Dear Chris M., Rachel, and Lawrence at MSNBC:<\/p>\n

Sorry old friends. You got me through a lot of hard times. But you\u2019ve lost\u00a0 me. I\u2019m weaning myself away. \u00a0So here\u2019s my confession.\u00a0 It might help you\u00a0 understand why it\u2019s really, truly over.<\/p>\n

In the run up to the 2012 election, I confess I indulged in a nightly dose of MSNBC for four straight, mind-numbing hours. From Chris to Ed to Rachel to Lawrence, it didn\u2019t matter that most nights each one of you hashed over the same tidbit, embellishing it just enough with your own spicy sauce to make it sound as if you were the first and only one stirring the pot.<\/p>\n

You could say I ate, drank, and slept the news. That\u2019s what fear will do.\u00a0 The dread I felt about a Mitt Romney presidency and the crazies of the Republican party gaining more sway than they already had kept me glued to your news casting.\u00a0 You coddled my political leanings, and so I clung to you\u2014my fellow progressives and your words\u2014for dear life.<\/p>\n

In the uncertainty of how the election would end, MSNBC became my lifeline.\u00a0 MSNBC became my surrogate mommy\u2014soothing me with a gentle touch to my fevered head while crooning that \u201cyes, my dear, there is a tooth fairy\u201d; and, \u201cyes, my dear, she\u2019s doing everything she can to get Obama elected.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this: \u201cYes, dear, there are still sane\u2014nay, even thoughtful, rational people out there somewhere in the universe.\u201d (Can you hear it? \u00a0This is where we cut to the mellifluous opening notes of Judy\u2019s \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow.\u201d) And there was even more: \u201cYes, dear, there will <\/i>be life after the next election, no matter who wins.\u201d (That one I wasn\u2019t so sure about.)<\/p>\n

Let me be clear.\u00a0 You news-junky hosts on MSNBC and your smarter-than-smart staffs were the only ones on national television highlighting stories and framing the news in a way that squared with my progressive viewpoint. And for that I was grateful.<\/p>\n

But post-election, the thrill is gone.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. Maybe I\u2019ve gotten tired of the graphic gimmicks and silly bells and whistles that are there to seduce an audience decades younger than I.\u00a0\u00a0 Or maybe it\u2019s that Chris M. interrupting the thought flow of yet another distinguished guest became too infuriating or the brilliance of Rachel\u2019s mind and the circular construction of her solo arguments became too familiar and too predictable.\u00a0 (Must familiarity always breed contempt?)<\/p>\n

Or maybe it\u2019s just that I thought that after you got over the first blush of finding yourselves on the big stage trumpeting the progressive line, you\u2019d settle in to some good old-fashioned, serious journalism. \u00a0Of course, things haven\u2019t turned out as I thought they might.<\/p>\n

To be fair, there\u2019s serious journalism underpinning your programs, but to this viewer the egos gone wild and self-indulgent strutting of wit and intelligence kick the serious box out from under all of you.<\/p>\n

Edward R. Murrow you are not.<\/p>\n

It was March 21, at 9:27 pm to be exact, when I knew it was over. That night, during a segment on Rachel\u2019s show, the commentary encapsulated everything that\u2019s turned me off MSNBC\u2019s news coverage.<\/p>\n

Something really important had happened that day.\u00a0 Something really important that illustrated the cynical propaganda campaign that\u2019s undermining what we know about our elected officials, the world, and the real workings of our democracy.<\/p>\n

Of course, I know that you, Rachel, know.\u00a0 But did you present the story with the seriousness it deserved?\u00a0 The answer is no. First off, you were nearly squirming with delight to show us how clever you and your staff were for discovering and connecting the dots.\u00a0 If I had you in front of me, I\u2019d say: Stop touting your smarts.\u00a0 It demeans your calling.<\/p>\n

If you remember, on March 21 President Obama was in the midst of his first visit to Israel.\u00a0 He was being shown, by live feed, receiving Israel\u2019s highest honor as a true friend and trusted ally. As Rachel and her staff discovered, at the same time, Fox News was running a program excoriating Obama as the archenemy of Israel.<\/p>\n

The contrast between reality and the imaginary world of Fox could not have been more stark. But Rachel, you sneered and giggled.\u00a0 Your demeanor said, \u201cYou\u2019re in on the joke, viewers, can you believe this?\u00a0 Those wild and crazy, out of it guys at Fox. Those wild and crazy Republican wing nuts.\u00a0 You and me, we\u2019re educated, smart, with it, not like those bozos.\u201d\u00a0 (Hear the sound of laughter.)<\/p>\n

That kind of delivery might make you, Rachel, your staff, and your audience (me, included) feel good about what we believe to be our superior knowledge, education, and nuanced understanding of politics, but it\u2019s not journalism.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not what we need right now.<\/p>\n

And Rachel, you\u2019re not alone.\u00a0 Lawrence and guests indulge in barely disguised snickers during a nightly Rush Limbaugh segment.\u00a0 You might say that laughing at Rush is the best medicine. (Remember how Mel Brooks said the same about another demagogue?) But an awful lot of people take Rush very, very seriously\u2014to their detriment and ours. After all, Rush\u2019s lies are why we have people in need who believe that Obamacare is a Frankenstein (as someone recently referred to it in my local newspaper).<\/p>\n

So I say, grow up MSNBC hosts. Maybe there\u2019s still time to win back this viewer. Focus a little less on glorifying your own opinions and displaying your self-satisfaction and more on giving us the facts. Make your hours less about you and more about the news. Forget about entertainment and start creating some grown-up news casts because that\u2019s what we\u2014and our democracy\u2014really need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Chris M., Rachel, and Lawrence at MSNBC: Sorry old friends. You got me through a lot of hard times. But you\u2019ve lost\u00a0 me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":23464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1176,77],"tags":[1455,1922,156],"yoast_head":"\n