Morning Joe bends over backwards NOT to mention Sanders

[merrily]

Joe seems to be absent today. However, Mika, Willie, Harold, et al. discussed Hillary's emails. They went on to discuss the contrast between--wait for it---Hillary and Trump (not Hillary and Sanders).

They discussed how Hillary seems untrustworthy, carefully parsed, etc., as contrasted with Trump, who says what is on his mind.

In which universe is Hillary running against Trump now. But wait--there's more. Just before commercial, they said they were going to hear from Hillary's opponent later in the show--O'Malley.

I like O'Malley and I am very happy to hear what he has to say. However, wouldn't Sanders have been the logical opponent to hear from? Maybe it's because, when asked, he refuses to say anything other than he likes Hillary, he respects Hillary, but he disagrees with her on many issues and the issues are all he will discuss.

Screw MSNBC. Go Bernie! (Looking forward to hearing O'Malley.)

[JackInGreen]

1. So much shilling

It's worth a few thousand pounds.

[MrMickeysMom]

2. Cash the check!

Little puppets have lifestyles and profiles to keep up.

Weak little puppets dancing in a row.

[chillfactor]

3. Joe is always absent even when he is there...

he is just plain brain-dead....

[merrily]

4. My impression: he is very devious and calculated.

[LuvNewcastle]

6. kind of like Ted Bundy

[merrily]

9. Maybe like a cross between Rove and Luntz.

I really can't think of the perfect comparison

[pennylane100]

32. I understand that a staff member of his congressional office

was found dead there one morning. Was there any suspicion circumstances or was it just a tragic accident.

[hedda_foil]

58. There was a LOT of suspicion, as the staffer was an attractive young woman.

That's why he's often referred to as Joe "Dead Intern" Scarborough.

[HFRN]

5. media treated Perot the same way

trade deal debate/discussion is not in the script

so actors who mention that dialogue are not allowed on the stage

[merrily]

7. Yes, but Perot had billions for air time. I think he ran his own TV infommercials in prime time.

[HFRN]

11. correct - but if he hadn't had that money

he would have been squelched even more than he was

trade deal reality discussion is *off the table* (actually, 'under the table')

the Perot campaign was my first inkling of how controlled the media really is

[merrily]

12. Yes, but he did have that money and Bernie doesn't.

So, what the msm does to Bernie has a very different impact on Bernie than it had on Perot.

Yes, the media is very controlled--and more so since merger after merger was allowed.

Anti trust law used to focus on monopolies, so five mega companies could never have monopolized the news the way they have. But then they changed the measuring stand of a "monopoly" to a dollar amount, instead of a type of business. And then, they kept raising the dollar amount. Eh, voila, Americans screwed in yet another way.

[HFRN]

13. Sanders has less money, but far more campaign experience, political organization and track record

which helps him raise money and make it go farther

but we're basically in agreement - the media is squelching any mention of trade deals, and two people, each talented in their own ways, still got the message out, partly because the message is there to be told

[Mike Nelson]

8. Morning Joe favors...

...Joe & Mika's acquaintances, and those who appear on "Morning Joe" with some regularity. Hillary doesn't accept their invitations. They will hound her. Bernie is lucky they haven't targeted him, yet. He has been mentioned - not enough, but not that unfavorably.

[merrily]

10. Hillary's appearances are way too controlled, but that's another issue entirely

The Democrats that Joe and Mika love are Third Way neoliberals like Fineman and former DLCers, like her and Harold Ford. She doesn't need to show up. They will do the job for her. Her presence would do nothing but open her up to questions. For some reason, she doesn't think she needs to answer anyone's questions in order to be President. We'll see if she's right, but all signs are pointing to No.

[Cosmocat]

29. The Bernie Filter aside - THE story here is ...

the framing that the MSM does ...

This frame is exactly like Bush V Gore.

Bush was a literal moron, Gore a super smart, honorable man.

Taken at the level it SHOULD have been taken, given the election of the god darned president of the united states, there was no comparison. You want the smartest, most capable person running this country.

BUT, to have a horse race/favor the republicans, that whole election was defined the way republicans and "liberal" media defined it in the complete absence of trying to see who was most competent, but instead based on PERSONALITY.

So, the sheeple in this country didn't look at it as who was most capable, but instead were caught up in the storyline of how Al Gore was arrogant and George W Bush was a "man you would like to have a beer with."

THAT is what they were doing. Whatever deranged hatred some may have of Hillary here, there is absolutely no comparison as to who would be the better POTUS, because Trump is a simple minded lunatic.

The frame is based on where things are NOW - Trump would win the republican nomination and Hill the democratic nomination.

Such time was Bernie over takes Hill, they will do the same thing - find some mind numbingly idiotic frame to parrot over and over to to negatively frame Bernie while positively framing the jackass republican.

[7962]

14. And Mika said she'd vote for Hillary!

[merrily]

17. Mika was favorable to Palin, too, until the Couric interview.

Let's see: what do Palin and Hillary have in common that would cause Mika to gravitate to both of them?

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/sarah-palin-and-hillary-clinton-address-the-nation/n12287

[Fuddnik]

15. Why does anyone even watch that idiots show?

[merrily]

16. Because it was on and shutting my eyes doesn't really make it disappear?

[NYCButterfinger]

18. I don't think Fineman is DLC, but they will have to

mention Bernie Sanders sooner or later.

[merrily]

20. Fineman is a self-avowed neoliberal

They did mention Bernie very briefly and innocuously in another segment. However, the logical contrast between Hillary and a straightforward campaigner would have been Hillary and Bernie, not Hillary and the DoneIn.

[marble falls]

19. You watch that show so others don't. A grateful nation offers up a hearty 'thank-you!'

[merrily]

21. LOL! You're welcome, Americans everywhere.

But I really had no say in the matter. If it's on, I at least hear it, if not watch it.

[INdemo]

22. If you havent noticed, even the MSNBC website

is careful not to mention Sanders. Its covered with stuff about the Repuke candidates and Hillary's emails which has gone on now for what a year?
Since Ed Shultz left it of course it is becoming even more of a Right Wing Tabloid..The progressive evening hosts are as it seems following a Comcast script but still I personally think Al Sharpton will be leaving soon and Rachel well she needs to stay on script or she might be finding a new nonexistent time slot
Oh yes there's Lawrence O'Donnell who is seldom there but he follows the script pretty close so he might be safe.

[merrily]

23. Excellent point.

To be fair about the emails, new info has been coming out recently.

[kenfrequed]

24. Indeed

I don't believe the mainstream media actually started REALLY worrying about Bernie until just recently.

I know a lot of people here have been saying it for awhile, but the extremely reduced coverage on his recent events on the west coast makes me think that while it may not have been so before it is certainly true now.

[merrily]

30. 9000 just in OVERFLOW is hard to ignore, but they can

mention it in passing and glide to two or three segments parsing every syllable Trump utters and what everyone else in politics had to say about each syllable.

But, believe me, they were worrying. The very fact that they weren't mentioning him showed that.

[NRaleighLiberal]

25. watching TV at all reminds me of the Billy Crystal Christopher Guest skit on SNL years ago

"did you ever stick a pencil in your ear and jam it in really hard until the pain is unbearable"

"Yeah - I hate then that happens"!

Which is why I haven't in 7 years!

[merrily]

28. Did you need to do that? Tomatoes are my most favorite fruit.

And homegrown are to die for. (Not "to die from" as my nephew so adorably misstates).

[NRaleighLiberal]

34. so sorry! stop by and you can have some!

[merrily]

36. Thanks so much, but it's a bit of trip

We do have some nice farmers' markets in Boston on certain days of the week in certain locations. But they don't deliver whenever I get a craving!

[NRaleighLiberal]

37. Ah, Boston - I am trying hard to get that onto my book tour sched for next year

I grew up in Pawtucket, my wife in Lowell. If I manage to, will let folks now - DU meetup!

[merrily]

39. My godmother, who is also my Auntie (blood uncle's wife), grew up in Pawtucket.

Many connections to Lowell

Has you or your wife read Emmeline? I recommend it highly for anyone with an interest in Lowell. It is a novel about a 13 year old girl whose farmer family is desperate for money and in another state. Maybe New Hampshire? They send her to Lowell to work and she has a hard time. I cannot say more without giving away spoilers.

What did you write about?

As you probably know, the main branch of the Boston Public Library hosts authors. It's gawjuss and has a nice place to eat, many art works, etc. Great place to spend time in general. But the group that shows up to hear the authors tends not to be very large.

Or were you looking for a radio or TV show?

Best wishes for the book and the tour.

[daleanime]

61. I believe he wrote that Epic Tome in his banner....

on your favorite fruit, which reminds me, farmers market tomorrow.

[merrily]

62. THANKS! I thought it was a sign or old school advert of some kind.

I didn't realize it was a book cover!

[CTyankee]

26. Mika occasionally pipes up about Bernie's successes lately...and I think I have

seen them cover him more and more. They can't ignore him and what he is bringing to politics.

Joe is probably at his vacay home in Nantucket. I often wonder if he runs into John Kerry while there...

I think it is interesting. Joe used to downplay the influence of Occupy Wall St. folks because "nobody" cares about income inequality...uh, huh...well, Joe, lookie here at what political issue everybody is talking about...and with Bernie growing in popularity because he brings it!

[merrily]

27. Ugh. Nantucket (adorable) is in Massachusetts. I don't like to think of him here.

I don't know if Kerry spends time in Nantucket. However, even when he was a Senator, he spent almost no time in his home in Beacon Hill, Boston. He was in Pennsylvania (is that where Teresa's home is?) and the D.C. area. His successor, Markey, lives in his wife's home in Maryland and also is never in Massachusetts. No one seems to mind.



I hate to be a broken record about this, but talking about income inequality is not that huge. Private employers determine income for employees in the private sector. All the feds are going to do about that is maybe raise the minimum wage now and again and/or require disclosures, which the SEC also requires of publicly traded corporations anyway. Any new disclosure law, if any, will exempt small business (very broadly defined) anyway and is likely therefore to be window dressing.

Talking about wealth inequality, however, is huge--and, AFAIK, only Bernie is doing that.

[CTyankee]

35. my dtr and her husband vacation on the Vineyard. He says Dems go to the Vineyard

and republicans go to Nantucket. Kerry has a house there because it was Teresa's when she was married to John Heinz so it's actually her house now.

You are right about the far greater issue of wealth inequality. But it brings into focus income inequality too. And Bernie's talking about it has forced it onto the political spotlight, esp. with Hillary. But I think the republicans are getting nervous now...they know it could doom them as people wake up to the fact that the GOP is controlled by the rich, of the rich and for the rich...nobody else counts.

[merrily]

43. A fat cat Republican--didn't catch the name--was on Charlie Rose. He broke down the big picture:

The Republican Party has three parts: The wealthy, the religious right and the Teabaggers. So, there it is.

[CTyankee]

45. There are republicans who are not in those categories. My neighbors are republicans

and they are none of those 3. They are pro-life I am sure because they are devout Catholics. They are lovely people. And they knew I worked for Planned Parenthood and did not give me any kind of grief over it.

But there is also the wannabe republicans who think for some reason they are pretty rich and will be very rich sometime soon and they age away into senility like my sister in law's lawyer husband. He's a loudmouthed jerk.

[merrily]

46. I would consider them religious right.

They have religious objections to the Democratic Party--though only heaven knows why they would not have another set of religious objections to Republicans--and they are Republican, meaning the right.

However, those who think they will be rich may be the fourth category.

No, not so much that as that I may disagree with the fat cat about his categories. There are a whole bunch of people who are just opposed to taxes, and have bought into the myth that Democrats are the party of tax and spend. That is the story of my one Republican relative, who is anything but rich. However, he is not a full blown Taxed Enough Already Teabagger.

[CTyankee]

47. I guess you could characterize my neighbors as that, only they don't go out and

carry signs and rosaries and crosses in demonstrations against abortion which is what I was referring to. I respect their point of view as long as they don't try to push around people who don't agree with them. As for my husband's brother in law, he is pro-choice actually but is still a loudmouthed jerk when it comes to voting for a Democrat. He thinks Dems are all a bunch of wusses...

[merrily]

48. It's a matter of degree. Not everyone who votes pro choice demonstrates or preaches. either.

Ah, the wussy voter. I never even knew that some considered liberal males to be pushovers until about 5 years ago, when a union guy Democrat told me that.

I'm not sure what we can do about that. It's weird because, until Bush, Democrats were the war party. The politicians declared it and rank and file Democrats fought it. You could through Congress and pick out the veterans on the Democratic side. Somewhere along the line, it flipped. Vietnam? Not sure.

[CTyankee]

49. Yeah, this guy is pretty old now but was just barely old enough to be in the military

for about a month before the end of WWII. Plus, he's been a big Scott Walker guy when Walker was governor of WI. His former law partner was a biggie in the WI GOP. My husband has been dragged into a lawsuit against a neighbor of ours in a vacation home my husband inherited along with his sister from their parents. This guy has a jihad against the neighbor. My husband refused to sue them (over a stupid driveway easement overlap that is just crazy). So husband is forced to get a lawyer to defend his interest in the house by saying he is not taking sides in the issue. Finally, after yet another lawsuit filing, husband had to side with the neighbors. It was just plain nasty and spiteful. We haven't spoken to either him or his sister since.

[merrily]

51. Lawyer. Loves union busting Walker.

I'm gonna put him in the wealthy category or the low info "Democrats may raise my taxes" category. The guy with whom I discuss politics most calls people like him "tax bracket Republicans." I think at bottom that is his real issue and his ass is just being intentionally insulting to you and your husband by telling you all Democrats are wusses.

[CTyankee]

53. Husband's lawyer said "This guy loves suing people." He's local and has plenty of

experience with this guy in a courtroom. He's a good Democrat himself, which makes sister and her husband very pissed.

[merrily]

54. Sounds like an all-around jerk. Sorry you have to deal with him.

[Cosmocat]

31. Sorry, it just is not what you want it be

There IS some truth to ignoring him, but not mentioning him is not some grand conspiracy to keep him down.

History has shown, time after time, after time, the media EVISCERATES the head of the democratic party.

Bill
Gore
Dean
Kerry
BHO
Hill as the defacto presumptive nominee off and on for the last quarter centry

The Rs and media don't "ignore to death" the head of the democratic party, they ENDLESSLY slander the shit out of him or her.

Bernie Sanders just is not public enemy number one at this point, Hill is.

You will know he is the republican/"liberal media"s ace of spades when he starts getting hit with the kind of bullshit that Hill has faced for decades, what BHO started getting hit with he over took Hill ...

[merrily]

33. Please self delete your posts on this thread. You are in the Bernie Group,

not the Hillary Group, GD: P, GD, LBN, or any other part of the board where your comments might be more appropriate.

Thanks.

[Cosmocat]

44. HUH?

How in earth is what I posted not "appropriate?"

[n2doc]

38. I guess I am ok with that

Given Joe Scum's proclivities, all he would do is badmouth Bernie. If he had Bernie on he would try his best to pester and talk over him. So maybe it is for the best. It seems like Bernie is getting the word out to lots of people, directly, with no filter. I like that approach.

[SoapBox]

40. And Trump just speaks what's on his mind...

What mind?

[merrily]

41. Badda bum

[Enthusiast]

42. It's in your face bias.

[olddots]

50. Morning Joe does alot of bending over fowards

[bluestateguy]

52. No constitutional right to get media coverage

See the segment on Larry Agran in the '92 campaign in the documentary Spin.

Look, it's not fair. I hear you, but if you want to be the party nominee then you have to know how to deal with the media's bullshit, and not just whine about it.

[merrily]

57. Who said there was a constitutional right to media coverage?

There isn't even a regulatory right anymore.

See the segment on Larry Agran in the '92 campaign in the documentary Spin.

I'm supposed to hunt for a link and use my time to watch something why? To disprove something I never said and is not relevant to this thread?

if you want to be the party nominee then you have to know how to deal with the media's bullshit, and not just whine about it.

I don't want to be the party's nominee and I didn't whine.

[PatrickforO]

55. Owned by Comcast. And Comcast don't want to mention no Bernie Sanders!

[merrily]

56. ALL our msm news is likely going to get more and more rightist. Scary.

[davidpdx]

59. In terms of the MSM, the Clinton campaign, and the Republicans

Bernie Sanders and his campaign don't exist.

[merrily]

60. As far as they present a public face true.

However, if you think the Hillary campaign didn't say Shit! the minute they heard of the very first Sanders rally attended by thousands of cheering people, you are not who I think you are. Sure, the next minute, they started rationalizing and doing damage control. But, if you think Wilmore remembers what happened to the inevitable Hillary in 2008, just imagine how viscerally the Clintons remember.

Remember Amy Poehler in the SNL skit with Tina Fey, "yes, looking back, if there is one thing I would change is wanting it more." Or something like that.