Chris Hayes responded to my criticism of his "interview," if you can call it that, with wingnut Nevada state assemblywoman Michele Fiore, and explained why he is going to continue to "talk to the other side" on his show.

I'm going to keep my response short and sweet and just make a few points about Hayes' response above. First of all, I don't have a problem with Hayes or anyone else on his network having conservatives or people with varying opinions come on their shows to debate issues. But that segment with Fiore wasn't a "debate." It was her steamrolling him and spewing one crazy talking point after another to score points with every conservative blog and right-wing web site out there.

And second, the problem with having people from the other side of the aisle on isn't that you're having them on in the first place, it's if they're allowed on the air to lie, and those lies go unchallenged. Fiore's nonsense was so bad that Hayes had to spend an entire segment on his show Monday rebutting her, but by that time, the horse was out of the barn and had the whole weekend to run away.

I really used to enjoy Hayes' show on the weekend where he had two hours, and if someone had pulled something like Fiore did on Friday night, he would have had another segment to have her back on, or at the very least a whole lot of time on the very same show to rebut the craziness that just came out of her mouth, like the nonsense about law enforcement expecting us to "fire back". Hayes actually agreed with her the night he first interviewed her, instead of asking her if she was out of her mind. I think by the time what she said had registered, it was too late, she was off the air, and he had moved on to the next segment.

I don't think the shorter format during the week suits him well. I have a lot of respect for the fact that Hayes actually took any time to respond to the criticism at all, because most of his cohorts just ignore us. At least I don't feel like we're just screaming into the wind here.

Chris said he's determined to continue to have people from the "other side" on the air, and all I can say is more power to you, but please be ready for the next one that's going to try to steamroll you.
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