Changes at MSNBC?

Not much of a diary here, but anyone watching Tweety today can see that he is asking real questions.

I just watched him state that a remark by Buchanan was racist, I've heard him question some bullshit statements by Geraldine Ferraro, and now he is talking (sarcastically) about Chuck Todd being "unfair" for reciting the facts of delegate math (again, mocking Clinton's victim meme throughout the campaign).  

Combined with the firing of Tucker...is something good (besides Olbermann) finally happening at MSNBC?

•  tips/flames

  by mainecabinfever on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 02:59:41 PM PDT

  •  I noticed that too---

    I wonder what's going on because there was a genuine shift.  I also noticed that Tweety went off on the leaked Bush video where he's making fun of Brownie, Libby etc. with that bad singing act.  In addition to all the items you noted above, Tweety practically breathed fire condemning Bush for making fun of all these horrendous political developments and then excoriated all the journalists who attended the event and laughed along.  Wow.  Just wow.  

    by Delilah on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:25:18 PM PDT

•  well, the Republicans really only need one

  news channel.

  by LRT on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:02:20 PM PDT

•  PLEASE

  let this be true!  It would be so wonderful and overdue....but Matthews is back and forth so let's not jump the gun.  

  by scottforamerica on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:02:51 PM PDT

  •  you're right. I am probably way too

    optimistic.  I'll give him credit for a good day, anyway.

    by mainecabinfever on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:09:43 PM PDT

  •  Matthews, if nothing else, is an excellent

    "weather vane".  That guy can tell which way the wind is blowing a few days before the shift.

    by lordcopper on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:47:57 PM PDT

•  Hardball

  He says he has an interview with Obama tonight at 10pm ET. Maybe he wants to stay favorable so that Obama doesnt feel inclined to cancel?

  by Eidolon on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:03:31 PM PDT

  •  Chris said a while back

    that it would be hard for people who were in the Peace Corps not to vote for Barack.  Chris was in the Peace Corps.

    by Dr Colossus on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:08:02 PM PDT

•  They found a market.

  Thank god one major news channel has pulled their heads out their asses and realized that imitating Fox is not a good strategy.

  by dnamj on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:03:38 PM PDT

•  ya crazy show today

  i think it was stupid to have pat, a known racist, on talking about racism. cmon, who did not think he was going to make racist statements?

  It was not a good show for clinton today.

  by Liberal Youth on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:05:09 PM PDT

•  All they have to do is be Jounalists

  that would be revolutionary in today's TV news.  They don't have to be partisans they just have to remember how it was done in the days of Murrow and Cronkeit.  In those days the news people on TV had some standards and they also had the idea they were supposed to tell the story as best they could find it out, not just be stenographers for press conferences and PR news releases.

  by Rolfyboy6 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:07:26 PM PDT

  •  Except Matthews wasn't really a journalist

    He's been a political hack from day one, getting his start as a speech writer and turning that into a career as a pundit.

    by Lipo on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:09:14 PM PDT

    •  Who did he write for?

      He is such an odd duck.  I can't stand him because he never stops talking.  But given all of that non-stop chatter, every once in a great while he says something funny.

      Did I mention I can't stand him?

      by gloryous1 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:14:31 PM PDT

      •  i thout it was tip oniel

        thats why he wets himself during obamas speeches. he was a speechwriter.

        by Liberal Youth on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:21:57 PM PDT

      •  Tip O'Neill

        Matthews made his bones with the Reagan-era Democratic Speaker of the House.

        by AustinCynic on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:23:19 PM PDT

      •  Carter

        by TNforkerry on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:32:12 PM PDT

    •  Absolutely

      Matthews is one to replace.  He's a yacker with nothing really to report.

      by Rolfyboy6 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:24:46 PM PDT

•  Something good....?

  A little honesty in the media would be good.  
  A lot of honesty would be MUCH better.
  But I dream....

  by Lilyvt on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:11:17 PM PDT

•  They've been...

  moving to the left for a little while now. I think it has to do with the relative popularity of Republicans and Democrats currently.

  Keith Olbermann's show is much more popular now, Chris Matthews has eased up on Democrats, Tucker Carlson has toned it down and now his show is getting cancelled, Rachel Maddow is regularly featured. Even Pat Buchanan seems slightly more tolerable than he used to be.

  The Democrats are the big story right now. It's all about Hillary and Barack. As a result, I imagine they feel the need to accommodate the mood of the country right now.

  by Potus2020 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:11:29 PM PDT

  •  I like that idea, immensely

    The more popular the Dems are the more TV time they get.  The more TV time they get, the more popular they are.  

    Sounds familiar, but now in a way that works for me.

    by gloryous1 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:16:45 PM PDT

  •  Scarborough too

    I can tolerate Matthews, Tucker still gets turned off, but Morning Joe is really not too bad at all.  A little shocking, but true.

    by rcald on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:28:26 PM PDT

    •  Yeah...

      Scarborough would no longer be acceptable in the Republican congressional minority.

      by Potus2020 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 05:36:09 PM PDT

•  Rachel Maddow should replace Tucker

  She needs her own TV show, dang it.

  by gloryous1 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:15:25 PM PDT

  •  Maddow should replace Tweety

    and I suspect he sees the handwriting on the wall. A more progressive approach will give him ratings and that is what he desperately needs now.

    Tweety doesn't want the other shoe that drops to be him.

    He's an opportunistic Ass. Always has been and always will be.

    by flatford39 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:50:05 PM PDT

  •  I Like Maddow and KO Together

    I think their back-and-forth adds to the show. I don't want to see Rachel peak too soon. It's very difficult to have your own show, let her do her thing without so much pressure for a while.

    by JG in MD on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 04:15:32 PM PDT

•  he also called out King in Iowa

  He pretty much said the guy was a racist asshole. He really seems to on Obama`s side.  
  He also showed a tape of bush joking about Scooter  Libby and Brownie and gave him hell for that.
  Maybe Keith is rubbing off on him.

  by JOEL1954 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:15:31 PM PDT

  •  Well, you know that Obama gives him a funny

    feeling in his leg.  'Splains a lot, dontcha think?

    by gloryous1 on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:17:42 PM PDT

    •  Tingles. Yuck. nt.

      by mainecabinfever on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:19:08 PM PDT

•  it's called "ratings"

  Don't get your hopes up.

  by sunshineonthebay on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:25:48 PM PDT

  •  I'm not asking Tweety to actually change his

    opinion (if he actually has an opinion or a spine beyond whatever he can opportunistically latch onto), but I do think that whether for ratings or whatever, this could be a canary in the coal mine.

    by mainecabinfever on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:28:06 PM PDT

•  Style point.

  From time to time I do a little coaching for bright people with poor self-esteem.  One of the classic ways that people like that can undermine themselves is to begin making a decent point by saying something like:

  "Not much of a diary here, but"

  It adds no substance, and lets the reader judge for him or herself whether you had anything worth saying.  If it isn't good enough for your own standards, don't post it.  If it is good enough for your own standards don't apologize for yourself.

  A related but subtle common flaw is to preface a statemetn that is either inherently an opinion, or in a context that makes clear that you aren't making a pure statement of fact, with:

  "Well, in my personal opinion"

  which similarly undermines your authority as an author, by devaluing your own opinion and presuming that many or most people disagree with you for good reason.

  There is a place for self-depricating mode of expression.  It is in communications between a subordinate and a superior whom you can't afford to contradict if the superior ultimately chooses another course.  For example, a Congressional intern speaking to a member of Congress who demands absolute loyalty on all issues from staff.

  Even then, the former "what I'm saying probably sucks" kind of opening is only appropriate when one not only has a superior to whom the author is subordinate, but furthermore, you need to maintain the public appearance that you are an idiot, either due to the megalomanic and narcisism of the superior (who will more promptly forget your authorship that way if the idea is good, or will mock you by noting that you randomly came up with a good idea for once), or the need to maintain appearance in public (e.g. a non-academic assistant who is actually very smart as the professor knows, correcting a senior professor at a conference in public) despite the parties to the conversation knowing otherwise.

  by ohwilleke on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:30:32 PM PDT

  •  what if I really do suck and I'm not that bright?

    by mainecabinfever on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:37:25 PM PDT

    •  Then you should lie and pretend that you are.

      by ohwilleke on Wed Mar 12, 2008 at 09:41:44 AM PDT

      •  arbitrary goalposts, I will not embellish my suck

        by mainecabinfever on Wed Mar 12, 2008 at 04:36:01 PM PDT

  •  It's good that you said that

    I've been taught not to put myself down in a dozen different ways, not the least of which was that my good boss kept having to pull me back up and I decided  to quit wasting our time, I might as well stay up.

    Whenever I start typing "I don't know if I should say this" or "I'm not really sure about this, but" or whatever, I just stop and delete it.

    After all, we get to edit until we post, and there's usually no rush. If I want to say it, just say it. If I decide by the time I get into it that I don't, I don't have to.

    by JG in MD on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 04:22:22 PM PDT

•  Not on yet...

  ...but funny you should mention that.

  I thought KO was starting to act really shrill and mean for the last couple of shows -- taking some serious cheap shots, ala Glenn Beck.

  And he's my favorite!

  Anyone else notice that?

  by Pluto on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:33:11 PM PDT

  •  cheap shots?

    He's only been pointing out the BS being spewed out daily by HRC and her army of flying monkeys. Wish more of the MSM did the same.

    by zerzan on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:41:57 PM PDT

•  Just Getting Ready for when us Democrats

  sweep in the GE.

  Then the MSM pundits will attack the "politicians in Power" relentlessly until their corporate buddies ragain control.

  by ROGNM on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:55:37 PM PDT

•  The Freshman vs The Maverick

  Why they pay Buchanan to open his racist mouth is beyond comprehension. If I hear him call Obama Barack Hussein Obama one more time I am going to retch.

  Then Tucker (aka Buh Bye Tucker) repeatedly calls Obama "The freshman Senator," clearly editorializing his language... whereas the meme at MSNBC has been to call McCain "The MAVERICK."

  Enough with this crap.

  by WriterRoss on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 04:01:13 PM PDT