Up with Chris Hayes continues to impress

I've been deeply depressed by the flagrant lack of balance (not bias!) in our media's handling of Gaza. I don't expect much, but to watch clips from CNN turns my stomach. But I found a little refuge from a source that's established itself as one of the real bright spots for journalism and commentary in any medium, Up with Chris Hayes.

For a guy with my politics, being impressed by a national news program is a rare experience. I can't, of course, extract my admiration for the show's substance and willingness to look beyond typical media narratives from my compatibility with the show's politics. But I hope that even those to my right could find something to admire in the way that the show looks beyond the usual cast of pundits and politicos for its segments, for its willingness to entertain political ideas for outside of the American mainstream, and for its rigor. I've particularly admire the way the show has criticized Obama from the left, how it exposed Andrew Cuomo as a cynical politician who is no friend to liberals or progressives, Hayes's brave stance towards the use of the word "hero" to refer to any and all soldiers, and the aforementioned skeptical consideration of the Israeli position on Gaza, among other things. I don't agree with everything that's said by Hayes, but I am consistently amazed at what they get away with on cable news. If you don't watch it, you should, whether on cable or on the website.