On The Subject of the Picking of Pockets

There are two schools of thought.

One group of practitioners aim for deftness and invisibility -- a nimble touch wrapped in glib banter:

Others, such as Good Old Chuck Todd here, work equally hard to achieve the opposite effect. Loudly they announce as the mark comes within earshot,  "Hey!  Dumbass!  See this hand here? I'm going to rummage around in your pocket with it for awhile, trying to swipe your cash.  It'll feel a lot like a drunk marmoset chasing a water bug in your pants while swinging a banjo.  Your job is to pretend you don't notice.  Now let's do this thing!"

From TPM:

MSNBC host Chuck Todd said Wednesday that when it comes to misinformation about the new federal health care law, don't expect members of the media to correct the record.

During a segment on "Morning Joe," former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) speculated that most opponents of the Affordable Care Act have been fed erroneous information about the law. Todd said that Republicans "have successfully messaged against it" but he disagrees with those who argue that the media should educate the public on the law. According to Todd, that's President Barack Obama's job.

"But more importantly, it would be stuff that Republicans have successfully messaged against it," Todd told Rendell. "They don't repeat the other stuff because they haven't even heard the Democratic message. What I always love is people say, 'Well, it's you folks' fault in the media.' No, it's the President of the United States' fault for not selling it."

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Ultimately, history will judge which of these two methods is the most profitable.