...people like you and me who stopped our day and wrote to NBC, by the millions.
Yesterday I watched something I have never seen in our modern media. Almost every highly rated host at MSNBC, one after the other, looked the camera in the eye and told their bosses that Ronna would not be welcome on their shows, and who told the people who pay them to reverse course. They all did it in their own way, but they didn’t mince words. Don’t recall that happening at say, FOX, when Tucker was fired, or at least not in a way that got him re-hired or earned any coverage.
And while MSNBC takes a lot of the fanfare here it should be noted that journalists at the mothership of NBC were also in open revolt, as was the network’s union. Unlike in the case of Megyn Kelly, who was given months to die at NBC, McDaniel didn’t last a week. This is progress.
And it is and should be a reminder of the power we all have. We live in a corporate world, and it is easy to feel helpless and victimized by that. It is important to remember that corporations sell stuff, and we buy it. Without us, they have nothing. The brass at NBC did not fire McDaniel out of the goodness of their hearts, or they wouldn’t have hired her to begin with. They did so because they got backed into a corner that threatened their profits and their reputation. The caveat is “we” have to see our power and take it.
Between last Friday when McDaniel’s hire was announced and today, Tuesday, we gave huge voice. And the hosts at MSNBC stared their bosses down. And I think they were successful in doing so because they didn’t make it about liberals vs. conservatives. They did so by making it about the essence of journalism. You don’t hire the person who was in every way, resistant to the facts, or to be more blunt, a liar, every bit as much as Trump is. Who was for burning it all down to further her needs. And oh yes, as the head of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel did exactly that. (In fact, sucking up to Trump might be the only thing she did, as Dog knows, she was a shitty fundraiser.) And she wasn’t just an election denier, she is every bit as guilty of insurrection as were those who are now in jail for it.
So, the enormous corporation that is NBC news said “uncle.” The balance of power is always tricky, and sometimes it is more of a teeter totter than an anvil---at least for as long as we resist cynical retreat, and unite despite our differences, to embrace the fight against Donald Trump with heart and soul, AND same goes for all those who are complicit in the lies he tells and the extreme danger he represents.