PBO's WTF Expression when 10 Seconds after he mentioned "Syria" Chuck Todd said "You have Not..

[karynnj]

139. As the op noted, LISTENING is an important skill and having the dexterity

to question reacting to the response. I remember a time where it was the norm that the host of any such show could do this at least reasonably well. I have long considered that by watching hearings where witnesses are grilled, I could better evaluate a Senator or Congressperson by their followup questions than the first (possibly staff written) question. I was amazed by the number who do not ever follow up anything. The ones who impressed me were those who heard a person say something new and who immediately asked intelligent follow up questions. I also respected other Senators who, speaking later, referenced questions and responses of those asked earlier. The ones, often in an act of grandstanding, who spent their entire time reading long, well phrased "questions" that were not even intended to elicit any real responses did not impress me.

As a talk show host, this is what Todd was like - he had his prewritten questions and even, in this case, where the question obviously should have been skipped or changed to simply ask about the very real difficulty of what Obama intended to do in Syria, he blindly read from his script.