The Newsroom: Word Salad

Will’s all butthurt about that so he fires up another cigarette to blow smoke in Tate’s face while telling him about how his staff compromised all their principles for the debate. And that matters to Tate…why? Adam thinks they need ACN because they have “the independents.” In a primary debate. Tate spots the idiocy immediately. Besides, there are other ACN fish, but they’re not biting. They all love Will, because he’s the star.

Tate could not care less and just leaves so Adam can apologize because he needs the job (?) and Will can condescend and tell him not to let Tate walk all over him. Why hasn’t anyone punched Will? Although, to his credit, Adam looks like he’s considering it but just says it was good to see Will again before leaving.

I’m a venal political hack, and yet…not the worst person in the room.

This leaves the watchful eyes of the staff, and Brian(?), looking up to their fearless leader as sad piano plays quietly and Will apologize because they lost the debate. What I can’t figure out is why they thought they’d ever get it with that format. Seriously. I say this as a fairly wonky layperson who watches debates. They’re fluff covered in pomp and ceremony. They have little impact and mostly can only do harm. Using a more prosecutorial format isn’t going to clean up anything and there are plenty of news sources that do actual reporting on the campaigns, including Pro Publica which is, shock horror, an online source. Plus Factcheck.org is a reliable bullshit detector. If you want cleaner debates ask substantive policy questions, not whether or not Rick Santorum had to switch doctors because of the ACA.

Aaanyway, Mackenzie calls the staff to order because it’s an hour to broadcast and Brian’s feels a speech coming on. He points out the ridiculously obvious that the mock debate was all about stroking Will’s ego to make him seem like big man when he “attacks” the candidates, but Mackenzie’s reassumed her knob-polishing responsibilities and thinks it might have been naïve to think they could get the debate with that format but…Brian just says it was Will’s hubris that made then chase it.

Wow, I really dodged a bullet with you.

Mackenzie tells Brian he’s “jus jellus” so Brian actually tells Mackenzie to fuck off. Where’s Will to tut tut over such inappropriateness around a lady? Not there, so Brian keeps on pointing out that he pretty swallowed a lot of shit watching them make asses of themselves selling out every last principle they have for a stupid mid-summer, off-year primary debate that they didn’t even get. Good, good…then he segues into Mackenzie being embarrassed because it all happened in front of him and that Will doesn’t want her. Excuse me, what? Chance.

Oh, he’s just whining that he broke up with her but he came back…has Will? She’s all “I don’t know,” even though last week she was mewling about how she has “to work 30 feet from the life she could have had.” Brian points out it’s been four years, including a year of working together, and still nothing. Then we boomerang back to Casey Anthony and the debate and how Will will cave on that, too.