Let's Play "Name Those Cheerleaders

The above picture shows:

a high school football cheerleaders
b college football cheerleaders
c Denver Bronco cheerleaders
d MSNBC anchors covering the Democratic Convention in Denver

If you guessed "d", you wouldn't be correct, but then, you wouldn't be far off the mark either. Such was the performance of the MSNBC anchor team of lap dog Chris Matthews, who has publicly confessed that Barack Obama makes his knees knock and attack dog Keith Olbermann. Both were united in their adoration of all things Obama.

However, there is trouble in pom pom land this week. First, it was reported that Republican Joe Scarborough had been crossing swords with Olbermann and Matthews. Then it was reported that Olbermann, who has burned more bridges in his career than General Sherman, was trying to get the network to oust veteran anchor Tom Brokaw.

Then, on Tuesday evening, Matthews and Olbermann got into an on-air spat over some petty issue, like who loves Obama more.

It all kind of reminds me about the crime story a few years back when the mother of some high school cheerleader hired a thug to do harm to another cheerleader who was rivaling her daughter for a slot on the team.

If that wasn't enough, last night, Olbermann, still thinking he was a commentator instead of his convention role as a co-anchor, picked out some article by an AP writer named Charles Babington, whose wire release an hour after Obama's speech had concluded that he (Obama) had offered nothing new, and that his speech lacked specifics. An outraged Olbermann read the first few paragraphs on air, blasted AP, and then told Babington:

"Charles Babington, find a new line of work."

(I have an idea Keith Olbermann might be looking for a new line of work soon.)

It seems to me that it is entirely proper for the network anchors to turn to their cadre of commentators for varied responses and opinions, as the other networks did. On Fox, conservative Britt Hume was very complimentary of the whole event, the historical significance, Obama's performance and the electric atmosphere in the stadium. Then he turned to a variety of commentators, yes, mostly conservative, who gave a range of opinions, some complimentary, some critical.

On the other hand, Olbermann and Matthews, when they weren't having a cat-fight, were gushing over Obama and everything Democrat. Who needs commentators when the anchors are doing the commenting? Who needs spin doctors when the anchors are doing the spinning?

But there is good news at MSNBC. According to the ratings, very few people witnessed the multiple embarrassments.