...you're fighting the good fight, and you're a decent writer, and your voice is essential these days.

But on Chris Matthews, you are very very wrong. How can I persuade you and other Salon readers that it is (was) people with the thinking of Chris Matthews who decide elections...that Chris Matthews was a Jimmy Carter speechwriter...and that if folks like Chris Matthews hadn't defected (first in the '80s for Reagan) and now with W...if those folks hadn't voted Republican...we would not be in the mess we're in.

And these folks believe that the Democratic Party deserted them. Rightly or wrongly...that is what they believe.

Chris Matthews is NOT a liberal or a conservative. He is a centrist-oriented media personality.

And he is like the coal miner's canary. We should listen to Chris Matthews...for our own sake, and for the sake of our country.

Strives for objectivity, Olbermann should be fired. If objectivity isn't the goal then keep him and his Brit Hume technique on board without demotion.

I knew a GG piece wasn't far behind. Great work, once again, Glenn- too bad no one will freakin' listen.

What place do progressives have in this country? What role do we play? None.

Be prepared for the victory of Sarah Palin. McCain will mysteriously "become incapacitated," and the fascist corporate theocracy will be upon us.

When are we going to have the powers that be start attacking the horrible monster?

Those shills at FOX, Brit Hume, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, et.al. will continue with their hate speech.

Where is the outrage?

Other than that, no comment.

Glenn, an O/T question for you. I reread "How Would a Patriot Act" last night. No particular reason, I'm just a glutton for aggravation, I guess. But my question is - have you considered doing an updated epilogue, and posting it somewhere?

Or do you think your subsequent (to the book being published) posts on Padilla, the MCA, retro FISA immunity, etc. serve that purpose? I, for one, would like to here your summation on how things have played out since HWAPA. Perhaps, it's just to painful an exercise.

Glad to hear you got back safely.

How sad that MSNBC, the closest thing to a Dem version of Faux News (and it's not really *that* close), is caving in to the Right. It's incredible that MSNBC would make such a move when you that the "fair and balanced" Faux News would never limit Sean Hannity's duties based on his partisanship. I think that I'm going to start watching CNN and its so-called "best political team" more often. Better yet, I'll probably start watching Charlie Rose more often.

On a side note, based on how Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopolous treated Obama during the ABC Dem Primary debate, I predict that Sarah Palin will receive enough softballs during her upcoming ABC interview to make Jennie Finch jealous.

As a liberal I didn't like either Mathews or Olbermann. They are both egomaniacal propagandists. Bring in the journalists, please.

As I have said before, the answer is not to out propagandize Fox. Two wrongs don't make a right. We need to get back to good journalism and not run away from it because the facts are on our side--otherwise we are wrong.

As Bob Somerby has amply documented, NBC is run by a conservative billionaire just like Fox but somehow we seem to forget this every once in awhile until something like this happens. Extremely disappointing but we have to figure out some way to stop or push back against things like this.

This is forced censorship in its purest form.

Being told "Do it my way or your out" can be seen throughout the bush/cheeney era in almost everything they touch because Rove's smear machine has infiltrated almost everything. Olbermann's voice was one of the last 'independent' cries in the wilderness of propaganda that is most of our media exposure in every form.

Yesterday on www.firedoglake.com which helped with the coverage of the Stasi raids last week in Minny, Glenn Smith published a great piece about telling these folks where to get off the bus. The best line of the post was the following:

“We will no longer tolerate your lies and destructive and divisive tactics. We will not be suckered by your efforts to turn Americans against one another while you steal our money, practice de facto euthanasia by denying us health care, destroy the institutions of democracy, kill our children in an immoral war, and make some of us believe that the deaths and thievery are the fault of their innocent next door neighbors.”

SOMEONE needs to get the message out and you're helping..Thanks Mr. Greenwald..

Something that has bothered me for days, highlighted on the Daily Show and liberal blogs, is the complete disconnect between the real opinions of people like Karl Rove and Peggy Noonan, and what they say on TV. Numerous times these people have been caught contradicting themselves on TV, but more importantly, in Peggy Noonan's case - right after she spewed whatever right wing talking point concerning Palin on TV, she immediately relayed the opposite viewpoint off camera. What are these news organizations paying these people for if it isn't their honest opinions? Are they paid to spew propaganda? I guess the answer is yes. How can a Dem be expected to win in this media climate?

While everyone is excited about Peggy Noonan's faux paus, isn't the more chilling fact that Noonan is lying on camera, she and her employers know she is lying, but she is still trotted out on TV as some honest expert. I had to read that women's book in my "liberal" university. Conservatives have been effectively gaming the system for over 20 years now.

"...vocal demands and complaints from the Right, which petrify media executives and cause them to snap into line." Given how GE, etc., are better served by taking off Olbermann and Matthews, fear probably has nothing to do with it. The demands of the Right give them a convenient excuse to do what's in their best interest.