From Crawford’s blog:

For those who might be interested – and you have every reason not to be – I am no longer with MSNBC. Three months short of my current contract I sent the following to the boss, Phil Griffin:  “Phil, Just wanted to give you the heads up that my situation with MSNBC has become so unrewarding for me that I’ve decided to move on. — Craig”

Short, sweet and to the point. But it doesn’t stop there. Mediaite, the site ran by former MSNBC host Dan Abrams, got even more info out of Crawford:

But he really expanded on the reasoning in the comments:

i simply could not any longer endure being a cartoon player for lefty games, just gotta move on to higher ground even if there’s no oxygen

i have never and never will forgive Chris for calling me a racist after the West Virginia primary (the last time I will ever go on air with him). Probably should have resigned then and there, but better late than never.

We asked Crawford what he was referring to regarding Chris Matthews, and to expand on why he left the network. He responded by email:

I haven’t felt like a good fit for MSNBC since the presidential campaign, and the hard turn toward point-of-view programming. No particular event brought this on, just my desire to try other outlets and have more fun. As far as Chris is concerned, on Morning Joe after the West Virginia primary he accused me of always defending Clinton and what he claimed to be her racially motivated campaigning. That’s the problem. Trying to be fair became seen as bias in the new thinking over there. But I do wish my many pals at MSNBC nothing but good things.

This appears to be that incident from Morning Joe.

This was the same point in time that I was getting fed up with MSNBC. Everyone who read this blog during 2008 knows I was behind Obama, but I couldn’t handle a news network showing so much support for a candidate like they did Obama. Sorry, but isn’t that one of the things we bitch about when it comes to FOX news? Isn’t that something the big names at MSNBC bitch about when it comes to FOX news? So what gives them the reason to engage in the very activity they so strongly denounce?

This is in large part a reason why I don’t watch MSNBC that much anymore. They no longer have any journalistic ethics or integrity. I know a lot of lefty bloggers like them because their political views lean more towards our side, but to me that causes more harm than good. MSNBC really needs a good shake up, but sadly I doubt Crawford’s leaving will spark that.