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Tensions are running high at MSNBC, at least surrounding veteran host Joe Scarborough who seems to be increasingly discontented at his network's decision to market itself as the cable net of choice for Bush haters. That hasn't sat well with the likes of the far left Keith Olbermann who has played a large role in getting MSNBC to pursue this strategy The Democratic convention seems to have only exacerbated those tensions. Last night saw Olbermann caught on an open mic blurting out profane disgust at Scarborough, prompting the latter to verbally call him out while fellow MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews...

The White House on Monday sent a scathing letter to NBC News, accusing the news network of “deceptively” editing an interview with President Bush on the issue of appeasement and Iran. At issue were remarks Bush made in front of Israel's parliament earlier this week. Specifically, White House counselor Ed Gillespie laments that the network edited the interview in a way that “is clearly intended to give viewers the impression that [Bush] agreed with [correspondent Richard Engel's] characterization of his remarks when he explicitly challenged it. “This deceitful editing to further a media-manufactured storyline is utterly misleading and irresponsible and...

Obama declared that McCain would carry out a "third Bush term"... "No matter what the costs, no matter what the consequences, John McCain seems determined to carry out a third Bush term," Obama said.

Talk about a case of false bravado! Just about everybody who watched the recent Comedy Central book interview (video) of Chris Matthews by Jon Stewart about Matthews' book, "Life's A Campaign," agrees that it was complete disaster for Matthews who exclaimed at one point, "This is the worst!" The opinion that Matthews came off horribly is almost universally shared by all observers whether conservative or liberal. However, Matthews himself is now claiming that everybody else is all wrong about that interview as you can see at the tail end of an Examiner.com article about the 10th year anniversary party for Hardball: On a...

"Chicken & Waffles": Was This Olbermann's Imus Moment?

Keith Olbermann and the Murder of Pat Tillman

Starting this weekend, MSNBC will drop its 12-4 newscast on Saturdays in favor of taped programming. There was a rumor circulating that was just a test run but that is apparently not the case. I hear it’s long term. The network had originally added the 12-4pm shift with Contessa Brewer back at the end of 2005. The network dropped its Sunday 12-4 newscast due to ratings last December. When Norah O’Donnell went on maternity leave and Alison Stewart left the network and The Most was cancelled, Brewer was moved to M-Fr daytime and a group of subs anchored the Saturday...

Hillary Clinton might want to sit up and pay attention to results of our exclusive survey on attitudes in the workplace. While Clinton hopes to smash through the ultimate glass ceiling to become the nation's first female president, the Work & Power Survey conducted by Elle and MSNBC.com suggests that stereotypes about sex and leadership are alive and well. While more than half our 60,000 respondents said a person's sex makes no difference to leadership abilities, most who expressed a preference said men are more likely to be effective leaders. Of male respondents, 41 percent said men are more likely...

Bill says ‘a million things can happen,’ but he’s already launched Hillary’s presidential campaign. Can he get her elected? Suddenly Bill Clinton is everywhere, solving poverty, tackling AIDS, hosting Laura Bush, crafting the Democrats' message and deflecting questions about his wife's likely run for president. He doesn't know if he wants her to run, or if she'll run, and if she runs, he doesn't know that she'll win. “A million things can happen,” he said. But he does know one thing, that if she got elected, “she would be a magnificent president,” he told CNN’s Larry King this week. Clinton...

Vote for Tucker Carlson on Dancing with the Stars tonight, 1 800 vote-4-03 / 1 800 868-3403 If you love Tucker on MSNBC - libertarian spokesman for America - then keep him on the show another week. He was bad, but he deserves to have fun for another week! And it makes the show fun for us. He is family, for all us libertarians!

Now that Dan Abrams has given up his MSNBC show to run the third-place cable news outlet, he might want to focus on the rising tensions between two of his prime-time personalities: Keith Olbermann and Rita Cosby. Olbermann, whose "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" airs weeknights at 8, apparently has precious little respect for Cosby, whose "Rita Cosby: Live & Direct" airs at 10 p.m. "Rita's nice," Olbermann wrote to a fan from his MSNBC E-mail account, "but dumber than a suitcase of rocks." Yesterday Cosby retorted: "Keith got it wrong. I'm not that nice." But a Cosby intimate gasped when...

by Mark Finkelstein March 9, 2006 Talk about people who live in glass houses . . . For some time now, Chris Matthews has played the leitmotif of a "second-rate second term" at the White House. When on this evening's Hardball he invited Margaret Carlson to whack the Bush pinata, there were embarrassing consequences for the toothy ex-Time editor, now languishing at Bloomberg News. Matthews tried his best to tee it up for Carlson: "Margaret, I look at a pattern of events and they come out of people's mouths, conservatives, liberals, whatever: Katrina - competence question. That nomination for the...

[I]t was with not all that much surprise that I read Lou Sheldon's name again recently, in a story about disgraced lobbyist and admitted felon Jack Abramoff. According to the Washington Post, Sheldon allegedly took money from an Abramoff client called eLottery and in return pressured members of Congress to defeat an anti-gambling bill. Sheldon was joined in this by former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, another longtime Abramoff friend. ...Why were supposedly honest ideological conservatives like Sheldon and Reed and anti-tax activist Grover Norquist involved with Jack Abramoff in the first place? Keep in mind that Abramoff's business wasn't...

Just now, Chris Matthews on "Hardball" went after New York leftist Mark Green for calling this a "corrupt" administration. To which Matthews shot back, "Any convictions? Can you name one conviction? One person in this administration who has been convicted of a crime?" To which Green mentions the indictments of DeLay and Jack Abramoff. "They don't work for the administration," says Matthews. "Can you name a single instance of proven corruption?" Green, as is his wont, hemmed and hawed and licked his lips. Ben Ginsburg, the Republican on the other side, just stayed silent. Props to Chris.

NEW YORK - There is nothing wrong with an unpopular opinion. Nor is there anything wrong with a subversive one, nor a crazy one. This country was founded on opinions that were deemed by the powers-that-were to be unpopular, subversive, and crazy. Dissent - even when that dissent strays from logic or humanity - is our life’s blood. But if you have one of those opinions, and you express it in public, honesty and self-respect require you to own up to it. Unless you’re Rush Limbaugh.

It might be a good idea for Keith Olbermann and Rick Kaplan to give each other a wide berth until things cool down. I hear that MSNBC staffers in the Secaucus newsroom-studio watched in horror Monday night as the volatile Kaplan, the president of the cable outlet, publicly laced into the eccentric Olbermann, anchor of the 8 p.m. show "Countdown," after the latter eulogized lung-cancer victim Peter Jennings with a graphic rant about his own cancer scare. Olbermann - a former pipe and cigar smoker - is said to have looked stunned as Kaplan raced onto the set and shouted...

Sick Bed, New York— Nothing is in writing and daybreak is a long way away, but it appeared all but certain in early evening Wednesday that House Democrats had secured the support of up to half a dozen Senators to formally challenge the Electoral College slate from Ohio, when the votes are opened before a joint session of Congress tomorrow.Congressional sources tell this reporter that the house half of the written objection — which has the declared support of more than a dozen Representatives — is expected to be signed by Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio. Republican leadership expects...

I read another thread that predicted the media would refrain from showing footage of the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, etc, from 9-11, so as not to muster any support for Bush. Whether it gives Bush a bounce or not is not the issue. (Although I wouldn't be disappointed.) The issue is remembering those who were lost, and the families who still miss them... the heroes who went into the towers to rescue others, and never made it out...the heroes in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon. Americans said we would "NEVER FORGET". We even put it on posters and banners and...

Here's a peek behind the cable TV curtain. It's not pretty. So, my publicist arranges for me to go on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews on Thursday night to talk about my recent columns on the FBI and national security profiling and my new book. Despite the show's basement ratings, we figure it's a good opportunity to reach out to a new audience. FOX News, with whom I have a contract, has generously allowed me to appear on some competing networks to talk about the book. Thursday was the second to the last day that I could make such appearances....

President Bush is facing increasing dissent among leading conservative politicians and pundits in the face of mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq. The war has become the long slog that some Republicans feared. Since Sunday, 32 Americans have been killed in fighting across Iraq. American body bags are on the front page of major U.S. newspapers. The Washington Post and The New York Times brandished images of charred U.S. civilian remains last week. The networks are leading their nightly news broadcasts with stories of dead Americans. "If we have two or three more weeks of this you are going to start...

Big shake-up at MSNBC. Erik Sorenson out. Rick Kaplan in -- at top, say sources. Developing...

I sat between this incredible guy who had been on death row for eighteen years before being freed by the Innocence Project at Medill Journalism school (the winner of this year’s $100K Puffin/Nation prize) and Joe Wilson, winner of this year’s Ron Ridenhour prize. I asked Joe why Powell had turned out to be such a wimp—failing to use any of his prized credibility to put the breaks on his lying colleagues, and instead telling all those falsehoods at the UN and convincing a boatload of gullible reporters of a whole mess of stuff that just ain’t so. Wilson—whose speech...

November 26, 2003 MSNBC Is Clearing Out a Slot in Prime TimeBy JIM RUTENBERG SNBC is reshuffling its lineup again to clear the way for a star, so far unidentified, it hopes to introduce in prime time in the coming weeks, according to a memorandum made available yesterday. Erik Sorenson, the president of MSNBC, said in the memorandum to his staff that he was moving "The Abrams Report" to 6 p.m.. from 9 p.m. weekdays. It had been at the later hour since major combat in Iraq ended but that time slot was supposed to be a temporary berth. The...

Did anybody catch Imus this morning? I've transcripted this because I thought it was kind of funny. As soon as I heard Imus talking to the correspondent from Turkey...I knew there would be problems. LOL!!! Imus:"Alright Charles, Whats going on in the news this morning? Whats this about Turkey and Iraq I hear?" Charles:"Well I-Man the Uh...um...there was a bomb explostion in Levent, Istanbul. Apparently near a shopping mall." Imus:"What about Iraq?" Charles:"Well I-Man the Uh...um...there was a bomb explosion in uh Ram..." Imus:"You don't seem to even know what in the hell you are talking about!" Charles:"Well I-Man you...

Dick Morris The Political Life Bias-mongers on rocks as viewers taste straight newsI am sure we were all surprised to learn in the Aug. 11 issue of The New York Times that people are " burned out on serious news." How else could the bastion of establishment journalism account for the falloff in network news viewership and, unnoted in the article, the newspaper's own decreasing circulation?Yet the evidence is all there. People don't care anymore. That must be why The Times' circulation has fallen 5 percent and 1.1 million fewer households are watching network television news compared to last...

Bush fans turn up heat on Disney Plus: Terrorism tames Terminator; Spears’ tattoo boo-boo With Ashley Pearson MSNBC May 13 — Get ready for the Bushies vs. Mickey Mouse. Some stalwart supporters of the president are organizing a boycott of Disney after it was revealed that a subsidiary of the company is helping finance Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which is expected to come out in time for the 2004 election and reportedly will show links between the Bush dynasty and Osama bin Laden. ‘We’ve weathered storms before.’ — SOURCE ON FRIDAY, Variety reported that Disney’s Miramax Films would provide interim...

CAIRO, Egypt, Mar 30, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- A former CNN journalist told state-run Iraqi TV that U.S. war planners had misjudged Iraq's determination to stand up to the American-led coalition's invasion force. "Clearly, the American war plans misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces," Peter Arnett said during the interview aired Sunday by Iraq's satellite television station and monitored by The Associated Press in Egypt. Arnett, who won a Pulitzer Prize reporting in Vietnam for The Associated Press, garnered much of his prominence from covering the 1991 Gulf War in Baghdad. He is now reporting from the...

<p>NEW YORK — Twelve of NBC's top executives can't take their eyes off the flat-screen monitors at each seat in the elegant boardroom on the 52nd floor of the network's headquarters in Rockefeller Center.</p> <p>NBC staff work in the Situation Room in New York.</p>

SOURCES: FOX NEWS WINS WAR NIGHT; TOPS CNN IN RATINGS UPSET FOX NEWS TOOK THE CROWN WEDS NIGHT IN VIEWERSHIP, MAXING WITH AN 8.0 RATING... MORE... CNN MAX 6.9; MSNBC 4.3 DURING 10 PM ET HOUR, SOURCES TELL DRUDGE... /// FROM 8 TO 11 PM ET: FOX AVG 6.3 [5.1 MILLION VIEWERS] TO CNN'S 5.3 [4.5 MILLION] TO MSNBC'S 3.3 [2.6 MILLION]...

The following is a response I received from Eric Alterman of MSNBC.com regarding a thread that got pulled recently which bashed the president. Maybe some of you will want to respond to Mr. Alterman. I asked: Why not ask me or all my friends and family and all the members of Free Republic.com for our opinions? His reply: because my guess is you're all idiots, but thanks

MSNBC on Ventura Highway Jesse's talk show will lead network on road to either riches or ruin VERNE GAY January 30, 2003 There are two ways to think about MSNBC's new prime-time show with Jesse Ventura, which will be announced any minute now. Just two ways. This will be the beginning of the beginning for MSNBC - the revitalization of a network that has been mostly ignored by viewers and left behind by the competition. Or, this will be the end. If Jesse doesn't work, then Microsoft and GE, which own NBC, will pull the plug on MSNBC. There is...

<p>December 21, 2002 -- NBC Chairman Bob Wright has no kind words for the troops at MSNBC - in fact he's got no words at all for the struggling cable news channel.</p> <p>In an internal holiday memo to all NBC staffers yesterday Wright lauded almost all of the network's divisions. But when it came time to offer kind words to the the company's cable channels, only CNBC was mentioned.</p>

WASHINGTON, July 17 — As a boy, summering with his extended family in Kennebunkport, Maine, George W. Bush was Boss Cousin: the oldest in a swarm of his own brothers (and sister), and the sons and daughters of his aunts and uncles. They played games all day, from tag to tennis to basketball. George, one of the players told me years later, very much liked to win — and, as oldest sibling always do, wrote the rules (or rewrote) them to guarantee it.THAT’S THE WAY he way prefers to operate even now. Karl Rove, the president’s longtime political consiglieri, calls...

Donahue has ONE person who is a conservative showing this man is associated with terrorist activities, and THREE terrorist-sympathizers (Donahue, the suspect's wife, and the suspect's lawyer) going against the conservative.PMSNBC: UNFAIR, UNBALANCED, AND AFRAID OF THE TRUTH.

<p>July 22 issue — When President Bush came to Wall Street to jawbone chief executives about corporate responsibility, Dick Cheney, the vice president and a former CEO himself, wasn’t with him. When Bush met at the White House with his new Justice Department corporate-crime “SWAT team,” Cheney was elsewhere—at a national-security meeting, his aides said.</p>

By James Zogby   June 26, 2002, 07:34 AM  - Within a matter of a few weeks two of the United States top congressional leaders appeared separately on the same television program to let the country know how little they knew or cared about the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was on May 1 that Texas Republican Congressman Richard Armey, appeared on "Hardball", a nationally televised political program hosted by Chris Mathews. Here is part of their exchange: Mathews: “OK. Let’s talk about the realities over there. There’s a fight between the Arabs and the Israelis over who...