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I've been traveling for the past week, and have thus spent a lot of time in lobbies and hotel rooms watching CNBC. I have always preferred Bloomberg as a source of financial/economic news and analysis, but it is a fact that CNBC is the business channel of record in the financial world (both within and outside of the US). They have unrivaled access, and so I tend to watch the network more than I do the decidedly better Bloomberg.

But recently, I, like many people, have simply become fed-up with CNBC's self-righteous, failed paradigm clinging, dancing on the deck of the titanic posture. The now infamous Rick Santelli spectacle on the floor of the Chicago Merc was but the tip of their hypocritical iceberg. The network's pundits have not only been cheerleaders for the financial industry bailouts, arguing incessantly that the systemic risks posed by the failure of large institutions dramatically outweighed any moral hazard or popular considerations, but now rally behind Santelli's bizarre and hypocritical admonishment of the Obama administration's efforts to provide less than 10% of US homeowners with less than one-billionth of the financial support provided to the banks. The debate over mortgage relief is a nuanced and important one, and both sides of this debate have merits to their argument. However, no one can possibly deny that the systemic implications of the mortgage market are any less important than those posed by the financial system. Remember, the practical foundation of the banking crisis is arguably the mortgage-backed securities that are still destroying confidence in the banking system and strangling credit, particularly inter-bank lending. Note to Santelli:

Your neighbors' (well, probably not your neighbors) mortgages matter as much to the recovery of the global economy as the profits of the trading firms you stand amidst daily on CNBC.

So, to limit the rant that this post has inevitably descend into, I will sum up my perspective on CNBC in this way:

CNBC has no credibility. Period.

Yet, because of their stature, access and unrivaled ability amongst business television outlets to influence the market, the network goes largely unchallenged in both its viewership and clout. In fact, the economic and financial downturn has boosted CNBC's ratings to record levels, as the amount of people looking to better understand their economic and financial circumstances increases. It is great that people are looking to educate themselves on the economic and financial forces impacting their lives, but unfortunate that they are turning to CNBC for that information (although, I am pleased to learn that the FT has been steadily increasing its circulation for some time).

Enter The Daily Show. Rick Santelli, who was scheduled to appear on the show last night, apparently cancelled at the last minute. The show was not, um, happy, and thus took it upon itself to, as only it can, call CNBC on its b*llsh*t. Enjoy.