Here we have Stuart Rothenberg writing a commentary on how he'll never "accept another invitation to appear" on Hardball with Chris Matthews. So, we're set up to expect a hard-hitting centrist analysis on the decline of objective journalism on the air. And then, well, not so much:
Chris Matthews is a smart, politically astute observer of politics, but my last appearance convinced me that "Hardball" has evolved from a straight political news program with quality guests to one that has more in common with its network's prime-time slant. Like most of the evening programming on MSNBC and the Fox News Channel, "Hardball" has become a partisan, heavily ideological sledgehammer clearly intended to beat up one party and one point of view.That's got to be a novel twist to partisan demonization: Announce you'll never be on Chris Matthews' show again, and then say O'Reilly and Hannity are the worst.
During the show on which I appeared, Matthews referred more than once to Republicans as "Luddites" and took every opportunity imaginable to portray them as crackpots. The show's topics inevitably pander to the most liberal Democratic viewers and present Republicans and conservatives in the least flattering of terms.
I don't mean to single out Matthews for criticism because he actually understands politics and I believe that he would prefer to do a serious political show. Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and the newest addition to MSNBC's unfortunate lineup, Ed Schultz, are far worse than "Hardball."
Depending on your politics, Fox's one-two prime-time punch of Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity is either just as bad as the MSNBC crowd or much worse. They can't talk about Democrats without labeling them as socialists or unpatriotic. O'Reilly's obsession with General Electric and that company's CEO is bizarre, though any program that treats Dick Morris seriously as an independent analyst obviously has major problems.
When I surf the channels and pause for a moment on O'Reilly or Hannity, I rarely see guests who aren't openly partisan. But MSNBC's left-leaning shows do use political reporters and columnists who would bridle at the notion that they are ideologues or favor one party over the other. This is particularly true of "Hardball," which at one time seemed to want to fill the void left by the cancellation of CNN's terrific daily political program "Inside Politics."
4 comments:
Both O'Reilly and Hannity interview liberals on their shows. I don't think I've ever watched either one of their shows where they didn't also present a liberal's point of view. It's not their fault that liberals can't argue their case very well. Perhaps that's what Rothenberg doesn't like. It must be hard watching the liberals refuse to answer a direct question by changing the subject! How politically astute does one have to be to feel a thrill running up his leg when he hears Obama speak?
Rothenberg isn't making much sense!
Thanks for commenting, Gayle!
MSNBC is a joke....at least CNN has some semblence of intelligent anchors, albeit left leaning ones. How the Iron Dyke Rachel Madcow and Keith Oldblowobama keep their jobs is beyond the rational thinking.
PRH,
Keith Oldblowobama???
ROFL!
That is perfect.
My problem with both BOR and Hannity is that they keep interrupting their guests when they are trying to answer the question at hand.
That annoys me to no end.
-Dave
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