back and forth with Keith O
PENN: President Clinton reconnected with Oklahoma. And the President right now he seems removed. And it wasn’t until that speech that he really clicked with the American people. Obama needs a similar kind of, yeah.
CHRIS MATTHEWS:Â (doesn’t even blink as he continues jammering away with Mark Penn.)
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There’s a feeling I get when I look to the West and — (misheard lyrics).
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Here’s MSNBC’s line-up, as they rebranded thesmselves — or branded themselves a bit more forcefully — as Fox News’s antithesis. Ed Schultz. Chris Matthews. Keith Olbermann. Rachel Maddow. And Lawrence O’Donnell.
Lawrence O’Donnell is someone whose basic political moorings are based off of the Washington Beltway at the Hollywood / Washington Axis, who made valuable contributions to Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing for “how things really work”. He favors Free Trade, and holds to the tact of sticking to the Center in explaining electoral results, and holds the 1980s Democratic Party as a model of a Big Tent that Got things done legislatively.
I saw his show once, regretably, and somehow caught another clip. A terribly uninteresting interview with a politician who shall not be named who was sticking closely to his script (running against a former witch, he long took the “safe, gray flannel” approach in electioneering). And a somewhat lively but pointless discussion with Alvin Greene, himself sticking closely to his script, though a lot more awkwardly and unprofessionally. O’Donnell called out the latter a lot more easily than the former. Nothing was gained from either interview.
You see Chris Matthews on that video not thinking twice as a famously cynical Clinton pollster makes the case for political opportunism off of political tragedy — a thousand 9/11 Truthers are flagging down Mr. Penn for future reference.
There is a clip from the Election Night which appears to be celebrated by Democrats and Republicans alike where he is interviewing Michelle Bachman. Bachman, as is standard political habit, is speaking words that have no meaning — prompting Matthews to ask, “Are you hypnotized?” Bachman retorts by alluding to something Matthews had once said about Obama in 2008 which has come to be a conservative chestnut, something about making his legs tingle — which, and herein lies a central problem with Chris Matthews — is similar to comments he made at the height of George W Bush’s popularity.
Today’s “Wait. Is someone really publishing this crap?” item which is circulating about the blogosphere regards how supposed perceived sleights of various Washington Insiders is what is really tearing the Obama Administration down.
Be sure to catch Lawrence O’Donnell and Chris Matthews as they dissect the implications of this real tragedy.
The cable news networks are not news networks. If they were, they would be able to deviate away from the political world sometimes, or when they do they’d be able to slice through and examine the political process and its real world implications for policy. CNN comes the closest to being an actual news network, or at least they have the capability to become one when neceesary, and as it is they’d do everyone a favor on this score by flipping the switch to air CNN International.
It is here that Keith Olbermann’s Suspension makes no sense. It is not only that we’ve moved to a world of one sided political commentary for Tribal gratification —
— and in this world, Olbermann’s space becomes in defining a recognizable left point of some sort for the points made by Bill Maher against Stewart Colbert — or, perhaps against Lawrence O’Donnell —
It is that it made no real Business Sense. It appears that Corporate did have the contractual right to let Olbermann go based on making political contributions to “controversial” candidates or causes (re: any), but not obligation — and they did so to their Number One Commercial Commodity at a time they’d decided to strengthen their brand.
Cynicism suggests a publicity stunt — can him, bring him back — his audience loves him more than ever. (Cat’s out of the bag — now we know his political leanings!) Further cynicism suggests, I don’t know,  a higher business politico motive.
Caveat:  I find Olbermann’s show more interesting before it became explicitly political. But if you need a lynchpin to center five hours of non-stop repetitive rattling on hot button concerns, there he is.