Five minutes after Bob Mueller provided all the evidence any healthy nation should ever need to immediately and unanimously move to impeach and remove President Stupid, the Optics Patrol was out in force to explain to people who didn't watch the hearings and only get their "news" in 30 second increments via the networks that this was all a big Democrat Fail because they didn't fly Mary Martin in on a wire (look it up) or have Bob Mueller ascend bodily to heaven --
-- or shoot the whole thing in 3-D --
-- or whatever.
From the Columbia Journalism Review:
MSNBC public editor: The Chuck Todd show
AFTER FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL Robert Mueller’ testified before the House Judiciary Committee this morning, Chuck Todd managed to demonstrate, with uncharacteristic brevity, his basic misunderstanding of the requirements of his job:
On substance, Democrats got what they wanted: that Mueller didn't charge Pres. Trump because of the OLC guidance, that he could be indicted after he leaves office, among other things. But on optics, this was a disaster. #MuellerHearings— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) July 24, 2019Todd’s focus on the “entertainment” aspect of politics coverage is often in evidence—for example, in his own recent performance as moderator in the Democratic presidential debate. He managed to talk more than all but three of the candidates, even as he demanded that they keep their own answers brief.
For Chuck Todd all the political world’s a stage, and he’s the star.
And it’s not just Todd. Other MSNBC anchors reacted to the Mueller hearings similarly, finding fault with the Democrats’, and Mueller’s, lack of pizazz as performers. Brian Williams referred to “the caffeine gap” in the Judiciary Committee’s questioning. I can’t help pointing out that excessive concern with caffeinated pizzazz can warp a journalist’s judgement pretty severely, and is best avoided...
From Maggie Haberman, of course:
A weary old man with a warning
...
The star’s head has gone white over the past 10 years, though his hairline has held valiantly. He looks like he smells of Vitalis and Old Spice. He’s never been a suave speaker, and his stammering Wednesday got people talking. Was this just his trademark care with words? A sign of old age, or just weariness? People judged his performance, as if he was an actor in a movie with a clear plot.
A “dignified and restrained performance,” one pundit said on MSNBC.
“He kind of sucked the life out of the report,” said another. “I thought he was boring.”
Of course he was boring...
From The New Yorker:
Finally, Washington (Sort of) Agrees on Something: Mueller Bombed
By Susan B. Glasser
July 24, 2019
After so much waiting—a hundred and twenty-four days, to be precise, since Robert Mueller’s report was delivered—perhaps it was bound to be a disappointment. Still, three hours after the former special counsel took the witness stand on Wednesday to testify about his investigation of President Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election, the MSNBC anchor Brian Williams described it as a “disaster,” the White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, called the hearing an “epic embarrassment” for the Democrats, and the pro-Trump Drudge Report ripped the septuagenarian former F.B.I. director as “dazed and confused.”...
Well, I am not "of" Washington and therefor I'm not in with the D.C. in-crowd who were sniffing each other's asses trying to figure out as a group what the most-insipid, least-offensive-to-advertisers thing to say about the hearings could possibly be. And that they settled on bitching about the "optics" should have surprised no one because what we saw yesterday wasn't actually House Judiciary or Intelligence Committee hearings.
What we were really watching were literally confirmation hearing in that, short of President Stupid falling apart on Twitter and confessing to everything in real-time, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that everyone was going to come away from the hearings with their pre-existing beliefs confirmed.
Patriots on the Left will see that the mountain of evidence against Donald Trump is now piled so high that it blots out the Sun.
Reprogrammable meatbags on the Right will go right on taking their marching orders from State Teevee
Ah but what of the Middle? Those proud members of the greatest granfalloon of all?Devin Nunes did his homework pic.twitter.com/Y8DzGoMlMM— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 24, 2019
Well, as anyone with a functional memory who has bothered to pay any attention to American politics for the past 30 years can tell you, the timorous schlemiels of the Sensible Center would rather pull their own heads off than ever take any position on anything.
As citizens, Sensible Centrists are abject failures who can always be relied on to dive for cover behind the nearest outcropping of Both Sides Do It in the face of every Republican atrocity. But as customers -- as eyeballs for advertisers -- they are vitally important.
And it is precisely because the advertisers who pay the bills at every network and every cable news outlet are almost universally terrified of controversy that creatures like Chuck Todd thrive in the mainstream media.
Because in case you hadn't noticed, Chuck Todd and those like him are not in the journalism business.
They are in the business of quickly hammering together temporary Both Siderist shelters in which the Sensible Centrists can hide out every time the seething racism, naked treason and pustulent corruption of the GOP oozes out into public view.
And these days, business is booming.
Behold, a Tip Jar!
12 comments:
"the optics" reminds me of Jay Rosen (at NYU)'s point, that too many journalists (sic) are mainly concerned with showing how SAVVY they are. Also, bear in mind that, on Meet the Press, Todd isn't a journalist. He's a talk show host, happy to make everyone comfy no matter how much they lie.
good stuff brother. I mean your commentary, not the state of our actual country
Chuckie Toddler and Both Siders of Whataboutism
How is Trump never accused of failing the optics test?
Or seeming old and confused?
Or incoherent?
Or corrupt?
Or racist?
Or treasonous?
Why it's almost as if Chuck Todd, Jake Tapper, and Chris Wallace are part of some club that says the same talking points, frames the same narratives, asks the same non-questions, and blame both sides equally.
We're 1 to 2 years away from Pat Sajak giving away luxurious vacations to majestic Russia and selling aircraft carriers to Saudi Arabia and "accidently" giving China every SS number and IRS code.
It's a Going Out of Business Sale on the USA, and EVERYTHING. MUST. GO.
At least you had public hearings. The GOP deep state hearing ahd the highlight the incriminating evidence in the report.
I am one of thos ewho did read the entire report. Actually took a highlighter and marked parts of importance and parts to further consider. Then read the highlights and gave it further study to understand more.
Even listened to the audio podcast of a reading of the report.
I do learn from audio and video methods as well as reading it myself.
I learned a few things from the public hearings. This provides me to better confront my GOP congress members on this. Leaving them less room to hide behind hannity, ignorance is bliss, and the too divisive notion so lets move on.
There is something that occurred with NIXON and Bill Clinton. The repeated long term coverage. Holding it in the public's eyes and ears for a sustained amount of time.
It takes this long term exposure.
Folks that really care and follow this are going to have a lot of negative feelings if the Dem majority in the House does not raise their level of oversight powers.
They need to expedite the courts rulings on their power to subpoena witnesses and place them in public hearings under oath.
I mean damn, Benghazi.....! To her Email investigation. HRC's 11 hours of testimony from Sean hannity look alike Walking dead conspiracy hungry zombies.
If the people of Puerto Rico can do it. What is wrong with the Upper 50 states?
Keep in mind, forever. The press has dictated the policy of giving the party in power most of the media air time because they have the power.
Which they actual give this majority of air time to the GOP when they are in power and by the way, When the GOP is out of power.
In Today's right wing world, the GOP is Trump, Gohmet, Steve King, Newtie loud and stupid that reaches for attention like a crying screaming baby. naturally, everyone wants to feed or change the baby's diapers to stop him from crying.
What Rash Lamebrain has done. Politics and elections are become media entertainment ratings, like daytime soap operas and game shows, 365 days/year, 4 years/elections.
Before masdmedia Lamebrain politics on TV was not done for three-and-a-half years of a president. And as Spring primaries rolled out in States, (Iowa in February to California in June), TV barely noticed and not until party Conventions (July, August) romped into two cities somewhere, dragging tails of the best and the worst, did TV load up, show up and blow up election politics with influx of campaign TV ad spending (1980 total: $100,000,000, 2016 total: $6,000,000,000).
Lamebrain broadcast his live coast-to-coast campaign -- one big political ad -- hourslong, every day, all year.
The market price of TV broadcast advertisements, (say, $1000 per minute), rightly are accounted as in-kind campaign money donations. Which exceed legal limits of individual donanation amounts. What was it, $2000 per person per election?
Add hundreds of local market Lamebrain copycats and, yes, a million here a million there, and your radio market gets a million, and your market gets a million ... pretty soon (1996) you're talking billions of dollars of anti-intellectual bigoted racist broadcast ruin.
In England, TV campaign ads are prohibited totally except during the 6-weeks before Election day.
In America, tv viewers hateHateHATE! political commercials interrupting 'their' favorite TV shows during 'election season.' Today, those insulting ads butt in every day, all year long. Politics as entertainment.
News as infotainment was bad enough. Bad to worse now is polititainment.
BAN paid-broadcast political ads. Which leaves non-broadcast for your politics ads -- newspapers, billboards, yard signs, post cards, direct (junk) mail, websites (with video), flyers, posters, buttons, hats, word-of-mouth, bumperstickers, decals, op-eds, policy papers, skywriting and The Blimps.
Just NO BROADCAST.
Yes we can BAN broadcast content
as we
BAN paid-broadcast cigarette ads.
In Congress the cigarette BAN won arguing:
1. the product is addictive, and
2. the product is a public health crisis.
BAN paid-broadcast hate-politics campaign ads:
1. the product is addictive (takes more&more hot hate to get the high effect), and
2. the product is a public mental health crisis.
BAN paid-broadcast hate-politics ads, thus wipe all the Lamebrains off your radio dial.
If a politician wants to be on TV, for free, (unpaid broadcast) then do something newsworthy, give a public speech, kiss babies in broad daylight.
Every thing is wall street/corporate profits, nothing else matter. And so corporate news is a profit making business. All the things that Elizabeth Warren has been saying and we all recognize.
Forget about global warming, forget about infrastructure and on and on. The billionaires need another buck.
Almost all of the media is involved in this ever toilet swirling bullshit going down the drain with not a care in the world where it goes. If the fourth estate, the unstated fourth branch of our government doesn't inform and educate the public about how things work we be screwed. Sideways and upside down.
The media could on a regular basis inform and educate accurately about how our government was formed and how it is suppose to work. They could inform and educate the public on how global climate change started and what it's impact is on the normal function of weather and its effect on the planet. And how that will impact every species on the planet. Even the possibility of the planet itself to become just another empty ball moving through space.
But I wax redundant. You all know the picture because you all go beyond the sound bites of corporate news and the corporate/wall street born at the hip connection.
Then how do you/we deal with the 20 to 40% of the species at large who remain willfully ignorant/hateful. The media's continual both sides bullshit.
And of course the impending implosion of our Democratic Republic.
Still remains the question given to Benjamin Franklin, "what have you given us?", answer, "a republic, if you can keep it". I paraphrase the supposed question and answer, but it also applies to almost everything else we do as a species, in our eternal hope we are better than we seem.
This ongoing both sides do it is a fine example of the version that we are not better than we seem, and demonstrated by those that use it intentionally and those who are willfully ignorant not to apply a little critical thinking once and a while to get above and beyond it.
I wax and polish redundant Driftglass to say; another great piece, and keep up the great work. We continue to need people like you to inform and educate the public.
Also, the end of Mad magazine and my youthful education. My mother made me burn a copy when she discovered that I had bought one at my tender age of 7. I still skimmed through it before the Fahrenheit 451 moment in my youth.
Whoops. "I wax and polish redundant Driftglass to say" I meant to write "I wax and polish redundant. Driftglass another great piece,..."
Sgter tought
Why is it?
When Obama economy was improving and rising out of the ashes,
The government numbers were all lies.
IEconomy not improving fast enough.
Economy was leaving people in the ash heap
Obama spending out of control--Socialism.
New digs look great. FUCK CHUCK TODD.
"Entertaining" is not the word I would use to describe this latest Democratic Party Kool-Aid festival.
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