Flat out, I defy anyone to prove that MSNBC is "rigging" any live vote on our site. I can assure you, we neither have the time nor the desire to act as some kind of covert PR agency for ONE of our joint partners.
This entire dustup over MSNBC somehow rigging a live vote is ludicrous and frankly makes the Linux supporters sound like a bunch of whiny two year olds that have been made to go without their naps.
Microsoft has NO editorial influence on the news organization. Anyone that's followed our coverage of the company would know that.
I myself covered the Microsoft antitrust trial and I defy anyone to look at my coverage and say I was going soft on Microsoft.
And on Friday I broke a story about a Microsoft cover-up attempt when its MSN online service had a billing program installation blow up on them which ended up holding hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars of their subscriber's money "hostage" by putting a $504.85 "hold" on their accounts.
Microsoft didn't want that story out, but we not only covered it extensively, we broke the story in the first place.
Anyone that believes anyone at MSNBC is someone purposfully "stuffing" the ballot box of a Live Vote, which frankly, doesn't mean sh*t anyway, is smoking their lunch.
Brock Meeks
Chief Washington Correspondent
MSNBC.com
