Real Time: Jeremy Scahill Calls Out Chuck Todd for Calling Torture Investigations "Political Catnip"
Chuck Todd got called out on Real Time by Jeremy Scahill for calling investigations into torture "political catnip". Apparently Todd has taken no lessons from his back and forth with Glenn Greenwald on the issue since he was still as defensive as ever when someone with well more than an ounce of journalistic integrity calls him out for his lack of it.
Todd went on Morning Joe defending Cheney, and Glenn Greenwald ripped him for the same thing Scahill took him to task for on Real Time:
NBC's Chuck Todd -- who, remember, is billed as a reporter covering the White House, not a pundit expressing opinions -- was on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Tuesday discussing reports that Eric Holder is likely to appoint a prosecutor to investigate Bush torture crimes. Needless to say, everyone agreed without question that investigations were a ridiculous distraction from what really matters and would be terribly unfair. This, along with Mika Brzezinski and Pat Buchanan, is what Todd argued after he was asked about the Holder story and the Cheney/CIA story (video is below):
Todd: Look, let's take all of these stories in one big thing: really, the only important thing -- the most important thing -- the President has to focus on is getting the public's trust on the economy, and pushing health care. Cheney, the CIA, and in some respects Sotomayor are cable catnip --
Brzezinski: Yep.
Todd: It's news catnip - but they're sort of clouding the two most important issues the President's got to get his arms around this week: winning back trust of the middle on the economy and pushing health care through.
Brzezinski: I would completely agree with you, yet the questions are being raised by news organizations like the New York Times. Pat Buchanan, chime in, because as I've been reporting [sic], and I'll say it for Chuck's benefit here: speaking to a former senior intelligence official yesterday on the phone for quite some time, saying that this program that Cheney was apparently blocking the CIA from giving Congressional intelligence officials information on, was not even a program -- it was not operational -- it was not even at the stage where you would tell Congress about it or talk to high-level administration officials about it.
Is this much ado about nothing to get the attention off what needs to be done?
Buchanan: Well it's exactly what Chuck said, it's a massive distraction . . . . Let me ask Chuck this: it seems to me you got a real problem for the administration if you go forward at Holder's level --
Todd: Right.
Buchanan: and they appoint a Special Counsel, the first thing the CIA guys do is say is: yeah, we did it; we waterboarded them; and here's the authorization from these lawyers who said we could do it --- the lawyers come in and say we were asked for our opinion and Cheney was the guy who asked us, and the President told us to go ahead and do it. Aren't you right into the White House of the Bush administration as soon as you appoint that independent counsel?
Todd: And I think that's why, in the President's gut, he doesn't want to do this. They've made that clear they don't want to do this. I think that's what you see a lot of the West Wing -- they don't want to get into this because of what you're saying.
Ultimately, a lawyer gets paid to not tell you what the law is -- but to interpret the law, to tell you how far you can push things until you cross a line that a judge will say is illegal. That's what lawyers get paid to do: they get paid to interpret the law, and interpret the law in a way that allows you to stretch things.
You are on a slippery slope - this is a very dangerous aspect to go after, because these CIA guys will say, as you said Pat, we got the letter from these lawyers in the Bush Justice Department that said we can do this. You can't suddenly change the law retroactively because there's another interpretation of this. I'm sure there are a legal minds that will fight and say I don't know what I'm talking about here, but it seems to me that's a legal and a political slippery slope.
This is about as typical a discussion as it gets among media stars as to why investigations are so very, very wrong and unfair and unwise. Still, this discussion in particular vividly highlights several important points worth noting about the role of the establishment media.
Todd later tried to defend himself by doing an interview with Glenn as anyone who reads this blog may recall. Todd didn't fare much better with Scahill on Real Time and was making the same sorry arguments that Glenn already ripped him apart on. Heaven forbid that might stop him from doing it again with an audience that probably had no idea what Scahill was talking about.
It's always enjoyable to me watching these beltway bobble heads who are in love with cozying up to power have to answer to someone who is not, and who actually wants some real reporting to take place, and to see how they react. I look forward to reading Glenn Greenwald's response to Todd's statements tonight if he decides it's worth taking the time to write about.
imbecile! How the hell did this moron ever get this kind of job?
I have a 6 year old grandson that can ask better questions. Certainly SJ can give a better answer.
republicanism is a mental illness!
Jeremy Scahill rocks! Way to go, dude! Chuck Todd is an idiot and I really enjoyed watching him getting a well-deserved smackdown.
Scahill's book sounds very interesting indeed.
Thanks, Heather!
and slave prostitution and the jokes keep flying. Nope we can't treat this seriously or we will be accused by Hannity and Limbaugh of hating our country.
Seriously, who gives a flying f*ck what these two low-life media whores would say about this national disgrace? They are both already a disgrace, to the nation and to humanity.
What kind of pansy liberal is afraid of those two nuts? Not too many here at c&l.
Is it the 21st century yet?
the truth shall set you free
I know Leno and Bill are comics,but leave out the cheap laughs when were talking about slave labor and child prostitution fer chrisakes.
Children servicing these Black Water fucking Nazis is funny?
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
Leno is not particularly bright. He's there to sell his new show...
But Maher behaving this way is really repulsive.
The laughing was inappropriate. Not cool.
is he laughing at this in an effort to drive the horror home on this?
I've been less than pleased with Maher a number of times, but he is a counter-propagandist...
no, it's horrible any way you look at it.
The laughter was distracting, especially while discussing serious matters like these. Totally unnecessary.
I knew Eric Prince was an evil man, but child prostitution and wife-swapping? He is truly vile and disgusting.
these so-called xian warriors.
How can they even begin to think that this is acceptable by ANY standard?!?
All I know is, these christian warriors and their crusades scare the hell out of me. They are nuts.
I'd move to Canada in a heartbeat.
(nextdoor to you ;)
I'm sure you have your share of crackpots -
but here in the USA...I dunno; something in the water?
And here in AZ we have more than our share.
How sweet. I'd really like to have you as a neighbour!
:)
Mick,,, grew up in Rochester, ny. Weather can be tolerated. Canada is beautiful. Hope to move back from Florida after the kids get done with High school,,, tired of the heat and humidity.
I've come to the conclusion that these people who do such horrible things to other humans, cannot possibly believe what they claim to believe....it's just their way of protecting themselves by proclaiming to be "christians"....that gets them off the hook with a lot of crazy faith based whackos........they know exactly what they are doing....and they know exactly how to fool the ones they need to fool........nothing else explains their actions.
I did some research and an undergrad paper on it decades ago. What it boils down to is that laughter is the brain's way of compensating for the incongruous. All jokes depend on a punch line which is inevitably absurd given the leadup.
There are also numerous cases where people "laugh" at public hangings or beheadings. What they are seeing is so horrible that laughter is the only defense they have.
That said - intentionally joking about child prostitution is more than inappropriate.
Fire Dept I worked for did heavy rescue and we used to have some real gallows-humor amongst ourselves.
We saw some pretty awful stuff.
Child prostitution and your effin' tax dollars at work.
I cannot begin to express my revulsion at this.
catnip when trying to buy weed...
More than once. From the same dealer...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Fool, schmuk, but the worst that could be said about him, republican.
It is a proven fact republicanism is a mental illness!
He has to waste everybody's time because he has to pursue the "dollar" story.
Torture. Degradation of children. Murder. All this can take a back seat to what really interests him.
Maher rides two horses at once. He is an astute social commentator, but also a comedian. And I have a newfound respect for Leno. The laughter and joking is just their reaction to the incongruity and insanity of the whole matter. Comedians have been uncovering hypocrisy as long as their has been civilization. And laughing at the pompous so-called "Christian" hypocrites is usually more effective than wringing your hands and saying, "Ain't it awful!" Ridicule them until we can try them and hang 'em. And piss on their graves.
He wasn't taking sides and asked relevant questions. It's these strange times that we live in where we almost have to laugh at how things are so screwed up.
trying to uphold the rule of law.
Why hold anyone accountable?
Let's talk about Michele's shorts. Or something important.
/snark
Todd's a tool. Which is why Jeremy would never get a job on NBC.
When Todd comes out with a book he should think about including a box of crayons..............for editing purposes.....
.............a big box!
'Talk to the hand'
Wife swapping, child prostitution and murder going on at North Carolina based Blackwater.
Those are some southern Christian family values morals I must say.
that this is the common undercurrent to fundamentalist xianity.
Whatever they claim to abhor is what they're into - big time.
It is their own iniquity that convinces them that anyone who doesn't believe in divine punishment must be sinning without remorse. They are incapable of empathy and ethics.
Think what they'd be like if they didn't fear a vengeful God. No, don't. You'll never get to sleep tonight.
Obama is still paying Blackwater. They're all his now.
"I can't keep doing this on my own with these...people."
about the BJs before, maybe Shrubya could have been impeached.
NO, NO, NO, Chuck! That's what accountants do. Lawyers are officers of the court.
This is sickening.
Actually, Todd is right on this.
At this point, I think the WH beat has gone to his head. He needs to leave the punditry to others.
I can understand Obama not wanting to declare war on the Republicans - yet. But there may well come a time when a full broadside taking down Cheney, Rove, Rummy, and Ashcroft could be what is needed. I'm more convinced than ever that the Republicans need to be destroyed in order to be rid of the wingnuts and then reform, much as what happened to the Whigs in the 1850's when the Republican Party was born.
He will NEVER get my support again. I'm already sick to death of his attitude.
who believe felony and capital crimes are a joke. Apparently Chuck Todd seems to think that KIDNAPPING..... RAPE..... TORTURE...... MURDER..... are all a big catnip belly laugh. And Chucky, NO lawyers do NOT get to "interpret" whether or not those crimes are crimes or not!!! The very idea that they can is insane and you need serious mental health care ASAP!!!
So what this means that she called he dad and talked to him for a little while. BFD
Oh and fuck Chuck Todd. Just another turd in the pool.
To make my point a little more obviously we have these thugs Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly and others trying to supress such discussion hiding behind the hate America meme. There is a difference between hating our country and hating what some thugs are doing in the name of our country. If someone in my family is doing something evil I speak up and take action. This isn't hating my family. It is an act of love to try and coorect and to perpetuate what is good. The same goes for our country.
As far as Bill Maher I have a lot of respect for him getting the discussion to the American people but it makes me cringe when he or another guest yuck it up just when the discussion gets good. But hey I guess that's entertainment.
are two of the very few that have a guts to stand up to this criminal enterprise we call the usa. The rest of us should be ashamed. Fuck you Chuck Todd and the rest of the MSM
Rome fell, so will this corrupt empire.
Is it the 21st century yet?
I really just want to kiss Jeremy Scahill.
is a very brave man. He has been writing and speaking out about these atrocities being committed in OUR name by these Blackwater goons for several years. I've not bought or read his books, but I'll be doing that soonest.
Chuckie Todd is the lamest excuse for ---- anything.... watch his facial expressions while Jeremy is talking - he is about to soil his underwear, because Scahill is speaking the truth and Chuckie knows it!!!!
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
indeed.
was it leno who asked scahill a question about his safety?
i thought he was talking about worrying about his life being in danger due to his investigations and truth telling...
but it went in another confusing direction... i think...
or, the subject was changed...
i almost forgot about that...
has to worry not only about the Blackwater goons, but also the folks who run all the clandestine ops for the CIA, NSA, and all the other alphabetic cretins.....
I'm going out tomorrow to buy all of his books!--Gotta support the TRUTH-tellers - there are so few3 these days!
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
Catnip acts as a sedative on humans.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
todd showed himself to be a real chump last night...
good on scahill for going after him...
i wondered if he left the set, as i didn't see him during 'new rules'...
was glad to see he stuck around...
bet it was a tense time at the table...
I saw this last night, todd is a pathetic little villager, maher not much better for the dollar blowjob 'jokes'...The last two installments of real time have been anemic at best, The real nadir was two weeks ago with the two republican douches issa and kingston filabustering about health care.
todd has become totally pathetic he may as well join david gregory in karl rove's dance line.
The magnatude of the criminality of blackwater is so huge, and shockingly flagrant. Watching the joking, instead of compounded indignation was reveletory. Though the exposed shame of this clip needs to go viral. I know todd will put this behind him and be sure to check the guest list if he is invited back. I was good to see him called on it, and see him whither in the face of the truth of his complicity in benign neglect. Another corporate quisling.
I agree, the scope of Blackwater's criminality is just mindboggling.
With Dubya 'Gawd Talks To Me' Bush in office, they had it made in the shade.
Killing for fun and profit! WooHoo!
The real nadir was two weeks ago with the two republican douches issa and kingston filabustering about health care
Bill AND Arianna getting walked all over by Issa? Not a shining moment for them. I thought the last two shows have been pretty good. Certainly by comparison.
Chuck todd is extremely annoying. He really needs to go back and work for Brian Lamb on C-SPAN.
Is it the 21st century yet?
It is horrifying what our country has become and how our citizens are too stupid to even care. Meanwhile Obama won't take his thumb out of his ass.
SO true.
Though the show deals with serious issues it was almost like the child prostitution relevations (for the uninformed) was a surprise and too serious for this show. So to combat the uneasiness that statement caused they made light of it. If that indeed was the basis of it they went too far, instead turning it into a running joke.
Leno played an interesting part last night I thought. He honestly didn't know much about Blackwater and not surprisingly their numbers and what they were doing over there. We're informed but individuals like Leno is what we're up against here, people who simply aren't aware of what's being done in their name.
As far as Todd and Jeremy Cahill, good for Jeremy for taking the fight to Captain Bobblehead. Todd simply is a pretentious ass who thinks he's above all of us plebians. He made a comment about Glen Beck not being voted into the journalist club. The point being Todd was offended that someone he didn't approve of, someone he felt was inferior to him was now a part of his club. Too bad Todd, you're no better than Beck so put away the air of superiority.
All Todd could do was mumble under his breath at Cahill. Knowing that Jeremy was what he should be, what his profession should stand for.
Todd is part of the problem, Jeremy Cahill is part of the solution.
Leno's naivety is important. He represents the public who will likewise be shocked and angered as they realize the crimes commited in their name. Like most Americans, he is a decent man who hadn't been interested in things like this. It will be interesting to see if getting his eyes opened influences his humor.
Glenn Greenwald will have your lightweight, lame Villager ass for lunch. And I also agree that the WH beat has really gone to Todd's head.
Your episode with Jeremy Scahill was just a prelude to much worse to come if you continue to shoot your moron mouth off.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
Scahill's main point is that Blackwater is still working for the Obama administration--their crimes are still being committed. Wake up.
Scahill was there to talk about it and he didn't get a chance to do so.
I agree with you and Johnny2Bad. I'm very disappointed in Obama for allowing this to continue. It is shameful of him.
So all a President has to do is shop around for lawyers until he finds one to tell him that he can do whatever he wants. And according to Chuck Todd, nothing would be wrong with this approach to law.
How completely absurd.
What Chuck Todd fails to understand is that there are corrupt individuals. And then there are corrupt administrations. Under Todd's vision, we would never have a corrupt administration. We'd only have a corrupt individual -- such as a president.
Sorry Chuck. You're just wrong here. And you sicken me with your equivocation on matters such as these. Any president can find himself a lawyer to write up a document that tells him he can do anything he wants. That doesn't make it legal. And it doesn't make it right.
Furthermore, you, Mr. Todd, don't get to determine what crimes get prosecuted in this country. Do your damn job and report what happens. Don't pretend you're a prophet and can predict what the country would do if and when all the facts about this torture program came out. It could very well be the case that the facts are so horrendous that even the republican base would recoil -- especially when they consider that those very same practices could be used against our own troops.
"...............is what they're into....big time."
I have felt that way for a long time. A VERY long time. And the louder some of them screech about it, the 'bigger' they're into whatever 'sin' they're screeching against.
at who give the propaganda readers their marching orders that there is no possibility of restoring trust if the crimes of the past aren't thoroughly investigated and thoroughly prosecuted. Obama's refusal thus far to take this necessary step is one of the major reason why he is losing the trust of those who supported him. He is throwing away the trust that was handed to him on a silver platter.
It strikes me that Todd treats all issues as political rather than right or wrong, true or false, legal or illegal. Indeed, he never even acknowledges whether something is right or wrong, true or false; instead he invariably deconstructs things like torture, murder or slavery to apposing political sides. Once recast as political, the issue is only about whether or not a given side has the political muscle to enforce their interpretation of events. This deeply nihilistic, sophistical and sophomoric style of journalism can never reach a convincing description of fact since it doesn't really think there is such a thing as a fact. Instead its goal is to describe the apposing factions and their current strength.
whatthe
Chuck is now living proof that the peter principle absolutely works...He is out of his element when discussing most anything deeply...Trying to make stuff up on the fly as he does, doesn't seem to work for him - at all!
Todd is a Right Wing political hack that lies for them.
is a failure on so many levels it's hard to list them all, but the two biggest are his failure as a human being and as an American. If he continues to support and defend bushco in their war crimes then he is complicit and should be dealt with as were Benedict Arnold and Saddam Hussein.
He is a traitor to American values.
Later, Scahill asked Todd about Afghanistan, the fact that Obama continues Bush policies, Bagram is Obama's "Guantanamo", there's still torture and other abuses going on, and the press corps can't ask any relevant questions about what's happening on the ground. Todd became angry and dismissive. Scahill came back with Helen Thomas being "sort of the lone soldier doing the people's work there."
Two serious, concerned individuals, and three idiots.
Scahill made them all squirm. And it was beautiful. Nice to see some real journalists do exist.
Unfortunately, I agree is needs to be investigated, but now is not the time. Obama's poll numbers are sinking like the Titanic, there is serious division within the party about healthcare, we don't need to give the Repugs any red meat just now.
of principles we supposedly have
Todd: "You can't suddenly change the law retroactively because there's another interpretation of this." EXACTLY. That's what liberals have been saying for eight years.
I’m extremely disappointed with Todd’s views. We need more real journalists like Mr. Scahill.
I’m saddened to see almost all republicans are tied to this company. With the tax money this company is receiving, there cannot be any incentive for peace.
Can someone tell me what the connection John McCain has with Blackwater? It was reported that Senator McCain has authorized $17 million to Blackwater over the last three years. What is all this about?
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