EXTRA! Andrea Mitchell [a youthful 78] is cutting back on her workload

Not a huge story, but this is my bloody blog and I'll include what catches my fancy.

Andrea Mitchell, a giant of US TV journalism, is cutting back on her workload. Friday, Feb. 7 was her last appearance as the host of Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC. She is not going into retirement, but her appearances on television news and commentary programs hereafter will be occasional, as a guest commentator within the NBC system.

Mitchell was born in 1946 -- she'll turn 79 this October.

One of the highlights of her career has to be the day in July 2005 when she was forcibly ejected from the room in Khartoum where the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, was holding a press conference. Al-Bashir only wanted to take questions only from the well-tamed domestic reporters.

Genocide was underway in Sudan's Darfur province, at the hands of a semi-public militia. Mitchell shouted at al-Bashir, Mitchell shouted at him, "Can you tell us why the violence is continuing?" "Can you tell us why the government is supporting the militias?" "Why should Americans believe your promises?"

He didn't want to say, like a character in a Monty Python skit, "There's no good answer to that, I'm afraid. I was only hoping you wouldn't raise that particular point."

Happy semi-retirement to her. And, for the rest of us, remember the old letting-the-militia-do-the-dirty-work trick.

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