I don't usually do diaries like this (I don't do too many to begin with), but I can't help it today because of what I'm currently watching.
You're allowed to list a Fox News anchor or correspondent if you'd like, but it's sort of unfair. The results will be pretty obvious before we even begin.
Anyway, full disclosure: I'm easily annoyed. I get irked by as little as harmless mannerisms if I'm in the wrong mood. I usually keep it to myself.
But there is one thing that gets to me a little deeper under the skin: fucking idiots. (more)
I'll start by telling you who my least favorite news anchor is. Quickly: I'm personally not taking Fox News under consideration. And honestly, just on pure annoyance factor, this particular individual might win for me anyway, even though it has virtually nothing to do with "ideology."
I'm talking about CNN's own Rick Sanchez. Rick fucking Sanchez. I can't stand him. Every word he says makes me want to slam my head into the television screen until either it breaks or I die.
He has a newsman's voice. That's not a compliment.
His opinions only last as long as a segment, by the way. I remember him once challenging Lou Dobbs in a very wooden and phony conversation about immigration (Sanchez was born in Cuba), taking the opposite position, until it was time to wrap up the 90 second convo where it was as if his opinions literally dissolved and said something about how it's always nice matching wits with Lou. I felt depressed for everyone involved, but more depressed for myself, for having watched it instead of reading something by Dostoevsky or a Yeats poem or the Economist or just fucking SOMETHING else.
He betrays his shallow intellect every time he asks someone a question in an interview. I'm sorry, an "interview." Actually, he also betrays his shallow intellect when he reads from the script. The man is a complete, total, waste of space idiot. Let's look at an interview about Georgia with the UN Ambassador from Russia, conducted by Rick.
"Can you make the American people try to understand why it is you've invaded what seems to be a sovereign country?"
Rick, does it "seem to be" a sovereign country? It might "seem to be" sovereign to you, because you'd never heard of it before it was piped into your headpiece. It either is or isn't sovereign, despite your lack of knowledge of planet earth, and, well, it is.
"I spoke to the Russian UN ambassador this weekend. During that conversation, I came out and asked him flat out if his aim is--quote--to try to keep the peace."
First of all, he's the fucking UN ambassador from Russia, so "his" aim isn't anything. The UN AMBASSADOR didn't wake up and say "we're fucking invading Georgia, and I don't care what any of you fucks says about it! Now, let's see if we can get Finland back in the fold, for I am the Russian UN Ambassador!!!!!!!!!!!"
UPDATE: Oh yeah. You also say "quote" here. You're quoting YOURSELF from the interview you're about to show in 3 seconds. Except, you're not. You never say the part that comes after your dramatic "quote" reference. So you're not even quoting yourself. You just heard someone say "quote" before saying something once, and didn't understand you usually save it for the words other people said when you're the anchor, or, y'know, at least something somebody said.
"If this really is a peace keeping mission, then why the military aggression?"
Because the Russian claim is that Russian "peace keepers" who have been in South Ossetia for about 15 years claim they were fired on, which anyone would know if they've ever seen a newspaper before. Rick, you know those, you keep them under your dog (and maybe yourself).
"To be clear, you have gone into a sovereign country to defend the South O-sessions (that's how Ricky says it) against the Georgians."
I am now losing track of what Rick thinks the sovereign country is. He either still doesn't know if it's Georgia (it is), or South Ossetia (it isn't...every country on earth recognizes it as part of Georgia, although it hasn't been controlled by them since '91). He also still doesn't realize that Russians were already in South Ossetia when Georgia invaded. Fine.
"Why did you not try the negotiation method first?" Then he says something about the President of Georgia, and that Russia could have said "stop this, we gotta figure this out."
The Russians claim they were fired on by the Georgians. Remember? You probably read that off a script, like, 3 days ago. "Stop this, we gotta figure this out" speaks for itself.
"You just said they must pull out. Are you essentially saying here, on the air, on CNN, that unless the Georgians pull out of South O-See-Sha, your troops will remain there?"
GODDAMMIT, RUSSIANS WERE ALREADY IN SOUTH OSSETIA. It's okay if, as an anchor, you didn't know that last Wednesday. But now it's Sunday, and this is your frigging job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe he means there were less (which is true, Russian reenforcements most certainly have been streaming in). No, I'm being too nice. He doesn't know there were Russians there. He doesn't know whether South Ossetia's a country, and he doesn't know what the fuck a Georgia is.
He then goes on to mispronounce Ossetia about another 40 times.
But he is well-coiffed. And handsome the way a loaf of white bread is handsome. And has personality the way a rice cake would have personality if rice cakes could be given lobotomies (note: "lobotomy" is pronounced "O-SEEEEEEEE-SHAAAAAAA").
He's on motherfucking "twitter" and MySpace, he just said, for fuck's fucking sake. You can friend him. He'll give you his updates on "twitter." I think I'm going go all Texas Chainsaw Massacre on my TV (which means, just like the TCSM, I won't watch it! Haw!)
The rules: I'm more interested in "newspeople" (Britt Hume, Anderson Cooper, etc.) than pundit/partisan-types (Sean Hannity), but if that's the direction you'd like to take it that's fine.
Add whatever you like. Your local weatherman, the anchor of the national news, but give me a reason. They can just irk you, they can be too pretentious, too stupid, even too good lookin'. But tell me why.
You're also allowed to pile on Rick "Fucking" Sanchez if you like.