A Tree Falls in the Woods: Leftist Craig Crawford Leaving MSNBC

We all know the old saying - if a tree falls in the forest and there's nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Well, it seems a tree has fallen in the forest of MSNBC, and it is an indication that they may very well be coming apart at the seams.

In the wake of Dylan Ratigan's meltdown earlier this week, paid contributor Craig Crawford of CQPolitics.com has announced he is leaving MSNBC.

In a brief statement on the CQPolitics blog, Crawford said:

For those who might be interested - and you have every reason not to be - I am no longer with MSNBC. Three months short of my current contract I sent the following to the boss, Phil Griffin: "Phil, Just wanted to give you the heads up that my situation with MSNBC has become so unrewarding for me that I've decided to move on. -- Craig"

Responding to readers in the comments section of that blog post, he added the following:

"i simply could not any longer endure being a cartoon player for lefty games, just gotta move on to higher ground even if there’s no oxygen"

"i have never and never will forgive Chris {Matthews} for calling me a racist after the West Virginia primary (the last time I will ever go on air with him). Probably should have resigned then and there, but better late than never."

Additionally, in an email to Mediaite.com Crawford offered the following thoughts:

I haven’t felt like a good fit for MSNBC since the presidential campaign, and the hard turn toward point-of-view programming. No particular event brought this on, just my desire to try other outlets and have more fun. As far as Chris is concerned, on Morning Joe after the West Virginia primary he accused me of always defending Clinton and what he claimed to be her racially motivated campaigning. That’s the problem. Trying to be fair became seen as bias in the new thinking over there. But I do wish my many pals at MSNBC nothing but good things.

There is no doubt that Crawford, a regular on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and guest on other programs, is certainly a statement about the state of affairs at the Obama administration's darling network. Crawford, while certainly guilty of bias, was one of the less flamboyant liberals to offer commentary for the network.

But will anyone notice?

More discussion at Hot Air and Memeorandum.