George Will joins MSNBC, NBC News

[yallerdawg]

Source: The Hill, by Mark Hensch

Will became a cable news free agent once Fox News declined to renew his contributor contract after the 2016 election.

Will said last June that he was leaving the GOP over President Trump and becoming an unaffiliated voter.

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/332335-george-will-joins-msnbc-nbc-news-report


MSNBC:

[spanone]

1. 😌🔫

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. If he sticks to trashing Trump and Le Deplorables ...

[yallerdawg]

6. Sometimes...

the "enemy of my enemy" is still my enemy.

Look at how far we have sunk since November.

A lifelong slick-talking arch-conservative is now considered tolerable on what used to be our alternative 'liberal' cable news network.

[VOX]

3. That bargain-basement Bill Buckley is worthless.

I'll be sure to avoid that bit of programming.

[dalton99a]

4. +1

[reflection]

12. B-B BB. I'm so stealing that. n/t

[JaneQPublic]

5. He would be tolerable if...

...in the bargain MSNBC unloaded Hugh Hewitt and Mark Halperin.

[Fla Dem]

7. I agree. Hugh Hewitt is totally replusive. I can take Halperin.

Sometimes he can be middle of the road. Will have to see what schtick George Will brings to the table. I don't think they're giving him a show, just a contributor. I can handle that.

[OnDoutside]

20. I find Halperin repulsive as well. He greases himself for entry into Trump's anus.

[JaneQPublic]

23. Haven't liked Halperin since he called Obama a "Dick."

Plus, he was totally snarky and obnoxious on his short-lived show, "With All Due Respect."

I don't expect MSNBC to be a total left-wing echo chamber, but I can't tolerate right-wingers who lie or cop a snarky, imperious attitude (definitely Hewitt and often Halperin).

The few times I caught Will on MSNBC, he seemed more muted than when he was on ABC's This Week carrying the flag for the GOP. Perhaps disowning his party will give him a more interesting perspective.

[NewRedDawn]

41. Fuck Mark Heartburn!

I cant stand the little pinched faced Trump bootlicking prick.

[Bluepinky]

14. And maybe Greta?

I don't watch her show, but I hear mixed reviews about her. Her voice is an irritant to me. Fox probably got rid of her because she's not sexy or attractive enough.

[OnDoutside]

22. You're missing nothing, she's awful.

[JaneQPublic]

29. She's improved considerably since her first few MSNBC episodes.

Initially, she was so obviously trying to hold on to her Fox News viewers -- letting GOPers lie and ramble with nary a challenge yet interrupting Dems' every utterance to cross-examine them.

But then last week I caught a couple of her shows. (The TV is still on MSNBC from the night before when I turn it on after work.) I was surprised she came down pretty hard on the Trump outrage du jour, and when she took sides on an issue, her reasoning was more pragmatic than partisan.

I'm definitely not a Greta fan, as I can think of a dozen other hosts who would be better in that time slot. But I would much rather watch her show than its predecessor (Halperin's "With All Due Respect&quot or the show that follows hers, Tweety's "Hardball." (Why on earth is Matthews still on TV?)

[Demsrule86]

8. fine I guess...but I would be really excited if Keith Olberman came back...

It is obvious that the powers that be want MSNBC to be Fox lite and don't care about ratings...this is why we must work on giving media back to the people and out of the hands of the corporations when we get back in power...cable companies should not own newspapers or television stations.

[yallerdawg]

13. The NBC family of stations sold us the "credible" Trump creation.

If you are a soulless corporation, "soul-searching" is a myth - the ongoing MSNBC rightwing swing is not a coincidence.

How soon will it be before Rachel gets her walking papers? Or looks around and declares, "I don't belong here?"

Isn't there a former Fox News contributor with the most-watched show on cable news available now?

They got Megyn already!

[Demsrule86]

28. I agree...they are on the rightie bandwagon...and we complain about the left on RT

It make me angry that these folks are on RT...but honestly where else can they go? It is a disgrace.

[HughBeaumont]

9. Barf.

For every one moment of sanity and reason George Will has, he displays over a dozen more instances of friendlier batshit.

[AngryAmish]

10. What demo are they going for? The dead?

[betsuni]

18. Okay, I laughed at that.

I think Will is from the 18th century, 19th at the latest.

[SticksnStones]

11. Well, if the right tune in to MSNBC to hear Will maybe they'll stay

and get deprogrammed by Rachel.

Who knows? It could be some crazy long game to pull righties away from Fox so we can show them the saner side of politics ~

"MSNBC: Come for the Outrage, Stay for the Education"

[yallerdawg]

16. You wake up with "Joe."

You get news all day.

Then your afternoon with Nicole Wallace, Greta Van Susteren, and now noted contributions from George Will and possibly Hugh Hewitt.

Rachel won't save us.

[SticksnStones]

19. But what about all those republican old timers who fall asleep in front of the TV?

That's FOX's demo, isn't it?

They'll be listening to the nighttime line up of Chris, Rachel and Lawrence - repeated all night long - while they're sleeping, subliminally reconditioning their subconscious minds!

It could be brilliant ~

[yallerdawg]

24. I'll have to go with Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon.

I" vote with my wallet" and if we give them more viewership - support their programming/advertising - we'll get more of the rightwing and less of the Keith Olbermann's.

I haven't watched George Will in 30 years. Not happening now.

[SticksnStones]

25. Well, heck I wasn't advocating for any progressive to put eyeballs on the guy

I'm just musing in digital text that maybe some good could trickle out of this.


An anecdote: I was staying at my republican sister's house for an extending time a few years back and as a reflex, I would put MSNBC on in the morning on the kitchen TV. My sister didn't consume much news and didn't care what station the tv was tuned to.

Fast forward 3 years and my banker/republican sister is watching Rachel nightly. And coming around. And she voted for Hillary (allegedly 😉

Not an apples to apples as she wasn't really a Fox viewer but she was an everyday NY Post reader...not so much anymore -

[renate]

32. I like Nicole Wallace, Charlie Sykes, Steve Schmidt, and the ex-GOP congressman who had a beard...

... shaved it off, and is growing a new one. (Obviously, I forget his name. )

I don't mind seeing conservatives on MSNBC if they aren't liars or mindless members of the GOP Hive.

[yallerdawg]

34. Former OK Senator Tom Coburn with on again/off again beard?

We have a rightwing network.

We need a liberal alternative.

We had it - and now have lost it. MSNBC is unwatchable.

[renate]

37. no, ew, blah! ... I think the one I'm thinking of is from California n/t

[NewRedDawn]

42. It is Ex Congressman David Jolley

from Florida. He is pretty reasonable as Putin Pukes go.

[renate]

45. yes! that's him!

I think there'd be a lot of good in having reasonable, decent Republicans like him (and like, IMHO, the others I mentioned) on MSNBC. Sure, it'd be more fun to be a Fox viewer and only hear from people I agree with, but I also think it's valuable to hear other points of view as long as they're reality based.

[kstewart33]

15. A good move for MSNBC.

If Will is a guest analyst/commentator on MSNBC shows and is not given his own show, I think it's a good move. The network needs some conservative voices to keep it from becoming a bubble. IMHO, different voices are needed as long as they do not dominate the programming. Banning conservatives is one step toward becoming the liberal version of Fox News.

[yallerdawg]

21. The problem is...

they are removing liberal voices.

Keith Olbermann, Tamron Hall, Melissa Harris-Perry, Ed Schultz, Krystal Ball -- Joy-Ann Reid and Al Sharpton relegated to weekend morning children's entertainment time.

The old MSNBC is gone.

[kstewart33]

27. Let's take a closer look.

Keith is brilliant, but he has a long record of being a royal pain in the you-know-what, and so he has been bounced from one network show to another over the last 20 years. His latest gig is video casts for GQ magazine.

Schultz is a nut. He began as a hard-nosed conservative on radio, switched to being an effective voice for the liberal cause, and then reversed back to hard-nosed conservatism.

He is now appearing on Russia Today, for geez sake. He's one of Putin's boys now. Which makes him kryptonite for the US media.

Tamron Hall wanted a better deal, and she was indeed a huge loss for MSNBC. Al Sharpton - frankly not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Melissa got in trouble when she publicly turned her contract disagreements into a racial issue. It may well have been racial bias, but she broke the first rule in broadcasting - don't attack the boss publicly, and like others, she paid the price. I haven't seen her lately which demonstrates the consequences of braking that rule.

Joy absolutely should have her own primetime show. She's a great, great talent. But who would she replace? I'd love to see her take Chris Matthews' slot, but that's not going to happen.

[yallerdawg]

31. They are replacing your "imperfect liberals" with George Will...

Nicole Wallace, Greta Van Susteren, Michael Steele - and now, possibly Hugh Hewitt, and Megyn Kelly popping up somewhere.

If we reward MSNBC with 'eyes' we'll only encourage the bastards.

[OnDoutside]

35. Tamron left of her own accord, Harris-Perry walked herself into being fired, same with KO,

Rev Al is past it, in my opinion. Granted Joy-Ann should be on a weekday, probably in the GVS slot, but the OUTSTANDING Ari Melber has his own well deserved 2 hour Sunday evening show now. Also Ali Velshi is a great move.

GVS's show is appalling and her ratings must be shocking, I wonder how long they'll give her ?

[DFW]

43. I'm biased about Krystal

She has been a personal friend for years, and I was probably more upset than she was when the Cycle was canceled. She and Jonathan are rarely in New York any more, and with their small kids, it must be hard moving around. I hope her path brings her back to MSNBC. I thought she provided a fresh voice to their programming, and I thought she did well with her "Krystal Clear" segments.

It's a royal pain in the ass for me to go searching for segments of US TV shows anyway, as I don't get American TV here. Half or more of the clips I see are from links posted by DU people, so please keep it up!

[NewRedDawn]

44. I used to love Ed

but he is now a Putin water carrying Trump loving sell out now over at RT.

[elehhhhna]

26. Lol major network fail

[Bleacher Creature]

30. Lean Rightward???

I guess that's their new slogan.

[Voltaire2]

33. Whew! Right wing white men were dangerously unrepresented.

[longship]

36. I would have preferred David Frum or John Dean.

Or...

Keith fucking Olbermann!!!

[Wolf Frankula]

38. MSNBC gets Will the Lying Moron.

http://musicpleer.audio/#!dc9261e1659cbfb87b6a407936edbbd4 by Tom Smith.

Missnibick watchers get to hear the tinny arf of a lapdog. Thank you Mike Royko for that.

Wolf

[yallerdawg]

39. Song gets it right!

I had to cancel Newsweek back in early 'eighties because of his column espousing his rightwing conservatism - I repeatedly sent them letters (back then) how objectionable it was to have that sent to my home as if it was somehow 'newsworthy' and not just a choice to annoy me!

MSNBC will get the same treatment!

[PatSeg]

40. I've seen Will on Lawrence O'Donnell's

show several times recently and I had a hunch that he would be hired by MSNBC. I don't agree with him on many issues, but his criticism of the Trump administration has been very intelligent and eloquent. 100 times better than that smug clown, Hugh Hewitt.