Good Riddance?

To be sure, Keith Olbermann will be back.

Where? Who knows. Who will take him? Would you?

There are likely multiple reasons why MSNBC unceremoniously dumped Mr. Olbermann so suddenly: disagreements with management; Olbermann’s suspension late last year over his political contributions to Democratic candidates; the imminent take-over of NBC Universal by Comcast; even, possibly, that Olbermann’s ratings were in danger of upset by his own popular MSNBC colleagues, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell.

The list could probably go on. Officially, Comcast denies that Mr. Olbermann was dumped due to any of its influence, but it seems too much of a coincidence that the firing occurred so close to the announcement of the US government approval of the merger.

Maybe Mr. Olbermann’s ungracious fall is all related to the recent criticism of the pugilistic and rhetoric-driven nature of “opinion TV,” a negative light brought about by – among other events – Jon Stewart’s recent Rally to Restore Sanity and the horrific events in Tucson. Not likely, but one could hope. Other than the few moments when the hot rhetoric cooled off a bit after Tucson, we fully expect the negativity on the airways to continue and to generate high ratings on network and cable television. In an interesting twist, it was a political contribution to Ms. Giffords that resulted in Mr. Olbermann’s suspension last year.

So, we are left to ruminate and speculate about what happened at MSNBC and what is next for the TV personality. Mr. Olbermann has been prevented from speaking publicly about the ouster, and he has some restrictions as to what he can do next (ala Conan O’Brien deal with NBC).

Despite the tone of my earlier post about MSNBC, there was value to having Mr. Olbermann spouting his view on television every night. My whole point was that MSNBC should not pretend that they are too much different from Fox News. Just as the conservatives, Tea Partiers and other assorted characters need their daily dose of Hannity, Beck and Palin, it is important for the Left to have its own fighters and opinion-hawkers. MSNBC provided a strong balance. While CNN is often accused of being in service to the Left, their valiant – but unsuccessful – attempt to claim the Middle is very clear when you place the three networks together. Just look at the MSNBC line-up – Schultz, Olbermann, Maddow and O’Donnell. Talking about the “Lefty” assault brigade! But that was the whole point, right (or Left)? MSNBC ratings sky-rocketed the more opinionated its programs became. No surprise, reports are that Lawrence O’Donnell will take over the “Countdown” slot for MSNBC with his own program, “The Last Word.” No word yet of any other changes at MSNBC.

So what about Mr. Olbermann? Although he was a necessary defender of all things liberal, he too often came across as arrogant, spiteful and obsessed. Like too many other TV opinion-makers, he focused too many assaults on his competitors in the media. Sometimes it sounded like no more than a fearful rant against people with higher ratings. Every week that went by seemed to have Mr. Olbermann carrying on-and-on about Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity or one of the other Fox News commentators. That turned really old, really quickly. Viewers of Mr. Olbermann’s show already knew the deficiencies of the Fox News line-up; they did not need the constant reminders. True liberal commentary is much better spent on addressing topics of policy, politics and human rights. We want to hear about what the government is or is not doing for the people of this country; not who over at Fox was the most senseless of the bunch. Maybe it helped his ratings, but Mr. Olbermann did a disservice to the liberal agenda by focusing on the people rather than the policies.

Good riddance, yes – but come on back when you are ready to fight the good fight.

Update (1/23/2011): another article on what lead to the divorce from MSNBC…he was apparently a pain in the tuches…what a surprise!

Update (1/24/2011): a blog post that really tries to differentiate MSNBC, specifically Mr. Olbermann, from Fox, specifically Glenn Beck. Even though the post is full of way too many parenthetical comments (really), the blog post is a good one. However, the poster still gives too much credence to the concept that Mr. Olbermann’s were always based on facts and Mr. Beck’s never are based on reality. Both commentators mix truth and opinion too closely together. That said, I would absolutely agree that Mr. Olbermann is no Glenn Beck.

McConnell, Stewart and the Line Between Policy and Insanity

Mitch McConnell had to say it – after all he is the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, and they are positioned to win some electoral advances in the Senate and take over the House tomorrow. We will see how it goes on November 2nd,  but as the Republican leader he needs to set the mood. Cannot blame him for that. So, what does he say?

“…the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president…”

Now, to be fair, McConnell is in election mode and he tempered his remarks by suggesting that if Obama were to do a “Clintonian backflip” he could meet the Republican senators “halfway.” The message to Obama – move towards us, and we will work with you; don’t, and we will not. Electoral politics? Bravado in the face of a certain victory?

On the contrary, what we see from McConnell, Kasich in Ohio, Barbour in Mississippi and other standard-bearing Republicans is a relentless push to not just defeat the president’s agenda, but scuttle any reasonable opportunity to achieve anything worthwhile. And to what purpose? Because the Republicans have the magic bullet to solve all of our problems? Clearly, no. No, simply put, they are bent on taking back the power and will do so by any means necessary…even courting and encouraging the growth of the frantic Tea Party legions. There are endless calls about budget measures, spending cuts, etc, etc. Just be sure, gentlemen, that when the budget cutting begins you start with a realistic approach to the so-called “Bush tax cuts”  – in other words, rescind the tax cuts for those making more than $250K. While you are at it, be sure to carefully look at the budgets of your own pet projects before attacking noteworthy programs that actually help this country.

McConnell’s statement was what Jon Stewart was really talking about during his closing remarks at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear held this past weekend in Washington DC:

http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:363864

While analysts can criticize the rally as political in nature, the same criticism can be used against Glenn Beck’s rally earlier in the year. By their very nature the rallies were political since they involved people and the discussion of ideas and policy. So, let it be. While many criticisms have been directed towards the Rally, Stewart’s closing remarks exposed the “insanity” of McConnell’s comments. As Stewart suggested, certainly we ought to be able to debate, and debate we should. We all have our differences, and those differences are not small. But use the debates and the differences to build something better – do not just resist because the “other side” is different. That only brings out the worst in our society, and leaves the terrain for debate open to the most radical and destructive voices. That’s the message. Debate, don’t resist. Every day we see how this works outside of the Beltway. People do it every day. It’s the difference between developing policy and making progress, and driving us all insane with the bickering.