Kasie Hunt, another purveyor of inside-the-beltway group think, is now at CNN. She recently got roasted on twitter for her sophomoric take on the California recall.
I was sorry to see Kasey leave MSNBC. I guess her new employer requires "loss of any common sense", to work there. I think CNN is truly bidding for wayward, FAUX viewers? Toward the end of my CNN, viewing days I used to think every time a breaking news clip came on, how long before they disclose the report turned out to be incorrect and retract the story.
I'll just give you some basic lowlights and my responses.
“The Kathleen Willey story is a really sad one. Kathleen Willey did do some media around the impeachment of Bill Clinton, but her story just never seemed to get a ton of traction. It seems like it was a story that a lot of people did not want to hear. And I think Kathleen Willey’s story becomes quite sad as a result...I feel for Kathleen Willey.”
Oh, you feel for an absolute paranoid lunatic who was caught lying so blatantly that even Ken Starr wouldn’t use her? Who completely derailed into saying “the Clintons killed my cat?” Who is buddy buddy with Joe DiGenova and Victoria Toensing? You feel for this absolute basket case whose story has no legs to stand on?
“Paula’s story is a morally complicated one. I believe something happened. She did feel aggrieved about it. She told multiple people that week. By today’s standards, that should have been covered in the mainstream press, and taken very seriously, but it wasn’t. I believe perhaps it would be today.”
Not taken seriously? What universe do you live on? The press repeated Jones’ accusations as ABSOLUTE TRUTH. The media had determined, before there was even the boneheaded Clinton v. Jones decision, that Bill Clinton had assaulted Paula Jones. The press was eager for him to fall, and were certain this was going to be it.
“I believe if this happened again, it would happen in much the same way. The way some of the mainstream publications handled it — there were op-eds in The New York Times that referred to Monica in completely inappropriate ways, for instance — I don’t think that would happen again.”
What was “inappropriate?” The “stalker” claims? Claims which came from Michael Isikoff interviewing Lewinsky’s former boyfriends, who said she was needy and possessive? Blame Isikoff for that. All of that started with him. (I also am not ready for forgive Isikoff for what he did. His work with David Corn on Trump’s Russia connections is a start, but it doesn’t make up for how he built the story into the manufactroversy it became.
“But I don’t think political tribalism has gotten better in the United States. And that motivated a lot of the reaction to Monica Lewinsky. She was blamed for the actions of the president. She was blamed for this impeachment, for making him a vulnerable politician. And that, unfortunately, has not gone away.”
Who really blames Lewinsky as the sole reason for the actions of Clinton? Absolutely NO ONE. Clinton did what he did, and it was wrong and inexcusable. Everyone who talks about Lewinsky’s role is merely pointing out that it takes two to tango, no more and no less. Pretending that Clinton’s actions occurred in a vacuum or that he “violated an innocent, naive youngster” is simply wrong and is a bigger lie than the one Clinton told.
The media just won’t give up on trying to nail Clinton for sexual misconduct. You are right about Kathleen Willey. Starr didn’t use her testimony because she repeatedly lied to him under oath in depositions. But he knew she was making it all up from the beginning because Linda Tripp told him she was lying. Tripp was a friend of Willey’s and told both Starr and Michael Isikoff that Willey had been seeking a relationship with Clinton. Say what you will about Tripp (like she was the worst friend ever!) but she wasn’t lying about Monica and Clinton. Starr and Isikoff believed her — except when she warned them that Willey had been trying to have a fling with Clinton so that she could make a money from a book a la Judith Exner. Willey’s husband was a crook who had committed suicide, leaving her deeply in debt. The most despicable part of the Willey saga is the way Willey, Isikoff and Starr used Willey’s friend Julie Hyatt Steele.
As for Monica being a victim, I find that highly insulting to young adult women. Monica was well past the age when our society judges women and men old enough to make the decision to volunteer to risk their lives in the military or to get married but we are supposed to believe she was too young to realize the risks of seeking a relationship with a powerful. older, married man. The DC Kool Kids in the media back then were part of Sally Quinn’s inner circle and they all knew that Sally had gotten to her position of influence by pursuing her much older. married boss Ben Bradlee. Like Monica Sally was a young woman in her twenties when she set out to have an affair with him. Bradlee wrote in his memoir about Sally sending him flirty anonymous memos which lead to their affair so the Kids definitely knew about it. They were also big admirers of the extremely promiscuous JFK. Maureen Dowd even lives in his old bachelor pad in Georgetown. It was OK for their idols Bradlees and his friend JFK to have affairs with much younger women who worked for them but not for a guy from Hicksville, Arkansas.
The part that really gets me from what the ACS showrunner said was saying that the press "didn't take Paula Jones' claim seriously." Anyone can easily point out the press reports in the '90s and see how much they were running with the story, ANY story against the Clintons. And why? Why did this moderate, conciliatory figure who was working so hard to negotiate in good faith with Gingrich and his ilk and position himself and "The Third Way" to be as different as possible from George McGovern and so on, why was he despised and targeted for every thing he ever did?
Why the Clintons, why Al Gore, why Obama, and why Biden? Besides the obvious fact that corporate media wants to score ratings and revenue and is somehow so cowering in fear against the Murdoch/Limbaugh machine to instinctively bend over backwards and hold Democrats to a higher standard to prove "we're not liberal media", what sense or reason was there to simply gang up on them while letting Reagan, both Bushes and Trump get away with so much, and refuse to call all of their lies as lies? Hell, even people like Bob Woodward effectively sold out in focusing only on certain aspects of these regimes and withholding what he knew that Trump knew about COVID back in February and March of 2020, just to sell his book.
In the early Trump years, CNN couldn't give enough air time to professional liars like Corey Lewandowski, Jason Miller, and Kellyanne CONway...all of whom were dedicated to convincing America that Trump was not an ignorant, pathological narcissist. Now CNN's "too green to be covering Congress" reporters lap up whatever BS their GOP sources feed them and dutifully pass it along, demonstrating that once again, access is more important than accuracy.
And BNL is a joy to listen to...quite possibly the most under-rated band of the 90s.
Despicable. The country is going to hell, enabled by the msm ignoring and/or misreporting any facts being revealed about the corruption saturating the Rs/FG throughout the country and especially in DC, but they can’t find the time nor make the editorial CHOICE to report on this MAJOR story. It’s another piece in the FG’s sick saga of disgraceful behavior that threatens our country and the DC press core refuses to lay out all the facts in context for its media consumers who are looking for the truth.
...just want everyone to know how much I enjoy receiving PressRun...I remember Mr.Boehlert on MSNBC and really appreciate his POV! If there's anything "good" about enduring #45's administration it's that I am FINALLY paying attention! No more "coasting" for me! Thank you!
The future autopsy of American democracy may read like this. One of the causes of democracy's downfall was that news organizations became huge profit centers owned by corporate billionaires. The primary focus of these orgs were to generate money more so than delivering the truth. The best way, it was determined, was to manufacture news that would benefit their longevity, to skew stories to one side of the aisle, in this case Republicans, that would best protect their financial interests and to keep their taxes at a minimum. Sorry to be such a cynic but logically I see no other motivation for CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, even MSNBC and of course there is Fox News that has no shame whatsoever. Top stories should be that state legislators continue to pass bills that are gutting voting rights. Women no longer have control of their bodies in red states. Climate disaster is descending upon us quicker than scientists first reported. police reform is dead, Republicans lie constantly in their never ending quest to control the majority as a minority. The public is being screwed by a mainstream media that purposely obfuscates the truth for its own benefit.
I remember well the agonizing over survival in the digital age. When "the papers" couldn't make it on local circulation, a strange bargain was struck. Few have proven to do it with integrity.
Fact is that every poll shows that the majority of Americans support the withdrawal of troops and end of the war against Afghanistan. The people who disliked Biden's method of withdrawal, sadly, are led by the nose by MSM who lie constantly.
As far as I know the only pundit to debunk the incessant now permanently characterized ‘chaoticAfghanistanevacuation,’ one word, is, of all people, Joe Scarborough on one of his shows this week. He correctly said the evacuation was a mess at the start but was righted shortly by the administration and was a successful operation. Alas, no one else among the pundits has done the same as far as I know. And now we have CNN irresponsibly purveying another mischaracterization/lie on their network. Should I hold my breath waiting for a correction despite the fact that the lie is now out there in the echo sphere? Don’t think so.
Everyday it seems there is another example of the horrendous “reporting” passing as breaking news. This morning on MSNBC way too early it was the decline in Biden’s popularity
I listened for 90 seconds before changing the channel. Someone is always buying a house somewhere.
I heard the same. ‘His approval ratings are in the 40s’. No one there to offer any other polls that show different ratings. It was stated as fact. He’s in the 40s. Yippee.
They report it that way, and don't add the part where it is this % for this "category". They are taking the worst numerical number and using that as the whole rating. Each category has a different %, normally. Lie by omission. It is getting worse all across the tv board. Except when Eric has a guest appearance!!!
The surprise is that Chris Cillizza hasn't done an article explaining how this means the end of the Biden presidency. Or has he? I don't read him. If I want to waste time, watching paint dry is preferable.
Kasie Hunt, another purveyor of inside-the-beltway group think, is now at CNN. She recently got roasted on twitter for her sophomoric take on the California recall.
https://www.newsweek.com/kasie-hunt-analysis-slammed-critics-biggest-loser-california-recall-gavin-newsom-1629303
oh gosh yes, that was such a bad take
And the Pod Save crew gave her a good roasting too.
She's a twit.
And that little snowflake blocked me when I replied to her on Twitter!
Wear the blocks with pride, Joe. It shows that they read your tweet!
I was sorry to see Kasey leave MSNBC. I guess her new employer requires "loss of any common sense", to work there. I think CNN is truly bidding for wayward, FAUX viewers? Toward the end of my CNN, viewing days I used to think every time a breaking news clip came on, how long before they disclose the report turned out to be incorrect and retract the story.
Eric, the continued rewriting of history while dredging up the Monica Lewinsky story simply isn't stopping, as this Rolling Stone Q&A with the ACS season's showrunner proves: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/fx-acs-impeachment-monica-lewinsky-fact-check-1226894/
I'll just give you some basic lowlights and my responses.
“The Kathleen Willey story is a really sad one. Kathleen Willey did do some media around the impeachment of Bill Clinton, but her story just never seemed to get a ton of traction. It seems like it was a story that a lot of people did not want to hear. And I think Kathleen Willey’s story becomes quite sad as a result...I feel for Kathleen Willey.”
Oh, you feel for an absolute paranoid lunatic who was caught lying so blatantly that even Ken Starr wouldn’t use her? Who completely derailed into saying “the Clintons killed my cat?” Who is buddy buddy with Joe DiGenova and Victoria Toensing? You feel for this absolute basket case whose story has no legs to stand on?
“Paula’s story is a morally complicated one. I believe something happened. She did feel aggrieved about it. She told multiple people that week. By today’s standards, that should have been covered in the mainstream press, and taken very seriously, but it wasn’t. I believe perhaps it would be today.”
Not taken seriously? What universe do you live on? The press repeated Jones’ accusations as ABSOLUTE TRUTH. The media had determined, before there was even the boneheaded Clinton v. Jones decision, that Bill Clinton had assaulted Paula Jones. The press was eager for him to fall, and were certain this was going to be it.
“I believe if this happened again, it would happen in much the same way. The way some of the mainstream publications handled it — there were op-eds in The New York Times that referred to Monica in completely inappropriate ways, for instance — I don’t think that would happen again.”
What was “inappropriate?” The “stalker” claims? Claims which came from Michael Isikoff interviewing Lewinsky’s former boyfriends, who said she was needy and possessive? Blame Isikoff for that. All of that started with him. (I also am not ready for forgive Isikoff for what he did. His work with David Corn on Trump’s Russia connections is a start, but it doesn’t make up for how he built the story into the manufactroversy it became.
“But I don’t think political tribalism has gotten better in the United States. And that motivated a lot of the reaction to Monica Lewinsky. She was blamed for the actions of the president. She was blamed for this impeachment, for making him a vulnerable politician. And that, unfortunately, has not gone away.”
Who really blames Lewinsky as the sole reason for the actions of Clinton? Absolutely NO ONE. Clinton did what he did, and it was wrong and inexcusable. Everyone who talks about Lewinsky’s role is merely pointing out that it takes two to tango, no more and no less. Pretending that Clinton’s actions occurred in a vacuum or that he “violated an innocent, naive youngster” is simply wrong and is a bigger lie than the one Clinton told.
The media just won’t give up on trying to nail Clinton for sexual misconduct. You are right about Kathleen Willey. Starr didn’t use her testimony because she repeatedly lied to him under oath in depositions. But he knew she was making it all up from the beginning because Linda Tripp told him she was lying. Tripp was a friend of Willey’s and told both Starr and Michael Isikoff that Willey had been seeking a relationship with Clinton. Say what you will about Tripp (like she was the worst friend ever!) but she wasn’t lying about Monica and Clinton. Starr and Isikoff believed her — except when she warned them that Willey had been trying to have a fling with Clinton so that she could make a money from a book a la Judith Exner. Willey’s husband was a crook who had committed suicide, leaving her deeply in debt. The most despicable part of the Willey saga is the way Willey, Isikoff and Starr used Willey’s friend Julie Hyatt Steele.
As for Monica being a victim, I find that highly insulting to young adult women. Monica was well past the age when our society judges women and men old enough to make the decision to volunteer to risk their lives in the military or to get married but we are supposed to believe she was too young to realize the risks of seeking a relationship with a powerful. older, married man. The DC Kool Kids in the media back then were part of Sally Quinn’s inner circle and they all knew that Sally had gotten to her position of influence by pursuing her much older. married boss Ben Bradlee. Like Monica Sally was a young woman in her twenties when she set out to have an affair with him. Bradlee wrote in his memoir about Sally sending him flirty anonymous memos which lead to their affair so the Kids definitely knew about it. They were also big admirers of the extremely promiscuous JFK. Maureen Dowd even lives in his old bachelor pad in Georgetown. It was OK for their idols Bradlees and his friend JFK to have affairs with much younger women who worked for them but not for a guy from Hicksville, Arkansas.
The part that really gets me from what the ACS showrunner said was saying that the press "didn't take Paula Jones' claim seriously." Anyone can easily point out the press reports in the '90s and see how much they were running with the story, ANY story against the Clintons. And why? Why did this moderate, conciliatory figure who was working so hard to negotiate in good faith with Gingrich and his ilk and position himself and "The Third Way" to be as different as possible from George McGovern and so on, why was he despised and targeted for every thing he ever did?
Why the Clintons, why Al Gore, why Obama, and why Biden? Besides the obvious fact that corporate media wants to score ratings and revenue and is somehow so cowering in fear against the Murdoch/Limbaugh machine to instinctively bend over backwards and hold Democrats to a higher standard to prove "we're not liberal media", what sense or reason was there to simply gang up on them while letting Reagan, both Bushes and Trump get away with so much, and refuse to call all of their lies as lies? Hell, even people like Bob Woodward effectively sold out in focusing only on certain aspects of these regimes and withholding what he knew that Trump knew about COVID back in February and March of 2020, just to sell his book.
Indeed.
In the early Trump years, CNN couldn't give enough air time to professional liars like Corey Lewandowski, Jason Miller, and Kellyanne CONway...all of whom were dedicated to convincing America that Trump was not an ignorant, pathological narcissist. Now CNN's "too green to be covering Congress" reporters lap up whatever BS their GOP sources feed them and dutifully pass it along, demonstrating that once again, access is more important than accuracy.
And BNL is a joy to listen to...quite possibly the most under-rated band of the 90s.
agreed…and agreed! love BNL
As bad as CNN is, the rest are not any better. Media Matters reports that not a single broadcast news show covered the Trump Coup Memo.
Not even one.
https://www.mediamatters.org/abc/broadcast-news-shows-ignore-trump-coup-memo
Despicable. The country is going to hell, enabled by the msm ignoring and/or misreporting any facts being revealed about the corruption saturating the Rs/FG throughout the country and especially in DC, but they can’t find the time nor make the editorial CHOICE to report on this MAJOR story. It’s another piece in the FG’s sick saga of disgraceful behavior that threatens our country and the DC press core refuses to lay out all the facts in context for its media consumers who are looking for the truth.
Kylie Atwood - Jake Tapper: double drivel.
CNN has been biased towards the Republicans ever since they started. I sure do remember how they slimed Hart in 1984 and Dukakis in 1988.
Do not forget how CNN locked the camera on the empty podium waiting for Trump to speak and how they endlessly cut away from Hillary in 2016.
The podium was outrageous; I think I blocked that from my memory.
...just want everyone to know how much I enjoy receiving PressRun...I remember Mr.Boehlert on MSNBC and really appreciate his POV! If there's anything "good" about enduring #45's administration it's that I am FINALLY paying attention! No more "coasting" for me! Thank you!
The future autopsy of American democracy may read like this. One of the causes of democracy's downfall was that news organizations became huge profit centers owned by corporate billionaires. The primary focus of these orgs were to generate money more so than delivering the truth. The best way, it was determined, was to manufacture news that would benefit their longevity, to skew stories to one side of the aisle, in this case Republicans, that would best protect their financial interests and to keep their taxes at a minimum. Sorry to be such a cynic but logically I see no other motivation for CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, even MSNBC and of course there is Fox News that has no shame whatsoever. Top stories should be that state legislators continue to pass bills that are gutting voting rights. Women no longer have control of their bodies in red states. Climate disaster is descending upon us quicker than scientists first reported. police reform is dead, Republicans lie constantly in their never ending quest to control the majority as a minority. The public is being screwed by a mainstream media that purposely obfuscates the truth for its own benefit.
I remember well the agonizing over survival in the digital age. When "the papers" couldn't make it on local circulation, a strange bargain was struck. Few have proven to do it with integrity.
I'm as cynical as you are and am glad I am 74 and most likely won't be here in a decade, but watching the downfall is very painful.
Fact is that every poll shows that the majority of Americans support the withdrawal of troops and end of the war against Afghanistan. The people who disliked Biden's method of withdrawal, sadly, are led by the nose by MSM who lie constantly.
As far as I know the only pundit to debunk the incessant now permanently characterized ‘chaoticAfghanistanevacuation,’ one word, is, of all people, Joe Scarborough on one of his shows this week. He correctly said the evacuation was a mess at the start but was righted shortly by the administration and was a successful operation. Alas, no one else among the pundits has done the same as far as I know. And now we have CNN irresponsibly purveying another mischaracterization/lie on their network. Should I hold my breath waiting for a correction despite the fact that the lie is now out there in the echo sphere? Don’t think so.
good for him! most in press remain married to narrative
Do NOT hold your breath.
Everyday it seems there is another example of the horrendous “reporting” passing as breaking news. This morning on MSNBC way too early it was the decline in Biden’s popularity
I listened for 90 seconds before changing the channel. Someone is always buying a house somewhere.
I heard the same. ‘His approval ratings are in the 40s’. No one there to offer any other polls that show different ratings. It was stated as fact. He’s in the 40s. Yippee.
They report it that way, and don't add the part where it is this % for this "category". They are taking the worst numerical number and using that as the whole rating. Each category has a different %, normally. Lie by omission. It is getting worse all across the tv board. Except when Eric has a guest appearance!!!
Not exactly on topic Mr. Boehlert; but I saw an article calling out “one of President Biden’s lies” over the adverb “swiftly”.
First I don’t think “swiftly” can be called a “lie” as there’s always faster and always slower. Swift will be faster than some. Always.
Next, after years of scrounging the thesaurus to avoid saying lie to Trump, the word has returned.
The surprise is that Chris Cillizza hasn't done an article explaining how this means the end of the Biden presidency. Or has he? I don't read him. If I want to waste time, watching paint dry is preferable.
I saw this on Twitter; tells it like it is...is Reuters my new news source now? https://www.reuters.com/world/us/backers-trumps-false-fraud-claims-seek-control-next-us-elections-2021-09-22/