The Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik, aka, "Z," applies an appropriate and deserved "zmackdown" to MSNBC newbie Lawrence O'Donnell, who is trying to make a name for himself by picking a fight with Bill O'Reilly. As Z puts it:
And here's the ever-so-obvious context: O'Donnell is down more than 10 percent in audience from that of the late, newly-marginalized-by-his-move-to-Current-TV Keith Olbermann. All of MSNBC prime-time is sinking in the ratings, and all they seem to know how to do is make partisan attacks on those who are beating them. Last Friday, for example, with the real and monumental news of Egypt on everyone's minds, Fox News doubled MSNBC's audience during the day and in prime time.
OK, so we now know that O'Donnell is just another low-rated loudmouth. Larry, meet Ed Schultz. Both are now yelling for ratings, and while the results must be disappointing for them, they can still at least have hope.
But the reality is that O'Donnell isn't just a loudmouth on his own--he's part of a team. For all his socialist pretensions, the $88-a-pair-sock-wearing O'Donnell is a cog in a huge corporate conglomerate--Comcast, which recently bought NBC, the parent of MSNBC, from General Electric. For years, MSNBC's patron was Jeff Zucker, who must rank as one of the worst TV executives of all time. But now, finally, he's gone, and so the new big boss is Steve Burke, pictured below:
So Burke is now the man in charge--the man to see about MSNBC inanity. And what does Burke think of what O'Donnell is up to? And what does he think about all the other "MSDNC" antics? Good question. Because while Comcast has only had de jure control of MSNBC for a few weeks, it has had de facto control for a lot longer than that--Zucker was told he had to go, for example, back in September. (We should remember Zucker for being described by the great Nikki Finke as “one of the most kiss-ass incompetents to run an entertainment company.”)
And so while Burke gets big props for a) not being Zucker, and b) canning Keith Olbermann, he stills has other clowns to deal with it--most obviously, Schultz, but now, increasingly O'Donnell. And, of course, Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow.
But now, with this latest outburst, the big issue is O'Donnell. C'mon Steve, you're his boss now. If you wanted O'Donnell to chill, he would--because no limousine socialist can afford to miss his million-dollar paycheck. So therefore, every time O'Donnell makes an outrage, The Cable Gamer will ask what Burke and the rest of Comcast have to say about it.
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» "Z" Zmacks Down Lawrence O'Donnell: "Voice of MSNBC desperation." And so what does Steve Burke of Comcast make of such desperation tactics?