Goodbye, Mr. Olbermann

For all the railing I do about the incivility of the commentators (and de facto leaders) on the Right, I have to admit to indulging in a guilty pleasure: I occasionally enjoyed watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

It’s not something I’m proud of, and didn’t exactly announce it because Olbermann was cut from the same cloth as the people he cut with his rapier-like wit night after night, in a roast that spared no one at odds with the liberal ideals he held dear. He was a mirror image of the Rush Limbaughs, the Glen Becks, and the Bill O’Reillys of the world--the last one being his favorite target.

But I enjoyed watching him distort the truth for my side, and giving as good as he got. We didn’t need yet another person diverting us from the real issues, creating false outrage, and flat-out lying about “the other side,” but after watching the Right do it day after day for so long, it was . . . comforting and cathartic.

Olbermann had a reputation for being unstable at best and volatile at worst, and he was often at odds with his bosses. Unfortunately for them, they build an entire network--MSNBC--around him. They called him their “tent pole” star, and his remained their highest-rated show to the end. I guess I wasn’t the only one hungry for revenge if not exactly the truth.

I don’t know what happened that MSNBC chose to cut off their nose to spite their face, but it must have been really good. Maybe they felt that in the wake of the shootings in Tucson, they felt they needed to tone down the hostile rhetoric. Maybe they wanted to hold their channel to a higher standard than Olbermann was willing to adhere to.

Whatever the reason, MSNBC chose to silence someone who made them a boatload of money at the cost of journalistic credibility. Sadly, I seriously doubt that the bosses behind Rush, Glen, and Bill-o will be willing to do the same.

-Doug