Though most discernible news consumers probably gave up long ago, that old adage, “Where there’s life, there’s hope,” might have inspired a few to watch MSNBC February 7 in the hope that, given one more chance, the chatterboxes at the network might engage in attempts at fair journalism, rather than continue their long history of collectivist propaganda.
As one might guess, if they tuned-in to the net to see its reportage on the coming Tucker Carlson interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, their hopes for improvement were dashed on the shorelines of snark, prejudgment, and narrative-framing.
First, the set-up.
We join MSNBC hostess Alex Wagner, as she sits across from fellow MSNBC “journalist” Ali Velshi to immediately dismiss Tucker Carlson’s own journalism and integrity.
Said Wagner to Velshi:
“It is not just Donald Trump who is parroting Putin’s lies, er, Putin’s lines. It is Tucker Carlson who is, you know, a band-leader, if you will, for this faction of Republicans who are defeating these bills (for additional unconstitutional weapons and financial aid to the government of Ukraine), was in Moscow, interviewing Vladimir Putin. I asked Secretary Clinton about that (raises air quotes) ‘journalistic’ endeavor…”
Which, apart from her claim that Tucker is a “band-leader” of anything, and apart from her dismissing the idea that Carlson might have engaged in “journalism” when she hadn’t even seen the interview, brings to mind a few key points at the outset.
First, this is MSNBC, which regularly features employees who repeatedly have engaged in such biased and shoddy journalism, it’s a wonder most people don’t consider it a spoof news site like the Babylon Bee.
This is the network that marched in lockstep with the unproven “Russian Hacking” narrative concerning the 2016 leak of DNC emails – data that, as NSA expert William Binney and many others have explained, was transferred so rapidly that it had to have been done on-site, contrary to the “Russia did it through the internet” notions promulgated by MSNBC.
This is the network that for years poo-pooed the authenticity of the Hunter Biden hard-drive, despite its authenticity being obvious.
This is the network that trotted out “experts” to bolster belief in what was the false “Steele Dossier” – a “dossier” claiming Donald Trump had corrupt ties to Russian interests, a “dossier” that also was unjustly used as a pretext for the federal government to breach the Fourth Amendment and spy on then-candidate Donald Trump.
And the person to whom Alex Wagner spoke is Ali Velshi, infamous for his breathtakingly absurd, insipid claim that a 2020 Black Lives Matter riot in Minneapolis was a “not, generally speaking, unruly” protest – as he literally stood in front of a burning building.
That would be Ali Velshi, the man who, as noted by MRCTV last July, hosted two guests to talk about propaganda and journalism, integrity in news, and his own work, and who said:
“I’m not – my audience doesn’t have conspiracy theorists in it…”
The person to whom he spoke was none other than Nina Jankowicz, former head of the unconstitutional DOJ “Disinformation Board,” aka the “Ministry of Truth,” who not only made herself famous for pushing censorship in a land where both her ministry and censorship are verboten by the US Constitution, but who LITERALLY MADE HERSELF FAMOUS FOR CHANGING THE LYRICS OF A MARY POPPINS SONG to push the politically-useful, utterly baseless, claim that Russian propaganda was shaping our minds.
That was the set-up.
That was the environment.
Those were the hosts.
Then, we got to enjoy Hillary Clinton, responding to Wagner’s laugh-peppered first question (and Wagner’s second dig on Carlson as a journalist) about Carlson’s attempt to talk to Putin. Asked Wagner:
“What does that tell you about Tucker Carlson, and right-wing media, and, also, Vladimir Putin?”
Hillary Clinton offered:
“Well, it shows me what I think we’ve all known. He’s what’s called a ‘useful idiot.’”
"[Tucker Carlson] is what's called a 'useful idiot'... he's like a puppy dog."
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 7, 2024
Hillary Clinton reacts to Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin in an exclusive sit-down with @WagnerTonight tonight at 9pm ET on MSNBC. pic.twitter.com/xB4c02puet
That being a term from the Cold War days. A term coined by Lenin to describe US leftists who wanted to embrace Soviet Marxism and collectivism – i.e. people like Ms. Clinton and her husband in their college years.
Now, decades after the fall of the Soviet Empire, Hillary tries to flip the narrative. All those years when the Lenin term applied to her and Bill now are erased, and her culture, wisdom, and keen eye for truth allow her to apply the insult to a US reporter who wants to interview the President of Russia.
In short notice, Clinton also added:
“I would not be surprised if he emerges with a contract with a Russian (news) outlet.”
Folks with memories might recall “contracts” for the notorious “Uranium One” during Hillary’s time as Obama Administration Secretary of State. That would be the strangely timed 2013 sale of a Canadian nuclear material corporation to Russian interests that Hillary approved which, yes, how strange, seemed to be correlated to a gigantic Russian donation to.. The Clinton Foundation.
As the New York Times originally reported:
“As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Hillary Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company also donated.
Soon after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Bill Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.”
But don’t linger on the memory. After all, MSNBC and Hillary have plenty more drivel to dollop.
Hillary also expressed wonder over Tucker Carlson having the temerity to leave the US, and talk to Putin, telling Wagner that Putin was telling “lies” about Ukraine.
Related: MSNBC Host Claims 'My Audience Doesn't Have Conspiracy Theorists' | MRCTV
Of course, anyone who compares the statements Putin has made about the expansion of NATO (an expansion that NATO undertook contrary to the promise of non-expansion then Secretary of State James Baker gave the newly reformed Russian government in the 1990s), and anyone who is familiar with the US involvement in the late 2013, early 2014 “regime change” in Ukraine (and US political figures literally cozying up to Nazi ideologues from the Svoboda party) knows that Putin’s points about Russian concerns regarding Ukraine-NATO-US aggression are historically valid.
They also know that Hillary provided no information to counter those facts. She just claimed Putin is lying and Carlson will spread those so-called “lies.”
Curiously, all of this is on MSNBC, and we can refer to my earlier list to note just a few of their departures from any semblance of truth-telling.
Finally, Hillary, that saintly woman, expressed her concern over the fact that Carlson should talk to Putin, and she made a veiled reference to, one might guess, Trump supporters:
“There is a yearning for a leader who can kill and imprison their opponents, destroy the press…”
This coming from the woman who served as Secretary of State for the Obama-Biden Administration, the administration that attempted to use the Espionage Act against more journalists and whistle-blowers than all other administrations COMBINED, going back to the passage of the act in World War One.
This from the woman whose campaign was TIED TO the funding for the fake Steele Dossier “research.”
This coming from the woman who seems oblivious to the fact that not only has there been no journalistic freedom and no freedom of assembly in Ukraine going back to at least 2021, there is no religious freedom there, and US journalist Gonzalo Lira just died in Ukrainian custody.
There are not enough words in any language to express the dimensions of insult, disgust, affront, and frustration one can feel when dealing with Clinton’s remarks and those of her MSNBC hosts.
But there is a bright side. Upon watching the Calrson-Putin exchange, one can note that Tucker Carlson not only did ask valuable questions of Putin – which made the MSNBC attempt to prejudice people appear even more desperate and insane – but Carlson’s request of Putin that he release US journalist Evan Gershkovich from custody is a positive that might lead to the man’s freedom.
Did Hillary, or anyone at MSNBC, call for the Ukrainian government to release Lira?
Too bad Wagner never asked Ms. Clinton about that.
They were too busy smirking, laughing, and bending the truth to fit their warmongering agenda.