Nonviable.
Monday, February 3rd, 2020
I’m trying to imagine the meetings at MSNBC and CNN where the producers say “okay, we’re not going to have any tangible results to report until late in the evening Eastern Time, but somehow, people, we’ve got to come on the air and carry prime time with gusto and energy.”
It’s probably easier to succeed with content, but the cable news folks have decided that a squad…make that a large squad of hyperactive young reporters, pulled from the ranks of interns and producers, will economically lift the broadcasts up and, even as the lower-third graphics report “Awaiting First Iowa Results”, they will zip around high school auditoriums, hypercaffeinated and super camera-savvy: “Here, these three, you’re for Pete, right? And…” (zipping over to the other corner) “…you were for Amy before but not now and…”
And, well, I hit the mute button and contemplate how much this exercise will really affect the 2020 election which, I’m sorry, still feels several months away.
Instead, I commend to you Adam Schiff’s closing remarks today in the Senate (this is the whole 25 minutes. There are shorter clips elsewhere, but this really holds together as oratory for our times.)
