Even if he is properly identified as a lobbyist, how can a paid lobbyist, whose job is to represent, for example, the auto industry and GM in particular, do a fair job of reporting a story about GM getting/seeking/needing/wanting/failing to get a gov't bailout? Either the lobbyist breaches the duty he owes to his client and either loses his job or causes his lobbying firm to lose a big, high-paying client, or the lobbyist covers the news with a bias towards GM and the auto industry. My guess is 100 times out of 100, the lobbyist will do the latter and serve his client at the expense of the viewers - 99% of whom won't even realize what's going on. To dismiss this concern with the response that all news is biased one way or another completely misses the point.

I have no doubt that Wolffe is a smart guy, and I've certainly agreed with him many times as he spoke on Countdown. But his opinion as a reporter carries legitimacy, while his opinion as a lobbyist representing clients does not.

Incidentally, the lobbying firm Wolffe works for identified Wolffe on its website as one of their lobbyists and stated that he frequently appeared on MSNBC. So the companies who pay this firm to have Wolffe advocate for their positions were implicitly told that if they hire this lobbying firm they will get Richard Wolffe to say good things about them and their political positions on MSNBC. Who knows how many times he's done this. He's not a journalist anymore, so he has no duty to disclose conflicts of interest.

As long as Wolffe is a lobbyist, there is simply no reasonable excuse for him to appear on a legitimate news program like Countdown. It brings Countdown and MSNBC down to the level of Faux News and is utterly beneath them. Whether Wolffe is a nice, smart guy is irrelevant. Anyway, a lobbyist is paid to smile.

Keep this guy OFF of MSNBC unless he's giving an opinion on what it's like to be a Washington lobbyist. If I ever catch him guest-hosting Countdown again, I will put MSNBC on my "no-watch" list along with Fox News. Anyone who willingly and knowingly tunes in to listen to a Washington lobbyist report the nightly news is a moron of the highest degree and should have his/her eyes and ears gouged out to save them from being misinformed. It really scares me to hear anyone say this is okay. Either they don't know the facts or they are a complete idiot.

I actually like Wolffe on "Countdown". He was a decent substitute host, although to date only Lawrence O'Donnell (and in the old days, Alison Stewart, who I think only subs for Rachel now) is really tolerable as a substitute (David Schuster is awful--just barely watchable). I also like Wolffe's intellect and opinions, which so far have not seemed slanted in favor of a lobbyist's agenda. And then there's his accent, which adds a nice flavor to the show.

I do agree that he should be properly identified, especially if he's no longer with "Newsweek" and isn't really a journalist anymore. They do that with Howard Dean now, don't they?

Well god forbid you mention shows other then Big Brother or some other fat loosing reality show. Why inflict reality into the small minds of "reality show" watchers. Funny, the right complains about the total dominance of the Liberal Media. They all lean to the right, CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS. We won't mention Fox. MSNBC is the only station that doesn't cave in to conservative pressure and gives voice to those not marching to the right wing christian conservative corporate agenda.

I missed Countdown last night (I thought he was going to be on tonight). Does anyone known how they identified Wolffe?

Allison, you are very, very wrong. First of all, I love Keith Olbermann and I watch Countdown every night (as well as Maddow).

HOWEVER, ever since Richard Wolffe quit his job as a reporter for Newsweek and became a lobbyist, it is grossly improper for him to appear on the show as a seemingly independent, neutral reporter and "MSNBC political consultant." Even worse was the one night when Wolffe GUEST HOSTED Countdown. For an hour on primetime cable, a paid lobbyist - whose job is to advocate for his firm's wealthy clients - was hosting a nightly news program pretending to be a neutral journalist. This was disgraceful. MSNBC should have been fined for that. And Wolffe should not be permitted within 100 miles of Olbermann's desk.

And like I said, I regularly watch MSNBC and I despise Faux "News" so don't think I'm just parroting what Bill OReilly told me to say. Not at all. It is not a trivial "matter of semantics" for Wolffe to be on Countdown while he is working as a lobbyist. I never liked Wolffe all that much to begin with when he was a reporter for Newsweek. Wolffe is a sleazy guy - he leveraged the access to candidate and now president Obama he had due to his job at Newsweek to write a book about Obama, and as soon as he got it published he quit his job at Newsweek and joined a lobbying firm (as a lobbyist who knows the president personally and even wrote a book about him based on first-hand experience - talk about a value-added commodity in Washington).

You're the first person I've seen who actually LIKES Wolffe on Countdown. The only thing the show has been missing lately is Keith, as he's been out dealing with his ailing father. Richard Wolffe, nor any other lobbyist, should be on a legitimate news program as anything other than "Lobbyist" ... letting lobbyists appear as "contributors" to the show/channel (i.e. "CNN Contributor") is the type of crap Fox News does - MSNBC has always been above that. Until the Richard Wolffe incident... which they did remedy. But if they're letting him back on MSNBC, they better not identify him as anything other than "Richard Wolffe - LOBBYIST" ... I guess we'll see. I will be horribly pissed off and disappointed with MSNBC if Wolffe shows up on Countdown and is identified as a Countdown/MSNBC "Contributor" or "Political Consultant." If they do that, then they're only marginally more honest than Fox.

Don' t waste your time reviewing shows nobody watches.

And you guys need to stick with entertainment, not political talk shows.