As Allahpundit writes at Hot Air, CNN’s anti-Rubio, anti-dihydrogen monoxide-themed Chyron is proof that “at long last, American media reaches peak moron. I’m just thankful that Newsbusters was there to capture it. They’ve waited years for this moment and now, finally, it’s here. Cherish it, guys.”
But CNN’s been broadcasting at peak moron for some time now, haven’t they? Let’s review these recent classic “This is CNN” moments:
- “CNN Asks if Dorner Fans ‘Have a Point’; Panelists Find it ‘Exciting’ Like a ‘Movie.'”
- “CNN’s Don Lemon says ‘we need to talk about’ Chris Dorner’s not-crazy manifesto.”
- “CNN Warns: Christie’s So Fat He Could Die In Office.”
- “Piers Morgan, Papal Truther.”
- “CNN anchor Deb Feyerick asked Saturday afternoon if an approaching asteroid, which will pass by Earth on February 15, ‘is an example of, perhaps, global warming?’”
- “Nobody Wants to Talk About CNN’s ‘Ethnic’ Problem.”
- Time-Warner-CNN-HBO spokesman Piers Morton sneeringly describes the Constitution as “your little book,” when handed a copy by guest Ben Shapiro.
- “Do you think you should have the right to have a tank under the 2nd Amendment?”
- “America has over 5000 nuclear warheads. Quite hard to defend against a ‘tyrannical U.S. government’ with that kind of firepower.”
- “CNN is behaving in a very MSNBC-like fashion,” with its producers denigrating Ben Shapiro after he defenestrated Morgan.
- Soledad O’Brien’s multiple recent examples of epistemic closure.
- “During CNN’s live New Years Eve coverage, left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin dropped to her knees to kiss the crotch of co-host Anderson Cooper. Howard Kurtz asks ‘What was so awful about it?'”
- Howard Kurtz defends NBC’s David Gregory breaking DC’s gun laws.
- “Reproduction without sex, a liberating future.”
- “CNN’s Don Lemon: ‘Should white men be profiled?’”
- “CNN Blames Culture of ‘Manliness’ For Belcher Murder/Suicide.”
- “CNN: Time for a Gas Tax Hike.”
And that’s just going back to the end of November, for the most part just searching through my own archives.
Last year, when another TV news division began to completely go off its rails, I asked, “What’s gotten into the water at NBC?” At the beginning of February, NBC finally parted ways with Steve Capus, the president of its news division.
At CNN, Jeff Zucker, who came from NBC, is just beginning to settle in as the network’s new president. Are these recent — even worse than usual for CNN — gaffes a sign of the old regime ending, and a new improved one about to take its place, or will CNN beclown itself even worse in the weeks to come?
(Something tells me that the latter course is more than a little likely.)
Update: “A news network can only be a bad joke for so long before it ceases to exist,” John Hinderaker writes at Power Line. I worry, frankly, about Jake Tapper, one of the best newsmen in Washington, who has accepted what I trust was a lucrative offer to anchor a CNN show. He may be joining a ship that is not just sinking, but sunk.”
Late Update (2/14/13): Welcome readers clicking in from Instapundit, the PJM homepage, and Real Clear Politics. For some thoughts on how to fix the network (yes, the patient might not be terminal), fellow PJM editor David Steinberg writes, “It’s Not Science, It’s CNN.”
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