Not only is Jesse Ventura an ex-governor and ex-wrestler, but he is also a former Navy SEAL who went through SEAR training. Now he is one of the most outspoken opponents of torture. He has been on fire the past several days schooling numerous talking heads about waterboarding and saying that it is in fact torture.
Following up from my previous post, I think I have figured out why people don’t watch Morning Joe (he does rank 3rd amongst the 3 cable stations).
The most common demographic you are going to find during the early morning hours are people getting ready for work. They are on a limited time schedule and need to be able to absorb the most information possible. The can’t sit there and waste time hearing one person go on about a single issue over and over again, making you think the record is stuck.
Add to that the time of the year. People are doing more things outside, so their biggest chance of catching cable news is in the morning. They have limited watching time and want the most info, since they have the kids soccer game after work, or maybe cut the grass, or any number of outdoor activities this time of year is accustom for.
I got thinking about this while switching between CNN and MNSBC this morning. It turned into my own little “unofficial survey”. Here’s what I noticed. In one hour Morning Joe covered the same story nonstop – Pelosi and the CIA. During that same time CNN covered that story, but also the Rumsfeld memos, the decline of popularity of the GOP, teachers possibly abusing handicap children, and a few other topics.
Honestly I must say I felt so much more informed watching CNN than I did watching the Morning Joe “worry about only what I want” show.
I have had Morning Joe on for about 45 minutes now. Guess what the subject has been? Nancy Pelosi and the CIA crap. The constant whining of “how can she lash out at the CIA” is getting very old.
Scarborough has essentially dedicated his last 4 shows to this subject. This morning they are talking about the statement from Leon Panetta like it was just released this morning, when it came out last Friday. It really reminds me of some creepy stalked infatuation.
Anyways I don’t think I can handle Morning Joe any longer. I am going to have to stomach the change and go back to CNN or maybe even FOX.
UPDATE
So I decide to switch on CNN and guess what they are talking about? The Rumsfeld memos. Get that Joe – there is other news out there. Perhaps someone from MSNBC will read this and tell Scarborough to start covering other stuff or find a new job. Even FOX can get off of a single story every once in awhile.
For the past several days the media has been pushing the story that “Pelosi knew about torture and did nothing”. When people come out to defend Pelosi, such as former Senator Bob Graham, they are ignored. Instead the media has gone to bed with the Republicans in pushing their own version of what did or did not happen in 2002.
The shocker occurs today when Rasmussen, the very right leaning polling company, releases the results of this little gem:
So by a small margin the public is siding with Pelosi on the whole story. That’s pretty telling given the nonstop effort by the media and right to scapegoat Pelosi on the whole issue.
So here we are one week from the kick off of summer – Memorial Day weekend! We are also a week past the traditional “end of frost” – Mother’s Day.
These past two weekends mark the highlight of the suburbia outdoor art festival. It’s a time when people flock to their local garden centers like over anxious teens trying to get their Miley Cyrus tickets. You wade through oceans of people to carefully chose your ultimate outdoor palette and begin transforming your yard into something you hope can make the cover of Homes and Gardens.
But wait.
TBogg makes a very interesting and accurate point that Nancy Pelosi has become the next Lynndie England:
Due to "process" reporting we have learned that the Torture Years were not the responsibility of the Administration who demanded them, the legal counsel who found legal justification for them, the medical personnel who stood by and watched, the media talking heads who justified torture based upon a TV show, or the actual torturers who unquestioningly did the dirty work.
Now the Village elders have decided that Nancy Pelosi is a witch who turned us into awful people and by burning her we will be made whole again.
I have had this same feeling the entire past week as I hear the media follow the Republican lead of the witch hunt against Pelosi. Perhaps this could sum up a typical media discussion on torture.
“Yes the United States was involved in what could be called torture. Oh no.”
“OMG! Nancy Pelosi knew we were involved in torture. How could she let this go one?”
Perhaps the most telling of this narrative comes from Newt Gingrich. Here’s what Gingrich told Hannity this week:
"Nancy Pelosi was the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee. She had an absolute obligation to know what was going on. She had an absolute obligation to speak up."
So back in 2002, which was at the height of terrorism paranoia, the Republicans are now saying that Pelosi should have said “we are torturing!”. And how would the Republicans, the ranking party in the House, have responded? Pelosi would have ended up being tortured herself, by both the media and the Republicans.
Talk about being beat to the punch:
Uruguay is moving to lift a ban on homosexuals joining the armed forces.
The defense ministry confirms that Minister Jose Bayardi has signed a decree lifting the ban imposed by the 1973-85 military dictatorship.
The army said Wednesday it has received the decree, which has yet to be signed by President Tabare Vazquez.
The law had barred people with what it called "open sexual deviations" from entering the military academies.
It includes homosexuality among the "mental illnesses and disorders" that make a person unsuitable to join the armed forces.
The new decree states that sexual orientation will no longer be considered a reason to prevent people entering the military.
So when will the U.S. be making the same kind of news?
Via Sullivan comes this very interesting map:
I would be happy to see us become a green colored nation, but wouldn’t mind becoming blue either. Of course we need more than an abolishment of the death penalty; we also need an entire overhaul of our justice system. When it comes to per populace incarceration rates, we beat everyone. This country has outlawed too many things and that weakens us as a nation. Hopefully we will see a leader someday ready to really address that.
Someone doesn’t like people talking about her man:
I was disappointed to read “Gov. Paterson’s Performance” (editorial, May 9), which characterized Joe Scarborough as a “leader in the Republican attack squad.”
My television and radio co-host has spent the last five years being equally tough on Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington. Joe was one of the first TV reporters to criticize the Bush White House during Hurricane Katrina. And while others were writing of a permanent Republican majority, Joe was predicting the collapse of the G.O.P. because of its reckless economic policies.
On our TV and radio programs, and also in his latest book, Joe urges his party to be more moderate in temperament and more accepting of dissent from leaders like former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
Joe’s evenhanded approach angers harsh ideologues on both sides. Last week, he was attacked by right-wing hosts for being too open-minded, and now byyour liberal editorial page.
This liberal thinks The New York Times should follow Joe Scarborough’s example of speaking truth to power — regardless of which party is in power.
Mika Brzezinski
New York, May 11, 2009
I used to watch Morning Joe every morning and Mika is nothing but a sidekick. If she says something he doesn’t agree with then Joe quickly “puts her in her place”. It’s like some sick reality show of a husband controlling his wife’s every view. No wonder they have a ratings problem.
People like this is the very reason abortion is legal:
Two seasonal Yellowstone National Park concession workers have been fired after a live webcam caught them urinating into the Old Faithful geyser.
Park spokesman Al Nash says a 23-year-old man on Tuesday was fined $750 and placed on three years of unsupervised probation for urinating, being off trail in a restricted area and taking items from the area. The man also was banned from Yellowstone for two years.
Now that was one expensive prank.
