MSNBC's excuse for banning Markos doesn't hold water

[cal04]

By Greg Sargent
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/07/msnbcs_excuse_for_banning_mark.html?wprss=plum-line

By now you may have heard that Markos Moulitsas, the founder of Daily Kos, has charged that he's been blackballed from appearing on MSNBC because he got into a Twitterwar with Joe Scarborough.

(snip)

I'm hoping this will be only temporary and that the situation can be resolved in a mature fashion, but until then I just don't know how one could reasonably expect to be welcomed onto our network while publicly antagonizing one of our hosts at the same time.

It's funny. I don't recall the chief of MSNBC publicly banning Liz Cheney from appearing on the network when she cut an entire Web video "publicly antagonizing" Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews for allegedly being too frightened to debate her about terrorism:

(video at link)

See, conservatives are expected to demonize the media, and can always count on being granted a platform by the same major networks they hammer publicly on a regular basis. It's all part of the game, get it? But it seems Markos got publicly dressed down and banned by the president of the network, no less, all because he got under Scarborough's skin with a few nasty little Tweets.

[madfloridian]

1. It's ok if right wing howlers do it all day long.

But a person on the left must not speak out except nicely.

[EFerrari]

2. No offense to cal04 or to Sargent

but to quote the stimulator, blah blah, motherf#cking blah.

The degree of political difference between Markos and Morning HO wouldn't sweeten a whole cup of coffee. And, is this really the best self-promotion either of them can find for the day?

[w4rma]

4. The point isn't that an individual was blacklisted, but he was blacklisted because he is progressive

Do you really think anyone on the right would have been blacklisted? NO.

I can't stand it when things like this are minimalized by knowitalls.

[girl gone mad]

7. I wouldn't use the word blacklisted or the word progressive in describing this event.

Kos is a centrist/moderate and he wasn't blacklisted.

[Smashcut]

9. +1

[unblock]

8. he wasn't blacklisted because he is progressive

he was blacklisted because there's no money behind him.
the right-wing can do exactly the same thing and not get banned because they've got money behind them.

i know, the distinction is a small one, perhaps, but still.


i'll be sure to fix all this as soon as i figure out how to become the lone heir to a dying billionaire....

[Ignis]

25. +1, that about sums it up.

Depressing as hell, but true.

[EFerrari]

28. That's right. People in this business are concerned about two things.

Their take and their ego.

Markos is just making it harder for anyone to ever book him again because he's attacking the venue in public. That's a huge no-no.

People who book entertainment or who have any power over booking at all are incredibly brittle and petty as a group, sorry to say. You don't call them out if you want work. Period.

[SoxFan]

16. He was "blacklisted" because he's a goofball

Being "progressive has nothing to do with it

[EFerrari]

21. "Things like this"? Oh, come on.

People get banned from venues all the time for all kinds of reasons and for no reason.

[hack89]

26. He was blacklisted for being a pissy little dick head. nt

[Poll_Blind]

6. +1

PB

[happy_liberal]

13. this really the best self-promotion either of them can find for the day?

nailed it!

[Warpy]

3. Very true, and if Markos has indeed been banned

because Joe "What dead blonde?" Scarborough threw a right wing hissy fit, the network needs to apologize to him. Bigtime.

In any case, it seems we all need to be careful of the new "social" media because Big Brother is using it to full advantage, denying us employment for Facebook indiscretions when we were teenagers and nasty Tweets if we're already in the workforce.

Big Brother is watching. Really. And he's not your friend.

[HipChick]

5. He couldn't handle Maddow...walked off the set

prima donna much?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nFpK-_A4Ws

[AldebTX]

11. If I Recall

She got dressed down for upsetting him.

Why does Joe rule the nest?

[AldebTX]

10. Obviously Joe Scarborough is Participating

Can we get him black balled as well. Only seems fair and it would certainly help morning programming.

:-)

[Lil Missy]

12. Would be interesting to see those tweets ..

[Radical Activist]

14. He stepped outside the bounds set by GENBC.

Olbermann knows how to be liberal but stay within the lines drawn by the company that launched Reagan's political career.

[SoxFan]

15. "Mature" and "Markos" don't belong in the same sentence

Look, I know there is a double-standard in the media. But making excuses for a serial screwball like Markos Moulitsas doesn't exactly give our side an aura of credibility. This guy has a habit of making over the top statements that wow his groupies. Maybe, just maybe, people are getting tired of his act.

[Canuckistanian]

17. And Scarborough has a notoriously thin skin

So when these two over-the-top personalities clash, there are consequences.

[movonne]

19. What are you talking about...give some facts as I did not know

he was a serial screwball...I have always been fond of him...

[sufrommich]

18. I am absolutely shocked at how many posters here are willing

to ignore that fact that Joe Scarborough is deciding who can and can't be on MSNBC solely because they don't like the personality who was banned. It has nothing to do with Markos, it's about how much power Scarborough has and why he has it. It makes no sense that he is allowed to call the shots for all the commentators on MSNBC.

[grantcart]

20. Well Markos is already under the bus so they can't get upset until

they ban someone that is not yet under.

[EFerrari]

22. That's show business. It's nothing new.

I'm shocked that you're shocked. :)

[sufrommich]

24. Do you have some examples ? nt

[EFerrari]

27. I don't really know what you mean. In comedy, telling the tale

of being banned for incredibly stupid reasons is an art form, in itself.

[Gold Metal Flake]

23. Any liberal in the media or the press or on the web is a target on DU.

Consider the source and remember.

as for the banning,

Greg Sargent http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/07/msnbcs_excuse_for_banning_mark.html">laughs at the absurdity of that Justification:

It's funny. I don't recall the chief of MSNBC publicly banning Liz Cheney from appearing on the network when she cut an entire Web video "publicly antagonizing" Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews for allegedly being too frightened to debate her about terrorism"

Markos goes on the write:

"That's pretty much it. Had I criticized Rachel or Keith or Ed, nothing would've happened. I've certainly criticized Chris Matthews in the past, and nothing happened. I've got confirmation from one producer of a prime time MSNBC show that there isn't any network-wide prohibition on Liz Cheney appearing on the air.

This is about Joe Scarborough, and the media double standard that allows you to criticize liberals all you want, but conservatives are off limits. Just ask Dave Weigel."

This is a HUGE example of the what a lie the knee-jerk refrain of "Liberal Media Bias" is. The commie pinko MSNBC, the network that has only three first-run hours of liberal programming a day "balanced" by three hours of HoJoe in the AM and one nut (Tweety) with reruns at night and no new programming on the weekends (PRISON fantasy all the time!) yet somehow is the total andcomplete balance to all of Fox, is helmed by a guy who prtects his HoJoe above all others. Fair and balanced!

[WolverineDG]

29. Accusing someone of murder is a slightly more different than calling someone a coward nt

[druidity33]

30. read the tweets...

that's what Joe says he said. Kos was making a comparison between how Gary Condit (D) was treated when his intern went missing and how Scar (R) was treated when his intern was found dead in his office. By the media and the police, btw. Who's career was ruined and who's skyrocketed?

Nobody accused Joey Scar of murdering anyone. He is a whiny little baby.


:shrug: