Bravo for writing this Matt! As I wrote after your testimony before the House, I am proud to call you a fellow American. The msnbc appearance will undoubtedly be full of bad faith questions and lecturing. Hope you make it through with your sanity intact. My subscription to your substack has been justified 1000%!
I've been a Taibbi fan since the Vampire Squid days. I was a homeowner victimized by the banks crimes against the mortgagors. Who would have thought that a Rolling Stone journalist would be the only one calling out the crooks? It boggled the mind.
I wish Matt would write about the proposed UCC Amendments that are going through 24 legislatures, as we speak, that put in peril millions of mortgages currently held. I write about it. Hope a few of you read what I wrote and take action.
Medhi H. was often WRONG in his line of questioning, but this was hardly an ad hominem attack interview. I have subscribed to Taibbi for FOUR YEARS, but that doesn't make me any more likely to parrot pro-Taibbi tribal bullshit than I am to parrot the US elite's tribal bullshit.
Hasan's first question: "Why do you believe these Twitter files are so important, and what should our viewers know about what's in them?"
Second point, cites agreement that FBI spends too much time and effort on social media efforts.
Third point: "Does your reporting show evidence of government censorship? I don't think so." Shows Biden *campaign* requests, points out they are not government. Says that the tweets in question also were to take down Hunter Biden near nudes or whatever, violation of twitter terms of service. Asks if Taibbi "didn't know [that] in which case that's kind of incompetent, or if he was hiding that fact". Matt goes on tirade about how MSNBC is incompetent and always has been.
That's true, but it was non-responsive to the point. Especially since a minute later Matt says he DID know that was the content "of course". So the IF from Hasan's construction is not held and he's not even calling Taibbi incompetent in the first place, he's simply accusing him of hiding something, which is fair.
To sum up: this was an interview with challenging questions, and Hasan embarassed himself later with false premises in some of those challenging questions. A better prepared Taibbi would have eviscerated him on the spot, and Hasan was later eviscerated on Twitter and shown to have no clothes. However, Taibbi's stance that this was an ad hominem attack interview is off base.
Hasan tried to answer the questions in 'entrapment' techniques, and then edit the answer. Classic msnbc rat game. I do not find fault with Taibbi. msnbc is KNOWN to hate what Taibbi accomplished, so all 'inuendos' and slurs are typical. as for their star 'anchor,' that woman, she is far worse. I expected no integrity of ANY msnbc human, that's what I watched. I agree, Matt COULD have eviscerated them, and indeed, in our estimation, should have. Occasionally, I believe many of us are all still way too polite out here. Time to trash the trash.
This is among the many below-the-radar, WEF-style, surreptitiously-forced anti-Capitalist strategies designed to separate individuals from the ability to survive independently from the State. Property rights (the *most* important ones of all!) are being stealth-destroyed by a thousand Statist cuts.
After reading Matt's take-down of MSNBC, I had to write my own take-down to my legislature for passing the UCC Amendments I wrote about in my first Substack post.
How were mortgagees (lenders) victimizers except that they did a bad job of being parents and saying "no" to borrowers who were unlikely to successfully repay their loans? I've never understood that framing.
Apparently you haven't read much regarding the Great Financial Crime Spree. I, myself, was a victim of the banks in 2 ways, one I write about in my first Substack post, but the other one was I was bait and switched at closing. Prior to closing, I was presented a prime loan, 30-year fixed. At closing, the loan presented was a negative am surprised loan. I am not financially sophisticated and should have rejected those closing documents however the real estate transaction I had agreed to would have put my $15,000 escrow on the line had I not closed on the date within the contract. So, I literally was trapped. I believed that in a year or so I could refinance and be fine. Then the real estate market collapsed. There were many people who were bait and switched, the lenders also were manufacturing financial documents to "fix" people's financial problems in back rooms. One Citigroup whistle-blower stated that mortgage backrooms looked like an art department because of the whiteout and pasting up new documents that was going on. This was all to feed to fraudulent RMBS Trusts that were providing Wall Street billions of money. Bonuses were all that mattered.
So your real estate purchase agreement didn't specify the minimum terms you'd accept as to amount, rate and term in a standard mortgage contingency? Did you not qualify for a fixed rate loan of the ordinary, amortized kind? If you did, why take the offered alternative?
Likely because the monthly payment was much smaller and you were sure you could get out when the introductory term elapsed. You placed a futures bet and lost. Did you have the benefit of counsel in any of this or did you waive it?
You are intent on making this my fault. Either look at the big picture A FUCKING BAIT AND SWITCH occurred or what I believe is you are a troll. Goodbye
The reason is in my first Substack article. If you are interested in why you can't and why the price of houses has risen much higher than inflation, read my Substack article. There will be more content coming. But please take action if you live in one of the states mentioned in the links.
The banks made SO MUCH MONEY during the Great Financial Crime Spree, why not conduct a do-over? They were bailed out with TWENTY NINE TRILLION, yes that's trillion with a "T." And all that money was stolen and put in someone's pockets. Plus no one went to jail, so now we're watching Greater Financial Crime Spree in progress.
In addition, our education system isn't teaching about the Great Financial Crime Spree. I have two colleagues just out of college. Neither know anything about what happened in 2008. That's like us not knowing about the Great Depression. There are so many avenues now of propaganda it's truly mind boggling.
"...Please find a link to the National Law Review analysis of these proposed UCC Amendments: New UCC Article 12 Matters to More than Just Cryptocurrency."
Attention "WAHomeowners" or "karen1p's substack": The link "National Law Review" link is a paid "advertisement"---more specifically it's propaganda distributed by BitCoin shills. Are you a BitCoin shill yourself? Or just the average, everyday Racket News commenter?
Did you actually READ my article I posted? I state "conservative blogs" are sounding the alarm on the proposed UCC Amendments issuing alarms about CBDCs, while that is a concern, the far bigger alarm needs to be the Amendments allowing the bankers to utilize the creation and delivery of electronic promissory notes. Why does this imperil our system? During the financial crime spree of 2008, the homeowners found the bankers were multiply-pledging notes into different RMBS trusts simultaneously. That is why public pensions are severely underfunded nationwide and also why the bailout, which was 29 TRILLION, was such a massive undertaking. The horrific Amendments would legalize the use of electronic promissory notes with zero consumer protection against these criminal aspects. Rather than trying to make a "gotcha" blogpost reply, perhaps you should learn how the bankers continue to imperil our financial system, dontcha think?
If you actually read my post on my Substack, the link that idiot Feldspar misquoted, the National Law Review, that article covers the additional dangers of the proposed UCC Amendment bills. So Mr. Idiot Feldspar is either a spook, or a spook.
You have undoubtedly done good work, but IMHO, this time is different; hence there will be a different outcome. Most importantly, approximately 85% of home mortgages are fixed rate, there is a housing shortage, and home builders are doing rate buy-downs to close deals. This cycle is the opposite of 2006-2008. I agree that home prices in hot markets will go down, but after a 40% rise in 2 years, that's not significant. IMHO, the real problem this time is Trillions in consumer credit and reckless fiscal spending creating Biden inflation, causing Fed rate hikes slowing the economy, and resulting in severe job layoffs. That event will start the dominoes to fall.
The dominoes are the banks. Will it be the next one that starts the line falling, or the next one, or...?
The Fed has lost control, and is trying to hide their panic.
Yes, the housing market is a canary (of various colors, depending, as you allude, to the positions of several cycles that impinge on the largest investment by far the vast majority make), but it is much too complicated (and local) a market to inform the public on policy.
The peeps will notice the big (captured) banks get bailed, while the medium (dependent on FAIR competition) are left (pun intended) to die by State-design, they being much too numerous to capture effectively with their emphasis on actually *serving* the individual.
Then, shazzam!
Total State control of *all* forms of wealth-stores-of-value.
Repeat that over and over until it really sinks in.
It was the subprime issue AT FIRST in 2008. What really did the trick was the dropping housing prices and the job losses. It is dropping housing prices and job losses that are fueling this housing crisis. It won't matter if you have a fixed rate mortgage if you can't pay the monthly bills and have no job.
Well, let's look at what happened in 2006-2007: in Florida, there were already 6 million foreclosures happening.....while on the West Coast, we were still buying properties. So, if you don't think that there is a housing crisis happening.....I'm sorry, but there is. And as the crisis widens, the East Coast will be falling too. Foreclosure Crisis II is underway.
Jobs report that came out yesterday was an abomination. The dollar is falling. Interest rates continue to rise. And holy shit, Jamie Dimon is stating that the government should apply eminent domain to get the climate crisis under control. For those of you that are unfamiliar with eminent domain, that's where the government can confiscate your private property because they've declared it an emergency.
I should have been more clear. It was never my intent to suggest there is no housing crisis, only that while it's in full throttle in some places, in those locales governed by more sanity, the wheels have yet to roll over us. I have zero doubt that catastrophe is around the bend and preach as much daily to anyone willing to listen. Fact is, I've reached a point where I view capitulation or violence as the only possible paths.
Just watched the aforementioned "interview." Interesting how these "journalists" like Medhi bring you on to ask specific question-statements, then talk over you the entire time instead of letting you answer, then they frame it as a "debate" even though they are the moderator and don't allow any rebuttals to their statements. It is nothing more than echo-chamber entertainment. It's the modern equivalent of the gladiators in Rome. They force anyone who has dared to offend the emperor into a heavily unbalanced cage match where they enjoy full armor, weaponry, and unquestioned support of the entire audience, while you don a loincloth armed with a pencil.
The fact MSNBC felt they had to have Matt on says a lot. The Twitter Files are really getting under their skins. Their friends are talking. They're worried. Good.
Before Matt goes on a show, he needs to understand what will happen. I would have just said, "this is not a meaningful or honest debate...I'm out of here" and walked off. That would have been the right statement and let them spin it any way they want. You don't need them to be successful.
MSNBC is not news. I would not even call it entertainment. It is corporate propaganda reported by vapid "insiders" (lol) who have zero clue what is really happening in the world. FUCK YOU MSNBC is the only appropriate response. I am SO thankful there are still a few brave journalists (like you) out there fighting these massive forces. Thank you for all your tireless work. <3
All Cable "News" is essentially entertainment. But once Trump Won MSNBC became Science fiction. Science Fiction, require an internal consistency to in-universe rule. Over time the in-universe physics became incompatible with real world facts.
Oh jeez, I wish some people in my family would understand it's "corporate propaganda reported by vapid insiders." They still think MSNBC is an upstanding and fine source of good news.
That awful whore Maddow has my poor jewish mother terrified the nazis are about to take over America. I try to explain the reality that all corporate news lost any pretension to honesty when Trump was elected but she's old and can't quite grasp how deep the corruption has gone. Or doesn't want to as it would be too upsetting. For a lot of people I think they have enough to worry about in this neoliberal shithole country and just don't have the cognitive/emotional space for how corrupt and deceitful our system has become.
My poor 75 year old Jewish mother as well. It’s fear-crack and she’s hooked. As if the world can be simplified into “good guys” and “bad guys”. Patently absurd. She absolutely can’t wrap her head around the fact that those who seek power are the last that should have it and always abuse it. She gets upset when I challenge her reality tunnel because deep down she knows that I am right. Sigh.
I am so sorry, I can not stand that woman. She knows exactly what she is doing, We know how deep this likely gets. When we have a uniparty, we have a problem. Media , mainstream corporate cronies of the deep state are all scum. I have no teeth at the moment thanks to Covid, Not directly, mid massive salvation work from an accident to my face years prior, I had partials that did not fit, back in and our and root canals scheduled and no dentist? I hate these news stations.( I will be camera in hand out speaking the real news and talking with real People I will report the facts & expose every monster like Ms. Maddow out there, Hopefully by June. More and more People are switching to independent stations & journalists. I would hug your mum if I could. I know so many people who have come to me, because of something she said that was completely for ratings and was damaging, I am so sorry you had to see her suffer like that, Matt is by far my favorite written independent Journalist. He is full of integrity. I wish your mom well.
Yes, that last sentence describes a lot. This is especially the case for our very old citizens who love their country and will not consider how corrupt our government has become.
This is closer to the actual truth.. They want you to think their material is "really lefty" or failing that, they will settle for "corporate propaganda". They are perfectly fine with you ranting about all the commies on MSNBC. What they don't want you to think is that this is a thorough-going intelligence psy op. Feeding us bullkunkle from beginning to end. Of course there is corporate collusion in all of this- that is the essence of fascism. A public-private "partnership". But begin to scratch the corporations who embrace the collusion (google, the socials etc.) and you begin to realize they are riddled with executive staff that cut their teeth with intelligence work.-DOD, the Alphabets, the State Department.
Make no mistake about it. Just about every mainstream news source has been completely infiltrated. MSNBC, The NYT, CNN, and yes -Fox news. Oh and also our "altruistic" NGOs and foundations. Remember the Drudge Report? And how the 180 turn from Trump involved a personal grudge or some such thing? Not on your life. Remember Project Veritas? What the hell happened there? JOK was mean and spent too much money? Sell that baloney to a monk on a three week fast.
Intelligence takeover is the name of the game. It's not simply about stealth takeover of a few influential institutions, in order to amplify perspective. It's about controlling absolutely every possible avenue for dissenting thought. This is about sucking the life out of any possibility for resistance. That's why you have seen formerly conservative organizations change quite quickly. They have been effectively neutralized. Of course, they will sound conservative enough to maintain some credibility. But when the chips are down they will fold faster than Dick Contino's accordion. Still waiting for a week of segments on the J6 tapes Tucker. That would truly reveal what we are up against. But the tapes have been memory holed, because just one segment proved to be too threatening to our once and future masters.
Hey, MLR, I hate to be the one to break this to you but...as we speak there's an FBI agent under your bed, a CIA agent in your garage, a DIA agent in your attic (might even be Malcolm Nance) and an NSA technician outside jamming you cable feed so that nothing but MSNBC appears on all 500 of your cable channels. The Deep State is not amused. Sorry.
" operation mocking bird". Obama also signed a bill or executive order, i do not recall which, that made it permissible to publish disinformation though various forms of media for national security reasons.
What is wrong with you? I am exasperated with people suffering from TDS, either from his supporters or his haters. You are the people asleep at the wheel when our country is driving off a cliff. You all need to be rounded up put on an island and see which group is left standing in the end. I don't watch reality TV but I would watch that.
"You all need to be rounded up put on an island and see which group is left standing in the end"
Yep, *I'm* the deranged one.
"I don't watch reality TV"
Well we can at least agree on that. But I hope you can understand why it disturbs me that a huge number of Americans *do* watch reality TV, and decided it was smart to elect the unholy lovechild of Snooki and the Hamburglar to supervise the most powerful organization on the planet.
So, you would rather have Biden, who was the Senator from Delaware, the U.S. state more corrupt than the Cayman Islands? OMFG. Jesus Christ. Biden and his coked-out son, were taking bribes from China and Ukraine, but TRUMP gets indicted? If you can't see the TRUTH through all that fog, I can write on the windshield for ya.
The Democrats have turned this lifelong Dem into someone who, just today, signed up to be a Precinct Officer for the GOP. How's them apples?
Ah, yes, another "lifelong Democrat" who now is a "Precinct Officer for the GOP." What, the democrats denied your application for a crossing guard position?
Don't you have more BitCoin propaganda to disseminate? Before it, too, goes the way of the mastodon and carrier pigeon?
Are you criticizing a lifelong Democrat who was awakened when Obama said "the bankers did nothing illegal, only immoral" in the midst of the greatest financial crime spree the world had ever known? Or when the Democrats nominated Biden, the Senator representing Delaware the U.S. state more crooked than the Cayman Islands, when he couldn't fill a high school gymnasium with followers? Or just what needs to happen to awaken you, Mr. Spook?
BTW, I believe BitCoin is like the Dutch tulip phenom. I may be wrong, but that is my belief. You really need better "gotcha" moments.
You should hook up with Feldspar. You can crouch in front of your screens like the vapid little gnomes you are and sneer at us dupes and knuckle-walkers.
Amen! I’m a conservative leaning independent. I feel like I’m living in an upside down America when I have more in common with Matt Taibi and Glenn Greenwald than most conservative pundits. It’s feels like patriotic believers in the Constitution versus the Bolsheviks and Pravda.
Ain't that the truth. I think many of us, from all parts of the political spectrum, share a befuddled astonishment about the malevolent idiots that head our government, corporate, and NGO sectors.
And not just happening in my southern neighbor (USA).
As a Canadian I am ashamed of our uniparty (Liberals, NDP, Bloc and Greens) and how NGOs I used to be heavily involved in like Amnesty International went woke and cult like.
That's where all these authoritarian governments, incl the U.S., are going if we allow them to usher in CBDCs.
Nigeria, of all places, is solidly REJECTING their CBDC. It has become an utter failure. Let's hope that other country's citizens can follow in Nigeria's footsteps.
Canada, like all other American vassal states, just follows the Empire's lead, in that case they set that precedent by freezing out WikiLeaks and with every major bank blocking them.
The word that might be used to describe folks like you is "politically homeless."
But as someone who has been an independent for years, I've learned that there are more people who think independently and, while they don't agree on everything, they are able to have discussions without shouting others down.
In other words, being "politically homeless" isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I have been politically homeless for decades. Thank you for giving us a moniker. And all you have to do is look at this "interview," masquerading as journalism, to know why more and more of us are disgusted with broken two party politics in this country. That said, Matt should have known better than to get himself invited to be "interviewed" by this lightweight of a talking head. PLEASE resist the pull of publicity going forward, Mr. Taibbi. Stick to your knitting and let your work do the talking for you.
Regarding the term "politically homeless," I can't take credit for it. I believe Bridget Phetasy was one of the first I saw use it, but for all I know, she got it from someone else.
Still, I'm happy to have found a term you think fits.
Russell Brand and Joe Rogan are the modern versions of George Carlin. If you watch Carlin's development he went from "the 7 words you can't say on TV" to "it's one big club and you ain't in it." Why is it that listening to former comediennes you find more world truths than any real news source (Matt excluded, of course)?
Patriotic believers in the Constitution don't try to nullify Constitutionally-mandated elections.
(edit to add, I'm not accusing Taibbi or Greenwald of this, just pointing out that their lack of concern with Republicans trying to literally hijack the government disqualifies them as "Patriotic believers in the Constitution"... could have phrased it better)
The entity who hijacked the election was BIDEN and the FBI. They refused to allow the real information to be exposed regarding a certain coked-out son-of-a-candidate's laptop.....you know the one which proves that "the big guy" gets his cut from China and Ukraine too?
Plus, if you think that Biden, the clown and dementia patient, actually got 81 million votes, I have some great swamp land to sell you in FL.
Difficult to argue with another citizen who relies on propaganda and unprovable conspiracy theories to buttress their arguments. Careful with this routine---it can cause mental breakdowns and ultimately...madness.
I love it when people try to claim "conspiracy theories" when almost all the claimed conspiracy theories have been proved 100% true. Are you a spook? Because the use of "conspiracy theory" is spook talk.
Really? That's considered spook talk? I've always wanted to be a spy. Trafficking in international skulduggery, stalking enemy spies on shadowy, cobble-stoned streets in old European capitals, trench coat, fedora, etc.
It's very interesting that you replied only to this response. Did you not have another "gotcha" response to my reply regarding the proposed UCC Amendments? Or maybe you tried to read my article "Think Your Mortgage is Safe? Think Again!" but it was just a little too cerebral for you. I'll bet it's the latter.
Since you are clearly lying, this is still more proof of the "Big Lie," and also adds weight to the argument that 2020 was the "free-ist, fair-est election in history. Thanks for playing.
Here is the problem. A day is only 24 hours long, and Taibbi is only one person. He can't be the one-stop source of coverage of everything that is bad in the world. But that doesn't stop you from helping. So, speak out about what Trump attempted to do, and Matt will continue to probe deeper into the increasing dead-lettering of our First Amendment rights. They are not mutually exclusive, and I'm sure he won't try to stop you.
The politics of journos is unimportant except for those who are hired propagandists. Assuming political partisanship when ethical journos want to get to the truth of events is just silly wishful thinking. This is why Taibbi and Greenwald stand out and why they take so much heat from political partisans, especially--at the moment--the DP, the entrenched DC bureaucracy "clusterfuck" and its MSNBC pimps.
And considering the amount of work that goes into Taibbi's investigative reporting and publication, maybe you should give him some time to investigate whatever Republican scandals you have in mind.
This is like the old saying that one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist.
Matt is a far more honest journalist than most of the folks in msnbc, Fox, cnn, etc. as is Glenn.
Everyone has a view and even journalist are not immune to that however I would rather read his take on a situation that Chris Hayes or David corns any day of the week. And like you I am putting my money towards that view.
I think Matt saw the abuse and got disgusted and decided to be a real journalist about it and those who did not attack him because he dared to stay the true part out loud.
If the measure of a person are whom their enemies are, and given whom Matt’s are, to me that speaks highly of the man. Anyone who count Rachael Madow and Vlad Putin as enemies probably has something good going on…
If someone tries to murder you and fails, do you just go on about your day without concern?
Taibbi was the invited guest of Jim Jordan, a man who participated in the attempt to steal the election. Clearly he doesn't care that much, since his vendetta is with Dems specifically.
Clearly his vendetta is with his former friends in the media who have disowned him for climbing down a rabbit hole. The article's not called "The Censorship Industrial Complex Sucks". Taibbi even freely points out *in this article* that it's personal between him and MSNBC. Don't you read?
You're either A) not paying attention, B) deliberately trolling, or C) both. We're going to go with both. You have probably been reading Taibbi for a while, and you're surprised by all the right-wingers who all of a sudden came out of the shadows on Matt's Substack. True, there are some serious mentals, but you also have misread Matt's intent. He is interested in the First Amendment, and will take to task those who he believes endanger it. Including MSNBC. But as long as you've been reading Matt, I'm sure you also have seen him exposing numerous journalists, papers, and networks. A very incomplete list would include the Times, WaPo, CNN, NPR, Fox News, ABC, NBC, etc. MSNBC happens to be the loudest, most ardently anti-Trump and pro-gaslighting. This is as even-handed journalist as I've experienced, and he goes where the story takes him (as opposed to finding an angle to a story to justify a currently held view), from Howard Dean to Goldman Sachs to Eric Garner to Twitter Files. Let's see, that's presidential politics, economic meltdown, racist police brutality, and 1st Amendment. That's pretty fucking good for any journalist, and it's a mere sampling of his portfolio.
I think you're deliberately being argumentative, unoriginally I might add, and maybe just stop.
Who's this "we"? Right out the gate with smarmy rhetorical tricks I see.
"True, there are some serious mentals"
*SOME* mentals? You must sort by popularity, because I'm here to tell you, 99% of Racket comments fall into 1 of 3 buckets:
1. "Matt, you're a godsend, possibly the only real journalist left on planet earth!"
2. "Matt, you're such a sucker. How can you still not be convinced the Democrats stole the election?"
3. "Lizard people are slowly eating toward the core of the earth, and George Soros uses their excrement as fuel for his gas chambers where he disposes of unvaccinated Republicans while Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz perform a pagan incantation and drink baby-blood"
"you also have misread Matt's intent. He is interested in the First Amendment, and will take to task those who he believes endanger it"
I have indeed been reading Matt for a while, and I used to believe this too. At this point the personal vendetta has clearly subsumed everything (in this very article Matt says outright, yeah, it's personal). In saner times, Taibbi would have sooner taken a concrete enema than be associated with a human PR stunt like Jim Jordan.
"from Howard Dean to Goldman Sachs to Eric Garner to Twitter Files"
See, this is what I miss. This 'stack used to feature actual journalism; now it's one story, all the time, with zero subtlety or imagination. The fact that Matt uttered not a peep at Elon's craven collaboration with Modi in censoring a BBC documentary... the fact that he never bothered to mention Columbia Journalism Review had a whopping conflict of interest that called the legitimacy of their whole Russiagate piece into question... the fact that he's willing to make common cause with people who literally tried to nullify a democratic election and help the Republican party seize unlawful control of the government...
He's not himself anymore. It's sad, it's depressing, it's the story of our times.
"I think you're deliberately being argumentative, unoriginally I might add, and maybe just stop."
I'm argumentative with people who say things I think are wrong and/or stupid, which is most of these comments. Call it unoriginal if you want, but you won't find much like it around here. And no, I probably won't stop, but thanks for asking.
I agree that many of the posters here are rightwingers and make rather sweeping statements about “ the left”, but if you have substantive arguments to make about Gerth’s piece, then make them. Competitive snarkfests are a waste of time.
But anyway, I often see people dismiss the work of some person X because X took a stupid position on some other issue. For example, I saw someone on the far left dismiss Siegel’s Tablet piece because Siegel is an apologist for Israel. I am not familiar with his writings on Israel, but if they were as bad as described I wouldn’t like them either. I am not a fan of Israel’s human rights record. But that doesn’t mean he is wrong on the problems with the press.
I am not familiar with Gerth’s career, other than recognizing the name. But the CHR piece seemed fair and accurate.
More info, please: "the fact that he never bothered to mention Columbia Journalism Review had a whopping conflict of interest that called the legitimacy of their whole Russiagate piece into question."
"...This is as even-handed journalist as I've experienced, and he goes where the story takes him (as opposed to finding an angle to a story to justify a currently held view)"
Really? Well, now I know what's going on. Thank you for setting the record straight and providing a guiding light to the intricacies of Mr. Taibbi's reporting.
MSNBC toes the company line on what is and is not "misinformation" (e.g. natural immunity is "misinformation", but Russiagate is not), which is why they're going after Matt in the first place - he's reporting on things that make them look like the hacks they are.
Irrelevant. I'm not saying his reasons for being pissed are invalid, just that he's clearly been acting out of anger and vengefulness over personal slights, not a coolheaded assessment of what matters.
Even if you take Jan6 etc. out of the equation, the mere fact that he signs off with "Fuck MSNBC" shows that he's totally given up on reaching anyone outside of his loyal audience, which is not how you make a difference in the world.
No shit. If you find yourself arguing about the varying degrees of veracity of cable news shows, you're not only part of the problem you're demonstrably a big part of the problem.
Sorry, due to the way Substack's comments work, it's harder than you might expect for me to look back at the original question and respond accordingly to your comment.
I felt I was answering the comment. If roundabout censorship concerns a person more than an outright coup attempt (which is what Jan 6 was, and you can blow me if you're about to go on some tirade about it), that person has lost touch with reality.
"Roundabout censorship"? That's like saying bombing Nagasaki was a little noise disturbance. When the MSM, social media, FBI and DOJ are lying and manipulating weak-minded people like yourself with manufactured outrage so you spend your time on a news thread just to attack people who think differerent (very constructive, BTW), you're the chump. And, of course, when you run out of factless accusations you try and change the topic to avoid accountability (i.e., referencing Jan 6, a completely different discussion). Maybe you should curl up with a book, actually a magazine with lots of pictures, and suck your thumb and tell yourself how you've made a difference.
ABSOLUTELY AGREE! I find it insulting when people talk to me as if there was nothing to see on 1/6. They legit ask me shit like, "I wanna know what Pelosi was doing." and say shit like, "How about ALL the PEACEFUL protesters." Uh, whatabout em? Then they want to argue about injuries and deaths or an incident in WA state.
It isn't "making the government more accountable" if he discredits his own concerns by airing them during a partisan hack media circus. May as well go on InfoWars at this point.
I mean, you can characterize the majority of American voters however you want, but they don't approve of Jim Jordan's dumb publicity stunts, and chances are that Matt's participation didn't raise their levels of giving-a-shit about the Twitter files.
Because I used to enjoy his journalism, and I don't see any value in abandoning him to his right-wing shithole safespace where every comment is some variation of sucking his e-cock.
That, and because it's entertaining and cathartic to engage with the absolute stupidity that passes for political conversation here.
I gotta agree - can we pay extra to unlock? I'd be more than happy to chip in! I know a lot of people who need to read this that actually believe that MSNBC is somehow different - more noble, even - than Fox. That they're the good guys in the fight. It's so fucking stupid lmao
Hahaha I know so many people who say Fox news is horrible propaganda and only deluded people watch it. Then they'll click on MSNBC to see what horrible things the orange man has done.
The real answer is they are all propaganda. It has always been this way, my mother was a journalist and told me about the bias years ago. She started in the 70's. The internet has just given us more access to independent reporting so it is more clear to anyone who digs that bad things are happening
I dont know. fox is a business model and i suppose that they rely on a certain segment of politicians to generate their right wing blather. But MSNBC and their ilk are starting to act as mouthpieces of the government.
you missed my point, i know nuance is lost on a place like this so I will try to explain, and I will type slowly for you.
I did say that Fox relied on right wing politicians (aka Republicans) for its blather. I did not say that the like of MSNBC is a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party, (I would say like Fox, they are in agreement with said party and act accordingly.) I said it was a mouthpiece for the government and by relation the ruling establishment. This is a much more dangerous precedent which has been set and is the heart of the article.
Who ever said it was not? I think the main difference is that all new it. Others tried to wrap themselves in the veneer of impartiality and respectability when in truth they were just as big of whores.
Well, in your defense Fox did bag their "Fair and Balanced" motto in 2017 after the blushing became too noticeable, replacing it with "Standing Up For What's Right."
Personally, I'm partial to: "All the Right News Fit For Rupert Murdoch"
I don't believe unlocking will do a lot of good. Many people are so gaslighted they have lost the ability to think without emotions clouding their judgment.
The majority of folks who "get their news from MSNBC" are probably retirees well into their dotage, watching MSNBC because it's slightly less insane than Fox, and who are considerably more concerned about their health insurance and bowel movements than social media censorship---whether it's by the government, the noisy teenagers next door, or tech-savvy Martians. Sorry to burst your bubble.
People should read it, but it is really good, so Matt should be paid for writing it.
MSNBC aficionados won't listen. Take my very well educated 93-year-old father who started screaming at me to "never give him shit like this to read ever again" when I gave him Matt and Michael Shellenberger's Congressional testimony. I was actually afraid he would have a health event...
omg. Do we have the same father? Same with my 93-year-old father who has bluetooth earphones on most of the day tuned into MSNBC. I wouldn't even bother to pass this on to him as I would get the exact same reaction.
Wow, this is like a support group for people whose elderly parents are hooked on MSNBC. I feel seen 😕 It's like some sort of brainwashing program for seniors. Fortunately, there aren't enough of them to sway the election!
Actually I have the opposite problem. I am 86 years old and my younger family members all go along with the mainstream newsmedia propaganda. I get my news mostly online and occasionally check on Fox and MSNBC and CNN to see what they are up to next.
Why are people always asking Matt to give away his hard work for free? Not many of us go to work for free, when everyone around us is being paid. Buy people a gift subscription. You'll help them, and you'll help Matt fund his highly influential efforts.
People who besiege taibbi with requests to make certain posts "free" imagine that there are hundreds of thousands of non-subscribers out there who anxiously await taibbi's latest offering, hoping to be able to read the whole thing on-the-house.
"From that period in early 2017 through the crushing release of the Mueller report — forcing Rachel to cut a trout-fishing vacation in Tennessee short to stammer out, eyes welling with emotion, “This is the start of something, not the end of something” — I do not believe even one person expressing skepticism of the Trump-Russia story came on the channel. That streak ended with poor Chris’s post-Mueller bummer-cast with Michael Isikoff and David Corn, on March 25, 2019.
This video should be shown to every J-school student as a “Scared Straight” exercise. In it Yahoo!’s Isikoff, the first prominent journalist to quote Christopher Steele, said of his dossier, “It was endorsed multiple times on this network, people saying, It’s more and more proving to be true. And it wasn’t.”"
Sorry if I am clogging the board, but why would this scare anyone straight? Maddow, Iisikoff and the rest of the crew faced no consequences, neither personal nor professional.
Like the MSM jackholes who pushed for the War on Iraq, they still have their fat contracts, they still are lauded as crusading journalists even though they're basically on-air fluffers, smirking renaissance courtiers without the colorful costumes. Lots of people still insist that the russiagate conspiracy theory is factual.
Again, like Iraq, the people who doubted the approved narrative were the ones cast into outer darkness, not the liars and CIA mouthpieces. They are the ones who are disgraced and Right Thinking People refuse to call them journalists.
This is so sadly, and profoundly true Feral. All common norms are gone. Not only can no one be scared straight any longer, seamingly the more profound and outrageous the inaccuracy/lie the more rewarded you'll be at MSNBC.
Getting in bed with bald faced liars like Avenatti, Brennan, Page, Strozk, regurgitating unproven, unsourced false stories does ZERO harm. None. Frankly, it bolsters the fucking liars at MSNBC. The more outrageous the claim the more clicks and viewers.
How is anyone ever going to be scared straight again?
Future lawyers at one of the most prominent law schools are taught that if you don't like the person making the argument (a Federal Circuit Judge), it's not only okay, but it's encouraged to jeer, and act like a whiny baby. No one need win on an argument supported by fact. Make shit up, use ad hominem, quote "sources", bully and not only will you not lose your job, but the above is a requirement to succeed.
You don't look a day over 50. Thanks for doing this Matt, you get my five bucks forever.
The old saw is if the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, call the other side names. Seems Stanford law school students among others skip straight to name calling.
These are LAW students. Why not come prepared to argue your viewpoint with a Circuit Court judge who’s willing to let you go toe to toe with him? Or just stay home. But to show up and refuse to apply logic and reasoning because you think appropriate thing to do if name call and harass - and yet you wanna become a lawyer?
I'd rather not elevate what happened at Stanford as an expression of "civil disobedience" (pigeon chess is more like it) but it appears that this really is the mindset of such disruptors. They think they are behaving nobly in holy war.
Didn’t RM get fired from somewhere when the Russiagate failed? When Matt and journalists proved it wrong. Now she’s back again after if not fired at least embarrassed?
MSNBC has dedicated itself to the endless quest of trying to redefine the lower limits of bad taste. The network makes CNN look like a beacon of rectitude by comparison. I hope you wipe the floor with Hasan, Matt. It's long past time that someone puts that propagandistic moron in his place.
"Redefine the lower limits of bad taste"? I don't think it's a whataboutism to point out that Fox News has them outdone on every front of "bad taste", and has for decades. If MSNBC is your "lower limit", you've got problems.
If I claim that a specific news outlet is "redefining the lower limits of bad taste", it's relevant info if another outlet has already defined the limits lower.
Try it this way: people may accuse me of whataboutism, but I don't care because clearly Fox has gone far lower for far longer, with the emails and texts of Murdoch, Carlson, etc. MSNBC is bad, real bad, but not as cartoonish....yet.
Not really sure how to measure bad taste. It’s all just an opinion, you’re obviously left leaning so you hate fox, and can live with msnbc. People more right leaning have the opposite opinion. I prefer voices like Taibbi or greenwald, real journalists that are able to set there personal politics aside and just report the information, wherever it leads them.
You are partially correct in your assessment of Fox, Their news is solid, If you take issue with their opinion shows I can see that. Brett Bears news cast is solid.
There news is solid? Hard disagree on that. It's a propaganda network... you could probably get some factual news on RT too, but the slant is there when it matters.
Have you ever watched special report with Brett Baire? Don't let the fact its on fox dissuade you. If you have watched it and thats your opinion I'm fine with that we will just disagree. I get most of my news online typically. RT was pulled from cable.
Matt, you are one of the few voices I can turn to and trust these days. Please know that your efforts are greatly appreciated by the majority of the public ... the reasonable majority. Stay the course and know you are a "true" hero. Your efforts will be lauded by future generations of "real" journalists. Thank you.
When Matt and I were young you'd meet people occasionally who'd say they'd seen the Beatles in 1964 or they went to Woodstock, or otherwise claim they were present at a famous historical event.
Now Matt can tell his grandkids something similar:
"Hey, kids, I was there at the birth of the Global Censorship State, when the US govt, corporate media and the giant tech companies joined forces and decided that they would from now on be the owners of all Official Truth™ and that dissenters would be denounced as enemies of the state...Just think: we used to have freedom of thought and speech, until the government and corporations decided to take it away for our safety!"
But they won't believe grandpa because all their screens will have told them otherwise, and who are you gonna believe in the 21st century: your grandpa or the beloved and beneficent all-knowing State?
When somebody tells me the government and corporations did this, I kindly remind them that most of all of this was known in time for the 2020 election, but certainly for the 2022 midterms. And still millions of people still flocked to vote D. "We have met the enemy, and he is us". Very depressing indeed.
In the Taibbi Merch Store, next to the Vampire Squid and Fuck You, MSNBC shirts. Who here is in the apparel industry? You can probably set up the online shop, and cut Matt a check for his share without him having to provide any effort.
Dude, you look 40! ;) Well done for staying kind and thoughtful throughout this BS. I'm always grateful for your balanced and considered approach to even the most irritating issues. Thank you!
I agree with Susan, you look your age, maybe even younger. But the aging you refer to is real...and you feel it deep in your bones. Keep pushing...just remember to give yourself permission for some occasional R&R.
Of course they are not journalists. They are (Deep) State Media stenographers, whose purpose is to dissemble Official Narratives. These careers were created by putting the State Dept/ CIA in charge of media by "modernizing" Smith Mundt, the US law which once prohibited domestic propaganda. Reading a teleprompter or cut-and-pasting "leaks" (instructions) requires no reporting or investigative skills, but provides a secure career path and pays much better than journalism.
The MSM, sadly including Fox, are so corrupt, so addicted to the Woke Kool-Ade, so narcissistic, that it still amazes me that anyone with two brain cells to rub together pays the slightest attention to them. They make Pravda seem a bastion of truth.
I saw this years ago when I was a minor official in the administration of Gov. Pete Wilson here in California. I was involved in a controversial policy implementation which required me to spend a lot of time doing public relations. I was shocked at the groupthink even then, where media up and down the state used the same language and concepts in their "reporting." The print media were bad, but the TV people were dreadful. This was all because the governor was a Republican, so whatever his administration was doing was presumed bad.
The intriguing question for me is not so much why these horrible people are so addicted to mendacity, but why so many of us still grant them any authority. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Marty Keller: Are you sure you're including Fox in the corrupt, MSM category? Flawed, they are, big-time. But WOKE? Let's face it, the media is pretty much all bad. But imagine if Fox never existed. We would have No opposition press whatsoever. Sometimes stirring outrage is the only way to shed sunlight on the corrupt and the mendacious. Let them make some money. But a world without Fox News?
My problem with Fox is that in general they tend to respond to the Woke dominance rather than ignore it and lead with from constitutionally-based perspective. Since I don't watch them, I am willing to be guilty of overstatement. After all, Gutfeld is genuinely funny and perceptive (based on YouTube excerpts I've seen). And, of course, Tucker is a national treasure.
I agree, Marty. Fox is just the outrage machine reacting to the woke. The only intelligent people on Fox are Tucker and Gutfeld. They have the ratings to match, and the “establishment” fears their derision. It’s delicious!
Tucker is intelligent, but his public opinions are not. He's a chameleon who will say and do practically anything for ratings.
(for example, sucking Trump's dick on air while privately saying things like "It’s disgusting. I’m trying to look away" and "I hate him passionately")
The fact that you seemingly buy Tucker's on-air opinions makes you the schmuck in this equation. The rest of the world is laughing at you, for good reason.
I agree, I'd just add that more and more of Congress itself is populated by the same kinds of performers, and the scripts are passed back and forth between partisan media and partisan Congresspersons after performances are given and the results analyzed. The boundaries between media and government are blurring at the same moment that the old notion of objective non-partisan media largely disappeared (since 2016). I fear even the judicial sector will be drawn in, and soon the independence of the different branches of government will disappear, and partisan media will effectively become a 4th branch of government.
Tucker Carlson is very similar to President Donald J. Trump in that every once in awhile they say something that is true. This is hard for the deep state to tolerate because having we the people catch on must be prevented.
"they tend to respond to the Woke dominance rather than ignore it and lead with from constitutionally-based perspective". This is probably true for the entire GOP strategy, unfortunately. It is easy to criticize and make fun of the woke, they are easy targets; much harder to come up with a positive pragmatic course of action to lead us out of the gutter.
Once again, you guys are missing the whole picture. It's not Fox vs. MSNBC. It's not D's vs. R's. It's not Right vs. Left.
It's the Have's vs. the Have Not's. Rachel Maddow and Tucker Carlson are both Haves. As are Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell. As are Joe Biden, George W. Bush, and Barrack Obama (not to mention the Clintons). The system controls the money (Wall St), the muscle (military and cops), and the information (censorship).
Matt gets it. Glenn gets it. You guys need to get it.
Fox News provides a political balance to the bullshit...but it's all bullshit. All of em. Fox, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS. All bullshit, all propaganda. When you're watching the news you are not the customer, you are the product being sold.
Fox News doesn't provide balance to anything. That's not how it works.
Bullshit + Bullshit = Bullshit
The point is, you can either give up and live in a hermetically-sealed information bubble with 4 or 5 independent journalists, and just hope those people never go off the rails... or you can act like an adult, and sift through the bullshit for nuggets of truth like the rest of us do.
Probably quite a few Mensans here. I'm one. Absolutely no consensus for any viewpoint in MENSA. Periodic skirmishes of threatened expulsion for non-woke viewpoints, though. Unsuccessful so far as dues keep the heat and lights on.
Yes. I run the short-order griddle (busy morning shift, eggs, bacon, hash browns, etc., IQ over 80 required) at the MENSA Austin headquarters' snack bar.
I regularly check your newsletter to see if you've made any progress but I now assume that the first post will come when the revolution comes. Or perhaps your first post will signal the revolution is here, or shortly on the way barring any unforeseen delays, of either the first post or the revolution. Might this be the case?
Either way you have at least one eager future patron.
Bravo for writing this Matt! As I wrote after your testimony before the House, I am proud to call you a fellow American. The msnbc appearance will undoubtedly be full of bad faith questions and lecturing. Hope you make it through with your sanity intact. My subscription to your substack has been justified 1000%!
I've been a Taibbi fan since the Vampire Squid days. I was a homeowner victimized by the banks crimes against the mortgagors. Who would have thought that a Rolling Stone journalist would be the only one calling out the crooks? It boggled the mind.
I wish Matt would write about the proposed UCC Amendments that are going through 24 legislatures, as we speak, that put in peril millions of mortgages currently held. I write about it. Hope a few of you read what I wrote and take action.
I wish Matt would have a Vampire Squid t-shirt in his merch shop. It would be an instant classic!
Put me down for two!
Medhi H. was often WRONG in his line of questioning, but this was hardly an ad hominem attack interview. I have subscribed to Taibbi for FOUR YEARS, but that doesn't make me any more likely to parrot pro-Taibbi tribal bullshit than I am to parrot the US elite's tribal bullshit.
Hasan's first question: "Why do you believe these Twitter files are so important, and what should our viewers know about what's in them?"
Second point, cites agreement that FBI spends too much time and effort on social media efforts.
Third point: "Does your reporting show evidence of government censorship? I don't think so." Shows Biden *campaign* requests, points out they are not government. Says that the tweets in question also were to take down Hunter Biden near nudes or whatever, violation of twitter terms of service. Asks if Taibbi "didn't know [that] in which case that's kind of incompetent, or if he was hiding that fact". Matt goes on tirade about how MSNBC is incompetent and always has been.
That's true, but it was non-responsive to the point. Especially since a minute later Matt says he DID know that was the content "of course". So the IF from Hasan's construction is not held and he's not even calling Taibbi incompetent in the first place, he's simply accusing him of hiding something, which is fair.
To sum up: this was an interview with challenging questions, and Hasan embarassed himself later with false premises in some of those challenging questions. A better prepared Taibbi would have eviscerated him on the spot, and Hasan was later eviscerated on Twitter and shown to have no clothes. However, Taibbi's stance that this was an ad hominem attack interview is off base.
Hasan tried to answer the questions in 'entrapment' techniques, and then edit the answer. Classic msnbc rat game. I do not find fault with Taibbi. msnbc is KNOWN to hate what Taibbi accomplished, so all 'inuendos' and slurs are typical. as for their star 'anchor,' that woman, she is far worse. I expected no integrity of ANY msnbc human, that's what I watched. I agree, Matt COULD have eviscerated them, and indeed, in our estimation, should have. Occasionally, I believe many of us are all still way too polite out here. Time to trash the trash.
That's actually a great idea.
Matt said once that that quote will, "probably be on my gravestone".
Like classic(al) liberals?
Those were the days matt is a grinding granite kinda guy he will never give up neither will we!
ONWARD
https://wahomeowners.substack.com/p/think-your-mortgage-is-safe-think
Please read.
Yes, please read!
This is among the many below-the-radar, WEF-style, surreptitiously-forced anti-Capitalist strategies designed to separate individuals from the ability to survive independently from the State. Property rights (the *most* important ones of all!) are being stealth-destroyed by a thousand Statist cuts.
And SUBSCRIBE! There will be more content as I can write it along with a full time job! Haha.
Eat my shorts, Vampire Squid!
After reading Matt's take-down of MSNBC, I had to write my own take-down to my legislature for passing the UCC Amendments I wrote about in my first Substack post.
Thanks, Matt, for giving me the courage to pen this amazing take-down: https://open.substack.com/pub/wahomeowners/p/my-best-take-down-yet?r=tbmjj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
How were mortgagees (lenders) victimizers except that they did a bad job of being parents and saying "no" to borrowers who were unlikely to successfully repay their loans? I've never understood that framing.
Apparently you haven't read much regarding the Great Financial Crime Spree. I, myself, was a victim of the banks in 2 ways, one I write about in my first Substack post, but the other one was I was bait and switched at closing. Prior to closing, I was presented a prime loan, 30-year fixed. At closing, the loan presented was a negative am surprised loan. I am not financially sophisticated and should have rejected those closing documents however the real estate transaction I had agreed to would have put my $15,000 escrow on the line had I not closed on the date within the contract. So, I literally was trapped. I believed that in a year or so I could refinance and be fine. Then the real estate market collapsed. There were many people who were bait and switched, the lenders also were manufacturing financial documents to "fix" people's financial problems in back rooms. One Citigroup whistle-blower stated that mortgage backrooms looked like an art department because of the whiteout and pasting up new documents that was going on. This was all to feed to fraudulent RMBS Trusts that were providing Wall Street billions of money. Bonuses were all that mattered.
So your real estate purchase agreement didn't specify the minimum terms you'd accept as to amount, rate and term in a standard mortgage contingency? Did you not qualify for a fixed rate loan of the ordinary, amortized kind? If you did, why take the offered alternative?
Likely because the monthly payment was much smaller and you were sure you could get out when the introductory term elapsed. You placed a futures bet and lost. Did you have the benefit of counsel in any of this or did you waive it?
You are intent on making this my fault. Either look at the big picture A FUCKING BAIT AND SWITCH occurred or what I believe is you are a troll. Goodbye
Tell me more. Lloidsells@yahoo.com
I sent you an email. We can talk.
The reason is in my first Substack article. If you are interested in why you can't and why the price of houses has risen much higher than inflation, read my Substack article. There will be more content coming. But please take action if you live in one of the states mentioned in the links.
The housing market here in Canada has been rigged and hacked too. It's really bad.
The banks made SO MUCH MONEY during the Great Financial Crime Spree, why not conduct a do-over? They were bailed out with TWENTY NINE TRILLION, yes that's trillion with a "T." And all that money was stolen and put in someone's pockets. Plus no one went to jail, so now we're watching Greater Financial Crime Spree in progress.
In addition, our education system isn't teaching about the Great Financial Crime Spree. I have two colleagues just out of college. Neither know anything about what happened in 2008. That's like us not knowing about the Great Depression. There are so many avenues now of propaganda it's truly mind boggling.
"...Please find a link to the National Law Review analysis of these proposed UCC Amendments: New UCC Article 12 Matters to More than Just Cryptocurrency."
Attention "WAHomeowners" or "karen1p's substack": The link "National Law Review" link is a paid "advertisement"---more specifically it's propaganda distributed by BitCoin shills. Are you a BitCoin shill yourself? Or just the average, everyday Racket News commenter?
Did you actually READ my article I posted? I state "conservative blogs" are sounding the alarm on the proposed UCC Amendments issuing alarms about CBDCs, while that is a concern, the far bigger alarm needs to be the Amendments allowing the bankers to utilize the creation and delivery of electronic promissory notes. Why does this imperil our system? During the financial crime spree of 2008, the homeowners found the bankers were multiply-pledging notes into different RMBS trusts simultaneously. That is why public pensions are severely underfunded nationwide and also why the bailout, which was 29 TRILLION, was such a massive undertaking. The horrific Amendments would legalize the use of electronic promissory notes with zero consumer protection against these criminal aspects. Rather than trying to make a "gotcha" blogpost reply, perhaps you should learn how the bankers continue to imperil our financial system, dontcha think?
Jeez, M. feldspar! Couldn't a mistake (or sabotage?) have been made?
What about M. WA's substance? He sure doesn't sound like a BitCoin shill to me, but maybe *I* am the fool.
If you actually read my post on my Substack, the link that idiot Feldspar misquoted, the National Law Review, that article covers the additional dangers of the proposed UCC Amendment bills. So Mr. Idiot Feldspar is either a spook, or a spook.
No doubt!
Well buying a house right now is not advisable. The housing market is crashing as we speak.
You have undoubtedly done good work, but IMHO, this time is different; hence there will be a different outcome. Most importantly, approximately 85% of home mortgages are fixed rate, there is a housing shortage, and home builders are doing rate buy-downs to close deals. This cycle is the opposite of 2006-2008. I agree that home prices in hot markets will go down, but after a 40% rise in 2 years, that's not significant. IMHO, the real problem this time is Trillions in consumer credit and reckless fiscal spending creating Biden inflation, causing Fed rate hikes slowing the economy, and resulting in severe job layoffs. That event will start the dominoes to fall.
The dominoes are the banks. Will it be the next one that starts the line falling, or the next one, or...?
The Fed has lost control, and is trying to hide their panic.
Yes, the housing market is a canary (of various colors, depending, as you allude, to the positions of several cycles that impinge on the largest investment by far the vast majority make), but it is much too complicated (and local) a market to inform the public on policy.
The peeps will notice the big (captured) banks get bailed, while the medium (dependent on FAIR competition) are left (pun intended) to die by State-design, they being much too numerous to capture effectively with their emphasis on actually *serving* the individual.
Then, shazzam!
Total State control of *all* forms of wealth-stores-of-value.
Repeat that over and over until it really sinks in.
It was the subprime issue AT FIRST in 2008. What really did the trick was the dropping housing prices and the job losses. It is dropping housing prices and job losses that are fueling this housing crisis. It won't matter if you have a fixed rate mortgage if you can't pay the monthly bills and have no job.
And thanks for reading my work. Appreciate that.
Depends on where you are; east of the continental divide, prices are still up (except for Austin, TX); west, prices are all down.
Well, let's look at what happened in 2006-2007: in Florida, there were already 6 million foreclosures happening.....while on the West Coast, we were still buying properties. So, if you don't think that there is a housing crisis happening.....I'm sorry, but there is. And as the crisis widens, the East Coast will be falling too. Foreclosure Crisis II is underway.
Jobs report that came out yesterday was an abomination. The dollar is falling. Interest rates continue to rise. And holy shit, Jamie Dimon is stating that the government should apply eminent domain to get the climate crisis under control. For those of you that are unfamiliar with eminent domain, that's where the government can confiscate your private property because they've declared it an emergency.
I should have been more clear. It was never my intent to suggest there is no housing crisis, only that while it's in full throttle in some places, in those locales governed by more sanity, the wheels have yet to roll over us. I have zero doubt that catastrophe is around the bend and preach as much daily to anyone willing to listen. Fact is, I've reached a point where I view capitulation or violence as the only possible paths.
Well, I've tried to "like" your post three times now. Substack isn't letting me. Thanks for the clarification!
That first like is mine (I liked it before reading your response), so it's working. I have found a quite long delay sometimes in hearts showing up.
Outstanding! Get ‘em, Matt.
You can add up just about everybody on cable news and it wouldn't equal the value of one Matt Taibbi.
I 100% agree!
Just watched the aforementioned "interview." Interesting how these "journalists" like Medhi bring you on to ask specific question-statements, then talk over you the entire time instead of letting you answer, then they frame it as a "debate" even though they are the moderator and don't allow any rebuttals to their statements. It is nothing more than echo-chamber entertainment. It's the modern equivalent of the gladiators in Rome. They force anyone who has dared to offend the emperor into a heavily unbalanced cage match where they enjoy full armor, weaponry, and unquestioned support of the entire audience, while you don a loincloth armed with a pencil.
The fact MSNBC felt they had to have Matt on says a lot. The Twitter Files are really getting under their skins. Their friends are talking. They're worried. Good.
For sure they would have loved it if they could keep on ignoring M. Taibbi.
Before Matt goes on a show, he needs to understand what will happen. I would have just said, "this is not a meaningful or honest debate...I'm out of here" and walked off. That would have been the right statement and let them spin it any way they want. You don't need them to be successful.
Agreed...except I would not walk off right away. Exercise some 1A right first, then walk off just before the commercial break.
Edit: "have not walked" replaced by "not walk"
Ditto here!
I appreciate your current level of misery you pathetic troll lol. Has Matt increased your cognitive dissonance?
MSNBC is not news. I would not even call it entertainment. It is corporate propaganda reported by vapid "insiders" (lol) who have zero clue what is really happening in the world. FUCK YOU MSNBC is the only appropriate response. I am SO thankful there are still a few brave journalists (like you) out there fighting these massive forces. Thank you for all your tireless work. <3
PS. You do not look older than your age at all!
All Cable "News" is essentially entertainment. But once Trump Won MSNBC became Science fiction. Science Fiction, require an internal consistency to in-universe rule. Over time the in-universe physics became incompatible with real world facts.
Well put, but one might be forgiven for saying it’s more like science fantasy, but without the science.
Analogous to the "Marvel" or "DC Comics" universe - inconsistencies are hard to accept.
Or it became Science Friction, because its lies rubbed many the wrong way. Or Science Fraction, because it became a tiny fraction of what it once was.
Oh jeez, I wish some people in my family would understand it's "corporate propaganda reported by vapid insiders." They still think MSNBC is an upstanding and fine source of good news.
That awful whore Maddow has my poor jewish mother terrified the nazis are about to take over America. I try to explain the reality that all corporate news lost any pretension to honesty when Trump was elected but she's old and can't quite grasp how deep the corruption has gone. Or doesn't want to as it would be too upsetting. For a lot of people I think they have enough to worry about in this neoliberal shithole country and just don't have the cognitive/emotional space for how corrupt and deceitful our system has become.
So true. 99% of my neighbors are like your mother. I no longer can talk to them. Your last sentence is gold.
I don't talk to 99% of my neighbors simply because they're my neighbors.
Well, M. feldspar, please consider me your neighbor!
My poor 75 year old Jewish mother as well. It’s fear-crack and she’s hooked. As if the world can be simplified into “good guys” and “bad guys”. Patently absurd. She absolutely can’t wrap her head around the fact that those who seek power are the last that should have it and always abuse it. She gets upset when I challenge her reality tunnel because deep down she knows that I am right. Sigh.
I am so sorry, I can not stand that woman. She knows exactly what she is doing, We know how deep this likely gets. When we have a uniparty, we have a problem. Media , mainstream corporate cronies of the deep state are all scum. I have no teeth at the moment thanks to Covid, Not directly, mid massive salvation work from an accident to my face years prior, I had partials that did not fit, back in and our and root canals scheduled and no dentist? I hate these news stations.( I will be camera in hand out speaking the real news and talking with real People I will report the facts & expose every monster like Ms. Maddow out there, Hopefully by June. More and more People are switching to independent stations & journalists. I would hug your mum if I could. I know so many people who have come to me, because of something she said that was completely for ratings and was damaging, I am so sorry you had to see her suffer like that, Matt is by far my favorite written independent Journalist. He is full of integrity. I wish your mom well.
I'm sorry for your troubles, Suzie Elmore, and I wish you better days ahead.
Amen!!!
Yes, that last sentence describes a lot. This is especially the case for our very old citizens who love their country and will not consider how corrupt our government has become.
How's your "poor jewish mother" dealing with Sean Hannity's alerts that the Nazis "are about to take over America?"
I mean, Nazis are Nazis whether they're being whored or pimped, right?
She doesn't watch Fox. And keep my poor jewish mother's name out of your mouth, prick.
I suggest you unburden mommy of your propaganda.
Get rid of your family members
Great tag line for a shirt. FUCK MSNBC
I would for-sure buy a t-shirt that said that
I’ll take 2
....... and the horses they rode in on.
...with the horse they rode in on?
thank you my good man! with the horse faces they rode in on as well!
And here I thought they rode in on camels...
And with the late change of the name of the article, they can eat the horse they rode in on too.
https://giphy.com/gifs/animal-house-3oKIPlDIpBehj7BLWg
What did they change?
‘MSNBC SUCKS’ to ‘EAT ME, MSNBC’
Not news, nor entertainment... its like your TV codependent, telling you what you want to hear, confirming what you already believe.
🔥
same goes for FOX and which other MSM fake jounos-creeps [add their names here]
This is closer to the actual truth.. They want you to think their material is "really lefty" or failing that, they will settle for "corporate propaganda". They are perfectly fine with you ranting about all the commies on MSNBC. What they don't want you to think is that this is a thorough-going intelligence psy op. Feeding us bullkunkle from beginning to end. Of course there is corporate collusion in all of this- that is the essence of fascism. A public-private "partnership". But begin to scratch the corporations who embrace the collusion (google, the socials etc.) and you begin to realize they are riddled with executive staff that cut their teeth with intelligence work.-DOD, the Alphabets, the State Department.
Make no mistake about it. Just about every mainstream news source has been completely infiltrated. MSNBC, The NYT, CNN, and yes -Fox news. Oh and also our "altruistic" NGOs and foundations. Remember the Drudge Report? And how the 180 turn from Trump involved a personal grudge or some such thing? Not on your life. Remember Project Veritas? What the hell happened there? JOK was mean and spent too much money? Sell that baloney to a monk on a three week fast.
Intelligence takeover is the name of the game. It's not simply about stealth takeover of a few influential institutions, in order to amplify perspective. It's about controlling absolutely every possible avenue for dissenting thought. This is about sucking the life out of any possibility for resistance. That's why you have seen formerly conservative organizations change quite quickly. They have been effectively neutralized. Of course, they will sound conservative enough to maintain some credibility. But when the chips are down they will fold faster than Dick Contino's accordion. Still waiting for a week of segments on the J6 tapes Tucker. That would truly reveal what we are up against. But the tapes have been memory holed, because just one segment proved to be too threatening to our once and future masters.
Hey, MLR, I hate to be the one to break this to you but...as we speak there's an FBI agent under your bed, a CIA agent in your garage, a DIA agent in your attic (might even be Malcolm Nance) and an NSA technician outside jamming you cable feed so that nothing but MSNBC appears on all 500 of your cable channels. The Deep State is not amused. Sorry.
You snarky little dipshit.
"Sometimes paranoia's just having all the facts."
Feddy my boy! When you try too hard at being clever but actually fail at being clever, you end up losing.
Assuming losing isn't your cherished life stance, I just want to encourage you and let you know there will be other chances!
So keep on responding! Never give up! It's hard to get it right the first time. Remember. Practice. Practice. Practice.
sooth pley, quaad pley
Signed up, have you, M. feldspar?
I think the agency's name for it was
" operation mocking bird". Obama also signed a bill or executive order, i do not recall which, that made it permissible to publish disinformation though various forms of media for national security reasons.
Obama overturned the 1948 Smith Mundt Act which outlawed US propaganda in US newsmedia.
MSNBC isn't going after Taibbi.
MSNBC is coming for you.
Taibbi is just in the way.
It is the Democrat Industrial Complex that is coming for us. MSNBC is just their puppet.
“WWW III is a guerrilla information war with no division between military and civilian participation.”
Marshal McLuhan , 1964
That's excellent. We all need to support Matt and other independent voices.
So Taibbi is your new Trump? GFL with that.
What is wrong with you? I am exasperated with people suffering from TDS, either from his supporters or his haters. You are the people asleep at the wheel when our country is driving off a cliff. You all need to be rounded up put on an island and see which group is left standing in the end. I don't watch reality TV but I would watch that.
You are watching it. We are in that show. All of us.
"You all need to be rounded up put on an island and see which group is left standing in the end"
Yep, *I'm* the deranged one.
"I don't watch reality TV"
Well we can at least agree on that. But I hope you can understand why it disturbs me that a huge number of Americans *do* watch reality TV, and decided it was smart to elect the unholy lovechild of Snooki and the Hamburglar to supervise the most powerful organization on the planet.
So, you would rather have Biden, who was the Senator from Delaware, the U.S. state more corrupt than the Cayman Islands? OMFG. Jesus Christ. Biden and his coked-out son, were taking bribes from China and Ukraine, but TRUMP gets indicted? If you can't see the TRUTH through all that fog, I can write on the windshield for ya.
The Democrats have turned this lifelong Dem into someone who, just today, signed up to be a Precinct Officer for the GOP. How's them apples?
Welcome aboard..Karen
Ah, yes, another "lifelong Democrat" who now is a "Precinct Officer for the GOP." What, the democrats denied your application for a crossing guard position?
Don't you have more BitCoin propaganda to disseminate? Before it, too, goes the way of the mastodon and carrier pigeon?
Are you criticizing a lifelong Democrat who was awakened when Obama said "the bankers did nothing illegal, only immoral" in the midst of the greatest financial crime spree the world had ever known? Or when the Democrats nominated Biden, the Senator representing Delaware the U.S. state more crooked than the Cayman Islands, when he couldn't fill a high school gymnasium with followers? Or just what needs to happen to awaken you, Mr. Spook?
BTW, I believe BitCoin is like the Dutch tulip phenom. I may be wrong, but that is my belief. You really need better "gotcha" moments.
Sorry, was that supposed to be insightful/funny/edgy/etc?
Because on this board you won't be getting many chances to rehabilitate yourself.
What board are you referring to?
Lol
When you’re not eating ass, this is the best you can do?
Real men eat ass. Chumps like you publish false statistics in maximum headline font.
(and then change your commenting rules to avoid being called out for it - coward)
Mine was better.
Can you spell "n-a-r-c-i-s-s-i-s-t"?
I'll just have to satisfy myself with being correct.
you two should just make out. Jeese.
Not until he calls me Literally Hitler.
I want BINGO, goddamn it.
Yeah, that'll never happen. People at least took Hitler seriously.
What an angry littlw man you are
I could definitely stand to lose a few pounds, but thanks for at least trying to shore up my self-esteem.
Seriously though, go eat gym socks loser.
You should hook up with Feldspar. You can crouch in front of your screens like the vapid little gnomes you are and sneer at us dupes and knuckle-walkers.
That's "knuckle-draggers" not "knuckle-walkers" and I work alone. Very alone.
Amen! I’m a conservative leaning independent. I feel like I’m living in an upside down America when I have more in common with Matt Taibi and Glenn Greenwald than most conservative pundits. It’s feels like patriotic believers in the Constitution versus the Bolsheviks and Pravda.
Ain't that the truth. I think many of us, from all parts of the political spectrum, share a befuddled astonishment about the malevolent idiots that head our government, corporate, and NGO sectors.
And not just happening in my southern neighbor (USA).
As a Canadian I am ashamed of our uniparty (Liberals, NDP, Bloc and Greens) and how NGOs I used to be heavily involved in like Amnesty International went woke and cult like.
As a Canadian you should be more ashamed that your government froze bank accounts of protesters. Coming to the U.S., if we allow a CBDC.
It is unimaginable what's going on. Just a few years ago, we all wanted to move to Canada. Now, I won't even visit!
As a Canadian I'm still in shock that Bimbo Trudeau FROZE FELLOW CANADAIANS BANK ACCOUNTS!! & ALL THEIR CREDIT CARDS!!...Let that sink in a little
That's where all these authoritarian governments, incl the U.S., are going if we allow them to usher in CBDCs.
Nigeria, of all places, is solidly REJECTING their CBDC. It has become an utter failure. Let's hope that other country's citizens can follow in Nigeria's footsteps.
Canada, like all other American vassal states, just follows the Empire's lead, in that case they set that precedent by freezing out WikiLeaks and with every major bank blocking them.
100% true.
For some reason the stupidity is more galling than the malevolence. If we were led by evil bad-asses maybe I could get behind it.
These folks are glue-eating morons.
The Deep State is most pleased with your befuddlement and wishes to further astonish you in the future.
The word that might be used to describe folks like you is "politically homeless."
But as someone who has been an independent for years, I've learned that there are more people who think independently and, while they don't agree on everything, they are able to have discussions without shouting others down.
In other words, being "politically homeless" isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I have been politically homeless for decades. Thank you for giving us a moniker. And all you have to do is look at this "interview," masquerading as journalism, to know why more and more of us are disgusted with broken two party politics in this country. That said, Matt should have known better than to get himself invited to be "interviewed" by this lightweight of a talking head. PLEASE resist the pull of publicity going forward, Mr. Taibbi. Stick to your knitting and let your work do the talking for you.
Regarding the term "politically homeless," I can't take credit for it. I believe Bridget Phetasy was one of the first I saw use it, but for all I know, she got it from someone else.
Still, I'm happy to have found a term you think fits.
I like that a lot, politically homeless. Feels fitting.
i feel the exact same way
and we get honest observations from russel brand, joe rogen and dwight schurte character from the office
Russell Brand and Joe Rogan are the modern versions of George Carlin. If you watch Carlin's development he went from "the 7 words you can't say on TV" to "it's one big club and you ain't in it." Why is it that listening to former comediennes you find more world truths than any real news source (Matt excluded, of course)?
Those comedians who haven't publicly turned on the ones pointing to the naked emperor are canaries in the coal mine.
I like Jimmy Dore too.
Oh yes, how could I forget Jimmy!
We are the same.
I feel the same way exactly. Upside down.
Me too.
That's what we call "living in a bubble".
Patriotic believers in the Constitution don't try to nullify Constitutionally-mandated elections.
(edit to add, I'm not accusing Taibbi or Greenwald of this, just pointing out that their lack of concern with Republicans trying to literally hijack the government disqualifies them as "Patriotic believers in the Constitution"... could have phrased it better)
The entity who hijacked the election was BIDEN and the FBI. They refused to allow the real information to be exposed regarding a certain coked-out son-of-a-candidate's laptop.....you know the one which proves that "the big guy" gets his cut from China and Ukraine too?
Plus, if you think that Biden, the clown and dementia patient, actually got 81 million votes, I have some great swamp land to sell you in FL.
Stick to phantom threats to your mortgage.
Difficult to argue with another citizen who relies on propaganda and unprovable conspiracy theories to buttress their arguments. Careful with this routine---it can cause mental breakdowns and ultimately...madness.
I love it when people try to claim "conspiracy theories" when almost all the claimed conspiracy theories have been proved 100% true. Are you a spook? Because the use of "conspiracy theory" is spook talk.
Really? That's considered spook talk? I've always wanted to be a spy. Trafficking in international skulduggery, stalking enemy spies on shadowy, cobble-stoned streets in old European capitals, trench coat, fedora, etc.
It's very interesting that you replied only to this response. Did you not have another "gotcha" response to my reply regarding the proposed UCC Amendments? Or maybe you tried to read my article "Think Your Mortgage is Safe? Think Again!" but it was just a little too cerebral for you. I'll bet it's the latter.
I don't take you seriously. Nobody I know would either. Sorry.
I am so grateful that you and I aren't friends. I prefer intelligence in the people that surround me.
Have a great day!
The "free-ist, fair-est election in history!"
I voted a million times for Biden. Then when I came back to the polls several hours later to cast another million votes, I was arrested.
Since you are clearly lying, this is still more proof of the "Big Lie," and also adds weight to the argument that 2020 was the "free-ist, fair-est election in history. Thanks for playing.
You're welcome.
Here is the problem. A day is only 24 hours long, and Taibbi is only one person. He can't be the one-stop source of coverage of everything that is bad in the world. But that doesn't stop you from helping. So, speak out about what Trump attempted to do, and Matt will continue to probe deeper into the increasing dead-lettering of our First Amendment rights. They are not mutually exclusive, and I'm sure he won't try to stop you.
Do Pfizer boosters work? Are they necessary? Do kids of 6 month old need a Pfizer jab?
Be careful what you answer - you might end up in a wrong bubble! Or is it babble with you?
After 3 Pfizers I'd say, yes, they work. Why do you ask?
The politics of journos is unimportant except for those who are hired propagandists. Assuming political partisanship when ethical journos want to get to the truth of events is just silly wishful thinking. This is why Taibbi and Greenwald stand out and why they take so much heat from political partisans, especially--at the moment--the DP, the entrenched DC bureaucracy "clusterfuck" and its MSNBC pimps.
And considering the amount of work that goes into Taibbi's investigative reporting and publication, maybe you should give him some time to investigate whatever Republican scandals you have in mind.
Taibbi and Greenwald are propagandists.
This is like the old saying that one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist.
Matt is a far more honest journalist than most of the folks in msnbc, Fox, cnn, etc. as is Glenn.
Everyone has a view and even journalist are not immune to that however I would rather read his take on a situation that Chris Hayes or David corns any day of the week. And like you I am putting my money towards that view.
I think Matt saw the abuse and got disgusted and decided to be a real journalist about it and those who did not attack him because he dared to stay the true part out loud.
If the measure of a person are whom their enemies are, and given whom Matt’s are, to me that speaks highly of the man. Anyone who count Rachael Madow and Vlad Putin as enemies probably has something good going on…
If someone tries to murder you and fails, do you just go on about your day without concern?
Taibbi was the invited guest of Jim Jordan, a man who participated in the attempt to steal the election. Clearly he doesn't care that much, since his vendetta is with Dems specifically.
His vendetta is with the Censorship Industrial Complex; if the Democrats are in bed with the Censorship Industrial Complex then that's their problem.
Clearly his vendetta is with his former friends in the media who have disowned him for climbing down a rabbit hole. The article's not called "The Censorship Industrial Complex Sucks". Taibbi even freely points out *in this article* that it's personal between him and MSNBC. Don't you read?
MSNBC is a willing participant in the Censorship Industrial Complex, hence him taking a turn focusing on them.
Still clearly not reading.
"If it sounds like my beef with MSNBC is personal, by now it is."
If you think this is about fighting censorship, you're dumber than an MSNBC anchor.
You're either A) not paying attention, B) deliberately trolling, or C) both. We're going to go with both. You have probably been reading Taibbi for a while, and you're surprised by all the right-wingers who all of a sudden came out of the shadows on Matt's Substack. True, there are some serious mentals, but you also have misread Matt's intent. He is interested in the First Amendment, and will take to task those who he believes endanger it. Including MSNBC. But as long as you've been reading Matt, I'm sure you also have seen him exposing numerous journalists, papers, and networks. A very incomplete list would include the Times, WaPo, CNN, NPR, Fox News, ABC, NBC, etc. MSNBC happens to be the loudest, most ardently anti-Trump and pro-gaslighting. This is as even-handed journalist as I've experienced, and he goes where the story takes him (as opposed to finding an angle to a story to justify a currently held view), from Howard Dean to Goldman Sachs to Eric Garner to Twitter Files. Let's see, that's presidential politics, economic meltdown, racist police brutality, and 1st Amendment. That's pretty fucking good for any journalist, and it's a mere sampling of his portfolio.
I think you're deliberately being argumentative, unoriginally I might add, and maybe just stop.
"We're going to go with both."
Who's this "we"? Right out the gate with smarmy rhetorical tricks I see.
"True, there are some serious mentals"
*SOME* mentals? You must sort by popularity, because I'm here to tell you, 99% of Racket comments fall into 1 of 3 buckets:
1. "Matt, you're a godsend, possibly the only real journalist left on planet earth!"
2. "Matt, you're such a sucker. How can you still not be convinced the Democrats stole the election?"
3. "Lizard people are slowly eating toward the core of the earth, and George Soros uses their excrement as fuel for his gas chambers where he disposes of unvaccinated Republicans while Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz perform a pagan incantation and drink baby-blood"
"you also have misread Matt's intent. He is interested in the First Amendment, and will take to task those who he believes endanger it"
I have indeed been reading Matt for a while, and I used to believe this too. At this point the personal vendetta has clearly subsumed everything (in this very article Matt says outright, yeah, it's personal). In saner times, Taibbi would have sooner taken a concrete enema than be associated with a human PR stunt like Jim Jordan.
"from Howard Dean to Goldman Sachs to Eric Garner to Twitter Files"
See, this is what I miss. This 'stack used to feature actual journalism; now it's one story, all the time, with zero subtlety or imagination. The fact that Matt uttered not a peep at Elon's craven collaboration with Modi in censoring a BBC documentary... the fact that he never bothered to mention Columbia Journalism Review had a whopping conflict of interest that called the legitimacy of their whole Russiagate piece into question... the fact that he's willing to make common cause with people who literally tried to nullify a democratic election and help the Republican party seize unlawful control of the government...
He's not himself anymore. It's sad, it's depressing, it's the story of our times.
"I think you're deliberately being argumentative, unoriginally I might add, and maybe just stop."
I'm argumentative with people who say things I think are wrong and/or stupid, which is most of these comments. Call it unoriginal if you want, but you won't find much like it around here. And no, I probably won't stop, but thanks for asking.
I agree that many of the posters here are rightwingers and make rather sweeping statements about “ the left”, but if you have substantive arguments to make about Gerth’s piece, then make them. Competitive snarkfests are a waste of time.
But anyway, I often see people dismiss the work of some person X because X took a stupid position on some other issue. For example, I saw someone on the far left dismiss Siegel’s Tablet piece because Siegel is an apologist for Israel. I am not familiar with his writings on Israel, but if they were as bad as described I wouldn’t like them either. I am not a fan of Israel’s human rights record. But that doesn’t mean he is wrong on the problems with the press.
I am not familiar with Gerth’s career, other than recognizing the name. But the CHR piece seemed fair and accurate.
Oh, I forgot:
4. "As a (prestigious professional title), I believe that (ignorant opinion)"
More info, please: "the fact that he never bothered to mention Columbia Journalism Review had a whopping conflict of interest that called the legitimacy of their whole Russiagate piece into question."
"...This is as even-handed journalist as I've experienced, and he goes where the story takes him (as opposed to finding an angle to a story to justify a currently held view)"
Really? Well, now I know what's going on. Thank you for setting the record straight and providing a guiding light to the intricacies of Mr. Taibbi's reporting.
Why would anyone paying attention to Taibbi over the past 6 years be surprised by all the right-wingers clogging his substack comment lanes?
MSNBC toes the company line on what is and is not "misinformation" (e.g. natural immunity is "misinformation", but Russiagate is not), which is why they're going after Matt in the first place - he's reporting on things that make them look like the hacks they are.
Irrelevant. I'm not saying his reasons for being pissed are invalid, just that he's clearly been acting out of anger and vengefulness over personal slights, not a coolheaded assessment of what matters.
Even if you take Jan6 etc. out of the equation, the mere fact that he signs off with "Fuck MSNBC" shows that he's totally given up on reaching anyone outside of his loyal audience, which is not how you make a difference in the world.
I wouldn't say he's totally given up, I'd say he's done halfassing his criticisms of MSNBC.
No shit. If you find yourself arguing about the varying degrees of veracity of cable news shows, you're not only part of the problem you're demonstrably a big part of the problem.
And you know this to be true because...
Because Hamilton68, for starters.
It isn't your problem too? You're here for the atmosphere then?
It's my problem in the sense that my Prime Minister, Trudeau, is taking notes on American gov't censorship and then taking it even further in Canada.
When someone posts like a retard on the internet do you go about your day without concern?
Yes. Actually.
Funny thing, I'm having that experience at this *very moment*.
Original content, please.
Get it yourself.
I know you are, but what am I?
Talking out loud to yourself, again, Sobanii?
It’s my fourth favorite shitfuck.
Hey, I meant to ask you: what’s a real anarchist?
I'm not going to tell you because you would might then start behaving like one.
Lol of course you have no idea
you didnt answer his question - classic avoidance.
Sorry, due to the way Substack's comments work, it's harder than you might expect for me to look back at the original question and respond accordingly to your comment.
I felt I was answering the comment. If roundabout censorship concerns a person more than an outright coup attempt (which is what Jan 6 was, and you can blow me if you're about to go on some tirade about it), that person has lost touch with reality.
"Roundabout censorship"? That's like saying bombing Nagasaki was a little noise disturbance. When the MSM, social media, FBI and DOJ are lying and manipulating weak-minded people like yourself with manufactured outrage so you spend your time on a news thread just to attack people who think differerent (very constructive, BTW), you're the chump. And, of course, when you run out of factless accusations you try and change the topic to avoid accountability (i.e., referencing Jan 6, a completely different discussion). Maybe you should curl up with a book, actually a magazine with lots of pictures, and suck your thumb and tell yourself how you've made a difference.
ABSOLUTELY AGREE! I find it insulting when people talk to me as if there was nothing to see on 1/6. They legit ask me shit like, "I wanna know what Pelosi was doing." and say shit like, "How about ALL the PEACEFUL protesters." Uh, whatabout em? Then they want to argue about injuries and deaths or an incident in WA state.
Don't be insulted by thick people. The lost among us...
It isn't "making the government more accountable" if he discredits his own concerns by airing them during a partisan hack media circus. May as well go on InfoWars at this point.
I would give up my friend. Sometimes you can't help the blind to see.
"Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent."
I wish I could get me one of them there bribes
I mean, you can characterize the majority of American voters however you want, but they don't approve of Jim Jordan's dumb publicity stunts, and chances are that Matt's participation didn't raise their levels of giving-a-shit about the Twitter files.
You're always coming after Matt. Why are you on here anyway? I think you will find more acceptance in the arms of your lizard brain friends.
Because I used to enjoy his journalism, and I don't see any value in abandoning him to his right-wing shithole safespace where every comment is some variation of sucking his e-cock.
That, and because it's entertaining and cathartic to engage with the absolute stupidity that passes for political conversation here.
Anyway, maybe you'd prefer an echo chamber?
Honestly, you're just making yourself sound very foolish.
"Right-wing shithole safespace"? "Sucking his e-cock"?
The absolute animal crudity of your expression makes me want to puke. It's not "edgy" It's not even clever.
You remind me of an ex-friend who gets abusive anytime he hears anything that challenges his fragile infantile outlook.
lol, sorry, all I can hear is the sound of giving up.
A strange game.
The only winning move is not to play.
So you do acknowledge that disinformation agents exist?
Amen
That's because it is between constitutionalists and Bolsheviks and PRAVDA DNC= MSM
Matt, PLEASE UNLOCK THIS! As many people as possible need to read this!
I gotta agree - can we pay extra to unlock? I'd be more than happy to chip in! I know a lot of people who need to read this that actually believe that MSNBC is somehow different - more noble, even - than Fox. That they're the good guys in the fight. It's so fucking stupid lmao
Hahaha I know so many people who say Fox news is horrible propaganda and only deluded people watch it. Then they'll click on MSNBC to see what horrible things the orange man has done.
The real answer is they are all propaganda. It has always been this way, my mother was a journalist and told me about the bias years ago. She started in the 70's. The internet has just given us more access to independent reporting so it is more clear to anyone who digs that bad things are happening
I dont know. fox is a business model and i suppose that they rely on a certain segment of politicians to generate their right wing blather. But MSNBC and their ilk are starting to act as mouthpieces of the government.
And Fox is not exclusively a mouthpiece of the Republican Party?
you missed my point, i know nuance is lost on a place like this so I will try to explain, and I will type slowly for you.
I did say that Fox relied on right wing politicians (aka Republicans) for its blather. I did not say that the like of MSNBC is a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party, (I would say like Fox, they are in agreement with said party and act accordingly.) I said it was a mouthpiece for the government and by relation the ruling establishment. This is a much more dangerous precedent which has been set and is the heart of the article.
"...and I suppose that they rely on a certain segment of politicians..."
No, I grasped your "nuance" immediately. At least I "suppose" a "certain segment" of me did. You're very amusing.
Who ever said it was not? I think the main difference is that all new it. Others tried to wrap themselves in the veneer of impartiality and respectability when in truth they were just as big of whores.
Well, in your defense Fox did bag their "Fair and Balanced" motto in 2017 after the blushing became too noticeable, replacing it with "Standing Up For What's Right."
Personally, I'm partial to: "All the Right News Fit For Rupert Murdoch"
Do you watch it? No.
so true
This is perhaps the only accurate comment I've read on the threads today.
I don't believe unlocking will do a lot of good. Many people are so gaslighted they have lost the ability to think without emotions clouding their judgment.
Stephen, 100% true. It is terribly disheartening, but on the money.
But we need to try otherwise we are fked
Thank god nobody here is.
I’m in!
In !
Won't make a damn bit of difference. The folks who get their "news" from MSNBC are brainwashed.
Man what a show! Seeing them again later in the year on the second half of the US tour!
Don't tell me you are a Depeche Mode fan! :)
The majority of folks who "get their news from MSNBC" are probably retirees well into their dotage, watching MSNBC because it's slightly less insane than Fox, and who are considerably more concerned about their health insurance and bowel movements than social media censorship---whether it's by the government, the noisy teenagers next door, or tech-savvy Martians. Sorry to burst your bubble.
People should read it, but it is really good, so Matt should be paid for writing it.
MSNBC aficionados won't listen. Take my very well educated 93-year-old father who started screaming at me to "never give him shit like this to read ever again" when I gave him Matt and Michael Shellenberger's Congressional testimony. I was actually afraid he would have a health event...
omg. Do we have the same father? Same with my 93-year-old father who has bluetooth earphones on most of the day tuned into MSNBC. I wouldn't even bother to pass this on to him as I would get the exact same reaction.
Perhaps they both have a crush on Nicole Wallace. I mean, who doesn't?
My family are the same
Wow, this is like a support group for people whose elderly parents are hooked on MSNBC. I feel seen 😕 It's like some sort of brainwashing program for seniors. Fortunately, there aren't enough of them to sway the election!
Maybe we do have the same father. He was ASHEN, and I was afraid he was going to have a heart attack.
Actually I have the opposite problem. I am 86 years old and my younger family members all go along with the mainstream newsmedia propaganda. I get my news mostly online and occasionally check on Fox and MSNBC and CNN to see what they are up to next.
Also, there's something about age and processing new information.
Not everybody thinks the same way.
No, but there's something very specific about dealing with older people and evidence.
Forward the email.
Why are people always asking Matt to give away his hard work for free? Not many of us go to work for free, when everyone around us is being paid. Buy people a gift subscription. You'll help them, and you'll help Matt fund his highly influential efforts.
People who besiege taibbi with requests to make certain posts "free" imagine that there are hundreds of thousands of non-subscribers out there who anxiously await taibbi's latest offering, hoping to be able to read the whole thing on-the-house.
Maybe make it an op-ed in the Washington Post.? 🤣
My granddaughter just spoke her first words: "Fuck You MSNBC." I am so, so proud.
From the mouth of babes to God’s ears.
That’s a video meme that would take off.
Hahaha
"From that period in early 2017 through the crushing release of the Mueller report — forcing Rachel to cut a trout-fishing vacation in Tennessee short to stammer out, eyes welling with emotion, “This is the start of something, not the end of something” — I do not believe even one person expressing skepticism of the Trump-Russia story came on the channel. That streak ended with poor Chris’s post-Mueller bummer-cast with Michael Isikoff and David Corn, on March 25, 2019.
This video should be shown to every J-school student as a “Scared Straight” exercise. In it Yahoo!’s Isikoff, the first prominent journalist to quote Christopher Steele, said of his dossier, “It was endorsed multiple times on this network, people saying, It’s more and more proving to be true. And it wasn’t.”"
Sorry if I am clogging the board, but why would this scare anyone straight? Maddow, Iisikoff and the rest of the crew faced no consequences, neither personal nor professional.
Like the MSM jackholes who pushed for the War on Iraq, they still have their fat contracts, they still are lauded as crusading journalists even though they're basically on-air fluffers, smirking renaissance courtiers without the colorful costumes. Lots of people still insist that the russiagate conspiracy theory is factual.
Again, like Iraq, the people who doubted the approved narrative were the ones cast into outer darkness, not the liars and CIA mouthpieces. They are the ones who are disgraced and Right Thinking People refuse to call them journalists.
This is so sadly, and profoundly true Feral. All common norms are gone. Not only can no one be scared straight any longer, seamingly the more profound and outrageous the inaccuracy/lie the more rewarded you'll be at MSNBC.
Getting in bed with bald faced liars like Avenatti, Brennan, Page, Strozk, regurgitating unproven, unsourced false stories does ZERO harm. None. Frankly, it bolsters the fucking liars at MSNBC. The more outrageous the claim the more clicks and viewers.
How is anyone ever going to be scared straight again?
Future lawyers at one of the most prominent law schools are taught that if you don't like the person making the argument (a Federal Circuit Judge), it's not only okay, but it's encouraged to jeer, and act like a whiny baby. No one need win on an argument supported by fact. Make shit up, use ad hominem, quote "sources", bully and not only will you not lose your job, but the above is a requirement to succeed.
You don't look a day over 50. Thanks for doing this Matt, you get my five bucks forever.
The old saw is if the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, call the other side names. Seems Stanford law school students among others skip straight to name calling.
These are LAW students. Why not come prepared to argue your viewpoint with a Circuit Court judge who’s willing to let you go toe to toe with him? Or just stay home. But to show up and refuse to apply logic and reasoning because you think appropriate thing to do if name call and harass - and yet you wanna become a lawyer?
I'd rather not elevate what happened at Stanford as an expression of "civil disobedience" (pigeon chess is more like it) but it appears that this really is the mindset of such disruptors. They think they are behaving nobly in holy war.
20 years from now they will be on the bench and their legal decisions will based on the only legal tenet they believe in "Because I said so."
But they'll dress up that thought in something inscrutable.
I doubt they will have to, they will own the judiciary by then. I probably will not live to see it but if I dont I hope I go down fighting
Didn’t RM get fired from somewhere when the Russiagate failed? When Matt and journalists proved it wrong. Now she’s back again after if not fired at least embarrassed?
What if the "Right Thinking People" in this instance are long-time purveyors of "Wrong Think?"
I wonder how we can scare them straight.
In any case, lately I keep thinking about what happens to the Voice of London.
Probably nothing.
Voice Of London?
V for Vendetta reference.
Spoiler: it ends poorly for him.
MSNBC has dedicated itself to the endless quest of trying to redefine the lower limits of bad taste. The network makes CNN look like a beacon of rectitude by comparison. I hope you wipe the floor with Hasan, Matt. It's long past time that someone puts that propagandistic moron in his place.
"Redefine the lower limits of bad taste"? I don't think it's a whataboutism to point out that Fox News has them outdone on every front of "bad taste", and has for decades. If MSNBC is your "lower limit", you've got problems.
Actually it is "whataboutism." Literally hijacks whataboutism and disqualifies you as able to understand "whataboutism."
I'm not sure what you're trying to convey here.
If I claim that a specific news outlet is "redefining the lower limits of bad taste", it's relevant info if another outlet has already defined the limits lower.
Nice job totally missing the point, though.
Try it this way: people may accuse me of whataboutism, but I don't care because clearly Fox has gone far lower for far longer, with the emails and texts of Murdoch, Carlson, etc. MSNBC is bad, real bad, but not as cartoonish....yet.
Thanks. You too.
Not really sure how to measure bad taste. It’s all just an opinion, you’re obviously left leaning so you hate fox, and can live with msnbc. People more right leaning have the opposite opinion. I prefer voices like Taibbi or greenwald, real journalists that are able to set there personal politics aside and just report the information, wherever it leads them.
You are partially correct in your assessment of Fox, Their news is solid, If you take issue with their opinion shows I can see that. Brett Bears news cast is solid.
There news is solid? Hard disagree on that. It's a propaganda network... you could probably get some factual news on RT too, but the slant is there when it matters.
Dwhy you are a brat as in child. And you cannot spell! As in there instead of their. Just go away.
Have you ever watched special report with Brett Baire? Don't let the fact its on fox dissuade you. If you have watched it and thats your opinion I'm fine with that we will just disagree. I get most of my news online typically. RT was pulled from cable.
AGREE!
Matt, you are one of the few voices I can turn to and trust these days. Please know that your efforts are greatly appreciated by the majority of the public ... the reasonable majority. Stay the course and know you are a "true" hero. Your efforts will be lauded by future generations of "real" journalists. Thank you.
When Matt and I were young you'd meet people occasionally who'd say they'd seen the Beatles in 1964 or they went to Woodstock, or otherwise claim they were present at a famous historical event.
Now Matt can tell his grandkids something similar:
"Hey, kids, I was there at the birth of the Global Censorship State, when the US govt, corporate media and the giant tech companies joined forces and decided that they would from now on be the owners of all Official Truth™ and that dissenters would be denounced as enemies of the state...Just think: we used to have freedom of thought and speech, until the government and corporations decided to take it away for our safety!"
But they won't believe grandpa because all their screens will have told them otherwise, and who are you gonna believe in the 21st century: your grandpa or the beloved and beneficent all-knowing State?
When somebody tells me the government and corporations did this, I kindly remind them that most of all of this was known in time for the 2020 election, but certainly for the 2022 midterms. And still millions of people still flocked to vote D. "We have met the enemy, and he is us". Very depressing indeed.
I need an “Official Truth™️” t-shirt.
In the Taibbi Merch Store, next to the Vampire Squid and Fuck You, MSNBC shirts. Who here is in the apparel industry? You can probably set up the online shop, and cut Matt a check for his share without him having to provide any effort.
Dude, you look 40! ;) Well done for staying kind and thoughtful throughout this BS. I'm always grateful for your balanced and considered approach to even the most irritating issues. Thank you!
Easily the most offensive sentence in Matt's career. I'm in my early 30s and he looks younger than me!
Then you must watch more news than he does... ;)
I agree with Susan, you look your age, maybe even younger. But the aging you refer to is real...and you feel it deep in your bones. Keep pushing...just remember to give yourself permission for some occasional R&R.
"MSNBC: Fuck you"
Is that your idea of "kind and thoughtful"? Jeez.
Perfect response fuck you msnbc
Sheesh, Matt! No surprise here.
They're NOT journalists. They're incapable of independent thought. The entire pack of them.
They're wannabe TV Stars. They'd be just as content with a regular gig on some insipid sitcom.
The women are also-rans from the America's Junior Miss Pageant; the men are GQ cover-boy rejects.
Of course they are not journalists. They are (Deep) State Media stenographers, whose purpose is to dissemble Official Narratives. These careers were created by putting the State Dept/ CIA in charge of media by "modernizing" Smith Mundt, the US law which once prohibited domestic propaganda. Reading a teleprompter or cut-and-pasting "leaks" (instructions) requires no reporting or investigative skills, but provides a secure career path and pays much better than journalism.
Wouldn’t it be fun to have control of the teleprompter. These idiots would read whatever was scrolling.
Fuck you, MSNBC. And Fuck You, San Diego, which is German for a whale's vagina.
I wonder who’s job Hassan was auditing for
God this is a beaut. It makes Russell Brand's MSNCBC takedown on Maher all the sweeter. You look great for 100!
lololol
God bless you, Matt Taibbi. You are a credit to your profession (one of the few these days). We are your biggest fans. Go get 'em at MSNBC!!
Amen!
Um....MSNBC still sucks.
MSNBC has always sucked.
Matt’s eyes have been opened this last year or so to the Democrats’ corruption.
They fired Phil Donahue and Jesse Ventura because they wouldn’t promote the war the invasion of Iraq. Shameful.
"MSNBC has always sucked" ...and they have the ratings to prove it.
The MSM, sadly including Fox, are so corrupt, so addicted to the Woke Kool-Ade, so narcissistic, that it still amazes me that anyone with two brain cells to rub together pays the slightest attention to them. They make Pravda seem a bastion of truth.
I saw this years ago when I was a minor official in the administration of Gov. Pete Wilson here in California. I was involved in a controversial policy implementation which required me to spend a lot of time doing public relations. I was shocked at the groupthink even then, where media up and down the state used the same language and concepts in their "reporting." The print media were bad, but the TV people were dreadful. This was all because the governor was a Republican, so whatever his administration was doing was presumed bad.
The intriguing question for me is not so much why these horrible people are so addicted to mendacity, but why so many of us still grant them any authority. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Marty Keller: Are you sure you're including Fox in the corrupt, MSM category? Flawed, they are, big-time. But WOKE? Let's face it, the media is pretty much all bad. But imagine if Fox never existed. We would have No opposition press whatsoever. Sometimes stirring outrage is the only way to shed sunlight on the corrupt and the mendacious. Let them make some money. But a world without Fox News?
My problem with Fox is that in general they tend to respond to the Woke dominance rather than ignore it and lead with from constitutionally-based perspective. Since I don't watch them, I am willing to be guilty of overstatement. After all, Gutfeld is genuinely funny and perceptive (based on YouTube excerpts I've seen). And, of course, Tucker is a national treasure.
I agree, Marty. Fox is just the outrage machine reacting to the woke. The only intelligent people on Fox are Tucker and Gutfeld. They have the ratings to match, and the “establishment” fears their derision. It’s delicious!
Tucker is intelligent, but his public opinions are not. He's a chameleon who will say and do practically anything for ratings.
(for example, sucking Trump's dick on air while privately saying things like "It’s disgusting. I’m trying to look away" and "I hate him passionately")
The fact that you seemingly buy Tucker's on-air opinions makes you the schmuck in this equation. The rest of the world is laughing at you, for good reason.
I agree, I'd just add that more and more of Congress itself is populated by the same kinds of performers, and the scripts are passed back and forth between partisan media and partisan Congresspersons after performances are given and the results analyzed. The boundaries between media and government are blurring at the same moment that the old notion of objective non-partisan media largely disappeared (since 2016). I fear even the judicial sector will be drawn in, and soon the independence of the different branches of government will disappear, and partisan media will effectively become a 4th branch of government.
Why do you take Tucker Carlson seriously when he clearly does not take you seriously?
Tucker Carlson is very similar to President Donald J. Trump in that every once in awhile they say something that is true. This is hard for the deep state to tolerate because having we the people catch on must be prevented.
"they tend to respond to the Woke dominance rather than ignore it and lead with from constitutionally-based perspective". This is probably true for the entire GOP strategy, unfortunately. It is easy to criticize and make fun of the woke, they are easy targets; much harder to come up with a positive pragmatic course of action to lead us out of the gutter.
Once again, you guys are missing the whole picture. It's not Fox vs. MSNBC. It's not D's vs. R's. It's not Right vs. Left.
It's the Have's vs. the Have Not's. Rachel Maddow and Tucker Carlson are both Haves. As are Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell. As are Joe Biden, George W. Bush, and Barrack Obama (not to mention the Clintons). The system controls the money (Wall St), the muscle (military and cops), and the information (censorship).
Matt gets it. Glenn gets it. You guys need to get it.
Both corporate political parties in the USA are basically the same.
Meanwhile, we stockpile...
Fox News pioneered the "cable news as entertainment" model. They're ground zero of the rot that's been eating away at the news media for decades.
A world without Fox News would be better for all of us, even you, even though you don't believe it.
Fox News provides a political balance to the bullshit...but it's all bullshit. All of em. Fox, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS. All bullshit, all propaganda. When you're watching the news you are not the customer, you are the product being sold.
Fox News doesn't provide balance to anything. That's not how it works.
Bullshit + Bullshit = Bullshit
The point is, you can either give up and live in a hermetically-sealed information bubble with 4 or 5 independent journalists, and just hope those people never go off the rails... or you can act like an adult, and sift through the bullshit for nuggets of truth like the rest of us do.
Oh Lordy. Dwhy is back. But why? Can't you just sit at the kids' table for once?
I think he may be the hardest working person in show business!
Such an act. He's the reason I have a hard time believing in natural selection: why is dwhy still here?
What's real? He/She/It might not even be a real person. I pray daily that they're not.
Actually, Bullshit + Bullshit + 2Bullshit. Kind of like high school math: a + a = 2a
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_noun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun
Fox is not "opposition press," it's propaganda in service of the Republican Party.
Wow. Original. Fox=Bad.
Feldspar: Don't tell me. Mensa?
Probably quite a few Mensans here. I'm one. Absolutely no consensus for any viewpoint in MENSA. Periodic skirmishes of threatened expulsion for non-woke viewpoints, though. Unsuccessful so far as dues keep the heat and lights on.
Yes. I run the short-order griddle (busy morning shift, eggs, bacon, hash browns, etc., IQ over 80 required) at the MENSA Austin headquarters' snack bar.
Now THAT'S funny!
I regularly check your newsletter to see if you've made any progress but I now assume that the first post will come when the revolution comes. Or perhaps your first post will signal the revolution is here, or shortly on the way barring any unforeseen delays, of either the first post or the revolution. Might this be the case?
Either way you have at least one eager future patron.