Choosing to ignore Tina Brown‘s flat-out brilliant suggestion to hire Rachel Maddow as the host of Meet The Press, NBC honchos have reportedly decided to tap the primally annoying, simian-featured MSNBC news-show host David Gregory instead.

This is a bland, equivocating, corporate-minded decision by old men with no balls — men who don’t realize what a turn-off Gregory is for a certain segment of the viewing public (i.e., those who think like me) and who have no problem at all with a Meet The Press host having danced on-stage during a Karl Rove roasting.

“NBC News has settled on Gregory as its choice to be the successor to Tim Russert in the role of moderator of its longtime Sunday discussion program Meet the Press,” a N.Y. Times/Bill Carter story reads. “But the network has not finalized the deal, NBC executives said Tuesday.

“Gregory is in negotiations with NBC to secure the position, however, and one reason he may get the job is his value to NBC’s most dominant property, the Today show. He has long been regarded as the network’s choice to one day succeed Matt Lauer as a Today host.

“NBC executives said on Tuesday that the leaks of Mr. Gregory’s selection could be a potential impediment to concluding the deal,” Carter has reported. Please!