Is "Liberal" Cable News Being Censored and Used To Undermine Obama? Ed, Maddow, Olbermann

[Median Democrat]

The media always tries to use false equivalency to justify the bias of Fox News and right wing talk radio. However, did these news programs ever seriously challenge George Bush prior to 2006? No. Instead, these news programs essentially provided a completely un-critical platform to spread and GOP talking points. Worse, Fox operatives actively participated in the development of such talking points. Indeed, in addition to providing a platform for the GOP to spread their message, Fox would often respond to attack critics of President Bush.

In sharp contrast, we have "liberal" shows like Ed, Maddow, Olbermann that have grown increasinly criticial of Obama in recent weeks and have attacked Obama from the left while Obama gets attacked from the right. Indeed, these shows have sometimes been expressly censored by General Electric such as the time that Jim Cramer was evicerated on The Daily Show, but Olbermann and Maddow barely mentioned the incident.

While Fox News continues to attack from the right with increasing hysterical right wing rhetoric, Ed, Maddow, and Olbermann have raised the volume of their attacks from the left, and have sometimes echored right wing talking points, by repeating right wing talking points without really offering a countervailing explanation of the liberal response. The most recent example is Rachel Maddow's second day of coverage of "Teabagging" without any really explanation or defense of Obama's policies that are under attack.

Lost in the so-called "liberal" attacks on Obama is any mention of the policies or programs that Obama is trying to adopt, which are clearly liberal. For example:

1. Obama is meeting opposition from Republican and conservadems who are trying to repeal an estate tax that only affects less than 1 percent of the wealthiest estates. Where's the outrage?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik13-2009apr13,0,3633165.column

2. Obama is trying to offer federal directly to students, rather than by giving a subsidey to private lenders to extend such aid to students. Again, here is an opportunity to get in front of an issue. Where is our so-called liberal cable news? Where is that overheated outrage at private lenders trying to make risk free profits?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/us/politics/13student.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

3. Obama has been under constant right wing attack regarding the pirate situation. Over the weekend, the captain was rescued. Yet, where is Maddow and Olbermann calling right wing pundits on their attacks on Obama? Sure, I would not give Obama credit, because a lot of the success was due to luck, BUT shouldn't the liberal cable shows at least point out the hypocrisy of right wing media as noted below regarding Fox's efforts now to minimalize Obama's role after blaming for the ongoing crisis:

http://www.newshounds.us/2009/04/12/fox_news_buries_obama_role_in_pirate_rescue.php

The fact of the matter is that Ed, Maddow, and Olbermann are all sponsored by corporations AND they work for one of the largest corporate parents in the world, General Electric. Thus, it is a false equivalency to argue that MSNBC presents the other side of coin to Fox News. This is far from the truth. Instead, these news programs are being used to undermine the progressive elements of Obama's platform from the left. General Electric is not your friend. Go ahead and enjoy "liberal" cable news, because it is much better than Fox News, but it is hardly a mirror image of Fox News and right wing radio, which actively supported Bush's agenda. In sharp contrast, liberal cable news may actually be trying to undermine the President to the same extent as their right wing counterparts.