The Six O'Clock Slot

Cenk Uygur was filling the 6:00pm news/opinion slot on MSNBC until recently, when Reverend Al Sharpton was given that slot. Cenk is complaining that he was booted because the network “didn’t like his tone,” and that ultimately the complaint came from the White House. Right; and the White House is causing the drought in Texas, too, because that state was carried by McCain/Palin in 2008.

In actuality, Cenk Uygur went on vacation for two weeks, Sharpton filled in for him, and ratings went up during those two weeks. If you’re worried about your job, don’t take a vacation.

I didn’t watch Uygur for the same reason I don’t watch Rachel Maddow. When a newscaster holds up two fingers a half-inch apart and repeats the word “teeny” six or eight times to tell me how angry they are about something, I don’t give them a chance to do that a second time. I graduated form high school a long time ago and I don’t listen to “journalists” who talk like fifth graders.

I don’t watch Sharpton either, but not because I have anything against him. I just have a problem with the whole concept of Reverend Al Sharpton doing political commentary. It’s my feeling that ministers should either stick to spiritual matters or should drop the title of “Reverend” when participating in the political arena.

Update: Corrected for my inability to adjust for time zones. It's at 3:00pm here, so of course I added the wrong number of hours for EDT. I don't travel much.