256 Comments

Carville is rather creepy

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Carville and Ruy Texiera are two of the worst.

When you find your self lionized by the never trump republicans, you really need to look at your positions.

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Jul 27Liked by Ramona Grigg

Right?

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They are just as bad as the Fox News hosts on the other side. They don't say anything because they want to keep getting paid and not punished by Comcast. And they remember what happened to Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Tucker Carlson...

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Bill O'Reilly settled a workplace sexual harassment suit. Carlson had emails that would have helped the plaintiffs in the election lie defamation suit. Beck's lies and incendiary comments finally became to much for Fox. I don't get the comparison.

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They were all fired with cause. The MSNBC folks don't want to have that kind of hassle.

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Right. So how would them," not saying anything so they don't get punished by Comcast," be related to Beck, O'Reilly, and Carlson being fired for cause?

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Those guys are all examples of people who got into social and legal trouble for what they did and said on and off camera- they want to avoid being those guys.

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I don't necessarily agree with your statement but now I understand it. Thank you for the follow up and explanation.

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Fox uses show business music and yellow ‘journalism’ graphics to suck in weak willed, low information citizens. Too many feel this is ‘great news coverage’ without noticing the lack of news

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Couldn’t agree more. I’m down to Rachel’s once weekly program and Lawrence and Chris Hayes from time to time. This is going to sound harsh (dare I say “bitchy”?) but I used to rely on Ari for his legal prospective, but thr “I’m the cool hip-hop lawyer” schtick was worn thin.

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Actually, you must NOT be watching Nicolle Wallace. She has been having extremely knowledgeable guests every day. I do agree with some of your observations, but don't think your over-all critique is justified.

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I watched her for years and empathized with the agony she and other ACTUAL conservatives must have felt watching the “what the hell is happening to our Party?” In the last year or so, though, like everyone else- it’s just been too much.

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Even Nicolle took to going after Biden in ways that were simply not fair. I've liked her takes and I've defended her many times, but I saw what I saw. She went there.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

I missed all that, only tuned in after Harris got the votes.

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That was the most disappointing to me. Nicolle Wallace was my favorite, after Lawrence.

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Me too. They were the only ones I watched for a while. Now it's only Lawrence. And Rachel on Mondays.

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I am also so disappointed in Nicole and Rachel-I feel so betrayed!! These days I only watch Lawrence-this makes me sad as I felt MSNBC helped get ‘us’ through the pandemic!!

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Aug 19Liked by Ramona Grigg

I totally agree and I loved Nicole Wallace.

Only Lawrence O’Donnell is doing his job.

Rachel is good but her delivery drives me crazy.

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Jul 27Liked by Ramona Grigg

I was really trying to be open-minded about Nicole, even though she consistently failed to call out the New York Times for their biased reporting. I get that she’s married to Michael Schmidt, but it shouldn’t cloud your judgment when you’re a major news broadcaster that we all depend on for fair and balanced news. She has literally made her living by bashing Trump. And then she gets married at Bedminster which I found incredibly odd since it is Trump owned. I think the bottom line is that all these broadcasters are just human. They might try to portray themselves as other than that…. but they’re not.🤷‍♀️

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Wait, she got married at Bedminster? No effing way. I had no idea.

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Jul 27Liked by Ramona Grigg

Yes, she did. I was shocked.

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Jul 28Liked by Ramona Grigg

I have not had access to MSNBC for the past 2 months and I was upset about that. In my absence what has happened to my go to station?

I am watching Lawrence on you tube as he tells it like it is and he stayed loyal to Biden.

Is it just that they are not paying attention or is it more than that?

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Jul 31Liked by Ramona Grigg

The only hosts that didn't partake in the circular firing squad wholeheartedly were Lawrence, Joy Reid, Katie Phang, and Michael Steele (and the rest of The Weekend crew).

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Interesting to me that in your picture is Joy Reid (who has not changed and still tells the truth about Trump), Rachel who also remains on point calling out fascism, MAGA and more, Nicolle who I’ve been watching for several years along with Joy, Rachel, and Lawrence also remains the same with her reporting on 45. Neither Ari nor Katy are in the photo. I’m sorry you feel betrayed about anyone calling out Joe for what we all saw. I had these thoughts about Joe having aged so much during his presidency that he would not be able to win a second term months before the debate. Every speech he gave, I felt it deeply. This is not to say he hasn’t been anything short of AMAZING in these years as our 46th President. I believe many people who were backing him no matter what felt that we were betraying him by calling on him to choose not to run. But the truth is, we were looking at reality as the race was slipping by and Trump was gaining in the polls as our new young voters showed no interest in Biden winning another 4 years.

We can all see how refreshing the new momentum is that we have and hope has energized this election. Nicolle and her guests were calling what they felt was important no matter how difficult it was to say it.

I’m still a fan of news reporting on the shows of Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Stephanie Ruhle. I don’t take them in daily. I watch every few days or once a week. Substack authors are my daily intake of information.

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Jul 31·edited Jul 31Author

I think you missed the entire point of my piece. Yes, I agree that for the most part they're all good people. This time they weren't. Which is why I used the word 'disappointment' in my title.

As the events finally causing Joe Biden to give up his bid for four more years of his presidency were unfolding, many of us saw it as a tragedy. Then the piling on began, and the MSNBC crew, those very people we count on to be thoughtful and fair, turned it into a circus.

On their daily shows and in their panels they announced every negative utterance by even the most insignificant politico in ways that sounded more like gossip than reporting. They found things about the events that were so funny the entire panel had to laugh. They brought on guests whose only case was that Joe had to go.

Their attitudes throughout, cavalier at best, were shocking, and it wasn't just a few who noticed.

You may not have seen the bias because you agreed that Joe had to go, but there were many of us who were devastated by what was happening and saw an entirely different picture than you did.

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Bravo Donna!!! I feel the same way! She is calling out the Repugnants every day. I don’t think you understand what they are really saying, go back to Fox they sound right up your alley.😡

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Ha! Finally someone else who came up with "our" name for R's - Repugnants! Years ago, when the R's started using "Democrat" as a derogatory term, my husband and I needed a term of our own, and that's it to this day. Now it's just Repugs.

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The ‘Democrat’ misuse really gets to me every time I hear it 😖. As a suggestion, and to “twist the knife” out of principle, type it in all lowercase letters: repugs.

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I call them that too!

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"Rethugs"/"RethugliKKKans" are my go-tos.

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Thank you, I'm having a hard time understanding some of these comments, are those folks watching the same programs I am. Especially "pompous" O'Donnell.

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Over critical….absolutely not! Over the last ten years or so, we've lost the giants in print media. Local news is essentially gone and millions get their "news" from commercially owned corporations….which is true of MSNBC too, however the type of audience of the station, their high ranking, keeps the audience tuning in. We the audience need to be vigilant!

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The loss of local news is an abject tragedy.

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Really…she has rePUGliCONs on who blame the Democratic Party! It is sad to say they pretend real well but I’ve been watching them for many years and they are becoming like fox! NOT NEWS!

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Nicole Wallace is all about herself - she never stops talking and letting her "guests" express their concerns or opinions.

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I agree with most of the comments here. I am repelled by James Carville. I mute the TV every time he appears on MSNBC as “an expert”.

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Jul 28Liked by Ramona Grigg

Most of the time I can’t understand a word he says!

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Aug 9Liked by Ramona Grigg

I’m with you Martha. Ari Melber has gotten so smug and self satisfied that he’s forgotten he needs viewers. I’m tired of his ‘let me give you the bad news’ all day schtick. It is old. As soon as I saw that idiot, James Carville, start doing his same old ‘down home’ slop, I turned Ari off. If msnbc is losing me, they have a huge problem

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You could not have written anything that expresses my same feelings about MSNBC than this. They are no longer a trusted news outlet. It is the most disappointing thing ever.

The only person that I trust is Lawrence O’Donnell. He is the only one who stayed 100% for Joe Biden and didn’t throw cheap shots at him. The reason he walks that way is he does have neuropathy in his feet. I read his medical report. And he is a stutterer. They all were merciless against him and the best way to voice. Your opinion is to turn them off.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

Lawrence O’Donnell could understand that Joe Biden is, as he said, our greatest foreign policy president since FDR. His NATO news conference was, O’Donnell said, the most impressive ever given by a U.S. president. But it was not enough for those who could only say of the old sage, “He doesn’t talk like a politician should, and he walks funny.”

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I feel that it was done in a very disrespectful and unprofessional way. By Most. Especially after Joe went through the primary and was chosen. I’m really 😡 at MSNBC and some of our legislators. It’s just wrong. Maybe it needed to happen but for me it was how it happened. 🥲

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

Couldn’t agree more, Deborah. My husband and I were shocked and disgusted at the way the pressure campaign was carried on in public, with artful leaks to the press. I don’t think certain people in the Democratic Party understand yet how much they played with fire in so blatantly disrespecting a president who devoted himself to the common good as few have.

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I was in tears. Joe saved us from ‘him’ and I was fiercely loyal to him. After talking it through with someone I respected, I was able to get to the other side. President Biden will go down in History as a great man who put our Country before himself. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the future and trump is the ‘old senile guy’ pushing us back to the dark ages.

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I agree Deborah.

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I haven’t thought about it, Deborah, but your post got me thinking and I agree with you. Joe Biden was the victim of a merciless assault by the digital and print media. But he flipped the script, even though the media will not admit it. The hostage release deal with all the complex international negotiations that were required proves his mind is still sharp even though his body sometimes betrays him. (Hell, I’m 77 and I know what that feels like). And yes, I very much respect, admire and count on Lawrence O’Donnell. I watch his show every weekday night, Monday through Thursday. His insight, his knowledge based on personal political experience in the Senate is second to none and his character is exemplary… he is a man above men. His decades-long self-less work for Malawi school children elevates him to humanitarian Platinum status in my estimation.

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Lawrence is just about the only one I will listen to. MSNBC needs to can many of their commentators as far as I’m concerned. Some of them I’ll never watch again.

They are alienating their viewers who have been quite loyal. Their interviews border on stupidity. How many times can they ask a question in a different way? They don’t respect an answer if it doesn’t fit a narrative.

I’m really concerned. I’m glad I have joined Substack to hear reasonable people. Now I know it wasn’t just me that thought this,

Thank you.

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Aug 9Liked by Ramona Grigg

Just like our Press Secretary literally being abused by those in the press right in the press room. That horrible man seems to have given any man out there the right to be a mean dangerous Azzhole to women. Glad trump thinks Roe v Wade isn’t a thing anymore. They are all in for a big surprise from us this time.

Roevember is coming.

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Aug 9Liked by Ramona Grigg

Did you happen to see Lawrence tonight (Aug.8th)? He was PISSED OFF because no network had the Harris/Walz

Presser, but they all,including MSNBC played trump’s presser - as delusional and fucked up as it was.

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I love Lawrence. He is so incredibly intelligent and experienced. He does not mince words about all the media BS. He is right on just about everything.

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Lawrence was on fire tonight. Rarely have I seen him that outraged. And rightly so. About the incompetence and stupidity of most of the reporters covering Donald Trump. Even NBC’s own Garrett Haake. Usually competent yet today let Trump get away with rambling incoherently and failing to answer his question related to women’s reproductive rights. Haake did not push back or followup. Hopeless!

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I don’t really agree (yet),but I think what you’re saying is a great warning shot to all of our news choices.

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Yes and the disappointment with MSM is the descent to bottom line profit mentality for entertainment and hardly any journalism that doesn't get sucked into the vacuum of unlimited opinions. Here's some infromation on how and when that shift or slip down into the muck and mire

gained traction:

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I agree. MSNBC has been one of the extremely few progressive outlets, but PBS and The BBC also offer lite-succor in this barren news era. The problem with all these 'news' sources is that they really don't do much in the way of national news, rather, they regurgitate the same biased stories all day, every day. I actually received more news about what is happening in America from The Guardian. MSNBC has become somewhat intolerable and very much less PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM oriented. Thanks, Ramona.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

Thank you for adding the disclaimer at the end about following the money. I think what has been the most discouraging revelations over the past two weeks has been how much mega-donors can influence so many decisions in the Democratic Party. Republicans had made no secret of that in their party. Those donors have done their worst to make it obvious that their one vote outweighs thousands of grass roots members' votes.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

I totally agree. MSNBC has become entertainment. I used to hold out for Ari but even he has lost my trust. Rachel is trustworthy if alone.

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I would like to see a channel (not like Fox ) which has Maddow, JV, HCR, and equally brilliant hosts.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

Thank you for pointing this out. I was thinking “What’s wrong with MSNBC”, but couldn’t quite put my finger on the problem, and you did it.

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founding

Whenever I become a robot and turn on the TV to start watching MSNBC my better part of me slams my brain and I remember - not anymore. In the meantime, I’m reading 4 books a week.

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My husband and I unsubscribed from NYT, WaPo, Guardian, etc and we don't watch TV. But our friends did, and some comment on how they don't anymore. I like the "when I become a robot." I did that during the T years - reading the above press - thinking I was "exercising Democracy" by keeping up with the daily/hourly nightmare. We now order mountains of books from our rural library, which delivers bi-weekly to our remote rural area. We read amazing books by a myriad of writers, then discuss them. We also read Substack newsletters.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

I blocked virtually everything on my Apple News newspaper and periodical service when they started the Joe Biden feeding frenzy, screening out virtually everything except cooking and gardening magazines. Somehow then necessary news would get through.

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Jul 31Liked by Ramona Grigg

Yup. I cut down my feed quite a bit. Also unsubbed from the NYT and WaPo. Saved a little money, freed up some time...

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Sounds like you found a better way to live.

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Jul 28Liked by Ramona Grigg

I read 2 books this week and finished a quilt. My mental health is improved. I will volunteer to help Kamala get elected in some capacity but I am off MSNBC for good.

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I’m reading a lot too. Fiction, so I’m not reading articles about our politics all day anymore. I put myself on a limited schedule for News like a kid. No more doom scrolling.

Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Substack is a great positive place filled with information.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

Andrea Mitchell is an ill-prepared hack and should retire and so should Katy Tur who had the audacity to claim that Trump was humbled by the so-called bullet that he "took."

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That was ludicrous. She doesn't have the sense to be embarrassed.

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Couldn’t agree more.

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What Bullet? Yet to be proved. Amazing that no one is digging in to that.

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They're afraid to go after a Republican.

I noticed it when the story of Palin's last pregnancy came up in the 2008 campaign.

Woman knows she has an at risk pregnancy, flies to Dallas for a speech, wakes up with contractions, GIVES HER SPEECH, doesn't seek medical attention, flies home to Alaska and THEN DRIVES HOME to Wasilia before going to a doctor.

She's eight months pregnant.

After five seconds of "Sarah Palin is such a bad ass" media refused to touch it. So no questions about how she didn't care about potentially giving birth mid flight or the likelihood of losing the baby one month early. Or even was she trying to lose a baby who was going to be handicapped.

That's the way they have treated Republicans for 20 years. Democrats' lives are open season and no smear is too outrageous to be ignored and Republicans are handled with kid gloves.

So were there any real news cov

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This is second hand news..but..,I knew someone who worked with Palin’s group who told me the baby wasn’t hers but her 16 year old daughter’s. I think the Down syndrome baby is the baby you were referring to? He told me, given her daughter’s age and the scandal it might cause to the conservative groups, the Palin group covered it up. Since it’s Palin and she’s a maga, I would not be surprised, but I heard it second hand so your guess is as good as mine. They do have “pregnancy suits” where you look like you are carrying. But 🤦🏼‍♀️

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That at least I could have understood but then why agree to be a VP candidate when your daughter was pregnant again?

I knew a solid Republican woman who voted for Obama because she thought Palin threw the kid under the bus.

But your story makes more sense than mine.

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Yes. I remember there was some talk about how no airline would have let someone in their last month of pregnancy fly. She had had 4-5 children already so the birth most likely would have been quicker than the time it took to fly from Dallas to Alaska and then charter a plane to Wasilla. Young teen mothers are at risk for giving birth to Downs babies as much as women over 40.

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I completely agree, what bullet?

I want to hear from whatever kind of medical professionals? there were that actually addressed, and dressed, that so-called wound. Because like I’ve said, I’ve had bigger holes in my ears since I was 5, and they came at me with 2 guns!

I’m still traumatized!😹

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Oh god, that’s nauseating-glad you made it to adulthood…

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Andrea needs to retire and Katy Tur is unwatchable

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Tur learned when she was assigned to cover his first election campaign.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

The TV news is sadly as spotty and pointless as the NYT and the DC Post, both papers I admired that have become click baiters.

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Jul 26Liked by Ramona Grigg

I canceled both papers-so disappointed!!

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Ditto

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So did I - so disappointed in those papers - have read them for most of my adult life.

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I am total agreement, Ramona. MSNBC is the best of television news. Yes , Maddow looks beyond to the history and ramifications that most do not. I would put Nicole Wallace in the ."thinking" category too. Thanks for your thoughts on this topic and don’t you miss Walter Cronkite, Edward R Morrow, even Dan Rather?

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Funny thing - pretty sure I saw Dan Rather on SubStack 🙂

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Yes, Dan writes on Substack…calls his column “Steady”….always thoughtful.

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Bravo for this. The media has failed in the way so many of our other public institutions have…their mission of service has been corrupted by greed, and all that entails. The need to “earn a buck” has been substituted by the desire to “make a killing.”

It’s killing us all.

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