Sigh. We all knew this was coming, but never knew how flimsy the pretext would be:
WASHINGTON (AP) - MSNBC'S Keith Olbermann has been suspended without pay for contributing to the campaigns of three Democrats during this election season.
NBC News prohibits its employees from donating to political campaigns unless the head of the news division gives special permission
Now, for the record, I'm not a huge Olbermann fan. I pretty much never watch cable news, and both he (and Maddow) have tones that I find annoying, flirting with the line between mock outrage and smugly superior. But I'm glad they exist, providing pretty much the only major counterpoint to Scarborough, O'Reilly, Beck, and, well, pretty much the entirely of the Fox network. But Olbermann's no saint, and he is actually such a towering megalomaniac that I figured sooner or later he'd pick a fight with corporate management such that they'd be forced to fire him or he'd resign in a huff. It's happened before.
But this? Come on.
It initially sounded pretty cut and dried: There was a rule on no donations and Olbermann stupidly broke the rule. If you give them an excuse, you can't bitch when they make an example of you, right?
Except this rule seems to be rather ... selectively enforced.
Scarborough not only made multiple donations (to republicans), he headlined GOP fundraisers.
MSNBC analyst Pat Buchanan also made several donations to republicans.
CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow also made republican donations.
An MSNBC spokesbot excused Joe's contributions: "Yes, he did make a donation to Derrick Kitts. Kitts is an old friend of Joe's. Joe hosts an opinion program and is not a news reporter." Of course. I see the distinction now. Keith Olbermann is such a paragon of non-partisan neutrality that we could never allow any hint that he favors a certain political viewpoint!
This is just fricking stupid, and maddening. The reasons -- who knows. Clearly there must be an inside story, since Olbermann is MSNBC's highest rated show and the only one that breaks Fox's stranglehold on the top 10 cable news shows. Kos thinks MSNBC president Phil Griffin hates liberals. Maybe. Or maybe he just hates Olbermann. ThinkProgress hints that the CEO of NBC's corporate owner, Comcast, a Bush fundraiser, wanted Olbermann out. Sounds a little tinfoil-hatty for me.
The reason's not really important. The effect is what matters. The message is out there to progressives in the media: don't think you can be too nakedly partisan. We took down your king over nothing, and we will take you down if we choose. While FOX news personalities routinely openly give to the GOP, openly fundraise for the GOP, advocate for the GOP, and half the network either worked for the GOP or is running for president while being employed by FOX. Not to mention that FOX itself gave $2million to the republican governor's association and the chamber of commerce.
The double standard is so fricking painful. Once again liberals are caught bringing a knife to the gun fight.
Your liberal media -- still not liberal.
2 comments:
Well, NPR fired Juan Williams doesn't that equal it out.
The explanation I have heard as the difference between KO and Scarborough is that MSNBC has a policy that you can donate, but you have to inform them first. Now that policy may well be more ridiculous than calling KO a neutral reporter, but that's the claim, anyway.
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