Smells like a set up. A glorious one.

Later, during the umpteenth question about MSNBC, another shareholder’s microphone was cut, according to multiple attendees.

“The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt,” one attendee said. “Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it.”

One specific complaint about MSNBC concerned Keith Olbermann’s interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of “the limbic brain inside a right-winger.”

“They were upset that Olbermann didn’t bother to challenge her,” one GE shareholder said…

“My biggest surprise was the open hostility to MSNBC,” another shareholder said. “It was noticeable and loud. I don’t remember any of this going on last year.”

I want to believe this is righteous shareholder fury erupting in grassroots fashion after having endured one too many Chris Matthews leg thrills, but it’s strange that the reaction last year would have been so muted in comparison. Between the heat of the campaign and still having Bush to kick around, Olby and co. were more biased then than they are now. Why the sudden shareholder crankiness? Is it because Maddow’s ratings are tanking and Fox is crushing them in every time slot? Were the “teabagging” jokes the final straw? Or is it a simple matter of there being more than a few O’Reilly viewers among the GE ownership? Check out what aired on the Factor two nights ago. Exquisite timing, Bill.