This is great news. Chris Hayes is taking over the 8 PM slot at MSNBC, right after Chris Matthews. Hayes actually believes in human rights for Palestinians, and has not been afraid to host actual Palestinian-Americans who believe that too, notably Yousef Munayyer and Noura Erakat (check out that astonishing panel from last November). Yes, Hayes has had to do the balancing act with the usual pomaded neocons, but he obviously does not feel intimidated and the network’s move is another sign that the lib-left has to make room for this discourse.
(P.S. I think Francis’s election yesterday was also good for Palestine, though it’s not quite as clear.)
This is indeed great news. Ever since I discovered Hayes a few months ago, I’ve watched his show with great interest. He is a brilliant host, and thrives on the back-and-forth of multiple viewpoints on a very wide variety of topics. With the two-hour format, he always has lengthy analysis of each issue. My guess is that his format will change a good deal in prime time and I hope it does not reduce his effectiveness. He does not often discuss Middle East issues, but does not seem afraid to do so, and his instincts appear quite good. He recently had an excellent monologue on the Brooklyn College BDS flap.
I’m not sure if this is good news or not–I sometimes wondered if Hayes was allowed free rein on Saturday/Sunday because only the wonkiest sorts of lefties would be watching then. Now that he’s primetime, I suspect the quality of the program will go down. I don’t mean that he’ll change his views on the I/P conflict, but that there may be pressure to dumb the show down for the primetime audience. Will there really be an hour of mostly thoughtful discussion among talking heads? I’ll be pleasantly amazed if the format stays the same.
On the plus side, there will be absolutely no temptation whatsoever to stay inside and watch TV on Saturday mornings if Big Ed is taking over that time slot.
“(P.S. I think Francis’s election yesterday was also good for Palestine, though it’s not quite as clear.)”..Phil
I thought about that too. Francis is a Jesuit, the first Pope elected from the Society of the Jesuits I believe.
The Jesuits are a whole different group in their training and philosophy than the other priest of the Church. They were always more the ‘political arm” and intelligentsia of the Church. …… and…er…sometimes ‘provocateurs’ …as in the Boer Wars in China.
According to reports Francis is very dedicated to the poor and oppressed and didn’t exactly stay out of ‘politics’ in Argentina.
I think his first priority is probably to get the Church back on track and clean it up, but if he does weigh in on I/P the 1.3 billion Catholics around the world would be quite a force.
Hayes getting a prime time slot is great…..I just hope it doesn ‘t come with ‘restrictions” and taboos.
“Pomaded neocons”–nice.