Last night Dave Weigel sat down with Keith Olbermann to discuss the use of Abraham Lincoln in the campaign ad of Tea Party candidate Rick Barber in the Alabama 2nd. It was also announced that Weigel has joined MSNBC as a contributor, whatever that means. Reaction to the hire on Twitter was, shall we say, slightly on the negative side. Watch the clip below and decide for yourself, but I can’t think of any other contributor to MSNBC that, while discussing a somewhat kooky ad, pushes back as Weigel did. Toward the end of the segment, Weigel compares this Barber ad to an ad for Democrat Russ Feingold which uses a likeness of George Washington to rail against the Patriot Act.

Here’s the segment:

And over in the Corner, Dan Foster has an interview with Weigel that’s worth a read.