SNL Cold Open was lame and needlessly harsh to Eugene Robinson

[Stinky The Clown]

Keenan Thompson played him. The writers gave him doofus lines about an interest of Jeff Bezos' dick pics.

Kinda poor taste

[obnoxiousdrunk]

1. To be fair

they gave Peggy Noonan doofus lines too.

[scarletwoman]

4. Peggy Noonan IS a doofus! She totally deserves doofus lines, Gene Robinson does NOT!

I'm wondering if you even know who Peggy Noonan - speechwriter for Ronald Reagan - is...

[obnoxiousdrunk]

6. If it wasn't

For you I would never know who Peggy Noonan is. Thx

[scarletwoman]

11. Oh dear. There's a lot of history there.

Do a google search on "Our Lady of the Magic Dolphins" to get a little caught up.

Also, read this: http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2019/02/magic-dolphin-lady-lauds-speech-beamed.html

[flibbitygiblets]

16. Do a google search on sarcasm

[scarletwoman]

2. I agree. It was massively disrespectful to Eugene Robinson, who in no way deserves such a totally

inaccurate, baseless caricature. I found it really disgusting.

[dem4decades]

3. Glad i didn't watch it. Don't mind Chuckie taking a bit but

Robinson ain't a bad guy.

[MustLoveBeagles]

5. I'm glad I didn't see that

Eugene Robinson hasn't done anything to deserve that.

[UTUSN]

7. It insinuated on Gene (if he's Gay it ain't bad) & made BRAZILE the "reasonable" character

All I know about Gene is that he's brilliant, represents everything I think. I know nothing about his life, not to mention his personal life (I'll Wiki him now). Well, I try to keep up with whatever the "news" topics are and if BEZOS's dick is going to be pictured, I guess I'll look at the pictures - to keep up with things, really. But I don't get why this angle got pinned on Mr ROBINSON. Much less why BRAZILE was portrayed as the center of judgment of anything.

*****ON EDIT, the Wiki says this/toto:

Early years and education
Robinson was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina and schooled at Orangeburg Wilkinson High School, where he "was one of a handful of black students on a previously all-white campus."[4]

Before graduating from the University of Michigan in 1974, he was the first African American co-editor-in-chief of The Michigan Daily.[4] During the 1987-1988 academic year, he was a mid-career Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.[5][6]

Career
In 1976, he began his journalism career at the San Francisco Chronicle; his early assignments included the trial of publishing heiress Patty Hearst. He joined The Washington Post in 1980. Working his way up through the ranks, he was first a city hall reporter at the paper. He then became the assistant city editor; a South America correspondent based in Buenos Aires, Argentina; London bureau chief; foreign editor; and, most recently, the assistant managing editor of the paper's Style section. He began writing columns for the opinion page of the paper in 2005, also writes a twice-a-week column on politics and culture, and conducts a weekly online conversation with readers.

Robinson appears frequently as a liberal political analyst[7] on MSNBC cable-TV network's programs such as Morning Joe, PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Ed Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. In addition, he is often a panelist on NBC's public affairs program Meet the Press.

Robinson was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in recognition of his columns that focused on then-Senator Barack Obama in the context of his first presidential campaign.[8]

[Stinky The Clown]

8. He's married. He is highly respected and accomplished. Has a Pulitzer and is on the Pulitzer board.

He's an associate editor of WaPo and a columnist syndicated in hundreds of papers.

As said above. He didn't deserve the be skewered.

[UTUSN]

9. As I said, 1) highly respected (by me), 2) accomplished, 3) Pulitzer, 4) WaPo columnist

Those are what I knew. I don't think "Gay" is skewering, but was struck that it was made to seem so.

[Judi Lynn]

13. I recorded the show, haven't watched it yet, but am glad to be forewarned.

Have to thank you for the information regarding Eugene Robinson. I have ALWAYS listened to him any time he has been on a cable talk show, and that has been a whole lot for the last few years.

Just a week ago, when he was on Morning Joe, I recalled he had been on The Last Hour the previous night, and I realized he is almost not even getting any decent sleep! He's in real demand these days, and greatly respected.

I was so interested in learning he was in Buenos Aires, and I'll bet he was there during some of the dictatorship. If so, he would have had a wealth of information to absorb then which should be informing his thoughts these days as a President who openly admires the handiwork of the dictatorship is hard at work running the country into the ditch again!

Looks as if he's been all over the place. Very, VERY likable guy, with a wonderful personality. Thanks for adding some background. He sounds even more informed than I thought he was already.

[UTUSN]

18. I can't tell you how much you are my *DARLING*/Judi Lynn -

I would heart you but you don't need me. I *SO* love you.

I want to say so much to you but can't and won't

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

10. Cold open was weak.

[greyl]

12. SNL is not documental. nt

[nini]

14. It's not supposed to be reality

It wasn't the best open ever but I didn't think they were seriously demeaning Robinson either. It was just stupid. And for the record I love Eugene Robinson. He's one of my favorites.

[Judi Lynn]

15. There is NO excuse for any kind of disrespect posturing as "humor" toward this guy.

He is an excellent human, whose opinion matters a great deal. People respect him, and seek his presence continually. I am certain he has been on news shows every day, some weeks, in addition to his real job.

Thanks for posting this thread, as I am glad to know in advance to my watching the show I recorded earlier. I wouldn't appreciate seeing that disrespect cold!

[flibbitygiblets]

17. Thompson is always funny to me.

Even when the skit makes no sense, he's one of my favorites of all time.

Sometimes SNL just makes shit up. Remember when they made Barry Gibb a thin skinned hot head? Or Lindsay Buckingham seem mealymouthed?

I thought this was another situation where they just were being silly. I don't think the skit was aimed at denigrating Robinson (who I highly respect). The line (referring to Besos' junk) was something like "as a journalist this is beneath us all, but as a human being I'm interested". Then two of the panelists , and the host, gave in to temptation and speculated about the physical details, while only Brazille, played by Leslie Jones, remained professional.

While we're critiquing the show, Kyle Mooney is the one I just don't get. He's not remotely funny. Ever.

[lanlady]

19. I totally agree with you

It was uncalled for -- Eugene Robinson is a brilliant, respected journalist. The jokes fell flat. Saying the word penis 100 times in the space of a minute doesn't make a thing funny.

[dsc]

20. While I do think it was unfair to Robinson

I think the skit made some valid points about the state of journalism not just today but for at least the past 2 decades.