They go down in a flame of low ratings for all I care..
or play back to back episodes of LockUp..
won't matter to me one iota..

That will improve ratings -----NOT !!

Now it's just background noise all day. What a terrible loss.

That would defeat the goal and having a voice in a sea of pro-corporate networks churning out pro-corporate propaganda 24/7, and should MSNBC lost viewers, it would only make the likes of Murdoch and Koch Bros smile and toast to its demise.

Keith Olbermann fought long and hard to get our side broadcast. He paved the way for Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Ed Schultz, Joy-Ann Reid, Chris Hayes, and Karen Finney. We can't let him or them down.

I'm deeply disheartened that MSNBC took the first opportunity it could to get rid of yet another progressive voice, but I won't forsake my support for the others still there doing the good work. I won't surrender.

Dollars to donuts they did it because a raft of Republicans called up and demanded Bashir be fired. MSNBC gave him the option of resigning to save face, and he did with the hopes it would make it easier to get another job. Just my opinion.

I am so tired of the Republicans saying who can stay and who must go at MSNBC. And now that Comcast has merged with NBC, I feel commentators still there are completely aware that one slip in the wrong direction can put them on the unemployment line.

So I to the extent I can, I am boycotting. I did not write a letter to complain as was suggested here because I felt certain it would make no difference. But I am not going to keep patronizing them when they allow the Republicans to run the network, or at least to reign in on who can stay and who must go.

Sam

Keith O, Van Jones, Phil Donahue and on and on

It's pathetic - and the worst part our liberal left is part of the piling on, wanting to look good to the idiot right wing hacks

Until we learn to stand up for our own we look pathetic and weak - we have no principles - at least Alan Grayson don't take their shit

Congratulations.

TPTB cannot allow their carefully crafted illusion to be disrupted. Because this would be a threat to their tools of control.

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater"

— Frank Zappa

I think it was rather noble of Bashir to step aside. I think he was probably disappointed in himself engaging in the same kind of tactics the RW uses all the time. More than his network or his fans, Bashir probably felt he let himself down with his comments. It was probably gnawing at his conscience.

That's one thing that separates liberals from conservatives - we have a sense of conscience, they don't. We're our own worst critics.

Bashir will do fine. He'll end up with another network. It's too bad he made the comments and felt that he needed to resign, but I admire him doing the honorable thing, even if that sounds old fashioned.

Rather than bashing MSNBC, I'd hope people would look at what happened and realize that this was a display of principles, by both Bashir and the network. Yes, Fox never gets rid of people for saying outlandish things. Do we really want the liberal flagship network to stoop to Fox's level in such matters? I'd rather our guys set the bar higher.

Your comments are hilarious and very ........

and their comments come even cheaper.

Just LMAO at your comments. My glasses are fine BTW I see very clearly. VERY.

There was nothing noble about what happened to Phil Donahue, Olbermann, or Ed Schultz....it was all caving in to the demands of the right.

something I would have liked to say to Sarah Palin myself, I have to agree with you that he did the right thing by stepping down.

His comment sounded so much like something Rush Limbaugh would say, and get away with, but like you said, do we really want to stoop to the Faux News and GOP level? I don't think so. It is unfortunate that Bashir couldn't have used some other method of getting the message across that Palin needed to experience what some slaves experienced under some cruel and racist slave-owner without having to come out and actually utter the words....it was crass and more like something that would come out of a Republican's mouth toward a Democrat/Liberal.

I will miss Bashir on MSNBC, he was one of the ones I really liked to watch.

.... ALL WRONG. Until WE LEARN TO TALK LIKE RUSH AND the rest of them, we will be out of power. This RHETORIC WORKS FOR FUCKS SAKE. How do you think these idiots have taken over the country?

Ds out number Rs in the general populace by a good number. ratings for Limpballs et al are dropping, and that's before Rushbo went after the Pope.

They haven't taken over the country, but your believing they have shows that you're susceptible to their propaganda.

.. the country is in great shape. You are delusional.

Sorry if things suck in your neck of the woods.

If I wanted to be like them....I would just join them....

Yes yes i do. The "staying above it all" strategy has clearly failed.

I don't want to be just like them; standing by talking heads no matter what spews out of their mouths because they are on 'my' side.

I thought Bashir's comments about Palin were unfortunate. Dead on, but unfortunate.

It's absurd. MSNBC isnt liberal and wasnt acting on principle. They tolerate some liberals because they make money, but let them get too uppity and bingo bango they are out. Ask KO or Donahue.

In that case, the President said something completely accurate.

The corporate media jumped all over it, confused everything, took it out of context (or in Fox's case literally edited the video) to confuse people and make the false version the story. Backtracking, apologizing, explaining, etc. All the "left" media pundits said it was an unfortunate choice of words, etc.

Or, exhibit B could be the media's handling of the "Dean Scream."


Now we have somebody who was responding to an outrageous claim. Unfortunately for him, it was made by the media's favorite sound bite generator. He again, responded completely accurately. How could health care ever be spoken of in the same paragraph as slavery, he asked. And the corporate media went bananas, and covered the specifics instead of the story. She said something stupid, and he explained one of the worst things documented about how slaves were treated. The competitors of MSNBC took the opportunity to continue not to cover news and spoke about this. And MSNBC chickened out.

If MSNBC weren't owned by Comcast, and as corporate as it gets, my fantasy is that he'd be replaced by Democracy Now! just to really show what news looks like.

you said it!

I doin't have tv, too rural and costs too much...but I applaud the speakers of truth where I see/hear them. Bashir was a voice of truth at that network...he will prevail...

But where exactly will he prevail? He's been around and now even CNN has admitted that typical newscast no longer work (for him perhaps)...so who are we to address, to whom do we protest, where shall we congregate to push the Advertisers ?

I'm sick of MSNBC trying to turn their network into some sort of CNN lite...not gonna work for me and it shouldn't work for any of us!

Pls CALL 212 664-2456
& tell PHIL GRIFFIN to REINSTATE MARTIN BASHIR.

It's okay to shake it up every once in while. Normally Bashir is a very mild mannered man, cut him some slack for Pete's Sake!
Giving in and removing him, makes the perpetual victim, S. Palin, get her undeserved revenge. And now we have to listen to Fox News and the RWingers gloat.

Firing those who make untoward comments about that woman will just encourage her to cry every time someone "hurts her feelings". We all know she's about as sensitive as the grizzly bear she compares herself to.

I'll never forget the horrible things she said on the campaign trail to fire up her rabid base, but say something about her, and she shrinks like the defenseless victim.

It became blather...but without a spine.

I agree with others... The Right gets it their way and the Left just wets their pants and caves.

Thanx for posting.

It just so happens that progressives have been right about just about everything over the last 15 years and republicans have been wrong about everything. That is why I am a progressive.

A progressive point of view is a thinking person's point of view. It is the point of view of a person that is aware of what is going on in this country. While I am sure that there are some that feel liberalism in their souls like a religion, it is certainly not necessary to feel it in this way to arrive at the same conclusions.

Is it a good thing for republicans that they always stand by their pundits, no matter what they say? Maybe that keeps their 26ish% base happy, but I think it also turns a lot of people off, particularly the kind of people they need to win elections in non-gerrymandered districts.

Bashir made very distasteful comments. They were also completely unnecessary as Sarah Palin has no influence whatsoever on anyone that is not already unreachable by facts or reason. I see no logical reason for me to feel outrage at the outcome of this incident just because Bashir is on the same side of the political spectrum as I am.

Progressives do not win converts by taking the low road followed by the lunatic right-wing pundits. Can you imagine Rachael Maddow or Chris Hayes making the comments made by Bashir? I can't.

And did I let my own delicate sensibilities get the better of me?

No. Because I understand that horrible people who have done horrible things have always been with us, and they were allowed to do horrible things under the color of authority. Bashir made a point of explaining what slavery was all about and that Palin had no idea what she was talking about.

And you make think that Palin has no influence on anyone that is not already unreachable by facts or reason, but that's not the point about her. She's allowed to get away with her crap in spite of any of that.

He was then, as I am now, sick of the crap that spews from her gaping pie hole.

mouth, although I think her having a mouth full of real shit would be preferable to what comes out of her mouth. Given what happened, I wish that Bashir had simply described the scene of brutal treatment of slaves that address Palin with the statement that no person should ever equate a health care law and an individual mandate with slavery.

Oh, I'm so disappointed.

There was another post here on DU that mentioned that Joe Scumbag had some comments to the MSNBC Executives that Bashir "had to go"... I would love to KNOW more about that conversation. The owners (Comcast) of MSNBC are strident right wingers, which explains how "liberal" MSNBC is allowed to be... don't be fooled that MSNBC is a liberal media outlet. Take for example that Joe Scumbag EVEN HAS A SHOW... that should tell you everything you need to know about Comcast the the MSNBC "owners".

The media is owned.. and so are the watchers.

remind RWers on other political forums that MSNBC hired Scarborough, Abby Huntsman, and S.E. Cupp to co-host shows (and regularly have on Republican guests like Michael Steele and Steve Schmidt), they all of a sudden either get quiet or they try to denounce them as "RINOS". Any person with critical thinking skills would know that MSNBC is nowhere near as liberal as FOX is conservative.

What's wrong with that?

but my point is that it is foolish for the Right to portray MSNBC as such a liberal bastion.

Such an out of place thing for him to say. He's so controlled, polite, professional,yet firm. Sticks to his guns and won't be talked around or over. Hope he lands on his feet. Maybe on Al Jazeera.

Hopefully Al Jazeera will pick him up and he can continue to challenge some of this nonsense from these....people...

It breaks my heart to know that the word-salad-victim gets a notch in her belt. What she said that prompted Bashir to comment was so over the top and idiotic that no one in the media seemed to pay attention or care about. It was only when Bashir quoted her words and a historical text pointing out the lunacy of making a comparison to slavery with that of helping to bring affordable healthcare to those who don't have coverage that this "controversy" began to swirl.

If MSNBC/Comcast fired Bashire (or pressured him to resign), they should be embarrassed and ashamed.

I am.

Didn't Martin's show have a producer or director? Doesn't the producer review the show before it goes on the air?

Nearly all of the shows on MSNBC are conversational.

I would think that all "Clear the Air" comments would be reviewed before aired.

I emailed Phil Griffin this morning. I'm hoping we can rally for Martin's return.

to keep pounding away at El Dumbo. Our political pundits should use every opportunity to continually ask:

"Why is Martin Bashir gone and Rush Limbaugh still there?"

"Why is Martin Bashir gone and Rush Limbaugh still there?"

"Why is Martin Bashir gone and Rush Limbaugh still there?"

on an idiot box?

expresses himself here about what they would like to see happen to repukes. Repukes regularly REGULARLY use violent rhetoric, talk of death camps, executions, you name it. We other other hand constantly police our ranks and demand political correctness.
When one of ours plays it "The Chicago Way" we desert him.

It make us weak.

Progressives are stuck in the mindset that one day the other side will wake up and play nice. One reason, I am not sure we will ever be rid of them.

We are in a fight for the survival of humanity, climate change, unfettered capitalism and more issues, are killing the planet. If the other side gets a majority, gets a president or simply stops our agenda they win and we all die.

People need to wake up. "What are you prepared to do?"

Sean Connery said it best.

instead of it being as something we throw our own under, there is little hope.

Why blame the entire political left for the actions of one or two people? I don't get it.



-Laelth

ReTHUGs and their hacks can say anything and keep their jobs.

Is there any doubt about the real nature of MSNBC?

Are we there yet?

I have no idea why he had her on and didn't go after her. She's exactly the kind of person that Hayes loves to skewer when he's surrounded by a gaggle of progressive guests. He's not the kind of guy who fears going after opposition guests live, as he did with Wolfowitz last week.

I think that MSNBC is trying to appear to be more balanced by having some shows bring on RW guests. But the hosts shouldn't hold back once they get these people in the hot seat.

It made me sick.

I refuse to accept the premise that conservatives blindly support whatever idiocy their advocates spout, so we should to. No television or radio personality is that important.

Van Jones, Shirley Sherrod, ACORN, etc., etc., etc.

The mistake you are making is in thinking that we, mere mortals, have any real sway on one of the five corporations that control 95% of all you hear and listen and read.

Until that changes, RW personalities can call women all kinds of names and remain on air. Unless you are willing (and able) to get advertisers to stop adds on msnbc, like the remove Rush movement..

Bashir tells the damn truth and he's stomped. The "way" he said it was absolutely correct. The BS only comes "out" of Palin's mouth.

His corporate overlords are right wingers. They only tolerate the lefties on their program line up insofar as they don't gore their sacred white cows and Sarah was one of them. MOOOO!

Bashir departed MSNBC because of his one-time error in allowing himself to engage in the kind of behavior that is an everyday job requirement at Fox.

His own standards were likely more offended than any at MSNBC.

of how the Dems sit on their hands when a highly successful and useful organization faces charges that are either trumped up or based on lies. For example, Issa et al. said that ACORN was responsible for getting people to vote who aren't legally supposed to vote. In fact, ACORN was never convicted of any such thing. All such charges came to nothing. And it was ACORN itself that turned in those who were working for them and turning in fabricated names to pad their lists of registered voters.

IMO, every Dem who didn't speak up when this happened, including Obama, shd be ashamed for allowing this to happen.

and he still has a job. But a truthful statement about Palin by Martin Bashir gets you fired.

He's not an Edward R. Murrow or somebody who really was a journalist.

This scumbag is a tabloidist who got famous and rich by exploiting the misery of others.

programs on TV, ever.