For those of you who don’t like how the media prioritizes the superficial over the substantive, here is your new go-to video for everything you hate about cable news. On MSNBC Thursday, Andrea Mitchell was speaking with former Congresswoman Jane Harman about reviews and proposed restrictions on the NSA debate, but before they could really get down to the meat of the subject, Mitchell had to cut away for some breaking news.RELATED: Justin Bieber Is Now Comparing Himself to Michael Jackson
Specifically, news having to do with America’s favorite… whatever he is… Justin Bieber. Yes, just as Harman was about to get into the details of what she believes proper NSA reform should be, Mitchell cut away because heaven forbid policy should get in the way of a good celebrity scandal.
Ever since Bieber got arrested early yesterday, the media has been itching to cover every last detail, though there have been some networks proudly boasting to be above the pettiness.
During his big speech on unemployment Tuesday, President Obama took a veiled shot at Rand Paul for arguing that extended unemployment benefits would not help fix unemployment. Paul responded on The Steve Malzberg Show Tuesday, firing back at Obama’s “big-hearted, small-brained policy statements.”RELATED: Veterans feel sting of Ramadi and Fallujah losses
Paul charged that Democrats “don’t truly care about the unemployed” and all they have is emotional arguments because “their policies haven’t worked.” Malzberg added that the Democrats are “demagoguing this issue,” and found it odd they’re treating millions of unemployed people as a travesty but brushed aside the millions whose insurance plans were trashed as a result of new health care standards.
Paul also addressed Republican congressman Peter King accusing him of not caring if Americans die as the result of a terrorist attack because of his class-action lawsuit against the NSA. Paul said, “I think there’ll always be people who succumb to fear and are ready and willing to trade their liberty for security.”
He also said that politicians like King simply “don’t seem to be concerned about your liberty.”
Journalist Glenn Greenwald appeared on MSNBC Thursday, one day after Edward Snowden delivered a Christmas address to television viewers in the UK and around the world from Russia. Things got heated when MSNBC anchor Kristen Welker cited critics who’ve accused Greenwald of “crossing a line” in his defense of Snowden. “What do you say to your critics who say you’ve become more of a spokesman for Edward Snowden?” she asked.RELATED: Like Clockwork, Joy Reid Is Annoyed About Glenn Greenwald Sniping at MSNBC
“I think that’s ludicrous is what I say to that,” Greenwald shot back. “Every journalist has an agenda. We’re on MSNBC now, where close to 24 hours a day the agenda of President Obama and the Democratic Party are promoted, defended, glorified, the agenda of the Republican Party is undermined. That doesn’t mean the people who appear on MSNBC aren’t journalists, they are.”
He said that every journalist has a “viewpoint” and he doesn’t hide the fact that he finds Snowden’s decision to expose the NSA’s surveillance programs “heroic.”
I think the point is not so much about MSNBC and what happens here,” Welker said in defense of her employer, “but more that sometimes when you talk about Edward Snowden you do defend him, and some people wonder if that crosses a line.”
“Sure, I do defend him just like people on MSNBC defend President Obama and his officials and Democratic Party leaders 24 hours a day.” When Welker pushed back that “not everyone on MSNBC does that 24 hours a day,” Greenwald conceded that it’s “not everybody, but a lot of people do.”
After comparing Snowden to figures like Chelsea Manning and Daniel Ellsberg, Greenwald said, “I absolutely do defend what Edward Snowden does and I don’t pretend otherwise.”
Conservative legal activist Larry Klayman got into an argument on CNN with host Don Lemon and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin when he was brought on to discuss his victory this week in a lawsuit challenging NSA surveillance, resulting in Lemon cutting him off the screen and Klayman comparing Lemon to disgraced former MSNBC host Martin Bashir.
Klayman’s appearance Tuesday night on CNN was preceded by a profile of him that included a quotation from a former George W. Bush staffer saying his lawsuits were about “fighting for himself and his own, in my opinion, delusions of grandeur.”
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When Klayman was brought into the conversation, he came out firing.“I think it is important to note that you’re a big supporter of Obama,” Klayman said to Lemon. “That you have favored him in every respect. You have to try to do a hit piece to diminish a very important decision.”
Lemon interjected to clarify that Klayman was speaking about him personally, saying, “None of that is true, but go on.”
“Well, it is true. I’ve watched you for many years. You’re an ultra-leftist and you’re a big supporter of Obama,” Klayman said. “Let’s talk about the NSA, let’s not talk about Larry Klayman. This victory is for the American people. It wasn’t for me. And you, as somebody from the left … should appreciate that you don’t have a police state in this country that’s going to be able to intimidate Americans to chill their free speech rights.”
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