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You are here: Home / Dancing Dave Scores Another Gig

Dancing Dave Scores Another Gig

by John Cole|  May 12, 20124:32 pm| 43 Comments

This post is in: Assholes, DC Press Corpse, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Ladies and Gentlemen, your liberal media:

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which calls itself “the voice of small business,” is one of the Republican party’s strongest allies. The group spent over $1 million on outside ads in the 2010 campaign — all of it backing Republican House and Senate candidates (and, Bloomberg News reported last month, “another $1.5 million that it kept hidden and said was exempt” from disclosure requirements). The group is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Obamacare law and bankrolled state governments’ challenges to the law. The NFIB has also taken stances against allowing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases, opposing regulations on businesses, and supporting curtailing union rights.

Given the group’s obvious Republican alliance, it comes as little surprise that the NFIB’s three-day 2012 Small Business Summit, which begins Monday, will feature headliners Karl Rove and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

But the first name and photo on the invitation for the $150-per-person event — Tuesday’s “keynote address” speaker — is NBC’s Meet the Press host David Gregory. He is marketed by NBC as an anchor and “trusted journalist.”

As we all know, even the epitome of journalistic ethics, David Broder, was nothing more than a paid whore, it shouldn’t surprise you that this kind of thing is happening. Although in fairness to Gregory, he’s probably just going to line up some more white male Republicans for his Sunday show, Meet the Republicans.

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Reader Interactions

43Comments

  1. 1.

    MattF

    May 12, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    Ugh. Now I need to go out and wash my retinas.

  2. 2.

    amk

    May 12, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    The only real journalists in america seem to be cartoonists. Everyone else are just paid shills.

  3. 3.

    dewzke

    May 12, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    Who coulda known? What a clown. F em all. Who can you trust if you’re relying on the teebee?

  4. 4.

    driftglass

    May 12, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    Never truer:

    http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2011/04/sunday-morning-comin-down_24.html

  5. 5.

    maya

    May 12, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    It’s a shame he didn’t turn out more like his big brother, Dick.

  6. 6.

    kansi

    May 12, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    I can’t believe I am still surprised by things like this. Just disgusting.

  7. 7.

    JWL

    May 12, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    “Marketed by NBC”.

    Cheer up. Marketing campaigns go belly up all the time. Today’s Seriously Astute People (‘SAPS’) are tomorrow’s Geraldo Rivera’s.

  8. 8.

    Ripley

    May 12, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    Journalistic integrity aside, WTF does David Gregory know about independent business operations/philosophy and who’s the clown that booked him?

    “Hi, everyone! Thank you, thank you. You can be a millionaire and never pay taxes! First, get a million dollars…”

  9. 9.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 12, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    I never thought anybody could make me miss Tim Russert. I was right, of course. But Gregory is actually a bigger tool than ‘ol Punkinhead.

  10. 10.

    Ash Can

    May 12, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    “trusted journalist.”

    Trusted to do what?

    And I wonder how much Gregory is being paid for this gig. What’s his going rate? A 6-pack and a blow job?

  11. 11.

    Clime Acts

    May 12, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    I would like to vomit on the heads of these Villager pigs.

    Still stuns me that Karl Rove walks free among the living.

    There is very little justice in this world.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 12, 2012 at 5:02 pm

    O/T but apparently there’s some police stuff happening at Occupy London. On the road and can’t easily check right now, sorry.

  13. 13.

    Maude

    May 12, 2012 at 5:06 pm

    @Ash Can:
    He gets his hair done for free for six months.

  14. 14.

    mai naem

    May 12, 2012 at 5:10 pm

    Cannot stand Gregory. He makes Russert look like Ed Murrow. Almost anybody in NBC News would have been better. Andrea Mitchell, Katie Couric, Savannah Guthrie, the Defense Dept reporter, Mika B.

  15. 15.

    Tim I

    May 12, 2012 at 5:12 pm

    Gregory appears to be committing a major ethics violation. I hope that everyone will contact NBC to complain.

    The person to contact is Steve Capus, the President of NBC news. Here is his email:

    [email protected]

  16. 16.

    Keith G

    May 12, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    @Tim I:

    Gregory appears to be committing a major ethics violation.

    Is he?

    It seems distasteful, but is his behavior violating NBC’s guidelines?

  17. 17.

    Quarks

    May 12, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Those anti-Obamacare ads are airing here in Florida, combining them with attacks on Senator Bill Nelson and that favorite target, Alan Grayson. The result is to convince me to never ever watch TV again.

  18. 18.

    Mike in NC

    May 12, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Although in fairness to Gregory, he’s probably just going to line up some more white male Republicans for his Sunday show, Meet the Republicans.

    Did something horrible happen to Gramps McCain to make him unavailable just about each and every week?

  19. 19.

    General Stuck

    May 12, 2012 at 5:46 pm

    I can’t wait for the uncovering of groups supporting GOP candidates, something like maybe The Apple Pie Americans United Group, being funded by Saudi gazzilionaire oil sheiks, with a trail of brown bags leading right up to Rove’s front door. With CU, sooner or later it will happen, because these fuckers cannot control themselves nor be trusted with free flowing anonymous cash.

    A measly one million will seem like chump change before too long.

  20. 20.

    David Koch

    May 12, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    Hoooooocoodnode!

  21. 21.

    MikeJ

    May 12, 2012 at 6:05 pm

    @Keith G: NBC’s guidelines aren’t the only yardstick of ethics.

  22. 22.

    gnomedad

    May 12, 2012 at 6:06 pm

    Nice photo of Rove; he looks like Hector Hammond in the Green Lantern movie, only more evil.

  23. 23.

    Legalize

    May 12, 2012 at 6:09 pm

    Even the Librul David Gregory!

  24. 24.

    David Koch

    May 12, 2012 at 6:13 pm

    You think NBC would allow the “anchor” of MTP to speak at the UAW or the Sierra Club? Of course not. But a wingnut organization – that’s okay.

  25. 25.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    May 12, 2012 at 6:13 pm

    @mai naem:

    Of course Gregory makes Russert look like Ed Murrow. And before him, Russert made Garrick Utley look like Ed Morrow. And before him Garrick Utley made Bill Monroe look like Ed Murrow. Hardly anybody remembers Garrick Utley and Bill Monroe because they were mere stepping stones in the evolution to total corporate shilldom. The heir to David Gregory will do away with the metaphors and perform actual fellatio on the air.

  26. 26.

    Keith G

    May 12, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    @MikeJ: So if I may be a type of devils advocate, in this case, what is his ethical “crime”?

  27. 27.

    Keith G

    May 12, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    @David Koch: If they have the $40,000+ to book him, I bet he would be there in a flash.

  28. 28.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 12, 2012 at 6:36 pm

    Re: Journalistic ethics: there are no ethics on the speaking circuit.

    @Keith G: avoiding the appearance of conflict of interest, I’d guess. But see 1. above.

  29. 29.

    Keith G

    May 12, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: Every year, thousands of organizations book speakers for their annual conferences. They all want a “star” from politics, media, sports… whatever. Most of them will try to book the most familiar face that they budget can afford. TV media and reporter types are in high demand since they know the “inside stuff”.

    Ezra Klein, Christian Armanpour and all the way to Paula Zahn all earn extra scratch this way. They recite a 20 min speech that they have repeated dozens of times before, shake some hands, eat some chicken Kiev, and away they go.

    Edited

    For extra fun go here:

    http://washingtonspeakers.com/search/search.cfm?searchtype=newsearch&category=1speaker&sptype=51

  30. 30.

    cckids

    May 12, 2012 at 6:55 pm

    @Quarks: I just caught the end of an Obama-slamming ad here in NV, something about the Hillary Rosen remark, the “no jobs for women” crap & closing with a very sarcastic”Happy” Mother’s Day from President Obama”. Run by some PAC or other. I didn’t tune in to most of it, but it had both me and my 17-year old daughter saying “What the F*ck”?

    Catching the attention of the youth of America? Check. Completely disgusting them? Also check. She actually went online to be sure she’ll be able to vote for Obama – she turns 18 before the election, but after registration closes. Answer: Yes! (unless they change registration laws). Way to go, GOP. You fail so hard.

  31. 31.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 12, 2012 at 6:57 pm

    @Keith G: If I was reporting on the coal industry, for instance, I wouldn’t take money from the coal industry to speak at their conference. YMMV.

    ETA: Thanks for the link. I need a shower now. The celeb journalism industry in Washington is a major part of the problem with our politics.

  32. 32.

    Origuy

    May 12, 2012 at 7:05 pm

    @cckids: Yay for your daughter! Now she needs to get all her friends to register. Throw a party for them Election Day.

    Seriously, Election Day was once a time for getting together and having a party. An Election Day party was where Roseanna McCoy met Johnse Hatfield. Uh, maybe you better not after all. That didn’t end well.

  33. 33.

    Keith G

    May 12, 2012 at 7:15 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: I do think that real reporters…as opposed to hosts, readers and pundits, do try to have firewalls. I can’t imagine John Dickerson doing a gig like Gregory’s.

    The thing is…I don’t think its the money as much as it is the one sided fraternization – hobnob with the elites and not know a damn thing about your coal miners. That’s been a problem ever since people like the Alsops (1950s-1960s) developed the concept of DC power “journalists”

    I guest I just have a hard time blaming Gregory for being an affable and cute guy who jumped at a chance to take a job that he never should have been offered in the first place. He is not the problem.

  34. 34.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 12, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    @Keith G: Well, we’ll have to disagree that Gregory isn’t part of the problem. The entire fact that “cute” is a metric for TV hosts is a huge part of the problem. But I get what you’re saying.

  35. 35.

    mainmati

    May 12, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    I never watch the Sunday shows since they are almost always just talking points exercises and almost never serious interviews. As for Gregory, he has exhibited his obvious Villager bias in many other contexts, such as the photo above, so no one should be surprised.

  36. 36.

    quannlace

    May 12, 2012 at 8:05 pm

    )))))))Shudder(((((((((
    Old pasty white guys trying to act all gansta.

    God preserve us!

  37. 37.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    May 12, 2012 at 8:44 pm

    @Keith G: The only thing remotely related to cute IRT Gregory is that he thinks he’s being cute. Sadly, No.

  38. 38.

    Bothsides Doit

    May 12, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    “Hey Karl. What should I buy with my NFIB sell-out money?”

    “Enough social capital among Beltway assholes to never be held accountable for anything you ever do.”

  39. 39.

    CW in LA

    May 12, 2012 at 10:34 pm

    @quannlace:

    In fairness, these old pasty white guys are bigger gangstas than some schmuck living in a bad neighborhood in a big city ever thought of being.

  40. 40.

    Kane

    May 13, 2012 at 3:19 am

    “This is, by all accounts, an age of austerity for this country…I wonder what specifically you would do to say to Americans, these are cuts I’m going to make in federal spending that will cause pain, that will require sacrifice?”
    …
    “So, Governor Huntsman, name three areas where Americans will feel real pain in order to balance the budget.”
    …
    “Three programs that will make Americans feel pain, sir.”
    …
    “Senator Santorum, same question. Three programs that would make — would have to be cut to make Americans feel pain, to sacrifice if we’re going to balance the budget?”

    -David Gregory, GOP debate, Jan 8, 2012

    David Gregory is a sadist.

  41. 41.

    RalfW

    May 13, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Meanwhile, the Internets are destroying TV, so Meet the Republicans is really just a paean to a dying, self-segregated gang of old folks on the wrong side of demographics and history.

    The death-throws of TV-induced fake-democracy will still be ugly, but things are going to continue to re-order themselves. The wave is coming, and no amount of GOP panic can really stop it.

  42. 42.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 13, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    @Kane:

    My recommendation is that David Gregory needs to feel pain. Fiscal pain, and physical pain.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Being a Centrist Means Never Apologizing for Speaking Fees from Powerful Conservative Lobbying Groups « Look At This Fucking Centrist says:
    May 12, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    […] Via Balloon Juice, apparently David Gregory is the main attraction at a fundraiser for the National Federation of Independent Businesses.  A group which not only spread over $2 million around to Republican candidates in the 2010 elections to fight against collective bargaining, EPA regulations and such, but found enough left over between the cushions on the lounge sofa to bankroll the primary legal opposition to the PP-ACA through the Supreme Court. […]

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