Olbermann Signs Off

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lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
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I've read it in enough different sources and often enough that Keith Olbermann is fucking terrible to work with that I give credence to it as common knowledge.

if it has to do with the Comcast merger, I'm guessing it's that the Comcast execs didn't want to put up with his drama and prima donna-ness, not that Comcast execs are trying to silence a liberal voice.

because if it was about censorship and politics, why would Keith Olbermann be fired while Ed Shultz remains on the air? The Ed Show is pretty much Glenn Beck without the ratings; KO is at least watchable.

I wonder if MSNBC is going to hold him to his contract and keep him off the air for 2 years just to be dicks, though.

they had the ed show on radio around here for about 9 months at one time. wasn't bad and i caught a decent amount of the eps. haven't watched the tv show, but seeing some of the clips/transcripts from it, boy must have agreed to a lobotomy or something first cause he went full bore off the deep end.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,898
7,426
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I guess I can see the fun in doing a hat dance on an empty grave, however ridiculous it looks.

And I guess I can see how much hatred KO stirred up against himself exposing and debunking the lies, deception and propaganda Limbaugh, FOX, etc. is constantly brainwashing their viewers with.

And I guess I can see why no one likes to be told the truth about how their spokepersons have to resort to such broadcasting to "win", especially when they know that most of what they themselves hear are outright lies coming from their side but have to put up with it all the time and vainly attempt to defend the indefensible.

What I can't see though, is how some posters here are either so totally brainwashed and deceived by the obvious lies that come from Limbaugh and his ilk, or are knowingly being dishonest with themselves to advance their political ideology in regards to defending FOX. etc.

Olbermann, however brash, "arrogant" and "elitish" he appeared to his detractors, was a whole lot more truthful and honest about what he was commenting on compared to the constant, absolute and outlandish lies and deception coming from FOX, Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, etc.

And hey, maybe he'd like to follow in Palin's footsteps and sell out his principles for the $$$$$ like she did so he could build a political warchest and run for office like Palin thinks she can. :biggrin:

Nah, nobody could fool themselves like Palin did/does. lol
 

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
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Debunking lies and being intellectually dishonest are two different things; He and Maddow lost my respect when they out-right lied bout the question at hand regarding card-check.
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
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when he started bringing in "reporter(s) from move-on.org" for on air discussions, you knew he was heading for the deep end.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
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when he started bringing in "reporter(s) from move-on.org" for on air discussions, you knew he was heading for the deep end.

How dare he have any liberal voices on the show, he needs to shut them out like the other 99%. Who cares how right they are, how good of ideas they air?
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
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Debunking lies and being intellectually dishonest are two different things; He and Maddow lost my respect when they out-right lied bout the question at hand regarding card-check.

The what? Present more info to back up your point.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/22-4

The Disappearance of Keith Olbermann

by Robert Parry

Keith Olbermann’s abrupt departure from MSNBC should be another wake-up call to American progressives about the fragile foothold that liberal-oriented fare now has for only a few hours on one corporate cable network.

Though Olbermann hosted MSNBC’s top-rated news show, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” he disappeared from the network with only the briefest of good-byes. Certainly, the callous treatment of Olbermann by the MSNBC brass would never be replicated by Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing Fox News toward its media stars.

At Fox News, the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity have far greater leeway to pitch right-wing ideas and even to organize pro-Republican political events. Last November, Olbermann was suspended for two days for making donations to three Democratic candidates, including Arizona’s Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson.

Now, with Olbermann’s permanent departure on Friday, the remainder of MSNBC’s liberal evening line-up, which also includes Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell (who will fill Olbermann’s 8 p.m. slot), must face the reality that any sustained friction with management could mean the bum’s rush for them, too.

The liberal hosts also must remember that MSNBC experimented with liberal-oriented programming only after all other programming strategies, including trying to out-Fox Fox, had failed – and only after it became clear that President George W. Bush’s popularity was slipping.

In nearly eight years at “Countdown,” Olbermann was the brave soul who charted the course for other mainstream media types to be even mildly critical of Bush. Olbermann modeled his style after legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow, who stood up to excesses by communist-hunting Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1950s, even borrowing Murrow’s close: “Good night, good luck.”

But MSNBC’s parent company, General Electric, never seemed comfortable with Olbermann’s role as critic of the Bush administration, nor with the sniping between Olbermann and his Fox News rival, O’Reilly, who retaliated by attacking corporate GE on his widely watched show.

In 2009, the New York Times reported that GE responded to this pressure by having GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt strike a deal with Murdoch that sought to muzzle Olbermann’s criticism of O’Reilly, in exchange for O’Reilly muting his attacks on GE.

Olbermann later disputed that there ever was a truce and the back-and-forth soon resumed. But it was a reminder that GE, a charter member of the military-industrial complex and a major international conglomerate, had bigger corporate interests at play than the ratings for MSNBC’s evening programming.

So, too, will Comcast, the cable giant that is assuming a majority stake in NBC Universal, which controls MSNBC. The Washington Post reported on Saturday that sources at MSNBC quashed speculation that Olbermann’s departure was connected to the Comcast takeover, which was approved by federal regulators this week.

Media Orphans

The troubling message to progressives is that they remain essentially orphans when it comes to having their political interests addressed by any corporate news outlet. While the Right has built its own vast media infrastructure – reaching from newspapers, magazines and books to radio, TV and the Internet – the Left generally has treated media as a low priority.

Though some on the Left saw hope in the MSNBC evening line-up, the larger reality was that even inside the world of NBC News, the other content ranged from the pro-Establishment centrism of anchor Brian Williams to the center-right views of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to CNBC’s mix of free-market extremism and corporate boosterism.

While gratified to be given a few hours each night on MSNBC, the Left surely had nothing to compare with Murdoch’s News Corporation and its longstanding commitment to a right-wing perspective on Fox News and News Corp.'s many other print and electronic outlets.

As I wrote in an article last November, “Olbermann and the other liberal hosts are essentially on borrowed time, much the way Phil Donahue was before getting axed in the run-up to George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq, when MSNBC wanted to position itself as a ‘patriotic’ war booster.

“Unlike News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, who stands solidly behind the right-wing propaganda on Fox News, the corporate owners of MSNBC have no similar commitment to the work of Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz.

"For the suits at headquarters, it’s just a balancing act between the ratings that those shows get and the trouble they cause as Republicans reclaim control of Washington.”

Those corporate priorities also were underscored in the pre-Iraq invasion days when MSNBC dumped Donahue, then the network’s biggest draw. But Donahue had allowed on some guests critical of Bush’s planned war.

After the invasion in March 2003, MSNBC’s coverage was barely discernable from that of Fox News, with both networks superimposing American flags on scenes from Iraq and producing pro-war promotional segments showing heroic images of U.S. soldiers being welcomed by happy Iraqis (with no scenes of the war’s carnage). [See Consortiumnews.com's "America's Matrix."]

The ongoing significance of America’s media imbalance is that it gives the Right enormous capabilities to control the national debate, not only during election campaigns but year-round. Republicans can deploy what intelligence operatives call “agit-propaganda,” stirring controversies that rile up the public and redound to the GOP’s advantage.

These techniques have proved so effective that not even gifted political speakers, whether the savvy Bill Clinton or the eloquent Barack Obama, have had any consistent success in countering the angry cacophony that the Right can orchestrate.

One week, the Right's theme is “Obamacare’s death panels”; another week, it’s “the “Ground Zero Mosque.” The Democrats are left scrambling to respond – and their responses, in turn, become fodder for critical commentary, as too wimpy or too defensive or too something.

The mainstream media and progressives often join in this criticism, wondering why Obama let himself get blind-sided or why he wasn’t tougher or why he can’t control the message. For the Right and the Republicans, it’s a win-win-win, as the right-wing base is energized, more public doubts are raised about the President, and the Left is further demoralized.

Like Clinton before him, Obama has reacted to this political/media landscape by shifting rightward toward the “center,” further alienating his liberal base. Many on the Left respond by denouncing Obama as a sell-out and deciding to either sit out elections or vote for a third party.

This dynamic has been instrumental to the Right’s political victories over the past three decades even as those policies – from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush – have worsened the lives of middle- and working-class Americans.

The sudden disappearance of Keith Olbermann from television is another ominous omen that this dynamic will continue.
 

PokerGuy

Lifer
Jul 2, 2005
13,650
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lol @ commondreams crap. I guess it shows that the rantings of the delusional socialists can occasionally be funny.

I'm not sure why anyone cares about KO or any of those shows; based on the ratings hardly anyone watches them anyway.
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
How predictable... Craig234 likes and anoints as gospel the words of cable news talking heads he agrees with ideologically (Olbermann, Maddow) and dislikes and curses as evil the words of those he doesn't agree with (Beck, Hannity).

The truth is, as usual, less sensational: they're all hyperbolic idiots who are not to be relied upon for objective factual information.
 

Red Dawn

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2001
57,529
3
0
Well reports say that he's going to be a comedy writer. I guess he is going to work for Faux news.
 

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
6
81
How predictable... Craig234 likes and anoints as gospel the words of cable news talking heads he agrees with ideologically (Olbermann, Maddow) and dislikes and curses as evil the words of those he doesn't agree with (Beck, Hannity).

The truth is, as usual, less sensational: they're all hyperbolic idiots who are not to be relied upon for objective factual information.

Yep. This.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,898
7,426
136
It's still a fact that most of what FOX, Rove, Limbaugh etc. broadcast are lies and deception, and most of what Olbermann, Maddow and Shultz puts out is the truth, especially when it comes to debunking the wholesale falsehoods from FOX etc.

The difference between FOX etc. and shows like Maddow, Ed and Keith is that shows like FOX and Rush are meant to indoctrinate and control, whereas shows like Maddow, etc. are meant to warn and inform.

Huge difference.
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
It's still a fact that most of what FOX, Rove, Limbaugh etc. broadcast are lies and deception, and most of what Olbermann, Maddow and Shultz puts out is the truth, especially when it comes to debunking the wholesale falsehoods from FOX etc.

The difference between FOX etc. and shows like Maddow, Ed and Keith is that shows like FOX and Rush are meant to indoctrinate and control, whereas shows like Maddow, etc. are meant to warn and inform.

Huge difference.

And how is this perception of yours not merely just a function of your bias?
 

nobodyknows

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2008
5,474
0
0
LOL, my brother hated Olberman so bad he deleted msnbc from his tv. I guess I can tell him it's safe to put it back on..... except for maddow.
 

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
6
81
It's still a fact that most of what FOX, Rove, Limbaugh etc. broadcast are lies and deception, and most of what Olbermann, Maddow and Shultz puts out is the truth, especially when it comes to debunking the wholesale falsehoods from FOX etc.

The difference between FOX etc. and shows like Maddow, Ed and Keith is that shows like FOX and Rush are meant to indoctrinate and control, whereas shows like Maddow, etc. are meant to warn and inform.

Huge difference.

You just think that because you agree with them. You are biased.
 

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,764
347
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And how is this perception of yours not merely just a function of your bias?

Lawlz bias fan boy is bias.


On other issues: ever notice how dm has an ignore list of people that make insightfullnposts (with one exception)?
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
My standard initial reaction when someone on one side of the political or ideological spectrum criticizes the opposite side is to dismiss it as untruthful self-serving hackery because, more often than not, that's precisely what it is.
 
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werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
How predictable... Craig234 likes and anoints as gospel the words of cable news talking heads he agrees with ideologically (Olbermann, Maddow) and dislikes and curses as evil the words of those he doesn't agree with (Beck, Hannity).

The truth is, as usual, less sensational: they're all hyperbolic idiots who are not to be relied upon for objective factual information.
Agreed. O'Reilly is the best of the opinion shows I've seen (which admittedly isn't many), but although he has guests on both sides of an issue the show is still primarily about HIS opinion - i.e. Olbermann with more dissenting opinions and less foaming spittle. Hard news shows try to minimize personal opinions; opinion shows try to present opinions in the most provocative, entertaining manner. In the end, Olbermann's demise is not due to his bias, just to his failure to deliver ratings that would justify working with such a self-absorbed, complete asshat. Had he shown himself able to deliver O'Reilly-level ratings, he'd still have a job.

As it stands, he'll spend his time writing a book (or possibly coloring one) and trying to line up his next deal, so while I'm sure he's bitter about how the "right wing" management canned him, he's hardly in bad shape.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
36,671
28,824
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People seem to be conflating political bias with outright journalistic malpractice. Both practice the former, Fox specializes in the latter.

Outright lie

Airing wrong crowd clips to exaggerate size. Later claiming accident but happened several times.

Airing wrong party after member of congress name during scandal. Same as above.

Intentionally stating the opposite of what you can actually see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTkqosRiyYo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k89BMjzkThA&feature=related

Death panels


Outright smear with no basis in fact

Obama hates white people

Obama is Kenyan muslim (humors accusers)(credit to O'Reilly for not tolerating)

Obama is a defacto terrorist (terrorist fist jab)
 

Karl Agathon

Golden Member
Sep 30, 2010
1,081
0
0
LOL, my brother hated Olberman so bad he deleted msnbc from his tv. I guess I can tell him it's safe to put it back on..... except for maddow.


To her credit, at least Rachel Maddow has had guests who have had opposing views and debated with them. Whereas as Keith had an echo chamber of yes men/women.
 
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werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
To her credit, at least Rachel Maddow has had guests who have had opposing views and debated with them. Where as Keith had an echo chamber of yes men/women.
Evidently someone realized that anyone on Olbermann's show expressing a dissenting opinion would be at dire risk of having his or her ankles bitten.

No way MSNBC wants to pay for all those shots.
 

thepd7

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2005
9,423
0
0
How predictable... Craig234 likes and anoints as gospel the words of cable news talking heads he agrees with ideologically (Olbermann, Maddow) and dislikes and curses as evil the words of those he doesn't agree with (Beck, Hannity).

The truth is, as usual, less sensational: they're all hyperbolic idiots who are not to be relied upon for objective factual information.

Agreed. I can't watch any of the four you mentioned.


As it stands, he'll spend his time writing a book (or possibly coloring one) and trying to line up his next deal, so while I'm sure he's bitter about how the "right wing" management canned him, he's hardly in bad shape.

lol that's a solid jab
 

xj0hnx

Diamond Member
Dec 18, 2007
9,262
3
76
My standard initial reaction when someone on one side of the political or ideological spectrum criticizes the opposite side is to dismiss it as untruthful self-serving hackery because, more often than not, that's precisely what it is.

There's a few threads here from time to time where you really get to see it too, this is one of the good ones.