As most readers know, 'Fast Money' host Dylan Ratigan is no longer with CNBC. His contract is set to expire this week and when it became clear that no new agreement would be reached, the network brass decided to cut him loose a few days early.
The details of the network conflicts aside, Ratigan has been a true warrior for taxpayers in the ongoing bank bailouts and bonus drama. Several times per week viewers could count on Dylan losing his cool on air and launching into a bailout and bonus tirade that was both hilarious and cathartic for us and likely him as well.
I'll keep my personal comments to a minimum, but the loss of Ratigan is a huge blow to CNBC. Already bereft of intelligent voices, it moves a step closer to pure, unadulterated bubblevision with the departure of the Fast Money host. Nice work protecting taxpayers, producers Susan Krackower and Mary Duffy.
For a sample of the Ratigan rage, I found a very interesting radio interview (podcast) of Dylan from approximately 6 weeks ago. The interview is after the jump (at the bottom) along with a couple of classic Ratigan clips including his hilarious on-air flailing of Charlie Gasparino..
Sayonara to a truth teller and taxpayer advocate, Dylan James Ratigan.
Ratigan trying to deal with the ego of Charles Gasparino.
Dylan ranting about about Paulson, the SEC and the rest of the failed bank CEOs.