One thing Abby should have followed up: she asked abt Trusty ask for meet w Garland, and he went on his spiel abt DOJ persecution. She should have asked if he'd already requested+had meet w J Smith. Bc that would be usual process, and he likely told them: get ready for indictment
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Bill Carter
@wjcarter
Author of 4 books including The Late Shift. NYT Reporter for 25+ yrs. Current CNN analyst, Exec Prod of doc series "Story of Late Night"+"History of Sitcom."
New York, New YorkJoined July 2008
Bill Carter’s Tweets
And when you're caught and your only defense is just that it's a "leak campaign," you have no defense to the facts at hand.
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Abby Philips giving a master class in not sitting for Trump-side BS with lawyer Trusty. Polite, calm, but no nonsense.
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LEGALLY--of course there is. But the Hollywood tape was a brutal indictment of an attitude twd women. He won white women vote after that. MAYBE, this gets him indicted. What happens then, that's the dicey part. Surely, we have to hear it first.
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I think there's a material difference between Trump being a pig on tape vs. admitting in clear terms knowledge that he was committing a serious crime. twitter.com/wjcarter/statu…
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When "tapes" became the story, it was over for R Nixon. We have already seen one hugely damning tape (Access Hollywood) do nada to Trump. Will this one ultimately matter? History says yes; but RECENT history says: Don't count on it.
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Fair to say Ben Bradlee would have called this a “holy-shit story.” twitter.com/kaitlancollins…
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ONLY thing that would make this interesting (and only 2d time that word was ever used in connection w Mike Pence-1st: not caving on 1/6) is if he suddenly came out swinging vs Trump. Calling him "a threat to the nation as he was a threat to my family!" But...Nah. No way.
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Pence will reportedly announce for the Presidency next week. Anyone have a reaction to this report?
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More than ever, it feels like wide swath of media--esp political reporters--REALLY want conflict. Bc they are increasingly less in news game, than drama game. They're wanna-be war reporters, looking for bombs and endless hostilities. So they reject ANY sign of calming.
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The 10 p.m. ET package on @CBSNewsRadio was particularly bad. Two soundbites from the Freedom Caucus with absolutely no context or pushback about the falsehoods they spread. twitter.com/tabacoffd/stat…
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Attack on "elites" is farcical given his own resume. But R audiences only respond to rage. They NEED some group to hate. DeS feeds the rage, promising to "destroy" ppl w different pt of view. PLEASE someone ask him how: by sending ppl to re-education camps?
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New w/ @NickNehamas from Iowa: Denouncing ‘Elites’ in 2024 Kickoff Speech, DeSantis Vows to ‘Impose Our Will on Washington’ nytimes.com/2023/05/30/us/
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Along w everything else, the guy is such a louse. McEnany did everything but spit-shine his shoes. Now she's worth trashing bc she didn't slavishly pump him up on Fox. R's are so bereft of self-respect they won't call out this odious level of one-way loyalty.
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Trump criticizes McEnany, who came out and defended him the day after Jan. 6 from the White House briefing room. twitter.com/meridithmcgraw…
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They don't give a damn whether it's true. Why ruin a good slur w the truth?
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This NYPost story claiming Joe Biden was vice president in 2018 has now been up for hours with no correction
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Well I guess now Trump can say the election was rigged and actually, for the first time, have proof.
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In an interview with Steve Bannon, impeached Texas AG @KenPaxtonTX suggested that he stole Texas's electoral college votes for Donald Trump.
In the interview, he claims:
1. He stopped 2.5M mail-in ballots during 2020.
2. Biden would have won Texas.Show this thread
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Of course, response is always same: “witch-hunt” this +“weaponization” that. And Trump cult waves fists and shrieks: “Yeah!” But after all that’s gone down w this guy, are there really many ppl who believe Trump would never do something like hide dox bc he thinks he owns them?
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NEW: Trump lawyer who searched for classified docs asked if he should look anywhere else at Mar-a-Lago to respond to DOJ subpoena, including Trump’s office, where the FBI later found the most sensitive materials. He was steered away. @guardian exclusive theguardian.com/us-news/2023/m
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How can this guy be taken seriously(he isn’t, outside MAGA circle) when, in 1st 2 grafs of accusation-laden screed v Bidens, he says Joe B was VP in 2018 (!) when Hunter B was falling apart? Isn’t being in touch w facts +real time required to deserve some shred of credibility?
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The NY Post is out with my column today on the most recent disclosures in the Hunter Biden scandal. nypost.com/2023/05/29/new
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Without question, two of the best pros of TV coverage you will find anywhere ( as well as two of the best guys- period.)
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Goodness #JohnDoyle, we should talk more often! This week's guest on brioux.tv: the podcast is driving traffic at a record rate. Read more about the retired #GlobeandMail TV critic and hear him now at this link: bit.ly/43AfizC
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1)Start w gratuitous+embarrassing (to her) insult
2)Spin out familiar litany of R austerity pts, ONLY trotted out when D in WH
3)Validate inability to PASS any of this by what? Allowing catastrophic default?
4)Vote No; set up JB to justify 14thA; get NOTHING out of hostage taking
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Washington is broken.
Republicans got outsmarted by a President who can’t find his pants.
I’m voting NO on the debt ceiling debacle because playing the DC game isn’t worth selling out our kids and grandkids.
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This guy is a GREAT baseball player.
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OK, legit media: do you call this guy out or let this ugly threat go as just more "extreme rhetoric for the base?" In past no candidate would escape having to answer for such an outrageous comment. But Repubs are treated like theatrical villains-"It's all for show, no big deal."
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The asymmetry in American politics is really astounding. Dems get hounded by media and centrists and opponents about whether they'll govern in a bipartisan fashion, and conservatives are out here promising tribunals twitter.com/RonFilipkowski…
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He is literally saying he will destroy how abt half the county thinks and what it believes in. What sort of power does he think he will have? And how will he wield it? Concentration camps? Re-education Siberias? What Democratic leader talks this way?
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Continuing the right-wing counter-revolution Daddy Trump started. This is how Fascists talk. He will not just go after leftists, or LGBTQ+ individuals, or progressive Blacks and Latinos. He'll go after anyone who does not fall into line and fall silent. That's what Fascists do. twitter.com/RonFilipkowski…
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Isn't Biden in something resembling catbird seat? If Repubs somehow kill deal+openly prefer default, can't Joe say: "I compromised, made deal w their leader. Now they're putting our country in peril. Impossible to deal w these ppl. I must invoke 14thA to save our economy."
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Replying to @ThomasR97508123
I hope so, but that remains to be seen. Some of the GOP is actively trying to force a default. I think it probably passes.
But yes, Biden gave up very little when you look at what McCarthy and his caucus wanted.
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A truly spectacular talent- and that goes for both of them.
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25...RIP Phil twitter.com/TriumphICDHQ/s…
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The right is going to lose its collective mind over that quote. Imagine telling the truth instead of toeing the ideologue line! They will HATE him for this.
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I asked McCarthy about how he would describe his interactions with Biden during negotiations.
“Very professional, very smart. Very tough at the same time,” McCarthy replied
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Really: what in the hell is going on in the Repub party???
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“For me if it’s not a conspiracy. If it is real, why are you pushing so hard everywhere I go? Every store, you buy a globe, there’s globes everywhere. Every movie, every TV show, news media — why? More and more I’m like, it doesn’t make sense.” trib.al/cVFJGwb
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Matt Belloni explains what's going on in Hollywood better than anyone else.
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Aren't Repubs boxed in? If they reject plan, endorsed by McC who says Biden's made major concessions, and it goes down, default looms. THEN doesn't Joe go 14th A? Saying: "I compromised; these ppl are impossible. I must act to protect our economy." Thus: TOTAL win for Biden?
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Seeing a lot of people predicting Dems will supply votes for McCarthy if there’s a Freedom Caucus rebellion. But why? What exactly is in it for them? We cld go way down the rabbit of what he’d need to agree to support or refrain from for the support. But the reality is that a …
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Apparently multiple indictments, maybe one for treason, as well as liability for sex assault and inspiring the overthrow of our democracy are not yet good enough reasons.
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"People who love Mr. Trump need reasons they can explain to themselves to peel away." wsj.com/articles/tim-s
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Putting rainbow shirts inside a store is a decision to “wage war” w segment of populace? Do shirts emit poison gas? So ludicrous it should be embarrassing to even utter, but it’s another example of right’s intent to turn every aspect of culture they disagree w into an apocalypse.
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[Violin plays Ashokan Farewell. Slow pan over tweet.]
Dearest Mother,
I take this pen in hand...
read image description
ALT
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There were two outs?? For sure top ten stupidest play of all time.
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This for me is a top ten play of all time in any sport. twitter.com/BleacherNation…
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Ppl-esp mad partisans like Barr-still fail to recognize Fox has no right to ID itself as a “news” network. Trying to hide behind “journalism” is laughable. It’s a propaganda network. When it finally reported accurately-Biden won-it backtracked immediately to assuage rabid viewers
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NEW: The inside story of how Fox managed to tank its ratings, further sully its reputation, cost itself nearly a billion dollars and lose its top rated star.
w/@jimrutenberg and Jeremy Peters
nytimes.com/2023/05/27/bus
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Great stuff from Merrill.
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Here is the link to the whole page which now contains a bunch of stuff. At the moment I am doing comics but that could change any second. I switch around a lot.
merrillmarkoe.substack.com
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Wonder when wide political media will grasp dilemma for DeS. If he gets real traction Trump world will attack even harder. If he somehow BEATS Trump? “Vote was rigged!” And Trump will do everything to see him lose, maybe including 3d party. Chances he’ll endorse? Minus a million.
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The energy has shifted since DeSantis launched his campaign on Wednesday.
Trump boosters are blocking people left and right, one of them just got *fired* because they went crazy on the timeline, Bannon’s War Room posse is reduced to angrily barking in Elon’s mentions, while… Show more
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Sure. But I feel I have to note that the spectacular quote you cited from Lorne M is actually from the 2d late night book, the War for Late Night.
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Replying to @wjcarter
Can I DM you? This is quite the TV tale. It’s like that guy from the Today show, but like, miles worse.
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Have to admit I’m not up to speed on the current shit-show levels of ITV, or any of UK networks and other TV entities; but I’ll take your word for it.
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Replying to @wjcarter
I mean, look at the ITV shit show going on right now. (The podcast and the follow up book were awesome too, thank you.)
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Multi grazie for the kind words.
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I was talking to someone about telly, commercial telly especially, and how it works, and I remembered this passage from @wjcarter’s fantastic book “The Late Shift”.
If you want to know what ITV is like, it’s all here, really, with the added truism of “it is anything - ANYTHING… Show more
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Political media doesn’t know how-nor does it want to-do anything except knee-jerk horserace coverage.For that reason-and bc right-wing media+voters ONLY care abt power and denying it to progressives-Trump actually has chance to win despite unimaginable record of corruption+crime.
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Yet most of the political analysis I see remains stuck in a way of parsing and measuring political support and campaign effectiveness that speaks to a different time. Not the present time.
Want more? Take a quick moment to sign up:
morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.com
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In the moment it's MUCH worse. The guy already faced q's abt not being ready for prime time. So he skipped prime-time entirely, instead signed on to Musk-vision, and came across utterly inept. Like screaming "Look at me! I'm hip and cool!" and then having your pants fall down.
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Replying to @wjcarter
My rankings -- Dukakis, Muskie, Jeb Bush. Way too soon to judge the DeSantis launch. How likely is that to be remembered 50-plus years from now like Muskie? Probably not very likely.
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Almost parody: "Let's find SOMETHING positive abt right-wing pols so we don't get labeled "partisan" media." Most inept presidential launch in history had "potential strengths." Like saying the Edsel had potential strengths bc it didn't explode like that car in The Godfather.
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Ron DeSantis’s rocky entry into the 2024 presidential race, which began with 20-plus embarrassing minutes of Twitter glitches, showed some potential strengths. Still, it was a night his team will be eager to put behind them.
Here are some takeaways. nyti.ms/3ouraEC
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The only good thing for DeSantis out of today's DeBacle is that late-night shows and SNL aren't on the air. This would have produced an epic-level, totally deserved pounding.
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Gee, thanks!
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Replying to @wjcarter
You were amazing on the Thirsty Seinfeld podcast. Brilliant interview
Good one, for sure. Worse than DeSantis today??
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Replying to @wjcarter
I think Howard Dean deserves at least an honorable mention.
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Rank the total campaign embarrassments:
1)Jeb begs for applause
2)Muskie cries
3)Dukakis looks silly in tank helmet
4)DeSantis launch is Hindenburg-level tech disaster.
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