MS NOW (formerly MSNBC)

Usually, the crazy rantings of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann can be dismissed as the norm and easily ignored. But on May 5, Olbermann gave a glimpse of an obsession with former Vice President Dick Cheney - a man that has been out of office for 471 days - that was just too bizarre to let go.  Although Olbermann didn't outright absolve the Obama administration for not responding quick enough to the…

Looks like thin-skinned Keith Olbermann is getting defensive about his policy of banning show guests who disagree with him.  An MSNBC Countdown promo features Olbermann advancing an absurd non sequitur to justify his echo-chamber approach.Claiming to be "misunderstood" over his guest policy, Olbermann says he asks questions "to find out if I'm wildly incorrect" about something.  Olbermann thereby…

The Dick Cheney obsessed Chris Matthews, on Wednesday's Hardball, served up a softball to liberal Democratic Congressman Ed Markey as he pondered if the former vice president could, in any way, be blamed for the BP oil spill. Matthews, who it seems can't go a week without mentioning Cheney, even though he's no longer in office, questioned Markey if the oil spill occurred because of lax oversight…

MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan on Wednesday gave "kudos" to the Phoenix Suns basketball team for protesting Arizona's tough new policy on illegal immigration. The host touted, "The team is set to wear Los Suns jerseys tonight on Cinco de Mayo in response to Arizona's controversial [law]."Ratigan enthused that congratulations were in order and added, "Around here we call that a slam dunk." The cable anchor…

There's a cynical theme growing in the media that Faisal Shahzad, the man accused of attempting to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square Saturday, was driven to violence by the loss of his job, the loss of his house, and his anger towards former President George W. Bush.In all of this theorizing -- or what some might call psychobabble -- those making the assertion have yet to ponder if…

The Washington Post is making the transition from a powerhouse liberal newspaper to a network of powerhouse liberal blogs. While the paper's Old Guard is worried that the move will tarnish the Post's supposed reputation for political neutrality, it should be seen more as a embrace of the agenda the Post has evinced for years."Traditionalists," wrote Politico today, "worry that the Post is…

Listen to the surprise in Luke Russert's voice as he reports that many African-American Republican candidates for congress are seeking support from the Tea Party.  After all, says Luke, the Tea Party is a group that "a lot of folks have claimed to be racist against African-Americans."Russert expressed his amazement on MSNBC this morning, discussing a New York Times article that reports that at…

A rather strange thing happened Tuesday when Fox News's Wendell Goler tried asking Robert Gibbs a question at the afternoon briefing: he got scolded by the White House press secretary for an interview Neil Cavuto did with former FEMA director Michael Brown the previous day.To set this up, Brown on FNC's "Your World" said he felt the White House intentionally delayed action on the oil spill in the…

As appeals to bi-partisanship go, this could down as recent history's most contemptible and hypocritical . . . On this evening's Ed Show, bemoaning the lack of conservative support for Pres. Obama in reaction to the Times Square attempted bombing, Dem senator Patrick Leahy accused Pres. Bush of having "dropped the ball," on 9-11, claiming it "could have been avoided."Schultz was predictably peep…

An online conservative radio group has started a petition site called Respect the Great Game to get Major League Baseball to drop Keith Olbermann as a contributor to its website.The administrators of the Respect the Great Game site ask: "Why does Major League Baseball allow an individual who relishes hate speech to be associated with it?" They include a video compilation of some of  Olbermann's…

Chris Matthews, on Tuesday's Hardball, brought on two former CIA officials to discuss the latest terror attack, and the MSNBC host agreed with Tyler Drumheller that the most recent attacker was motivated by his house being foreclosed on and also agreed with Robert Baer who feared another attack could lead to "The Tea Party being strengthened" which could lead to "people blaming the White House…

Near the top of Tuesday's Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC, host Dylan Ratigan fretted over American Muslims being harassed in the wake of the failed Times Square bombing: "how do you deal with these types of crimes without resulting in racism, effectively, towards people of Pakistani or Middle Eastern descent?...is there not a natural backlash to this?" [Audio available here]Ratigan asked that of…

Hosting a debate segment this morning between  Republican strategist Alex Conant and Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee that examined the political dimensions of the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill, MSNBC's Tamron Hall played soundbites from two politicians with rather divergent views on offshore drilling. The first was liberal Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) opposing expanding offshore…

MSNBC host Contessa Brewer appeared on the liberal Stephanie Miller radio show on Tuesday and lamented the fact that the person arrested for the attempted Times Square bombing is a Pakistani American. She complained, "I get frustrated...There was part of me that was hoping this was not going to be anybody with ties to any kind of Islamic country." [Audio available here.] Brewer continued, "...…