Chuck Todd is not good at his job.

Okay, first, this is reminiscent of the segment Rachel Maddow has done in regard to John Boehner. He is also not good at his job. But, working for the same company, Maddow probably won't start a segment on Chuck Todd.

Second, it may depend. Depend on what Chuck Todd thinks his job is. But let’s look at Chuck Todd. 

"Ha ha! See the beard? I'm Mirror Universe Chuck Todd!"
"That mean you're the one good at your job?"
"...Shut up!"

I’ll be honest when he first came on MSNBC I had no idea who he was. I actually thought for a long time he was a Republican strategist. No idea why now. I’ll just assume that at the same time there was some GOP schmuck on the channel at the same time with a goatee. But I was pleased to realize he wasn't there to shill some party’s line.

No, instead he was another in a line of people on the channel wrestling and vying for coveted seats on shows, with the hopes they would someday get shows of their own shows. I don’t fault that. Maddow, Hayes, and Perry all did this to.

The trouble lies in what you do to get there, and what you do when you get there. The three I mentioned above dig into the news and draw out the things they think you should know about. (Granted, this is within reason. They do work for a mammoth corporation, who could dump them on the street at a moment’s notice. …Go independent media!) But others, like David Gregory, are there to just be on TV, and keep being on TV. No opinion is too strong for him to give up and make management happy.

And Chuck Todd in choosing a role model went there. Maybe it’s because Gregory beat him out for Meet the Press. Maybe this is just all Todd is capable.

But what does he do? Let’s look at the last several days.

With the tragic events at the Naval Shipyard still stinging people, the police on the hunt, and everyone grasping for answers, Todd raced to be among the first to point an accusing finger at the gunman.

Trouble was that is wasn't the gunman. It was an innocent bystander. But, hey, at least Chuck Todd got there first. Right? Granted, he defamed an innocent person.

Last week, after the 11^th, Todd was pleased to point out how gracious the Republicans were to not bring up Benghazi during the tragic anniversary.

Trouble was that they did bring it up. And, frankly, a journalist or news show host might want to check that stuff out before going on air. You would think this would particularly be the case when one of the Republicans who brought it up was John Boehner, on September 11^th. Not that anyone there cared. They just desperately try and fill the hours of the day with the cheapest commodity they have, hot air.

And then this Wednesday, in back and forth with Ed Rendell, Todd laughed at the idea that the media has a job differentiating between lies and truth. The news has no role in pointing out falsehoods, just talk about who’s selling an idea better.

And that’s sports of politics. Who has slung mud better? Who has a better slogan? Who has a cooler line on manipulating?

The most troubling aspect to all this FAIL of Chuck Todd? Not that he is guilty of not doing his job well or with respect for the profession. But rather that this is what the news media has become (Omitting those out there still fighting to be journalist.).

Blitzer, Gregory, Todd, Kelly, and others like them are what people entering these news organizations are shown as examples of doing it right.

Be first (Right or wrong.). Speak the conventional wisdom (Right or wrong.). Keep speaking, you have an hour to fill (And never stop, no matter how inaccurate  irrelevant, or unuseful it is. Just fill your time slot...And keep the ratings up.) Never rock the boat (Don’t be pushy.).

And let’s face it. For what they do, and all the FAIL involved in it, they are put on TV, given praise, given prestige, and given money.

So, yes, Chuck Todd is not good at his job. And he’s smiling about it.

Now how do we fix things?