MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell admitted on national television Friday that he's a socialist.
In the middle of a heated debate with Salon's Glenn Greenwald on "Morning Joe," O'Donnell said, "I am a socialist. I live to the extreme left, the extreme left of you mere liberals" (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Glenn, unlike you, I am not a progressive. I am not a liberal who is so afraid of the word that I had to change my name to progressive. Liberals amuse me. I am a socialist. I live to the extreme left, the extreme left of you mere liberals, okay? However, I know this about my country. Liberals are 20 percent of the electorate. Conservatives are 41 percent of the electorate, okay? So I don't pretend that my views, which would ban all guns in America, make Medicare available to all in America, have any chance of happening in the federal government, okay? You can sit there and pretend that liberals should run more liberal in conservative districts. You love the loss of the Blue Dogs. The only way, the only way you have a chairman Barney Frank, there's only one way, that's by electing Blue Dogs. It's the only way. That's the only way you have a Speaker Pelosi.
So there you have it: a host on MSNBC admitted that he is on the extreme far left of the political spectrum.
NBC must be so pleased with its decision to give this man his own show.
On the other hand, if everyone was as honest about their real political leanings as O'Donnell was Friday rather than desperately trying to pretend impartiality, just how many mainstream media members would we find truly share his views?
Scary thought isn't it?
For those interested, here's a more complete video of this exchange courtesy Breitbart.tv:
