I’ve mentioned it before, but the moment that defined Chuck Todd is when he had the privilege of asking the very first question of newly inaugurated President Barack Obama at his first White House press conference, and the question Todd chose to ask was "If Democrats pass a healthcare bill with no Republican votes, will you veto it in the interests of bipartisanship?”
Like most conservatives, he's not an ideologue, he's an apparatchik. It's all about the career.
“Covid has become an MRI of America's soul.” First, hold my hair while I vomit. Second, how did Americans become so stupid? I understand that this newsletter focuses on the media’s role in our demise and Republicans have perverted and destroyed our federal government, but how did we get this clueless as a nation? I know this is a rhetorical question but what did we do to deserve Chuck Todd? Third, I hate Chuck Todd.
i think that questeion abt how 30% of the country became so aggressively stupid, to the point of killing themselves w/ Covid, is one we're all grappling with. and yes, right-wing media plays a huge part.
there's no other country on the planet today that's trying to recover from Covid will battling a pro-Covid political party and GOP media industry
We've gotten here partially by these games the media has played for decades now. The MSM is a cheerleader for right-wingers. When the press pits Democrats vs. Republicans as the theme over right vs. wrong, fact vs. conspiracy, the only place we could end up is here.
First, msm, regardless of their reporters, are owned by tools of the right wing. Just ask women who were sexually assaulted by those in msm power. Second, look up Tom Delay. He was the beginning of the end of rational politics.
I'm old enough to remember when Lawrence Spivak and Bill Munro hosted Meet The Press when it was a real interview show. After Munro was forced out the show began its' decline.
If it's Sunday, It's now Meet the Presstitute.
That's why I go to they gym Sunday mornings instead of wasting time with the Sunday Gasbags who endlessly recite Republican talking points.
The political press went off the rails right after Clinton got elected as this 1993 LA Times article describes. It was so bad that Leslie Gelb said “ My colleagues and I, like journalistic Dr. Strangeloves, are ready to nuke Mr. Clinton at the slightest provocation.” The article also says:
“ A single “fact” or observation becomes the conventional wisdom faster than you can say “Zoe Baird” it quickly became fashionable to deride the Clinton Administration as being doomed…”
All this was long before Ken Starr and Monica came on the scene. I have always thought that one of the reasons the press felt free to trash Clinton was that the press looked down their noses at him, viewing him as a hick from Nowheresville, Arkansas and calling him by the derisive nickname “Bubba”. They treated Bush, the man who lied for years about his involvement in Iran Contra then completed the coverup (the words of the Independent Counsel) with his pardons, with much more respect that they treated Clinton after he was elected. However back then right wing media was just getting off the ground so the public never really bought the media spin like they do today.
Actually, the mainstream went from reasonably honest reporting (which was actually anomalous) to GOP PR efforts shortly after Carter took office and never looked back.
That's correct. I remember the minute Carter was sworn in the Press went into full attack mode ripping him for what they perceived was the slightest misstep. And wow they trashed his whole family!
Trashing the family happens when the media sees a candidate as white trash. They did the same to Clinton and even Sarah Palin (she’s a loon but going after her pregnant teenage daughter was a new low). The media ignored the reports about Bush the First having a long-time mistress, Jennifer Fitzgerald. I even heard Sam Donaldson angrily denounce those who did report the rumors, saying I know President Bush and he would never do such a thing! When Dubya was in office his brother Neil admitted in his divorce deposition that he had been consorting with high priced prostitute. The media ignored that story, something they never would have done with Billy Carter, Roger Clinton or one of the Palins.
Part of what is wrong with our political press is snobbery, but that is just a part of the problem.
I agree that the coverage got really bad when Carter was in office and I think the same prejudice against people from small towns, especially those in the South, that permeated their coverage of Clinton played a big part. But things went far beyond that when the NY Times decided to give Jeff Gerth free rein to publish any made up scandal peddled to him by far right operatives funded by Richard Mellon Scaife of the American Spectator. Because the vaunted NY Times played along the rest of the media followed its lead. That was a new and much lower standard — the media was reporting flat-out lies, not just biased or snarky stories.
All those “mainstream: journalist who ploayed along with his smear machine deserve to be right there beside him. Without their help he would have just been an old crank who was squandering his money. That is what would happen in a healthy democracy.
Unfortunately he is also a dangerous tool. Not only does he host the influential (political circles) Sunday MTP he is also the director of all of NBC’s news programs. Bet he would rein in criticism of his Republican buddies from people like Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes and Joy Reid if their ratings weren’t so strong.
Not to nitpick, but Todd is NBC's political director. Lester Holt is the managing editor of NBC's nightly news, and Deborah Turness is the NBC news president.
Chuck is not only nothing special but rather is typical of the mainstream but making him an exemplar is like kicking a puppy. So many others appropriate for dissing but not Chuck.
Too, he and his cohort are far, far worse than useless. They’re doing actual harm.
The Covid reportage, while generally serviceable, is getting sloppy on one point and typically dishonest on a second.
Sloppy: Even with virulence of Delta, essentially no vaccinated people are being hospitalized with Covid and, obviously, none dying. (There are always exceptions to rules.)
Dishonest: We don’t, can’t have a true national response to Covid for the reason Eric alluded: governors are free to dictate or block responses. The mainstream’s fealty to the GOP requires them to ignore that point and, indeed, essentially blame Biden for what DeSantis, Abbott and Reeves are doing. Note: That’s not bothsiderism but simple lying.
As for the Perry piece: so good that it made me happy I broke down and subscribed to the WaPo. Very little new, if anything, but still happy to see it.
Sorry, 60% of hospitalizations in Israel are breakthrough infections, the other 40 are the unvaxxed, so while a higher percentage of unvaccinated people need hospitalization in Israel, the vaccine is failing and may even be the cause of the variants.
My understanding is that the Israeli experience does not conform with what’s going on here. Too, now that I write this, I wonder whether Israel may be a hot spot because a huge number of Palestinians — not Israeli Arab citizens — are not vaccinated and aren’t considered Israelis so they aren’t counted when there’s boasting of the large percentage of Israelis vaccinated.
I found the information through a DDGo search. google wouldn't pull it up - too much censorship - I prefer to look at all data, not just that which fits my narrative. They said the Palestinian infection rate and death toll is virtually the same as the Israelis, even though vaccination status is 90/10 Israeli and 10/90 Palestinian. This seemingly says that vaccinated immunity is short-lived. Search for "The Israeli Public Emergency Council for the Covid19 Crisis" You can download "the-data-and-the-ethics.pdf
Chuck Todd will jump all over this today. Dean and the rest of the NYT gang—and the entire Beltway press—must be salivating. It’s like something out of Tiger Beat.
Good, why is anyone afraid of Trump running? We will trounce him. The Republicans are doing the opposite of what they should be doing. It's a gift, actually.
and hoping this is the day that Biden is finally doomed by some crisis that they hype. According to recent articles the public is blaming the Covid surge on him which I seriously doubt.
BTW I think the CDC would disagree with you that the pandemic is over in blue states. The rate of transmission is ranked as high in most places although it is much higher in places like Texas. But that danger will be offset by Governor Abbot eliminating rape in that state so all’s good.
Abbot sounded like a 5 year old saying he would eliminate rape by arresting rapists. He and DeSantis are determined to prove Trump isn't the only clown in the circus.
Chuck can jump all over this but the ratings for his weekly show are anemic so not many people will see that. His weekday ratings are way below Nicolle Wallace, Morning Joe and even Stephanie Ruhle. The only thing saving him is that his Sunday MTP regularly ties with Face the Nation as the most watched and he has more of the desired demographic. Maybe younger viewers just haven’t watched enough of him to catch on to his dangerous games.
They did the same thing a few years back with regards to climate change. 97% of scientists said we were influencing climate change. But "news" programs would put on one person from each "side", present it as a 50/50 split, and let them go at it for 3 minutes like it was a boxing match.
Reagan called his people "the silent majority" but what they really are is the vocal minority. They're like an animal that swells itself up when threatened - attempting to appear much bigger than they actually are.
Year after year fewer voters identify as republican. They are no longer 50% of the public and the demographics indicate they are having trouble attracting young voters. The only reason this minority is given equal coverage is people like Chuck Todd.
But they aren't getting equal coverage. They are getting extra coverage. In some cases they are getting all the coverage. Trae Crowder is more even-handed than the MSM.
In the Philippines, Chuck Todd's style of dishonest reporting is very common in the Filipino mainstream media. As I've mentioned before, the previous administration of the late former president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III was regularly attacked by various outlets during his term. They usually portrayed his administration as being incompetent & being out-of-touch with ordinary people. Usually, the early evening newscasts would constantly feature stories of violent crime, massive traffic in the roads, and the problems with the Metro Railway Transit system. Later in the administration, they would sensationalize stories of people who got caught with bullets inside their luggage. Our local TV & print media were good at riling up the public over these issues and trying to directly blame the former president even his wasn't directly involved in handling those issues. While these were legitimate concerns that the previous administration needed to tackle, some of these issues went back to previous administrations. They weren't interested in making any data-driven reports on the Aquino administration's efforts to improve the economy and infrastructure through programs like the Public-Private Partnership program which combined public funding with private construction firms in various infrastructure projects. These matters wouldn't be the focus of the early evening newscasts, which catered to the middle-middle, lower-middle & lower-class markets. The more serious matters would be the territory of the late night newscasts catering to upper & upper middle-class markets. The class divide in how the news was being reported was one of reasons Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency in 2016. He made outrageous promises claiming he could solve the allegedly huge
crime problem in 3 to 6 months (not true), also claimed that he could solve the traffic problem (not true either), and could solve the railway transit system (also not true). When he became president, the news media's previously sensationalized reports on the traffic & railway system became less common. However, it was replaced by the constant stream of news of poor people suspected of being drug addicts or pushers being killed all in the name of Duterte's bloody war on illegal drugs.
Um, Independents ARE not a party, Eric. They are not organized in any meaningful way. I think you should correct the statement you make several times to something like, "There are two political parties and a group of Independents who affiliate with neither party."
Lovely song. Sorry to be so superficial but I just can't get past Chuck Todd's 'Greek Boy' haircut. Thanks again for continuing to call out Both Sides Baloney.
America is not divided on COVID or masks, or abortion or transgender athletes, or voting or civil rights or critical race theory, or guns. The only thing America can honestly said to be divided on is whether we can or should allow the Republicon Party to continue to exist.
Chuck Todd is just horrible. Him and Andrea Mitchell. I need someone to call him out. He's so ridiculous and he thinks he's hot s*it. MTP needs a new host that has some brains. He literally is just adding fuel to a fire that needs to put out. Thanks Eric for calling him out. Need more of you to keep doing it. Appreciate you.
Thanks Eric. Todd is born and raised in FL and still a resident. Seems he might address the Covid issues in his home state.
Frankly, I thought the 2020 “brownshirts” comment was the end of Todd’s career, at least as it is, but no, he remains the host of MTP. Haven’t watched him in a long time.
For those who want more of him, Todd picks NFL games on the podcast The Tony Kornheiser Show, where Todd is pitted against a monkey, who also picks NFL games.
Not to suggest he is an entertainer more than a journalist.
I’ve mentioned it before, but the moment that defined Chuck Todd is when he had the privilege of asking the very first question of newly inaugurated President Barack Obama at his first White House press conference, and the question Todd chose to ask was "If Democrats pass a healthcare bill with no Republican votes, will you veto it in the interests of bipartisanship?”
Like most conservatives, he's not an ideologue, he's an apparatchik. It's all about the career.
“Covid has become an MRI of America's soul.” First, hold my hair while I vomit. Second, how did Americans become so stupid? I understand that this newsletter focuses on the media’s role in our demise and Republicans have perverted and destroyed our federal government, but how did we get this clueless as a nation? I know this is a rhetorical question but what did we do to deserve Chuck Todd? Third, I hate Chuck Todd.
i think that questeion abt how 30% of the country became so aggressively stupid, to the point of killing themselves w/ Covid, is one we're all grappling with. and yes, right-wing media plays a huge part.
there's no other country on the planet today that's trying to recover from Covid will battling a pro-Covid political party and GOP media industry
We've gotten here partially by these games the media has played for decades now. The MSM is a cheerleader for right-wingers. When the press pits Democrats vs. Republicans as the theme over right vs. wrong, fact vs. conspiracy, the only place we could end up is here.
I am still stunned by the stupidity despite any explanation. How can anyone listen to Chuck Todd and think he has anything of importance to say?
That's why I refer to that Presstitute as Chuck U Todd.
Lou is right. This has been going on for decades, since the 90s. It started with the mainstream, not right wing, media.
First, msm, regardless of their reporters, are owned by tools of the right wing. Just ask women who were sexually assaulted by those in msm power. Second, look up Tom Delay. He was the beginning of the end of rational politics.
I'm old enough to remember when Lawrence Spivak and Bill Munro hosted Meet The Press when it was a real interview show. After Munro was forced out the show began its' decline.
If it's Sunday, It's now Meet the Presstitute.
That's why I go to they gym Sunday mornings instead of wasting time with the Sunday Gasbags who endlessly recite Republican talking points.
The political press went off the rails right after Clinton got elected as this 1993 LA Times article describes. It was so bad that Leslie Gelb said “ My colleagues and I, like journalistic Dr. Strangeloves, are ready to nuke Mr. Clinton at the slightest provocation.” The article also says:
“ A single “fact” or observation becomes the conventional wisdom faster than you can say “Zoe Baird” it quickly became fashionable to deride the Clinton Administration as being doomed…”
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-15-mn-35416-story.html
All this was long before Ken Starr and Monica came on the scene. I have always thought that one of the reasons the press felt free to trash Clinton was that the press looked down their noses at him, viewing him as a hick from Nowheresville, Arkansas and calling him by the derisive nickname “Bubba”. They treated Bush, the man who lied for years about his involvement in Iran Contra then completed the coverup (the words of the Independent Counsel) with his pardons, with much more respect that they treated Clinton after he was elected. However back then right wing media was just getting off the ground so the public never really bought the media spin like they do today.
Actually, the mainstream went from reasonably honest reporting (which was actually anomalous) to GOP PR efforts shortly after Carter took office and never looked back.
That's correct. I remember the minute Carter was sworn in the Press went into full attack mode ripping him for what they perceived was the slightest misstep. And wow they trashed his whole family!
Trashing the family happens when the media sees a candidate as white trash. They did the same to Clinton and even Sarah Palin (she’s a loon but going after her pregnant teenage daughter was a new low). The media ignored the reports about Bush the First having a long-time mistress, Jennifer Fitzgerald. I even heard Sam Donaldson angrily denounce those who did report the rumors, saying I know President Bush and he would never do such a thing! When Dubya was in office his brother Neil admitted in his divorce deposition that he had been consorting with high priced prostitute. The media ignored that story, something they never would have done with Billy Carter, Roger Clinton or one of the Palins.
Part of what is wrong with our political press is snobbery, but that is just a part of the problem.
I agree that the coverage got really bad when Carter was in office and I think the same prejudice against people from small towns, especially those in the South, that permeated their coverage of Clinton played a big part. But things went far beyond that when the NY Times decided to give Jeff Gerth free rein to publish any made up scandal peddled to him by far right operatives funded by Richard Mellon Scaife of the American Spectator. Because the vaunted NY Times played along the rest of the media followed its lead. That was a new and much lower standard — the media was reporting flat-out lies, not just biased or snarky stories.
If Hell exists, Richard Mellon Scaife is spending eternity as the victim of exactly the kind of yellow journalism he financed while he was alive.
All those “mainstream: journalist who ploayed along with his smear machine deserve to be right there beside him. Without their help he would have just been an old crank who was squandering his money. That is what would happen in a healthy democracy.
Meet the Presstitute. Nice.
My Sunday mornings are devoted to coffee and catching up on the DVR.
I like that you have a DVR. These cord cutters with their TV's mounted too high on the wall annoy me. I just want something simple to control.
"These cord cutters with their TV's mounted too high on the wall annoy me." 😂
Chuck Todd is the answer to the Jeopardy clue “A useless tool”.
Unfortunately he is also a dangerous tool. Not only does he host the influential (political circles) Sunday MTP he is also the director of all of NBC’s news programs. Bet he would rein in criticism of his Republican buddies from people like Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes and Joy Reid if their ratings weren’t so strong.
Not to nitpick, but Todd is NBC's political director. Lester Holt is the managing editor of NBC's nightly news, and Deborah Turness is the NBC news president.
Chuck is not only nothing special but rather is typical of the mainstream but making him an exemplar is like kicking a puppy. So many others appropriate for dissing but not Chuck.
Too, he and his cohort are far, far worse than useless. They’re doing actual harm.
They are doing tremendous harm. Which is exactly what they're paid to do.
The Covid reportage, while generally serviceable, is getting sloppy on one point and typically dishonest on a second.
Sloppy: Even with virulence of Delta, essentially no vaccinated people are being hospitalized with Covid and, obviously, none dying. (There are always exceptions to rules.)
Dishonest: We don’t, can’t have a true national response to Covid for the reason Eric alluded: governors are free to dictate or block responses. The mainstream’s fealty to the GOP requires them to ignore that point and, indeed, essentially blame Biden for what DeSantis, Abbott and Reeves are doing. Note: That’s not bothsiderism but simple lying.
As for the Perry piece: so good that it made me happy I broke down and subscribed to the WaPo. Very little new, if anything, but still happy to see it.
yes, Perry is excellent.
And Kristi Noem, and Bill Lee, and Kevin Stitt, and......
Sorry, 60% of hospitalizations in Israel are breakthrough infections, the other 40 are the unvaxxed, so while a higher percentage of unvaccinated people need hospitalization in Israel, the vaccine is failing and may even be the cause of the variants.
Thanks for the correction.
My understanding is that the Israeli experience does not conform with what’s going on here. Too, now that I write this, I wonder whether Israel may be a hot spot because a huge number of Palestinians — not Israeli Arab citizens — are not vaccinated and aren’t considered Israelis so they aren’t counted when there’s boasting of the large percentage of Israelis vaccinated.
I found the information through a DDGo search. google wouldn't pull it up - too much censorship - I prefer to look at all data, not just that which fits my narrative. They said the Palestinian infection rate and death toll is virtually the same as the Israelis, even though vaccination status is 90/10 Israeli and 10/90 Palestinian. This seemingly says that vaccinated immunity is short-lived. Search for "The Israeli Public Emergency Council for the Covid19 Crisis" You can download "the-data-and-the-ethics.pdf
Did you see this current headline from the NYT?
“When Will Trump Answer the Big 2024 Question?”
Chuck Todd will jump all over this today. Dean and the rest of the NYT gang—and the entire Beltway press—must be salivating. It’s like something out of Tiger Beat.
press wakes up every morning hoping today is the sat Trump announces
Good, why is anyone afraid of Trump running? We will trounce him. The Republicans are doing the opposite of what they should be doing. It's a gift, actually.
How many times did we have to hear or read "this is the moment TFG became president"?
and hoping this is the day that Biden is finally doomed by some crisis that they hype. According to recent articles the public is blaming the Covid surge on him which I seriously doubt.
BTW I think the CDC would disagree with you that the pandemic is over in blue states. The rate of transmission is ranked as high in most places although it is much higher in places like Texas. But that danger will be offset by Governor Abbot eliminating rape in that state so all’s good.
Abbot sounded like a 5 year old saying he would eliminate rape by arresting rapists. He and DeSantis are determined to prove Trump isn't the only clown in the circus.
He's George Wallace with a Texas accent.
Stolen from Twitter: As of February 2021, there were over 6,100 unprocessed rape kits in Texas.
Greg Abbott has been Governor of Texas since 2015... and was Attorney General of Texas before that since 2002.
In case anybody is curious how serious Abbott is on "eliminating" rape in Texas.
Governor Hot Wheels doesn't give a damn about women.
Chuck can jump all over this but the ratings for his weekly show are anemic so not many people will see that. His weekday ratings are way below Nicolle Wallace, Morning Joe and even Stephanie Ruhle. The only thing saving him is that his Sunday MTP regularly ties with Face the Nation as the most watched and he has more of the desired demographic. Maybe younger viewers just haven’t watched enough of him to catch on to his dangerous games.
Right, it's why Todd was moved to such a low rated spot during the day and Nicole took over his old late afternoon spot.
They did the same thing a few years back with regards to climate change. 97% of scientists said we were influencing climate change. But "news" programs would put on one person from each "side", present it as a 50/50 split, and let them go at it for 3 minutes like it was a boxing match.
Reagan called his people "the silent majority" but what they really are is the vocal minority. They're like an animal that swells itself up when threatened - attempting to appear much bigger than they actually are.
Year after year fewer voters identify as republican. They are no longer 50% of the public and the demographics indicate they are having trouble attracting young voters. The only reason this minority is given equal coverage is people like Chuck Todd.
But they aren't getting equal coverage. They are getting extra coverage. In some cases they are getting all the coverage. Trae Crowder is more even-handed than the MSM.
and since it hasn't yet been mentioned in the comments, I feel compelled to mention that NBC = "Nepotism Before Competence"
Describing Republicans accurately is considered a partisan act - so people like Todd avoid it like the plague.
And so we have an actual plague. Go figure.
In the Philippines, Chuck Todd's style of dishonest reporting is very common in the Filipino mainstream media. As I've mentioned before, the previous administration of the late former president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III was regularly attacked by various outlets during his term. They usually portrayed his administration as being incompetent & being out-of-touch with ordinary people. Usually, the early evening newscasts would constantly feature stories of violent crime, massive traffic in the roads, and the problems with the Metro Railway Transit system. Later in the administration, they would sensationalize stories of people who got caught with bullets inside their luggage. Our local TV & print media were good at riling up the public over these issues and trying to directly blame the former president even his wasn't directly involved in handling those issues. While these were legitimate concerns that the previous administration needed to tackle, some of these issues went back to previous administrations. They weren't interested in making any data-driven reports on the Aquino administration's efforts to improve the economy and infrastructure through programs like the Public-Private Partnership program which combined public funding with private construction firms in various infrastructure projects. These matters wouldn't be the focus of the early evening newscasts, which catered to the middle-middle, lower-middle & lower-class markets. The more serious matters would be the territory of the late night newscasts catering to upper & upper middle-class markets. The class divide in how the news was being reported was one of reasons Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency in 2016. He made outrageous promises claiming he could solve the allegedly huge
crime problem in 3 to 6 months (not true), also claimed that he could solve the traffic problem (not true either), and could solve the railway transit system (also not true). When he became president, the news media's previously sensationalized reports on the traffic & railway system became less common. However, it was replaced by the constant stream of news of poor people suspected of being drug addicts or pushers being killed all in the name of Duterte's bloody war on illegal drugs.
Um, Independents ARE not a party, Eric. They are not organized in any meaningful way. I think you should correct the statement you make several times to something like, "There are two political parties and a group of Independents who affiliate with neither party."
True.
Lovely song. Sorry to be so superficial but I just can't get past Chuck Todd's 'Greek Boy' haircut. Thanks again for continuing to call out Both Sides Baloney.
America is not divided on COVID or masks, or abortion or transgender athletes, or voting or civil rights or critical race theory, or guns. The only thing America can honestly said to be divided on is whether we can or should allow the Republicon Party to continue to exist.
Chuck Todd is just horrible. Him and Andrea Mitchell. I need someone to call him out. He's so ridiculous and he thinks he's hot s*it. MTP needs a new host that has some brains. He literally is just adding fuel to a fire that needs to put out. Thanks Eric for calling him out. Need more of you to keep doing it. Appreciate you.
I lost respect for Mitchell when she gleefully served up an interview with Sheryl Sandberg.
(Lean in to THIS.)
Andrea Mitchell is highly intelligent and a genuinely good person, but I feel like her time has passed. I feel bad for saying it, but it's true.
All those things can be true and she can still be trash at her job. Which she has been on the downslope for awhile now.
I'm in agreement with you. That's why I said I feel like her time has passed.
Thanks Eric. Todd is born and raised in FL and still a resident. Seems he might address the Covid issues in his home state.
Frankly, I thought the 2020 “brownshirts” comment was the end of Todd’s career, at least as it is, but no, he remains the host of MTP. Haven’t watched him in a long time.
For those who want more of him, Todd picks NFL games on the podcast The Tony Kornheiser Show, where Todd is pitted against a monkey, who also picks NFL games.
Not to suggest he is an entertainer more than a journalist.
Florida...is there anything they can't ruin? 🥴
Jacob deGrom?
Seemingly true but I am suspicious about a partial UCL tear that “healed” itself. That’s DeSantis talk right there.