You won't hear executives at MSNBC chanting "yes we can." The network that they cobbled together as a TV version of the left-wing screed Air America is in the ratings dumper. Advertising dollars that have never been easy are getting thinner. 
Since the inauguration of Barack Obama, Bill O'Reilly and the Fox News Channel have owned prime time. One night last week, for example, O'Reilly scored 3.5 million views compared to Olbermann's 1.4 million. Keith Olbermann may need to go back to sports. MSNBC is in big trouble without Bush to bash. Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and even Chris Matthews have filled their shows with nothing but anti-Bush hysteria for the last year. Now that their punching bag-in-chief has left Washington, they are lost.
Bush hating came naturally for MSNBC; their commentators lampooned "Dubya" at every opportunity. In addition to attacking Bush, they enjoyed trumpeting bad news with the hopes that it would make President Bush look bad.
After Bush's farewell address, Matthews came on the air and bashed Bush as a stupid buffoon who hung out with jocks, and proceeded to laugh at the notion that he reads books. This from the same Chris Matthews who said he "got a feeling running up his leg while listening to Barack" and also said it was "his job to make sure this presidency (the Obama presidency) works." More people tuned into his diatribes that mocked the Bush presidency than the few who tune into his rants supporting Barack Obama.
Another commentator who loves to hate Bush, liberal activist Rachel Maddow, said on her show following the farewell address, "this is the start of the part where we don't have President Bush to kick around anymore. there can be no promise that we won't be compelled to try to keep on with the kicking around." She spoke with the caption, "goodbye and good riddance," situated behind her. She then proceeded to kick Bush around for ten minutes straight, blaming him for everything from Katrina, 9/11, the existence of Hamas, the recession, and "two worthless wars". She had practically filled her show with anti-Bush rants and guests. After January 20, she has struggled to find new material.
But we give her credit for attacking Obama, albeit from the left. She is a critic of the reluctance of the Obama administration to prosecute President Bush and Vice President Cheney and other officials for so-called "war crimes" related to interrogation tactics used on terrorists. She is giving relentless coverage to left-wingers' calls for a Soviet-style inquisition.
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