Hardball

Chris Matthews, on Monday night's "Hardball," speculated that Republicans were playing the race card, when they made fun of Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer, even going as far to say they're using the phrase like a "bullwhip." In a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd and pollster Stuart Rothenberg, Matthews suspiciously noted that Republicans like Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, at…

Spreading the WordNewsBusters.org's parent company, the Media Research Center, today released the following statement from President L. Brent Bozell, III.: Arch-liberal MSNBC has finally pulled the plug on the horrendous anchor tandem of Olbermann and Matthews. It's a good move, but it's about time. I wonder what it was that finally made them see the light?

In case you missed it, MSNBC has decided to replace its election coverage co-anchors Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann with David Gregory.Having followed Matthews career since his days with the San Francisco Examiner, and watched his ascendence at CNBC and MSNBC resulting from the success of "Hardball," I wonder why he got the boot along with Olbermann.After all, regardless of Matthews' clear…

In today's "Better Late Than Never" moment, MSNBC has just announced that Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann will no longer act as anchors of the network's election coverage.Let me be the first to say that it's about time.As reported by Brian Stelter at the New York Times moments ago (emphasis added, h/t's to all that forwarded this to us):

Were those evil Republicans attempting to carpet-bomb Andrea Mitchell with balloons at the RNC last night?  Chris Matthews mused about the possibility on Hardball this afternoon.  The footage of Andrea gamely batting away the balloons has received a lot of play.  This morning, the Today show had fun with it.  But Matthews seemed to conceive a more sinister scenario:CHRIS MATTHEWS: If you were…

Just moments after MSNBC aired the Republican convention's video tribute to victims of 9/11, shown at about 8:40pm EDT Thursday night (September 4), Keith Olbermann offered this angry rebuke of his own network for doing so (CNN and PBS also aired it):I'm sorry, it's necessary to say this and I wanted to separate myself from the others on the air about this. If at this late date, any television…

If a hypothetical tabloid owned by, say, Richard Mellon Scaife, had a cover story with scurrilous accusations about Joe Biden, do you think Chris Matthews would be waving it about on camera and Keith Olbermann citing it?  Neither do I. But if for some reason they did, would they possibly fail to mention the mag's ownership?But Matthews saw fit—not once but twice—to display the cover of Us…

During his normal "Hardball" program on MSNBC on Thursday evening, Chris Matthews asked Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison if the "Republican party platform is inclusive enough on the issue of reproductive or abortion rights." Hutchison, whose name has been floated as a possible vice-presidential nominee for John McCain, didn’t give a straight yes or no answer, and mentioned that in her view…

As more and more media outlets begin to notice the feud going on between some of MSNBC's highest profile on air personalities, a question begins rising to the surface: just how serious is it?Although the network's President Phil Griffin told the Wall Street Journal he wasn't concerned, others at MSNBC say this situation is much worse than management is letting on.As reported by Jossip Wednesday (…

Well, folks, even the good people at "The Daily Show" have noticed the squabbling at MSNBC:

The blow-up that is occurring on MSNBC is beginning to draw attention from media members including the former co-anchor of the "CBS Evening News" Connie Chung who advised those involved in the on air squabbles to "just grow up!"On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published a recap of the skirmishes that NewsBusters has been reporting all week.  In a piece entitled "MSNBC Anchors' Fights Go Live…

On Wednesday, NewsBusters asked: Is the hatred [Keith] Olbermann has been spewing on virtually a nightly basis beginning to take its toll on his fellow on air personalities presaging a looming uncivil war at MSNBC?Hours later, Politico reported (emphasis added throughout): Amid a spate of awkward on-air conflicts among MNSBC anchors at this week’s Democratic convention, some staff members say…

As my colleague Mark Finkelstein reported Tuesday, MSNBC's Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann labelled long-time Hillary Clinton advisor Howard Wolfson a Tokyo Rose-like traitor due to his current affiliation with Fox News.On Wednesday, during an interview with FNC's Martha MacCallum, Wolfson struck back by mentioning how unfortunate it is "that a news organization with a great tradition like NBC…