Does anyone think Hillary, Edwards and Obama would agree to let Rush Limbaugh moderate the debate then have the post debate analysis with Ann Coulter?

What does America see in the Dem party? I'm confused, someone help

Noel,

The fact that MSNBC has now allowed this clown to participate in a presidential campaign debate has pretty much vindicated you, along with the rest of the contributors here at NB, who have caught a certain amount of flak from some NB members for covering him at all.

This republic will not survive the continued neglect of its people.-
Neal Boortz.

The thing is O'Reilly is a moderate at best anymore. There is no comparison between him and fanatical liberal Olbermann. O'Reilly recently said Bill Clinton's adminstration was "successful" for crying out loud. (This despite the long litany of valid criticisms O'Reilly pointed about him both during and after Clintons inglorious reign.) I'm not sure how O'Reilly got tabbed as some huge conservative, but then I don't understand how Don Imus got that label either.

P.S. Actually, I think I do know how Imus got that label. He made a racially charged insult, ergo according to the MSM that must mean he's one of those insanely bigoted right-wingers.

O'Reilly has the honesty to acknowledge that he is not a news anchor and his show is not a straight news program. His is a political commentary/news analysis type show and he provides analysis and opinion. And to his credit, he invites a wide range of guests with opposing views on all the time to discuss the issue or topic (contrast that with Olbermann's little pretend news show).

Meanwhile, Olbermann and MSNBC continue to insist that he is a news anchor doing a straightforward news show ("Countdown"). "Olbermann knows to leave his opinions at home when he anchors events", said MSNBC's Phil Griffin.

Nonsense. He doesn't leave his opinion at home when he does his news program.

Just check, to pick the most obvious example, the list of guests he has on the show. Nearly all liberals or anti-Administration types. And forget about his over-the-top "Special Commentaries" which MSNBC argues are separate from the remainder of the program. His show outside of those special comments is still riddled with liberal spin and analysis (most of it, unchecked for accuracy, provided by lefty websites like "Media Matters" and "Think Progress").

For MSNBC to now promise that he'll keep his views to himself when doing debate coverage is completely rendered meaningless since he doesn't keep his opinions from his news coverage.

My guess is that somewhere down the line, KO will be removed from MSNBC's pre- and post-debate coverage after saying something unacceptably unprofessional. It's his nature.

All news operations face the same dilemma. You have an obligation to present the news objectively, which demands that you keep yourself out of the story as much as possible. However, you also have a desire (and in a corporation, a fiduciary obligation) to attract as large an audience as possible. But if all media outlets presented events with equal objectivity, they would all be equally invisible. So to attract an audience, you need to do something to identify yourself. In a competitive news market, how can you identify yourself if you must stay out of the story? Answer: you can’t. It’s impossible.

The three methods of dealing with this dilemma are:

1. Create a perfect news operation where you identify yourself by always getting the story first, and perfectly right, and never make any mistakes. And then, in your analysis, you always present the absolute truth in a way that no one else can, shining brightly with superior insight and (dare I say?) genius. That delusion is so soaked with hubris that it drips.
2. Make a hard and fast separation between reporting and editorial opinion. That way, you let the reporters be objective, and then hire opinion mongers to attract your audience. The cost of this approach is that you can’t let your opinion mongers cover news, and you can’t let your reporters offer opinion. They’re apples and oranges, and you keep them that way. This is the FoxNews apporach.
3. Pretend the dilemma doesn’t exist. If challenged, deny it.

If you expect MSNBC to keep Olbermann off reporting, you follow the FoxNews assumption that you have to keep them separate. But you're talking to MSNBC, and those people don't see what you see. They think they're following the "perfect" approach, when they're really only pretending the dilemma doesn't exist.

Either MSNBC is delusional or cynical about Olbermann. Either way, it doesn’t matter. More people watched Fox than the actual debate on MSNBC.

Fair enough I'd have to say. Anyone have suggestions as to who MSNBC should use instead of Olbermann (and Matthews maybe)?

Also, I've heard that Fox News won't include Ron Paul in their debate and that's a shame. If MSNBC can make time for all the candidates, I would hope Fox would do the same.

Amazingly accurate and unbiased assessment from an AP writer, wouldn’t you agree?

 Ahhhh...ummmm....duh....

YES!

Olbermann is in the Hillary camp...and no he is not at all qualified to lead anything political.

Time to bring him down to his own level!