For weeks, many of us have been shocked by the use of controversial Al Sharpton as a host on “MSNBC Live.” We have followed Sharpton’s long litany of alleged criminal violations and race-baiting tactics. Now, as if to show that it can match Fox’s hiring of Glenn Beck and CNN’s hiring of Nancy Grace, MSNBC is reportedly close to giving Sharpton the slot held by Cenk Uygur.
Sharpton has hosted the 6pm show for the last two weeks.
Sharpton has a long history of alleged corrupt practices , tax disputes, and federal investigations. He came to fame with his infamous role in the Tawana Brawley hoax that led to civil liability for Sharpton.
His selection destroys the credibility of MSNBC in its criticism of folks like O’Reilly and Beck. It is a ratings driven decision that does not consider impact on the credibility of MSNBC as a news organization. Liberals often ridicule (rightfully) the embrace of scandal-plagued personalities on the right for such programs. Yet, the objectivity appears lost when there is agreement with the views of such a personality from the left. Whether I agree with Sharpton’s view is immaterial to the litany of scandals and demonstrated misconduct in his part. Sometimes it is the messenger and not the message that is the problem.
Sharpton’s selection in anticipation of the upcoming election appears both cynical and sensational by the network. It is astonishing that MSNBC would embrace such a figure as a host, if the report below is true. The selection would follow the President’s baffling decision to make Sharpton a highly visible component of his reelection effort.
Source: Media Bistro
Swarthmore mom & anon nurse,
Michele Bachmann’s Migraines and the History of Presidential Ailments
By Joshua Green
Jul 19 2011
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/michele-bachmanns-migraines-and-the-history-of-presidential-ailments/242159/
Excerpt:
Last night, the Daily Caller posted a story about Michele Bachmann’s crippling migraine headaches, which a number of Bachmann staffers describe as incapacitating and requiring “heavy pill use” to medicate. The story’s author, Jonathan Strong, characterized the revelations as “potentially disqualifying.” The Bachmann staffers, he said, were moved to come forward out of concern for what might happen if Bachmann were to become president. I’ll leave it to others to speculate about whether this should indeed be disqualifying. But I did want to mention that The Atlantic has written extensively about the long list of presidents whose ailments were more severe than migraines and required powerful treatments, the nature of which were often concealed from the public. Our December 2002 cover story, “The Medical Ordeals of JFK,” by the historian Robert Dallek, is a good example. It revealed the extent of Kennedy’s suffering from Addison’s disease, “a condition of the adrenal glands characterized by a deficiency of the hormones needed to regulate blood sugar, sodium and potassium, and the response to stress,” and how it was concealed (in a foreshadowing of Watergate, Richard Nixon’s operatives ransacked the office of an endocrinologist treating Kennedy looking for damaging evidence). Dallek gained access to the files of Kennedy’s pharmacologist and discovered “an extraordinary variety of medications,” including pain-killers and anti-psychotics, which became the basis for his Atlantic story.
*****
I’m not a fan of Michele Bachmann. That said, if she does suffer from migraine headaches, I have sympathy for her. I know how painful they can be! I had periodic migraines for years. They never kept me from going to work though–and I didn’t take any prescribed medications. Fortunately, I no longer suffer from migraines.
My objections to Mr. Sharpton can be summarized as follows:
1. He’s not very bright.
2. He’s not very articulate.
3. He has no worthwhile ideas.
4. He is a polarizing self-promoter.
Other than that, he’s fine.
I should add, “if true”…, regarding the Daily Caller article on Bachmann…
Thanks for the Bachmann link, Swarthmore mom. It explains a lot of things, some of her wacky comments among them…
http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/18/stress-related-condition-incapacitates-bachmann-heavy-pill-use-alleged/ Off topic but this explains the look in her eyes.
FYI:
http://www.thegrio.com/
Ratting outs are up, right…..HLNs has Nancy right? Both are looking for Ratting…..
Sharpton was not a victim of Twana Brawley. He used her story to gain media coverage for himself. When her story was proven false, he refused to acknowledge the fact. He has never apologized to the NY cops he demonized.
I’m not a Don Imus fan, but I wish he would have said he would apologize for his stupid and thoughtless remarks when Sharpton issued same to those cops.
I guess I’ll step up to the plate and defend the Rev again.Pull up his National Action Network,Look into his House Of Justice.
Tell what me what politician,commentator entertainer etc has a 24 hr hotline that you can call for for matters envolving a family member ?
There’s a demonstration in New York where they are talking about closing a local jail which will move inmates to an upstate facility and make it hard for local residents to see their loved ones who are incarcerated,the guards are protesting that the move will uproot them and their families,they too are protesting this move.
On Thursday in Newark NJ,there will be a demonstration about the cuts that the Governor has made to the Education system in the city.
Al Sharpton will be at both not as an organizer but as a protestor,all I can say is “Don’t Believe The Hype”
We had this discussion before and at that time I made the comment and I still stand by it”The Rev Has More Respect Of People Of Color Than Does The President”
To some that may not mean much but ,down here on the ground we know he’s(Al Sharpton)a phone call away.Can’t say that about others in his position
Its all about the freak show. There is a reason that there are so many shows on TV that feature animated loudmouths, and not just the ‘newsie’ crap – look at the ‘entertainment’ shows & notice how many of them are filled with jerks, creeps, bimbos, himbos and assholes. If you don’t love freak shows you stop watching so the networks have to keep upping the ante. Rev, Sharpton is great at self-promotion and not much else. Like so many self-promoters he is very sure of himself, very loud and not all that smart. In that way he is exactly like Mr. Beck.
Its a race to see which one of these will bite the head off of a live chicken.
JT,
Beck and Sharpton are two different people. To suggest that they are the same is hyperbole and brings your own credibility into question. I have my problems with Al as well, but Al isn’t always wrong. I think your problem with Al is more personal than anything else. You level accusations in this piece that have no basis. Has he ever been indicted on these things? Why are you holding him to a different standard?
Al was a victim of that hoax played out in NY as were we all. If the NYPD wasn’t so corrupt and maintained racial profiling on the level it did, perhaps the story would not have been so believable. Get over it! Al doesn’t make or break MSNBC’s credibility. The entire news media is owned by corporate America. The media has gone to hell in a hand basket. Al is not there to boost the credibility of MSNBC. He is there to boost the entertainment value. It’s all about entertainment. You know that.
You are a strong advocate of free speech so let Al have his. Anybody who doesn’t like Al, doesn’t have to watch the show. I am not going to watch. I will be surprised if it last three months.
It is ridiculous to compare Sharpton to people like Beck and O’Reilly.
As far as Sharpton being involved in Obama’s re-election campaign, he’s probably not the first person I would have chosen but he is someone with some cachet among elements of the base. Not baffling at all. Politicians want to shore up their base.
As several of the more explicitly racist comments at Media Bistro show there’s not really any black commentator that would do for some people.
I think that Sharpton fits in at least as well with MSNBC as do people like Mike Barnicle, a plagiarist and liar, Joe Scarborough, a silly blowhard who never did answer questions about the dead woman found in his office, or Pat Buchanan an open racist who thinks slavery was good for black people and that the President is “affirmative action all the way”.
Free Speech TV where Democracy Now resides, but not sure about Current TV. I know it’s run by Al Gore, but it may have some corporate ties under some other name. I hope not. It’s a sad state of affairs, for sure.
“I think Olbermann and Cenk are too progressive for MSNBC, which is, after all, still a corporate network.”
And do you know of any non-corporate networks? I don’t. Go to the Columbia Journalism Review at:
http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php
to see the consolidation of ownership in media as it exists today.
Marx hadn’t seen anything.
Lottakatz: “Sharpton isn’t a particularly good news-reader and I’d much rather have Cenk. What is MSNBC thinking?”
Ditto.
I watched Sharpton replace Ed a couple times. His delivery was wooden and obviously read. Rachel seems like she’s just talking to us.
Because of the loss of Keith Olbermann and now (possibly) Cenk Uygur, MSNBC is becoming more and more unwatchable. I used to be a very loyal watcher of MSNBC, and I do still watch, but I’m migrating more toward Current TV for Olbermann, and watching the Young Turks for Cenk online, also Democracy Now with Amy Goodman on Free Speech TV.
It would be really great if Current would give Cenk a show. I like Ed Schultz for his passion, but O’Donnell puts me to sleep – too slow and dramatic, and Rachel is starting to repeat too much to fill her hour – reviewing the same stories in detail as though everyone has forgotten what she had told us the night before.
I think Olbermann and Cenk are too progressive for MSNBC, which is, after all, still a corporate network.
Lottakatz,
IMO, replacing Cenk Uygur with Al Sharpton is a BIG mistake.
Cenk Uygur is a long time favorite of mine from his very successful webcasts on The Young Turks. I was happy to see him get the 6:00pm slot and he was doing a great job of polishing his delivery for TV while still being plain spoken and likeable. Sharpton isn’t a particularly good news-reader and I’d much rather have Cenk. What is MSNBC thinking?
Once they ‘lost’ Olbermann, I stopped watching MSNBC. Having problems with employees is nothing newsworthy, but the way in which MSNBC made it public and petty was. Management selectively choosing which rules should be obeyed, and allowing some personalities control over other personalities’ shows and guest lists just smells bad.
Not to say there aren’t still worthy voices on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow and Cenk Uygur come to mind, but at what point are they going to lose their credibility because they remain with a network that seems perfectly willing to discard its credibility?
Now with Sharpton being fronted as a host, it appears as if the network is rushing to try and prove that they can, in fact, be the Fox News of the ‘left’. Maybe television ‘news’ has lived past it’s usefulness as anything more than entertainment.
They apparently don’t want me to watch.