Hilarious Honcho: 'MSNBC Does Not Have A Political Agenda'
After last night's yawner of a SOTU, a little levity is surely in order. So get your Wednesday off to a smirking start by laughing to the words of an MSNBC exec claiming his network doesn't have a political agenda.
Bill Wolff, MSNBC's VP of primetime programming, who moonlights as Rachel Maddow's executive producer, let the side-splitter slip in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. The subject matter was the MSM's fixation with Sarah Palin. Wolff argued that Palin merits extensive coverage because she's "powerful and important" and what she says "matters." Wolff should have quit while he was ahead, but apparently couldn't resist adding his fact-defying claim as to MSNBC's impartiality.
Quoth the Wolff-man:
"MSNBC does not have a political agenda. The idea that we’re beholden to one side or the other is ridiculous."
Right. To demonstrate MSNBC's fair 'n balanced approach to opinion, why don't we have the network's primetime troops parade past the NewsBusters reviewing stand?:
Cenk Uygur, Chris Matthews, Larry O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz. Not to mention the recently-departed you-know-who. Plenty of balance there: from garden variety lefty to self-professed socialist.
I actually found Wolff genuinely funny when he would exchange bon mots with Dan Abrams at the end of the latter's former MSNBC show. But this time around, Bill engaged in some presumably unintentional humor.
- Mark Finkelstein's blog
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Comments
There you go, Mark, reading
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:43am.
There you go, Mark, reading way too much into this.
from garden variety lefty to self-professed socialist.
They may personally be lefties, but they are all eminently capable of putting their own beliefs aside and being perfectly balanced on air.
Don't you know it's only conservatives who are unable to separate their own political and religious views from public policy??
Here's your mirror, mother;
Submitted by Winghunter on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:31am.
The Liberal Mind: Psychological Causes of Political Madness by Dr. Lyle Rossiter http://bit.ly/a4RTOSMy bad, MB. You're so
Submitted by Mark Finkelstein on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:49am.
My bad, MB. You're so right. Whenever I want insightful, well-informed analysis of the news, devoid of any political bias, I always tune to Ed Schultz. I've had to shift my entire circadian rhythm around now that he's moved to 10 PM ;-)
In fact,
Submitted by HockeyKid on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:07am.
Schultz is so dead-center that when he uttered the phrase "Republican bastards" on the air, I immediately knew he was objectively discussing the issue of out-of-wedlock births among the politically powerful. ;)
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Rip Van Wolff
Submitted by Cactus Kurt on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:13am.
Where has Rip Van Wolff been sleeping for the last 5 years?
Further proof that even the
Submitted by ParalegalGoddess on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:25am.
Further proof that even the executives at MSNBC don't even watch their own Channel.
ParalegalGoddess
Submitted by Mark Finkelstein on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:25am.
"Further proof that even the executives at MSNBC don't even watch their own Channel."
LOL: my candidate for line 'o the morning.
Is that a real picture of
Submitted by inquiringmind on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:28am.
Is that a real picture of him? Not one of the Marx brothers?
LOL. My first thought was geez, another Addams Family reunion?
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:38am.
.
That's it! Gomez! I was
Submitted by inquiringmind on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:54am.
That's it! Gomez! I was trying to figure out who he looked like.
The first thing that popped
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:04am.
The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the pic was
THIS GUY
There is only one side
Submitted by Prowler-Getz on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:29am.
Sorry Mark, but don't you understand that there is only one side. They have no political agenda, since the left and right are not political, but good and evil. So, if you are only doing good, you cannot be political.
Take a look at the movie "Demolition Man" and see how far we have moved from parody to reality.
How long before Taco
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:42am.
How long before Taco Hell..Bell..becomes "fine dining" and Top 40 radio consists of nothing but ad jingles (MTV and related channels seem to be headed that way with extremely long and frequent commercial breaks and little to no music videos)?
Incidentally I like the movie "Demolition Man." Wesley Snipes played a very funny villain.
As Bill O'Reilly illustrated....
Submitted by Texndoc on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:35am.
It's amazing anyone even cares about MSNBC at all. It was pointed out that the lowest rated FoxNews mid-day show has more people tuned in than the highest rated MSNBC prime-time show.
Very strange tuning in for bits and pieces last night and watching them trying to be "civil". Poor Mika B on Moaning Joe this am was just going on and on about how she met Mitch McConnell after the SOTU and he recognized her from MSNBC and was "rude to me". It's about time every Republican treated them as less important than the Food Network.
Hey!!! I think the Food
Submitted by Scuba Dude on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:38am.
Hey!!!
I think the Food Network is far more informative than MessNBC. I will tune into the Food Network but I will NEVER tune into that leftist station. I do not want to give them any bump in their ratings.
I'm with you, Scoob!!
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:51am.
Last night, while the SOTU was on, we watched "Cupcake Wars" and "Chopped."
I watched Ohio State
Submitted by inquiringmind on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:57am.
I watched Ohio State dismantle Purdue. Go Bucks!
I missed "Chopped"?!
Submitted by Texndoc on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:03am.
I like that show. Sorry "Raymond", not "Everyone Loves" you anymore. I missed Chopped!.
SOTU Address?
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:38am.
The SOTU blathering was on last night?!? My wife and I watched something similiar but much more entertaining...several episodes of Penn & Teller's "Bulls#!t" on Showtime on Demand. Maybe P&T could do an episode on SOTU babblings?
Does not have a Political Agenda?
Submitted by NVRAT on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:49am.
I just do not know what to say about this, except this guy must live in "Obama`s World" the little foggy commie one. You know Tell the people what they want to hear but do what I want!
Leopards cannot change spots...only method of attack. Beware of the liberals in 2012.
It proves something about bias
Submitted by KC Mulville on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:56am.
People who are genuinely biased don't know it.
Bill Wolff = Joe Isuzu?
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:52am.
Bill Wolff must be planning on running for political office soon since he lies so freely.
I Agree With Wolff
Submitted by Thunder Lizard on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:37am.
MSNBC does not have a political agenda. It has a socialist agenda. It is cultish.
You believe it?
Submitted by Patriot II on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 12:51pm.
Where do they get all these freaking idiots???
By looking under very large
Submitted by Beukeboom on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 2:25pm.
By looking under very large rocks.
Destroying Palin?
Submitted by bci59 on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 3:11pm.
The quote is hilarious in context: "MSNBC does not have a political agenda. The idea that we’re beholden to one side or the other is ridiculous," he says. "And if Sarah Palin is so good for business, why would we want to destroy her? We tell the truth. We hold up a mirror and say, 'This is what’s going on.' We’re not so crass to think that she’s good for business, therefore we'll talk about her."
See? There is NO political agenda. We just want to destroy Palin. We don't care if it's good for business.
$50,000 Senator bribes from NBC hosts "NOT" Political
Submitted by politicalpaw on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 2:30am.
The $50,000 bribe by the recently fired NBC host was wholly endorsed by @rachelmaddow. All the while, @rachelmaddow and her @msnbc producer incessantly deny they are a political operation. Producer denial headline and then @rachelmaddow bribe endorsement start this @msnbc $50,000 bribe video:
http://tinyurl.com/4rotejr
Who are you kidding.
Submitted by your mama on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 11:31am.
When I read this I had to do a double take. Who do they think they are kidding.
This is so absurd it is almost funny..What a bunch of out of touch with real America can one be.
And they wonder why their ratings are dire..
Just because libs are dim do not assume the rest of us are.
MessNBC has no political agenda
Submitted by donaldduck on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 9:30pm.
Yo, Billy Wolfman: people like you are the reason that MessNBC will continue to drop in the ratings until only the PuffHo and Daily Kooks crowds are the only ones watching. Keep on talking Billy Boy, keep on talking.