2003-05-03|12:17 a.m.
I just sent a letter to MSNBC, who I am not happy with right now. The letter reads as follows:
To Whom It May Concern:
Tonight, I watched the MSNBC program called �Scarborough Country� which is hosted, as MSNBC must know, by a man named Joe Scarborough. Tonight, he and his guest commentators, unfortunately I failed to get the gentlemen�s names, discussed the issue of the United States� foreign policy.
I am pleased to see this topic covered by networks such as MSNBC. Open discussion about the polices of our country, both domestic and foreign, are an important facet not only of a democratic nation such as ours, but also of a nation of people willing to consider and facilitate intelligent discussion about the subjects that affect our lives.
However, as an individual who occasionally watches your program, I am beginning to doubt the integrity of a network that would employ a man such as Mr. Scarborough. After tonight's show, as he thanked his guests and bid them goodbye, he asked that viewers who disagreed with the actor Danny Glover's public critique of the US's policy involving the fairly recent issue of Iraq should use the MCI WorldCom Long Distance number which he provided to suggest to the company that they no longer use Mr. Glover as a spokesperson. Such action is not only jejune and unprofessional, but it is also distressing that Mr. Scarborough is using your network to suggest that people no longer welcome open discussion and opinions in our diverse nation, but rather that they threaten Mr. Glover�s unrelated professional life to quiet him and his differing views.
So, rather than call MCI WorldCom Long Distance to tell them to �fire� Mr. Glover, I am instead writing to your network to express my concern on the direction of your programming. Will MSNBC simply become a tool of the conservative extremists who only wish to crush intellectual discussion on the issues that require fair coverage? Or will it raise the bar for other networks and create a forum for viewers of all ends of the spectrum, including those more rational moderate viewers, who only would like to watch and participate in reasonable debates? As someone who watches MSNBC programming, I hope that the latter is the case.
Thank you,
mikemakesfrowns: now your email address is on record as a communist
Oh, and I wrote MCI too and told them not to let unrelated politics and crazy conservatives choose their spokespeople (though not in those words).