Matthews, Cramer, MSNBC and CNBC -- spare me!
| Forgive me for getting my first post of the day up a little late. I made the mistake of spending my prime time last night with MSNBC and CNBC, NBC's two too sorry excuses for 24/7 news cable channels.
Worse yet, what I watched featured two of their biggest, most over-inflated gas bags, Chris Matthews and Jim Cramer. It takes some time to recover from that, believe me. But I now know what eternal damnation will look like for me: I will be chained in front of a TV and forced to watch an endless loop of shows featuring these two cable clown pundits. I watched Matthews to see how he would explain saying, "Oh God," into an open microphone just as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal appeared on-camera Tuesday night to deliver the GOP answer to President Obama's speech to Congress. Matthew's explanation for this rude intrusion on an important political ritual was every bit as weasel-faced as one might expect. |
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MSNBC's Chris Matthews First of all, I thought that MSNBC management had banished Matthews and Keith Olbermann from the anchor desk during grown-up political events after the sophomoric antics of the two during the national political conventions. Apparently, that was just more PR lies from the worst cable news managers in television. (And I say that with all due respect to the men and women running the Fox News Channel).
But there was the partisan Democrat Matthews acting stupid and showing off Tuesday -- making his little oh-was-the-microphone-open remark and hopelessly contextualizing anything of value that Jindal might have said. (Not that Jindal needed any help in being a train wreck.)
For the record, Matthews said last night that he was only commenting on the setting and "stagecraft" of Jindal's entrance.
"Governor Bobby Jindal walking from somewhere in the back of this narrow hall, this winding staircase looming there, the odd antebellum look of the scene," Matthews said. "Some people heard my reaction at the time... What was the message in all this? Was this some mimicking of a president walking along the state floor to the East Room? And at the same time that the Republicans are so far from Washington that they can't be blamed for anything?"
Matthews said he wasn't referring to Jindal or anything the governor might say. How many years has Matthews been on on TV with his tired hack act? You think this open-mike ruse isn't intentional.
Matthews is compulsive; he can't help injecting himself into the story. But it is disruptive and shows an utter lack of respect for the political process and the folks at NBC News who do try to cover politics honestly.
As if Matthews' duplicity and contempt for the audience's intelligence weren't enough, I then had to watch a "town hall meeting" on CNBC featuring Cramer and Erin Burnett, along with FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair. I will say this, Cramer was on his better behavior, but when Bair tried to actually explain some of the ins and outs of the administration's new plan to help homewoners in trouble, Cramer acted like he was zoning out on her details. He mock confessed to thinking of a college basketball game as she spoke -- at least, that is what I think he said amid all the crosstalk and bad audio.
I don't know why the administration sent Bair out to be a prop for Cramer, except that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is so bad on TV that they are auditioning replacements. The "town hall" crowd that looked like about 40 people from New Jersey sititng on folding chairs asked such questions as, "Should I keep my money in regional or national banks?" Bair said the FDIC does not make such recommendations. That's the level of discourse they had.
But this wasn't about getting information to citizens as much as it was showcasing Cramer -- as the final segment showed. The producers played a clip of Cramer flipping out. It was ID'd as his widely-known "rant heard round the world" in which he said among other things that Ben Bernanke, who now leads the Federal Reserve Board, is essentially out of it.
Why was the tape played? To get Bair to endorse and praise Cramer, as she did.
"You're a man of your convictions, and I respect it," she said to Cramer as the audience applauded. "What you were saying was right on."
Memo to Bair: I have often said that you have to use TV to govern, but you don't have to endorse bad behavior in an attempt to get better coverage on the business news channels.
Memo to CNBC: The purpose of a town hall is to stimulate discussion and provide information to citizens, not showcase and try to validate your on-air talent -- especially in as desperate an economic time as this.
Comments
Z
I agree that Matthews comment was uncalled for, but it didn't take Jindal long for all the country to be echoing Matthews pre-emptive comment when he opened his mouth and used katrina lies to make some kind of absurd case for Republican governing values. Why would you want to monitor valcano activity? What would be the purpose of doing such expensive work? Why Guv monitor hurricanes in the Gulf? What problems can valcanos and hurricanes cause the mighty USA.
Z, Matthews made a mistake, but his mike should have been cut off and you know that's why it became public matter.While Cramer and Matthews have severe blowhard tendancies, I will continue to give Matthews a " get of jail free" card as he has been the ONLY tv cable reporter to continually raise the most serious question of our times-why did the Bushies lie us into war w Iraq? No one on the CNN you praise so regularly has come close to that over the yrs.
By the way, that Dick Gregory guy on MTP who you praised so fulsomely in the beginning really really sucks! Revisit that source of Conventional DC idiocy in a more careful manner in the future and recognize that Gregory is a really lousy interrogator; Jindal looked fine w DG asking the questions.
Yout time would have been better spent with Olbermann's clean professioal dissection of the Jindal-Sheriff story which when he told it in real time had me going-this story is a complete fabrication. Even better was Maddow's substantive interview w Speaker Pelosi, but no review from you.
Hi Tonyjoe: Many good points here, but who is "this Dick Gregory guy" you accuse me of praising? Thanks. Z
Posted by: Tonyjoe | February 26, 2009 10:33 AM
Chris Matthews,was right on in his comments,about Gov.Jindal.Mr.Matthews,artfull way of putting things together is very refreshing.
Posted by: Ainsworth | February 26, 2009 11:46 AM
Sorry, david gregory, that former very bad hip hop dancer partner of karl rove-me bad,
I said I wasn't a morning person in another post today-just decided to prove it here. what should i say "i used to be a fact checker for fox news"?
Yes, I do think the matthews open mike was an accident, by the way.
please do some substantial analysis on rachel's calm approach to the news. in
the aforementioned pelosi interview, she confronted several major issues in a very non-cheerleading fashion; the type of journalism we need to encourage.
Hi Tonyjoe, Oh, David Gregory. I should have been able to figure it out. I was so stunned by the Dick Gregory reference, I guess, I could not think straight. Yes, I did praise Gregory, I admit. And I wish the good journalists like him at NBC News would speak out, But, and I mean this sincerely, that would be a lot to expect. Yes, they use Gregory on MSNBC to give it some journalistic respectability chatter. But he was rewarded nicely with the Meet the Press job. Thanks. Z
Posted by: Tonyjoe | February 26, 2009 12:32 PM
Z
I probably subliminally wanted Dick Gregory to ask the questions on Meet The Press-now that would be change I would truly believe in!
Minimally, I know Dick Gregory would have been a better dancer than David proved to be with Karl!
Hi Tony Joe, I second the Dick Gregory choice. And dancing with Karl Rove is not something I would want on my resume -- even if it was done in jest. Z
Posted by: Tony Joe from Baltimore | February 27, 2009 2:26 AM
You have to understand CNBC folks are in business of making money. Social value or moral value has little to do with it. So you shouldn't approach this matter with your politics. They may be right all along in the matters of your investment, your 401k, your IRA. They could have lost all values due to Obama's policy. They are simply pointing out his policies are not working well with capitalism. I watch CNBC every day, and money has no color. It doesn't matter whether it's Democrat's dollars or GOP's dollar.
Hi, thanks for the comment. It is not my "politics," it is my journalistic ethics that I am using to measure performanace. I fear ethics is something in short supply at places like CNBC when they let Santelli and Cramer rant. Thanks. Z
Posted by: Seunghan | March 3, 2009 6:32 PM