And now, as promised, a Special Comment from Rachel Maddow on the suspension of Keith Olbermann:
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Rachel Maddow on Keith Olbermann suspension
Published Friday, November 5, 2010 media 28 CommentsTags: maddow, msnbc, olbermann, teh stupid
28 Responses to “Rachel Maddow on Keith Olbermann suspension”
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unrepentant old hippie 
So what? I mean, really.
The issue is not that Olbermann did something horrible, but that he violated the clearly stated (“explicit,” according to Rachael) rules of MSNBC.
Fox does not have this rule, so Hannity did not break his employer’s rules. Nor did Sarah Palin.
For the record, I think this is a preposterous rule. Work is work, private life is private life, and your employer has no business telling you whether or not you can donate to absolutely anything. I personally believe that, if Olbermann were doing a good job, and donated to both CPUSA & NAMBLA, he should not have his job threatened for doing so. If you have an agenda as a newscaster, not contributing to campaigns does not thwart that agenda, it only hides it. If you have a bias as a newscaster, not contributing to campaigns & causes does not thwart that bias, it only hides it.
On another tack, Rachael said that Olbermann is a liberal, and that she is too. It should be pretty clear that both of them use their positions to further liberal goals — Olbermann far more than Maddow (and since they are commentators, there is no error not fouls for doing so), IMO. This is what people have been saying about PMSNBC for some time, only to be pooh poohed. But Rachael came right out and said it…
When you work for someone else, while you are doing their work they’re entitled to have it done their way.
I think Maddow is embarrassing her employers. Good for her.
I’ll bet Rachael Maddow is the man in the relationship and Keith is the girl…
I started watching MSNBC because a progressive, Democratic friend recomended I catch Keith Olberman. I can only echo the many comments already made by others. I think NBC is wrong and should crawl into Keith’s office with hat in hand. He deserves to be an MSNBC host. His ratings are of the highest NBC enjoys. I would much rather watch Keith than suffer through an installment of Hardball. Chris Matthews does nothing but scream “questions” at his guests and then proceeds to answer them the way he wants them answered! Ask the question and then shut up Chris! If Keith chooses to return he will again be a great asset to NBC. If he doesn’t return,it’s NBC’s loss. Thank you Rachael for having the courage to stick up for your friend and for being a positive voice for those of us in the Gay community.
What an interview and a check, eh? LOL
Brian – The problem is that the rules “explicitly” say that the employee “should” get the OK from management first, not that they *must* get the OK from management first. Even a half-assed lawyer could make short work of that.
In any case, stupid as they may be (and I agree with you, they are stupid), those are the rules, Olbermann should have known and complied. An indefinite suspension without pay is a little heavy-handed.
LOL, I don’t think there’s ever been any doubt. But so what?
Rachel’s point is, they may comment on the news through a liberal lens, but MSNBC itself is not a political operation pretending to be “news”. That’s why they have these dumb rules, to keep their commentators from appearing to be doing what certain other networks do, which is blatantly campaign for certain parties.
Mark – I think her remarks were well made, and if she embarrassed MSNBC, good. They should be embarrassed, this makes their management look like nitwits.
Jasper – And surprise! Another intelligent comment from Jasper.
Bill Jagoe – Rachel rocks and so does Olbermann 8) I like Hardball too, Tweety cracks me up sometimes, but RM and KO are #1!
Srsly, do Brian and Jasper jerk off when they write their shit to this blog or what?
I can understand the value of an opposing point of view, when it has actual value. But unless JJ is paying them, I don’t see much value in being a resident troll. They might as well be JJ’s pets, or mascots.
I know, I protest too much about B&J (hmm, BJ, I’ll leave that one alone).
The whole world was waiting for Rachel to say something about this and she came through. I’ve been looking for a dude like her for years.
…and she came through.
She sure did. What she seems to have said was: “It’s not fair that my employer treated my colleague like that when that loony, dangerous, joke of a soapbox for racists and creationists treats their employees differently.” That’s tellin’ ’em, Rachel.
Bruce – Jasper earned himself a one-way ticket to the Blacklist, I am tired of his brainless one-liners.
Peter – That’s not what I got from it at all — more like “KO knows the rules and should have abided by them. That said, an indefinite suspension is a little heavyhanded IMO. But the fact that this could happen shows that there’s a big difference between what Fox does and what MSNBC does, and people should stop using the false equivalence that all cable news orgs are the same.”
JJ:
Ok, ok, but this is your team suspending your idol. What in the name of God has this got to do with us?
OK, class, quizz time. Your favourite liberal, progressive commentator is suspended by your favourite liberal, progressive network. Do you blame:
A) MSNBC;
B) Fox Network;
C) The 46 million Americans who voted for the GOP; or
D) George W. Bush?
So much for the idea that the MSM is controlled by the liberal “elite” huh? That’s the point everyone has been making over the suspension in case no one else reads the news.
Peter, your poll questions might be viewed by some as a little biased, leading. Just like Fox news.
Oh darn, there’s that liberal elite bias coming out in me again.
there’s that liberal elite bias coming out in me again
Indeed. It’s becoming a mark of pride, isn’t it?
Good morrow, all!
When Clarence Darrow faced down William Jennings Bryan in the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial”, he lost. The guilty party was fined one hundred dollars, a LOT of money for the year 1910. It was a moral victory for the cause of progressive education, as the penalty could have been MUCH worse.
Keith Olbermann has been the most articulate and respected voice at MSNBC for liberals and progressives, and the right is probably dancing in the street. As did the South, until Lincoln rearranged the board and put Sherman and Grant on the road. As did Hitler in Germany, until the RAF shot the Luftwaffe in the knackers. As did Russia in Afghanistan, until the mujahideen (with the support of Charlie Wilson) started shooting down their gunships.
MSNBC just might have to suspend Rachel as well, and what makes anyone think that would bring out the fat lady to sing?
Truman was SUPPOSED to lose to Dewey. Kennedy was SUPPOSED to lose to Nixon. Ho Chi Minh was SUPPOSED to surrender. The Berlin Wall was SUPPOSED to remain up forever.
Keith Olbermann will not remain silent, and neither will his supporters. The past does not equal the future.
Good night, and good luck – CTZen
Peter, Nice try sweetie darling.
Peter = It has nothing to do with “you” directly. This is a completely internecine feud between “us”, only tangentially related to “you”.
Rachel’s point relates to Jon Stewart’s rally last weekend.
Stewart spoke about toxic political rhetoric and made what many believe is a false equivalence between Fox and other cable news networks — ie., for every Glenn Beck there’s a Keith Olbermann, etc. The difference is that Beck makes shit up out of whole cloth, and while Olbermann may get a little overenthusiastic at times, he reports the news, he doesn’t make it up. Maddow is pointing out yet another big difference, which is how blatantly Fox shills for the GOP, as opposed to legitimate news networks which punish their commentators for even making personal donations. See what I mean? What Sean Hannity can brag about on the air, Keith Olbermann gets suspended for.
That is what she means when she says this episode should finally lay to rest any false equivalences between Fox and legitimate news networks.
JJ:
I only know Beck and Olberman from YouTube links on blogs and, to be honest, I find them both appalling. I can understand how each side tends to be more enraged by the one in the opposing camp, but I don’t get this argument that Beck is a dishonest demagogue while Olberman is a principled journalist who is just a little too exuberant at times. They are both inflammatory, both play to the American love of conspiracy, and both appeal to fear and prejudice. Did you ever see Ben Affleck’s takedown of Olberman?
I was intrigued by Stewart’s rally for sanity until it became obvious he considered that only one side was sanity-challenged. If leftists really want to beat this elitism charge, they’re going to have to do more than just offer the right lessons in manners and spelling. 🙂
Peter
It isn’t their reporting style that’s important, it’s what they report.
Olbermann reports news that’s been sourced and vetted for accuracy. On the rare occasion where an inaccuracy has been inadvertently reported, there’s an on-air mea culpa. Beck (and many others at Fox) routinely “report” un-sourced un-vetted rumours off the internet as if they’re news — this week’s “Obama’s $2 million a day 34 warship 2000-person entourage trip to India” being a prime example — and even after the stories are debunked by someone in the know (ie. this week’s rumour was debunked by the Pentagon). No mea culpa, it’s just on to the next rumour.
To me this is a huge difference.
Look, nobody is more painfully and embarrassingly aware than I am that there are idiots, hypocrites and dingbats on both sides of the political spectrum. (One look at Prog Bloggers right now would confirm this.) Pointing it out has made me immensely unpopular, but so what.
However, some equivalences are just wrong, and the idea that Fox and MSNBC are mirror images of one another, and that Keith Olbermann is just a left-wing Glenn Beck, is one of them.
“Bruce:
Srsly, do Brian & Jasper jerk off when they write their shit to this blog or what? ”
OMG! That is so insightful. I was feeling pretty good about my post, but your intellectually superior, iron-clad response has just, well… Just shut my mouth!
“But unless JJ is paying them, I don’t see much value in being a resident troll.”
I never troll. If you can’t distinguish between serious post, in which the poster is speaking his mind and trolling, the problem lies with you. JJ sees that I am not a troll.
“Jasper earned himself a one-way ticket to the Blacklist, I am tired of his brainless one-liners.”
I think that’s the right move. I didn’t get the feeling from his posts that he was at all contemplative.
I don’t read blogs but I did today since I wanted to see what was being said about the sad loss of Keith and Countdown. Who are you children who are posting here. Jasper, JJ Bruce???Yoou all sound like petulant children. You should grow up and get some common sense.
crankylady – Cut us some slack, we’re all posting from a hospital for the criminally insane.
So Hannity and the others gave to the favorite Rep,,big deal,,its just a network rule,,so change it, then they will be equal to Fox,,but only in that way. Everybody has there fav and should be able to contribute to whom every they want to,,remmber its a free country