Monday, April 10, 2017

Sunday Morning Party Line


The Eleventh Labor of Hercules Edition.

When you see our media's Sunday shows for what they are -- a ritualized political puppet theater that reshuffles the same dog-eared, marked deck of jokers over and over again -- they barely rate a mention.

For example, who in their right mind would ever put this disgraced dilettante --


-- back on the teevee machine?

Decked out in virtually the same Sans-a-Belt Ninja threads he always wears to opine gassily about what America should be doing or not doing in the Arab world?

Answer: ABC News (h/t Heather at Crooks & Liars):


It's a joke. All of it.

But when you contrast our media's Sunday shows with what they could and should be -- an actual national forum on the the real problems facing our country -- it's fucking heartbreaking.  Which brings us to Joy-Ann Reid and the Eleventh Labor of Hercules.  From Mythologian:
Hercules found Atlas and told him he could hold Atlas’ burden for some time if Atlas could get some apples from the Garden of Hesperides. Atlas, who was very upset about holding the world and the heavens on his shoulders for a long time, gladly accepted the offer and went to bring some apples to Hercules. However, when Atlas came back he told Hercules that he did not want to take the burden on his shoulders again and he would be the one to take the apples to Eurystheus instead of Hercules...
For various financial and political considerations that no one will talk about on-camera, the Sunday shows long ago gave up completely on their original mission, which once upon a time looked more like this...


...than this.


Which is why, on any given weekend, the only public-affairs program worth watching will be AM Joy with Joy-Ann Reid.  She stepped up in a big way to take up the responsibilities which the Sunday shows collectively abdicated long ago.

Here's a sample of Joy-Ann Reid and Lawrence O'Donnell doing what virtually no one outside of the Liberal blogosphere will do: calling out Fox News by name and using the occasion (starting at around the 7:15 mark) to riff on the subject of how the incentive structures of corporate teevee actually function (Spoiler: if you are already familiar with The Gingrich Rules, then you already know.)




4 comments:

dinthebeast said...

Joy-Ann Reid is a fucking national treasure.

-Doug in Oakland

Robt said...

Been watching the Joy. I agree.
Even watched were MSNBC auto booked the Hewey H. on her show and Joy displays command of not just her being Host, but the facts with deep state depth on subject matter..

Something else you can notice of Joy. Like the old "Get Smart agent 86" would say, :and loving it"!

Got to say,
The Thomas Friedman adventures in "what the fuckland" is in heated competition with, the Newt might have left Washington but there is no industrial cleaner that will remove his stain from the your toilet bowl. (cameo appearances)..

Dave McCarthy said...

It's like a cruel fucking joke that Chuck Todd's absurd basketball ad leads this off...

Robt said...

I noticed when the sexual harassed female refugees were let into MSNBC.

Rachel makes Ad for the Gretchen refugee.
Who should make the promo for the Megan refugee? Joe Scar?, Hewey H?
Or maybe,the Mika?

If possible, having the BillO do the promo Ad for Megan would be the ultimate.

Perhaps Billo in the promo Ad, , "is in the shower and calls Megan and offer her a falafel breaking news scoop.

here is the real question,
If the FOX separate with the Billo. Does MSNBC pick him up?