I've followed MSNBC a lot of years - early years, promising years, fat years, then the bad years, which frankly have been just about all the years. (Remember Jesse Ventura? Phil Donahue...?? Ratings you couldn't find with the Hubble Telescope?) 
So it's fitting that I call attention to the best night in MSNBC history, which happened just last night. Yes, there was a debate, and yes, a lot of people have been interested in these debates. But this performance is still extraordinary: 7.8 million people tuned in, which is just astounding for any network that's spelled with these five letters. It was the third biggest debate audience to date. Here's network boss Phil Griffin kvelling in a press release - he's entitled:
"Voters are incredibly engaged and passionate about the presidential election; it's one of the most exciting in history. I'm proud that millions of viewers were able to experience the most anticipated debate of the season on MSNBC. This is an exciting time for MSNBC, and numbers like these show that our work in establishing the network as the place for politics over the past two years has paid off."