I cannot catch a break, y'know that? Revolt of the appliances took another twisty turn when I went to start the dishwasher, chock full of fleishig dishes from the Grandpa Is Home celebratory dinner...and it just sat there like a latke. It's 12 years old, and I suspect fixing it is not going to be cost effective...or at least not as cost effective as fixing the Sub-Zero because it's forming ice-dams in the freezer again. But now that Grandpa's back in residence, I can at least call the repair man....again.
I'm trying to decide what's pissing me off most this week, but it's kinda hard. I'm sick to death of talking about Obamacare; there's nothing more to be said on the matter until after the first of the year. Syria seems to have fallen off the radar in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan which,in the scheme of things, is a disaster of Biblical proportions. Iran is dithering, which is probably not big news if you've been following the cha-cha going on at that negotiation. I don't even want to talk about Governor Christie as a possible candidate in 2016.
I do, however, want to talk about the media.
Secretary of State John Kerry had a transcendental moment of brilliance on Sunday for which I will be forever grateful.
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| J. Fred Muggs.... still alive and retired in Florida |
Let me preface this whole thing by saying that after some 55 years of news-watching, I have departed the NBC shores for almost all things journalistic. The only two exceptions are Nightly News with Brian Williams and Meet the Press. I even quit the Today show because they've turned it into drivel. J. Fred Muggs had more gravitas than Matt Lauer and the ding-dong contingent with whom he shares the couch.
Now, all thing considered, David Gregory is not a stupid guy and while he doesn't have the élan of Tim Russert, he's grown a bit into the job. Sunday, however, he seemed to have had a momentary lapse of reason. After a sharp interview about Israel, Iran, and the other players in the Middle East, David had some kind of episode and asked a question so absurd, so ridiculous, so inappropriate that one had to wonder what he had in the morning coffee.
Here's the transcript; it's too good not to reprint:
DAVID GREGORY:
Mr. Secretary, final
question before you go. You gave some comments in light of the 50th anniversary
of the assassination of President Kennedy to NBC News that have now been widely
broadcast and reported on. And in those comments you said this, "To this
day I have serious doubts that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone." That
certainly would be surprising to a lot of people that those are your views.
Would you care to elaborate?
JOHN KERRY:
No. (LAUGH) I just have a
point of view. And I'm not going to get into that. It's not something that I
think needs to be commented on, and certainly not at this time.
DAVID GREGORY:
Do you think the conspiracy
theory, his involvement with Russia, motivation from the Soviet Union or Cuba,
are valid at some level--
JOHN KERRY:
David, I'm not going to
go into it. It's just inappropriate, and I'm not going to do more than say that
it's a point of view that I have. But it's not right, or worthy, or appropriate
for me to comment further.
DAVID GREGORY:
All right. Mr. Secretary,
we thank you for your time very much.
JOHN KERRY:
Thanks.
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| Verrrrry fake. |
When did delivering the news become infotainment? Are Americans so dumb that the media moguls think we have to be entertained by natural disasters? I'm beginning to think so. To see Meet The Press reduced to such a cheap, sleezebag Press the Meat kinda trick just broke my heart.
But Secretary Kerry, on the other hand, refused to take the bait. I was so grateful for him not coming out as an idiot. It was so refreshing.
The Wifely Person's Tip O'the Week
If you didn't call your favorite veteran to say
"thank you for keep ups safe,"
there's still time to do it tomorrow or the day after, or the day after that.
"When did delivering the news become infotainment?" If you have to ask this question, then luckily you haven't been watching the "right" news programs. Sorry to hear about the demise of "Meet the Press." To me it was sort of the last bastion of intelligent discourse.
ReplyDeleteRegarding ID - the idiots who have made that a viral sensation dont realize that type of bar coding did not exist when the Prex was a student
ReplyDeleteDavid Gregory is a GOP tool. Never forget his little dance with Karl Rove:
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/KdvHwtRdg_I
Last night the sequence they had on the Phillipines with Nancy Snyderman was just as disgusting. I don't know why we sit there and watch it; and I wonder if she asked the same questions when Katrina hit. I know that doesn't give much of an explaination, you had to see it. Trust me, it was worrisome.
ReplyDeleteOn a brighter note, I was so glad to hear that J. Fred Muggs is still alive... do you think we could get him to do the Nightly News?
ReplyDeleteAs the caption mentions, he is alive and well, and with his long time "live-in" girlfriend from the Today show, Phoebe B. Beebe, live in a retirement home in California. J. Fred is 66 years old.
DeleteLet's talk about Benghazi!
ReplyDeleteLet's not. It happened. It's done. Nothing is going to bring them back. Someday, someone will get around to figuring out what really happened. Until then, there's no point in rehashing same theories over and over. If you wanna play conspiracy theorist...work on JFK.
DeleteOkay, let's get to the really important stuff . . . how is that dishwasher??? You might want to investigate. It could be a conspiracy . . . I am convinced that my home appliances are in cahoots! Grin!!
ReplyDeleteI missed it. Good. Well, then, of course, spouse and I have given up all of NBC except for Brian. Actually I don't watch TV much at all anymore. Yes there is the CBS morning show and anything else that Charlie Rose does....:)
ReplyDeleteThere was absolutely nothing wrong about asking the sitting secretary of state to clarify a recent statement he made about an issue of great historical importance on the eve of its anniversary. It certainly wasn't a question that should have one "doubl[ing] over in laughter." If Oswald was not shot by Ruby he would likely be alive today. Any possible or hypothetical co-conspirators could also still be alive today. The bungling of both assassination investigations greatly eroded American trust in government, and polls reflect that mistrust. The evidence points toward Oswald acting alone, hence, Gregory's interest in Kerry's opinion that there was a conspiracy. "Conspiracy" being defined here as the involvement of more than one person in the shooting/s. Kerry evidently didn't want to defend his position, which could have been spun as somewhat wacky. If so, Kerry shouldn't have opened the door by making the public comment in the manner that he did. But Gregory's inquiry was defensible and hardly "ridiculous."
ReplyDeleteConsidering the events of the week, and the reason Mr Kerry was there, the question was inappropriate. What John Kerry thinks about Oswald is his own opinion. He can say he believes the moon is made of green cheese and it would have the same impact. David Gregory was clearly playing "get the guest" and that was unprofessional.
DeleteIf David Gregory et al hosts a panel about the assassination, then let him invite Secretary Kerry to participate. Then he will have the proper forum to ask all the questions he wants and go after whatever he feels is germane.
There is no "get the guest" element here. Kerry, as sitting secretary of state, made a public comment calling into question the official findings of a presidential assassination at a time--the anniversary of the shooting--that guaranteed maximum media exposure. To act as though no one would call him on it is naive on his part. He did not want to discuss it because the implications of his position. Israel, Iran, and Syria? The Middle East has been a slow-motion car wreck of public policy for 50 years. And what a prominent public official of both the Senate and the executive branch thinks may be relevant, depending on the information he may or may not have. Hence, the question. Lets not act like he's Alec Baldwin or Sarah Palin. I am quite sure many people wanted Kerry to elaborate on his comment. I certainly did.
Delete