Maddow slimes Dr. Birx: Friday afternoon's White House press briefing was a genuine lollapalooza.
At the start of the event, President Trump came storming out to insist that churches reopen. He threatened to override any governor who tried to stand in the churchhouse door, failing to say on what authority he thought he'd be able to do so.
The president stormed away after roughly two minutes. At that point, Kayleigh McEnany praised the president for his brilliant remarks.
Thirty-five minutes later, near the end of the briefing, McEnany slimed the press with an inane remark about the way they seem to hate religious belief. "And boy," she thoughtfully said. "It’s interesting to be in a room that desperately wants to seem to see these churches and houses of worship stay closed."
To his vast credit, Reuters' Jeff Mason directly challenged McEnany's remark. That said, the dumbest was yet to come.
McEnany then sought, and received, a ludicrous "question" from OAN's half-crazy Chanel Rion. To be specific, Rion asked whether President Trump is planning to pardon President Obama for his Obamagate crimes.
Yes, that's what she asked! Thus emboldened, McEnany ended the briefing with several minutes of snide and stupid remarks. Her condescending diatribe started like this:
MCENANY (5/22/20): I have not spoken to the president about that, but who I did speak to about President Obama and unmasking Michael Flynn were the men and women in this room.From there, McEnany listed five questions the journalists would certainly want to ask. Just in case the reporters are a bunch of visual learners, she had prepared her five questions in a slide format.
I haven’t spoken to him on that specific point. Have spoken to him about the matter generally. And I laid out a series of questions that any good journalist would want to answer about why people were unmasked, and all sorts of questions. And I just wanted to follow up with you guys on that.
Did anyone take it upon themselves to pose any questions about Michael Flynn and unmasking to President Obama's spokesperson?
[DRAMATIC PAUSE]
Oh, not a single journalist has posed that question. Okay!
So I would like to lay out a series of questions. And perhaps if I write them out in a slide format, maybe we’re visual learners, and you guys will follow up with journalistic curiosity.
So, number one...
For the record, yes. As McEnany took her dramatic pause, Jonathan Karl tried to object to her premise. He tried to note that reporting has said that Flynn's name had actually never been masked, and therefore had never been unmasked.
Skillfully, McEnany ignored what Karl was saying and continued with her scolding.
You can read the transcript of the full briefing at this site. You can watch the tape of the full briefing here, with accompanying transcript.
For the record, no—McEnany actually isn't that dumb. She proved that again and again during her time as a CNN contributor.
Presumably, this is the persona she has adopted in service to her new boss. And hallelujah! On Sunday morning, Chris Wallace let McEnany have it, but good, right there on Fox News Sunday.
Wallace berated McEnany up one side and down the other. Reports of this matter have tended to focus on McEnany's one remark questioning the reporters' attitudes about religion. Plainly, Wallace was also battering McEnany for the stupid, condescending list of questions with which she ended her briefing.
The session had begun with Trump the Avenger; it ended with Kayleigh the Scold. That said, the bulk of the session belonged to Dr. Deborah Birx and the unending stream of slides she flashed before the reporters.
By our count, Dr. Birx presented 23 slides, many of which were poorly explained, as part of a 23-minute presentation. She then took a few questions.
That night, Rachel Maddow characterized Birx's presentation in about as phony a way as you'll ever see.
We aren't big fans of Dr. Birx, but Maddow's account of her presentation was absolutely crazy. Assuming MSNBC emerges from its weekend stupor and posts the transcript of Maddow's remarks, we'll show you what she said tomorrow.
Trump and McEnany acted like clowns. Maddow may have topped them. This is where our discourse goes as we split into warring tribes.
Presumably, Maddow's conduct is good for corporate ratings. Throughout the course of human history, such conduct has also been the stuff of our highly tribal species' destructive tribal wars.
We get conned by our stars too! We continue to think that you ought to know that.
"Trump and McEnany acted like clowns. Maddow may have topped them"
ReplyDeleteSorry, dear Bob, but we have to respectfully disagree.
Trump and McEnany acted merely as politicians. Which is what they are. Nothing special, nothing to see here.
As for Ms Maddow, she is acting exactly like the goebbelsian hate-monger that she is. But of course this is an old news, dear Bob.
No reason to chew on it endlessly. Let us just ignore the hate-mongering witch. In fact, I seem to remember you promising to do just that, and quite recently.
“For the record, no—McEnany actually isn't that dumb. She proved that again and again during her time as a CNN contributor.
ReplyDeletePresumably, this is the persona she has adopted in service to her new boss.”
Why does Somerby think she has adopted a persona now? She was always a vocal Trump supporter on CNN, and her appearances there were just as deceptive and full of propaganda as they are now. She is a true believer.
By claiming that she has adopted the persona of dumbness, Somerby has misrepresented her true intent, which is the spreading of disinformation.
Chanel Rion of OAN is half crazy, but Rachel Maddow is absolutely crazy. I guess we know where Somerby's sympathies lie.
ReplyDeleteChanel Rion makes little sense because she's half out of her mind all the time. Rachel Maddow made a presentation this time that made no sense.
DeleteClear now?
I'm beginning to think we know about your language skills.
There is no evidence that Somerby has limited his criticism of Maddow to only this "time".
DeleteIt is clear that you will invent reasons to justify Somerby's idiocies.
And, no surprise, the evidence is right there in the plain words of the blog entry:
DeleteMaddow's account of her [Birx's] presentation was absolutely crazy.
TDH has plenty or irrationalities, starting with his refusal to understand modern math and physics, and I'm not shy about saying so. It's you will invent reasons to justify your distaste for the blogger.
"his refusal to understand modern math and physics"
DeleteToss in history and economics, and you've just described the entire Right-wing of the USA.
"Assuming MSNBC emerges from its weekend stupor..."
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if Somerby would emerge from his stupor too and weed out this spam.
"I'll tell you why I hate Maddow tomorrow" Somerby says, using the lack of transcript as an excuse, and then he goes on at length about how awful she is. We're supposed to take that on faith -- and McEnany says we aren't religious over here!
If we have to wait for evidence of Maddow's venality, he should postpone his diatribe too. It's only fair.
What makes you think TDH is aware of the spam? Which to be fair, is often the most cogent thing posted in this comment section.
DeleteWe have to wait until the sun actually rises in the east tomorrow before we can declare the dawn's direction. It's only fair.
The owner of a blog can make decisions about such things. Somerby is lazy.
DeleteIf you like the spam, why don't you focus on writing lengthy comments about it? It is a better use of your time than hazing real people here.
Sliming someone without presenting evidence is low.
Maybe TDH is lazy for not policing the comment section for spam. Maybe it’s just too disheartening for him to read the nonsense posted here by Anonymi Ignorami like you. Who knows?
DeleteI don’t like the spam either, but I’ve learned to ignore it just the way I’ve learned to ignore Mao, our Village Troll.
Hazing “real people”? Good one. You mean posting criticism of comments?
And I don’t think sliming means what you think it does. I don’t know anybody in this commentariat, so I’m restricted to commenting on their often-futile attempts to make sense. That’s not personal. Ignorance is curable, although there’s precious evidence around here that this is so.
If you don’t want me to ridicule what you write, stop writing ridiculous things.
Surely there must be intelligent supporters of Somerby who could initiate a thread praising a TDH post or starting an interesting discussion. I have seen no evidence that such people exist, however.
Deletemh, I've complimented him several times in these pages, and have been known to criticize him as well.
DeleteI enjoy his writing style, always have lo these many years. Sometimes he's extremely repetitive in making his points - kind of like you, who's main mission for your visitations is almost invariably to explain why you dislike Bob’s post.
I just don’t get you people. Why don’t you find something you enjoy reading? Or maybe you’re here for the spam?
Leroy
"Throughout the course of human history, such conduct has also been the stuff of our highly tribal species' destructive tribal wars."
ReplyDeleteWhat is Somerby's evidence that being tribal was destructive in prehistoric times. We're here and that suggests that affiliation, social belonging, group cohesion formed around shared culture, all contributed positively to our survival.
I wish Somerby had actually taken a cultural anthropology class while he was at Harvard. Or even social psych. Something besides Wittgenstein.
TDH doesn't give any evidence of tribal wars in prehistoric times. Probably because his statement about tribal wars doesn't mention prehistoric times. In fact, his statement is confined to "the course of human history."
DeleteI wish you could read for comprehension.
He cannot mean written history because that is not the subject matter of anthropology, and as Somerby says repeatedly, it's anthropology all the way down. Further, the word tribe, in the way Somerby has been using it, comes from anthropology and precedes written history when there were other forms of social organization. The only way anyone talks about tribe in a literal sense, any more, is when referring to Indian tribes, which is a slur because it ignores their own organizational systems.
DeleteI wish you knew what you were talking about.
TDH says the “course of history.” So he’s not referring to prehistoric times.
DeletePlease don’t take it amiss if on the topic of knowing what one is talking about, I refuse to be lectured by you, someone who can’t read the simplest sentence for comprehension.
It doesn’t matter where the word tribe comes from. This type of faulty reasoning even has a name, the etymological fallacy. TDH has made it clear that his use of the term refers to the political camps in this country. This is a common trope, a metaphor not to be taken literally in the context of American Indian tribes. You’d know this if you ever checked your comments for accuracy. Here’s a quote from The New Yorker 10/13/18:
American politics today requires a word as primal as “tribe” to get at the blind allegiances and huge passions of partisan affiliation.
(Emphasis mine.)
Your wish has been granted. Mine is still pending.
I'd do her.
ReplyDeleteSo long as she stops talking...
DeleteIs it just me but isn't the press secretary supposed to answer questions, not ask them?
ReplyDelete"He tried to note that reporting has said that Flynn's name had actually never been masked, and therefore had never been unmasked."
ReplyDelete...now, this really is extremely stupid, dear Bob. Or crazy, insane, clowning - whatever term you like best, dear Bob.
And yet you, dear Bob, carefully avoid characterizing it as such. What gives, dear Bob?
https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2020/arrogant-inexperienced-and-ineffective-white-house-press-secretary-kayleigh-mcenany-is-overmatched-in-her-new-job/
ReplyDeleteI haven’t sought out the video of McEnany’s exchange with the journos, so I’m guessing when I say that she likely meant the slew of unmasking requests of the newly appointed National Security Advisor starting in Nov’16 that the recently declassified documents reveal.
ReplyDeleteThat Flynn wasn’t masked in the report of the Dec. 29th call with Kislyak has been widely reported.
Here’s an oldie-but-goodie piece by Andrew McCarthy:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/michael-flynn-unmasking-real-story-is-when-he-was-not-masked-in-the-first-place/
Here’s Lee Smith saying what Rep. Nunes has long said about the Flynn thing starting way before Trump.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/russiagate-obama-iran
What new documents? I would love for you to show me.
DeleteThanks in advance.
Celia - lying won't do you no good.
DeleteHey, Dixie, what do you think? Should Chickenshit Trump pardon President Obama? Bwahahaha!!!! Nunes! Indeed.
DeleteDid he burp or toot?
Delete
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