anyone else done with Chris Matthews and Joan Walsh?

[restorefreedom]

i've been getting a bit irritated with these two for a while. But last night just did it for me. Matthews was actually giving some credibility to Bernie's surge. But then Joan chimed in and started saying it doesn't really matter and people don't really care what his position is because he's not a serious candidate. Matthews has been on this bandwagon for a while because he is dying to see an epic showdown between Clinton and Bush. And I know Joan is pretty much all for Hillary, but the dismissive attitude that both of them had and the condescending assumption that Hillary's going to be the candidate and that Bernie's just a mild distraction like a fly flying around just did it for me. I used to like both of them, but I think I'm just gonna have to turn hardball off and I'm not gonna read joan's columns anymore. I'm just sick of this dismissive attitude. They can't wait for the coronation. rant over.

[arcane1]

1. Do they say the other candidates, polling at 1-2%, are also not serious?

I'm betting they do not.

[restorefreedom]

10. i don't think they even named them

but basically they put bernie in the same "not to be taken seriously" group.

[Enthusiast]

23. They do not.

[roguevalley]

44. Joan is a hillary supporter times ten thousand even saying stupid shit

to support her. I cancelled my subscription to Salon over her. She has always been a hack to me because of her almost frenzied approach to supporting her candidate.

[zentrum]

47. Good point!

[MrMickeysMom]

2. I turned off pretty much everything from MSNBC long ago...

… beginning with Chris Matthews. I'm not aware of this Joann Walsh person, nor would I interested in listening to her. Sounds like far better intellectual stuff would be seen on Al Jazeera or BBC America.

[Sherman A1]

3. Precisely

I have done the same as you and find things much better.

[DeeDeeNY]

6. Rachel has had excellent coverage of Bernie

[MrMickeysMom]

13. I'm happy to hear that...

… not because I often can think of catching her, but more because my sister, who is intellectually bankrupt OF Bernie Sanders, would likely "hear" Rachel. It drives me nuts, because other than the lemmings intellect of the folks she works with in local Democratic committee (FL), she is too lazy to pay attention any other way.

Maybe Rachel is our only home on MSNBC!

[restorefreedom]

11. i feel better already. n/t

[Snotcicles]

5. Did somebody really write in her yearbook "best dentures"? nt

[restorefreedom]

8. lol i wondered that too! n/t

[daleanime]

9. I'm still have a soft spot for Rachael Maddow.....

she's often willing to spent some time going over issues instead of just dealing in sound bites.

[questionseverything]

12. me too

i think Rachel goes as far as she can without losing her job

[tech3149]

20. I was in love with Rachel back in the Air America days and still am.

She is wicked smart and does the work to understand what is going on. She makes it entertaining as well. She was the next best thing to Randi Rhodes in those days. She's the Rhodes scholar Randi.
I think the first few months at M$NBC were the honeymoon but the restrictions seemed to become evident pretty early. I think if she truly were given a free hand and could cover everything she saw as important for us to know, she'd blow up the media universe.
Same could be said about Chris Hayes. I thought the weekend Chris was great and got to dig into things pretty well. Moving him to weekdays really degraded his interest for me. I think the weekend slot gave him a chance to digest the events and put together a show that had, mostly, the right people to have an informed and informative discussion about important issues.
With regard to Matthews and Walsh? I could never stand him. He always seemed too self impressed and not willing to challenge anyone with serious questions that was part of the power elite. If, however you were a challenger to the accepted "Washington opinion" he was like a dog on a bone.
Walsh? No question she is smart and on the right side of pretty much any issue she discusses but she's an insider and wants to stay there. That makes her a captive of the existing power structure and she won't bite the hand that feeds her.
A lesson I learned a long time ago is that commercial media is not your friend and you have to understand that everyone involved is trying to sell you something that may not be in your best interest.
Remember Cenk and his show? He really tore the power structure a new orifice so they offered him Huuuuggggeee green to take a weekend spot since he had the freedom to say only so much when someone was actually watching.
He saw that he could choose between wearing just the right set of chains for the most enjoyable meal or getting his four square by telling the truth through his eyes without restriction.

Sorry for the long response but when it comes to media and those pampered asshats, it just puts the bellows to the flame and it becomes a flame that will not be quenched.

[Babel_17]

31. My brother often disagrees with her but gives her credit ...

My brother often disagrees with her but gives her credit for that, and for issuing an on-air correction when she gets a fact wrong.

[NorthCarolina]

4. I haven't had much use for either of them

for quite a while now. Their musings won't have much impact in the long run I don't believe. People don't trust the media in general, and that's a good thing.

[Cleita]

7. I was done with Tweety back when Clinton was being impeached and

he had a string of Clinton haters on every day. I don't remember Joan Walsh as one of them but since she only seems to show up on his show and a couple of the other RW hosts shows, I probably won't like her.

[tularetom]

14. I've been done with Matthews for 15 years

Joan Walsh is not on my radar screen since I no longer watch cable news and I'm not forced to visit her articles online.

But if you listen to Tom Hartmann you will understand this - this election, in fact pretty much all of American politics, is no longer about left v. right, "liberals" v. "conservatives", or any other of the fake labels that the beltway media love to attach to every politician or issue. Instead we are now faced with a choice between insiders v. outsiders.

Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are the stereotypical, ultimate Washington insiders. Pretty much everybody else who has declared themselves a candidate for the 2016 presidential election is an outsider. Insiders don't want anybody else getting into the club and that's why they employ media toadies like Matthews and Walsh to bad mouth any candidate who might appear to be a threat to the insiders.

Hell, that's how they treated the Clintons when they first arrived in DC. It took 20 years of dedicated sucking up for Bill Clinton to be accepted by the club.

[appalachiablue]

16. Righto, I've heard Thom explain it this way too. Bernie is an outlier, Dean sort of was,

like the Pauls and even carnival barker millionaire Trump. And the establishment is trying to circle the wagons to keep out the unconventionals and maintain the stagnant system. But some of the M$M folks are a little more open, especially from Bernie's impressive new climb in crowds and donations as I just saw on CNN with a couple of their holiday weekend staff.

JEB!

Just Elect Bernie! (courtesy TH).

[tech3149]

27. The funny thing is the insider/outsider paradigm is pretty consistent even outside politics

I'm pretty sure that Sanders thought long and hard about what he would be up against in running for Prez as an outsider. He knew he would be ignored, marginalized, ridiculed, and just generally dismissed as the entertainment on the fringes of the serious people. The commercial media would perform as they have in the past but they don't want to acknowledge that the world has changed and they are no longer the only game in town and even worse? They didn't see it coming!

[appalachiablue]

15. Matthews was respectful when he had Bernie on for a civil, brief interview after the announcement.

I don't usually watch M. anymore but saw him say the 'Bernie is the weekend' fling who you know will be leaving comment (hilarity? not).
Whoever started the meme, it's circulating- on MSNBC's 'Morning Joke', David Axelrod and even an otherwise favorable Guardian article I read in the Bernie Group today. Each clown that utters it and snickers thinks he's the funniest guy in the room like most juveniles.

Anyway, tired of that tripe, and figure Matthews and Walsh are for the same dynasty duel and protecting the establishment media they belong to. And I used to like both. On DU several months ago I read Matthews said 'Bernie was a relic of the 60s'. If that's true, it's a good thing I didn't see him say it whenever it happened.

Matthews and wife Kathleen, a former local TV reporter-anchor since Marriot Exec. are longtime figures in DC, and well liked. Not part of the real hardcore power players by a long shot I don't think.

JEB!
Just Elect Bernie!

[Maedhros]

17. Joah Walsh has always been a hack. [n/t]

[bvar22]

18. I turned off Tweety when he began cheerleading for the Iraq War.

The day Bush landed on the Carrier under the "Mission Accomplished Banner",
and tweety, in the middle of orgasm , shouted out "We're ALL Neo-Cons Now!!!
was the last straw.

[peacebird]

25. That was pretty much it for me too. Fortunately we cut the cable & no longer have tv.

[DashOneBravo]

53. Holy cow

I didn't know that.

[leveymg]

19. Tweety is a conflict junkie and a top of the dog pile climber. He sniffs out power, and follows it.

It really doesn't matter who has the power, or what atrocities are carried out by it, Matthews is instinctively attracted to its smell. Then, he changes his mind, and follows the next pack leader.

We've seen him do this for decades.

[virtualobserver]

37. his love of Tom Delay was an example of this.....

and caused me to write him off.


Delay's "12 perversions" secret DOJ memo shows me just how far over the line he is willing to go.

I'm kidding of course....there is no line.

[sabrina 1]

21. Been done with them for YEARS! Boring, OLD politics, they haven't caught up with the

changes, one of which is, people are BORED to tears with the same old rhetoric, the pundits, the polls, the smear campaigns etc that these talking heads represent.

It's a terrible format, a bunch of not very informed and out of touch people yakking away as if there was no one in the world but the DC Cocktail crowd.

Meanwhile outside their bubble things are changing rapidly. For one thing, the Corporate media has no credibility, it's sensational, the 'discussions' are either shouting matches and all about THEM and THEIR little club, or they are off on the facts that a lot of people have to turn it off or break their TV screens.

The news is happening but it's beneath them. The PEOPLE are changing things, they have no time for the people.

All these shows are. are political tabloids.

Bernie befuddles them because he refuses to play according to THEIR script. He won't take the bate and attack other opponents personally.

So save yourself a headache and turn it off, or watch movie

They so don't know how ANGRY the people are because they pay attention to the little people.

BERNIE knows and he knows why.

Meantime they haven't noticed the real news that is happening and are like to be as shocked when they finally catch up as they were when Bernie's numbers continued to rise despite all the efforts to tell the people 'he is not electable'

[LWolf]

22. I've never actually watched/listened

to either of them.

[peacebird]

24. Chris matthews has been useless forever, joan walsh publically endorsed/supported Hillary in 08

So no suprise she's in the bag for her now.

[Enthusiast]

26. I am done with Chris Matthews and Joan Walsh.

That is all.

[olddots]

28. Blabby Mathews spoke thru a speech by Sharpton years ago

had him on ignore for years

[EuroStyleSocialist]

29. I actually respect Joan Walsh a lot

... as writer for Salon, I think she's been very insightful and definitely on the right side of the issues. That said, I have been hearing these dismissive comments from her about Bernie Sanders and I'm not appreciating it. If Hillary wins the nomination I will vote for her (Supreme Court, etc.), but I'm delighted that Bernie is out there speaking honestly about the issues AND resonating with voters!

[merrily]

34. Please see Reply 33

[Spitfire of ATJ]

30. I did this a while back....

[LongTomH]

32. I've despised Tweety since he praised the Simpson-Bowles 'Catfood' commission.......

......for their "courage" in daring to suggest cuts to Social Security.

[merrily]

33. McCaskill told Halperin that he (Halperin) knew her objections to Sanders

because the media wasn't covering Sanders as "a serious candidate." Sounds like a talking point buzzword.

Except for Ed Schultz and a tiny bit with Maddow, MSNBC has indeed not been covering Sanders as a "serious candidate." However, today, I heard a fair number of positive things about him on MSNBC at last.

If you want to encourage MSNBC to cover Sanders like a "serious candidate" you can email to

[e-mail]

[DirtyHippyBastard]

35. In a segment that aired yesterday

they equated Bernie with Trump, and Matthews seemed so proud of himself in making the comparison, too. They seemed to want us to believe that since they were both #2 in the polls that they shared equal validity, something that was only briefly refuted by someone else on the panel by pointing out that Bernie actually has a platform. (polls are meaningless twists of truth btw)
I have seen two different posts on DU today who have used that Bernie/Trump are in the same ballpark BS. We must have entered the attack Bernie phase. Is the next phase he wins?
Every time Matthews says Bernie's name he rolls his eyes. He also says something to the effect of "c'mon, it's Bernie Sanders. No one is taking him seriously" on every show recently. Speak for yourself (and your corporate masters) asshole, because most of us ain't buying what you are selling.

[Thespian2]

36. Is Chris Matthews still alive?

Guess I don't keep up too well with people who speak from both sides of their mouths...

[Babel_17]

38. I don't want to give Ms. Walsh the hits for viewing

I don't want to give Ms. Walsh the hits for viewing any more partisan swipes at Senator Sanders. I hope she does the right thing and adds a disclaimer to the top of her election coverage columns that say, "Joan Walsh has endorsed HRC for President, and is an unabashed supporter".

[restorefreedom]

54. that is what irritates me

she comes on as this objective journalist giving her analysis and then starts talking like anyone else but hillary is just not to be taken seriously. maybe i would not have not lost my respect for her if she started off by saying "hey chris, just to give your viewers a heads up, i am supporting hillary." but instead she uses the appearance of journalistic neutrality to pump her and slam him. that makes it even more despicable.

[onecaliberal]

39. Tweety is a con boot licker.

Can't stand Joan Walsh or Salon. These people can continue to doubt us until we roll right the fuck over them. People are sick of corporate ruled America. We are coming to take her back.

[Joey Liberal]

40. I don't watch MSNBC

Nuff said .

[senz]

41. Joan Walsh is a Hillary! girl.

Has been since the 2008 campaign. I noticed back then that the faces of Hillary's most avid older female supporters would go into a sort of wide-eyed "scream" look whenever their idol's name was brought up. She has been trying to appear to be more neutral since Hillary lost in 2008, but a year or so ago on one of the MSNBC discussion programs (I think the Sat. morning "Up" program), some good news came out about Hillary, and darned if Joan's face didn't make that wide-eyed, eyebrows up, open-mouthed expression again. That's when I realized she'd always belonged to Hillary. It's sad, too, because Walsh is a good left-of-center liberal on most matters. I think she's blind to Hillary's faults.

But her treatment of Bernie just about destroys any respect I'd had for her.

[madfloridian]

42. Joan really speaking out against Bernie's campaign. Dismissiveness angers me so much.

The assumption that there is just the one with a chance at being nominee is not a wise one.

[madfloridian]

43. Keep up with Joan's twitter. I am not a happy camper about her attitude.

https://twitter.com/joanwalsh

[Cheviteau]

45. Really? For True?

It took you this long to stop watching Matthews? I stopped when he got that jigglery feeling down his leg when the Idiot landed on the aircraft carrier.

[NRaleighLiberal]

46. our TV is for watching movies only - going on 7 years now. much happier!

[tabasco]

48. Please turn off corporate media.

Thanks!

[progressiveinnarb]

49. I Get Most Of My News From TYT And THE BIG PICTURE RT WITH THOM HARTMANN

they're actually progressive

[senz]

50. Did anyone see the NYTimes hit piece on Bernie this morning?

It purports to be a retrospective on Sen. Sanders' youthful radicalism, but it, and the photos that accompany it, are designed to make him look like a fringe extremist. The main photo is just horrible; he looks defensive and his little son looks frightened and miserable.

I do not know how to start a thread here and am too tired today to try, but it would be nice if people could read the article and weigh in on it.

[senz]

51. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/us/politics/bernie-sanderss-revolutionary-roots-were-nurtured-in-60s-vermont.html

[brewens]

52. Whenever anyone brings up something like this, I like to post this link.

http://mediamatters.org/research/2006/04/27/mission-accomplished-a-look-back-at-the-medias/135513

Matthews swallowed the whole "Mission Accomplished" thing, hook, line and sinker. He was absolutely giddy over how wonderful his President was on that carrier. I can't take anything he says seriously after that.