MSNBC Political Analyst Leaves, Won’t Be “Cartoon Player For Lefty Games”
» 38 comments
MSNBC political analyst Craig Crawford has left the network – in a very public way.
Writing on his blog at CQPolitics.com, Crawford says he has found the network “unrewarding for me,” – and expands on his reason for leaving in a comment to Mediaite.
Crawford last appeared on MSNBC on February 5, as a guest on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, where he regularly appeared (according to TV Eyes). The blog post came exactly one month after that appearance. Crawford wrote:
Three months short of my current contract I sent the following to the boss, Phil Griffin: “Phil, Just wanted to give you the heads up that my situation with MSNBC has become so unrewarding for me that I’ve decided to move on. — Craig”
But he really expanded on the reasoning in the comments:
i simply could not any longer endure being a cartoon player for lefty games, just gotta move on to higher ground even if there’s no oxygen
i have never and never will forgive Chris for calling me a racist after the West Virginia primary (the last time I will ever go on air with him). Probably should have resigned then and there, but better late than never.
We asked Crawford what he was referring to regarding Chris Matthews, and to expand on why he left the network. He responded by email:
I haven’t felt like a good fit for MSNBC since the presidential campaign, and the hard turn toward point-of-view programming. No particular event brought this on, just my desire to try other outlets and have more fun. As far as Chris is concerned, on Morning Joe after the West Virginia primary he accused me of always defending Clinton and what he claimed to be her racially motivated campaigning. That’s the problem. Trying to be fair became seen as bias in the new thinking over there. But I do wish my many pals at MSNBC nothing but good things.
This appears to be that incident from Morning Joe.
The decision by a Countdown regular to leave MSNBC because of his the way he perceives the network is a notable one. Although Crawford isn’t purely left-wing, he is a commentator that represents the left perspective. His exit, and his reasoning, show some level of discontent among those who may be politically on the same team at MSNBC.
Crawford says on his blog he will be on Fox & Friends as a guest on Monday, although FNC says he won’t be. He also writes in the comments that he is a “free agent.”
> Update: Crawford took down the F&F booking info shortly after publication.
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38 comments
Perhaps MSNBC should change their music package…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE
Good riddance—go Faux yourself, pal. Don’t let the door hit you in the bunny…
Hey Krak..
This is kind of like Dana Milbank’s exit from “Countdown” after some critical comments he wrote in an article about Obama. Olbermann demanded a clarification of some kind and banned Milbank from “Countdown” until he got one. Milbank moved on as well. I know it’s not exactly the same thing, but these guys leaving, in this manner is news, and it is very telling.
Can’t entirely blame the guy for leaving, but then he says he’s going on F & F and proceeds to lose all credibility on the issue. Apparently “..lefty games” are not okay but “righty games” are.
He put some good spin on it, but if he was really that upset with Chris and MSNBC he would have left then. I don’t buy the “better late than never” especially with 3 months to go. Seeing as how it seems as if he doesn’t like point-of-view programming, its curious that he would even state that he’s going to be a guest on Fox and Friends. Also, that’s all he was paid to do was give a point of view. While I agree that commentary and opinion has become the new face of the news, he is responsible for that as well. I don’t think it will be long until he is signed up with cnn or fox spouting the same talking points.
Floyd the Barber will be truley missed over at Olbermann’s Playhouse!
In Chris’ defense, Hillary did carry West Viginia by a wide margin and McCain also won the state, but the result was considerably closer.
Nonetheless, by the time West Virginia rolled around, the netroots had become very outlandish with their kneejerk accusations of dirty tricks and racism. And I know that as someone who tried to remain neutral throughout the primaries, I was often called names when I’d post something pro-Hill or in defense of Bill, while some would call me a “concerntroll”, whenever I offered the Obamaheads advice.
One can not blame Crawford for wanting to leave a place that is so full of the stench of crazy left wingnut fringes people that ones principles finally must come into play.
Olbermann calls people names and Maddow tries to make people evil as her pseudo intellectualism allows. What a combo. Matthews and Uncle Ed are so irrelevant as to be a joke.
Hadn’t seen Crawford on MSNBC for quite some time anyway. Most likely due to some personal conflict/behind the scenes reason with someone on the network that prompted him to leave (Chris Matthews?).
“Crawford says he has found the network “unrewarding for me,”
Tranlastion:
“MSNBC is nothing but a bunch of babbling, grunting, crazed baboons all the way form Scarborough to Maddow. These idiots are an affront to decency and honesty. No wonder their ratings are in the sub-basement. Things are really going to shake up when Comcast takes over. ”
..that’s what I hear, anyway
What a transparent effort to get hired by Fox. Nice to see it backfiring.
Of course, the righties here will just attack MSNBC because in their world the only opinion that counts is theirs.
How could he be surprised that Matthews called him a racist? Matthews, like Olbermann, thinks everyone white is a racist. Par for the course.
Anyone who has spent any time at all watching MSNBC, unlike most of the poor, discriminated against , never had a chance in life, White, Christian males on this site who have never watched a moment of the programming, knows this has been coming for some time. There was a dust-up with Olbermann and with Matthews. Pretty transparent and no loss ….
By the way, I should have added MSNBC is tanking. CNN is tanking. CBS us tabking. NBC is tanking. ABC is tanking.
PBS is only viewed by a handful of leftist elitists. Only Communists listen to NPR. All the newspapers in Amerika are shutting down next week. No one reads magazines anymore,
Did I pretty much cover it, ye poor, discriminated against , never had a chance in life, White, Christian males?
I’ve never been able to stand that guy. He sounds like a cross between Barney Fife and Thurston Howell III when he talks. I’m glad I want have to look at his smug mug anymore.
Chris Matthews was right, by the way. The Clinton Machine tried every dirty trick they could think of, including fanning the rumor that Obama was educated in a Madrassa (Back in Jan. of ‘07). The only intention could have been to try to paint Obama as a “secret muslim.” It was the Clintons who dredged up an Obama kindergarten paper when she started trailing in Iowa. Several Clinton campaign workers were caught spreading an email that said, “”Let us all remain alert concerning Obama’s expected presidential Candidacy. Please forward to everyone you know. The Muslims have said they Plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at The highest level.” The Clinton Political Machine fired one person over it, but that’s closing the barn after the horses are out. It was the Clintons who tried to make issue over the fact that Obama had lived in Jakarta as a small boy. They fanned the flames of the Rev. Wright controversy and Bill Ayers. Even when they didn’t have anything else, they circulated a rumor (through Robert Novak, of all people) that they had “scandalous information” that they had decided not to use. There was no level too low for them to stoop to. At the end of the day, it was the Clintons who gave a leg up to what has come to be known as the “birther” movement.
Only someone who considers Chairman Mao a right winger would view MSNBC for anything other than what it is. A bunch of far left wing nuts shilling for Obama. I watch MSNBC, because I want to say I saw it when Olbermann has a complete, Woody Hayes-style meltdown right on camera and has to be carted off by men in white coats.
Royal King: You is just the kingfish of this page. Uuss way ahead of the rest of us poor white , non affiliated , non affirmative action folk. I be thankin ya
Your Best Buddy Friend!
Chairman Mao, like Premier Stalin, were both fairly totalitarian guys. That is fairly rightist, whatever social or economic policy is being espoused/dictated. I know that is nuanced, but try to understand that.
All dem white folk be stupid. All dem white folk rich. Wait. Me white. Me hate self.
Now communism is considered right wing. Fascinating.
I doubted you would understand, Writer. If you have ever read Marx and Engels, you would realize that what you call “Communism” is an economic theory and not a method of governance. A dictatorship is a method of governance and not an economic theory. Dictatorships has rightist roots, and, in fact, Republicans in the United States have a long history of supporting dictators throughout the world. C Street, a rightists organization and a Christian fundamentalist organization advocates a form of dictatorship known as an oligarchy.
It’s really a pity for you cogent ideas cannot be expressed on bumpber stickers or by a few acidic quips.
Hey Steve, Royal is singling me out by name!! Gonna say anything? Anyway, how do you arrive at the conclusion that totalitarianism must necessarily be ‘right wing’? Using that logic, there is no such thing as a left wing dictator. Castro is a right winger. Ho Chi Minh was a right winger. Your desperation to blame every evil on the ‘right’ has really gone off the reservation for good.
I said the roots were rightist, and I never mentioned your name.
Always enjoyed you, Craig. But do I denote a tad of Red-baiting Republiscum bitterness in your voice/tone here?? Doesn’t exactly bring out the “best” in people, now does it? Will you be taking a “right turn” in the future? If so, you assuredly will find nary a trace of “oxygen” there – for those transmogrified morons have yet to take their first solid breath of decency or integrity. Surely you have much more to offer than to cast your lot with such prehensile-tailed creatures of the night/Right. Be interesting to see. Here’s looking at you, kid!
The mental strain from working at MSNBC must be horrendous. No one seems to know who is in charge over there.
“I doubted you would understand, Writer.” And what are ‘rightist roots’? Dictators have been around since one man realized he could overpower another. How is there any right or left in that? At least in America, it’s the right that wants less government control. The left wants more. If either side is closer to wanting dictatorship, it would be the left.
If you crunch the numbers, it’s all really quite simple:
Evil = right-wing
Therefore, Palin, Glenn Beck, Fox News, Reagan, Sadaam, Nixon, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Napoleon, Henry VIII, Genghis Khan, Caligula, and Nero are/were all right-wingers (and possible tea partiers).
Good = left-wing
This means Obama, JFK, FDR, MLK (anybody known by their initials, really), Che Guevera, Ghandi, Lincoln, and Jesus were all left-wingers (and doubtlessly Democrats).
Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez represent a gray area. Once we figure out whether they are good or evil, then we can decide whether they are right-wing or left-wing.
TRRK – I must remember to put down my drink before reading your posts. Well done.
Good move Craig!
MessNBC has really become nothing more but an extension of that open sewer called “The DailyKos”.
When you watch Olbermann, Matthews, Shuster, Ratigan, Shultz and Maddow in action, you can’t help but wonder about the collective mental health of that crazy “news” channel and their viewers.
The intellectual dishonesty and hyperpartisan rantings displayed there are causing serious damage to the few dozen people who actually watch it. And now with Amy Bishop and John Patrick Bedell no longer able to watch, their ratings will go even lower.
The Real Royal King says:
March 5, 2010 at 3:03 pm
What in the hell are you talking about now?
DrinkURtea says:
March 5, 2010 at 3:05 pm
I’m glad I want have to look at his smug mug anymore.
On that point, I’ll agree. He always did have an air about him that said, “I’m better and smarter than you. Clearly, I’m the best.” But since that fit in with so many other MSNBC hosts who think and act the same, I thought he had found a decent home.
The Real Royal King says:
March 5, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Is there any world evil you won’t defy logic to blame on those whom disagree with you politically? It must be nice to have a scapegoat for all things wrong in your life.
The Real Royal King says:
March 5, 2010 at 3:35 pm
…in fact, Republicans in the United States have a long history of supporting dictators throughout the world.”
Like Castro, Chavez, Gaddafi, Morales… etc. All those guys who rule their country with (pardon the cliché) an iron fist… all big fans of the right. That’s why you always see all those rightist Hollywood-types hanging around them!
Wait…
I Think a few of you on the left have been drinking before writing on your comments.
The strange and bizarre ideas you throw out that you think make sense because you use big words and think you sound smart are crazy and stupid.
Please read up on Conservative Right . It is closer to an Anarchist state then any Socialist or dictatorship.
Facts will always set you free!
>It is closer to an Anarchist state then any Socialist or dictatorship.
lol
>closer to an Anarchist state
Brush off your books in anarchistic history; started among the labor movement and even the First International chaired by Karl Marx himself.
Pure anarchism is just as bad as a pure socialism. Liberalism is the ultimate centrism.
once again Wrong!
you silly misinformed Leftest?
Liberalism is a movement in the wrong direction of no a government involvement attitude. You need to read Karl Marx before you try to sate facts.
your facts come from left wing blogs and people who spoon feed you from hollywood,
movies are not facts.
Congrats to Craig for enhancing his reputation by getting out of the sinking MSNBC bias machine. That Crawford, who is no conservative, would make these statements, tells you how low the credibility of this “news” organization has sunk. And, honestly, if they gave out Emmy awards for bias, MSNBC would win them all every year.
TRRK, here’s a history lesson. Stalin was a social engineer who tried to impose his ideals on everybody else through an intrusive government organization. Mao was a social engineer who tried to impose his ideals on everybody else through an intrusive government organization. If you honestly oppose that kind of thinking, you should come to a tea party and join the others who are opposed to expanding government intervention.
I guess someone woke Crawford up from his Olbermann induced zombie sleep. It’s too late Craig.
Perhaps Craig Crawford wants to be recognized as a serious person.
If so, then he should have left MSNBC long ago. But better late than never.
As for the discussion of the political spectrum… at one end is libertarianism, at the other is totalitarianism. I will leave it up to the reader to decide where liberalism and progressivism are situated.
The Left’s support for the first affirmative action president is cute. The mongrel cur can’t tie his own shoes but orders Air Force 1 to buzz NY and climbs into it at the slightest excuse for a field trip. He never had a job that let him do anything interesting so now he spends his time flying to golf and any meeting he can get out of the country. Once there, he confirms he is an uneducated buffoon by bowing to every dictator he meets but snubs elected presidents and ministers. He’s a worse clown than Mussolini.
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