The Hairball Roundtable was spirited tonight, with Melanie Morgan unsurprisingly dominating the conversation by dint of talking over everyone else, being exceptionally shrill, spewing the usual talking points, etc. Naomi Wolf and Craig Crawford were their usual polite selves, attempting to have a rational conversation while Melanie smirked and spewed her way through the segment.
Tweety played the 1994 Cheney tape, then asked Melanie about it. Lots of loud talking over the host ensued, the usual predictable conservative technique of trying to dominate the conversation by continuous loud talking. Lots of emotion, references to 911, dead Americans, and burquas being worn by American women. At the end of the segment, Tweety, who seems to be growing a pair the last few days began to offer a personal statement. It started something to the effect that he "hates this war..am sad..disaffected...."
His remarks were interrupted by that tone you hear when a station is not broadcasting. (I am sure there is a technical term for this, but I don't know what it is.) The screen went to a triple window with Naomi framed on the right and Tweety on the left; Melanie's window was in the middle. But Melanie was not in it. Her window was broadcasting a test pattern and the tone.
Did she flip her own switch in a fit of pique over Tweety's statement about hating the war, or what? What just happened?
UPDATE: Two commentators ( inclusiveheart and Scarce) have opined that the program was running long, and that her satellite time was used up, hence the bars and tone, which makes perfect sense. At any rate, the segment was a hoot.
UPDATE 2: Evidently, whatever happened, it was trimmed from the 7 pm EST repeat.
UPDATE 3: Video now available at Crooks and Liars with all the hyperbole in, but with the test pattern edited out.
UPDATE 4: Morgan was Keith Olbermann's Worst Person In The World tonight, not for this but for her complaints about John Soltz.