Wall Street Wise and Washington, DC Dumb?

You'd think that Sirius and XM Satellite Radio would know that they must depend on the authority of people who live and work in Washington (members of the FCC, SEC and Congressional Committees) for approval of their proposed merger.

Washington, DC is a different animal than New York. It is "all political, all the time."

People who live and work in Washington, DC, "eat, breathe, sleep, swim in, sweat and bleed Washington." They are so political that every conversation is about politics. They suck up politics and political talk like sponges.

So, why do neither XM or Sirius carry the "MSNBC" channel? XM did carry MSNBC at one time, but dropped it from their channel's list. And what's this with the dropping of C-SPAN?

MSNBC bills itself as a political channel. With programs like "Imus in the Morning", the all day political coverage, "Hardball with Chris Matthews", "Tucker" with Tucker Carlson, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "Scarborough Country" with former Congressman Joe Scarborough, and all the elected officials and appointed agency officials who appear on those shows, MSNBC is a great favorite of those who "eat, breathe, sleep, swim in, sweat and bleed Washington."

So, the question again is, "Who do neither XM or Sirius carry the "MSNBC" channel and C-SPAN?"

Are they Wall Street Smart, but Washington, DC Dumb?

Don't the savvy programmers, officers and other management pros at both XM and Sirius know that it's not nice to mess with Washington, DC's favorite things? They might want to consult the people on their political PR and lobbyist payrolls.

Of course, even if XM and/or Sirius were to add MSNBC, that would not necessarily guarantee that the merger would have smooth sailing through all the turbulent and uncertain waters of the FCC, SEC and Congressional Committees. But, it sure wouldn't hurt their chances.

Most of those black SUV's carrying congresspeople, staff and various agencies heads are equipped with satellite radio. Why mess with "Mother Politics" and take away one of Washington, DC's political news sources that they're listening to while riding in them through the streets of the nation's capital?