Monday. Again?

Make of this what you will:

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.

The change — which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle — is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel’s perceived shift to the political left.

“The most disappointing shift is to see the partisan attitude move from prime time into what’s supposed to be straight news programming,” said Davidson Goldin, formerly the editorial director of MSNBC and a co-founder of the reputation management firm DolceGoldin.

Executives at the channel’s parent company, NBC Universal, had high hopes for MSNBC’s coverage of the political conventions. Instead, the coverage frequently descended into on-air squabbles between the anchors, embarrassing some workers at NBC’s news division, and quite possibly alienating viewers. Although MSNBC nearly doubled its total audience compared with the 2004 conventions, its competitive position did not improve, as it remained in last place among the broadcast and cable news networks.

Last place. Everyone except the profoundly clue-free and the moonbats… but I repeat myself… should understand MSNBC’s liberal tilt would affect their ratings, no? And some do:

Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams, the past and present anchors of “NBC Nightly News,” have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division, even while they anchored daytime hours of convention coverage on MSNBC and contributed commentary each evening.

Mr. Williams did not respond to a request for comment and Mr. Brokaw declined to comment. At a panel discussion in Denver, Mr. Brokaw acknowledged that Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews had “gone too far” at times, but emphasized they were “not the only voices” on MSNBC, according to The Washington Post.

Ah… but don’t expect any changes at MSNBC anytime soon. Herr Olbermann is the Golden Boy at MSNBC, and the creator of that piece of effluvium known as “Countdown.” About which:

Up to now, the company’s public support for MSNBC’s strategy has been enthusiastic. At an anniversary party for Mr. Olbermann in April, Mr. Zucker called “Countdown” “one of the signature brands of the entire company.”

Zucker is the CEO of NBC Universal. Still and even… one lives and dies by the ratings in the News Biz. And “last place” ain’t a title that will garner many bonuses, let alone continued employment, for Mr. Zucker and Co. As for me, I’d love to see Olbermann get Peter-Principled to a position like chief sportscaster for Channel Four in Amarillo. Then again, the good folks in Amarillo probably don’t deserve that, do they?

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Update from The Sandbox, fresh in my in-box at 0545 hrs this morning:

So I've arrived in Iraq...

0230 on the 7th of Sep actually. Made for a long day as I awoke at 0300 on the 6th and didn't get to sleep until about 1230 yesterday. i took a couple of hours to get a nap and ended up in bed for the day at 1930. Today started at 0300 again with a large cuppa joe, a "Stars and Stripes" and a decent attitude. Started my workout at 0430 and was done, showered and waiting for everyone else to head to chow at 0630.

The DFACs (Dining facility(ies)...another rant goes here on how we're not supposed to call it a "Chow Hall" anymore...but I don't have the time or inclination to go down that road right now. Suffice it to say it's not PC to call it a chow hall...so I do) are more than adequate. In fact, I read a telling stat the other day that said something along the lines of prior to ~2004 the average person deploying to the AOR lost 10 pounds per deployment. That number now is the opposite. The average person GAINS 10 pounds! I can see why. The TCNs that serve our food don't really know the meaning of "portion." There's more than plenty of food so they serve tons of it. I'll need to be careful here!

[…]

It's drab here. There's LOTS of concrete, mostly in the form of barriers, and the obligatory sand. There are a LOT of Army on the base. The AF is actually taking over from the Army, responsible for base security and the like, so we're building the place up. There are also a lot of contractors/civilians. Apparently they make a BUNCH of cash here...lucky them.

One of my co-workers (prior enlisted Lt) remarked how the AF used to be a lot less complicated, back when we joined (he's also a bit older). I couldn't agree more. We've got lots of little rules regarding uniform wear here in the AOR. Some of it makes lots of sense, but there are other rules that have me puzzled. Examples of that later...I've got to go to another meeting. Some things don't change...even in a war zone!

Ah… about that last paragraph: an admission, of sorts. You’re more than aware, Gentle Reader, that I look upon Today’s Modern Air Force as something less than what it was when I left it back in the stone tablet days, c. 1985. But USAF’s new management is looking to shake things up and affect change. Here’s an example:

Blue Mondays: Beginning today, airmen are required to wear a combination of the Air Force's blue uniform on Mondays. The decision came out of the strategic summit Aug. 27 at Bolling AFB, D.C., the service said in a release Sept. 5. "We all agreed that part of our image, culture, and professionalism is instilled in our blues," said Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, in the memo that he circulated Sept. 4 to announce the change. The policy is mandatory for most career fields, but installation commanders retain the authority to adjust it as necessary for mission requirements. Prior to 9/11, most airmen wore blues as their primary duty uniform.

That, of course, is a blurb from AFA’s Daily Report, available as a direct link in my sidebar. Yeah, it’s a sop to the past and a very minor sort of sop it is, too. Still and even, it’s a start. I’m pretty sure this new policy won’t apply in the AOR, but it will do MY ol’ heart good to see the troops walking around Cannon Airplane Patch in the blue uni. I’m gonna make it a point to conduct whatever bid’niz I may have out at the base on Mondays from now on. That probably won’t do much good, however, seeing as how the main reason I go out to the base is to shop (“when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!”)… and the commissary is closed on Mondays.

Oh, well.

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Today’s Pic: Since the greatest part of this post is about SN1, I figured a photo of him in his working environment would be appropriate. Here he is… along with SN3… standing in a hangar in close proximity to a Lawn Dart.

Cannon AFB. July, 2004.