Wednesday's resignation by Martin Bashir, who had been absent from MSNBC since a vicious, obscene attack on Sarah Palin last month, isn't at all surprising, says Noah Rothman, editor and writer at the news and opinion blog Mediaite.
"It wasn't really unexpected. Once you get . . . into the second week of 'vacation,' they're really just beginning to look for a way to replace you quietly," Rothman told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
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But Rothman said that despite Bashir's vulgar comments about Palin and human excrement, "my reaction is sort of melancholic, actually."
That's because it will likely result in the axing of a number of production staffers who had nothing to do with Bashir's Palin-bashing rant.
"What Bashir said was reprehensible, it's in a long line of reprehensible things that he's said, it's part of the editorial nature of his network, which has really gone beyond the pale. I'm sort of glad that they're pulling back on it," he said.
"But at the same time, it's not really anybody's fault on his production staff . . . So I feel for his staff, not necessarily Mr. Bashir.
"There's a whole lot of people under him who are certainly going to suffer as a result. There's going to be some redundancy."
Bashir said Wednesday that he decided to leave the network after meeting with MSNBC President Phil Griffin.
In his controversial monologue, Bashir called for Palin, former governor of Alaska and John McCain's vice presidential running mate in 2008, to be administered unprintable punishments from the days of slavery.
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