So Chuck Todd today let Kellyanne Conway repeat unchallenged the lie that Hillary Clinton “started birtherism.” Mind you, even the timorous NYTimes has not let this deception stand, branding it on article headings unambiguously as a lie. Chuck has been seen on-air blithely laughing about the chaos of the campaign, with a c’est la vie mirth. Well, as one of our own diarists powerfully articulated, we're not laughing with you, Chuck. The false balance, the normalizing, the “second order” reporting (second order reporting, as Paul Krugman deems it, occurs when journalists discuss events based on their speculated impact on the campaign instead of their actual substance)—these are the hallmarks of Chuck Todd’s performance and they attest that he has become jaded, comfortable, and complacent. Besides an obvious disservice to our public discourse, this simply makes for bad TV. It’s time for him to go, and for Joy Reid to replace him. She’s qualified, professional, poised, polished—the total package, stylistically and substantively. And, yeah, there’s the obvious historical significance of a black female reporter taking over an historical news program like Meet the Press. But that’s entirely a bonus on top of Joy’s obvious personal merits.
Now, I know some might say that Joy Reid would have to ratchet down her hard-hitting, cut-through-the-you-know-what style on Meet the Press and then we’ll be calling for her deposal next. Maybe. But, then again, maybe not. My question is, what the hell do we have to lose?