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Published on Monday, September 8, 2008 by Salon.com
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/08/msnbc/>  

The Right Dictates MSNBC's Programming Decisions

by Glenn Greenwald

MSNBC's announcement that it is replacing
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?pagewanted=1&
hp&adxnnlx=1220875420-kkt9lGKFdpmPQ%20RxcfsNQQ>  Keith Olbermann and Chris
Matthews with David Gregory as anchors for its main political events (the
upcoming presidential debates and election) vividly illustrates several
long-obvious facts. First, nothing changes the behavior of our media
corporations more easily than vocal demands and complaints from the Right,
which petrify media executives and cause them to snap into line. From
today's New York Times article identifying some of the causes for MSNBC's
decision:

The change -- which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle --
is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel's perceived shift
to the political left. . . . When the vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin
lamented media bias during her speech, attendees of the Republican
convention loudly chanted "NBC" . . . . Mr. Olbermann, a 49-year-old former
sportscaster, has become the face of the more aggressive MSNBC, and the
lightning rod for much of the criticism. . . . The McCain campaign has filed
letters of complaint to the news division about its coverage and openly tied
MSNBC to it. . . . Al Hunt, the executive Washington bureau chief of
Bloomberg News, said that the entire news division was being singled out by
Republicans because of the work of partisans like Mr. Olbermann.

This was preceded by an episode in May
<http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/white-house-takes-swipe-at-nbc-news-200
8-05-19.html>  in which White House Counselor Ed Gillespie "sent a scathing
letter to NBC News, accusing the news network of 'deceptively' editing an
interview with President Bush on the issue of appeasement and Iran."
Gillespie warned NBC as follows: 

I'm sure you don't want people to conclude that there is really no
distinction between the "news" as reported on NBC and the "opinion" as
reported on MSNBC, despite the increasing blurring of those lines. I welcome
your response to this letter, and hope it is one that reassures your
broadcast network's viewers that blatantly partisan talk show hosts like
Christopher Matthews and Keith Olbermann at MSNBC don't hold editorial sway
over the NBC network news division.

Yesterday, Gillespie got exactly the "response" that he demanded from a
super-compliant MSBNC. There is no question whatsoever that the Bush
administration, the McCain campaign, and the Right generally have recently
made it a top priority to force MSNBC to remove Olbermann (and Chris
Matthews) from playing a prominent role in its election coverage, and MSNBC
has now complied with the Right's demands. Does it need to be explained why
it is disturbing in the extreme that the White House and the McCain campaign
can so transparently dictate MSNBC's programming choices? 

Second, in response to media criticism that the press is insufficiently
substantive and adversarial to political power, the claim is frequently made
that media outlets are simply driven by the profit motive, and that their
programming choices are nothing more than a by-product of ratings. But in
MSNBC's case, that is plainly untrue. Back in 2003, they actually canceled
their highest-rated program
<http://www.allyourtv.com/0203season/news/02252003donahue.html> , Phil
Donahue's show, for purely ideological reasons -- because, at a time when
the establishment "liberal media" were systematically amplifying the
Government's pro-war views
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?pagewanted=1&
hp&adxnnlx=1220875420-kkt9lGKFdpmPQ%20RxcfsNQQ>  and excluding anti-war
views <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58127-2004Aug11.html>
, that short-lived MSNBC show was one of the only venues in America where
one could hear anti-war viewpoints, and NBC's fear of angering the
Government and the Right clearly caused them, first, to impose extreme and
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/30/cohen/> unusual
restrictions on the show's content, and then to cancel it altogether. 

And now here is MSNBC publicly removing (and therefore diminishing) the
person who is, by far, its most valuable asset: Keith Olbermann. The NYT
article noted:

As Mr. Olbermann raised his voice, his ratings rose as well, and he now
reaches more than one million viewers a night, a higher television rating
than any other show in the troubled 12-year history of the network. As a
result, his identity largely defines MSNBC. "They have banked the entirety
of the network on Keith Olbermann," one employee said. . . . At an
anniversary party for Mr. Olbermann in April, [NBC CEO Jeff] Zucker called
"Countdown" "one of the signature brands of the entire company."

The irrefutable fact is that nothing attracts ratings for MSNBC -- and
nothing has attracted ratings in the entire history of that channel -- the
way that Olbermann does. Yet here is MSNBC removing him from the anchor
position, reducing his role in its political coverage, and clearly
diminishing his stature (and implicitly criticizing his coverage). That is
extraordinary for a media company to publicly embarrass, diminish and
tarnish its own principal asset. It is plainly doing so for ideological, not
ratings-based, reasons: namely, it fears doing anything to anger the White
House, the McCain campaign and the Right in this country. 

Third, this episode demonstrates what Eric Alterman documented several years
ago
<http://www.amazon.com/What-Liberal-Media-Truth-about/dp/0465001777/ref=pd_b
bs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220878355&sr=8-3> : that the greatest and most
transparent myth in American politics is that the U.S. has a "liberal
media." That is a myth that is maintained, first and foremost, by defining
anyone who isn't Rush Limbaugh as a "liberal." Hence, people such as the
wife of Bush official Dan Senor (Campbell Brown) is a "liberal," as is Alan
Greenspan's wife (Andrea Mitchell), along with establishment
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/04/29/williams/> -worshipers
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/04/30/williams/>  such as
Rush-Limbaugh-admirer Brian Williams
<http://mediamatters.org/items/200501240007> ,
right-wing-talking-points-spouting
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/28/gibson/> Charlie Gibson,
and anyone who writes for the war-enabling New York Times and Washington
Post. 

Perhaps nothing demonstrates this absurd dynamic more than the painfully
inane perception that Chris Matthews -- for years a prime target of liberal
media critics -- is some sort of "liberal." That's the same "liberal" Chris
Matthews who, over the years, has said things like this:

I like [George Bush] <http://mediamatters.org/items/200511290001> .
Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe
on the left . . . We're proud of
<http://mediamatters.org/items/200604270005> our president. Americans love
having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who's physical,
who's not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale,
all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who's president. Women like a guy
who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like
having a hero as our president. . . . Why don't the
<http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2842/> damn Democrats give the president
his day? He won today. He did well today. . . . Thank you very much
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13222787> . James Jeffrey, assistant to
Condoleezza Rice. We're huge fans [of Rice] -- bring her back with you next
time.

Or see the "liberal" Matthews fawning
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/06/14/matthews/> over Fred
Thompson's attractive manliness and Rudy
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/31/thompson/> Giuliani's
powerful authority and the charming
<http://www.salon.com/books/excerpt/2008/04/17/glenn_greenwald/> masculinity
of Republicans versus the "geekier, nerdier" Democrats. That is who is
deemed to be a "liberal" in our political culture because the reality, as
Atrios frequently puts it
<http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_07_archive.html#8793917031256822713> ,
is that the only hard and fast rule is: "Your liberal media: no liberals
allowed." 

This has been going on for years. As I wrote in response to the
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/21/tnr/> uproar generated at
places like The New Republic over the fact that MSNBC has now given an
actual liberal, Rachel Maddow, her own show and is thereby jeopardizing
non-partisan, objective, high-minded journalism:

Over the past seven years, the following people have hosted prime-time cable
news shows: Joe Scarborough (MSNBC), Michael Savage (MSNBC), Glenn Beck
(CNN), Tucker Carlson (MSNBC), Nancy Grace (CNN), Bill O'Reilly (Fox) and
Sean Hannity (Fox). None of that seemed to bother the likes of [TNR's Sacha]
Zimmerman. None of that was depicted as the downfall of objective journalism
or the destruction of civil, elevated, high-minded discourse.

Several of those hosts had and continue to have atrocious ratings (Carlson,
Beck, Scarborough), yet were kept for years. 

Beyond that, network and cable shows routinely convene panels filled with
right-wing views and devoid of anything remotely approaching liberalism, and
that creates no controversy. Just this past weekend, I subjected myself
while traveling to ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and the panel
discussing Sarah Palin was composed of right-wing ideologue George Will,
establishment-spokesperson Cokie Roberts, and reporter Sam Donaldson. That
is typical for television panels: right-wing partisans such as Will are
"balanced" not by any liberals but by allegedly "neutral journalists" such
as Roberts or Donaldson. That's because the Right has created a reality
where anyone who isn't explicitly Rush Limbaugh is deemed to be a "liberal"
(hence, Donaldson likely qualifies) and no actual liberal ever needs to be
included. That's how we have a "liberal media" where the principal rule is
that actual liberals are systematically excluded, and it's why the ascent of
Olbermann (who is, in fact, far more of a Bush critic than a doctrinaire
liberal) has created such turmoil -- because it violates that central rule
prohibiting liberals from appearing in the Liberal Media. 

Finally, and perhaps most notably of all, Olbermann's role as anchor somehow
destroys the journalistic brand of both MSNBC and NBC, while Fox News
continues to be deemed a legitimate news outlet by our political and media
establishment. Fox does this despite (more accurately: due to) its employing
Brit Hume as its main anchor -- someone who is every bit as
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/02/19/brit_hume/> partisan and
ideological as Keith Olbermannn is (at least), who regularly
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/07/olbermann_hume/> spews
the nastiest and most vicious right-wing talking points, yet because he's
not a liberal, is deemed to be a legitimate news anchor. 

The Washington Post's Howie Kurtz -- while repeatedly lamenting the ascent
of Olbermann (and Maddow) as a threat to objective journalism -- proclaims
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/18/AR200604180
1943_pf.html>  that "Hume is no partisan brawler" while Charlie Gibson
gushes: "He has a wonderful style which makes you want to hear what Brit has
to say, in an age when so many people are in your face." The Associated
Press recently declared
<http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/entertainment&id=5279789>
that Fox News has never gone as far as MSNBC in producing partisan news
coverage, asserting that "Olbermann's popularity and evolving image as an
idealogue (sic) has led NBC News to stretch traditional notions of
journalistic objectivity" and that "Fox has never done that, perhaps mindful
of the immediate controversy that would result." Even the NYT article this
morning echoed this view of Fox, noting:

While some critics argued that [Olbermann's] assignment was akin to having
the Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly anchor on election night -- something
that has never happened -- MSNBC insisted that Mr. Olbermann knew the
difference between news and commentary.

The proper analogy to Olbermann as anchor is not O'Reilly as anchor, but
Brit Hume as anchor. Hume explicitly acknowledges his political
conservatism. His entire show relentlessly promotes a right-wing narrative.
Every night, he convenes panels composed of right-wing partisans such as
Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, and Mort Kondracke, and --
at most -- sometimes "balances" that with one of those allegedly neutral
journalists such as Mara Liasson. Everything Brit Hume touches is designed
to promote a right-wing perspective, yet he continues to be held out as some
sort of legitimate news anchor -- he actually hosted a Democratic Party
presidential debate in 2004
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/090903debatetext.
html>  -- while MSNBC's promotion of Keith Olbermann is some unique threat
to the profession of journalism. 

The single dumbest claim in our political culture is that the huge
corporations which own our establishment media outlets promote a "liberal"
ideology. Why would General Electric ever use NBC and its other media assets
to promote political liberalism? They lavishly benefit from the whole
panoply of right-wing policies -- from endlessly expanding defense spending
to deregulation. Their multiple businesses depend upon maintaining good
relations with the right-wing ideologues who run our Government. Even
ignoring all of the above-documented empirical facts, the very idea that a
corporation like GE -- or Viacom (CBS), Disney (ABC) and Time Warner (CNN)
-- would actively promote a left-wing agenda in its news divisions and
undermine the very Government power centers on which they rely has been the
most self-evidently moronic premise one can imagine. As Viacom CEO Sumner
Redstone confessed in 2004
<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101041004-702108,00.html>
:

Senator Kerry is a good man. I've known him for many years. But it happens
that I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a
Republican Administration is better for media companies than a Democratic
one.

And yet the myth of the large-corporation-owned "Liberal Media" persists,
and even intensifies. 

This decision by MSNBC is as alarming as it is illustrative. They just
implicitly chided and overtly demoted their most popular and valuable news
personality because the White House, the McCain campaign and the Right
demanded that they do so. It's fine for Brit Hume to host a "news program"
and for hard-core right-wing ideologues to dominate cable news. The fact
that Dick Cheney (understandably) viewed Tim Russert's
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR200701250
1951.html> Meet the Press as the ideal forum to allow the White House to
"control the message" bothered nobody outside of a few online critics, and
didn't remotely impede the perception of Russert as the Beacon of Tough and
Objective Journalism. But MSNBC's ratings-based decision to feature Keith
Olbermann is a grave threat to modern journalism and must be stopped. So
decrees the White House and the McCain campaign, and so the GE-owned MSNBC
complies.

UPDATE: There's one other point really worth making here. Throughout the
primary season, Clinton supporters were furious at what they endlessly
complained was MSBNC's biased coverage in favor of Obama and, more so, its
intensely hostile coverage of Hillary Clinton. Whatever one's views on the
primary war were, there is no question that Olbermann and Matthews in
particular were extremely hostile to Clinton and supportive of Obama. But
MSNBC executives ignored those complaints, even derided and mocked them,
with MSNBC executive Phil
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/election_2008/2008/06/15/msnbc/index.htm
l> belittling angry Clinton supporters in
<http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/23/080623fa_fact_boyer?currentPa
ge=all> The New Yorker as nothing more than abused, disillusioned
girlfriends with nowhere else to go:

[J]ust as Obama must work to win Clinton supporters for the fall campaign,
Phil Griffin has to repair a fractured audience base, a portion of which saw
sexism in his network's Clinton coverage and vowed to boycott MSNBC. Griffin
knows that some of that anger is aimed at his star anchor. "It was, like,
you meet a guy and you fall in love with him, and he's funny and he's clever
and he's witty, and he's all these great things," Griffin said of the
relationship between Olbermann and the Clinton supporters among his viewers.
"And then you commit yourself to him, and he turns out to be a jerk and
difficult and brutal. And that is how the Hillary viewers see him. It's
true. But I do think they're going to come back. There's nowhere else to
go."

Again, regardless of what one thought of the primary wars or even MSNBC's
coverage of the Clinton/Obama race, the contrast between (a) MSNBC's
dismissive reaction to complaints of bias from Clinton supporters and (b)
its obedience to similar complaints from the Right is stark and revealing.
The overriding attribute of the Liberal Media is a deep and abiding fear of
angering the Right. 

Relatedly, I'll be on Rachel Maddow's radio show tonight (exact time posted
once I know it) to discuss the Right's complaints about media bias in the
context of the presidential campaign. Local listings and live audio feed are
here <http://airamerica.com/maddow> . Rachel's MSNBC show debuts tonight.

Copyright C2008 Salon Media Group, Inc.

Glenn Greenwald was previously a constitutional law and civil rights
litigator in New York. He is the author of the New York Times Bestselling
book "How Would a Patriot Act?
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/097794400X?tag=commondreams-20&camp=0&creative=0&l
inkCode=as1&creativeASIN=097794400X&adid=0X6ECMTFGAAM5TBVDP6M&> ," a
critique of the Bush administration's use of executive power, released in
May 2006. His second book, "A Tragic Legacy
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307354288?tag=commondreams-20&camp=0&creative=0&l
inkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0307354288&adid=08SREREGSP9Q3T4FXAQK&> ", examines
the Bush legacy.

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tumblewind September 9th, 2008 10:37 am

I can see it all now! This is going to be another election that the
Republican's steal one way of another. Republican's are going to indulge in
their underhanded tactic's to keep the fascist regime going. What do the
Republican's want? The press already doesn't ask any hard or tough questions
of their candidate! So that way the voter is flying blind into a wind storm
that's going to tear them apart. They don't point out any error's in
judgment from McCain. They don't point out any blatant lies he has told.
When Sarah Palin was chosen as VP it was the most nauseating display of
partisanship and fawning I have witnessed in years. 'A Pit Bull in Lipstick'
was what one article said. It's been a Sarah Palin love fest since she was
appointed. For a woman who is little more than a American version of a
Muslim Extremist! But, still the Republican whine and bellyache about
coverage of their candidate. How much more partisan do these people want the
press to get???? And networks honestly wonder why no one bothers with the
National News anymore?????? We have all had to start listening to Keith
Olbermann because he is the only objective person left on the wasteland know
and Main Stream Media. It's becoming clear that the Republican's are trying
to control the election. Which is one more reason I will not ever vote for
them.

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KDelphi September 9th, 2008 11:11 am

With the softball questions that Russert(RIP) adn others at MSNBC asked,
(and allowed to be asked) during the debates, I have no idea why people
think they are losing a source of great, unbiased media.

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real world September 9th, 2008 9:00 am

Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews made Sean Hannity look like am impartial
observer. Obama may have given Chris Matthews a tingle down his leg but
those two guys gave me a pain in the ass!

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Rick September 9th, 2008 8:21 am

I recommend the documentary "Orwell Rolls in his Grave" directed by Robert
Kane Pappas. 

It's the social Darwinist who's ideology is based on natural selection.
The weak die and strong survive. The rich rule and the poor serve.
To them that is the way it is and they see nothing wrong it..

The live by the idea that they rule simply because they are superior.
The poor and the weak must not be allowed to gain any real power or access
To leadership roles.
The illusion of a democracy must be maintained at all cost.. The elites
power
Will be protected.
You have seen at the DNC and more blatantly at the RNC..
They the masses as a real threat to the system they have built to grow their
wealth and power.

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KDelphi September 9th, 2008 11:14 am

I would agree as to what rich neo-con s feel. However, they are wrong. The
poor are NOT weak. If Dubya had to live one day in the life of a poor
person--he would lay down and die.If we had a TRULY "level playing field"
and a "free mkt" (where no one inherits anything), Dubya would have died in
a pool of vomit.

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seriousprofessor September 9th, 2008 6:55 am

from the article: "... Yet here is MSNBC removing him from the anchor
position, reducing his role in its political coverage, and clearly
diminishing his stature (and implicitly criticizing his coverage). That is
extraordinary for a media company to publicly embarrass, diminish and
tarnish its own principal asset. It is plainly doing so for ideological, not
ratings-based, reasons: namely, it fears doing anything to anger the White
House, the McCain campaign and the Right in this country."

Some have correctly pointed out that Olbermann is not a lefty, but obviously
he is intolerably far to the left for the corporate owners. The real issue
here is not the extent to which we agree with Olbermann, but the extent to
which press freedom depends upon the whim of corporate giants, by which I
hope that we are all appalled. 

I am guessing that more people know about Britney Spears' haircuts than
about Olbermann's commentaries, even if he is/was MSNBC's biggest asset.
Therefore, it's the danger of a good example (think US' Central American
policy in the '80s), as opposed to material danger, that he represents. If
people are allowed to ask questions, eventually they may get in the habit of
asking good ones.

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fedupinfla September 9th, 2008 1:20 am

Most RepubliCONs aren't truly interested in the really serious issues facing
our country after 8yrs under their party's rule. They'd rather spout lies
about Obama being a Muslim (which is a lie) or he's an illegal alien
(patently ridiculous) or that we're liberal nut cases who are picking on
Palin simply because she's a woman. Or, and this is my favorite, Palin has
more national security experience than Obama because Alaska is next to
Russia so she's used to "staring into the eyes of Putin on a daily basis."
You can't make this $hit up!! And I'm nauseated by the constant remark that
she has "more executive experience" than both Obama & Biden. I guess they
forget that technically, she's got more than McCain too. But then again,
just because you did something, DOESN'T mean you did it WELL. Thank God
there is the internet so lies and propoganda can be exposed. The problem is
that too many people are too lazy to do the research and find out the
facts...They'd rather be spoon-fed sometimes false information by the
RepubliCONs because its easier than facing the truth. And since the
mainstream media is owned by corporations that have their own interests to
protect & promote, you can't rely on them for TRUE fair & balanced
reporting. TV reporters don't do "investigative reports" anymore. I can
remember the days when those reporters did stuff like going undercover to
expose grocery stores soaking meat in bleach to save a few $$$. Well, now
they have the chance to make a true difference in the outcome of what is
arguably THE most important & historical election in American history. Where
is the reporter who still remembers what it means to have a obligation to
report the news WITHOUT bias and tell the FACTS so we the people can make
OUR OWN informed decisions? Yes, the truth is sometimes scary & messy. But
its like forensics...the facts don't lie...people do....

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wcdevins September 9th, 2008 10:20 am

McCain (born in the Canal Zone; may not even be Constitutionally eligible to
serve as president) is closer to being an alien than Obama. He was also a
collaborator whom the scumbag Republicans would be calling a Traitor if he
was not a GOP candidate.

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Remy Germain September 9th, 2008 12:22 am

Making the news safe for our war hero.

What a joke these shows are. It seems that soap opera news shows are the
scripted reality shows of the cable networks

Brave new world crap TV.

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Ric Abreu September 8th, 2008 11:54 pm

I like [Glenn Greenwald]. Everybody sort of likes the reporter, except for
the real whack-jobs, maybe on the right . . . We're proud of our reporter.

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applesauce September 8th, 2008 10:42 pm

He is right about MSNBC's overwhelming former support of Obama.

I don't own a TV, i prefer to not even look at one, but the free internet in
my city forced us to look at something called an MSNBC side guide when
connected to the network. All i ever saw were Obama ads and crap about
Britney Spears.

What this tells me is GE had their money on Obama. But with the nomination
of Palin, they've switched their support. McCain/Palin now looks like a
winning ticket (in their eyes).

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adrian September 8th, 2008 9:58 pm

come on guys,

follow the money, olberman may - or not be MSNBCs biggest asset. but MSNBC
is just a small asset held by General Electric.

besides its tv and consumer product holdings, GE's main interests would be
GE Energy - rated by some as worse than enron in their business practices.
Apart from oil and nuclear power they have a large investment in coal and
"clean coal"
in particular - noticed how popular that is with the republicans?

also despite many convictions for defrauding the US government on contracts
- as well as for breaching trade regulations by supplying certain foreign
countries, they are still among the biggest suppliers of military hardware
to the US government.

- and that's just the various divisions, then start looking at how many ex
government officials have worked as advisers or board members for companies
under the GE umbrella.

companies the size of GE aren't told what to do by a government - they ARE
the government. so when it comes to sidelining a popular commentator, they
don't care what the viewers might say - and believe me, nobody has to send
any memos. be it Phil Donahue, Bill Maher or Keith Olberman, once they speak
out in a way that is not "good for the company" they will be shown the door.

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kbird September 8th, 2008 9:50 pm

So, the extreme right wing ideologues have succeeded in intimidating NBC.
Someone over at that network should grow some guts. I am not in love with
Matthews or Olberman but I AM IN LOVE WITH FREEDOM OF THE PRESS! They were
well within their rights to say to whoever (Tucker Bounds maybe) that they
would pull Matthews and Olberman when Fox pulled Hume and Hannity!! The
facist movements in Italy, Spain, and Germany included intimidating and
blaming the media and setting aside constitutional rights based on
protecting the 'homeland' among many other disturbing trends. People in this
country better wake up to what a McCain-Palin american landscape will mean
for the 'median' american with a deeply politicized supreme court, the
continued politicization of the dept. of justice, the further co-opting of
our society by the military-industrial complex, and government devoted to
corporate america. This is a SIGNIFICANT development in further eroding the
average american's access to TRUTH AGAINST POWER!

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KDelphi September 9th, 2008 12:26 am

Their ratings were in teh crapper. Seems peoel like to decide for
themselves. Neo-cons dont . That's why they have FOX.

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Cygnus-X1-isaHole September 8th, 2008 7:15 pm

This will make your blood boil.

>From today's New York Times:

"...Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, the past and present anchors of "NBC
Nightly News," have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it
tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division, even while
they anchored daytime hours of convention coverage on MSNBC and contributed
commentary each evening."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?pagewanted...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?pagewanted=2&
em> 

Brian Williams is a WAR CRIMINAL who is involved in the biggest media
scandal in history. Does he think we all forgot?

"...NEW YORK The massive New York Times probe 10 days ago about retired
military officers, prepped by the Pentagon, who served as influential
television commentators since the runup to the Iraq war -- and also have
conflicting ties to defense contractors -- has sparked a serious backlash
among many journalists, such as Howard Kurtz, and others since it ran a week
and a half ago.

But one group has remained largely silent: the television networks
themselves.

Despite an avalanche of criticism throughout the blogosphere, and by a
handful of journalism veterans and critics, the news chiefs and on-air hosts
at CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS, have had little reaction to the revelations
concerning the "Media Generals."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all
<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&addres
s=389x3357125> &add...

** Nuremburg told us that those who propagandize for war are as guilty as
those who plan and execute it. Brian Williams did scores interviews with
Generals with ties to Defense Contractors who pimped heavily for the war. He
has yet to comment on any of this. Brian Williams has some gall coming down
on Keith Olbermann for ANYTHING. I'll repeat it...Brian Williams is a WAR
CRIMINAL.

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kim September 9th, 2008 1:21 am

Agreed - watching the "reporting/commentary" at the GOP made me nauseous. I
too believe the majority of corporate media are guilty of war crimes..Mr.
Greenwald wrote another piece on Brian Williams response - (on his blog) -
about the message force multipliers program.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/04/30/williams/index.html

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truthbetold September 8th, 2008 7:11 pm

Did anyone hear Thomas Freidman on Fresh Air today?... As turned off as I
have been by NPR this past yerar, this was a great interview. He slams the
GOP for encouraging "Drill, Baby Drill".

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hootowl September 8th, 2008 10:29 pm

Thomas Friedman is a horrible globalist neo-con war monger who wrote in one
of his books not ironically and with total approval that "MacDonald Douglas
protects McDonalds" in it's attempt to wipe out local farmers and food. He
also enthusiastically supported the invasion of Iraq along with other Dim
party supporting hawks.

Of course his war mongering corporate globalist b.s. isn't selling too well
these days as even the densest people are seeing though it, so he is trying
to reinvent himself as a green. Literally don't buy it, punish him on the
news stands for supporting the horrible invasion of Iraq and corporate
globalism/out sourcing by not reading anything he writes. Thanks!

He is exactly the sort of "centrist" "moderate" centralist "liberal" who I
think is a far bigger part of the problem than the paleo-cons who ALSO like
us oppose American empire and global trade.

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Thomas More September 9th, 2008 11:34 am

"MSM is just distraction to keep us from questioning the fact that globalist
corporations and banks are robbing us blind. Although the so called left
sees this better IMO than the right I also think the paleo-con/Ron Paul
criticisms of the Federal Reserve and currency manipulations are also VERY
useful and that many of us on the "left" miss them because of the source."

Correct!

I never thought of Thomas Friedman as a liberal.

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wcdevins September 9th, 2008 10:16 am

He was originally for giving Bush and the Iraq war a chance to "democrafy"
the mid-east. I think he's realized his error, but he seems to support the
centrist/globalist agenda.

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Vern September 9th, 2008 8:01 am

Hey, I was impressed with his performance on "Meet the Press" last Sunday
too. What matters is where he now stands--we need all the help we can get.
Now. Anyone that wants to reinvent or redeem themselves for the better
should be cut a break.

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Briar September 8th, 2008 7:08 pm

It's pretty obvious what happened. The right let Olbermann and co go on
until Clinton's campaign had been squelched. She was the candidate they most
feared. Once that had been accomplished, they called them off and got back
to the business of electing McCain.

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Vern September 9th, 2008 8:05 am

They didn't fear Clinton, they set their highest hopes on her--for she like
no other, motivates the Republican base. Clinton did enough damage to
Democratic aspirations and this revisionist fawning over her is a blatant
lie. Olbermann saw her for who she was and what she was doing. I have to
commend him for that.

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z September 8th, 2008 6:36 pm

The Right Dictates MSNBC's Programming Decisions.
The Right Dictates CNN's Programming Decisions.
The Right Dictates FOXNews's Programming Decisions.
The Right Dictates CBS's Programming Decisions.
The Right Dictates NBC's Programming Decisions.
The Right Dictates ABC's Programming Decisions.
The Right Dictates the Programming Decisions

The Right, of course, means both Democrats and Republicans, the unified
war/fascism Party.

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KDelphi September 8th, 2008 6:42 pm

Biased as hell--I happen to AGREE with the former anchors--well, I never
"got a tingle up my leg"--as far as Bush. But, their "all out" for Obama
(and calling people like Katie Courac the "worst person in the world",
allowing Roy Secof to say that Clinton was "backstage runner up at a Miss
USA pageant, waiting for he nude photo ops") did more to create PUMA, and
lost Obama more votes, than FOX ever could . The Left doesnt need its own
FOX--arent we supposed to be smarter than that? I am as liberal as they
come, and sometimes I was just embarassed for Olbermann. He was funny at
first. Then, he and Matthews became ridiculous.It DOES matter how you play.
In middle America (where Obama is behind) it just played terribly. If Obama
can have an interview with O'Reilly, dont you think he can take not having
the "Obama station"?-

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Vern September 9th, 2008 8:14 am

Cut us a break.
Clinton played like a Republican and even ENDORSED McCAIN over Obama on more
than one occasion and continued to demand deferrence and sympathy for being
robbed of her entitlement while she tried to out macho the good old boys.
Actually, she ushered in the Palin model. We always hear about the Clinton
female supporters pouting that their "feelings are hurt". As a woman, I
can't imagine any worse portrayal of women if they want to be taken
seriously and play with the grown-ups. And those PUMA princessess obviously
had an agenda seeking the spotlight. Jerks like Tweety used them to stir the
pot.

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DogLeg September 8th, 2008 8:21 pm

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Review what you wrote.

Seek a PhD. in psychiatry or a medical facility immediately!

Did you forget to take your meds?

4 out of 5 psychotics while preoccupied on the internet forget to take their
meds.

Take care, dude.

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perceptionexperiment September 9th, 2008 3:29 am

Yeah I agree, he's not making any sense. And I also happen to agree with you
while also agreeing with the article. This "liberal media" crap is the most
ridiculous whopper there is, but we don't need our own version of Fox. I've
tried listening to Air America, and I can't stomach it. We need something
more along the lines of Democracy Now... less commentary, great debates,
getting out and covering the stories that aren't being told. Let the stories
speak for themselves, that's what journalism is all about.

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is
he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and
willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why
call him God?" -Epicurus

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KDelphi September 9th, 2008 12:27 am

What in the fuck are you talking about? Are you over 12 yrs old?

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Thomas More September 8th, 2008 6:12 pm

hootowl September 8th, 2008 6:06 pm

paleo-cons Amconmag is certainly not my idea of folks farther right than
neocons. They are not extremists at all in my view. Do they hold some
extreme views yes, but not the Far Right by any means. There is nothing to
the right of the neocons like Cheney and Pearlre except Atilla the Hun. And
I may have just insulted Atilla.

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hootowl September 8th, 2008 10:14 pm

Actually far more useful to my mind than left v.s. right is
centralist/globalist v.s. localist/bio-regionalist

Looked at this way you have Greens, direct action anti authoritarian
leftists, and New England town meeting desiring paleo-cons and even some
milita people

v.s.

centrists like 90% of the now neo-conned Republicans + 90% of the now global
trade supporting and me too war mongering Democrats possibly minus Kucinich.

As far as I am concerned a lot of the left v.s. right and conservative v.s.
liberal discussion we see in the MSM is just distraction to keep us from
questioning the fact that globalist corporations and banks are robbing us
blind. Although the so called left sees this better IMO than the right I
also think the paleo-con/Ron Paul criticisms of the Federal Reserve and
currency manipulations are also VERY useful and that many of us on the
"left" miss them because of the source.

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KDelphi September 9th, 2008 12:37 am

Ron Paul??

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hootowl September 9th, 2008 12:51 am

Ron Paul has been very active in trying to get the Federal Reserve shut
down. The Federal Reserve BTW is a group of PRIVATE banks that make a great
deal of interest money issuing the currency that then gets turned into the
Federal debt that they make even more money off of... For some reason Ron
Paul supporters and paelo-cons are onto this scam and the left other than
maybe Holly Sklar (sp?) seems to have missed it... It's really too bad, Paul
is wrong about a lot things like being anti choice, and for deregulating
industry but he's right on the uhh money on this one, and we on the left
ought to be looking into it, IMO.

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auntEm September 9th, 2008 3:04 am

Ron Paul's voting record in Congress is almost identical to Dennis
Kucinich's voting record.

I've been tracking both for a long time.

Labels, shmables! It's time we stopped labeling everything and everybody and
actually looked into the specifics.

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hootowl September 8th, 2008 10:06 pm

Maybe far right is the wrong term but I KNOW from reading their material
they consider themselves to be more "conservative" than neo-cons who they
accuse of being unreformed Trotskyite leftists. Googling neo-con and Trotsky
will get you some very interesting history, BTW.

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Thomas More September 9th, 2008 11:31 am

You have a point, these guys are mostly ex McGovernites from the 70's.

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Sag September 8th, 2008 5:44 pm

As the election comes down to the final 60 days, it is important for all of
us to realize that just because you cast a vote doesn't mean it will be
counted.

We Democrats saw this happen to us in 2000 when throngs of GOP hoods stormed
on an electorate who still believed in Democracy and prevented the correct
vote to be recorded. We saw it in the ruling made by a biased Supreme Court.
We saw it again in 2004 when in Ohio, votes for John Kerry were tossed away
and trashed. Votes that could have made the difference in the election and
saved many lives that have been lost in the ensuing four years after Bush
was again sworn in in a fraudulent election. HBO did a special, reporting
and revealing just how Kerry's votes were stolen. Kerry's votes were our
votes too, and we were once again robbed ...victims of our "democracy."

This time around is no difference. Obama's campaign has registered thousands
of students who wish to participate in this election. In West Virginia, the
students have been threatened that if they register at college they will
lose their status as dependents on their parents tax returns, lose
scholarships, and be deprived of car and health insurance covered by their
parents. This is only the beginning. 

West Virginia is not the only state doing this. North Carolina is also
practicing these procedures in a desperate attempt to steal this election.
Others are following suit.

Civil Right Lawyers have confronted the IRS and been assured that this is
not the case, that these states evidently do not know the laws pertaining to
registration. Of course, AFTER the election, this will not matter. The
courts have to act and act now to protect each person's God given right to
his/her ballot and the right to choose for whom they cast their vote.

This election is the most important election in our life times. For those of
you who are voting for the first time, beware. Make sure your vote counts.
You are not only voting for yourself, but for your children's future. You
have a choice between an old man who has survived in politics on the basis
of his war record---42,000 men were lost in that war. He was one of the
lucky ones who came home;. He desserted his critically injured wife for a
younger woman and married millions. He has served 26 years in the Senate,
was one of the Keating five involved in the Lincoln Savings and Loan fiasco
tht cost this country fortunes in a bail out and escaped prison by ratting
on his accomplices. He wants to give you four more years of what you have
just undergone. 

Or you have his would be successor...Sarah Palin, who is the epitome of
lies, lies and more lies, just a heart beat away from governing our nation
with her idealogy of book banning, anti-nature programs, vindictive actions
against anyone who crosses her, her fanatical beliefs on birth control, and
her general ideas that coincide with those that have been programmed into
her Karl Rovian mind. Governor Palin likes to joke about Obama's community
service----she did so at the GOP convention in a sarcastic voice that all
there applauded. VP nominee Palin, with her right wing religious beliefs
should remember that Jesus did community service and Pontius Pilate was a
governor. Sarcasm is a poor substitute for knowledge.

For those of us who are long time voters, we know the ropes. We also know
the consequences. We know the brilliant past when we didn't have to work two
jobs to make a living, when men lived with dignity and didn't worry about
foreclosures and fighting in illegal wars, when America was OUR America and
not just the name of a song. We didn't have to worry about a savings and
loan criminal "privatizing" Social Security" so our retirement could be
invested in a falling stock market, leaving us with no retirement benefits.
We know what to watch for. We know to guard our ballot as if it was our life
because it IS.

If there is anyone who will not cast a ballot for Obama because he is a
black man....it is a crime that you will indeed pay for in the life you will
be forced to live under a McCain-Palin administration.

Our Democratic ballot has two constitutional lawyers at the top of the
ticket. Obama's brilliance speaks for itself, Joe Biden is a quick-witted
senator and lawyer who teaches constitutional law at a college on week ends
and has served many distinguished years in the Senate, most current as head
of the Foreign Relations Committee. 

If we choose not to vote for these two men who can make such a difference in
our lives, because we preferred another candidate on the ballot , or because
of racial reasons, we deserve exactly what we'll get.

FASCISM.

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musawwir September 8th, 2008 7:06 pm

"This election is the most important election in our life times"

More of the same 'ol scare tactics - you Democrats said the same thing four
years ago when you were telling people to vote for pro-war kerry, now you
say the same thing again - telling people to vote for pro-war Obama. 

Your vote is only important, and counts for something, if you are voting for
a step towards building something better: Nader and/or McKinney - not if you
are going to vote for more of the same: the McCain/Obama imperial ticket. 

http://almusawwir.org/resistance/

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hootowl September 8th, 2008 6:06 pm

"We Democrats" speak for yourself paleface. I would say the "we" on this
site is more like hard left direct action activists, Greens and other people
disenchanted with BOTH corporate sock puppet parties. And please don't
triple post...

Did you even write that screed or get it canned from some DNC clippings
file? I hope you are least getting paid to spam us, sigh...

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KDelphi September 8th, 2008 6:46 pm

Ohio was stolen in 2004, bigger than shit. Check the lawsuit filed by Tubbs
Jones (RIP) and Boxer. They had a "hearing" (LOL) adn nothign ever happend.
I dont think having Strickland as governor is going to be enough. It is
split right down the middle , as a state. Maybe if the Left wasnt so busy
telling everyone i middle America how stupid they are--they might rethink
McCain. Otherwise, theyll see Obama as another Kerry.

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DogLeg September 8th, 2008 8:47 pm

Actually, the left is succeeding in confusing trolls like K.Delphi that we
care about vacuous, self interest and yearn for the days of Fitzgerald and
Hoover. Especially, that great shift of wealth to .001% of the population,
while 78 million people were out of work, hungry, homeless and not qualified
for government subsidies and tax incentives to fund lobbyists.

However, they did participate in the illegal activities of drinking
alcoholic beverages, smoking, smoking ? and gambling. Even today almost a
trillion dollars of this economy cannot be accounted for, other than Iraq no
bid contracts and pallets of $100.00 bills (shrink-wrapped). Stupid people
can't do this, can they?

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KDelphi September 9th, 2008 12:25 am

Why is everyone who doesnt totally agree with obama a "troll"? Maybe that is
why he's slipping in the polls--anyone who disagrees with YOU is an idiot or
insane right//Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Why dont you post another 40
remarks.And, when the Dems are done running another Kerry, you can blame it
on Nader voters.

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Sag September 8th, 2008 5:43 pm