Dear Rachel,

CONGRATULATIONS!  Keith Olbermann announced today that you will be getting your own show on MSNBC and I want to let you know that I am thrilled to hear about this and that you will have an instant happy, giddy, enthusiastic audience!  It is so, so well deserved.  You, along with Keith, represent the best that we have to offer and will create a team that will be unbeatable....

Now that we will have the thrill of watching our two smartest, brightest, most articulate, funniest, prescient, most courageous...(what am I leaving out) "Speakers of Truth to the Powerful", in one block of time from 8-10pm EST, we can truly take back this country.  

We need both your voices badly and it is a thrill Rachel, that your voice will be getting its proper podium!

    Happy Now?
    The network will be formally announcing this tomorrow, but I am pleased to inform you in this fully authorized leak, that as of Monday, September 8, our mutual friend Ms. Maddow will become host of her own show, on MSNBC, at 9 PM Eastern Time.
    And, yes, we will be making another unofficial announcement of this on tonight's edition of Countdown. My guest to analyze the Rachel Maddow news will be Rachel Maddow.

So I was watching MSNBC last night, "The Verdict", and Dan Abrams was talking about VP choices.  The on-screen graphics had a playing card motif.  

McCain was the King of Diamonds.

Obama was the King of Spades.  

    What's the old saw? Never get into an argument with people who buy ink by the barrel? Is there an electronic equivalent?
    I'm not even sure you can't beat a media organization. But if you're a presidential candidate and you come after it with a craven and silly argument - and you follow a path previously tried by a now ex-presidential candidate - you've probably been poorly advised.
    Thus tonight, between Senator McCain's manager's broadside against us, and his creative but tinny-sounding attacks on Senator Obama today at the VFW Convention, I've got a Special Comment planned.

In preparation for the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver, it's best to map out a small, but effective little guide to first timers and those watching from home.

I was watching the late edition of "Countdown" on MSNBC and it's followed by a remake of the old "Candid Camera" show hosted by a guy named Chris Hanson.
It's a bit more formulaic than the old show with Allen Funt because every episode seems to involve some hapless guy who wants to have sex with young girls--or boys.
And Hanson never remembers to say "Smile,...."

To help keep pace with all of the election coverage on the 24/7 news channels, Jed has been archiving closed captioning data. However, the sheer volume of text makes it hard to analyze.

In this diary, I'll show several automatically generated images (word clouds) that I created that highlight the prevalence of certain words in election coverage on these three channels; the analysis is over the last week's worth of closed captioning feeds. Let's look at the top 20 words on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News (from left to right):

I was watching Hardball a few minutes ago, swalling some Mac & Cheese after getting my Wisdom Teeth out earlier today, and I saw him bring two Republicans, sorry, I mean "Democrats" who were ranting and raving about the election. It's not often you see a media network anchor get as tough with them as David Shuster did when he was interviewing them about the whole Clinton/Obama primary clusterf*ck. These punks (that's all they are) were babbling on about how the process was un-Democratic and how they're going to vote for McCain in order to bring about change in the DNC leadership. Now, I'll admit that the process was a mess and that it needs to be fixed for the next go around (hopefully Obama won't be challenged by a resurgent Clinton in 2012), but Democracy is never perfect and this was the best we could do with the cards that we were dealt. But that's not what this post was about.

Real quick, I doubt if the link is up yet but . . .

I don't usually do diaries like this (I don't do too many to begin with), but I can't help it today because of what I'm currently watching.

You're allowed to list a Fox News anchor or correspondent if you'd like, but it's sort of unfair.  The results will be pretty obvious before we even begin.

Anyway, full disclosure: I'm easily annoyed.  I get irked by as little as harmless mannerisms if I'm in the wrong mood.  I usually keep it to myself.  

But there is one thing that gets to me a little deeper under the skin: fucking idiots. (more)

Peter Wehner is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.  (Reminds me of calling the Center something like "Cute Puppies in a Basket..." A line I "stole" from I've forgotten who.  They want you to believe it's really about ethics and good public policy.)

This is what he wrote about Keith Olbermann, and appeared on Washington Journal and essentially said the same thing:

(Follow me below the fold:  MSObama)

Almost exactly one year ago I published a comprehensive examination of the futility of appearances on Fox News by Democrats and progressives: Starve The Beast. The thrust of the article argued that...

"Every time one of our representatives appears on Fox, they are setting back our agenda. They are not just wasting a little time trying to confront the enemy in its lair. They are literally causing harm to the efforts of the rest of us who are fervently struggling to repair and improve our country."

It's a year later and new studies reveal that the landscape has changed only in the sense that the conclusions I drew a year ago are even more true today.

Brought to you by...
News Corpse
The Internet's Chronicle Of Media Decay.

Looking in our tool box today I viewed MSNBC'S Race to the White House and immediately lamented the return of David Gregory having so enjoyed the brilliant and intellectual program of yesterday hosted by Rachel Maddow.

David Gregory is one of the Republicans favorite tools. They can rely on him to ask the "tough" questions like "Is John McCain more maverick or war hero? ("Now I'll have that slab of ribs with some jello salad please").

Of course today was mostly about the scandalous Edwards affair and why it is bad for Obama. Air America owner Mark Greene committed the cardinal sin of bringing up McCain's past adultery, but Gregory quickly cut him off and that was about all that was heard from Greene for the rest of the show.

But later went one on one with Nicolle Wallace, McCain campaign spokeperson.

And what a grilling that was!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

It's around the middle. He literally asks Politico, should we ask Barack Obama if he's ever had an extramarital affair, and predicts he will be asked not just about Edwards, but about any possible extra marital affair.. you know.. just because it is lurking on the internet, youtube, and the national enquirer, (i think everyone knows what im referring to) when his plane lands in Hawaii.

I'm not puritanical and no one is perfect, but there has been such high expectations of you, deep affection from the party and your and Elizabeth's story has been inspiring.

The BREAKING part...

John Edwards has admitted today to having an affair during the campaign (2006), but says no child resulted.  The woman is said to be a novice documentary filmmaker and worked for the campaign post-affair.

Comcast has eliminated MSNBC from my viewing.
Under the guise of jiggling HD programming Comcast is unable to allow me to see MSNBC. This "factoid" in spite of their ability to introduce many (Discovery Science, History Channel, etc) without addition effort.

Somehow, MSNBC is just "difficult".

Most cable shows that feature "guest panels" are almost unwatchable, in my opinion. Guests are chosen for their combativeness, and the thought is that screaming and arguing are the only ways to make the shows interesting. With her guest hosting on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow is proving that the host sets the tone, and, in doing so, is showing that she is more qualified than David Gregory to be hosting that show.

Well,I have been talking for months in my Diaries and comments about how disruptive this "Celebrity Couple" will continue to be.It now appears they will not cease their antics until they are completely sure Obama is under the bus and there is no sign of a pulse.

So now it is confirmed. Bill still refuses to answer questions about as to whether he thinks Obama is qualified to be President.He is described as "angry."

Hillary  says she thinks he is qualified but she says her supporters are not satisfied.On MSNBC  a few minutes ago she is shown answering a question from one of her kool aid people. The woman asks "Well as you know the delegate count was extremely close;so what happens if they put your name in nomination and you win by a tiny majority? OMG, the crowd starts hootin and Hill stops them, laughing and stomping,she responds: