"This particular clip has landed with such a bump because it also serves as an example of how inaccurately mediocrities tend to see themselves."

"Rick Wilson’s joke was second-rate and obviously pre-written, and yet Don Lemon reacted as if Wilson was Dave Chappelle — even going so far as to say he 'needed' it. This behavior is learned. Since Donald Trump was elected, a certain set of political 'strategists' — many of whom aren’t actually strategists, Ana Navarro — have come to see CNN as a clearing house for their bad one-liners, each sitting at home preparing zingers that they hope, once delivered, will go viral. This one has gone viral, of course, but for the opposite reason than its architects hoped: Because it is pathetic.

Writes Charles C.W. Cooke in "The Death of Cable News in One Clip" (National Review).