Rachel Maddow is killing it.

Courtesy of Forbes:  

In March, The Rachel Maddow Show finished as the highest-rated show in cable news, with an average total audience of 3.058 million viewers--the show's best-ever performance in the 9 p.m. ET hour. FNC's Hannity was second, with 3.000 million viewers. Maddow also won among viewers 25-54, the demographic most valued by advertisers, finishing March with an average audience of 671,000 compared to Hannity's 616,000. CNN finished a distant third in the hour, with 382,000 viewers 25-54. 

MSNBC has been experiencing a dramatic rise in ratings, finishing the first quarter of 2018 as the only cable news network to grow compared to Q1 2017: MSNBC ratings were up 30%, while both Fox News and CNN experienced declines. 

In March, MSNBC's programming in prime time, daytime and total day all broke records for the network. The network's prime-time lineup averaged 2.398 million total viewers, finishing as the No. 2 network across all of cable TV. While Fox News continued its run as the top-rated network in cable news, MSNBC's prime lineup was up 8% from 2017, while both Fox (down 18 percent) and CNN (down 16 percent) were off year-over-year. 

The March ratings results suggest Fox News' unrivaled status as the dominant force in cable news may be facing one of the strongest challenges in years.

I know that people are starting to turn away from cable news, and looking for alternative information sources, but for my money MSNBC is consistently the highest quality news that you can get via television.

Their reporting is top notch, they have tons of contributors from the world of print journalism, and they deliver the facts in a straightforward manner.

Sure they lean left, but then typically so do the facts.

And Rachel Maddow is clearly the shining jewel in the MSNBC crown.

Even if I think I know a story that I have been reporting on all day, she will almost always add a different dimension to it, and dredge up facts that had not yet been reported.

By the way she also terrifies those on the Right, who constantly attack her, and Donald Trump, who takes great pains not to.

Fox's Shepard Smith claims that many of his fellow hosts are there strictly to entertain, and that he and they "serve different masters."

Courtesy of Time: 

Smith says he’s unbothered by the divergence between his reporting and Fox’s opinion slate. “We serve different masters. We work for different reporting chains, we have different rules. They don’t really have rules on the opinion side. They can say whatever they want. If it’s their opinion. I don’t really watch a lot of opinion programming. I’m busy.” He laughs, enigmatic punctuation that may indicate he’d been trying for a bon mot, or might just be a Mississippi-nice way of indicating he’s said what he’s going to say, bless my heart.

 .........

Unlike some portion of the audience that reflexively switches on Fox News, Smith is disengaged by politics. “I get it,” he says, “that some of our opinion programming is there strictly to be entertaining. I get that. I don’t work there. I wouldn’t work there. I don’t want to sit around and yell at each other and talk about your philosophy and my philosophy. That sounds horrible to me.” 

So to sum up, much of Fox News broadcasting is there simply to entertain, there are no real rules on the opinions side of things, and yet this is Donald Trump's go to source for news and policy advice.

Do you remember that 2012 study which found that people who watched Fox News were less informed than people who did not watch any news at all?

Well apparently that's not a bug.

It's a feature.

And now it features into how the president makes decisions which effect this country, and our world.

P.S. By the way since this story came out suddenly we are learning that Smith is going on a "previously planned vacation."

Thea last time I heard that phrase was when it was used to explain why Bill O'Reilly was not showing up to do his show after those sexual harassment allegations became public.

I hope that is not the case here as Shep is probably the last remaining actual journalist currently working at Fox News.

P.P.S. Here was Hannity's response.

While Shep is a friend with political views I do not share, and great at breaking news, he is clueless about what we do every day. Hannity breaks news daily-Warrant on a Trump assoc, the unmasking scandal, leaking intel, Fisa abuse, HRC lawbreaking, dossier and more REAL NEWS! 9p https://t.co/zJpnnyFTtP

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 16, 2018

I think Hannity is confusing "breaks news" with "pulls conspiracy theories out of my ass."

Disturbing things we learned from a New York Times profile on Donald Trump.

The New York Times did a deep dive into Trump's first year as president, by interviewing as many as 60 advisers, friends, and members of Congress to get a picture of his day-to-day life.

The picture that emerges is...unsettling to say the least.

The start of Trump's day:

Around 5:30 each morning, President Trump wakes and tunes into the television in the White House’s master bedroom. He flips to CNN for news, moves to “Fox & Friends” for comfort and messaging ideas, and sometimes watches MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” because, friends suspect, it fires him up for the day. 

Energized, infuriated — often a gumbo of both — Mr. Trump grabs his iPhone. Sometimes he tweets while propped on his pillow, according to aides. Other times he tweets from the den next door, watching another television. Less frequently, he makes his way up the hall to the ornate Treaty Room, sometimes dressed for the day, sometimes still in night clothes, where he begins his official and unofficial calls.

How much cable news does he watch?

People close to him estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television, sometimes with the volume muted, marinating in the no-holds-barred wars of cable news and eager to fire back.

That means Trump consumes as much as eight hours of cable news a day.

He has no plan:

For most of the year, people inside and outside Washington have been convinced that there is a strategy behind Mr. Trump’s actions. But there is seldom a plan apart from pre-emption, self-defense, obsession and impulse. 

Occasionally, the president solicits affirmation before hitting the “tweet” button. In June, according to a longtime adviser, he excitedly called friends to say he had the perfect tweet to neutralize the Russia investigation. He would call it a “witch hunt.” They were unimpressed. 

Trump needs to see himself talked about on TV every day:  

To an extent that would stun outsiders, Mr. Trump, the most talked-about human on the planet, is still delighted when he sees his name in the headlines. And he is on a perpetual quest to see it there. One former top adviser said Mr. Trump grew uncomfortable after two or three days of peace and could not handle watching the news without seeing himself on it. 

During the morning, aides monitor “Fox & Friends” live or through a transcription service in much the way commodities traders might keep tabs on market futures to predict the direction of their day. 

If someone on the show says something memorable and Mr. Trump does not immediately tweet about it, the president’s staff knows he may be saving Fox News for later viewing on his recorder and instead watching MSNBC or CNN live — meaning he is likely to be in a foul mood to start the day.

On the plus side even Trump cannot stomach Fox News host Jeanine Pirro for long:  

Jeanine Pirro, whose Fox News show is a presidential favorite, recently asked to meet about a deal approved while Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state that gave Russia control over some American uranium, which lately has become a favorite focus of conservatives. 

Mr. Trump, Mr. Kelly and Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, met for more than an hour on Nov. 1 as Ms. Pirro whipped up the president against Mr. Mueller and accused James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, of employing tactics typically reserved for Mafia cases, according to a person briefed on the meeting. 

The president became visibly agitated as she spoke. “Roy Cohn was my lawyer!” he exclaimed, referring to the legendary McCarthy-era fixer who mentored Mr. Trump in the 1980s, suggesting that was the type of defender he needed now. 

At another point, Mr. Kelly interrupted. She was not “helping things,” he said, according to the person briefed. Even Mr. Trump eventually tired of Ms. Pirro’s screed and walked out of the room, according to the person.

That woman is so batshit crazy that she even makes Trump seem sane by comparison.

The article suggests that Trump IS learning, but the learning curve is so steep that, like Sisyphus with the rock, every inch of progress is often accompanied by a degree of backsliding.

In the meantime the needs of the country remain largely unmet as a reality television faux celebrity learns that not everything can be reedited to make him appear competent at his job.

Rupert Murdoch may be trying to buy CNN.

Gimme, gimme, gimme.

Courtesy of The Independent:  

Rupert Murdoch is said to be interested in buying CNN – which, if true, could prove to be an interesting development given Mr Murdoch's reported close association with Donald Trump, who has repeatedly railed against the network. 

The news comes after reports saying Mr Trump's administration may force AT&T to ditch the network to receive antitrust approval of its $85.4bn deal with Time Warner. 

According to Reuters, Mr Murdoch called AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson twice in the last six months and talked about CNN. 

One of the outlet's sources said Mr Murdoch offered to buy CNN in both conversations, while another source said the 86-year-old executive chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox had "zero interest" in owning the network. 

It would not be the first time Mr Murdoch has expressed interest in taking over CNN.

Donald Trump fucking hates CNN, so if Murdoch could neuter the cable news network that would give him quite a lot of control over Trump's presidency.

Probably almost enough to rival Vladimir Putin's control over the Trump presidency. 

However if this purchase were to happen, and Murdoch turned CNN into Fox-lite, it would quickly start to lose viewers at an accelerated clip.

Of course CNN going out of business would probably not break Trump's heart either.

Employees at Fox News are embarrassed and humiliated by the cable network's coverage of the Robert Mueller investigation.

Courtesy of CNN:

Some employees at Fox News were left embarrassed and humiliated by their network's coverage of the latest revelations in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling, according to conversations CNN had with several individuals placed throughout the network. 

"I'm watching now and screaming," one Fox News personality said in a text message to CNN as the person watched their network's coverage. "I want to quit." 

"It is another blow to journalists at Fox who come in every day wanting to cover the news in a fair and objective way," one senior Fox News employee told CNN of their outlet's coverage, adding that there were "many eye rolls" in the newsroom over how the news was covered. 

The person said, "Fox feels like an extension of the Trump White House." 

The employees spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. A Fox News spokesperson told CNN the network covered the breaking news accurately and fairly across both news and opinion programming.

The article goes on to  reveal that though Fox did cover the recent indictments they did not focus on them, and instead spent a lot of time on the NFL protests, North Korea, and Trump's tax plan, while also airing pieces that questioned Muller's credibility. 

My friend emailed me last night and insists that at least one of these nameless folks in the piece above is most likely Shep Smith, who must be constantly cursing under his breath all day long about now.

Fortunately for conservatives in "the bubble" this is coming from CNN so Donald Trump will just dismiss it as "fake news."

Fox News ad revenue plunges despite the fact that they are Donald Trump's go to for conservative propaganda.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

Fox News is having trouble keeping its advertisers happy. 

Ad revenues plunged 17 percent in September over the same month last year, according to the most recent financial data for the operation. 

Statistics from the Standard Media Index, which tracks media income, showed that Fox News took the biggest hit of any cable news operation. CNN, which President Donald Trump frequently describes as “fake news,” lost just 1 percent in revenue, and MSNBC was up 2 percent. 

Cable news revenue was down an average of 7 percent for the entire third quarter (July, August, September) over the same period last year, Ad Week reported.

So what do we think?

Are advertisers running away despite the fact that Fox News appears to be helping Donald Trump create policy, or because they ARE helping Donald Trump create policy? 

The article goes on to point out that advertisers are still paying more to advertise on Fox News, but clearly there is a paradigm shift underway.

Right after Bill O'Reilly paid a 32 million dollar sexual harassment settlement Fox News extended his contract for 25 million dollars.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Last January, six months after Fox News ousted its chairman amid a sexual harassment scandal, the network’s top-rated host at the time, Bill O’Reilly, struck a $32 million agreement with a longtime network analyst to settle new sexual harassment allegations, according to two people briefed on the matter — an extraordinarily large amount for such cases. 

Although the deal has not been previously made public, the network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, acknowledges that it was aware of the woman’s complaints about Mr. O’Reilly. They included allegations of repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to her, according to the people briefed on the matter. 

It was at least the sixth agreement — and by far the largest — made by either Mr. O’Reilly or the company to settle harassment allegations against him. Despite that record, 21st Century Fox began contract negotiations with Mr. O’Reilly, and in February granted him a four-year extension that paid $25 million a year.

All of this occurred after Megyn Kelly left the news outlet and they were attempting to convince the public that they were cleaning up "the workplace culture."

Apparently the Murdoch family huddled together and decided it made better business sense to extend O'Reilly's contract than to risk losing him, despite these numerous allegations and setttlements.

Clearly not a great business decision since they were forced to kick him out only four months later.

Someone on Twitter wanted to know just what could somebody do to another person that would cost 32 million dollars to cover up?

That is a good question, but not one I am sure I really want to know the answer to. 

I have virtually NO doubt that the workplace sexual harassment is continuing at Fox News and that new allegations are forthcoming.

You just don't clean up a pigsty like that in such a short amount of time.

No Stephen Bannon is NOT going to create a cable TV network to challenge Fox News.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast: 

“Steve’s not a TV person. He doesn’t like TV; he loves radio,” said Chris Ruddy, a pal of the president’s and the chief executive of right-leaning Newsmax, whose cable channel reaches around 35 million households. (Bannon is the former and likely future host of Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM Radio.) “He may entertain notions of building a TV channel, but that’s very challenging to do from scratch,” Ruddy added. “God bless him if he could do that with any speed.” 

Former Breitbart editor at large Ben Shapiro is also among the skeptics. “Bannon had no other place to go except for Breitbart,” said Shapiro, a conservative radio and television pundit who opposed Trump during the campaign and quit the website early last year over Bannon’s lack of support for Breitbart political reporter Michelle Fields after she was manhandled by then-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. 

Bannon “is not going to be the head of a think tank. He’s not going to be a personality or a talk radio host. He’s not qualified for any of those things,” Shapiro said. 

Instead, Shapiro predicted, “he will try to gain control over the movement he thinks he built—this nationalist-populist movement he thinks Trump rode the wave of. And what that means is he’ll be Trump’s quote-unquote conscience from the outside. You’ll see him go after all the people around Trump—and occasionally Trump himself. He’ll start off with Trump being ‘cucked’ by these people—and then it’ll turn into Trump selling out.”

Steve Bannon is a Right Wing troll, who runs a website, that would probably already be out of business if it were not for the support of the Mercer family. 

And once Bannon starts to really go after Trump that will only knock his website numbers down even further as Trump loyalists jump ship.

In the end I would expect that Bannon will end up going back to talk radio and leaving any hopes of expanding his influence behind.

And actually I would not be at all surprised to see Fox News working to reinvent itself so as to compete in a world where criticizing Donald Trump brings in huge ratings, and providing cover for him only draws ridicule and charges of pandering to white supremacists.

James Murdoch criticizes Donald Trump's talking points, but he seems to get most of them from Fox News.

Fox News CEO James Murdoch slammed Trump's response to Charlottesville but much of what Trump said came straight from Fox News: pic.twitter.com/nFm3q3391O

— Media Matters (@mmfa) August 18, 2017

Let's face it Donald Trump is essentially taking the crap bloviated about on Fox News and making it a reality.

That is like giving life to the imaginary monsters that lived under our beds when we were children.

Terrifying.

If Murdock REALLY wanted to stop Donald Trump from tearing this country apart he would shut down his network, take his billions of dollars, and simply walk away from politics and cable news forever.

That would be so heroic that somebody might even put up a statue to honor his sacrifice.

MSNBC is now the number one cable news channel. Deal with it!

Courtesy of Variety: 

MSNBC ranked as the number one network across all of cable in total viewers for the first time in its history, according to Nielsen data. 

For Wednesday, Aug. 16, MSNBC averaged 1.52 million viewers for the total day across all of cable, edging out second place Fox News, who averaged 1.5 million. CNN ranked fourth among all cable networks for the day with 1.13 million total viewers. Nickelodeon was third with 1.17 million. However, in the key adults 25-54 demographic, CNN was number one among the cable news networks for the total day, averaging 381,000 viewers in that measure. Fox News was second in the demo for total day with 353,000 viewers, and MSNBC was third with 343,000. 

In primetime, MSNBC was also first in total viewers among the cable news networks with 2.61 million viewers. Fox News was second with 2.4 million. CNN was third with 1.59 million. In the key demo for primetime, MSNBC was first with 613,000. Fox News narrowly outpaced CNN for second place with 560,000, with CNN averaging 557,000. 

Across all of broadcast in primetime, Wednesday’s episodes of “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” were among the top 10 shows of the night in total viewers, with Maddow averaging 3.25 million viewers at 9 p.m. and O’Donnell averaging 2.54 million at 10. They were both the highest-rated and most-watched cable news programs in their respective time slots, with Maddow also nabbing 778,00 viewers in the key demo and O’Donnell nabbing 597,000.

This has been my go to cable news channel since 2004 so I am glad to see they are finally getting the recognition they deserve. 

Rachel Maddow still remains my all time favorite, but I am loving me some Joy Reid. Katy Tur, and Lawrence O'Donnell as well.

Fox News being put in its place.

For the record. pic.twitter.com/yJ5e5Zmefa

— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) August 13, 2017

Kind of like the gun store that sold bullets to the murderer asking for crime scene photos so that they can promote their business.

It's just ugly. 

Fox News is no longer the most watched cable news network. That honor goes to MSNBC.

Courtesy of The Independent: 

Fox News was knocked off the number one slot as the most-watched primetime cable television network in America, after being overtaken by MSNBC. 

According to figures from global research company Nielsen, the network was the most-watched station during the weekday prime evening slot from 7pm to midnight between 17 and 21 July. 

During this time the more centrist network gained 2.34 million viewers, while Fox News had 2.25 million.

The sought-after evening slots include shows from Fox presenters Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, and the network previously gained the highest number of viewers. 

The Rachel Maddow Show, which was the first television show to expose two pages of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax returns, also gained more viewers than Fox News and CNN for the fourth consecutive week in the prime slot between 9 to 10pm.

Man you know that Roger Ailes is spinning is his grave like a rotisserie chicken right about now.

This is really great news, and so well deserved.

MSNBC needs to recognize why this is happening, and the hunger people have for good journalism, and stop bringing on those Fox News castoffs for "balance."

MSNBC is what it is and people love it.

Currently I do not have too many must watch shows.

But the Rachel Maddow Show is at the top of my must see TV list every single day.

The only other show that attracts that kind of allegiance from me is "Game of Thrones." And Rachel Maddow does not even have to use dragons.

30 entire people protest outside CNN headquarters in response to their coverage of Donald Trump.

Courtesy of Atlanta Journal Constitution:  

About 30 people gathered outside CNN’s Atlanta headquarters Saturday to protest the network’s coverage of President Donald Trump. 

“Beware fake news” and “CNN. Criminal News Network” were some of the messages they delivered to people walking nearby and to fellow political conservatives watching the demonstration via live feed on Breitbart.com. 

The protest was the second recently held outside CNN’s headquarters in downtown Atlanta.

Thirty people?

That's not a protest, that's a bus stop.

I could get a larger group than that together to protest too few pickles in McDonald's hamburgers.

One of the organizers — Debbie Dooley, co-founder of the Tea Party activist group Main Street Patriots — said her group was outside CNN a month ago and would be back in August and September. 

“We’re going to keep on holding them accountable,” Dooley said. 

She said the demonstration was not necessarily to show support for Trump but to call attention to what they see as “biased” coverage of the president, the investigation into Russia’s meddling in last year’s elections, and Trump’s policies. 

“We’re here to tell CNN no more fake news,” said another organizer, Melanie Morgan of the Media Equality Project. “They have to know people who are here expect fairness in journalism.”

My favorite part is that Breitbart actually had alive feed to this fiasco.

So while these folks were protesting an actual cable news network for accurately reporting on a president they support, the only aggressive coverage they could attract was from a racist news outlet well known for pushing conspiracy theories and fabricated "news" stories.

Does that about sum this up?

Originally scheduled to receive the William F. Buckley award, Sean Hannity will no longer be the recipient after Buckley's son expressed outrage.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Fox News Channel star anchor Sean Hannity will no longer receive the conservative Media Research Center's William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence at its September 21 gala, sources familiar with the situation tell CNN. 

Buckley, the founder of the National Review, who died in 2008, was hailed in his day as "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States." Giving an award in his name to Hannity -- a pugnacious talk radio host who has shared conspiracy theories on his popular cable news show -- had caused hand wringing among some conservatives. 

It also caused distress among Buckley's family -- in particular his only child, best-selling author Christopher Buckley. 

A source familiar with the situation tells CNN that Christopher Buckley "expressed great dismay" at the announcement that the award would go to Hannity, who has spent a great deal of time insulting conservative intellectuals on Twitter, particularly since he became a strong supporter of Donald Trump.

Buckley, sources say, called the Media Research Center and expressed his disapproval. Sources tell CNN that the MRC acquiesced and will no longer give the award to him. Hannity has since been removed from the gala website.

Apparently there were a lot of behind the scenes attempts at damage control over this, with both sides suggesting that there was a "scheduling conflict."

However Christopher Buckley responded to that by saying, "perhaps Mr. Hannity has been offered the Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award on the same evening and had decided to leverage upwards."

Oh yeah, THAT'S going to leave a mark.

I am old enough to remember watching William F. Buckley sparring with liberals and fellow conservatives on TV.

Even back then I totally disagreed with his politics, but I never once thought of the guy as ignorant or lacking in intelligence. Far from it in fact.

To have given a knuckle dragger like Sean Hannity an award named after him would have been an insult to the memory of a such an eloquent, if often acerbic, conservative giant.

While all of that news was breaking on Tuesday about that second meeting between Trump and Putin, THIS was what Fox News was focused on.

I imagine that the next breaking story will be about Hillary's unpaid parking tickets, or a book she did not return on time to the library.

When people ask me if I believe in alternate realities, my response is "What? You've never heard of Fox News?"

Trump to Manafort: "Am I a baby to you?"

Courtesy of Yahoo News: 

A new book details a fight that it says led Donald Trump to oust Paul Manafort, who served as chairman and, for a time, manager of his presidential campaign. 

The book, "Devil's Bargain" by Bloomberg Businessweek correspondent Joshua Green, was previewed in the Daily Mail on Monday. 

According to the Daily Mail, the book says a New York Times article led to the fight that precipitated Manafort's removal from the Trump campaign. 

The Times article noted that Trump's aides used TV appearances to get their messages across to him because they found that more effective than communicating face-to-face. 

The day after the article's publication, apparently at the urging of Rebekah Mercer, a Republican donor who threw her weight behind Trump during the election, Trump reportedly called a meeting with his top staff at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. The meeting, the Daily Mail said, included Manafort, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York, former Fox News chief Roger Ailes, and Manafort's deputy Rick Gates. 

When everybody was assembled, Trump reportedly shouted at Manafort, "How can anybody allow an article that says your campaign is all f----- up?" 

"You think you've gotta go on TV to talk to me? You treat me like a baby!" Trump added, according to Green's account of the meeting quoted in the Daily Mail. 

"Am I like a baby to you? I sit there like a little baby and watch TV and you talk to me? Am I a f------ baby, Paul?" Trump reportedly continued.

I think we all know the answer to that is "Yes."

According to the book the next Times article which revealed that Manafort had been paid millions by a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party sealed his fate.

Jared Kushner actually did the firing, but clearly Trump was humiliated by the first article and that was why Manafort had to be punished.

I have the feeling that this is only one example of the kind of turmoil that took place during the campaign, and now happens within the White House on a daily basis.

Greta Van Susteren is out at MSNBC!

I am out at MSNBC -

— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) June 29, 2017

Courtesy of Vanity Fair: 

The anchor, whose show struggled to gain traction even as the rest of her colleagues were buoyed by anti-Trump hysteria, has parted ways with the network. She will not appear on the show on Thursday evening. She will be permanently replaced by Ari Melber, the network’s chief legal correspondent and host of the The Point on weekends. He will continue to appear across NBC and MSNBC shows as he takes over the 6 p.m. slot next month. (MSNBC and NBC News declined to comment. Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Van Susteren had no comment.)

The decision comes as much of the rest of MSNBC has been enjoying a ratings resurgence, and, in some cases, dominance over Fox News. For the first time in 17 years, the network beat both Fox News and CNN in prime-time viewership on weeknights in May amongst the crucial 25-to-54 age demographic—a giant 118 percent leap from a year earlier. In the full second quarter, according to ratings released by Nielsen earlier this week, the network came in second behind Fox for total day viewers, but its growth from a year earlier outpaced both its rivals. Much of this growth is due to prime-time anchors like Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell, whose nightly newscasts have tapped into a potent mix of liberal anxiety and schadenfreude over the Trump presidency.

Good, about damn time!

And she should be followed by Megyn Kelly ad Hugh Hewitt just as soon as possible. 

They are simply not good journalists, nor are they in line with the politics which make people tune into MSNBC.

I am proud to say that I have never watched a single episode of Greta's show, and I would even turn the volume down when she appeared on other MSNBC shows to provide commentary.

I have not forgotten what she and her associates did during the Obama presidency, nor how she helped to validate Sarah Palin and her husband to her Fox News viewers.

She was part of the Fox "Fake" News and she has no place on a cable news network that prides itself on accuracy.

Now perhaps MSNBC has learned its lesson and will discard this ridiculous experiment of giving Right Wing trolls their own shows, and start getting more intelligent progressive voices on the air.

In the least surprising news of the day, Jason Chaffetz, who suddenly up and quit Congress, is headed over to Fox News.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Fox News has hired Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to be a contributor for the cable news channel after the congressman ends his House term early on June 30. 

Chaffetz will start his role at Fox on July 1, according to a statement from the network. 

"In this role he will offer political analysis across FNC and FOX Business Network’s (FBN) daytime and primetime programming," the network said. 

The Utah congressman and head of the House Oversight Committee announced in May that he he would resign from Congress to pursue other opportunities. 

Shortly after, Washingtonian reported that he'd been telling fellow lawmakers he planned to join Fox News. 

Yeah I actually reported this possibility last month as well.

And besides what else is this POS really qualified to do but exaggerate bullshit, attack Democrats, and talk out of his ass?

He will fit in great over at Fox News, and probably soon get his own show.

Perhaps he can appear as a guest on his own show and ask himself what made him flee his cushy job in the Congress so quickly?

I might even tune in to hear the truth about that.

Former Fox News contributor, or "hitman" as they were called, reveals how Roger Ailes REALLY described his cable news network behind the scenes.

This comes courtesy of Tobin Smith who worked as an on air contributor to Fox Business for 14 years. (Smith was fired after it was revealed that he engaged in stock fraud.)

Here is what Smith wrote about Roger Ailes and his "off the record" opinion of Fox over at Medium: 

“Toby . . . I created a TV network for people 55 to dead,” Ailes said. 

“What does our viewer look like? 

“They look like me…white guys in mostly Red State counties who sit on their couch with the remote in their hand all day and night.” 

“What do they want to see” 

“They want to see YOU tear those smug condescending know-it-all East Coast liberals to pieces . . limb by limb . . . until they jump up out of their LaZ boy and scream “Way to go Toby…you KILLED that libtard!” 

He did NOT tell me what he told Joan (who recently reported her brief one-time conversation in 2000) discussing a new more liberal show idea (as she shared in her recent Nation.com article): 

“And Joan they don’t want to see anyone like you,” looking directly at my liberal friend . “They don’t want to see you — they don’t even want to know that you exist!”

(This of course refers to Joan Walsh, the National Affairs Correspondent for the Nation, and frequent guest on MSNBC.)


Here is how Tobin Smith describes what Ailes built:

 . . . he perpetrated the biggest TV scam ever . . . against the most vulnerable and gullible senior Americans . . . one that makes the game show fixing scandal of the late 50’s look like a tea party. 

By careful design and staging Fox News manipulated (and ultimately addicted) the most vulnerable people in America to the most powerful drug cocktail ever: Visceral gut feelings of outrage relieved by the most powerful emotions of all . . . the thrill of your tribe’s victory over its enemy and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

You know those "debates" that take place on Fox shows between the host and a supposed progressive?

All bullshit.

The outcomes for Fox’s “panel debates” have ALWAYS been carefully fixed by the producers so that the home team (i.e, the conservative panelists like me) ALWAYS won.

So essentially it was always as we suspected. A cable news network that had virtually NO respect for its viewers, and manipulated their emotions on a daily basis in order to keep them tuned in and supporting their conservative agenda.

And they tapped into underlying feelings of misogyny, racism, and xenophobia to bait the hook.

Yeah, I think it is time that Fox News was no more.

How about you?

What the three top cable news outlets were reporting the night we learned that Jared Kushner wanted a back channel to communicate with Moscow.

Apparently these were captured at almost the exact same time from all three networks.

Is it any wonder the conservatives are not all up in arms over this Russia collusion thing?

They don't even know about it yet!