.
UPDATE: Oh, now we learn Baker will be a lobbyist for Comcast. That’s even more nauseating.
Chris Matthews: “Stunned” About Continued Birther Stuff
Forest for the trees: This would be Chris Matthews tonight on Hardball:
I was stunned so many were pushing the birther angle today.
That, after Chris Matthews and MSNBC pushed the birther angle all day.
The Donald Whines About Privilege?
One last thing and then I’m done with this: Donald Trump inherited millions of
from his father, yet he’s implying Barack Obama may have had a hand-up getting into Harvard?
Cable “News” is Unwatchable Today
Cable “news” is unwatchable today. Nothing but Donald Trump/birther stuff (oh, and now they’re taking The Donald’s lead and moving on to questioning Obama’s college credentials).
(HEAR ME SCREAMING?)
Are we to believe the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate is the most important thing on the planet?
What’s With MSNBC’s Infatuation With Pat Buchanan?
Does Pat Buchanan own a piece of 30 Rock or NBC? Seriously. Why is he a regular on MSNBC? When I see him there I turn the channel.
He was an advisor to Richard Nixon for God’s sake. Someone, anyone, please, please, please tell me what he brings to the conversation and what MSNBC sees in him. What’s with his lock on being on their air?
Otoolefan sent today’s Tweet of the Day:
Dinosaur is right. A fossilized dinosaur.
Geezus.
NBC Covers the Royal Wedding
Just caught the tail end of a segment on “Morning Joe.” They’re in London, of course, covering the royal wedding. Joe asked one of their reporters what he had coming up today and the guy said he did a piece on the Windsors, so people would know what Kate Middleton’s “in-laws are like.”
Joe asked the guy (sorry, I didn’t catch his name) how long the Windsors have been in power. He didn’t know.
I gather the piece is going to be all that in-depth.
(Filed under “Dumbed Down.”)
MSNBC’s Royal Wedding Schizophrenia
Promo just now (@10:54 p.m. ET) on MSNBC: “What can Americans learn from British politics, economy, and culture — next week on MSNBC.”
Yeah, right. We believe that.
“Lean forward” into MSNBC trying to turn the royal wedding into an intellectual exercise.
Lame.
Celebrity Apprentice — NBC’s Shameless Promotion of Trump the Birther
OMG. NBC/MSNBC are going nuts over Donald Trump-the-birther and (slapping hand to forehead) it finally dawned on me as to why. It’s because this is a huge PR deal for the dang network which is high on a new season of “Celebrity Apprentice:”
Hey folks, let’s not dumb ourselves down. It ain’t about “the news.” As always, it’s about the same ol’ same ol’: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
