I don't usually do diaries like this (I don't do too many to begin with), but I can't help it today because of what I'm currently watching.

You're allowed to list a Fox News anchor or correspondent if you'd like, but it's sort of unfair.  The results will be pretty obvious before we even begin.

Anyway, full disclosure: I'm easily annoyed.  I get irked by as little as harmless mannerisms if I'm in the wrong mood.  I usually keep it to myself.  

But there is one thing that gets to me a little deeper under the skin: fucking idiots. (more)

Most cable shows that feature "guest panels" are almost unwatchable, in my opinion. Guests are chosen for their combativeness, and the thought is that screaming and arguing are the only ways to make the shows interesting. With her guest hosting on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow is proving that the host sets the tone, and, in doing so, is showing that she is more qualified than David Gregory to be hosting that show.

A bit of Media News from the New York Observer by way of Huffington Post. Apparently David Gregory's show on MSNBC, "Celebrity White House Squares", er, wait, "Race to the White House" (which, according to the Observer's story, the New Republic  called, 'Intergalactic Nancy Grace') isn't doing so hot on MSNBC.

We all keep hearing how Comcast is dropping MSNBC from its basic line-up and only offering it to their digital cable subscribers. If we work together as a united front we can hold Comcast accountable for their action and restore a balance to basic cable.

In a previous post at my personal blog, I hypothesized that the right-wing bloggers that find fascism, socialism, and pretty much every 'ism there is in media that they don't understand or control ( read : media that doesn't fit into their canted, ideological view of the world ) would now find it in The Weather Channel.

It appears though, that I was incorrect in my assumption.  It turns out that this Ed Morrissey guy ( who appears to be taking over the HotAir site from Michelle Malkin - can she not do anything right? ) has launched in with his complaints before Bill O'Reilly:

I just read this diary, in which a Kossack screams "HOW DARE YOU!!!" (yes, with caps and three exclamation points) at anyone who has had anything negative to say about Tim Russert today.

I must admit, I'm mystified.

Hi I'm George Cook owner of The African American web site Let's Talk Honestly at www.letstalkhonestly.com. My purpose here is just to help balnace the conversation on race and politics. I'm not here to argue or try to change any minds just to present a view I feel is not given it's due.

This just in.  Sky is blue on nice days.  Thanks Wolf and Campbell.  What would the media do without you?  Your nascent abilities to point out the obvious gets you both a shiny Bill Engvall sign.

This weekend in Washington, DC, under a carnival of spectators, reporters, protestors, cable newsmen & assorted anti-Obama/Clinton supporting weirdo's and dead-enders. The 30 member Democratic rules & by laws committee, laid down the gauntlet, and finally rectified the Florida/Mich conundrum (we hope).

During the RBC meeting, we wittnessed several interesting moments and fireworks (Robert Wexler & Donna Brazille's WWF-type smack-downs, for instance. Wexler,who when challenged, pawned Clinton operative, Harold Ickes head on a platter, and Brazille, the CNN analyst, who  seemingly channeled her Inner Mama, when provoked by a Clinton advocate reference to their own mother & Carl Levin's reasoned Mich approach, along with former Clintonite Don Fowler's, surprising support of the Obama position).

This is a short little report/rant from the cable news front by one person unfortunate enough to turn on the "news" for a brief period this morning.

I have oft times felt that my sense of reality did not comport with most of my fellow human beings.  Admittedly, this started at an early age.  I remember being in kindergarten or first grade and observing my peers contentedly rolling around the playground...and just feeling that I had, somehow, been delivered to the wrong planet.  So be it.  This feeling faded over time, for the most part, but every now and again, it gets restimulated...not the least cause of this restimulation is television news.  So I stay away, for the most part.

Yep.  Keep me away from the pundicrats and the bloviators.  Occasionally, I'll watch Keith Olbermann.  Even more rarely, I'll watch Matthews or Russert.  Anything else is liable to result in my mind capsizing...feeling adrift in a malicious universe and entirely at odds with a majority of my fellow human beings.  It's an almost inflexible rule.  I don't watch it.

More after the flip

Cross-posted at The Sanctuary.  Please click here to read our latest report.

If your only source of news is cable during prime time, you might be among those who believe that the U.S. government and American society are groaning under the weight of undocumented immigrants. You might believe that there is a terrifying crime wave attributable to illegal immigration. You might believe that undocumented immigrants feast on a cornucopia of social services, while avoiding paying taxes. You might also believe that they are voting illegally in large numbers, and that they bring with them all sorts of diseases. You might also believe that there are secret plans afoot to give away American sovereignty, as the United States joins with Canada and Mexico in a North American Union similar to the European Union. You might even believe that there is an enormous "NAFTA Superhighway," running all the way from Mexico City to Toronto, in the works as we speak.

I wake up in the morning early (4:30 AM), stagger downstairs to fix my morning starter cup of coffee, feed the goats, let the dogs out, then usually get back in bed with a second cup, turn on the tube, and after checking the weather dither about which cable news show I'll get my early dose of comments and updates from.  

I get so annoyed with CNN that I sit with the remote in hand, switching back and forth between Morning Joe and American Morning.  

The Hillary bias on CNN combined with yawn - boring John Roberts and Kiran Chetry, ususally drives me back to Morning Joe, even though Joe drives my blood pressure up, Mika needs a double shot of assertiveness, and Pat Buchanan should be put out to pasture, somewhere in Albania.
I like Chuck Todd, basically because he seems to stick to the numbers without a load of bias.

BTW HuffPo has an article today "Morning Joe" Jealousy? CNN's "American Morning" To Try To Become "Looser," "More Accessible".

I want to see these remarks played at the top of the hour, every hour, on every 24/7 news channel from now until the Republican National Convention.

I want to see John McCain dogged - I mean DOGGED - about this until he gives a major speech and holds a major press conference to answer for this.

Pastor Hagee, whose endorsement McCain sought and accepted with great satisfaction, apologized today for calling the Catholic Church the 'great whore.'

Millions of Catholic voters - Democratic, Independent, and Republican - as well as other voters - need and deserve a full and thorough explanation from John McCain about these remarks.

I especially am interested to hear what Irish Catholics like Hannity and O'Reilly might say about this OUTRAGE.

Last night's CNN late-night coverage of the Indiana primary was more than bad; it was the lamest, most assinine, petulant, and stupid cable news coverage in a primary season filled with lame and stupid coverage.  

As we anxiously await the polls closing, make those GOTV calls, and read the reports from the field by dedicated Kossacks, I want to take a break to offer a charming little rant.

I Heard it!  I actually HEARD IT!!

Last night on the Chris Matthews' Show, Mr. Matthews looked straight into the camera and said, "The people are facinated by Rev. Wright.  Our ratings prove it."

Can the media ever stop talking about how they can’t stop talking about how they can’t stop talking about Obama’s pastor?

Tonight on cable "news."

I am absolutely fed up with the media and it's time to do something about it. As always, this next election is going to come down to how the media portrays the candidates, and we can do our part to try and control what gets attention. So I have a crazy idea, well, maybe not that crazy. I couldn't find if this has ever been covered here, so I figured I would post it anyway. I have an easy way for us to maximize the power of our voices and reach out and touch virtually all the larger media outlets throughout the country. If nobody has thought of this already I would be surprised. What we all need to do is all create an email distribution list with all the email contacts for newspapers, online news outlets, and main-stream media TV. That way every time the media is getting out of line (hourly), we can each send one simple email to hundreds of these organizations simultaneously.

I don't have much to add to the machine today.  However, I am interested in KOSers expectations regarding the story of the PA primary.