Ted Koppel Says "NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Excuse me ... if? IF?? https://t.co/i0liXdKGlh

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) August 23, 2020

Back when Jon Stewart was kind-of-a-big-deal and GWBush was using Karl Rove's brain to outsource his lies and conspiracy theories (even Rove was QAnon is full of "whackos," of that tells you anything), Ted Koppel as still on TV on the regular and interviewed Stewart at the site of the GOP Convention (A REAL ONE!)  that year.  Stewart posited a hypothetical (which could easily come true this year, although not with Koppel as the featured target).  What if, Stewart asked, a speaker in the convention said in his speech that Ted Koppel was a drug runner and a dope dealer and other nasty things (I forget the specifics)?  Wouldn't you be obliged to point out those lies about you?

No, said Koppel, to Stewart's dropped jaw amazement.  No, I would not.

Koppel was making it perfectly clear his only job was to be a mouthpiece, a megaphone, a pass-through.  This was while C-SPAN was around (IIRC), but not a significant player.  To this day I wonder what the difference is, to Koppel, between journalism on TeeVee and C-SPAN setting up cameras so you can watch what happens.  I have no problem with C-SPAN; but they don't pretend to be journalists.  Then again, a lot of cable talking heads on CNN and MSNBC and FauxNoise pretend to be journalists and then pontificate like drunks at the bar the minute the show (speech, convention, what-have-you) is over.  There is no further news to report, but they've got to justify those salaries and those sets and "journalism," so....

It's not getting better, IOW.  This morning Chunk Toad had Sen. Mark Warner (IIRC) on from the Senate Intelligence Committee.  He was the only Senator from the Committee who would go on Press the Meat and talk about vol. 5 of their report on Trump and Russia in 2016.  Tired of listening to Warner explain in clear terms what the report found, Toad went to a footnote about Bannon commenting on Trump, Jr. and his general ignorance of all things.  It was a gossipy bit and Toad wanted some gossip; this policy and counterintelligence stuff was getting dry, especially after Warner waxed the floor with virtual Marco Rubio on videotape making Barr-like noises about his own report (lies, IOW; all lies).  Warner was having none of it, but why did Toad want to drop the import of the report to talk about a gossipy footnote?  Because Bannon has been arrested?  Or because he was bored?

This, btw, is what Warner said to Toad:

MARK WARNER: "One of the most stunning [revelations from the Senate Intel Russia report] was the level of detail of the then-campaign manager Paul Manafort sharing very specific campaign information with a Russian agent." pic.twitter.com/4YxelB5JuE

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 23, 2020

Toad wanted gossip about Jr. in return.

Honest to Pete, our public discussions of politics and policy could be carried on by the Mean Girls.  At least it would be more entertaining; it certainly wouldn't be less enlightening.