Kucinich is out

By Libby

They didn't have Dennis to kick around tonight in Las Vegas. MSNBC made an emergency appeal and won in the higher state court.

MSNBC had no immediate comment on the ruling. It will likely be described as a First Amendment victory by the news organization, as lawyers for NBC had argued that it had a right, as a privately owned network, to determine whom to invite to the debate. The network changed the criteria for participation in the debate after other candidates dropped out of the Democratic race for president last week.

Maybe I'm missing something here but I don't see how excluding a named candidate advances FA interests. Not that this doesn't happen every time. It's why we can't get a viable third party going in this country. The media decides who to cover and in effect picks the frontrunners. If they have that right, they shouldn't. The deal is they get control of the public airwaves in return for keeping us fully informed. This does not satisfy that requirement. Whatever the legal niceties are, I think they're breaching the public trust.

Meanwhile, Christy gets quote of the day on how the favored three should have handled the debate tonight.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of problems that real Americans would like to see tackled. Wouldn't it be great to see all of the Democratic candidates turn the tables tonight on Tim Russert and Brian Williams, moderating tonight's Dem debate in Nevada? (Yeah, I don't know why either given their prior abysmal performance.) What if all of the candidates talked to each other not just about where they differ on issues and solutions, but also where they all stand strong together (H/T Digby) -- on solid Democratic principles, fighting for the folks who need a voice, lifting up those who need a hand -- and tell Tim and Brian to stuff it in their privileged classes.

I didn't watch it out of protest, but I'm assuming they didn't take her advice.