Whereas; The Press, the Fourth Estate, is the gatekeeper of Truth in our country. If the Press does not report it, it effectively never happened as far as the all important reaction of the citizenry is concerned. Where the Press shines it’s light, freedom follows.

Whereas; The Press during the Bush Administration has not only blinded its own light in regards to scandalous crimes, it has on far too many occasions, such as the lead up to the Iraq Occupation and on Domestic Spying, and in the latest instance of the Military Analysts scandal, actually aided and abetted in the criminal acts and despicable propaganda activities of the Bush Administration.

We have determined that in order to take our country back from those who have usurped our democracy, in order to bring to light their crimes, in order to expose their methods, and most importantly..in order to make sure that these crimes and outrages can never occur again, the first necessary step on the log road back to America is to reform and retake the Fourth Estate, to Free The Press.

Realizing that this monumental task cannot be accomplished in one fell swoop, but must be approached incrementally, in a series of small but achievable steps, we have determined that the first step is getting a fresh, objective progressive voice that has not been tainted by the past eight years on the air.

Rachel Maddow.

To this end we are starting an E-mail and [Petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TheMaddowMovement/] drive to urge and/or pressure MSNBC to give Ms. Maddow her own show…we have named this effort, The Maddow Movement

This IS something the blogosphere can do if it unites. Cable news viewer ship is so small (especially in relation to its power to set the conversation) that signing the petition and sending a few e-mails really can have a big effect in this case! We will be taking the Maddow Movement to as many different websites and fansites as possible in the next two weeks. With YOUR help…we CAN do this!

Text of the petition:

Dear MSNBC,

We the undersigned hereby petition you to waste no time in giving your up and coming political commentator, Rachel Maddow, her own show on your network.

We wish to take this opportunity to point out the many and varied advantages to both you and the public, whom you serve as responsible members of the Fourth Estate. These advantages range from the personal to the political, to the financial interests of your fine network!

We hope you will consider this small sample of the reasons and advantages of promoting Ms. Maddow to a one hour show with her own time slot.

Admiration for Maddow’s fresh and fearless approach, sparkling intellect, quick wit, and refreshing honesty.

Her unquestionable appeal to key demographics. Including the 25-54 demo, which as guest host for the incredibly popular Mr Olbermann (as you undoubtedly know) she recently won, beating O’Reilly by 100,000 viewers. In the race against competing networks, how can one cable news outlet distinguish itself by appealing to the netroots savvy key demographic of 25-54 year old media consumers?

Two words: Rachel Maddow.

Representation. At this time you have an all male line up. Ms. Maddow would not only serve to represent all women on your network, but also represent the LGBT community, a demographic with massive purchasing power for your advertisers products.

Our concern for the overall state of the media in the rapidly approaching post Fox News, post Bush era. As the incredibly popular Mr. Olbermann consistently points out, the influence of Fox News brand of “journalism” as represented by O’Reilly and Hannity is corrosive to true journalism. It has tainted your entire industry. Adding Ms. Maddow to your lineup cannot help but restore credibility and professionalism to your entire industry.

And finally politics and culture.

As you well know the nation is fed up with the Conservative and Republican way of doing things and is ready for change. 80% of people polled say we are on the wrong track. For the last ten years the track we have been following has been the Conservative track. George Bush and Fox News have succeeded in setting the national media conversation and framing. Now a change is occurring. News consumers are fed up with the with the Conservative spin that has dominated the news. Since your network has rejected this and started broadcasting the incredibly popular Keith Olbermann to provide a counterpoint, you have no doubt noticed his success….and the increased viewership and profitably of your network!

We petition you to continue this trend by promoting Rachel Maddow to her own show.

As the nation changes, so must the media…and you can lead that change by promoting Rachel Maddow and putting the second objective, Progressive voice on the air in her own time slot with her own (increased) editorial control. Thus providing our nation with more real, balanced coverage of the news…and, due to Rachel’s unique and insightful voice and her many fans and admirers, practically guaranteeing a ratings winner!

To state the obvious, each of the signatories to this petition represents a viewing household.

Sample E-mail for quick mailing (it is of course more effective if you compose your own, but volume is important too! So do a quick C&P and mail it off!)

Dear MSNBC,

I very much appreciate Rachel Maddow’s work on your network and would like to see more of it. I urge you to give her her own show as soon as possible.

Thank You

Link to the petition

E-mail address: viewerservices@msnbc.com

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