INTRODUCING THE GRETA: Initial sales pitch debunked by staff!

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2017

Part 2—The case of the four extra hands:
Last evening, at 6 PM Eastern, the bosses at The One True Liberal Channel rolled out their exciting new high-end model.

They rolled The Greta into the showroom. As advertised, Greta Van Susteren began her new show with a pair of (stultifying) interviews with leading Republican figures.

First McCain was slapped with wet noodles, then it was Priebus' turn. By 6:15, the analysts were fighting to stay awake.

It doesn't seem likely that Greta Van Susteren will be able to lure Donald J. Trump onto MSNBC's air. But who knows? Maybe her new program, For The Record, really was created in hopes of attracting more Republican guests, as Rachel Maddow semi-suggested last Thursday night.

In Part 1 of this report, we showed you the bulk of Maddow's gushing and fawning about The Greta. For today, let's examine one of her carnival barker-like claims, the claim lodged in this early part of her pitch:
MADDOW (1/5/17): In telling the stories of the day, covering the day's news, on this show, we tend to show a lot of archive footage...

We play a lot less contemporary news coverage
on this show. I know a lot of other shows do it, but I just don't end up showing a lot of, you know, "Here's a thing somebody said on TV last night." It just doesn't come up that often on this show.

One thing I have noticed, though, over the eight years or so that we've been doing this show, is that when I do use contemporary footage...that footage disproportionately and by a mile tends to come from one place. It has come from one show, hosted by one particular person, who we've used footage from over and over and over again.

[Brief video clips of several exchanges involving Van Susteren]

If you want to count on your fingers how many times we on this show have played clips of Greta Van Susteren over the years, you could not do it. You need like four extra hands.
To watch the whole segment, click here.

According to Maddow's pitch, Maddow herself has played endless footage from Van Susteren down through the years. A person would "need like four extra hands" to tote up all the examples!

Maddow went on to describe Van Susteren's greatness, explaining why she's played so many clips of Van Susteren's work at Fox. We'll examine the alleged greatness later this week. For today, let's concentrate on that alleged large number of clips featuring Greta's work.

For ourselves, we've learned to adopt a standard approach to Maddow's various claims. "Mistrust and try to verify," we've been forced to tell our crestfallen analysts.

Rachel Maddow has a way of—how shall we put it?—occasionally letting her enthusiasms trump the literal truth. We discovered that it had happened again when we checked her "four extra hands" statement.

Have Maddow viewers been swimming in tape displaying Van Susteren's greatness? Using Nexis, we conducted a search.

This is what we found:

Over the five previous years—2012 through 2016—we found a total of thirteen instances when Maddow played videotape in which Van Susteren was shown interacting with a guest at the Fox News Channel. According to our Arithmetical Analytics Division, you couldn't count these instances on two hands, but you wouldn't need four more hands either.

Viewers of the Maddow Show haven't exactly been swimming in Greta Van Susteren clips. On a year-by-year basis, this is what we found:
Number of instances in which the Maddow Show played videotape of Greta Van Susteren interacting with a guest:
2016: 3
2015: 5
2014: 2
2013: 0
2012: 3

Total number: 13
Our jealous analysts quickly noted that one of the instances from last year occurred in late December. In retrospect, it would seem to qualify as the start of Maddow's pitch for her channel's new car.

Whatever! Our analysts judged, with moderate confidence, that you actually don't need a million new hands to count up all those examples. They also stressed an important point:

That total number of instances may be misleading, given Maddow's repeated play of two favorite pieces of tape.

Good lord! Five of those thirteen instances involved a single piece of tape. In this particular instance, Van Susteren took a walk on the mild side while interviewing Rep. Duncan Hunter, Jr. in October 2014.

Last Thursday night, selling the Greta, Maddow played a version of that tape for the sixth time. This is what viewers saw on that occasion:
MADDOW (1/5/17): This was one of my all-time favorite Greta moments from when she was on Fox.

(videotape from October 7, 2014)

HUNTER: I know that at least ten ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border in Texas. There's nobody talking about it, there's—

VAN SUSTEREN: How do you know that?

HUNTER: Because I've asked, because I've asked the border patrol, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: And the border patrol, they just let ISIS members come across the border?

(end of video clip)
Already, you can see that Van Susteren's second question didn't exactly make sense. By the end of the week, we'll show you how modest her effort actually was on that treasured occasion.

No matter! Maddow fell in love with the clip; she played chunks of that exchange on five different programs in 2014, 2015 and 2016. And of the remaining eight video clips from the past five years, three of them were a single exchange with Donald J. Trump about his secret, foolproof plan to defeat the losers from ISIS.

Here's the truncated way that exchange was shown as Maddow sold the car last week. The original exchange occurred in May 2015:
TRUMP (5/27/15): Bring ISIS to the table or beyond that, defeat ISIS very quickly, and I'm not going to tell you what it is tonight. You know, one of the problems that we have—

VAN SUSTEREN: Why won't you tell us? Hey, Donald, Donald—

TRUMP: I'll tell you what, because I don't want to, Greta. I'll tell you what—

VAN SUSTEREN: Donald, why don't you tell?
In 2015 and 2016, Maddow played that tape three times. It's hard to see what's so amazing about Van Susteren's performance there. But in truth, there weren't that many discrete examples of Van Susteren's work which Maddow played in the past five years. The ISIS tapes with Hunter and Trump constitute eight of the thirteen examples which we've recorded above.

On this basis, our analysts judged, with high confidence and several sighs, that Maddow was perhaps embellishing a tad with her claim about the need for "like four extra hands." Again, we're only talking about her quantitative claims at this point. Maddow's qualitative claims about Van Susteren's work were vastly more ridiculous.

According to Maddow's pitch for the car, why had she played tape of Van Susteren so often? Here's what Maddow said:
MADDOW (1/5/17): Greta Van Susteren is great. She is. And she has an uncanny ability to make newsworthy things happen when the red light is on the camera and she is on TV talking about the news. She can get anybody to talk to her. She has reported from all over the world. She had a decade at CNN. She had 14 years at Fox.
According to Maddow, she has played footage of Greta again and again because her work is so great. According to Maddow, Greta "has an uncanny ability to make newsworthy things happen" when she's on the air. "She can get anybody to talk to her," Maddow admiringly said.

Truth to tell, we see little evidence of any such skill in the clips Maddow has played. In particular, Van Susteren served as a useful idiot for Donald J. Trump as he pimped his birther claims all around the land.

We'll examine that explosive claim later this week. For today, we'll only say this:

You may not need four extra hands to count up Maddow's airings of Greta. Last Thursday, Rachel was selling a car to us rubes.

Bullshit was likely to follow.

Tomorrow: It happened in 2010

23 comments:

  1. It isn't surprising that Maddow would be asked to shill for a new addition to her network.

    Are her remarks about Van Susteren news? Does making false statements about her undermine Maddow's credibility on other issues?

    The days when celebrities showed any integrity about endorsing products they didn't use are long gone.

    The larger question is why MSNBC wants to attract Republicans as interviewee's. I suppose the manner in which they are interviewed will answer that. Perhaps they do not like being characterized as the one true liberal channel during a Republican administration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Including the opposition adds interest to a show. Rush Limbaugh gives priority to callers who oppose his views. Tucker Carlson just got the prime 9 p.m. EST slot on Fox News, the slot which was vacated by Megyn Kelly. Carlson's show quickly became popular due to his interviews with people on the other side.

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    2. I think Limbaugh gives priority to those who oppose his views because his listeners like to hear him bully a caller. It reaffirms their own views to hear Rush argue and I doubt they listen much to what that caller has to say.

      It would be nice to think that our media were becoming more bipartisan but I don't think that is what is happening. Conservatives are no more open-minded than liberals. They are just more likely to throw red meat to the crowd as they talk over and shout down some hapless interviewee. If the caller with an opposing view gets the upper hand, his mic is cut and then Rush (or whoever) comes back on to talk trash about him after he is gone. I say "he" because women call into these shows and appear on them much less frequently.

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    3. I agree with you to a point, 12:50. Rush feels his view is correct and his debating skills are sufficient such that he will win the argument. The same is true of Tucker Carlson on FoxNews.

      I haven't listened to Rush in years, but I have watched some of Carlson. He generally does win the argument because he's a professional at political debate, while his guests are often not well prepared. They may have some slogans or speaking points that they themselves don't understand very well. Also, his audience shares his world view, so they may feel that he's won even when a non-partisan viewer would not agree. The audience enjoys hearing their guy win the debate.

      I would think Rachel Maddow and the other MSNBC hosts would have the same advantage that Rush and Tucker have. They should be able to make mince meat out of most conservative guests. That's assuming that the liberals on MSNBC are as skillful as Rush and Tucker and that their POV is equally valid.

      P.S. There may well be some conservative talk radio hosts who talk over and shout down some hapless interviewee, cut his mic then come back and talk trash about him. But, I don't recall Rush Limbaugh doing that, nor does Tucker Carlson behave that way.

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    4. David in Cal: I would think Rachel Maddow and the other MSNBC hosts would have the same advantage that Rush and Tucker have. They should be able to make mince meat out of most conservative guests. That's assuming that the liberals on MSNBC are as skillful as Rush and Tucker and that their POV is equally valid.

      CMike: I guess it's different on the radio.

      [LINK #1]

      [LINK #2]

      [LINK #3]

      [LINK #4]

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    5. Great stuff CMike. Thanks. Funny how Limbaugh cuts off the callers mike (is it you?) so that he can "launch the propaganda" with a bullshit monologue.

      And I notice complete silence from our fave, Dave.

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    6. That's Mike Stark. I don't what he's up to these days but his name used to come up every so often a few years back. [Stark in 2006]

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    7. Sorry 7:26, I was unsure what CMike's exact point was in providing these four examples.

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    8. Hello,
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      Delete
  2. Maddow is so horrible. She actually steals the most from Amy Goodman, btw.

    How in the world can her fanbase put up with her kiss-poo sessions over Conway and Van Susteren? Are they happy about it?

    Prediction: both Joy Reid and O'Donnell will be gone within 6 months.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She also steals from Ira Glass. She is the absolute worst and comes across as a total dick.

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  3. Madcow Maddow has little credibility to lose.

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  4. I agree. Like Dowd, Maddow is a careerist first.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My ex and I were together for 5 years. We lived together and were engaged. We went on a trip with friends and his family and had a nasty fight and broke up. We both moved out of our home and with our parents. We decided to go no contact for a month and 2 weeks in he started dating a girl and took her on a trip to California ( where we’ve gone the last 2 years on my bday) on my birthday weekend! After battling it out thru emails and a few meetings we finally came to see each other all of last week, i love him so much and i was so desperate to have him back coz i new that girl was not the right person for him so i have to save my relationship and reunite with me ex again so i try all i could to bring him back but all to avail i have be in contact with so many spell caster who only too my money and still nothing good work out of it, i ws so confuse and devastated one day trying to search on facebook, i come across a wonderful testimony of a lady on how a spell caster who she contacted also for love spell help her and bring her husband back to her with-in less day 2 days after the spell i was so fill with joy coz this lady meant my day and i regain my hope back so i directly and desperately email http://happyspelltemple.webs.com/ coz i love my ex so much and i want him back all to my self so with-in 5 min,Dr happy email me back with hope and told me that i have found solution in him that i should worried no more so i did all he ask of me and he gave me assured and guarantee that my ex will come back so i believed and was so gifted all to my surprise after the spell my ex call, come to my working beg and apology for his mistake,and he said sorry for the nasty break up that he was inconsiderate of my feelings nt in tend to hurt me. i can testify with the power love spell of Dr happy me and my ex are happily married now thank you Dr happy i will for ever be grateful to you and keep sharing your testimony if you need help or love spell fine it difficult to get back with your ex, email happylovespell2@gmail.com or call his mobile number on +2348133873774

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know people will be complaining about their marriage, and their relationship, especially the women, they usually complain about their husband does not love them anymore, their husband is cheating on them and even their husband left them, but my case was similar to theirs, my name is sonia Walker, I am from Texas, USA, I had a very similar case with theirs, my husband, Walker left me with my two kids, for no reason, he said he does not love me anymore, he left for about 5 years, he never called me even my kids, I had a friend, Anita, she had a case similar to mine but her husband is now with her, I told her my problems I was facing, she told me about a great man that helped her to solve her problems, she introduced me to the great Baba ubeji, a man with great powers and kindness, he told me that my problems will be solved, so I believed, then after one week, it was unbelievable my husband came to me asking me for forgiveness, I accepted him, he has changed some much since when he came back, I just want to thank, the great Baba ubeji for his understanding and love, my friends if you are facing similar problems with me and even some other problems, he introduced me to some people he has helped, he can also help with solutions to some problems, like;
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    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello, i am Jessica Wayne from TX, USA. Life without my husband was a real mess for me and my children I am so happy to get my Ex back through the help of Dr Noble the spell caster . My greatest surprise was that 48 hours after the Doctor prepared the spell for me, my husband who has abandoned me for 4 years suddenly called me unexpectedly and am so happy that we have come to become one again through the help of Dr Noble and am so happy to be with my husband once again. Dr Noble is a very wonderful spell caster, you can contact him if you need his assistant because i know he can also help you. contact him through his email: templeofjoyandprosperity@gmail.com +2349039520524 immediately

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have been suffering from (HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS) disease for the past two years and had constant pain, especially in my knees. During the first year,I had faith in God that i would be healed someday.This disease started circulating all over my body and i have been taking treatment from my doctor, few weeks ago i came on search on the internet if i could get any information concerning the prevention of this disease, on my search i saw a testimony of someone who has been healed from (HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS) by this Man Dr Ero and she also gave the email address: dreroherbaltreatment@gmail.com of this man and advise we should contact him for any sickness that he would be of help, so i wrote to Dr.Ero telling him about my (HERPES Virus) he told me not to worry that i was going to be cured!! hmm i never believed it,, well after all the procedures and remedy given to me by this man few weeks later i started experiencing changes all over me as the Dr Ero assured me that i have cured,after some time i went to my doctor to confirmed if i have be finally healed behold it was TRUE, So friends my advise is if you have such sickness or any other at all you can email:: dreroherbaltreatment@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello everyone, I was infected with the herpes virus and I got cured of the herpes virus few months ago after i contacted Dr Ekpiku. I saw a post on the internet after i have seek healing for several years from different doctors in California. I sent the Doctor a request for help, just a few email i followed his instruction and he sent me the medication after i paid him. Now i am negative and i referred him to all my friend who had this same sickness and they have gotten their cure too. You can contact him via his email.Ekpikuspellhomeofgrace@hotmail.com or Ekpikuspellhomeofgrace@gmail.com or Phone call: 2348073673757. While i was on his medication i understood that he can also cure HERPES, HIV/AIDS, CANCER, Male/female menopause, Miscarriage, Menstruation problems, PREGNANCY PROBLEM, EPILEPSY, GONORRHEA, LASSA FEVER, OBESITY, KIDNEY FAILURE, HYPERTENSION, FIBROID TUMOR and many more.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 5 years ago I had warts, I was treated with some liquid applied to the warts they continued to grow and spread... The next 2 doctors did laser surgery to remove them. 1 year after the surgery, they grew back close to where the 1st ones were' so I was finally told it was hpv. I have had it for very long time, I contract it from my cheated boyfriend and I found out he was also infected and I end up the relationship between us. the warts was so embarrasses because it started spreading all over I have be dealing with this things for very long time the last treatment I take was About 2 years ago I applied natural treatment from Dr onokun herbal cure, a week after applying the treatment all the warts was gone. it's now 2 years and some months I don't have single wart or any symptoms of hpv. wow"" it's great, Dr onokun has finally cured me. Anyone living with hpv contact Dr onokun for natural treatment.
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    ReplyDelete
  11. I want to share a testimony of how Dr.Osemuhau herbal mixture cream saves me from shame and disgrace, my penis was a big problem to me as the size was really so embarrassing,and i was also having weak erection problem. I can't make love to my wife and my penis was just too small a full grown man like me having 4 inches penis and to worsen it i don't last in sex i cant even last two minutes it was really a thing of shame to me. My wife was really tired of me because my sex life was very poor,she never enjoyed sex,i was always thinking and searching for solutions everywhere until when i saw a testimony of how Dr.Osemuhau herbal mixture cream have been helping people regarding their sex life, so i decided to give him a try and to my greatest surprise in less than one week of taking the herbs my penis grow to 8 inches i couldn't believe my eyes and as i speak now my penis is now 8 inches and i do not have week erection again. I can make love to my wife longer in bed. And my marriage is now stable,my wife now enjoy me very well in bed. can contact him drosemuhau@gmail.com {) or call or what-apps him through +2348168714427

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello everyone out there, I'm here to give my testimony about a herbalist doctor who helped me. I was infected with HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS in 2011, I went to many hospitals to heal myself but there was no solution, so I was thinking how I can get a solution so that my body can be well. One day I was in the river thinking about where I can go to get a solution. so a lady walked towards me telling me why I'm so sad and I open everything by telling her my problem, she told me she could help me, she introduced me to a doctor who uses herbal medicines to cure the SIMPLEX HERPES VIRUS and gave me your email, so I sent you an email. He told me everything I had to do and also gave me instructions to take, which I followed correctly. Before I knew what was happening after two weeks, the SIMPLEX HERPES VIRUS that was in my body disappeared. therefore, if you also have a broken heart and need help, you can also send an email to {oliha.miraclemedicine@gmail.com}or whatsapp him number: +2349038382931 or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/drolihamiraclemedicine/Contact him today and he will have a testimony ... Good luck!
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    ReplyDelete
  13. I found out, that taking herbal treatment is the best to get rid of hpv as soon as i feel the symptoms of hpv is appearing, i took the healing process by contacting Dr onokun for natural treatment it works wonders, amazingly ever since I had the herbal treatment i have not feel these horrible disease anymore and my doc told me the virus is gone, i am glad i finally got cured out from this horrible disease. every hpv or herpes patients should also get in touch with this herbalist Dr to get ride of these disease forever his email address; dronokunherbalcure@gmail.com 

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happiness is all i see now I never thought that I will be cured from HERPES virus again. I have been suffering from a deadly disease (HERPES) for the past 3 years now, I had spent a lot of money going from one places to another, from churches to churches, hospitals have been my home every day residence. Constant checks up have been my hobby not until this faithful day, I was searching through the internet, I saw a testimony on how DR agaba helped someone in curing his HERPES disease, quickly I copied his email which is Dragabasolutionhome@gmail.com just to give him a test I spoke to him, he asked me to do some certain things which I did, he told me that he is going to provide the herbal cure to me, which he did, then he asked me to go for medical checkup after some days after using the herbal cure, behold I was free from the deadly disease, he only asked me to post the testimony through the whole world, faithfully am doing it now, please brothers and sisters, he is great, I owe him in return. if you are having a similar problem just email him on : Dragabasolutionhome@gmail.com or WhatApp: +2349074536486  

    ReplyDelete