Carl Cannon, Washington Bureau Chief for RealClearPolitics.com, asked in an op-ed published Friday morning whether, in light of Martin Bashir’s profane–and unpunished–attack on Sarah Palin, the time has come to “pull the plug” on a network that devotes 85% of its air time to commentary–much of it vitriolic. He noted that MSNBC’s propaganda tarnishes the historic, and liberal, legacy of parent network NBC:
Cannon wrote:
NBC could just yank this kind of programming. If it did, the network that provides its anchors a platform for crude daily rants would be honoring its own legacy, which harks back to the very beginning of the medium….
To his credit, Bashir apologized profusely on Monday, rightfully describing his remarks as “wholly unacceptable” and “unworthy of anyone who would claim to have an interest in politics.”
He seemed sincere, but this is the latest in a string of such conduct at MSNBC, and it’s not an accident. It’s almost an occupational hazard. It’s difficult to vilify people 24 hours a day because their priorities for federal spending differ from yours or because they’d be happier if we called gay marriages “civil unions.” So Republicans have to be demonized.
Cannon neglects to mention that the leaders of the Democratic Party, and the leading journalists of the left (including editors at Politico, Buzzfeed, and Salon) are more than happy to indulge the clownish hate-fest that MSNBC has become. In that way, MSNBC actually does a great service to conservatives by exposing the hatred and ignorance that fuels today’s Democratic Party and too much of the mainstream political media.
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