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You are here: Home / Open Threads / GOP Working the Refs Open Thread: Ronna Romney McDaniel, Sock Puppet

GOP Working the Refs Open Thread: Ronna Romney McDaniel, Sock Puppet

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GOP Working the Refs Open Thread: Ronna <del>Romney</del> McDaniel, Sock Puppet

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)



Count on (angry, angry!!!) Hugh Half-wit to say the quiet part out loud…

Politico, OTOH, looks for the pony in that pile:

Reader Interactions

87Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Rockies

    Oh, dear, whatever shall we do if Republicans aren’t allowed to pedal lies and bullshit?  Please, anything but that!

  2. 2.

    CaseyL

    NBC’s executives eerily parallel those in Boeing’s Executive Suite in that their primary driving forces are cowardice and cupidity.

  3. 3.

    Josie

    I agree with Driftglass. I can’t think of many more unpleasant ways to spend my time than to watch or listen to the goings on at the Republican National Convention. Not one good thing will happen there. NBC should thank their lucky stars.

  4. 4.

    dmsilev

    With regards to Hugh Hewitt saying Ronna will sue sue sue, since I have memories longer than either the typical goldfish or the typical pundit, I remember all the harping conservatives used to do about ‘tort reform’ and ‘frivolous out of control lawsuits’ and so forth.
    I know they don’t care about the hypocrisy, but that doesn’t mean we should give them a free pass on it.

  5. 5.

    Anonymous At Work

    RNC is bluffing on the restrictions on NBC at the convention.  If NBC journalists can’t get talking heads to regurgitate talking points, they might commit some journalism and look at what elected officials did, are doing and plan to do, not just the words they use on TV.

  6. 6.

    RepubAnon

    So, when will Fox News hire Keith Olbermann?  After all, they wouldn’t want to appear biased, would they?

  7. 7.

    piratedan

    Maybe it’s one of those lessons that parents taught their kids, integrity is earned, not bartered.  Same with trust.  The actions of these people involved in all of this show that they either don’t care, don’t understand or have no idea on how to be a human.

     

    Society is built on trust, your water is safe, food is edible, your physician is credible….you start eroding that trust, well then pretty much those dollars you’re securing for shareholders don;t matter as much when it all falls apart.  No one is going to give a shit that you’re great at turning a profit that comes from a stable system.

  8. 8.

    Ken

    Now I’m hoping that the RNC bars NBC, so NBC shows Law & Order re-runs instead and pulls in larger audiences than Trump’s speeches.

    Seriously, what could possibly be worth watching at either convention? The 2020 Democratic one was only interesting because of the COVID workarounds. If they do the state roll-call video again, I might watch that.

  9. 9.

    different-church-lady

    Jesus fuckin’ christ how do I get someone to pay me hundreds of thousands of dollars when they realize I shouldn’t be doing a job for them?

  10. 10.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

    MSNBC has never had a problem hiring republicans.  Scarborough has had a show on their channel for 20 years.  Greta Van Sustren and Hewitt were given shows in 2017 that were quickly canceled because no one would watch them.  Alan Greenspan’s dimwit spouse has had a show forever. They hired a slew of GOP operatives, from Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace, Stuart Stevens, to pollsters who worked for Dubya.   Laura Ingraham even used to have a show.  But the viewers wouldn’t eat the dog food.​

  13. 13.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Ken: Besides, how many Americans would even understand the speeches at the RNC?  Most Americans don’t know German.

  14. 14.

    mrmoshpotato

    I wonder how much of a chump Mitten’s niece feels like looking at Megyn Kelly’s $60 million payday for being a walking shitpile.

  15. 15.

    Chetan Murthy

    @different-church-lady: You have to have a well-negotiated contract.  I do wonder whether Ronna got a good contract.  If so, the NBC people who approved it should lose their goddamn jobs for incompetence.  Sigh.  Reading the revelations about what NBC honchos did to woo her is disgusting.  Lester Holt should be ashamed of himself.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    “Why’d you pick my wife instead of me, Pop?”

    “”Ummm… You’re much too valuable to me where you are, Eric. Yeah, that’s the ticket.”

    //

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    Looking back, wasn’t The Apprentice an NBC shqw?

    Lots to answer for in the corner suites at 30 Rock.

  24. 24.

    RaflW

    I assume the Republican Convention will again feature press pens where reporters will have abuse hurled at them by enraged MAGAs. Which is so incredibly normal in a functioning democracy.

    MSNBC taking a pass, and maybe parent NBC too, seems like n.b.d. really.

  25. 25.

    Villago Delenda Est

    “Access ‘Journalism'”, along with Broderism, are malignant cancers on the 4th Estate.   Some of them see this, but most of them don’t seem to care as long as there six to eight figure salaries flow freely.

  32. 32.

    Jackie

    @Josie:

    I can’t think of many more unpleasant ways to spend my time than to watch or listen to the goings on at the Republican National Convention. Not one good thing will happen there. NBC should thank their lucky stars

    Ditto! Getting the “good” and/or insane highlights the next morning on MJ is sufficient for me!

  34. 34.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @dmsilev:

    That’s like their “activist judges” bullshit. They have systematically installed conservative religious activists as judges all the while screaming that was what the Democrats were doing.

    If they claim the Democrats are doing it then they are confessing their own actions.

  37. 37.

    Chetan Murthy

    @RaflW: Do the networks’ convention broadcasts actually get good ratings?  I mean ….. I can’t imagine wanting to watch — do average Americans really do so ?  Why?  I mean, what could possibly be the interest ?

  38. 38.

    kindness

    Funny how Trump’s tendency to mimic mob enforcement moves has transferred to the whole Republican party as a mind set.  They really think they own this.  The translation of Cosa Nostra is ‘our thing’.  Yup….that’s the whole Republican Party now.

  40. 40.

    SpaceUnit

    Any television coverage of the GOP convention should probably be prefaced with a warning about viewer discretion.

  41. 41.

    danielx

    @Josie:

    Well, there will probably be some (young) Republicans who will get ripped off for money and jewelry by hookers. Those stories are always good for giggles.

  43. 43.

    Jackie

    TIFG is getting away with this BS because it’s “free speech” on his personal social media. Seems it should be treated as a threat of bodily harm to the POTUS and the FBI should be knocking on his door!😡

    Donald Trump posted a video of a truck with Joe Biden in the back bound with rope.

    Washington Post: “In the video, two trucks decorated with giant Trump flags and altered American flags are driving on a highway. On the tailgate door of one of the trucks is the image of Biden lying horizontally, bound and gagged.”

  44. 44.

    RaflW

    @Chetan Murthy: It ain’t the Super Bowl! (Avg. 124 million viewers for that.)

    NPR 2020: Republicans got their largest audience on Thursday, when Trump accepted his party’s nomination for re-election, with an estimated 23.8 million tuned in from 10 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. across 13 networks. That was less than the 24.6 million people who watched the night Biden accepted the Democratic nom across 12 networks–one fewer–on the final evening of that party’s convention on Aug. 20.

    Opening night numbers showed a wider gap, with 17 million viewers for the RNC, compared to 19.7 million viewers for the DNC; Wednesday night saw 17.3 million viewers for the RNC compared to 22.8 million who watched Aug. 19, when Kamala Harris accepted the vice presidential nomination.

    The only night the GOP drew better than the Democrats was on the convention’s second evening, Tuesday, which featured a speech from First Lady Melania Trump. The RNC drew 19.4 viewers over 11 networks, compared to the Democrats’ 19.2 million viewers [NPR doesn’t say who headlined, but that seems like a very, very small win for Melanoma].

    —  —

    Nicely done, Kamala & DNC

     

    eta: Too bad they didn’t break out what the viewership was for Kimberly Guilfoyle’s seemingly coked-up “The Best. Is Yet. To Coooooome!” speech/screech.

  46. 46.

    BlueGuitarist

    Appropriately yesterday the usual suspects were working the refs, claiming “bloodbath” was being taken out of context, supposedly the auto industry, but now you-know-who is billing his next show as about “biden’s border bloodbath”

  47. 47.

    hueyplong

    RNC: We’re outraged that NBC fired the person we just fired.

    And their recent experience gives rise to confidence that such idiocy will be effective

  48. 48.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    “Access ‘Journalism’”, along with Broderism, are malignant cancers on the 4th Estate.

    I feel like it goes beyond those things. Republican complaints are respected and accommodated. Democratic complaints are scorned and ignored.

    And more. How many days since 2016 has the top story been Trump. Doesn’t matter what goes on in the world, that asshole is either first, second, or third on every front page and every broadcast.

  49. 49.

    wjca

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: If they claim the Democrats are doing it then they are confessing their own actions.

    Well, sometimes.  Other times, it’s just what they would like to do.  But haven’t yet figured out how.  So, sometimes it’s just aspirational.

  50. 50.

    Citizen Alan

    @Josie:  I haven’t watched an RNC since 2008 when I got so angry watching Palin’s speech that I primal screamed the C-Word so loudly that my roommate rushed in afraid I’d hurt myself.

  52. 52.

    Splitting Image

    @David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch:

    MSNBC has never had a problem hiring republicans.  Scarborough has had a show on their channel for 20 years.  Greta Van Sustren and Hewitt were given shows in 2017 that were quickly canceled because no one would watch them.  Alan Greenspan’s dimwit spouse has had a show forever. They hired a slew of GOP operatives, from Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace, Stuart Stevens, to pollsters who worked for Dubya.   Laura Ingraham even used to have a show.  But the viewers wouldn’t eat the dog food.​

    All of those, plus Pat Buchanan.

  53. 53.

    Lyrebird

    @Ken: ​
      If they do the state roll-call video again, I might watch that.

    Agreed, that was awesome, and even though broadcasting takes energy, I bet it’s more carbon-sparing than having everyone go to that same hall. I thought they did a great job with the whole on-line aspect, and I have been thinking they should consider continuing.

  54. 54.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Jackie:

    violence, threats of violence, and debased discourse are hallmarks of fascism. Don’t know why more people don’t find this repulsive.

     

    Eta: the  first word at comment 46 was supposed to be Approximately….

  55. 55.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Ken:

    Now I’m hoping that the RNC bars NBC, so NBC shows Law & Order re-runs instead and pulls in larger audiences than Trump’s speeches. 

    LOL!

    The 2020 Democratic one was only interesting because of the COVID workarounds. If they do the state roll-call video again, I might watch that.

    Agreed.  The 2020 video convention was a great production.

  57. 57.

    Lyrebird

    @zhena gogolia: @Gin & Tonic:

    Apparently he’s doing local theater in his retirement, and not shying away from tough issues:

    “We have decided as a group that we want to do plays that are socially relevant and somehow improve the human condition, and we wanted to tackle material that ordinarily amateur groups would shy away from,” he said.

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    @Splitting Image: Hewitt’s main media presence is his widely syndicated radio show; 9 a.m. to noon, five days a week.

    Hewitt worked in the Reagan administration right out of law school, then practiced commercial real estate law in Southern California for many years before becoming a full time Republican cheerleader. He’s basically a salesman, and Republican unity is his product.

    Hewitt also has some sort of principal position at the Nixon Library in Whitter, California. On occasion, he hosts Deep Strategic Thinkers discussing geopolitical affairs, like Nixon would have wanted.

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    New: NBC News staff are concerned that the hiring and abrupt firing of Ronna McDaniel will damage relationships with GOP sources, making it more difficult to break news. Some Republicans have been complaining to journalists at the network about the move.

    A good portion of reporters are lazy hacks. They kiss up to sources because they don’t want to actually work. And they fear being scooped. So they will bargain for some half important piece of news that they can break exclusively, even though it might mean that they miss the bigger story.

    The Establishment media never learn. The craggy vets missed the significance of Watergate because many of their “valued” sources were bullshitting them. Meanwhile, Woodward and Bernstein could go deeper because they were not as concerned with protecting longstanding journalistic relationships.

    Even the GOP will not be happy pushing all their election stories to Fox News. They need the press more than the press needs them.

    Too bad that the media don’t understand this.

  65. 65.

    Jackie

    @sdhays: Thanks! Actually she’s crappy in general. On or off TV. Not that I ever would have given her much respect; she lost me the moment she chose TIFG over family. Not that her relatives are so great politically…

  66. 66.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @HumboldtBlue: Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg: ‘There’s nothing partisan about a road or a bridge’

    Republican Party: Hold my beer.

  67. 67.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Ken:

    what could possibly be worth watching at either convention?

    Clint Eastwood’s performance at the 2012 RNC convention was the finest standup comedy of the last 20 years.

    @BlueGuitarist:

    claiming “bloodbath” was being taken out of context, supposedly the auto industry

    It was being taken out of context, and he did mean the auto industry.  When you read the whole paragraph, it is crystal clear he is talking about economics, not violence.

    But this time, he’s got hit with the flipside of his mob boss imply what he wants bullshit.  Nobody hearing that Trump used the word ‘bloodbath’ believes he was doing anything but promising violence, and the more the news tries to deny it, the more normies get reminded of how repulsive Trump is.

  68. 68.

    JWR

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Lester Holt should be ashamed of himself.

    Did Lester Holt have anything to do with the McDaniel fiasco? Or do you mean that he should be ashamed of himself just in a general sort of way?

  69. 69.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Frankensteinbeck: Clint Eastwood’s performance at the 2012 RNC convention was the finest standup comedy of the last 20 years.

    You could never find a better metaphor for the modern contemporary Republican Party than an old man yelling at an empty chair, attributing his own words to “Obama.”

  70. 70.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    It was being taken out of context, and he did mean the auto industry. When you read the whole paragraph, it is crystal clear he is talking about economics, not violence.

    But this time, he’s got hit with the flipside of his mob boss imply what he wants bullshit. Nobody hearing that Trump used the word ‘bloodbath’ believes he was doing anything but promising violence, and the more the news tries to deny it, the more normies get reminded of how repulsive Trump is.

    Good!

  71. 71.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Ken: Seriously, what could possibly be worth watching at either convention?

    I like watching various Democratic speakers, it helps me see how the party looks in the rest of the country. The preliminary research into which I’m interested in listening to is possibly more edifying than their actual convention speeches.

    But I have a thing for sourcing directly from horses’ mouths.

    For once, I didn’t mean that kinky.🫣

    @Frankensteinbeck: Nobody hearing that Trump used the word ‘bloodbath’ believes he was doing anything but promising violence, and the more the news tries to deny it, the more normies get reminded of how repulsive Trump is.

    This way of framing, Trump may threaten to make normies notice how repulsive the media is.

    Making America great again, indeed…

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    @mrmoshpotato

    I stridently disagree about meaning the auto industry. His in context statement immediately after bringing up the auto industry, “and that’s the least of it, it’ll be a bloodbath” extends the implied threat well beyond.

  73. 73.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @NotMax: Trump uses violent imagery in his rhetoric constantly. We can’t let anyone talk about this like it’s an isolated incident.

  74. 74.

    Brachiator

    @NotMax:

    His in context statement immediately after bringing up the auto industry, “and that’s the least of it, it’ll be a bloodbath” extends the implied threat well beyond.

    So what? Trump tries to be a bully, but he is essentially a coward. Democrats need to stop quaking in their boots and trying to parse Orange bullshit.

    Call him out on it. Slap him down whenever he tries to hint that he is going to be some kind of tough guy if he gets close to power.

    Fuck him.

  75. 75.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Brachiator: Call him out on it. Slap him down whenever he tries to hint that he is going to be some kind of tough guy if he gets close to power.

    Fuck him.

    This energy.

  76. 76.

    Chetan Murthy

    @JWR: From reporting  in the last couple of days, Holt actually *flew to the RNC headquarters* to pitch Ronna Shitbird on joining NBC.  My mind boggles.

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    I often point to Mario Cuomo’s >a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/archival-video-mario-cuomo-speaks-1984-democratic-national-40582604″>”Two Countries” address at the ’84 Dem convention. Remains starkly, vividly inspirational 40 years on as a paean to what we fight for.

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    Linky fix..

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    I often point to Mario Cuomo’s >a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/archival-video-mario-cuomo-speaks-1984-democratic-national-40582604″>”Two Countries” address at the ’84 Dem convention. Remains starkly, vividly inspirational 40 years on as a paean to what we fight for.

  80. 80.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @NotMax: @NotMax: I felt that.✊️✌️

    ETA: Will give a listen my first moment of solitude.  Appreciated

    EATA: It occurs to me that likely not a full year of my life had elapsed when this was given. EYATA: Verified true. Last edit. A.D.D. ass…

  81. 81.

    sab

    MSNBC hired Jen Psaki after they had already hired Nicole Wallace so both sides were already covered. The election deniers really shouldn’t be considered a side in covering elections.

  82. 82.

    JWR

    @Chetan Murthy: I’ve read that Holt was sent to lobby the RNC for an NBC debate, but as far as I can tell, not for the McDaniel hire. From Semafor:

    NBC lobbied hard behind the scenes for a GOP primary debate, dispatching anchor Lester Holt to meet with the RNC as part of the network’s pitch.

    If there’s more info elsewhere, I’ve yet to find it.

  83. 83.

    JWR

    @JWR: Also there’s this, from Variety, suggesting that Holt wasn’t in the loop:

    Among the anchors who should have been given a heads-up, these people suggested, are “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt; “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie; Welker and Todd; Scarborough and Brzezinski; NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Ken Strickland; and, possibly the MSNBC primetime lineup.

    Oh dear! I’m actually defending Lester Holt. Quick, someone slap me! Hard! ;)

  84. 84.

    opiejeanne

    @Geminid: The Nixon LIbrary is in Yorba Linda, which is in Orange County. Whittier is in LA County. I know he lived in Whittier as a kid, and I think the house is still there. Cute little house, IIRC.

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