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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Semi-Respite Open Thread: Excellent News, If True

Semi-Respite Open Thread: Excellent News, If True

by Anne Laurie|  January 5, 20205:03 pm| 134 Comments

This post is in: 2020 Elections, Nature & Respite, Open Threads, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Chuck Todd’s “Meet the Press Daily” could be sidelined at MSNBC as part of a dramatic anchor reshuffling at the cable network to promote rising star Nicolle Wallace. https://t.co/KfWF4j8MhY

— Jon Cooper ?? (@joncoopertweets) January 4, 2020

Being as this is the NY(Com)Post, I have the suspicion the People Who Decide Such Things are hoping for an outcry — No, no, we can’t do without two hours a day of our dear Chuckles!!!

Think they’ll be disappointed? Or will semi-ex-Republican Wallace do just as well, for the election-year IOKIYAR purposes?

… While the “MTP” flagship, also under NBC political director Todd, remains the No. 1 rated Sunday political show, with over 3 million viewers, his weekday 5 p.m. spinoff show has seen a dip in the all-important 25-to-54 age demographic. It airs between more popular, opinionated shows: Wallace’s “Deadline: White House,” which peaked with 2 million viewers in 2019, and “The Beat With Ari Melber.”

TV insiders say NBC News boss Andy Lack and MSNBC’s Phil Griffin had tried to persuade Todd to move “Daily” to 9 a.m., directly after the network’s politically influential “Morning Joe.” The plan would allow Wallace — a breakout cable star — to broadcast for two hours on weekdays, 4 to 6 p.m.

Plus, the 9 a.m. slot could soon be open, Page Six revealed. That hour’s host, Stephanie Ruhle, has just signed to become NBC’s senior business correspondent, appearing across all shows including “Today” and “NBC Nightly News.”

But a TV insider said, “Chuck doesn’t want to move to 9 a.m. He’d rather leave MSNBC completely and focus on ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, and continue to provide news and political analysis across all NBC News platforms including digital. He sees his show as news, not opinion.” Another insider mused it was “madness for NBC to upset the face of its political coverage ahead of 2020. They need Chuck on air every day.”…

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Reader Interactions

134Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    January 5, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Maybe they are punishing Todd for speaking out against disinformation.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    January 5, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    Also, too, “No one puts Chucky in a corner.”

  3. 3.

    debbie

    January 5, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    I’d rather they were shuffling him off to t.v.’s Siberia because he’s an ass rather then wanting to make room for someone else.

  4. 4.

    oatler.

    January 5, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    David Gregory says “Welcome, thou good and faithful servant.”

  5. 5.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 5, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    That’s great news because I always turn off MSNBC after Nicole’s show.  I’d love to see her show continue for another hour in prime time.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    January 5, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    “You want Chuck on that wall, you need Chuck on that wall!”

  7. 7.

    Juice Box

    January 5, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    Nicole Wallace is smart and she seems to have more-or-less seen the light. I think her show is pretty good. Chuck Todd is an insufferable, arch lightweight.

  8. 8.

    Nicole

    January 5, 2020 at 5:33 pm

    “…they need Chuck on air every day.”

    Define “need.”

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    @Baud: That was my first thought exactly.

  10. 10.

    sukabi

    January 5, 2020 at 5:38 pm

    Todd should have never been promoted to head of political coverage, he’s less than worthless as far as imparting any useful information or context. Plus his “it’s not my job to fact check” should have gotten him canned in an environment that wasn’t just a nicer propaganda outlet.

  11. 11.

    donnah

    January 5, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    I like Nicolle Wallace and I despise Chuckles Todd. Easy vote for me to make.

  12. 12.

    piratedan

    January 5, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    Well, when you consider all of the value that Mr Todd adds to the procedings, you have to believe that there is someone else more than willing to be a villager for hire available to Andy’s needs

  13. 13.

    scav

    January 5, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    Anyone that conflates “political analysis” with “news” is poor caliber and likely dangerous, even if momentarily well-intentioned.

  14. 14.

    patrick II

    January 5, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    @Juice Box:

    She also spoke in more frank terms about Trump early in his presidency than any of the other leads on MSNBC.  I was unhappy that it took an ex-republican to do it, but the others have mostly caught up.

  15. 15.

    James E Powell

    January 5, 2020 at 5:48 pm

    It’s easy to disparage Chuck Todd, and I do, but he pretty much industry standard Villager who will probably be replaced by another industry standard Villager. Anything else would cause the sponsors to freak out.

  16. 16.

    FlyingToaster

    January 5, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    I cannot imagine caring less who is on any of the 24-hr cable news networks.

    And Chuckles can be shipped to Siberia, or Omaha. Whichever is cheaper.

  17. 17.

    Juju

    January 5, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    The article sort of makes me wonder if any of the upper executives have watched MTP Daily.  I broke my rule of not watching anything with Chuck after he made the Hilary came off as over prepared comment, and his Daily show is/was both siderism central. I haven’t watched since Chuck’s recent epiphany.

    I like Nicole Wallace’s show, but two hours may be too much.

  18. 18.

    Poptartacus

    January 5, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    Yes she’s a heroine now. All her crimes are forgiven

    fuck that bush apparatchik

  19. 19.

    Tinare

    January 5, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    I have become a big fan of Nicolle Wallace’s show.  She generally has good guests and asks good questions. I despise Chuckles.

  20. 20.

    eddie blake

    January 5, 2020 at 6:01 pm

    yeah, wallace and melber’s shows are informative and entertaining. far better than chuck todd’s tripe.

  21. 21.

    eddie blake

    January 5, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    ot-

    the knicks are playing surprisingly well against the clippers.

    eta- they lost by three. hot damn.

  22. 22.

    raven

    January 5, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    @eddie blake: And the Aint’s are whining again.

  23. 23.

    PsiFighter37

    January 5, 2020 at 6:11 pm

    You have a short fuckin’ memory. Nicole Wallace worked as a senior advisor on McCain’s 2008 campaign. I hate Chuck Todd as much as the next person, but elevating someone who is a known GOP partisan into a prime political news time?

    FUCK THAT.

    Sincerely,
    PF37 +6

  24. 24.

    raven

    January 5, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    I like Wallace, I read the NYT, and I use Facebook. So the fuck what?

  25. 25.

    PsiFighter37

    January 5, 2020 at 6:13 pm

    The amount of adoration for Wallace, now that I read upthread more, is sickening. I bet you all think Jennifer Rubin is your BFF now as well. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, but don’t forget that they will shiv you as soon as their work is done. There are a lot of ‘Never Trumpers’ in media land, but they are not your friend. They want Scott Walker and Donald Trump policies, but without the blatant racism.

  26. 26.

    eddie blake

    January 5, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    @PsiFighter37:  you watch her show? she seems visibly disgusted with the gop.

  27. 27.

    PsiFighter37

    January 5, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    @eddie blake: Until she publicly declares, as Steve Schmidt did, that she is no longer a card-carrying member of the GOP and wants Democrats elected, why would you trust her?

    Rubin says the same shit, but she has never, ever renounced her conservative beliefs or credentials.

  28. 28.

    dmsilev

    January 5, 2020 at 6:18 pm

    @Nicole: Maybe it keeps him off the streets?

  29. 29.

    khead

    January 5, 2020 at 6:19 pm

    @raven:

    You forgot to get a football shot in there.  Also, I’m fine with the no call at the end of the Saints game.

  30. 30.

    JPL

    January 5, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    @PsiFighter37: There’s a reason that I haven’t weighed in.   She does do a good job on her show, but yes she is a republican.

  31. 31.

    Hildebrand

    January 5, 2020 at 6:21 pm

    Can they boot Matthews in the great reshuffle?  That would be awesome.

  32. 32.

    Sloane Peterson's knee therapist

    January 5, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    So whatever happened to Luke Russert? Wasn’t NBC/MSNBC/NPOSTBC/ MSPREBC/NBCECT keeping a seat nicely warmed for him once he graduated from high school?

    EDIT: And just out of curiosity why is EVERYONE of my comments in moderation? Is it my breath? Is this now a closed frat/sorority?

  33. 33.

    Tinare

    January 5, 2020 at 6:23 pm

    @PsiFighter37:  I seem to recall our blog host held differing opinions once.  People change and adapt. I just find her show, as she is currently doing it, informative and well done. YMMV, but I’m not interested in holding someone’s (nonviolent, non criminal) past against them.

  34. 34.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    @PsiFighter37: DC political news is wired for Republicans.  Film at 11.

    MSNBC hasn’t been “liberal” since they canned Phil Donahue, and MHP, and Olbermann, and …  You get the idea.

    If you don’t like her, don’t watch her.  People voting with their dollars is the only way to get GE, NBC-Universal, Comcast to pay attention to what viewers want to see on MSNBC.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

    (“Who hasn’t watched MSNBC in ages.”)

  35. 35.

    TS (the original)

    January 5, 2020 at 6:26 pm

    How many ex republicans will be back in the fold when trump is out? Why did it take a fool to reveal to them what the GOP has become when it was obvious to sane people from the day Obama was elected President?

  36. 36.

    Fleeting Expletive

    January 5, 2020 at 6:28 pm

  37. 37.

    Kay (not the front-pager)

    January 5, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    @sukabi: +++++++

  38. 38.

    opiejeanne

    January 5, 2020 at 6:36 pm

    @Fleeting Expletive: That was fleeting.

  39. 39.

    James E Powell

    January 5, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    @TS (the original):

    How many ex republicans will be back in the fold when trump is out?

    All of ’em, Katie.

  40. 40.

    Jackie

    January 5, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    Nicole Wallace is one of the few shows I record, along with Ari Melber, to watch while Hardball is airing.

  41. 41.

    danielx

    January 5, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    @TS (the original):

    It was obvious what the Republican Party was becoming when Ronald Reagan made his “states’ rights” speech at the Neshoba County, Mississippi fair, and further reinforced when he visited the cemetary in Bitburg, Germany wherein various members of the SS (Schutzstaffel) are interred. Obama’s election was the reason (and excuse) for the Republican Party to go completely off its collective rocker, but they’d been heading that way for forty years.

  42. 42.

    evodevo

    January 5, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    @debbie: The less I see of Chuck Fraud, the lower my blood pressure stays…

  43. 43.

    jnfr

    January 5, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    I usually record Nicole and watch instead of MTP. Sometimes Mr. J watches her instead of Tweety.

     

    I do watch Chris Hayes and Rachel straight through though.

  44. 44.

    Tom Q

    January 5, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    Wallace will clearly never be pure enough for some here, but it’s worth noting that, though she was on the McCain campaign team, she in the end didn’t vote for him because she was appalled by Palin and couldn’t in conscience put her a step away from the presidency.  So, she’s not one of those whose issues with the GOP started (and may end) with Trump.

    And, if you watch her show (which I do, regularly), you’ll see see’s not just against Trump, but opposed to many elements of the GOP coalition — very much the NRA, and more.  I suspect she’s someone who was Republican by ancestry, and has come around by exposure to the worst of it.  Not unlike our blog host, I’d say.  She says just about every day that she’ll vote for ANY Democrat who runs this year.  Sorry that’s not enough for some.

    And her show is lively and on-point — a striking contrast to Chuck Todd’s, which swims in Beltway right-leaning conventional wisdom.   To believe losing him would be a detriment is to be part of the both sides/really mostly Republican crowd that gave us 2016 and Trump.

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    @Tom Q: Thanks for your perspective.  Appreciated.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  46. 46.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 5, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    @Sloane Peterson’s knee therapist:

    Nobody likes knee therapists around here!

    Actually, as a new commenter, all of your comments automatically go into moderation until a front-pager takes a look and certifies you, which I see has now happened.

  47. 47.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    In other news, NPR:

    More than a year after his death, a cache of computer files saved on the hard drives of Thomas Hofeller, a prominent Republican redistricting strategist, is becoming public.

    Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina fought in court to keep copies of these maps, spreadsheets and other documents from entering the public record. But some files have already come to light in recent months through court filings and news reports.

    They have been cited as evidence of gerrymandering that got political maps thrown out in North Carolina, and they have raised questions about Hofeller’s role in the Trump administration’s failed push for a census citizenship question.

    Now more of the files are available online through a website called The Hofeller Files, where Hofeller’s daughter, Stephanie Hofeller, published a link to her copy of the files on Sunday after first announcing her plans in a tweet last month.

    […]

    <a href="The Hofeller Files. It points to storage on a Google drive, so with any luck there won’t be any successful DDOS attacks and the like.

    I hope the good guys are studying those things closely and using them in voter suppression/gerrymandering cases. The GOP isn’t going to give up. We have to fight them every single day.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  48. 48.

    Mike in NC

    January 5, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    Andy Hack and Chuck Todd need new employment. Maybe as parking lot attendants somewhere.

  49. 49.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Her show would still be in the afternoon, it would just end at 5pm ET, an hour later than it currently does.

  50. 50.

    PsiFighter37

    January 5, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    @Tom Q: I do not trust any of them. I bet Nicole Wallace voted for Mittens in 2012 because he was seen as docile enough and because Pretty Boy Ryan was second in comment.

    Rubin, David Frum, David French, Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens – I trust them as far as I could heave a bag of my daughter’s turds in a diaper, which is not very far. They will revert back to being their GOP-loving selves unless the dunce caps making up the base of the GOP decide Donald Jr. is truly the best option in 2024 (mark my words – he will run).

  51. 51.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    January 5, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    Nicolle = zeal of a convert

    It’s the only show I record and I do so cuz she’s so fierce in her hatred of Dump and the gop.

    To paraphrase Apocalypse Now, “sell the house, sell the car, sell the kids, find someone else, she’s never coming back”.

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2020 at 7:20 pm

    [tap, tap]  Is this thing back on??

    [eta:] It looks like it. Yay!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    hells littlest angel

    January 5, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    Except for the occasional inappropriate giggling, I like Nicolle Wallace’s show. I think it behooves us to forgive apostate Republicans — but if you can’t manage that, at least dial down the hatred. Sheesh.

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 5, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    @eddie blake:

    the knicks are playing surprisingly well

    Not a sentence that gets written very often, unfortunately.

  55. 55.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    They will revert back to being their GOP-loving selves unless the dunce caps making up the base of the GOP decide Donald Jr. is truly the best option in 2024 (mark my words – he will run).

    You mean she will run, it’ll be Ivanka.

  56. 56.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 5, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    @Another Scott: Were you seeing the Cloudflare 502’s as well?

  57. 57.

    BruceFromOhio

    January 5, 2020 at 7:23 pm

     

    Another insider mused it was “madness for NBC to upset the face of its political coverage ahead of 2020. They need Chuck on air every day.”…

    Gaia, fire that insider muse, stat. Clearly a Gabbard plant!

  58. 58.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: 524 Timeouts, here.  Just on trying to post.  Refreshing another tab without a comment submission in progress worked fine.

    I sent WG a note.  Maybe she’ll be able to figure out what was going on, if it wasn’t the coders working in the background.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Yep, looks like it was down for awhile.

    Thanks for the heads up.

  60. 60.

    sab

    January 5, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    Joshua Johnson, who replaced Diane Rehm on NPR, has been hired by MSNBC for an anchor job. Has anyone heard who is replacing?

  61. 61.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    January 5, 2020 at 7:27 pm

    @PsiFighter37:   Both Wallace and JRub have seen the light.  They strongly opposed the tax cut and support ACA.  JRub even supports single payer.

  62. 62.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @PsiFighter37: About that… she was on Colbert in November and referred to the GOP as her “old party”, and when pressed further, she said she’s no longer a practicing Republican.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/msnbcs-nicolle-wallace-rips-into-fellow-republicans-on-colbert-they-know-better

    “If I had any capacity for sympathy for my old party it would be so sad, it would be embarrassing. But I don’t,” she said. Asked by Colbert if she still considers herself a Republican, Wallace explained, “I’m still a registered Republican because I can barely renew my driver’s license, let alone go down and re-register. But I’m not a practicing Republican.”

    While I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say Wallace is any sort of progressive warrior, she is clearly far more of an ally to us than someone like Chuck Todd.

  63. 63.

    PsiFighter37

    January 5, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Nope. DJTJ has the out-loud moron part down better than Ivanka does.

  64. 64.

    PsiFighter37

    January 5, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    @janesays: She’s still a Republican. If she can’t be bothered to re-register, it means she still carries their ideology at heart.

    So…fuck her. My belief still stands.

  65. 65.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    January 5, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    “He sees his show as news, not opinion.”

     

    Such horseshit.

    The reason his show has low ratings is because it’s nothing but opinion – right wing opinion.

  66. 66.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Cool. Enjoy your belief.

    I hope she gets Chuck’s afternoon airtime.

  67. 67.

    PsiFighter37

    January 5, 2020 at 7:33 pm

    @janesays: I think it’s a pretty valid opinion. If she cannot be bothered to re-register to reflect her current beliefs, it means she is lazy AF – or doesn’t actually believe in what Democrats believe in.

    Look at Cole – the dude was a card-carrying Republican for how many years? Registered as a Democrat in 2007 so he could be one of 2 dozen white people in WV to vote for Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary. If you actually care about something, you’ll make the effort to show it.

  68. 68.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    @James E Powell: Agreed. Though worth noting – there isn’t anything to suggest NBC is thinking replacing Chuck Todd anytime soon. The article is saying there are rumors that his daily show on MSNBC will get shifted to the mornings from it’s current afternoon slot. His Sunday morning crapfest on NBC isn’t going anywhere.

  69. 69.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Sure, it’s a valid opinion.

    One that I disagree with. I like her and consider her an ally, you don’t. Not a big deal.

     

  70. 70.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    BREAKING: Daughter of deceased GOP strategist Thomas Hofeller has posted on https://t.co/3NH4uFIuMJ files copied from hard drives Republicans in North Carolina tried to keep sealed. @SHofeller tells @NPR the files are “the property of the people”?https://t.co/PAyaAYdjFn— Hansi Lo Wang | 6️⃣7️⃣ DAYS (@hansilowang) January 5, 2020

    The daughter of dead ReThug Hofeller, the guy who’s leak of “redistricting” files by the same daughter, blew up the SC case, has put all his hard drives online, despite threats from the GOP.

  71. 71.

    Jay C

    January 5, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: 

    You mean she will run, it’ll be Ivanka.

    Maybe: She’s going to have to bury some embarrassing facts, though: more stories are coming out about The Princess’s dealings with corrupt officials in Azerbaijan: who (as has been occasionally reported) were representing a front company (one Qassem Soleimani, CEO apparently) backed by the Iranian IRGC for money-laundering. And guess which US company was the only one willing to deal with them? (A hint: rhymes with “Dump”)

  72. 72.

    raven

    January 5, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Get over yourself Moses.

  73. 73.

    Mary G

    January 5, 2020 at 7:39 pm

    The President of the United States on the possibility that Iran may retaliate by potentially targeting and killing Americans: “If it happens it happens.” https://t.co/az9YPk3mYe— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) January 6, 2020

  74. 74.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    January 5, 2020 at 7:39 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Maybe Jr. and Ivanka will run against each other in the 2024  primary. [pukes]

  75. 75.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @Sloane Peterson’s knee therapist: He quit NBC in 2016 and seems to have decided that he has no interest in being a DC village voice. Said at the time he’s looking at a different career path. Hasn’t been seen since.

  76. 76.

    BBA

    January 5, 2020 at 7:42 pm

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: I’m going to go off the board and say it’ll be Kushner.

  77. 77.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 7:42 pm

    @Jay:

    Missed @Scott’s previous comment because the cloud was flaring.

    There is going to be more in the files than just redistricting and voter supression data and strategies.

  78. 78.

    Chyron HR

    January 5, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    Don’t forget the faction putting Baron forth as the true heir to the throne since he also carries the first lady’s blood.

  79. 79.

    burnspbesq

    January 5, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    OT:

    there are persistent reports from the big border crossing between Seattle and Vancouver of CBP intrusively interrogating, and in some cases detaining, AMERICAN CITIZENS and green card holders with Iranian sounding names.

  80. 80.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    @Another Scott: MSNBC’s primetime lineup (Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell) is indisputably progressive. And while dayside is nowhere near as ostentatiously left-leaning as the primetime three, they’ve definitely leaned more towards being opponents of the GOP than cheerleaders for it in the past few years. I don’t think it’s fair to say they’re the liberal version of Fox News, but mainly because I think MSNBC relies primarily on actual facts rather than “alternative facts” in their reporting. They’ve got a handful of both-siders blathering nonsense every day, but the network as a whole definitely leans a little more left than right (at least relative to the American political divide).

  81. 81.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    @burnspbesq

    JUST IN: Trump ordered U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to detain and report "suspicious" or "adversarial" Iranians coming into the country. Regardless of legal status.

    Citizenship doesn't offer protection, and "suspicious" can be anything. 60 people detained last night. pic.twitter.com/IWRK44jqoQ

    — Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) January 5, 2020

    It’s not rumours, it’s been confirmed.

    All border crossings, ports and airports.

    Peace Arch is attracting most of the attention because of an Iranian Music Concert in Vancouver last night.

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2020 at 7:49 pm

    @Jay: (Remember to clip on the Text tab in the B-J comment editor before you paste the Tweet Embed code.)

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  83. 83.

    Jackie

    January 5, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    OT YAY SEAHAWKS!!!!???

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @Jay: To embed a tweet, you need to click on the TEXT tab.  Then pasting in your tweet displays properly.

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @Jay: : I see you had it figured out!

  86. 86.

    burnspbesq

    January 5, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @Jay:

    The Western District of Washington is about as far left as any U.S. District Court in the country. The TROs will start flying as quickly as complaints can be drafted and filed. This is (technical legal term) fuckin’ bullshit.

  87. 87.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 7:53 pm

    @Another Scott:

    yeah, slips by sometimes, then I gotta go back and edit.

  88. 88.

    Renie

    January 5, 2020 at 7:53 pm

    I would love to see Chuck Todd replaced on his daily show, he should never have been given the MTP anchor.  He’s a hack.   I do like Nicole Wallace’s show cuz I love to hear what Chuck Rosenberg thinks and he is on it alot.

  89. 89.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    @PsiFighter37: The amount of adoration for Wallace, now that I read upthread more, is sickening.

    You seem to have this mindset that if you don’t despise Wallace to the core of your being, it must mean you adore her and agree with her about everything.

    I don’t really see any “adoration” for Wallace in this thread – what I see are a number of people who think she seems like a decent human being and appreciate that she’s using her platform to be a staunch critic of Trump and the current GOP establishment, despite her own background.

    The world is a lot more gray than that.

  90. 90.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    CBD, like many other US Government organizations, take their orders from the President, and only the President.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    January 5, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    @PsiFighter37

    DJTJ has the out-loud moron part down better than Ivanka does.

    Ivanka is a bore. She’s learned to string some policy-sounding phrases together but she’s wooden and not very bright. If she was anyone but Trump’s daughter no one would pay her any attention at all. There are hundreds of city council members and county commissioners with more political talent.
    Republicans deserve her. I hope she leapfrogs ahead of all their qualified candidates based solely on nepotism and they all have to pretend she’s something other than mediocre.

  92. 92.

    janesays

    January 5, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @sab: The network is getting ready to go through a bunch of shakeups in coming weeks. David Gura announced today that his weekend show “Up with David Gura” will be ending soon and that Ali Velshi will be replacing him in the timeslot. Gura will be moving to the afternoons on the weekends. Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle are both leaving the weekday lineup (though both will continue to work for MSNBC/NBC News).

    https://deadline.com/2019/12/msnbc-lineup-ali-velshi-anchors-new-weekend-mornings-show-1202814942/

  93. 93.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Until she publicly declares, as Steve Schmidt did, that she is no longer a card-carrying member of the GOP and wants Democrats elected,

    somebody probably already answered, but she has repeatedly said she is an ex-Republican and will vote for Bernie Sanders’ campaign bus if that’s who gets the nomination. She talks about choice and climate in ways that make me think she’s sincerely done.

    Whatever the case, I just find it hilarious that she’s being promoted over a blithering, both-sides, promoted-by-the-Man idiot on the strength of pure trump hatred

  94. 94.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    New *deep dive* on Soleimani killing –> Pompeo spoke to Trump about hitting the top commander months ago. Getting Trump to “yes” involved key personnel changes at the Pentagon and Trump’s aversion to being viewed as weak, giving Pompeo an opening https://t.co/5L1FmL1xWV— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) January 5, 2020

    Looks like Pompeo floated the murder but they had to purge some people from the Pentagon to make it a go.

  95. 95.

    West of the Rockies

    January 5, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    @Baud:

    I wondered the opposite:  if his “I’ve seen the light” moment came because he heard he was being moved and is trying to beef up his so-called bona fides.

  96. 96.

    sab

    January 5, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    @janesays: Thanks.

  97. 97.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    Iraq’s PM is fuming. He says Suleimani arrived in Iraq to deliver a response to the Iraqis from Iran about a Saudi offer to de-escalate. They was supposed to meet.Explains why the Iraqi government’s statement was the strongest, even compared to those of clerics Sistani & Sadr— Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) January 5, 2020

    So it looks like the Doltus and the MAGAt’s in charge of the nukes, “deescalated” by murdering the “deescalator”.

  98. 98.

    Kay

    January 5, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    My youngest is reading Biden Tweets in a mocking tone so I told him Bernie Bros are anti-democratic and want a “coronation” –

    Ha!  Take that, high schooler!  Like shooting fish inna barrel.

    We’re making progress though- he said he will “probably” vote for the Democrat if Bernie loses so I should quit while I’m ahead.

  99. 99.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 5, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    .@FareedZakaria: “It’s easy to get into another conflict in the Middle East but getting dragged back in to the morass again, getting mired in other people’s quarrels, losing another decade as China and others march on… that would the surest path to America’s strategic decline.” pic.twitter.com/s2WnMnniha— CNN (@CNN) January 5, 2020

  100. 100.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    Another #Baghdad rocket attack aiming at the US embassy that hit #Iraqi targets. Six civilians reported injured when rockets landed near entrance to green zone and in residential area not far from the embassy. Despite that #Iraqi forces continuing to protect the embassy area.— jane arraf (@janearraf) January 5, 2020

    Attacks are continuing on US positions in Iraq. Blowback is also happening in Syria to former US allies.

  101. 101.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    Trump says his tweets — often ignored by his own administration officials and dismissed by his allies as a press corps obsession — constitute official notice to Congress about acts of war. https://t.co/yZE5wq4GXl— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 5, 2020

  102. 102.

    burnspbesq

    January 5, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    @Jay:

    Like fuck they do.

  103. 103.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 5, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    This Media Post will serve as a reminder that war powers reside in the Congress under the United States Constitution. And that you should read the War Powers Act. And that you’re not a dictator. https://t.co/VTroMegWv0— House Foreign Affairs Committee (@HouseForeign) January 5, 2020

  104. 104.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Doltus’s DOJ is currently arguing in Court that in a fight between Doltus and the Congress, the Courts have no say,

    whom ever has the most Cops, Guns, Soldiers, Tanks etc. gets to win.

    Well, it was a nice shining democracy once upon a time.

  105. 105.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    they used to, but Congress abandoned that responsibility a long time ago.

  106. 106.

    brantl

    January 5, 2020 at 8:41 pm

    @TS (the original): Why did it take a fool to reveal to them what the GOP has become when it was obvious to sane people from the day Obama Kennedy was elected President?

    Fixed that for you.

  107. 107.

    burnspbesq

    January 5, 2020 at 8:42 pm

    FWIW, CBP says it ain’t happening.

    like CBP has any fucking credibility.

    https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/476866-cbp-denies-claims-of-orders-to-detain-iranian-americans

  108. 108.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    January 5, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    @janesays: “Facts have a well known liberal bias.”

    ~ Stephen Colbert

  109. 109.

    burnspbesq

    January 5, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    @Jay:

    Courts ALWAYS have jurisdiction to determine whether they have jurisdiction. And “political question” is jurisdictional. That’s a losing argument.

  110. 110.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 5, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    @Baud:

    @WaterGirl: No.  He brought up a newspaper’s Letter to the Editor which said people who believe in Noah’s Ark are more likely to vote for Dump.

    NBC’S CHUCK TODD FACES BACKLASH FOR HIGHLIGHTING LETTER COMPARING BIBLE STORY TO TRUMP FALSEHOODS AND ‘FAIRY TALES’

     

    Also see Episode 527 (first 8 minutes) of Friday’s Professional Left podcast which brought it to my attention.

  111. 111.

    Bruuuuce

    January 5, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    @Jay: Jim Wright’s response is perfect:

    Here’s the president saying that his social media posts are LEGAL NOTIFICATIONS TO CONGRESS.

    Thus, CONGRESS MUST BE ASSURED OF RECEIVING THOSE NOTIFICATIONS without delay, degradation, or interference from foreign agency.

    As such, you can no longer consider social media as some toy.

    Social media must be immediately regulated and controlled to ensure the integrity of communications between branches of government and the public. Irresponsible frat boy CEOs driven by profit and naive freshman ideology can NOT be trusted to manage these platforms and secure them against foreign influence, bad actors, corruption, and targeted attacks on governments and populations.

  112. 112.

    brantl

    January 5, 2020 at 8:53 pm

    @TS (the original): Why did it take a fool to reveal to them what the GOP has become when it was obvious to sane people from the day Obama Kennedy was elected President?

    Fixed that for you.

     

    @Kay: I hope she leapfrogs ahead of all their qualified candidates based solely on nepotism and they all have to pretend she’s something other than mediocre.

    The last “qualified candidate” that the Republicans ran for anything was Bill Millikin, and he ran for governor of Michigan, more than 30 years ago.

  113. 113.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Maybe so, but daddy like Ivanka better.

  114. 114.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    you might not have noticed lately, but quaint notions about Courts, Laws, etc, no longer apply.

    How many Divisions does the Supreme Court have, as if this Court would use them if they had them,……

    how many cops does the Congress have vs. disBarr’s FBI?

    as we have seen, the Generals, the Pentagon, etc have no “checks and ballances” on Doltus.

    CBC/ICE break the law day in, day out, kill people with impunity, run Concentration Camps, and just ignore the Courts rulings.

     

    @Bruuuuce:

    like anybody but Warren has any interest in disarming the ruleing Plutocracy.

  115. 115.

    glory b

    January 5, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    @Kay: Tell him to think of the minorities and vulnerable people whose lives might depend on his vote.

    And you could read some of the nasty comments that Bernie’s people leave for people, especially women, of color, like Neera Tanden, Jason Johnson, blackwomenviews and Angry Black Lady.

  116. 116.

    Kay

    January 5, 2020 at 9:26 pm

    @glory b:

    We’re wheeling and dealing. I told him I will commit to vote for Bernie in the OH primary if he will commit to vote for the nominee in the general. This is a good deal for him! He took it.

    I’m not sure I can do this with 3 million people though- we all have to take one :)

  117. 117.

    J R in WV

    January 5, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    They will revert back to being their GOP-loving selves unless the dunce caps making up the base of the GOP decide Donald Jr. is truly the best option in 2024 (mark my words – he will run).

    Actually, I think you’re quite wrong about Donald Jr. it’s virtually impossible to run for any office from within a Federal prison.

  118. 118.

    glory b

    January 5, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @Kay: It’s a start :)!

  119. 119.

    No One You Know

    January 5, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Well, I understand her view. I was voting Democratic long before I changed my registration, largely because I didn’t care who won in the primaries. I was bored by politics until my 40s and voted as a duty because at least it was social then.  Consistently voting the other way had no obvious penalties… until the watershed that was Bush-Gore.

    She may have her moment. Or not. She still looks like progress to me, even if she’s still registered with wrong side of history at this point.  IMHO; YMMV.

  120. 120.

    J R in WV

    January 5, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    @Jay:

    they used to, but Congress abandoned that responsibility a long time ago.

    That is not how it works in this country, no matter what slackers let slide. Congress can’t just abandon a responsibility, and that responsibility is no longer theirs.

  121. 121.

    Mike Furlan

    January 5, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    Nicholle Wallace is a war criminal.  I am a little shocked that everybody here seems to be OK with her.

    Had we somehow lost the Iraq War badly enough for the Bush administration be deposed and captured, she would have gone on trial for her part in the illegal Iraq war.  And she still thinks it was a good idea.

    “Wallace was George W. Bush’s communications director as the Iraq War began.

    “[Obama’s] legacy on foreign policy is going to be that he didn’t start a war in Iraq. He wasn’t the president, thank God, in the years after 9/11.” [MSNBC, 5/30/14]”

    https://www.alternet.org/2018/03/19-champions-iraq-war-mainstream-media-refuses-disown/

     

    https://youtu.be/bhRmcNbr45E

  122. 122.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    @J R in WV:

    like laws against White Collar Crime, if someone, say like Doltus, can for decades launder money, commit fraud, buy off investigations and prosecutions with donations to campaigns, or by pulling favours,

    do laws against White Collar Crime exist as laws, or are they just archaic museings written down somewhere.

    and when you have Lawyers from the Department of Justice, arguing with a straight face in Court, that the Office of the President is above any interference from the Courts,

    should, at some point in time, a Congress decide to “take back” the War Powers from the President, do you think that a Doltus type President will pay any attention, or his pet Generals?

    remember, Nixon illegally and secretly bombed Cambodia for 14 months with massive B52 strikes. The Pentagon knew nothing about it. The Joint Chiefs knew nothing about it. The House and Senate knew nothing about it. Hundreds of people who supposedly took oaths and had legal responsibility to ignore/report the criminality, went along with it, worked hard at it, and out of the hundreds sworn to secrecy, only one blew the whistle,

    3 1/2 years afterwards, and only because when he started asking questions, they FUBAR’ed his jacket and killed his career.

  123. 123.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 10:13 pm

    @Mike Furlan:

    as a Good American, you are supposed to “look forwards, not backwards”.

    Not prosecuting War Crimes and other “political crimes”, starting with Nixon, have had consequences internally for “the Republic”, and will continue to do so.

    betting odds are that in 2024 disBarr is still a Lawyer, Doltus is a free man, and Tweetie is still on TV.

  124. 124.

    dww44

    January 5, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Actually, I accept that both Rubin and Wallace are former recovering conservatives.  I don’t believe either of them has any plans to return to the GOP in its current iteration.  They also happen to be both very good in their respective roles as guest pundit and regular host.

    Also, too, Todd just grates on my last nerve.  I can barely watch and listen to him.

  125. 125.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @Jay: Congress has an awesome power, the power of the purse.

  126. 126.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    theoretically. How’s that deficit doing?

    as many have noted here, not only is the public not on the same page, but the politicians arn’t on the same page.

    On paper, and as befitting a global military and economic superpower, the Congress has great power, that they have abandoned.

    John Yoo is still teaching the Next Generation at UC Berkley isn’t he?

  127. 127.

    E

    January 5, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    @Juice Box: I think she still considers herself a Republican. As soon as Trump is gone she’ll revert back to her old Bush years self (she was communications director for the Bush administration).

  128. 128.

    Jinchi

    January 5, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    @Jay: Citizenship doesn’t offer protection

    Are they trying to say American citizenship doesn’t offer protection?

    Because that doesn’t seem even remotely legal.

  129. 129.

    Chris Johnson

    January 5, 2020 at 11:36 pm

    @Nicole: Oh, THEY do, but we sure as fuck don’t.

  130. 130.

    Jay

    January 5, 2020 at 11:48 pm

    @Jinchi:

    funny thing is US laws start not “at the border” but instead, once you are across. Americans can be denied entry at the US Border, Ports and Airports, or detained.

    that is ususally the simple harassment of a US Citizen by a petty bureaucracy or the Derp State, and ususally get’s cleared up once the lawyers are deployed for combat, ( if said American Citizen can afford a lawyer or lawyers or can “media go fund me” enough attention or outrage to score some sweet, sweet pro bono points.

    In cases where the Derp State invokes that magical phrase, ( no, not Radical Islamic Terrorism, close though), National Security and hides behind “Classified”, it might take a while and when you do get back in, you won’t leave ever again.

    when the Doltus is the “petty bureaucrat” and is using the Derp State,……. well?

    Say, how long have those kids been in cages now anyway and how come the numbers just keep going up and up, and up and up?

    didn’t a buttload of courts rule that “hey, you can’t do that!” quite a while ago?

  131. 131.

    Mike Furlan

    January 6, 2020 at 12:16 am

    @Jay:

    Apparently this blog if chock full of “Good Americans.”

    Nicolle Wallace is unapologetic for crimes she participated in that are worse than anything Trump has done, yet.

    But everybody here, apparently, likes her.

    Good thing she didn’t do something tasteless, like pose with one of her victims, then she would be banished on account of “style points.”

     

    https://youtu.be/fDjdO6viSWU

  132. 132.

    burnspbesq

    January 6, 2020 at 12:56 am

    Jay, your affected, above-it-all cynicism is quintessentially Canadian, exceedingly tiresome, and a luxury that those of us who actually have skin in the game can’t afford.

    if you need to be told what to do with it, I’ll be happy to tell you.

  133. 133.

    Jay

    January 6, 2020 at 2:16 am

    @burnspbesq:

    Sorry, but like others have pointed out, there is not “One Neat Trick” to fix all the things that are broken.

    Sadly, I think a butt load of “The Resistance” think that just booting out Doltus fixes everything.

    Did you see all the massive protests over the weekend?

  134. 134.

    eddie blake

    January 6, 2020 at 9:28 am

    @Gin & Tonic:  i KNOW, right

    eta- (they’ve been playing REMARKABLY better under miller than fizdale.)

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