Rachel Maddow the New Bill O'Reilly? Matt Taibbi Thinks So

[DonViejo]

By Rudy TakalaApr 23rd, 2021, 4:55 pm

Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi has a theory about which network anchor assumed Bill O’Reilly’s mantle in prime-time television.

“O’Reilly, during the Bush years, was the #1-ranked cable personality,” Taibbi said in an interview with The Hill’s Rising. “And he got there in a very specific way. He played the role as this kind of jingoistic front-man who was constantly accusing people of being insufficiently patriotic, insufficiently pro-war. And he would have a parade of guests on, and question them about how devoted they were to the cause, or whether they were too affiliated or too supportive of terrorism or Islam or whatever it was, and that catapulted him to the top of the ratings. And he significantly relied on a story that turned out to be false, the [Iraq] WMD story, to kind of launch him into the stratosphere.

“MSNBC has kind of stepped into that role as the network that is hyper-patriotic, that is constantly talking about a foreign dictator, and has been elevated by a story that has … lots and lots of holes in it, and they haven’t acknowledged that,” Taibbi said, referencing MSNBC’s focus on Russia and numerous theories surrounding former President Donald Trump’s relationship with the country, including those propagated by the 2016 Steele Dossier.

He also said MSNBC host Rachel Maddow served as a chief example of the network’s direction, and suggested it was analogous to the Fox News of O’Reilly’s era.

more
https://www.mediaite.com/news/rachel-maddow-the-new-bill-oreilly-matt-taibbi-thinks-so/

[lapucelle]

1. ...

[snowybirdie]

2. Poor wannabe

Matt. No reputable news organization will hire him. He once would say interesting and thoughtful things. Now he's devolved into drivel.

[Cha]

30. TY. Yes, I've seen way too much of his "drivel"..

I didn't know about the other things.

[PJMcK]

3. Taibi used to be a reliable journalist

Who knows or cares what happened to him?

He's become a hack.

[LenaBaby61]

6. He's become a hack.

I never really was sold on Taibi when he used to be considered a good journalist.

[Tom Rinaldo]

21. He was s hsck befpre he became a supposedly reliable journalist

Go back to 2003 and you can find the total hit jobs he wrote on Wes Clark and Howard Dean. Also he was a Serbian apologist vis a vis Bosnia before that.

[Hortensis]

4. Once a lying schmuck for sale, always a... Taibbi's personal history of sexual abuses,

self revealed in an era when he thought it was safe, finally bit him good as women's rights advanced in this century. Including with #MeToo. His self-exposure lives on in his book of his and male colleagues' mistreatment, harassment and outright assault of females, both on staff and elsewhere.

Besides that, he's a dishonest and disreputable influencer for anyone who wants a hit on Democrats and the Democratic Party. Meeting that big demand's what's kept him afloat and published.

Of course he doesn't like Maddow. For a variety of reasons.

[True Dough]

5. 100%

You nailed it.

[notinkansas]

7. His constant defense of Russia

sounds suspiciously like that of the prior guy.

[live love laugh]

8. Sure because ... "both sides" ... 🙄

[agingdem]

9. Hey, Matt...jealous much???

Rachel deals in well documented facts..any mistakes are acknowledged and corrected......Bill spewed paranoia right wing bullshit...and once again Taibbi is shrouding his insults in backhanded "compliments"...this is a hit piece..

[Paladin]

10. Insulting comparison. (nt)

[boston bean]

11. He is a real POS. Never liked him. I think he is a male chauvinist pig.

[ChrisF1961]

26. Me too

Never impressed by him. Always seemed very arrogant.

[WhiteTara]

12. I read parts of his book

he's an abysmal human and while a good writer, his motivations are skewed.

[Vogon_Glory]

13. Rachel's essential difference with Bill-O

Somebody overlooked the obvious difference between Rachel and the Faux Noise has-been: unlike the has-been, Rachel doesn’t spend her time parroting propaganda, instead Rachel tears into the lies, the cognitive dissonance, unpleasant and contradictory facts of the actions of (usually) right wing political hacks and politicians, scoring points with a smiling face and mirth-filled voice and taking down shibboleths.

[crickets]

18. Exactly. The glaring difference: Bill O was a big liar, and Rachel is not. nt

[katmondoo]

23. Right on, I love Rachel

[2naSalit]

19. To be fair, BillO is a compassionless asshole...

And Rachel is the opposite of that.

[Beringia]

14. He was interviewed by Megyn Kelly in Nov 2020, and I thought "what the heck is he doing"

November 2020

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/matt-taibbi-on-media-cancel-culture-democratic-establishment/id1532976305?i=1000498129323

[edhopper]

15. Any thinking person will surmise

that Trump was a milling, or unwitting Russian asset.

Once the full Mueller Report is released, there will be no doubt.

[msfiddlestix]

25. Taibbi lived and worked (free lanced?) in Moscow for a number of years

He drew my attention during the financial crises, and I pretty much appreciated his work on that beat. Later, it appeared to me something was screwy and didn't hold the same opinion I had during the Financial crises.

Since T was installed, it seemed to me he was working for Putin. period. I simply have been ignoring any and every utterance from that asshole since 2016. I see this and infer a confirmation of my instinct he's been working for or on behalf Putin all along.

[Midnight Writer]

27. Yes, I've wondered from his history if there is kompromat involved.

He sure loves him some Putin.

[msfiddlestix]

28. I've no idea if it's kompromont, or just a willing tool

I haven't seen or read anything to suggest OTHER than his own words expressed in print or otherwise expressed and laid out on the conveyor belt of propaganda funded by the Kremlin. Was a time I would be perplexed and sort of taken by surprise by some of the stuff he spewed. But it was always around the notion that impeaching was related to Putin, and he'd refer to that as a HOAX.

He can go EFF himself as far as I'm concerned. He's an effing tool of Putin. Period.

[Scrivener7]

16. Sad. He used to make sense sometimes. Not anymore.

[Greybnk48]

17. I think Taibbi is the new Maureen Dowd!

He wins the "precocious adult-child journalist of the year award," don't you think?

Taibbi wrote this "Hey, look at me" article just in the nick of time for me because I had forgotten he existed! Great timing, Matt!

[PortTack]

20. What a doofus!

[OnDoutside]

22. Lol ! What a gobshite.

[dsc]

24. I tried to warn people about how unserious he was back in 2003

and 2004, it was lonely. The utter lack of seriousness of our press corps has been a long standing issue and it is very much part of parcel of why we got Trump in the first place.

[msfiddlestix]

29. He wasn't on my radar until Financial Crises

Scahill was certainly on the run up to shock and awe