Yesterday we reported how former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was filing a lawsuit against Call of Duty publisher, Activision.
The suit claims that Activision is guilty of "blatant misuse, unlawful exploitation, and misappropriation for economic gain" by using Noriega's likeness with his permission. Considering that Noreiga is serving a 20 year sentence for murder and drug trafficking, the lawsuit is a quirky one-off news story that's more chuckle-worthy than anything else.
That's where Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough come in. The two MSNBC anchors took a moment from hosting Morning Joe to comment on the Noreiga lawsuit by chiming in with the sort of video game scapegoating normally reserved for AM radio call-in shows. Brzezinski, in an attempt to really flex her journalism chops, goes on to say,
"I honestly don't know who's more reprehensible, the people who would make a game like Call of Duty or Manuel Noriega."
Here, let me help you. The answer is Manuel Noriega. The dictator. The guy who ruled Panama like a coke-fueled banana republic, with the help of the CIA, is more reprehensible than Call of Duty.
Are we all done here? Oh, no? You've got something else to add?
"Video games like that are damaging to the brain. Especially to the young people."
Ah, fantastic. Ignoring the fact that Joe Scarborough is making 'pew-pew' machine guns noises with his mouth in an attempt to elevate Call of Duty's merits, Brzezinski decides that she's also perfectly qualified to attribute brain damage to video games. Considering there's been hmmmm zero definitive proof correlating video games with any neurological defects.
But we get it. The cable news cycle is a demanding one and if you don't have the time to do any actual reporting, fuck it, just make some stuff up. If there's a more perfect example of two champagne socialists toasting their own ignorance in an elitist echo chamber, we'd be hard-pressed to find it.
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