As you see the whole thing turned into a shouting match with Joe Scarborough essentially hijacking the show and attempting to turn into a sixth day of Morning Joe.
Here is how Mediaite summed it up:
Scarborough’s been on MTP as a guest before, and he’s usually toned down his act to Weekend Joe to befit the more respectable Sunday show environment. Weekend Joe, however, was nowhere in evidence Sunday when he and MJ-regular David Axelrod got into a name-calling spat over the ebola panic, leading to one of those shoutfests that plague cable news and are in no short supply on Scarborough’s weekday show. In fact with MJ-regulars Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell flanking the two the bit was indistinguishable from a Morning Joe segment, and just as ultimately useless.
Scarborough is definitely pushing the Right Wing position on the Ebola situation, which is to foment fear and then attempt to direct the blame toward the President. As reiterated by Ted Cruz just today.
By the way he is not the only MSNBC host to engage in that kind of behavior. Which inspired me to send this tweet.
I'm watching MSNBC's Chris Matthews have a full on Lindsay Graham case of the vapors over one Ebola case in America.
— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 30, 2014
Yes I realize I spelled Lindsey Graham's name wrong, but I was irritated when I sent it.If Chuck Todd wants to maintain control of his show he might think about suspending Scarborough until he learns to play nice with others or perhaps fit him with a shock collar to keep him form going feral on the MTP set.
Chuck Todd is just more of the same, only worse.
ReplyDeleteThey need a good paper journalist like Alec MacGillis, late of the New Republic, or reputable (is there is one?) right-wing journalist to have a thoughtful and educational hour, and not the clowns they have now.Within a year, no one, but no one, will be watch Meet the Press.
Dr. Rachel Maddow would have been a good choice to host MTP. Chuck Todd is a disaster already.
ReplyDeleteJoe/Morning Joe is a jerk - don't know why anyone would watch his show. Has a huge ego and isn't as smart as he thinks he is.
In total agreement on Rachel but MTP has had a total RW slant for years. I absolutely cannot stand Morning Joe anymore.
DeleteAnd the explanation for the dead intern in his office has never had the ring of truth for me either.
DeleteAlthough it does explain why he's not in congress anymore.
I have watched Morning Joe on occasion, if only to check if their dynamics had changed but had to click it off because I neither can not will tolerate Ms. Brzezjinski's look of female martyrdom in the face of Scarborough's arrogant flaunting of his perceived supremacy.
ReplyDeleteAs for Ms Maddow, I think she would shine in any setting, but she has a much wider audience in her five evenings of reporting and analysing both acute and chronic problems in the US and beyond.
The Sunday morning shows are a dying breed anyway unless they cater to the "Wrongwingers" who won't listen to a woman who actually uses her brain in a most effective, logical way.
3:57 PM I am the one that suggested Dr. Rachel Maddow and want you to know that I totally agree w/your thoughts. She is so damned good!
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, she has more influence where she is and can cover (in depth and research) far more than she'd be able to on Meet the Press.
Every episode of the "new" MTP featuring the "Toddler" has just appeared to me to be all style and very little substance.
ReplyDeleteEspecially annoying is that fake large screen hand-swipe for the screen changes, like it is a giant I-Pad. What a circus act this has become...
Chuck, what a Dweezle.. I never watch and never will , unless I hear someone reached across the table and smacked that smirk off his face.
ReplyDeleteProblem is...everyone has lost respect for journalism and journalists, especially like Gregory and Todd. Tim Russert commanded respect and he was fair.
ReplyDeleteBut was a drunk and a bully.
DeleteBoy are you wrong. Tim Russert was held in high regards as was considered a nice guy by almost everybody. David Gregory on the other hand has a reputation for being rude to everyone, including his own staff and is considered an egotistical bully.
DeleteWhat a shame that America has decided to abandon all reason and dwell in the amygdala world of visceral emotional responses to every situation. Yes, ebola is a horrible disease, and yes, it could create an epidemic in the US – perhaps killing thousands (or more) people. But statistically speaking, the most dangerous instrument of death of all may be found in every American kitchen: a fork. That's right: more Americans will kill themselves due to self-destructive eating patterns than any other cause. So why aren't people panicking every time they open the cutlery drawer? Second largest contributor to death? Probably the failure to exercise and drink enough water. Yes, all three of these things take time to manifest, but they can all lead to chronic conditions that then lead to death. Life and death is mostly within our own hands, and surely not within the hands of ISI or ebola. Seriously, most of life is as Pogo said: "we have met the enemy, and it is us."
ReplyDeleteFurther, apart from their wholesale disregard of statistics and rational thinking, I don't take ANY right wing person seriously when it comes to ebola. When a person says in one sentence that they are panicked about ebola, and in the next sentence that they can't wait to do away with everyone else's health insurance, I know for sure that I am listening to a lunatic, someone who has never ever heard the words that he/she is saying.
Ebola is exchange of bodily fluids period. How many times does this need to be said.
DeleteYeah, that was like thinking a new table and backdrop were going to rescue the show.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links about what Rand Paul and Cruz said about Ebola. I read a lot of information this past weekend about Ebola. When I read comments on the articles there was a near avalanche of extremists calling Obama a Muslim and terrorist. That premise morphed into Obama is against the USA so it is all his fault for the man in Dallas with Ebola.
ReplyDeleteI got the sense that scapegoating Obama for the existence of this deadly virus was a need to lay blame on someone. I also realized that these people come across as clueless about international air travel, basic knoweledge of how diseases are spread and complete ignorance of containing, reducing to eliminate this deadly disease.
The depths of ignorance and hatred place ing all blame on the president denouncing he won't protect Americans was disturbing and plain crazy.
"Facts? We don't need no facts".
DeleteAnd I suggest that the MTP producers are encouraging Scarborough to "go at it" with any left-wing guest as long and as loud as possible. NBC needs a ratings boost and, after all, what brings people to turn on the TV better than the expectation of a good free-for-all? Which means that NBC has decided to play to the lowest common denominator -- after all, it worked for Faux.
The ebola scare is out of control in tin foil hat land. The RWNJ's are in a complete panic that we'll all die soon, that we must seal off the southern border ASAP (forget that northern border and coastland are each a far larger border), that Obama has failed to take control of the epidemic and that its actually an evil plot by socialists to exercise population control.
ReplyDeleteAny attempt to provide legitimate info on ebola, disease management, etc. falls on deaf ears as it fails to corroborate their need to blame the black president.
Sheesh
NBC must know what they are doing having Morning Joe on MTP. Their old white audience wants to hear a loud mouth right winger ranting.
ReplyDeleteI think every time joe jerk starts talking someone should say "let's change to topic here for a minute...what ever happened to your intern?"
ReplyDeleteRussert left big shoes to fill. He had a passion for his work and it showed. David Gregory and Chuck Todd are those guys bosses get used to seeing everyday and get a pass for just showing up.
ReplyDeleteRussert approached political issues and always framed them in how decisions effect the common man. He always did his homework and was stern but fair to people from all parties.
Todd's biggest mistake was having Joe on and giving him carte blanche to overtake the conversation.