Letter to MSNBC

Dear NBC,

Finally!!!!! I have always known that all of you at MSNBC are right where I am politically, but you have made it really hard to recognize ... until now. Over the years, I have grown completely angry - almost violently so - at the way typical news organizations have utterly caved to our ignorant society's definition of the "normal". Just a superficial glance at CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, etc. will tell even the laziest of viewers the same essential message: all women who "relay" the news have to be beautiful. Now, you and I both know that our sisters in the information business are slightly more than just conduits for the news. I am excited that people (male and female) who are of my political persuasion (which is unashamedly liberal) dominate the news media. However, although all the "good" news organizations manipulate facts to lean completely toward the left, they have all, until now, been utterly hypocritical in their portrayal of what a TRUE enlightened woman looks like. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for being the first news organization to "come out of the closet", so to speak.
Tears came to my eyes the night that I saw Rita Cosby on your network. At first, I thought I was responding the same way I always do to Jimmy Buffett's "A Pirate Looks at Forty" (it was playing on my stereo while the TV was on mute). However, I knew it wasn't Jimmy that was making me cry, because I ONLY cry over that song after a really long day of softball (usually a round-robin tournament) and a six-pack of Bud. No, it was Rita who was making me cry. Actually, it wasn't Rita, but it was your network's willingness to put a less-than-attractive woman in front of the camera. I'm not saying that Rita is a dog (though she looks like Miss America compared to me and all the women I hang with), but we all know that she is more representative of all the "real" women in America - the progressive thinkers, the ones who aren't afraid to go out in public without makeup, the ones who aren't afraid to carry an extra 40, 50, 60 pounds, the ones who aren't ashamed that they would rather have a haircut like Patrick Swayze in "Dirty Dancin' " than a prissy Ann Coulter with her long, blonde, silky hair. Rita is the closest thing I have ever seen to real America - at least real LIBERAL America. I don't even know Rita's political persuasion. I don't really care. All I know is that she's an "un-pretty" woman. Until now, the only news organization to give a platform to ugly women was FOX. How can that be? How can this conservative network be the one who is willing to put ugly women on camera? I thought that conservatives were completely controlled by the media's stereotypes of beauty. Conservatives are so non-thinking that you can TELL them what is beautiful and they'll believe it. Beauty, as we all know, is a fabrication of white men and their secret desire to dominate the world. It seemed to me for so long that FOX news was the only organization who actually treated women according to their abilities instead of "image" or looks (or other feminine attributes). That's why I have always been so confused at FOX. I HATE them and their "fair-and-balanced" approach to news. I mean, we progressives know that the proletariat doesn't need anything objective. With objectivity, Americans may actually come to conclusions with which none of us progressives agree. And we all know where that may lead (i.e. Congress: 1994).
I've kind of gotten off track here. I don't mean to bring utter flattery to your network, but I am just so excited. I feel like a nomad in a desert who has come to an oasis. I have been choking on the looks of Nora O'Donnell, Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper, Soledad O'Brien (I know - she left you for another "beautiful-woman network) etc., etc., etc. I can't even remember their names since I am unable to see them through my tears.
I am just so thankful I can finally turn on my TV and see a deep-voiced, "puffy", non-pretty female telling me what to think. She is more like me. Rita is my new hero (and such a good strong name for a woman). I also want to congratulate CBS for hiring their first non-pretty woman news anchor. Some may consider Katie Couric "perky", but since she constantly promotes our message in the name of "news", I don't care how homecoming-queen-like she is.

Thanks for listening,

Sara Stone