The definition of the term, "irony", has just been published - not by Merriam-Webster, but by The New York Times.
MSNBC long ago cast itself as the liberal counterpoint to Fox News. Its star muckraker, Keith Olbermann, left MSNBC and took his show to Current TV in June, but other progressive hosts, particularly Rachel Maddow, have continued to attract viewers — not nearly as many as routinely watch Fox News, but more than for less partisan shows on CNN. MSNBC, which found success by preaching to the converted, has now hired an actual preacher.
And that may be the problem with Mr. Sharpton’s cable news pulpit: what he means to say is in lockstep with every other MSNBC evening program, making the stretch between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. a nonstop lecture on liberal values and what is wrong with the Republican Party.
In other words, MSNBC is encroaching on what The New York Times regards as its turf. They may not take much else seriously, but they clearly regard their role as the bastion of liberalism as inviolable. And they're peeved at Sharpie and MSNBC. Really, you can hardly blame them.
