Keith Olbermann getting the gas pipe from MSNBC should come as no surprise. While Olbermann should have been fired long ago on merit, I suspect this is a business decision. In the seven-plus years Olby hosted his prime time news show Countdown, he made only a minuscule dent in the ratings of his chief competition (Bill O'Reilly of Fox News Channel) for the 7:00 Central time slot.
As such, O'Reilly, was often the target of Olbermann's invective. In fact, the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck were also caught in his veritable cross-hairs (Yeah, you know what you can do with that "new tone"). Imagine how much more pathetic Olby's ratings would have been had he not been such a grubby little parasite by constantly invoking the names which made liberals froth.
Alas, I am not here to whiz on Olbermann's grave. After all, his departure means it will be conservative bloggers who will feel the biggest loss (myself included). Olby's unhinged and incoherent leftist screeds served as a valuable reminder that liberalism is indeed a mental disorder.
One of the finest moments of Olby's career was not even delivered by Keith himself. Ben Affleck's portrayal of Olbermann on Saturday Night Live a couple of years ago was utterly hilarious and I daresay not too far fetched.
Perhaps Keith could go back to sports broadcasting. Not to say he was great there, either. But he sucked less.
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Good synopsis, Brad. Not much more to be said. His only value was to help conservatives know whose turn it was to be Emanuel Goldstein. I am disappointed that he got gassed before I got a chance to be the Worst Person in the World, though.
ReplyDeletewasnt his show one of msnbc's highest rated?
ReplyDeletewasnt his show one of msnbc's highest rated?
ReplyDeleteYes, though that's damnation with faint praise.
Even if one finishes first in a rat race, one is still a rat.