March 26, 2017

I don't think I've seen a more laughably unaware commercial since those infernal UNTUCKit shirt ads (seriously, if the biggest problem in your life is finding a shirt that looks good untucked, get down on your knees and thank the holy deity of your choosing for such a unbelievably privileged life). Chuck Todd's not afraid to hold politicians "to the rules"? In what parallel universe?

Not that it isn't needed. I rewatched the documentary "The Brainwashing of My Dad" by Jen Senko with my youngest daughter who is writing a paper on the yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst, trying to give her an conceptualization of the damage that blatant propaganda disguised as journalism can do, not only to the thinking of the consumers, but the ripple effect to other media outlets. I think there's a strong argument to be made that the "Fox Effect" has resulted in us having the least competent, least intelligent narcissistic blowhard as president.

Contrast, if you will, Chuck Todd's long history of not understanding his job with this tweetstorm by expatriate Steph Bello on Twitter. This one is, in particular, my favorite:

If we had a functional media, not bending over backwards for some Bizarro-World sense of "balance," we could stop processing the news of the day as political wins and losses and start looking at what they really mean. How the ACHA would end up killing Americans so that a tiny percentage of the very wealthiest in the country could get tax cuts. We would not be talking tax reform at the behest of an Ayn Rand devotee who dreamed of starving Grandma back in college. And we most certainly wouldn't have Donald Trump in the White House.

ABC's "This Week" - Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C.; Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency; Roger Stone, former Trump campaign adviser. Panel: GOP strategist Alex Castellanos, Maggie Haberman of The New York Times and ABC’s Matthew Dowd and Jonathan Karl.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.; Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ariz.; George Shultz, former Reagan Secretary of State. Panel: Ron Brownstein of Atlantic Media, Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post, Jamelle Bouie of Slate and Ben Domenech of The Federalist.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif. Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget; Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. Panel: Tom Brokaw, radio host Hugh Hewitt, Eliana Johnson of Politico and Joy Reid, host of MSNBC’s “AM Joy.”

"Fox News Sunday" - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi; Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; White House chief of staff Reince Priebus. Panel: Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard, Susan Page of USA Today, Charles Lane of The Washington Post and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

CNN's "State of the Union" -Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio. Panel: CNN commentator Bakari Sellers; Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.; former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y.

CNN's "Reliable Sources" - Carl Bernstein; Dylan Byers of CNN; John Phillips, CNN political commentator, talk show host and columnist for the Orange County Register in California; Jon Lovett, former Obama speechwriter and co-host of “Pod Save America”; Nancy Gibbs, editor of Time magazine.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - “The Most Powerful Man in the World” about Russian President Vladimir Putin. (repeat)

So what's catching your eye this morning?

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