I think I changed my mind about wanting comments on my blog 😂

This one came from a subscriber. Oy.

(I removed her from the subscribe list)

@Teri_Kanefield
Inspirational Skeletor, one of Mastodon's greatest gifts, usually has a meme for times like this.

https://mas.to/@skeletor/111964119026386929

I think the above is a good one for this moment.

@Teri_Kanefield

Nailed it Teri. Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts into black and white.

@Teri_Kanefield
"Firing a Republican after she made a plea for people to get out of the echo chamber and listen to each other seems problematic to me."

But MSNBC is full of ex-republican pundits and hosts including an ex-rnc chair. No symmetry on Fox to that. This is a shift I expected when I saw demographics change. A lot of R's will migrate and pull D further right. That's what Lincoln project is. That's why Liz Cheney is welcomed there. The D establishment wants business as usual.

@Teri_Kanefield

I resent you believe that people worried in the US about fascism are gullible. I refuse to "be reasonable" about people who planned, abetted, & supported Trump, a man who is determined to destroy US democracy. McDaniel supports 45. McDaniel is a fascist sympathizer.

Polarization is a myth. #ProDemocracy RW, Center, & Center Left haven't changed their PoV at all. The GOP Party has been radicalized.

Please read academic Thomas Zimmer's work on that: https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/the-treacherous-allure-of-the-polarization

@Teri_Kanefield It’s a good explanation, and helps me understand why I’ve never cared for MSNBC’s commentators, even when they were right.

I do wish you had a one paragraph tl;dr at the start though. No receipts. Just “liberal media does this too: they said this happened, this is what actually happened. This is normal stuff.”

I think the people that need to hear it are glazing over before they get to the bottom.

And I say this with all the love and support of someone who writes huge posts that are far too long, and then spends hours shrinking them down to large posts that are still too long. At one job I literally started adding tl;dr’s to my email messages. It helped.

And yet, here I am at over 700 characters already.

@Teri_Kanefield I don't have a problem with contrary opinions, I have a problem with bringing in people whose political strategy has been to lie about their own opinions and motives. The entire GOP operation, of which she was a leader, does not exist to promote honest ideas.

It's another case of awarding someone with a job when they should be one of the last people on the list.

@Teri_Kanefield
It seems to be acceptable to say things that are not true and even float conspiracy theories as long as the pundit offers an emotionally evocative performance of partisan identity.

I see your point. But on at least one level I think you miss a point. McDaniel was a player in post election maneuvering, including the fake electors. She might seem like a nice Republican mom from the suburbs, but she is an insider in that scheme.

@Teri_Kanefield I think it's important to remain focused on the framing of the McDaniels hiring as being an attempt by NBC News executives to fuel more partisanship.

The idea that she was there to provide nuance seems laughable.

NBC execs wanted her and wanted her on MSNBC bc they knew she would create outbursts. Viral moments where the outrageous things she said mixed with the righteous anger of their liberal celebrities and exploded.

@Teri_Kanefield being less than reverent towards and entralled by Maddow is gonna bring you some complaints ...

but, yes, those purveyors of outrage are destructive. Even if they're "on our side". Perhaps especially when.