Courtesy Magnifico from DailyKos
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Subtle Power Shift In MSNBC Pundits?
I'm sensing a shift in the pundits over at MSNBC.
Now, let me preface this by saying I know all of these people have accomplishments other than being blabbers on cable,
but for this I'm just concentrating on their abilities at giving clear, concise arguments tempered with occasional healthy sarcasm.
My favorite MSNBC talking head is Rachel Maddow.
Hands down the smartest progressive pundit on any political show.
In the past week, I've seen her at least 7 times.
(for obvious reasons {{Keith}} MSNBC is the default news channel at my home.)
Rachel Maddow(born 1973) is the host of The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America Radio,
A graduate of Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California, Maddow later obtained a degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1994. She then received a Rhodes Scholarship in 1995 and used it to obtain a doctorate in politics from Lincoln College, Oxford University. "Out" on her application and to her Rhodes selection committee, Maddow is believed to be the first openly gay person to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.
Her political activism has focused on AIDS and prisoners' rights, especially the prevention of the spread of HIV and AIDS in prisons. She is also an outspoken advocate for gay and lesbian issues, including same-sex marriage.
In the past week I've also seen Hilary Rosen, Kweisi Mfume and (omg!! my hippie heart!) Jerry Brown.
I came home Thursday after all the Chavez "Diablo" controversy, and guess who was debating the speech with Terry Jeffrey on MSNBC.
Hmm??
Greg Palast is a New York Times-bestselling author and a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as the British newspaper The Observer.
His work frequently focuses on corporate malfeasance but has also been known to work with labor unions and consumer advocacy groups.
Notably, he has uncovered evidence that Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Florida Elections Unit Chief Clay Roberts, along with the ChoicePoint corporation, rigged the ballots during the US Presidential Election of 2000 and again in 2004 when, he argued, the problems and machinations from 2000 continued and that challenger John Kerry actually would have won if not for disproportional "spoilage" of Democratic votes. [1]
Palast has lectured at Cambridge University and the University of São Paulo. He lives in London and New York City. Palast is originally from Los Angeles, the "scum-end of LA, between the power plant and the garbage dump", and was educated at the University of Chicago, where he studied with the "Chicago Boys".(my bold)
Oh.My.God.
After I retrieved my jaw from the floor, I watched the sweetest bit of punditry I've ever seen.
Palast just laughed at Jeffreys' outrage, telling him that "90 percent of the world feels the same way about Bush".
Well, Jeffreys' turned 12 shades of red, sputtered and told Palast to just "Go to Venezuela".
ROFL, Mr Palast answered that he had been there many times and reported from there.
Jeffreys' had nothing to say.
Unfortunatley, it was about 2p and Noran was the moderator, so there was no transcript.
As soon as I finished whooping, I fired off an email to Dan Abrams and thanked him wholeheartedly for putting a journalist of Mr Palasts' caliber on.
Anyone else see this subtle shift? Cynically, they may just see that having strong progressive/liberal voices is working for them right now, but I'll take it.
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