Regardless of what some might think about Cenk

[Hutzpa]

he has done an excellent job at MSNBC and should be allowed to continue once he gets back from vacation,
yes Al is OK, but IMO standing in for someone should not give you the right to back stab that person,
if anything it shows the character of the person.

And I like Al Sharpton too, but not this way.

Just Sayin'

[earthside]

1. I want my Cenk back! n/t

[Hutzpa]

4. +10

he is one of us, one of our own here at DU and we should support him instead of
throwing him under the bus as some here wants us to do.

[CherylK]

9. +1 n/t

[bvar22]

17. Me too!

I LOVE the Truth Tellers.

[Armstead]

2. Backstab?

[fishwax]

28. I second the question. n/t

[libodem]

3. Cenk rocks

[quiller4]

5. I'd turn cartwheels if MSNBC would permanently replace Cenk with Sharpton. n/t

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. +1. I have to admit, I've never watched Cenk's MSNBC show. But

I've been taping for the past few days with Al. Not sure what the o.p. means about "stabbing him in the back". It's about ratings. If Cenk was getting ratings, then there should be no problem, right? :shrug:

[aaaaaa5a]

18. Agreed. Sharpton is a FAR BETTER than Cenk! NT

[vaberella]

20. ditto..or at least give Al his own show at the same time. n/t

[Tx4obama]

23. Well 'boo' on you. Do you know that many of us here on DU signed petitions to get Cenk onto MSNBC?

There is no reason for MSNBC to take Cenk's hour away from him.

If MSNBC wants Al Sharpton to have his own hour then they can give him the Hardball repeat show hour to him.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. It is bad form and some say bad luck to wish one person well

by wishing another ill. It is disrespectful to both parties, and it is a fictional binary choice created by posters who, in my opinion, wish to use Al Sharpton as a rhetorical tool to bash Cenk, whom they already do not like. Sharpton deserves to be more than an excuse to bad mouth anyone, much less the person he is filing in for.

[Hutzpa]

7. Well said, could not have said it better

and thank you for these kind comments.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Thanks

I call them as I see them.

[sunwyn]

8. Al is a better guest than host and if they dump Cenk I have no reason to watch

Any MSNBC show as 6 pm was the only one I watch now

[polmaven]

10. The only one???

May I ask your reasons for not watching Lawrence O'Donnell (well, Mon - Thus, at 11:00) and Rachel Maddow?

[provis99]

12. Rachel is good; Lawrence is an egomaniacal blowhard.

Sort of a slick version of Tweety.

[Tarheel_Dem]

16. "Lawrence is an egomaniacal blowhard".

For a minute I thought you were describing Cenk, the former Repuke. :hi:

[jzodda]

13. Agreed

I won't be watching at 6pm if they replace Cenk.

Was he back on today or more Rev Al?

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. Rev. Al will bring in a whole new demographic. Bank on it!

And if Rev. Al doesn't get the numbers, he'll suffer a similar fate. ;)

[jzodda]

21. I can still watch him at TYT at least

n/t

[AtomicKitten]

19. I actually have come to really like and respect Cenk

... and would not advocate replacing him. Al Sharpton has done a decent job sitting in, but he needs much, much more practice. He can get that sitting right where he is and perhaps fill in for other MSNBC hosts as well.

[EffieBlack]

22. This is the Catch 22 gotcha game that is often played with minorities in these situations

They are told that we don't have enough experience for the job, but then aren't given opportunities to get experience. Meanwhile, white folks are offered all sorts of opportunities to gain on-air experience (Wilie Geist? Really?). They're patiently groomed, put into positions that allow them to get acclimated and build a following and then once they get good enough, they're given the plum assignment.

I'm glad you suggested that Rev. Sharpton be given opportunities to fill in for other hosts - since that is exactly how most of the white hosts who now have shows were groomed for their roles.

[AtomicKitten]

24. Guest hosting has been a great training ground.

I still recall how nervous Rachel was for her first few shows. Ezra Klein is a bit wobbly right out of the gate. David Shuster has followed Keith to Current and will be his guest host. Al is in his third week subbing for Cenk and that chunk of time is invaluable as far as experience goes.

I'm certainly no expert but I don't think any of this has to do with race. I think it's basically a constellation of opportunity, natural ability, timing, and dumb luck.

[Empowerer]

26. I think race has a lot to do with it

People tend to be comfortable with folks with whom they're most familiar. Thus, the default is often people who look like them - they don't put up as many barriers, give them greater benefit of the doubt and give them more early chances. When it comes to people who are different or with whom they don't have as much experience, they tend to be more skeptical, have higher standards and are more reluctant to take chances on them. It's human nature. That's why it's important to sometimes take extraordinary efforts, to be super vigilant of our own prejudices to make sure we're not falling prey to them.

That's the case, I believe, here. White hosts are given incredible opportunities. They're groomed and handled with patience and care as they learn their way and earn their chops. Yet the networks claim they can't find qualified minorities to fill these same slots. And right here on DU, some so-called progressives not only regularly make excuses for this, they are going out of their way to find reasons that minorities like Al Sharpton just aren't good enough for a shot that Willie Geist and Dylan Ratigan were handed without a peep of objection from them.

[AtomicKitten]

29. I view Al Sharpton as someone who has been in the public eye for decades, a celebrity, a plus.

The only criticism I have of him over the past couple weeks is his occasional wobbliness in front of the camera, cues and such, nothing experience can't fix. Other than that, he seems always prepared on the subject matter at hand. I do agree he's 1,000 times better than Dylan Ratigan who is a horse's ass on a good day (don't watch TV that late/early to see Geist). I do concede that leaves a wide berth for the politics of daytime cable news, something I have no knowledge of, and on that count you may be right. :(

[jzodda]

25. There is an even better solution imo

Why nbc doesn't do this is beyond me. 7pm is a ghost hour over there with a repeat of the 5pm hardball. Why not put Rev Al there instead of replacing Cenk..Then we have a fresh hour of commentary and not a repeat and nobody loses a job.

[AtomicKitten]

30. An excellent idea.

Cheers.

[awoke_in_2003]

27. Cenk, like Keith...

were applauded here when he told the truth against Bush. Now, that bus must have a lift kit on it.