According to TV critic David Zurawik, MSNBC's hiring of ex-Obama officials David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs makes the so-callend news network almost "a bona fide organ of state propaganda."
Hours after this was published Monday, Hardball's Chris Matthews offered his services to Hillary Clinton - along with those of MSNBC contributors Howard Fineman and Joan Walsh - in order to get her elected president in 2016 (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
At the end of a lengthy discussion about Clinton's chances in 2016 - never mind that Election Day is 44 months away! - Walsh said, "I think if she runs again, she really can't run as that front-runner. It cannot be that inevitability campaign that she ran in 2007, and she knows that. She's got to be about the future."
Matthews replied, "If you're watching, Madam Secretary, all three of us have brilliant ideas. All of us have great ideas. And I especially put myself in that group with Joan and David. We know how to do this, we’ll get you in there."
Although there may have been a little tongue in Matthews' cheek, everyone watching knew full well that he meant it, and that his mission in the next 44 months - as well as that of likely every MSNBC contributor and guest - is to get Clinton in the White House.
What's interesting is how the folks on this almost satirical news network don't even feel like they have to hide it anymore.