MSNBC Phil Griffin… a paragon of ethics?

It’s like de ja vu all over again. MSNBC President Phil Griffin is again chastising his network’s television hosts by meting out suspensions. The latest victim, according to a Bloomberg News article by Ronald Grover that appeared in the November 20, 2010 edition of The News & Observer is Joe Scarborough. He was placed on a two-day time out for making scintilla-sized donations of $500 to his brother and three of his longtime friends who were involved in local political races. The article did not mention whether or not Scarborough would be docked pay for the two day suspension.

Now, it appears that what Mr. Scarborough and Mr. Keith Olbermann, who underwent a similar suspension just weeks earlier, did was to violate the MSNBC policy which requires that political contributions be cleared in advance by the network. Scarborough and Olbermann did not consult the network before doling out their miniscule campaign contributions. It is obvious that the reason for the MSNBC policy requiring that contributions be cleared is so that the network can control which politicians receive campaign contributions. If, for example, Joe Scarborough wanted to contribute to a politician whose views were not to the liking of the MSNBC bigwigs, his request would be denied. Or, if Keith Olbermann wanted to make a donation to a politician whose goals were similar and/or favorable to those of MSNBC, then he would receive the go-ahead. So, the MSNBC policy requiring that contributions be cleared in advance, is, itself, unethical and sleazy.

A contrite Mr. Scarborough was quick to accept responsibility for his misstep, which was the right thing to do… especially if he wanted to remain employed at the network. This is the kind of bullying that keeps MSNBC employees “in their place.” That is why Mr. Scarborough, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow won’t comment about MSNBC Senior Legal Analyst Susan Filan’s libelous online statement about former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong. Let’s face it, if I were in their shoes, I probably wouldn’t either, especially if I had a family to support, a mortgage to pay, and wanted to live a luxurious lifestyle. It is never wise to bite the hand that feeds you. So, I do not fault them for choosing to look the other way when it comes to Ms. Filan’s misdeeds.

For those unfamiliar with Ms. Filan’s June 17, 2007 article in which she stated that Mike Nifong asked his son to attend his hearing before the North Carolina State Bar, and then trashed him for doing so and suggested that he used his son to gain sympathy and pity, a full Investigative Report is available on our website: www.justice4nifong.com. The problem with the June 17th article by Ms. Filan is that she fabricated the part about Mr. Nifong asking his son to attend his hearing. She just made it up out of thin air. No one gave her such information and she never viewed a recording in which Mr. Nifong made the statement. Fact of the matter is, after I spoke with Mrs. Nifong, who is privy to private Nifong household conversations, told me that Mr. Nifong specifically asked his son not to attend, but that his son insisted on doing so to show support for his embattled father. This illustrates that although it was Ms. Filan who accused Mr. Nifong of using his son for his personal gain, it was Ms. Filan who used Mr. Nifong’s son to her benefit… and her objective was to carry out a Jedi Mind-trick on the public. Her actions were sanctioned, no doubt, by the head honchos at MSNBC who were in cahoots with others in the media, the state of North Carolina, the North Carolina State Bar, the triumvirate of barristers representing the Carpetbagger families of the Duke Lacrosse players, and others conspirators to destroy Mike Nifong.

Because the media closely adheres to the Carpetbagger Jihad agenda against Nifong, it goes out of its way not to broadcast or publish articles about events which shine a positive light on Mr. Nifong, or events which cast a negative shadow on his detractors. Such is what happened at Duke University on April 14, 2010, when I attended an event on the Duke campus which was advertised as open to the public. At the conclusion of the informal interview of guest Justice Stephen Breyer, I was approached by security and asked to leave the campus. I was targeted not for anything I said or anything I did. I was kicked off campus because of my thoughts, opinions, and beliefs about Mike Nifong. In other words, I was discriminated against because I was an openly known supporter of Mike Nifong. The security guard, who was sent to oust me in this premeditated and malicious incident, had no idea why I was being evicted, and as he stated repeatedly, he was “only doing my job.” And, I believe him, but, just because I tried to ascertain from him the reason for my being escorted off campus, he repeatedly threatened me with arrest. The majority of my conversation with the security guard is on audio record along with a transcript now available on the Investigative Report section of our website.

The media has no problem covering other instances of discrimination, such as that at Raleigh’s Cameron Village Shopping Center recently, during which a security guard asked two lesbians who were showing a little public affection to leave the property. Coverage was intensive and extensive… including the incident, the apology, the meeting between the aggrieved and the employer of the security guard, and the rally which celebrated the concessions won to protect rights of gays and lesbians on Cameron Village grounds. Even CNN gave the incident heavy news air time, and an appearance on the Joy Behar show. However, I am told by a media-type that Duke’s discrimination against me (based solely upon what was contained within my cranium) is not newsworthy. It is obvious that the definition of “newsworthy” is applied by a separate set of standards when it comes to Mike Nifong… and that is not surprising, because everything having to do with Mr. Nifong (his disbarment, persecution, and denied rights) is singular.

So the ethical Mr. Griffin, who probably made political contributions which he cleared with himself, will most likely continue to do his part to keep the masses ignorant of the egregious and blatantly false writings of MSNBC Senior Legal Analyst Susan Filan, as well and the inexcusable lapses of judgment on the part of Duke University in its discriminatory actions against me. That, unfortunately, is the reality of today’s media, a place wherein there is no room for ethics.