MSNBC Teams Up With Air America

See that green thing over there? It's MSNBC's fig leaf. The network has decided to take it all off and admit what everyone knew was obvious: that it's trying to become the far-left's cable channel of choice.

That's really about all you can say after learning the news that the MSNBC show "Race for the White House" will now be simulcast live at 6pm ET on Air America, the low-rated radio network for liberals.

"Race" is a nightly show about the 2008 campaign hosted by liberal NBC reporter David Gregory and prominently features Air America host Rachel Maddow as a panelist. The simulcast move is just one of the latest in a long series of leftward moves made by MSNBC since it determined that pandering to the nutroots left could rescue it from the ratings cellar.

The irony is palpable. The lowest-rated cable channel is teaming up with the lowest-rated radio network in the hopes of finding success by bashing Republicans and conservatives.

Will MSM media-beat reporters like the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz notice this and call it for what it is? Guess we'll see. Considering they haven't worried about the serious conflict of interest presented by MSNBC's decision to heavily promote avowed Bush-hater Keith Olbermann as an objective anchor, it seems unlikely.

There is clearly a mutal benefit at work here. Air America has been floundering for years and has had massive trouble getting listeners to keep tuning in despite massive amounts of hype from the rest of the media. MSNBC, meanwhile has been having a tough time geting liberals to kick their CNN habit. This is ultimately why their sudden lurch to the left is doomed to fail as well. People tend to watch television in a very habitual manner. Still, in the short term, there will be some benefits on both sides, at least from a business standpoint. NBC journalists who care about their political independence have got to be feeling queasy right about now though.

Hat tip: Thomas S.