In established industries, credible people who perform worthwhile tasks need not tout their own credibility or worthiness.
Moreover, those with self-respect should not cry “we matter” and pat themselves on the back, particularly when their own record of dishonesty has paved the way for upstarts to displace them.
Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” co-host Joe Scarborough made a blathering fool of himself while praising one of the show’s remote guests, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei, who last week launched into a vulgar tirade against X owner Elon Musk’s repeated claims that his social media platform has supplanted the establishment media as a source of news.
The segment began with a clip from VandeHei’s speech on Thursday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
In the first part of the clip, VandeHei delivered an impassioned defense of traditional media. As a statement of ideals, his paean to America and the need for a “free press” hardly sounded objectionable.
The second part of the clip, however, featured VandeHei saying what the muddleheaded Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski really wanted to hear.
“Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day, or X today, saying like ‘We are the media! You are the media!” VandeHei said in a clip posted to YouTube.
“My message to Elon Musk is ‘Bulls***!’” the Axios CEO exclaimed.
Naturally, applause ensued from the journalists in attendance.
Do you trust the mainstream media?
“You having a blue check mark, a Twitter handle and 300 words of cleverness doesn’t make you a reporter,” an increasingly animated VandeHei later added.
Of course, as defiant as they sounded, VandeHei’s words proved empty.
For all his thunderous advocacy on behalf of establishment “news,” the Axios CEO said little of substance. He insisted that one cannot simply “proclaim” oneself a reporter. He called the reporter’s job “really hard” and declared that a reporter must “care.”
Then, without a shred of irony, he said that reporters must get as close as possible to the truth.
When the clip ended, the entire MSNBC panel, including Brzezinski and notorious race-hustler Al Sharpton, clapped with approval.
Meanwhile, Scarborough treated the show’s few remaining viewers to more than two minutes of mindless nonsense.
First, the co-host blamed social media users for “lying about reporters” and the work they do.
Then, in an embarrassing display, he heaped effusive praise on not only VandeHei but other establishment voices.
“What you do matters,” Scarborough said, adding emphasis to every word. “What The New York Times does matters, what the Wall Street Journal does matters, what [Politico and MSNBC reporter] Jonathan Lemire does matters, what the Financial Times does matters, what NBC News and MSNBC reporters do matters. It matters.”
Readers who wish to view the entire spectacle may do so in the video below. Scarborough’s clownish antics began around the 2:50 mark:
Of course, VandeHei’s speech and Scarborough’s screed amounted to little more than therapy sessions masquerading as manifestos.
After all, if those reporters and outlets truly “mattered” at the moment, then readers and viewers would know it. An Axios CEO and an MSNBC co-host would not have to announce it via thunderous-yet-meaningless proclamations.
Moreover, the establishment media has only itself to blame for its vanished credibility. Even if we kept to the last eight years, a complete inventory of media lies might take decades to compile.
Thus, while media figures reassure one another of their own merits, their ratings plummet, and Musk — the greatest practical champion of free speech in recent history — both observes and plots their ultimate demise.
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