If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Watching Keith's apparently unmoored anger has often been confusing, but given what's now been widely reported, it makes more sense. The end was near, and he knew it.
Olbermann's voice and voices like his must not be quelled if our democracy is to survive.
Our sports and television habits have made us vicarious, virtual livers. Celebrity reality isn't the reality most of us live. By focusing on the reality of others, we neglect our own and wonder why we're unhappy.
Keith, for all his faults, was erudite, intellectual, and unafraid of being associated with liberal causes, and that courage made him the anti-O'Reilly and anti-Beck all in one
Political horror film: Sarah Palin is put into a time machine and unleashed on John F. Kennedy in the 1960s. "How's that 'civility's not a signy of we...
Ironically, Olbermann's tenure at MSNBC may have really ended because of something very much like the thing that he rightfully ridiculed Bush for more than anything else. Maybe he really left because of a Mission Accomplished.
For seven grueling days, GOP congressmen have been behind closed doors, refining their best winces, grimaces, and other sourpuss mannerisms under the tutelage of Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Anyone charging that Olbermann's show was equivalent to Beck's clearly hasn't watched either. Olbermann wasn't objective, but he was honest about it. His show was well-researched; it relied on facts to make progressive points.
It's not so much that Olbermann (whose final broadcast on MSNBC occurred Friday) had strong opinions, it's that he was strong on the facts. He corrected every mistake, a rarity on cable news.
When Keith Olbermann signed off his show on Friday, he made reference to Network, the powerful 1976 network news film. Even if you haven't seen the film, you know the classic line.
With the latest casualty in the struggle for progressive thought "mysteriously" leaving, the thinking world must again stand by the cartoon pomposity that the right often depends upon.
It was Olbermann's principled outrage at the Bush administration that established his "brand" -- but the fact that Olbermann was a "brand" in the first place points to the intrinsic limitations of corporate media.
Whatever the circumstances and fallout of Keith's departure, NBC News faces this contradiction of how to run a middle-of-the road news network and a partisan cable channel.
I didn't always agree with Keith Olbermann, but I'd fight to the death for his right to be one smart man and compelling wiseass.
