Of course, the obvious answer is to sack hacks like Squint and the Meat Puppet...embarrassments like Al Sharpton...and excruciating Chuck Todd-wannabe Steve Kornacki...and replaced them with interesting, intelligent people.
But that's never going to happen for reasons no one inside the family will ever discuss.
So how about this?
Today -- right now -- announce that every Republican candidate for president who does not make the cut for Roger Ailes' Cattle Auction will be invited to participate in an actual counter-programmed debate on MSNBC. The MSNBC debate will be held the same night as the Roger Ailes' Cattle Auction (talk to your demographers about whether programming it immediately before, during or immediately after would be most effective) will be moderated by Chris Hayes, Rachael Maddow and Joy Ann Reid and will feature real-time fact checking of every assertion-of-fact every candidate makes.
You're welcome.
3 comments:
Brilliant!
If only we lived in a world where it might happen.
So the obvious first point...there is no acceptable rationale to explain how Driftglass is not gainfully employed in the occupation of his choice. My second unnecessarily belabored point is that this is too simple and elegant of a solution to ever be seriously considered by the decision makers in that pile of candidates and TV types.
That would require a level of awareness that most candidates for political office, their handlers and the mainstream media execs simply don't possess.
I am noticing that there is a shift in our expectations moving toward sensibility and authenticity. We will have elected and electable people like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to thank for that sea change when it comes about. That is not to suggest that things like image making, poll testing and other political sleights of hand are past their peak, but if the plan Driftglass proposes could be pulled off, the whole paradigm of how campaigns are run could evolve into something more engaging than what we've been exposed to since Harry Truman's day.
While this passel of unqualified, uninformed and unserious republican contenders aren't about to go along with a proposition that MSNBC won't make anyway, this is the type of idea that can actually be converted to action at some point (hopefully) soon.
I may sound naive, but I believe that a lot of engaged people would be more energized if this happens. In an election that is likely to be decided by the votes in just a few states, it should make sense to a candidate out in the hinterlands of electability to get his/her message out to an audience that doesn't occupy the pews in the Cathedral of Ailes.
Even though we all know that at this time and place we won't see these folks take advantage of this great opportunity but I know that we are going to get there one day.
MSNBC, like the rest of the mainstream media, exists to see to it that things like this don't happen.
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