MSNBC decides what you ought to hear

Last night, NBC lawyers went to the Nevada Supreme Court to prevent Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich from appearing in a televised debate on MSNBC. They succeeded in keeping Kucinich from a spot reasoning that Kucinich only drew 2% of the vote in New Hampshire. The court agreed with NBC's contention that there was neither breach of contract, nor FCC jurisdiction, either of which might have allowed Kucinich a wedge to demand a place on the dais.

MSNBC didn't want Kucinich because, according to them, he was not a legitimate candidate, and not among the "leading" candidates. Of course, he has little chance of breaking into public view if he is prevented from appearing at major communications events like this debate. MSNBC, and other media outlets. have ignored Kucinich throughout the campaign, relegating him to a role as a "minor" candidate, and then they have the gall to exclude him from the debate because he was never given the opportunity to break through.

Kucinich was the only candidate who would have brought a completely different perspective to the debate, and MSNBC denied us the opportunity to hear that perspective.

Worse still, Keith Olbermann, whose show preceded the debate, was the newscaster who delivered the news about Kucinich's exclusion, and he was noticeably closed-mouthed about NBC's efforts to exclude Kucinich. Obviously, Olbermann either agrees with his bosses at the company, or was too timid to disagree, and considering his record, that shameful.