Sorry to keep harping on this but it bothers me when even the usually clear eyed Glenn Greenwald gets into the Olbermann is God act. Greenwald writes:

The irrefutable fact is that nothing attracts ratings for MSNBC -- and nothing has attracted ratings in the entire history of that channel -- the way that Olbermann does. Yet here is MSNBC removing him from the anchor position . . . That is extraordinary for a media company to publicly embarrass, diminish and tarnish its own principal asset.

It is extraordinary . . . and RIGHT! Here's why, in Glenn's own words:

Contra to Jeralyn's excellent take, over at Daily Kos, BarbinMD is upset that NBC dumped Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as news anchors for MSNBC's political coverage (Olbermann of course will continue his opinion show Countdown, going head to head against his right wing counterpart, Fox's Bill O'Reilly, and will be correctly labelled as a pundit in MSNBC's political coverage.)

This goes to an ongoing tension I see in the so-called Media criticism in the Left blogs, or rather lack thereof. We ALL know Keith Olbermann is a partisan hack. No one in their right mind would deny it. Which is fine as far as it goes. But let's not pretend he is a journalist. He NEVER should have been anchoring MSNBC's political coverage. He should have been in the pundits' slots. As should Chris Matthews (and Matthews was terrible LONG BEFORE this election. He was terrible in the 2000 and 2004 elections as well, but against Democrats then.) These two men are not journalists. It is that simple.

More . . .

As Big Tent Democrat noted in his update below, MSNBC has relieved Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews of anchoring duties for the remaining debates and election night coverage. David Gregory will anchor with Matthews and Olbermann appearing as analysts.

The key, I think, is this:

Executives at the channel’s parent company, NBC Universal, had high hopes for MSNBC’s coverage of the political conventions. Instead, the coverage frequently descended into on-air squabbles between the anchors, embarrassing some workers at NBC’s news division, and quite possibly alienating viewers. Although MSNBC nearly doubled its total audience compared with the 2004 conventions, its competitive position did not improve, as it remained in last place among the broadcast and cable news networks.

More...

The U.S. Open pre-empted Big Brother 10, so I'm left with the MTV Music Video Awards, hosted by Russell Brand. Who? He's a young British stand up comedian and tv host, apparently very popular there.

I would have thought it was a re-run from a past year since Brittney Spears won the award for best female video, but Brand's opening monologue was all about Gov. Sarah Palin -- poking fun at her prospective son-in-law Levi.

Music videos must not be a big business anymore. This sure isn't the Grammy's. It seems very low budget with a high school auditorium feeling. Maybe it's the seating-- it resembles folding chairs.[More...]

This is silly. Atrios writes:

Oprah

After all these years I still get surprised at the fact that every single bit of pointless right wing manufactured horsesh!t becomes part of our elite media conversation.

Atrios links to Media Matters complaining that Tom Brokaw incorrectly stated that Oprah hosted Obama after he announced his Presidential candidacy. Of course Oprah did much more than that, she endorsed and campaigned for Obama. And this was a big Media story at the time. It is disingenuous to now pretend Oprah is not a big story this campaign season. Oprah has a perfect right to act in a partisan way, but please stop with the whining when that is pointed out. Oprah injected herself into the political campaign. And now she has to take her lumps for it, as would any other media figure who did what Oprah has done. More . .

The New York Times reports that news organizations applied pressure and the McCain campaign has agreed to make Gov. Sarah Palin available to ABC for an interview.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Via Crooks and Liars:

Asked in 1996, her first year in office, about her ability to “effectively run” the city, Palin claimed:

“It’s not rocket science,” Palin said, “It’s $6 million and 53 employees.”

This is an open thread.

You don't win elections with one hand tied behind your back. The Democrats need to come out swinging against Sarah Palin, the unqualified, radical right choice of John McCain to occupy the nation's second most powerful leadership position. The fact that she's under investigation for abuse of power alone should be enough to disqualify her. Tell her to come back after she's been cleared and has shown she brings something other than tokenism to the job.

The Democratic strategists and pundits who think Obama should ignore Palin and stick to debating the issues are the best example of why the Democrats lost the last two elections.

From today's St. Petersburg Times editorial: McCain's speech failed to deliver on change

[H]is agenda promises only more of the same: tax cuts for the wealthy that the nation cannot afford, an aggressive foreign policy that cannot be sustained and an energy policy short on vision and long on oil drilling that would threaten Florida and provide no near-term relief.

Holding that losing hand, Republicans dealt themselves new cards from a very old deck. Instead of emphasizing experience, the Arizona senator who has been in Washington for more than 25 years tried to hijack Democrat Barack Obama's pitch for change. But there was no innovative thinking in his laundry list of the usual conservative proposals, from school choice to trickle-down economics to market-based health care changes that will not make medical treatment more available or affordable.

More....

This is an open thread, all topics welcome, with the caveat I stated below. Please read it before commenting.

(This site will not host personal attacks against Sarah Palin, rumors of a personal nature or a discussion of her personal life or that of her children. All such comments will be deleted and repeat offenders banned.)

John McCain today on Fox News called Sarah Palin his soul-mate.

Can you honestly say that Sarah Palin is the best person to put a heartbeat away from the presidency?

MCCAIN: Oh, yes. She’s a — she’s a partner and a soul-mate....

Enjoy. This is an open thread, all comment rules apply.

Maureen Dowd's Vice in Go-Go Boots spares no one. There's plenty of shots at Obama and Michelle and McCain as well. The least offensive snippet:

This chick flick, naturally, features a wild stroke of fate, when the two-year governor of an oversized igloo becomes commander in chief after the president-elect chokes on a pretzel on day one.

You want to complain about sexist treatment of Palin by the media? Here's your chance. It's not the blogs, or at least this one, that is writing this stuff.