Gibbs Gets Snotty

Posted on 08/10/2010 at 8:44 am by Bob Cesca

Robert Gibbs sat for an interview with The Hill and had some sharp words for the “professional left.” For starters…

“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”

I agree with Gibbs insofar as I’ve read some blog entries and a wide variety of commenters who think this. But, first, no one in the White House ought to be saying this sort of thing publicly. Furthermore, not everyone — in fact, very few — on the “professional left” are saying the president is “just like Bush.”

“They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

Snark! ROOOWWR!

There’s no reason for anyone in the White House press office to take my advice, but here’s my advice nonetheless. The intra-left squabbling over support or lack of support for the administration doesn’t need your input and snark. We’ve got it handled and, to be honest, it was beginning to fade.

Furthermore, in The Hill piece, the only named member of the “professional left” is Rachel Maddow. I watch a lot of MSNBC and read a lot of “professional left” material, and I assure you Rachel Maddow is the best friend the White House has — on television, at least. No, she might not agree with the president’s position on same-sex marriage, but no one has presented such an objective and reality-based view of this presidency as Maddow has. No one.

Of those who complain that Obama caved to centrists on issues such as healthcare reform, Gibbs said: “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.”

Taking his snark as a serious statement here, I think some of them would be satisfied — until President Kucinich had to compromise in order to get the votes for his agenda.

One thing is clear. The White House obviously doesn’t think it needs progressives to win. I’m sure it’s because they’ve (mis)read the polls showing very low liberal identification. So Gibbs and others think it’s harmless to let fly on progressives. They’re wrong. The ideology polls are flawed and the better polls to take to heart are the ones that poll issue-by-issue. They’d find that a majority of Americans support raising taxes on the rich, they support the public option, they support a woman’s right to choose, they support gun control and ending the wars and so forth.

And while I obviously agree about the ridiculousness of the “just like Bush” meme, this is bad form coming from Mr. Gibbs. It’s not helping, especially following such a kneejerk capitulation to far-right screeching over Shirley Sherrod. The subtext? Shit on the left, cave to the right.

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  • Luke

    I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I feel totally abandoned by the Obama Administration. I know. I know. The list of achievements President Obama has accomplished is quite impressive. And it’s still incremental change towards progressive policy. These are the facts. But it doesn’t change the way I FEEL. I mean they have caved on so much. They just came right out of the gate ready to compromise on the most important issues. Look, I am not a unreasonable guy who is mad because the Democrats aren’t passing legislation that was as progressive as it SHOULD have been – no, I am upset because they didn’t even pass legislation that was progressive as it COULD have been. And then they aren’t communicating anything to the American people. It seems like they aren’t even trying to counter the Republican narrative. I just feel like so much political capital and energy was just wasted.

  • http://www.twitter.com/bobcesca_go Bob_Cesca

    @Luke>>>>These are the facts. But it doesn’t change the way I FEEL.Sigh.

  • eljefejeff

    Luke, I hear you, but there is a difference between caving and compromising. Obama compromises and I’m glad he does. That’s what a rational leader should do. Unfortunately the other side has no serious intention of compromising. Obama decided long ago that he’ll compromise in good faith even if the other side doesn’t. At this point, he seems to be staking his entire presidency on it.Amazing that Gibbs would single out the “professional” left. I just don’t get that at all. It’s more like the “activist” left. Supporters who donated and worked tirelessly two years ago who now feel no motivation to do so again.God I hate Gibbs. Honestly I’ve never really liked the guy. I’d do a better job and yet I would suck at it too. I’m sure he can find someone else, even his backup Bill Burton. Isn’t it about time for a replacement?

  • christie

    Gibby sounds like all the Faux asshats, telling their idiots that popular programs and infinitives that poll well with the majority are “far left and radical”. The right has managed to demonize the word “liberal” and is busily destroying the notion of being “progressive”. They have a noisy enough machine without help from the WH. Shit Gibby, dance with the one that brung you.

  • christie

    @christie: Initiatives. Idiot.

  • http://extremeliberal.wordpress.com/ Jim in Michigan

    I applaud him for calling them out, they know who they are. And I disagree with your analysis that “One thing is clear. The White House obviously doesn’t think it needs progressives to win. I’m sure it’s because they’ve (mis)read the polls showing very low liberal identification. So Gibbs and others think it’s harmless to let fly on progressives. They’re wrong.”He let fly on certain progressives, the assholes who are undermining this president for their own benefit…firebaggers that they are. You seem to be doing what repubs like to do, generalizing a very specific criticism to the entire progressive movement. As far as letting fly on progressives, I’m glad he took a shot across their bows…they don’t seem to be letting up to me and with friends like them, who needs enemies. Don’t generalize it to all progressives, I didn’t take offense to it and I’m a progressive blogger. And if it is the ole “don’t criticize one of your own” mentality, WTF are the firebaggers doing? Criticizing one of their own….

  • Jan

    All these guys- Obama, Gibbs, Axelrod, Rahm, Jarrett hate Washington DC. Now it is starting to show with their snotty attitude. They are counting on the fact that dems have no one else to vote for and give money to. What they need to do is some major ass kissing to get us out to even vote for them, much less donate and work on campaigns.Gibbs needs to man up and STFU. Or quit if he’s so dsgusted with the left. Buh bye.

  • Dan in DE

    Right on, Jim! I agree 100%.. and yet this reeks of hippy-punching.Yes, the Firebaggers know who they are- and, obviously Maddow is not one of them. But is it really necessary to generalize about the “professional left” like this? Makes it seem as if he’s not paying close enough attention to differentiate the Maddows, and the Cescas from the firebagging douchenozzles.

  • http://toastie.st twitter.com/toastie

    No, they’re not like the Bush Administration, who bashed its base in private.

  • DaBomb

    I pretty much agree with everything that Gibbs said as well. People who pound on keyboards aren’t a large slice of his base.Go out into the real world and see what folks are saying. I am a liberal blogger, and those comments aren’t directed to me. I don’t trash the President or this administration on a daily basis. Our blog recognizes his accomplishments daily.For instance, we had a post and live feed of the President meeting with 50 young African leaders to talk about changing the dynamics of government within their countries over the next 50 years. He is the first sitting President to ever do that. Not one “left” blog highlighted… not one. He had a huge turnout for a campaign townhall in Austin at the University of Texas. Yet again, not many blogs covered that.It’s sad that I have to argue with so-called fellow progressives about this man’s accomplishments. And if you point them out, you are accused of being a shill, an Obama plant, or an Obot. They are many who donated and voted on the man, many are not just the internet left. And they will vote on him again. The internet left didn’t have a huge amount of love for Obama. His numbers amongst African-Americans, Latinos, and the young are still very high. And being African-American myself, we are noticing a huge double standard in the way this President is being treated. We are paying more attention to what is going on now politically. It’s very disheartening. Gibbs is pissed and rightfully so.It’s also funny how people are bitching about Gibbs complaining, but it’s okay for them to comaplain about Obama on a daily basis and not get called out on it. It happened at the Netroots, and those bloggers were shocked when Van Jones said, he didn’t get them. He didn’t undertand why they were so angry.

  • http://www.intoxination.net IntoxiNation

    Gibbs put his foot in his mouth big time. Yeah there are some on the left that fit the bill, but by lumping them all into some nomenclature of the “professional left”, implies he is talking about the firebaggers, dkosers, Cescaers and all the bloggers on the left, plus any activists.This can really hurt the dems this fall. It’s a midterm election and the key to that is the enthusiasm level, which is already hurting on the left. Does Gibbs think this will motivate more Democrats to vote in the fall? Even self-described Liberals are giving Obama a close to 80% approval rating. Let this news start getting out and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that drop.Hopefully someone in the WH is reaming him today and telling him to clarify his comments at the next presser. I’m not too optimistic on that though. My guess is Rahm is high-fiving him right now.

  • http://weeseeyou.com DaBomb

    He made a distinction between the two.”Gibbs said the professional left is not representative of the progressives who organized, campaigned, raised money and ultimately voted for Obama.Progressives, Gibbs said, are the liberals outside of Washington “in America,” and they are grateful for what Obama has accomplished in a shattered economy with uniform Republican opposition and a short amount of time.”How is that above quote lumping everyone together?

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ Nicole473

    Ditto what Jim and Dan said.These Firebaggers are nuts, IMO.This fact was brought home to me recently when I posted about a new website. A Firebagger went beserk over it in the comments. A Firebagger whom I know from Twitter, and who seems to be a very reasonable human when not discussing Obama.

  • Luke

    @ Bob Cesca,Don’t be mistaken. I won’t let emotion get in the way of facts. I continue to stand up to Wingnuts every day and try to inform people the best I can. I try to use facts to beat down Republican talking point nonsense. I have not given up and I will go to the polls in November and vote Democratic, even though it’s not likely to change anything as I live in the Reddest of Red States – Mississippi. But I’ll vote none the lest.But I guess the whole point in my first comment was this: How do we keep emotions from getting in the way of the facts? Because this is why the Democratic party stands to suffer losses- because it’s base is going to stay home in November. How does the Administration keep emotions from getting in the way of facts? I desperately want our President to cheer-lead us right now. And no matter how immature that may be, I think a lot of Progressives need that. We shouldn’t give up if we don’t get it, but it would really increase morale.

  • J

    I have to say, I’d love to see the transcript of this interview. Did they say, what do you think of poeple like Rachel Maddow, and Gibbs replied as he did? Or did they ask, what do you think of the criticism Obama receives from the left, and Gibbs took that to mean the Firebaggers of the world? Meaning “professional” as in, ” we think it’s our job to speak for the ‘true’ liberals out there”. ‘Cause that’s a pretty big distinction and one that is not entirely clear from the way this piece is written.

  • Luke

    @ J-good point J. You have to wonder how much of the interview was projected in manner meant solely for the purpose of further discouragement of the Democratic base..

  • Luke

    @eljefejeff,See the thing is, I like Gibbs! They guy takes so much crap in those press conferences… The ridiculousness of the lines of questioning from our “serious” media has probably taken his toll. I guess that’s why I’ve taken a step back from my previous comment this morning and taken the knee-jerk emotion out of my thought process.

  • caribbeanobserver

    Come on Bob, you are WAAAAY better than this. Rise above the nitpicking and micro dissection of every little statement and things that are probably taken out of context. Otherwise, you are just the same as ‘them’ and we know you are not!And too, even if this is how Gibbs feels…this is how he should flippin’ well feel with the constant daily dose of conflict, badgering, dumping on the damn administration. Oh sure, we can all sit back and critique,saying that he ought not to, should not have etc BUT DAMMIT, enough is enough, he is human too and has to put up with a lot of assinine, inane foolishness to which many of us would have responded with curse words by now.

  • Allen Frederick

    Frum put it best: “More proof of my longtime thesis, Repub pols fear the GOP base; Dem pols hate the Dem base.”You know the lefy are clueless when a conservative has to point out the truth to them.

  • caribbeanobserver

    @LukeYeah, and I like Gibbs too! BUT, let us not be such in a rush to respond so quickly without deeper thought.

  • Allen Frederick

    Greenwald puts it even better. The facts hurt.———-On September 9, 2008 — roughly two months before the election — Barack Obama addressed a large, enthusiastic crowd and said: “As president, I will lead a new era of accountability in education. But see, I don’t just want to hold our teachers accountable; I want to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable.” In 20 short months, we’ve gone from “hold me accountable” to “get drug tested,” you wretched ingrates.———-Exactly.

  • Allen Frederick

    Instead of reading Bob’s clear support of Gibbs’ statement (Bob likes WHAT he said, just not that he actually said it) – try reading Greenwald, who addresses the childish rant WITH FACTS. LOTS OF THEM!http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/08/10/gibbs/index.htmlOf course, no one here will read it. Why? The facts hurt. It’s easier to drone on about those pesky “Firebaggers” (copyright, bobcesca.com).

  • http://www.bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2010/03/morning_awesome_859.html Bob_Cesca

    @caribbeanobserverI’m not sure what you expect of me. I agree with the broad theme of what he was saying. It was just a very unprofessional and nonconstructive way of saying it.

  • Allen Frederick

    I’ll also point out that Bob proves in this piece exactly what I’ve always said about him. Namely, he is an enabler that will ALWAYS have Obama’s back.What did Bob say?”We’ve got it handled”.Translation: “It’s all good White House. Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of the progressive left. We’ve got your back, just go do whatever you want.”Bob has just proved my point. In black and white. Case closed. End. Of. Story.

  • Lexaburn

    Against my better judgment, I read the entire article, and felt the urge to contribute to this…discussion.I agree with Gibbs for the most part.However, these petty squabbles within the liberal sphere are not as important as people believe them to be. The media is playing this up, and some of us are taking the bait. A few of the activists disguised as journalists need to understand that, yes, continue to press the issues concerning you, but do not fall into the abyss so many have. The abyss is saying things just to grab attention from the establishment. This “just like Bush” meme is one example of the establishment putting out a declarative statement in the hopes to undermine this president.Yes, I am a firm believer that establishment media are exploiting the phenomenon of our 44th president in the same manner they did the events on 9/11. Something that should have brought the country together ends up tearing us apart because malefactors within the establishment seem hell-bent on exploiting our emotions. This, I believe, is the devil’s work. As a professional I recognize these patterns. This article is just one example of the pattern I’m noticing. The only reason I’m commenting here in this thread is to speak on what I’m noticing.You know what – I’m a hypocrite. I’m recusing myself from this discussion. I can’t help taking sides on these matters.Excuse me.

  • Lexaburn

    Allen, you know what’s interesting in your assessment of Bob? I sort of agree with you.I agree in the sense that I’ve always felt that one, Mr. Bob Cesca, is willing to actually investigate the validity of any piece of crummy journalism. He’s prone to using his critical thinking skills in order to decipher the phenomenon of nitpicking passing for valid criticism. He’s willing to give this WH an unofficial pass on certain minutia because, as most of us can attest to, we’ve seen far worse.That is why I’ll continue to patronize this site after giving up on so many other so-called “liberal/progressive” blogs, including that inferred in the “firebagger” insult.Now I know your personal vendetta will not stand in the way of my perusing this site. It’s cute to see someone so bent on proving themselves to people that cannot stand their presence. I figure I’ve made my share of detractors in my time here. However, speaking for myself, I’m not one to hold a grudge unless one is inviting me to a grudge match.What did Bob Cesca do to piss you off?Seriously!It can’t just be his, by your assessment, “having Obama’s back.” The constant harping seems to stem from something personal, as if he insulted you, perhaps, without his knowing it.What – does he owe you money?

  • Pixie

    It’s sad that the first comment I read on this thread is about how someone doesn’t believe in Obama anymore. It feels more like they would never believe; more has been accomplished by this administration than I would have believed possible knowing the obstruction from the right Obama was going to face. He’s done more for “progressive” causes and he’s always presented himself as a moderate and not a progressive, so that in itself is amazing.I can’t figure it out – why is it that so many who claim to be Democrats balk at President Obama? Is it Puma holdovers or is there deep-rooted racial issues? I’m sincerely asking because otherwise the complaints make no sense to me.

  • http://extremeliberal.wordpress.com/ Jim in Michigan

    I posit that Greenwald, Hamsher, Uygur and the rest are NOT the democratic base even though they love to claim that title. The “base” sticks with their candidate, the “base” are loyal to their party and know that in the two party system, there is one party that is clearly the better of the two. They should stop representing themselves as the base.

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ Nicole473

    jim in michigan—>>>I posit that Greenwald, Hamsher, Uygur and the rest are NOT the democratic base even though they love to claim that title. The “base” sticks with their candidate, the “base” are loyal to their party and know that in the two party system, there is one party that is clearly the better of the two. They should stop representing themselves as the base.How I feel as well@PixieI think it’s their inborn, perhaps below their level of consciousness, racism. It’s as if they’re saying “Okay, BLACK guy, we got you elected, now we own you.”.I have never seen this with a white Democratic president.

  • Luke

    @ Pixie,I was the first commenter. I absolutely still believe in Obama. I just vented and unfortunately did so in an immature way without letting emotions settle.Read my subsequent posts. Infact, read all of my first post. I stated I knew the facts of what all he had accomplished. Furthermore, I live in a Ultra-Republican stronghold in Mississippi. It’s quite easy for me to get discouraged from time to time. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in this President anymore. We haven’t needed progressives this much in a long time. But they haven’t had this much corporate-conservative opposition in a long time, if ever! It’s okay for people like me to get discouraged from time to time – as long as I sober up from that cynicism and get back to the business of doing every effort possible to support progressive change, even if incremental… no, especially if incremental. And I have never given up trying to inform as many as possible about that incremental change passed in the last two years.

  • Lexaburn

    What’s funny about the statement that Allen chose to single out is context doesn’t apply to Gibbs but no one else.I read the little article from Sir Greenwald before I ever arrived here. It’s the usual harping on pet causes that were implemented throughout 20-40 years not being solved because the mulatto president isn’t concerned. Boilerplate liberal activism full of unrealistic goals made unreachable at this point by individuals other than President Obama. It seeks to appeal to liberals placed in a perpetual state of tumult by the very establishment media of which those of Greenwald’s ilk seek to be apart. Well, he gets his chance when he criticizes President Obama and Democrats in such a manner. Would he have been cited so eagerly, say, six years ago?Oh, and he calls Gibbs “petulant,” does he? Gibbs is seeing the liberal base the way Vannity and Bailin’ does, hmm?Nah, the situation is this: Greenwald needs to put shit into context next time he chooses to call someone out. See, not all of us fall for the victimhood passing for progressivism throughout my lifetime. Republicons always have their feet on their necks, and they complain about it, expecting someone to fight for them. Some of us know that there are forces beyond President Obama’s control. Lumping the war in Afghanistan with President Obama’s education policy is disingenuous, shoddy journalism I expect from a media dork looking to bolster there flimsy case of poutrage. He has a problem with Obama’s gay marriage stance, don’t vote for him next time, Glenn. It’ll save some of us from watching you pat yourself on the back for supporting a winner in a sea of losers (I’m not including Hillary or Edwards in that mix, by the way).This sudden burst of outrage fools no one actually observing the politicking beyond the prism of “liberal” v.s. “conservative,” or “right” v.s. “left.” Some of us understand that to right this ship, we’ve got to chance the way we perceive politics, law-making, bill-making – ALL OF IT! Greenwald speaks to an audience of wonks and wannabe wonks. These wonks really do not matter. How many individuals do you believe will immediately be offended by Gibbs’ words without being prompted by the likes of Greenwald? How many do you believe will agree with him after giving it some uninterrupted thought? I’d wager on both accounts most would side with Gibbs on the matter, not out of loyalty for the president, but loyalty to their own proper judgement.See, unlike fans of Greenwald, I choose not to insult half the people reading his words believing that they’re ignorant of the “FACTS.” They choose not to dwell on these matters for the sake of not overwhelming themselves. More people than media dorks believe understand the drama-peddling. They’re patient enough to know that things will move forward very slowly. They also know that this president was ripe for undermining. They saw that goddamned primary. They knew a “black man” and a white female were running and had a good chance of winning. They knew that unfair expectations would be foisted upon them by well-meaning, yet totally unrealistic dreamers with delusions of grandeur were supporting the two. They know Republicons like to play pretend, disavowing clear fuck-ups, revising history, lying repeatedly and loudly in order to drown out the voices of dissent. The battering this WH is taking is unprecedented, mainl because every little thought regarding a so-called mishap, stumble, or miscue made by this administration is magnified by an establishment seeking to entertain rather than inform.You want to convince people that Gibbs is so very, very wrong, go out into the real world beyond the political realm, and see if six out of ten of the people you talk to don’t repeat what would be perceived by a liberal wonks as rhetoric coming from FNC and Republicon talk radio. Chances are eight of that ten have never watched FNC for more than five minutes every day, and would know one con-servative chickenshit radio blabber from the other. Ask yourselves why, then understand who leading whom to whatever conclusions.No, I do not believe Gibbs is openly criticizing the left unfairly. Too many folks out here are posturing like one of the media dorks seeking to entertain audiences with criticism against this president.And…my rant ends.

  • eljefejeff

    Pixie, it’s an interesting question, because if you read HuffPo, many of the comments are of the “don’t blame me, I voted for Hillary” variety. A good friend of mine who is critical of Obama was originally an Edwards supporter but got behind Obama after Edwards dropped out. I think those of us who supported him from the beginning may give him a little more leeway.To Nicole’s point, I think we are applying a double standard to Obama, not necessarily because we’re racist towards black, but because he’s the first black president. There’s a difference. We all put him up on a pedestal after he was elected. Every president gets that. But he was “different” and “special”. It would’ve been impossible for anyone to maintain that. All presidents get torn apart by the press(with the exception of post-9/11 Bush).It reminds me of how the first black baseball player had to be a truly elite player, which Jackie Robinson was. Obama had to be that much better than any other candidate for him to be elected, and now we expect him to be that much better than any other president for his legacy to be respected.

  • Pixie

    @Luke – you state you know what he’s accomplished, but you feel abandoned by this administration, but you believe in this president? Do you see how confusing that is?I believe in this administration because they’ve continued to accomplish goals, sometimes compromised in ways I wouldn’t have preferred, but accomplished nonetheless, all in the face of the most rabid and hateful vitriol I’ve seen in my lifetime from the right and to see the so-called progressives winge and whine because Obama didn’t do enough turns my stomach. He didn’t run as a progressive, but he’s done many progressive things.Do I agree with every word uttered or every thing done by this administration? No, and that’s because I live in reality and have a mind of my own. I think some people wouldn’t be satisfied with Obama if he gave them the moon and the stars and I’m baffled.Luke – what do you want from Obama and this administration? who has or would do a better job accomplishing YOUR list of preferred goals? Seriously, wow me with your thought process here.

  • eljefejeff

    Lexaburn, I loved all three of your posts. Thanks.

  • Lexaburn

    “I think it’s their inborn, perhaps below their level of consciousness, racism. It’s as if they’re saying “Okay, BLACK guy, we got you elected, now we own you.”.Precisely!See, the thing is, some of these individuals did the same thing to Hillary Clinton. No some of us merely observed and got offended as she waged a scorched earth campaign against Obama, where others were attempting to bend her to their will. Not to mention the ones that actually supported her, despite her bearing all the traits for which they criticize President Obama.Hell, we never got the chance to see how much she’d betray the base as president, but it’s not like she wasn’t bound to win before she did things that lost her the contest.It’s very interesting watching the media dork wannabes switching up their styles in the Age of Obama. The liberal audience is more self-aware and cognizant of the rampant corruption within our government and 4th Estate (besides the trendoids that like following the lead of bloggers), but some of these bloggers talk as if all these people are watching is old media. It’s an interesting phenomenon. A lot of mixed signals out here.

  • Luke

    @Pixie,If I could delete my first comment, then I would. I have tried and tried in subsequent posts to clarify my position after my immature rant. Please read the rest of my comments. You will see that I feel the same way you do.

  • http://tarackian.deviantart.com J M Ashby

    I agree 100% with Gibbs and I think calling out the far-left is a good idea. The people engaged in the crazy behavior he mentioned know who they are. The middle-left knows who they are too.

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ Nicole473

    Great analysis, Lexaburn. Thanks.

  • MrBrink

    Ha.”The Professional Left!”We’ve come a long way, baby!It feels like someone just called the Three Stooges, “gentlemen.”

  • caribbeanobserver

    @ Lexaburn; Pixie; Luke; eljefejeffWow! I must say I was blown away, and at the same time reminded WHY I do daily and hourly visits to this site.What healthy eloquent critique and discourse on this topic. Move over pundits on cable tv !! Give these guys a gig or two in the world of debating!!

  • ceu

    I see allen frederick hasn’t figured out that Gibbs’ comments were directed at people like her.

  • caribbeanobserver

    Allen F/Lee has not even got around to figuring out that no-one gives a royal flush what his predictable rants are about,so far less figuring out anything thing else.

  • Lexaburn

    @carribeanobserverSpeaking for myself, I’m quite content actually helping people overcome their neuroses, so I’d never fit in with the cable pundit crowd that, for the most part, live to aggravate such cases. Besides that, I don’t take day-long narratives too well, so you won’t find me sticking to some cockamamie blather in order to fill a segment. When the facts remain unclear, I do not speak in absolutes like many of these cable pundits do. Well, not in that sort of venue anyway.I don’t think they’d accept half the individuals here, and quite frankly, I’m shocked Bob made it to MSNBC at this juncture. Then again, the network is attempting to play up its unofficial “liberal network” status, although I myself would categorize it as an “any news that passes the time” cable news network.Hmm, this Allen Fredrick would fit in, I suppose.P.S.Actually, a former colleague of mine occasionally does local correspondent work at a network that shall remain nameless. I used to work with this person on criminal profiling. She’s a lawyer, and she’s also a brunette. Good worker.Can you figure out who she is?Oh, I’m posting from NY, and she appears on a local station here, not that I’m indulging who she is. ;)