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Stunning his Countdown audience, Keith Olbermann announced at the very end of his show tonight that this would be the last edition of Countdown. He gave no explanation but thanked his audience.
Within minutes MSNBC released a statement indicating that it was not renewing Keith’s contract.
MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.
The new evening lineup would be:
6:00 p.m. Cenk (just “filling in”?)
7:00 p.m. Hardball
8:00 p.m. Larry O’Donnell
9:00 p.m. Rachel Maddow
10:00 p.m. Ed Show
We’ll add details as we get them. But the first question has to be: Is this the first action by cable conglomerate Comcast, after the FCC and Justice Department approved their takeover of NBC, in deciding what we see on television? Gosh, who coulda predicted?
Update: from the NYT coverage, “NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast.” Yeah, that’s about what I’d expect Comcast to tell NBC to say.
Update II, Saturday a.m.: Statement from Comcast (h/t Howie at DownWithTyranny):
“Comcast has not closed the transaction for NBC Universal and has no operational control at any of its properties including MSNBC. We pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not interfere with NBC Universal’s news operations. We have not and we will not.”
More here and here on the implications of the Comcast takeover. Al Franken’s Senate speech on Comcast and internet neutrality.
216 Comments
Cenk!
“the first question has to be: Is this the first action by cable conglomerate Comcast, after the FCC and Justice Department approved their takeover of NBC, in deciding what we see on television?”
Probably. Either that or KO saw the handwriting on the wall and wanted to walk on his own terms. Now the questions are: “Where does he land?” and “Will he have more freedom to say what he really thinks?”
This could also be a reaction to Jeffrey Immelt’s appointment to advise Obama. Until Comcast formally takes the reins, I imagine that speaking out against Immelt was gonna be a deal-breaker.
If these idiots think I’m staying inside for Lawrence O’Donnell at 5pm pacific, they’re crazy. He’s up against Jeopardy as it is, and Larry only wins here when Jane is on his show.
Yay — cocktails at 5pm everywhere in Portland, freed from my teevee finally! I hope this doesn’t hurt Rachel, but can you imagine how this will create a the dropoff from her lead-in show?
Sag. And sad. Keith took us through the dark days, and we owe him a great debt for that.
I’m willing to give Cenk the benefit of the doubt to see how truly left and anti-Dem establishment he might (or probably won’t) be. However, the thought of LoDo at prime time? Puke. Used to love Rachel, but got sickened by her conversion to the Veal Pen.
Guess I’ve got more free time now. No need to watch most of the MSNBC lineup.
From Josh at TPM, who was on Countdown tonight and noticed nothing out of the ordinary but a “few extra people watching:”
I was just on in the opening segment of Olbermann tonight. And I get home and get this press release from NBC saying this was the last episode of Countdown. At first I figured it had to be a spoof email because, jeez, I was on and I didn’t have any sense that any other than a regular Friday evening show was on. But sure enough I pulled up the recording and now I’m watching his final sign off.
I doubt I would have had any heads up or known anything was happening if Olbermann was going to go off the air. But I was a bit more stunned than I might otherwise have been because I was just over there. And I did not have any sense that there was anything any different than normal going on. Everything seemed calm and pretty sedate. There were a few more people than I’m used to seeing in the studio — maybe two or three who seemed to be there to watch. (Something I don’t remember seeing before.) But nothing that made me think twice that anything odd was going on.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing soon enough what on earth happened here. But color me stunned. And really disappointed.
(The text of the quite terse press release reads: “MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”)
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/01/what_the_hell_was_that_about.php
ironic. during commercial break on Rachel Maddow, MSNBC runs it’s own commercial in its “lean forward” series, featuring Olbermann. Guess that was outside the contract.
NYT: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/
9:24 p.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC, announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he is leaving “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” immediately.
The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days last November, came to an agreement with NBC’s corporate management late this week to settle his contract and step down.
In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation other than on occasion, the show had become too much for him.
Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a show that had “gradually established its position as anti-establishement.”
In a statement, MSNBC said : “MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
MSNBC announced that “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell would replace “Countdown” at 8 p.m., with “The Ed Show” with Ed Schultz taking Mr. O’Donnell’s slot at 10 p.m. Mr. Olbermann did not discuss any future plans, but NBC executives said one term of his settlement will keep him from moving to another network for an extended period of time.
Mr. Olbermann had signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an estimated $30 million. He hosted “Countdown” at 8 p.m. since 2003 and it became the foundation of the channel’s surge to status as the second-ranked news channel on cable television, after Fox News, surpassing the one-time leader CNN.
Mr. Olbermann’s outspoken, and sometimes controversial, support of liberal positions and Democratic candidates redefined MSNBC from a neutral news channel to one with that openly sought to offer viewers on the left their own voice, much as Fox News has done so successfully for an audience of viewers with conservative opinions.
Mr. Olbermann challenged Fox News publicly on numerous occasions, especially the top-rated cable host Bill O’Reilly, whom he regularly tweaked and frequently placed in the top circle of infamy on a segment Mr. Olbermann called “The Worst Person in the World.”
Ratings for his show grew, though he never really approached the level of popularity Mr. O’Reilly has achieved. But he helped grow the MSNBC liberal brand by his frequent invitations to one guest, Rachel Maddow, who was eventually offered her own show on MSNBC.
Ms. Maddow became the 9 p.m. host following Mr. Olbermann and has built such a successful show that some NBC executives felt less concerned about losing Mr. Olbermann as the signature star of the network.
According to several senior network executives, NBC’s management had been close to firing Mr. Olbermann on previous occasions, most recently in November after he revealed that he had made donations to several Democratic candidates during the 2010 congressional elections — one of them, coincidentally, was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who has been the subject of many of his recent shows after being shot in an assassination attempt in Tucson on Jan. 8.
The top MSNBC executive, Phil Griffin, said the donations had violated NBC News standards and ordered Mr. Olbermann suspended. His fans responded with a petition to reinstate him that attracted over 250,000 signatures. Mr. Olbermann returned two days later. In his response he said the rules on donations had been “inconsistently applied.”
I’m done with them unless Jane’s on.
Tonight’s Hardball was obnoxious, only caught it because I left the tube on after Jane’s appearance. I’ve watched O’Donnell maybe once all the way through, can’t stomach the asshole.
And Rachel lost me a while ago. I only drop in on her program occasionally.
As much as I like Cenk, I don’t have enough reason to switch to MSNBC to park for a while.
Greatest tweet yet, from Alex Pareene at Salon:
For his final act, he forced media reporters to work on a Friday night when they were all already half in the bag.
HuffPo got this story up about the same time as FDL. In the first 15 minutes there were nearly 1,300 comments posted. That’s gotta be some kind of record. I think their servers are running behind because I couldn’t go past the first page of the comments. Hit the “next” tab but nothing happened. Repeatedly, even after a refresh.
Zing!
Totally agree.
Rachel is a tragedy; so good at first, so bad now. Hate not only her change from critic to cheerleader/apologist but also hate her change in style. Not content to state something once, she has to belabor it, restate it several times with only slight tweaks (or none at all) before going on to the next point.
Some folks are wondering if Comcast wanted to make sure pissed off sane people wouldn’t try to sabotage merger deal, so kept its plans to ax KO under wraps until after the deal was OK’ed.
Highest-rated – but boom! out! Just like Phil Donahue.
And yeah, Cenk has earned a show – but it’s on too early for me. I won’t watch O’Donnell.
Oh, and I notice from the piece Teddy quoted – *he signed a four-year contract in 2008*
Contracts mean nothing when one party really wants to break one. Only for the MOTU’s, whose employers (bailed out banks) were, remember? “contractually obligated” to pay their bonuses…sanctity of contracts, and all that.
Per NYT, MSNBC folks said the contract prevented Olbermann from joining any other network for “an extended period of time.”
Duh! I still object to the merger anyway, for all the reasons that have been articulated all along, most recently by Al Franken. And here is an excellent example of why it is a bad thing.
S___t!
Well, maybe he should just break that part of it.
No doubt he will be paid for the remaining two years on the contract. If he’s willing to give up the money, in exchange the restriction should be cancelled, too.
I wonder how widely “network” applies, how it’s defined in the contract. Does it cover a non-network syndicated show? A radio show? Blogging? A gig with HuffPo?
Wonder if he’ll end up (even temporarily) doing some sports gig again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw
I doubt Comcast is going to let him out of anything even one day early. As I wrote in my previous post, I wonder what “non-network” routes are open to him.
Also: still sorry about Patchy.
Anderson Cooper reporting Olbermann fired.
I guess I always knew Keith was too good to be true. A real, true conscientious JOURNALIST in every sense of the word. I never had to sift through his reports to try to determine what the underlying story really was. It was what he said it was. Amazing!
His “special comments” were just amazing–literally speaking truth to power, which I’m sure is why he is no longer on the air.
I watch & enjoy Rachel, Cenk & sometimes Lawrence but Keith was just outstanding. I will be watching and hoping to see him on another station.
I will also be watching to see if this is a result of the Comcast deal.
Thank you Keith for your courage and all you have done to make us
and our country better than we were. Good luck in all you do…
‘hope to be seeing you soon!
I should have added: Wouldn’t be up to him to break it. MSNBC would simply go to court and enjoin the other network from going forward with the show. (They’d name KO in the suit, but the real sanction would be against the new show channel.)
If true, then:
a) Comcast’s hand at work.
b) Immelt not sorry to see KO go before he could hammer the ridiculousness of Immelt as the “Jobs” advisor to President Liar.
Funny Rachel’s absent tonight.
I really like her show, and her. I hope this lineup shift doesn’t ruin her ratings — O’Donnell just sucks wind.
Wow, the Maddow Show Broadcast booth/production has just gone totally boffo.
I smell a problem with the production staff….
Wow, Keith Olbermann pushed out just after Comcast deal and Obama hires Immelt, and just before Obama announces Medicare and Social security Cuts. Coincidence?
F*cking assh*les…! 8-(
Anyone whose left on NBCs who we might like will be out in any eyeblink.
Oh, I know what you’re saying about letting him out of the contract. There might be ways – but you’re right, that’s what usually happens in these things.
I was just venting. Sigh.
And thanks for the sweet comment on Patchy. STill getting used to his absence.
I saw some comments at the LA Times report, saying that they’re not going to be watching MSNBC if Olbermann isn’t on.
Wonderful decision, to shut down one of the few shows that actually attracts viewers.
Must’ve been a tweet – somewhere I saw that she is on Bill Maher’s show tonight…that’s probably why. I’m betting that she didn’t know in advance, either.
This is now the headline story on HuffPo. In roughly the last twenty minutes there have been 2,000 additional comments with over 50 more comments pending approval. This thing has lit up like Vegas on New Year’s Eve.
Oh, yeah. My Twitter feed is amazing – every few minutes, 20 or 30 new tweets, nearly all about KO. It just happened I was checking Twitter when I heard KO leading into his sign-off.
The only consolation is that I really became a Lawrence ODonnell fan after he ripped that asshole from Arizona about how banning high capacity clips could have saved his constituents’ lives.
Ya’ think?
Give Bin Quick a gold star. You get to be the eraser monitor.
Lodo is a worthless corporate dickhead. And next time I see him at one of our guild event I’m going to tell him to his fucking face.
Had to be.
Look at that lame-ass line of b.s. that MSNBC handed out as a ‘statement’.
The Soviets couldn’t write blander crap.
Dylan Ratigan is next, and then my boycott of the propaganda organs will be complete.
Ah, apparently Rachel’s “appearance” tonight was just the rest of her Pelosi interview on tape.
Anderson Cooper opening with the KO firing, playing clip of signoff; mentioning the ad with KO after the show.
It is amazing. I was in a state of shock so I logged on to the internet in hopes that someone would tell me this was some sort of stunt. The only posts were from the haters. than all the sudden, google started reported a tsunami of tweets, new stories and blogs.
Dylan Ratigan next?
Whatcha drinking?
While I still like Rachel Maddow, I have become annoyed by her persistence in doing some stories over and over and over (such as Christine O’Donnell). She’s done some very good work in the past, and I hope that with Keith gone that she’ll improve.
Losing Keith Olbermann is tragic. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this is NBC ingratiating themselves with their new ComCast overlords. I hate Comcast. Anyone have recommendations for a cable/internet provider that isn’t totally fascistic?
Great Obama allows big media to get bigger and of course big media silences its biggest critic of course the Right has been saying for years that they were going to be the victims of a media purge.
But once again they were projecting their desire to hurt us as their fear that we would do it onto them first.
Oh, nice touch from @AndersonCooper – has David Shuster up on the phone!
Truly exciting and worthwhile that a newsy can get that kind of attention….Certainly there are not many, if any, others.
Has he already been axed?
That was one classy farewell.
What’s Shuster doing these days?
Update: from the NYT, “NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast.”
Yeah, that’s about what I’d expect Comcast to tell NBC to say.
At least KO will be spared the obligation to defend the Obama Administration over the next two years. LoDo, Ed and Rachel have already turned into (or in LoDo’s case always was) Stepford Demoratic Party propagandists. I will say, maintaining your independence with 30 million in the bank is a pretty soft landing. Hopefully KO will be able to assume a position as a blogger on say, Huffpo, and also pick up guest tv spots during his exile. Congratulations Keith, you escaped with your dignity.
Lots of tweeters saying the same, and I don’t even follow that many people.
Why would we watch the new lineup? As Cooper and the NYT reporter and Shuster just said, KO is the base on which MSNBC’s current success is built. Rachel and O’Donnell wouldn’t be there without him.
Carter, NYT reporter, saying contract allows him to do radio, but not tv.
The better question might have been: whatcha not drinking?
The last liberal on television. Sigh. So much for that leftist media. Sure won’t watch Rachel. Her show is the DKos of tv now. Oh well. Hate tv anyway.
MSNBC before Keith was horrible does anyone remember the Tucker Carlson show?
OMG! I just noticed that “just filling in” next to Cenk’s name and realized that Ratigan’s name isn’t on the list of shows!
If George Soros ever wanted to start a lefty syndication show(s), he’s got the starting lineup: KO and DR.
Ok Tucker might have been on after KO got on the air but the point is before KO the show ranged from truly horrible to Tweety.
And with the richness of the Network imagery….Perfect…Mad as Hell….
Oh man. That was back when MSNBC was truly terrible! And all 3 of it’s viewers kept it on to keep the cats company.
Job-hunting, I think. His time in the wilderness ended recently – I saw a tweet or a brief interview – that sounded like he didn’t really have a new gig yet. But he’s now allowed to speak.
I’m not sure they’re taking quite enough stupid pills in the exec suites just yet.
I don’t know what Ratigan’s viewer numbers are, but the demographics of his show have to be pretty attractive to advertisers. And he has some excellent guests.
But this news about Olbermann doesn’t make sense on a lot of levels from where I sit. Does Phil Griffin have some fantasy Lean Forward ad campaign ginning up without Olbermann? After all, look back only four years and there’s a pretty compelling case that Olbermann was instrumental in building MSNBC.
This is not good PR for Comcast.
They may have had nothing to do with it, but they look as vindictive and crude as any Soviet Politburo cabal when they newly get their hands on NBC and the first thing that happens is a purge of the #1 host.
Something’s weird.
Ratigan is/was on during the day.
“NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast.”
Bullshit. I say again, bullshit.
At a minimum it’s two things: Comcast wanting him out, and NBC wanting him out before the SOTU.
Yeah, and politicians caught with their hands in the till or somebody not-their-wife’s pants leaves “to spend more time with their family.”
Ratigan is out too great it might really be a Coup to cancel Lefty news.
Those viewers I take it like torturing cats?
Well, Ratigan’s been generous to Cenk, but like you I looked at Ratigan missing from that list and thought … huh?!
Weird.
There seem to be some strangely missing pieces.
Fuck Soros, but those two could get together and get something big going on the nets, which is where the future is anyway…until Obama shuts that down.
GregMitch Greg Mitchell
CNN guests with pure speculation, they keep mentioning Comcast then say not direct factor — but have NO real idea.
Comcast doth protest too much.
I think dignity had a lot to do with it. I think KO just got to the point where he couldn’t in good conscience veer as far toward Kos-ism as would have been required to stay.
I also wonder if his contractual prohibitions that prevent him from hosting or being a regular on another show will prevent him from being a guest. Can’t you see him guesting on Bill Maher to comment on the SOTU? Or with Jon Stewart?
OTOH, Comcast has so much power by virtue of carrying so many channels that maybe these other shows and networks will cower and not allow him to appear.
Good one.
Some tweeters saying it’s because Jeff Zucker is out at NBC, that he was KO’s “protector.”
Logical, but who knows.
Clearly the first hammer to fall from the Comcast merger. This is a wrongheaded decision made out of spite and anger. While I didn’t always agree with his tone, Keith was the centerpiece of MSNBC and the only person responsible for their resurgence into cable relevancy. To kick him out shows no class and no respect for the viewers of their sorry network.
Bring Keith back…NOW.
http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Mr. (Alan) Andrea Mitchell will be taking KO’s place permanently. Just after he gets his hair transplants and learns to read from the teleprompter instead of having the top of his head face the camera as he reads his speech on dead trees.
Ohmyf’n'gawd – Cooper has Erick Erickson on to comment on KO. Slamming him with more subtlety than I’d expected.
Hey guys, this doesn’t matter. Not at all.
What matters is that the dollar is losing real value by 15% a year.
Can’t resist checking back and forth on HuffPo just for the comments count:
6:55 pm – Roughly 3500 comments with 50 pending.
7:15 pm – Roughly 4,750 with 660 PENDING. On a freaking Friday evening.
Oh really. Give it up. They don’t care what the viewership is or what the sponsorship is (see Fox & Beck) as long as they shut down every possible access of progressives to widespread media.
heh. You have out done yourself the last few days. I approve.
Bullseye, thank you.
Just proves what I thought all along: progressives have no life.
Shuster is advocating that the Comcast deal was the veritable straw that broke the camel’s back… What pisses me off is the fact that KO is effectively silenced throughout the rest of the ’12 election cycle…! *headdesk*
Amen!
via Howie Kurtz at Daily Beast:
“A knowledgeable official said the move had nothing to do with Comcast taking control of NBC next week, although the cable giant was informed when it received final federal approval for the purchase that Olbermann would be leaving the cable channel. This official described the dramatic divorce as mutual.”
Or that O is accelerating wars or devastating the middle class, or a number of other impt factors. But KO happens to be the subject of this particular thread.
7:22 pm – 4,873 with 672 PENDING.
Clearly they can’t keep up with the traffic.
Now, now, M’dear…! You’re spending a lovely eve here also, right…? ;-)
LOL. Sorta. too much truth there to laugh hard….
Well, if HOWIE KURTZ (wasn’t he the one in Heart of Darkness?) sez it, it MUST be true.
Yeah, the same way Robert Blake’s dramatic divorce from his wife was mutual.
I never claimed I had a life.
“Keith #Olbermann was not a good fit for @MSNBC’s new corporate-fascist format.”‘ a RT by Phoenix Woman from Bob Brigham.
Listening to Howie Kurtz on CNN reminded me why I no longer read him in the Washington Post.
You *are* on fire tonight, aren’cha, girl?
I did have a life, once…
Nor I…! *g*
Can you point to the cable television personality who might actually bring that up and talk about it?
I think the most likely candidate just announced the end of his program.
The metamorphosis of Cenk from a bulldog into a bedbug will be something to watch. To those who watch the MSM, do report.
Leg is feeling much better 5 days after fall. Sumptin about sleeping 24/7 for 3 days.
So you enjoy insulting humanitarians who point out severe problems with globalisation, with Big Finance? I find your comment absolutely insulting.
Your point about the nets being the future is one that I happen to agree with but why insult a wise man to make your point?
I am told Cenk started as a bedbug, so it shouldn’t take much to do the reverse incarnation.
The droppings he occasionally leaves about here, do suggest you may be right.
amen.
Keith Olbermann singlehandedly brings back summer, yippee!
Just as the days are getting longer and the sun is staying up past 5pm!
I just don’t get the news about Olbermann from a business perspective. Obviously, I don’t have all the facts, but firing your #1 host…?
Meanwhile, the Guardian has a new, somewhat in-depth look — and they first reported this news only an hour ago, so good on them: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/jan/22/keith-olbermann-msnbc-nbc-terminated
As for putting Lawrence O’Donnell at the key 8 pm slot… strikes me as programming suicide, but then Tweety’s the last show that I’d keep on MSNBC. It’s 90% panelists, so probably cheap to produce, but it’s not all that informative.
10 pm is probably a better time for Ed Schultz.
I’m just not seeing the business logic of canning Olbermann. Let alone the timing…
Oh, you had a fall? Haven’t been here much – couple days ago Southern Dragon mentioned you’d been absent, and he was a little worried. Guess he was right.
So sorry! didja break anything? On pain meds, that’s why you were sleeping.
And here I just figured you were off at dinner or making dinners for your new neighbor/friends! I am so sorry you’ve had pain.
Sort of proves that business has nothing to do with the propaganda they plan for us to view.
As several have mentioned, when you’re a liberal (see, e.g., Phil Donahue in what, 200?), it doesn’t matter how much money you make.
These are not business decisions.
And there’s more proof that our “leading” business people do not operate purely in rational “business decision-making” mode.
Business, schmismiss – Beck, and Ailes. May be you’re using the wrong tea leaves?
Ummm…oh, I get it…because you won’t be staying inside to watch the teebee?
Good point. Maybe I can finally get my butt out to walk in the evenings…sure need to, but yes, catching KO and RM usually keep me in.
tj: fell down the stairs owing to stepping on too loose down booties (those things are deadly). Nothing broken, recovering nicely (sleep & ice are miracle drugs). Had a soft brace which I use for hobbling around, but gaining mobility & pain much reduced. Thanks for asking.
And that’s the truth.
Just noticed that since KO resigned/retired/got fired on a Fri night there is no repeat of the show at a later time, just another episode of LockUp or LockDown or whatever.
As I typed above (no #s so can’t link) the biz model is to shut down any access of progressives to widespread media. They don’t care about ratings or sponsors (see Fox & Beck).
Internet is next.
It is always like that on Fridays. Sorry criminals are more important than semi-real news.
So much for a boring Fri nite data dump.
I guess you don’t understand what it takes to become filthy rich.
They take down the net then were next.
For the biz sense of NBC doing this, start reading here:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2011/01/21/jeff-immelts-ge-the-too-biggest-to-fail/#comment-271541
You’ve done some wonderful things for us, Keith. Thank you for everything.
I hope you find peace and harmony in your life now.
You know.. it is we who are the true establishment!
U.S. biz leaders DO max profits & their own comp, just not by the “competitive” method. They do it by creating monopolies/buying pols. Whichever come first.
Joe Hill never died—and the spirit of Keith Olbermann won’t either:
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”
“I never died” said he,
“I never died” said he.
“The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe” says I.
“Takes more than guns to kill a man”
Says Joe “I didn’t die”
Says Joe “I didn’t die”
“In Salt Lake City, Joe,” says I,
Him standing by my bed,
“They framed you on a murder charge,”
Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead,”
Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead.”
And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe “What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize”
From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
Where working men defend their rights,
it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill,
it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill!
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”
“I never died” said he,
“I never died” said he.
O’Donnell carries water for the MSM, the Corporate Pols, and is worse than even David Gregory.
Olbermann called out Bush as a fascist when nobody else on TV was making noise over the totalitarian measures.
will miss Keith.
Hey, watch it, eCAHN. You’re a valuable resource around here. Insight and wit; difficult combination to pull off.
You figured out how to keep those booties from causing another mishap?
My theory: L. O’Donnell doesn’t attract that many viewers so–put him first. This has a negative impact on the following shows–so then, “Well you know nobody wants to watch that ‘socialist’ stuff anyway…so let’s just cancel it all. Just a theory.
Worse than David Gregory is quite a feat. Didn’t think that was possible, but perhaps you’re right.
No, we’re not. We’re the foundation which buttresses the establishment. Turn off your teebee, change the world!
You can’t call yourself “Left” and get your news from the MSM. Who cares who’s in or out on the Plutocratic controlled networks? I don’t.
Theory fits
Turn off your teebee, change the world!
Amen to that.
Word!
Yep. Relegated to sitting still & reading, along with the down bathrobe they (unknowingly) came with on mail order.
Interestingly, I recognized the danger in advance & tried to be careful. Lesson learned: when danger exists & recognized & price to pay for avoiding it is small, just do it.
Sometimes small HH economies just don’t pay off.
I knew there was a reason I avoided tv:)
went scrolling back on my twitter feed and found this:
Keith Olbermann
@KeithOlbermann Keith Olbermann
ShowPlugSupplemental: We will have a slight change in the Thurber selection tonight
A bit understated, huh?
Bada bing!
While we’re on the media, let me ask why anyone needs a smart phone? I understand the ‘need’ for peeps out of the office to keep in touch with email these days via blackberry or whatever. But WhoTF needs internet on the go? It’s plenty accessible when you get back to base.
All this eshit reminds me of car fins in the 1950s. Planned obsolescence just to make peeps buy more stuff.
One can only suppose that Rachel is next out the door.
Fox has won.
Rachel should resign – Cenk should refuse the position.
Suggests this all took place today, unbeknownst to KO earlier today.
Cannot stand O’Donnell. Won’t watch him or Tweety and Cenk is a gamble. SIGH.
Frankly, watching any “news” these days only encourages a depression I don’t want to sink into. Now I have even less motivation to watch.
I’ve got 7 years of West Wing on DVD. That will keep me entertained for a while anyway.
You misunderestimate the PTB plan. Now that Rachel is an Obamabot, and O has been underwritten by PTB for another 4 years after 2012 (plan good until canceled owing to complete moronity of Rs), she is safe (until plan is canceled).
I am sooo glad that I decided my 2011 project will be to read/educate myself on decent fictional literature. First up: Eliot’s Middlemarch.
A commenter over at HuffPo noted that LoDo was conspicuously absent from the list of people KO thanked in his goodbye. Anybody else but me think that LoDo was groomed to take over this time slot before he was even hired?
Ouch, sorry to hear that, eCAHN. Take care.
Oh, I love Middlemarch! Good pick ;-)
My wingnut son figured that out last October.
How can anyone watch The West Wing and not be painfully reminded of what the Obama administration should have been?
How did you end up with a wingnut son? A case of “parent does their best but there are no guarantees?”
I have NO idea.
Oh Noes… I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious, M’dear…! *g*
OK. Off to sleepytime for me.
Be well.
My daughter & SIL gave me the first two seasons of West Wing on DVD and I’m about halfway thru season 2, and it is amazing to me how fresh the show seems. What they were dealing with politically when the show first aired (1999 or 2000, I think) are still things we’re dealing with today. The show hasn’t gone out of date at all!
Be well, yourself, eCAHN! Hope to see you at Caturday!
Maybe fodder for an episode of Unsolved Mysteries?
eCAHN, my iPhone is some of the best money that I’ve ever spent. And that’s saying something.
But this ties right in with Comcast and it’s buyout of NBC.
What launched last week? The Maddow Show iPad app.
What is MSNBC pushing every time that I open it up (on desktop) in Safari? It’s free iPhone app.
I’m guessing that this is partly about driving telecomm revenue by getting many of us (ie, those of us who love our smart phones) to access more info on their ‘gateways’: apps for each of their networked shows.
That’s surely the full-meal-deal revenue stream: send the data over the networks you own, to the apps that you offer, so that you can also embed the ads that you sell.
As for so-called Net Neutrality, but claiming that the FCC wasn’t going to tightly oversee wireless, they basically handed our collective asses on a platter to telecomm. DC seems mostly useless when it comes to regulating much of anything these days, particularly telecomm.
I am visiting my sister in CA and I’m up past my EST bedtime. Feels odd to be here in the same time zone as the FDL servers…
She is on Real Time. Rachel tried to make apologies, and said it was between KO and the Corp, and then, is some crosstalk, said her contract allows ‘so much content’, what ever the fuck that means.
She and David Stockman, who is brilliant, have been double teaming at drinking the milkshake of that douche from WSJ.
This had been one of the better Real Times and went down hill when Russell Simmons came on and said roger ailes is a pal, and they talk about prison reform.
Corporate monopolism always attacks the root of the problem.KO was the outspoken precedent-setter who carved a fearless path on which the others were given an opportunity to also be money-makers for MSNBC.HE was the cash-cow,so this resulted from pressure from either Comcast or Immelts’ new boss.Ratigan is the only other voice who’s not a dem shill ,so we can find the source via his future message,if there is one.
SAD NEWS… KO had the courage and intelligence to craft a show that spoke more truth to power than I’ve ever seen on TV. His departure from MSNBC is just another nail in the coffin for progressive media in the U.S. He will be sorely missed…
Donohue was top in the ratings when tweety helped shaft him.
i am on dish network, i am having my dish cut off, get rid of tv, the corporatist have started, pretty soon , they won’t anybody left except hard ball and the last word, i can’t stand either one of them, I’ll keep my internet till the corporatist take over that, then i will have it cut off, fuck them sobs
Really sad news about Keith Olbermann. He will be truly missed. It’s a real shame that the best we can do for a “progressive voice” on cable is MSNBC. Is Rachel next? Sad sad day.
Is it Fascism yet?
exactly! she talks to her audience as if they were 4th graders.
Ding!
With Rachel Maddow in full cheerleading mode, with Chris Matthews and Lawrence O’Donnell never being anywhere near progressive in the first place IMO, Olberman was the only person in the MSNBC evening lineup who was likely to speak out against the impending doom the White House and Congress seem poised to bring down upon the nation. Therefore, for the MOTU, Keith had to go.
The PTB can count on Matthews and O’DOnnell to praise any and all moderately conservative crap that comes in this year, and can count on Rachel to never tug at her leash. Cenk is the only wild card. With Ed being moved to the late hour, he’s irrelevant, and it’s obvious to me that he’s the next to go.
I’ve liked Cenk in the past, and I hope he doesn’t get collared. But I feel certain he will.
P.S. I stopped watching MSNBC months ago anyway, when the PTB started yanking KO’s chain constantly, and when RM turned into an Obot.
My first thought about Comcast buying MSNBC is that KO would be fired. KO is/was my favorite. I like Cenk’s internet broadcasts and I don’t plan to watch Comcast. I found Rachel mostly too childish.
I fired Comcast a few weeks ago, they were really a pain to deal with ever since digital came out. Trying to get me to upgrade. Every few months saying I had to return/exchange TV adapters or be fined.
Hard to say – maybe we need to set up the “Countdown to Fascism” web page clock like we used to for the count down to midnight and the end of the world for the cold war.
Cenk has never been “truly left” really. Not that this is a requirement for me to appreciate someone. My question is if he continues to be the same.
He’s got an ego, and if they get him to give up the Turks (which I imagine is the play here) he won’t have anywhere else to go … with a brand new baby. I honestly really like the guy, but I think when push comes to shove with his nuts in a vice he’ll justify it to himself and sing whatever tune is written on the sheet in front of him – just like Maddow.
I’m only going off the top of my head, but I don’t think they can force him not to work if he gives up the money under the current contract. I know that’s the only reason Conan stuck with his embargo – he was pretty clear about it.
Hmmmm. TYT is (sadly) in need of a new host. Does XM count?
I won’t assume Brian Roberts or any other Comcast executive initiated Olbermann’s firing, and the abruptness of his departure leaves me certain he was fired.
That said, was Phil Griffin was committing professional suicide by unilaterally killing the highest rated show on his network? Or, did Comcast approve of the plan to force Olbermann out in advance?
Hopefully, we’ll know more in the next couple weeks.
Would the public even recognize fascism? Of course not. They would just call it “Exceptionalism.”
heh, best one so far!
Your Soros comment is exactly what I was thinking.
He’s not funneling money to the Dems any more–maybe he needs an outlet for all that cash. THAT would be exciting.
WTF
i want him back he was good, he made me aspire to be good
Well we can’t have that now, can we?
Whatever the details, one way or another MSNBC drove out the guy who made their brand over the last decade — let that be a lesson to those who argue that humans always act in their own interest (a common Libertarian presumption, for example); when executive egos and short-term gain present themselves, even “businessmen” will take dead aim and shoot themselves in the foot.
So the rhetorical question is: how many Olbermann viewers will tune in nightly to watch O’Donnell talk down to those who expect Obama to fulfill his campaign promises?
Keith’s like a cat. He’ll land on his feet. It’s up to us to talk hard! >;-)
We can safely say this is what fascism looks like.
dude its not us you should be worried about; it’s the millions of nice, but low info voters whose only exposure to news is hearing the tv in the other room as dinner is being made and kids being put to bed. Those are the people who matter and there are way more of them than us
in the financial realm it totally is-government and corporations are now one
This Howie Kurtz?
http://gawker.com/5731654/why-did-howard-kurtz-sit-on-an-embarrassing-correction-for-six-weeks
I see this as a very real opportunity. Imagine Mr. Soros and other big money sponsors building a new left-wing TV network.
Start with Olbermann, Maddow, Cenk, Thom Hartman, Amy Goodman, Jeremy Scahill, Seymour Hersh and a few others. Draw over John Stewart and Colbert and the newly formed Onion News Network. The combination of news and humor on one network could become a real powerhouse.
Olbermann is much better off without the corporate noose around his neck. Liberals and the Left need their own media outlet. You can’t build a movement without one.
On the other hand, there’s no guarantee Comcast, Directv and other corporate-controlled cable systems would include the Lefty TV channel in their channel lineup. But, as the saying goes, if you can’t join them, beat them.
I killed my TV back in the spring of 2006, and haven’t missed it. I much prefer the internet and reading. If we could wean the nation off TV, the nation would be in immensely better shape.
TV rots the brain. It’s mindless pablum and propaganda. We don’t need talking heads to think for us and deliver our news.
I enjoyed Keith’s rants the relatively few times that I watched him on a delayed basis over the internet, but I can’t say that I’m surprised or shocked by the news that he was fired because I expected it.
I see this as an opportunity to encourage people to kill their TVs, and for those who don’t, to boycott MSNBC.
This sort of sums up what I saw last night:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/01/keith_olbermanns_ouster.html
I’m thinking of going wireless. I don’t even watch TEEVEE anymore. If you do, try satellite
I have counted on Keith Olbermann to help me retain my political sanity for the past couple of years. I hope he pops back up somewhere soon, or I may just lose my mind! Violence will not be the answer. Comcast only responds to money. I shall pick and choose my programming much more carefully now.
His contract was for 2 more years. they’ve very effectively silenced him. I don’t knwo if he will even be able to go on radio or interviews.
Our free press and freedom of speech has just been squashed from the very top.
Remember Obama’s “professional Left” comments?
Up against Jeopardy. The kiss of death in our household. If we don’t turn it on at 7:30 Eastern, even the cat gets upset.
Are there any doubts as to where this president and his loyalties lay. His FCC’s approval of this merger will destroy the only mainstream media outlet willing to give a voice to progresive ideas. Keith is just the first of a line of progressives on MSNBC who will either tow the corporate line and kiss Obama’s ring, or bite the dust. Will Rachel be next, or will she decide her lucrative television career is more important than her principles. We already know by past evidence, Lawrence O’Donnell and Chris Matthews are knee dwellers, so they’ll quickly comply. But will Rachel and Dylan.
I am probably the least surprised person on the planet when Keith made that announcement, because I posted a comment a couple of weeks ago when it seemed this deal was eminent that they would immediately remove their most successful, money making progressive voice, Keith Olbermann, to send a strong signal to the rest of the lineup that if you think your money making ability will save you, it won’t.
This president, time and time again, has sided with corporate interests over the interests of the people. I want someone to explain to me in practical terms how this president is any different than what used to be considered a Republican, not this crazy assed bunch out there today, but what used to be considered a rational republican. The answer is obviously NONE!
What we have witnessed from this “Democratic” administration, and I use that word advisedly, is more entrenched corporate power and rule, and his appointments show even more is on the way. Keith’s removal is but a symptom of the real problem; which is we have two political parties firmly in the service of the most rich and powerful corporate intersts and individuals in the world. They are clearly bought and paid for, the worst corporate whores in the world.
At what point will Americans wake the hell up and face the reality that the average American is screwed, yet again. Obama will do some small social policy changes around the edges, but expect nothing approaching change on economic, financial, trade, and military matters. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE SCREWED! Hope is dead, change is not coming, and we are once again left in 2012 with voting for the lesser of the worst of two evils.
Once this president makes his SOTU speech and call for changes in Social Security, it’ll finally be clear to those kool-aid drinking progressive and liberal Democrats to face the fact this guy is as right wing as Joe Lieberman and John McCain. Then can we get on with the business of either remaking the Democratic party, or abandoning it wholely for something more progressive? I am beginning to despise this guy almost as much as I did Bush, and that’s saying alot.
What the hell, you won’t assume what’s as obvious as the nose on your face. You see, this is what’s wrong with Americans, they are as dumb as they come. How the hell can you assume anything else. Phil Griffin and Keith Olbermann have had run-ins in the past, but Griffin was not about to remove his best money making anchor for the entire network, because Keith is who kept him employed.
You are symptomatic of the American who will allow the Comcasts of the world to increasingly homogenize our media right under our noses. If you don’t think this was about the right wing media company Comcast sending a signal to the other hosts to tone down their liberal rhetoric by removing, once again to the make the point, their highest rated, money making anchor in any time slot on MSNBC, then you are as stupid as I think you are.
The idea this makes any kind of financial sense on the part of Comcast kills the libertarian argument that businesses will act in their own self interest. This was clearly a message sending firing. And the sooner naive Americans like you fucking get that, the sooner we can get about taking our nation back from these rapacious corporations!
Seems she could make time for Bill Maher’s show but couldn’t do her own. According to her replacement, she needed some well deserved time off. But doing anothe show elsewhere? What has happened to this gal?
Who’s next Ed,Rachel,Lawrence.Maybe they’ll bring back Tucker Carlson.Whatever they do it will be watered down.There will be more guest on with right wing views….we’re Fucked.
@ BeachPopulist & kgb999.
“Used to love Rachel”? So Rachel did one thing wrong, in your mind, and you don’t “love” her any more? Not very forgiving…
Rachel is a fantastic Progressive voice in the Media. She’s obviously very smart and seemingly unrelenting in her beliefs. I think she’s fantastic and I deeply appreciate her passion.
Who or what is “Veal Penn?”
As for Cenk. He seems very Left to me. I’m probably Left of most of the other people that post here but I don’t go by anyone else’s playbook. I give Cenk the same consideration in that he’s not just some Political cypher.
Larry is pretty cool too. Especially in the “unrelenting” department… but he’s a bit too much of a Hawk for my tastes… but that also doesn’t mean I dislike him… I just disagree with him on a few issues.
You guys think both Cenk & Rachel “sing whatever tune is written on the sheet in front of” them?
@BeachPopulist.
Oh bulldinky. Rachel is a great voice. She’s been very vocal in her distaste of Obama’s placating of the Mega Corps and the Neo GOP. Her segment on Obama’s capitulation to the Right during the Tax Breaks for millions fiasco, was fantastic.
“Tragedy?” “I do not think it means what you think it means.”
@ liberaldem.
“Doing some stories over and over and over (such as Christine O’Donnell).” I thought those stories were important and entertaining. One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.
Pick pick pick…
This sucks.
Comcast has plausible deniability, but the FCC JUST approved this deal two days ago. Very fishy.
And the same day that Obama announces he’s setting up his reelection office in Chicago.
I guess this is the start of his next Presidential campaign!
**** you comcast…
**** you hard.
**** you Larry O’douche for stealing Olbermanns spot, noone should ever watch you.
Bye, Keith. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass, you Democratic Party Establishment sellout.
What comes next may be marginally “worse,” but it will only help to clarify for the general public the extent to which the Corps Which Own Us are willing to let those hypnotized by the MSM even THINK about thinking Left.
For those still devoted to progressive ideals, progressive issues, and putting People Before Profits, the New Progressive Alliance is here. We will mount a primary challenge to Obama and a third-party presidential candidacy in 2012.
No longer does “Yes We Can” have meaning. Now it is, now MUST be: “Yes We WILL – and the Elite WILL NOT stop us.”
Volunteer at admin_at_themalcontent_dot_com.
Really. lbjdem needs to wake the fuck up. Comcast is converting MSNBC into FOXLite, just as sure as triangulation by the Dems have made them GOPLite. The subversion of the middle class is nearly complete, and if don’t wake up and take up against it as one now, at this moment, the grip of fascism will become impossible to break.
YAWN
Amen. Well said, Mason. Once you lose TV the amount of time you have for more – and more important – things is unbelievable. Reading, exercise, arts and crafts, writing, and certainly not least ACTIVISM, in hopes others might awaken from the one-eyed monster’s trance.
A good friend years ago called TV “Sucking your brains out through your eyeballs.” Perfectly put.
Not very. Cenk removed one of his YouTube videos where he called out Tweety Matthews for being a dishonest jerk.
It really is financial sense to them. The less information we are able to obtain the more right wing ideology will be able to pass as truth, the easier it will be for their favored candidates to win. They care more about the lack of regulations than ratings for their shows. DLC is the most that they will ever allow.
What do you have against cats?
Ouch! But Obama’s just not that real.
Funny!
sorry, as much as I love your comments here and at Huffpo, the sort of left that Soros would fund, would be at best a slightly softer form of capitalism, and I’m not even certain of that. You don’t get to be a playa on the world financial scene by acting out your inner Mother Theresa.
Who’s the primary candidate?
If there isn’t one, how are we planning to get one?
yeah like videogames!
We should all see Keith as the hero he is, brave enough to expose hypocrisy and to call out those who are perpetuating hate and divisiveness in our country. He helped thousands by soliciting donations for free clinics, and publicized Gov. Jan Brewer’s refusal to allow funds for those needing transplants (two of whom have died due to this rule). He gave us a voice which has now been silenced. A tragedy and a travesty.
Rachel will be toeing the line even MORE, so she doesn’t end up like Olbermann. She’ll be touching her nose to the floor without so much as blushing. That girl is my favorite sellout. She’s been miles away for quite some time. I can’t believe anyone HERE still mentions her. But you guys do it all the time.
I despise Obama MORE than I did Bush, if it’s okay to speak that way, oh shux, please don’t anyone call me a hyperbolater fomenting violent fringe-dwellers of “both parties.” Obama is far more dangerous and evil than Bush, expressely BECAUSE he advertized as the non-Bush choice, then turned out to be worse. See, after Bush, there are only two ways to take the country. Away from the Cheney-Bush criminal era, or deeper into that criminal era with “no looking back,” as Obama is not afraid to look us in the face and say. And no TURNING back, either. Obama has served as follow-through guy at the most critical point in history. I simply have no word for the guy.
I wish we had a black president. That would have been great.
Anyway, long live MSNBC, the Fox News Channel of the other right, the Obama right.
Will you people please stop saying “Lawrence” and “Ed” and “Rachel” as if you’ve swallowed the dumbass notion that these are champions of yours? They are champions of Obama, and your enemy. “Lawrence” and “Ed” and “Rachel” aren’t going to BE NEXT. These are not heroes in the good fight, these are shameless, prosperous, happy tools.
(Madprogressive, forgot to say GREAT POST, and thank you.)