So much THIS! While the Trump Era has ushered in the Golden Age of modern journalism & illustrated the worth of a free press, 1 area has been WOEFULLY lacking (w a few exceptions): those w mic access to him like the WH Press Pool. They let him hold that lawn gaggle & lie daily.
Other than a few other notable exceptions those who get surrogates in front of them, most esp @chucktodd, continually allow admin officials to lie wo pressing them. The exception is the Ukraine interference propaganda, which Todd will challenge them on as being from Russian. Now,
there is a reason that Todd does this and that reason is access: if he challenges Graham or Mulvaney too much they won't come on the show. Better to tread lightly and challenge lightly than to go all in and lose that precious access. This is WRONG, & you know who would tell him
that, the great Tim Russert, who once made the same calculation w the Bush Administration only later to realize he unintentionally aided & abetted their efforts to mislead the public, 1st to take the country to an unnecessary & diasterous war & then to compound our troubles there
Russert was just coming to terms with that in what ended up being the final years of his life, as he hosted MTP through the '08 election cycle, including an int w Bush Press Secetrary Scott McClellan, who was coming to terms w his own role. Russert was struck down in June of 08
very early into his "redemptive" effort. That was the hardest part of his death for me, knowing that he would have considered that work undone. Todd's role at MTP is beyond another of the political talk shows. The programming choices and the questioning posture he takes on that
Show is important, MTP can be used for good or for ill. As @HeidiNBC pointed out a few days ago, right now ALL that matters is the truth and the dogged pursuit of it. Everything else, anything else is a dangerous disservice
