Craig Crawford Leaving MSNBC: "'Unrewarding,' 'Cartoon Player For Lefty Games'

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/craig-crawford-leaving-ms_n_487571.html

<snip>

Phil, Just wanted to give you the heads up that my situation with MSNBC has become so unrewarding for me that I've decided to move on. -- Craig," was the text of the email Crawford said he sent Griffin three months before his contract expired.

In the comments section of his post, Crawford elaborated:

i simply could not any longer endure being a cartoon player for lefty games, just gotta move on to higher ground even if there's no oxygen

i have never and never will forgive Chris for calling me a racist after the West Virginia primary (the last time I will ever go on air with him). Probably should have resigned then and there, but better late than never.

<snip>

Ouch. I always thought Crawford leaned Democratic (I think he ran for office as a Dem once. I also didn't realize Tweety called him a racist. WTF?).

[Bicoastal]

1. Who?

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

3. He used to be on Countdown a lot.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

9. Here's another link with more info.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/msnbc-political-analyst-leaves-wont-be-cartoon-player-for-lefty-games/

[Ian David]

11. Oh! I remember him now! Thanks! n/t

[Ian David]

2. Your link is broken. And who is Craig Crawford anyway? n/t

[WhiteTara]

6. he's the guy who takes deep noisy breaths

through his mouth when he inhales. He is often a guest something...analyst I guess. He has never seemed like a democrat to me.

edited to add: I didn't think of him as a racist.

[JerseygirlCT]

24. And sort of sounds like Gomer Pyle nt

[Emit]

28. lol!

[RamboLiberal]

4. Wish the Righties on Faux would figure out they are

only playing games for the RWingnuts. Sorry to see Craig Crawford feel this way. I didn't see Tweety call him a racist so I can't comment on that. Thought that was Uncle Pat's part to play.

[soleft]

5. I always thought he sounded a little like Barney Fife

[nutsnberries]

13. me too!

~exactly.

[David Zephyr]

7. He can hook up with Dana Milbank.

Who cares?

[monmouth]

8. Craig really got panned at HuffPo comments. Doesn't seem he will

be too missed. Chris called him a racist....LOL. He's from northern Florida like Scarborough..duh!

[babylonsister]

10. He has a blog at cq politics and just wrote a book with Helen Thomas.

He usually sounds fairly liberal imo...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/about.html

[TacticalPeek]

16. Indeed - usually reality-based when I've seen him.

And I agree: more of the liberal persuasion than not.

[TornadoTN]

22. I'm interested to hear what he says about this

I really liked him most of the times I saw him. He didn't wear an agenda on his sleeve and was usually clear to the point on most issues that he covered. I, like you, thought he was center-left in his analysis but didn't pull any punches when the situation called for it on either side.

I hope he doesn't turn out to be a wolf in sheeps clothing, but it sounds as if he was being jerked around by the brass to report a certain way on certain programs.

[mod mom]

12. He always sounded if he was drunk, goofy or both. Good riddance.

[FrenchieCat]

14. Good. I never liked or agreed with his anal-ass-cysts!

[dsc]

29. gee just let some gay poster here post a message with as racist a title

as the one you posted is homophobic and you would have his head on a pike. Your post is flat out bigotry, plain and simple.

[marmar]

15. Honestly, he never sounded like he knew what the hell he was talking about.....

..... He wasn't the quickest thinker out there.

[butterfly77]

17. I guess he's still angry..

about Hillary.

[ashling]

18. Finally!

I thought he'd never leave! He got one thing right: he always came off like a bad cartoon.

When I first took a course in poli sci 40 years ago I fell in love with Congressional Quarterly. That was way before the internet. CQ was the ultimate source for political info. But every time this cartoon dandy comes on I think; Lo, how the mighty have fallen. Is this what CQ has turned into?

[JHB]

19. The first thought to my mind involves asses and doors.

A quick look at his bio says that no matter which way he "leans", his main asset is as a "Washington" insider. Odds are he'll get snapped up as a lobbyist or "PR" propagandists.

So my urge to care started low here, and is fading fast. let the band play on:
:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[gimama]

20. Co-authored book w/Helen Thomas

"Listen up, Mr. President"

Crawford has been impressive to me, over the years, esp. during * nightmare.
He isn't polished,& GQ-handsome, but he IS a goood Guy, & goood reporter.
I think he got some Helen-backbone & wants to do some REAL journalism.

[TornadoTN]

21. I liked Crawford, he seemed like a smart & fair reporter

I can respect that he felt that the network was slanting too far one way (which I disagree with, but perception is reality).

He always seemed to be informed and even-handed on issues with no discernible agenda, which in my opinion, we need a hell of a lot more in the media these days.

[girl gone mad]

23. I like him.

And good for him deciding to move on. There have been many occasions recently when I've cringed at MSNBC's "reporting". I hope there is room somewhere for analysis with a genuine point of view rather than a partisan political bias.

[Raine]

25. I liked him

I'm sorry he's leaving. I don't remember Tweety calling him a racist.

[TheWebHead]

26. he is quite liberal

and echoed many on the left on hcr and being upset w/ obama about not doing enough to get a public option if you look on his twitter. My guess is that he was bored by the fact that his msnbc appearances didn't have an exchange of differing ideas. If he won't go out w/ tweety, he'd be available for schultz, olbermann or maddow, the latter two don't have two guests with differing opinions debating ideas. olbermann never has anyone on with differing viewpoints, unless they happen to agree with him on a single issue, like having Mancow on w/ waterboarding. I would guess from an intellectual standpoint, one wouldn't be too fulfilled with their job in that scenario.

[UTUSN]

27. Let's cut to the case. Well, no, I guess we can't do that. n/t