Category: Politics, Religion & Money

The crisis of Keith Olbermann’s punishment for flagrantly defying MSNBC’s rule against political donations without prior notice to management is over. There was concern that management was looking for a way to take Olbermann down a couple of pegs, if not squeeze him out all together, in favor of a less expensive alternative. An online petition appeared, demanding Keith’s return, and it was signed by upwards of 250,000 people, including me — approximately the same number that attended the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Suddenly, the suspicion surrounding his suspension is ended, because he will be back anchoring Countdown on Tuesday. Good.

Jon Stewart rightly took Olbermann to task for mis-characterizing Massachusetts junior senator Scott Brown, but Stewart was wrong at the Rally to Restore Sanity when he lumped Olbermann in with the cable TV personalities on Fox News. Olbermann took Stewart’s chiding in January to heart and admitted he was wrong, yet at the rally Stewart played a portion of the original clip anyway. Similarly, Olbermann agreed with Stewart about his “Worst Persons in the World” segment, so he discontinued it.

Olbermann is highly partisan, and he sometimes goes over the top, but he relies on facts, and although he may sometimes jump to conclusions, he doesn’t outright lie and mislead. Keith is a strong voice against the lies and distortions promulgated by Fox News. He’s made it clear to Jon Stewart that they’re on the same side, and I think The Daily Show host needs to acknowledge he doesn’t have a monopoly on righteous indignation, and Olbermann’s firebrand approach is just as valid and valuable as his own jocular, yet no less insistent, variety.