I’m guilty and so are a lot of people. I always find it difficult to figure out what is and isn’t passive and then how to fix it. Leave it to Grammar Girl to do a good job explaining it. A must read for…everyone.

In the 2004 presidential election I did not watch many of the debates. I had no need to. The day after the debate I would watch the 24 hour news networks and would see all the highlights with a chance to absorb them in and hear commentary from various pundits on TV. It was great.

The problem is for me it’s not 2004 any more. I have for the most part stopped watching TV news (shhh don’t tell anyone). Instead I read newspaper and TV websites and more often then not I get my commentary and additional insight from blogs. So I was under the assumption that the day after this recent debate I would see video clips galore online and in blogs. Not the case. Why? Because as Jeff Jarvis pointed out MSNBC “is acting like the bratty and unpopular rich kid who takes him marbles and harumphs home, ruining the game for everyone.”

MSNBC’s antiquated policies on the usage of debate video have left me feeling completely clueless. Now I surely can read about the debate online, but it just isn’t the same as seeing the clips. So please MSNBC stop ruining the game for everyone.