The suspension of Keith Olbermann by MSNBC has set up an interesting dynamic as the scramble is on to see who will be willing to replace him. If progressive voices wanted to get his back they would refuse the gig and the other MSNBC stars might all get a cold tonight and miss their shows. MSNBC could fill the air with their vast staple of voyeuristic prison and sex documentaries that make up their weekend programing.
But that ain’t gonna happen. A line of progressive voices who will fight to be Keith’s replacement is already forming and I don’t think any of his fellow hosts will risk their gig for him. Standing between Olbermann’s chair and the folks who want that seat might be the most dangerous spot in America tonight.
First out of the gate in the scab rally was Chris Hayes of the Nation. And for a little while this afternoon he had the gig, but then somebody realized that he gave $250 to a Democrat and so he was fired before he could start.
So Chris may be out, but I’m sure many others are ready to go for it. It will be interesting to see who else wants it badly enough to dance to the tune of their MSNBC management overlords*. I guess it is a small price to pay to be on the teevee.
Cheers
ps. If you want to call MSNBC and give them feedback on their Lean-Forward-Off-the-Cliff-and-Into-Obscurity strategy, you could call Phil Griffin, the genius behind the plan, at 212-664-4444 or email him at: [email protected]
*It looks like tonight’s replacement is a company man, MSNBC news anchor Thomas Roberts and the scab rally will continue over the weekend. Monday should be interesting…
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
I think Jane Hamsher should be the fill-in host.
BGinCHI
They should just get Richard Wolff or Howard Fineman, both of whom have the perfect ass-kissing talent to really make Griffin happy.
After all, who cares about programming or viewer satisfaction as long as the boss doesn’t get his fee fees hurt.
It’s just like Hollywood. You know why movie attendance is down? It’s not just that we all have bigger TVs, it’s that they are getting their asses kicked by cable networks who make smart shows while Hollywood is all formula and/or teenage crap.
Way to go, fucking geniuses.
Zifnab
Call me crazy, but there’s got to be some sort of rule against firing anyone who contributes to a Democrat when you’re keeping Republican donors on board.
Also, that whole thing about MSNBC being the liberal network? Bwhahahahaha. Nice while it lasted.
Dennis G.
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
Perhaps.
Maybe MSNBC will compete with Parker Spitzer and launch Hamsher Norquist. Their wacky brand of pretend Libertarian vs pretend Progressive banter to bash Obama would be sure to bring in the rubes from both the left and right.
I smell Peabody…
Mako
Jesse the Body. Get him and I’ll consider cable.
meh, maybe not.
Melissa Theuriau! Naked. Then maybe I’ll consider cable.
General Stuck
Cable news has become a disease in general, and I have a hard time getting worked up over big corp media doing stoopid shit to liberals in general, when the winds shift and once again wafts the smell of putrefying garbage from the GOP dump. It all makes me ill, and all I look at currently is AP breaking news on the web, TPM, and this little half acre of hell.
eemom
@J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:
tee hee, I thought the same thing. You know how many nanoseconds it would take for her to agree to scab a fellow “progressive”? That’s right. 0.
Ash Can
I haz a confuzzled. Were these guys fired or suspended? There’s a difference; specifically, one’s permanent and one isn’t.
Cat Lady
Fox’s second largest shareholder is a Saudi sheikh, so Keith’s $7000 to three powerless American citizens is exactly the same/
BGinCHI
First Randy Moss now Keith.
Where will the madness end!
Gozer
My money is on Cenk Uygur.
cleter
Oh, hell, MSNBC–I’ll do it. I need a job. I didn’t give any money to anybody this cycle, because I’m broke and kind of pissed off. Sure, sure, I don’t really have any actual relevant experience, but if I’ve learned anything this election cycle, it’s that having actual experience or skills is just a liability.
Call me. Thanks!
General Stuck
The sound of that arrogant putz’s voice has the same effect on me as Sarah Palin, and makes me want to gouge out my ears with a fork.
Gozer
@General Stuck:
Word. But you just know they’re gonna try to balance the JoScar’s of the world with a Jane Hamsher of the Left.
BGinCHI
Anybody know what channel the Soros Progressive Network is on?
I can’t find it and I want to watch Democracy Now followed by Howard Dean’s Hour of Rage.
I also don’t want to miss Digging Holes with Jane Hamsher.
cathaireverywhere
I sent a very polite email to Mr. Griffin pointing out the stupidity of his position.
Jim C
@cleter: Me too!
Heck, why don’t they just cut all this malarkey and just give the Countdown chair to E.D. “Terrorist Fist Jab” Hill.
You know they want to.
Comrade Kevin
You can believe that story, or you can believe what Hayes himself has said on Twitter.
Mattminus
@Cat Lady:
…and I’m pretty sure Fox had something to do with KO’s suspension.
WayneL
I sent an email–
RE: Idiot?
How’s the severance package coming?
Allan
@Comrade Kevin: Um, exactly. Let’s be a little careful with the “scab” thing, OK Dennis?
Arclite
I’m assuming that’s only one show. What will they fill the rest of the time with?
Mike
Other NBC honchos
nbc pres [email protected]>;
News pres nbc capus [email protected];
nbc washchief whitaker [email protected];
Double standards always favor the right: racist Pat Buchanan, nutter Joe Scarborough
Arclite
@General Stuck:
Dude, love the Turk dude. The man speaks wisdom.
General Stuck
@Arclite:
LOL, a regular Plato, that one.
Mako
@BGinCHI:
We get it here but it only shows 2 Men and a Fat Kid reruns. Something about supporting Mexicans, no doubt. But it’s cool, everyone loves Charley Harper.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
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All balloonbagger roads lead to Jane Hamsher.
.
.
JRon
Did they kick out Scarborough and Buchanan yet?
Oh right. Only applies to Dem donors. Forgot.
MattR
How many progressive voices have to turn them down before they decide not to bother trying to find a progressive? Is that the goal?
Karyn
Keith is one rich guy who was suspended by an idiot executive who has been in a power struggle with him for quite a while. He’s not a working class person standing out in the cold for days on end to get a living wage and decent benefits. This ‘scab’ meme is insulting to those who have stood out in the cold fighting for fair wages and working conditions. I actually kind of think Keith might agree with that sentiment.
The idea that other progressive folks should silence their voices on important national issues just because one of them has been suspended due to a stupid policy is…silly at best. I’m not saying that viewers shouldn’t boycott the network and protest, I just think people should get a grip and a perspective. Next to the newest crisis in Haiti and people dying in a volcano this is kind of a minor issue.
Resident Firebagger
@Mattminus:
This really started with MSNBC’s election night coverage, and the “liberal” Chris Matthews treating the idiot-lunatic Michele Bachmann like the idiot-lunatic she is in an interview. Olbermann, Maddow and Eugene Robinson also apparently expressed some sort of liberal sentiments during their coverage, and of course, even Jon Stewart was taken aback by their incivility.
That’s just what I’ve read though. I myself wasn’t watching. But the right has been going ape-shit about this since Tuesday night.
If MSNBC only suspends K.O. (remember Phil Donohue?) it’ll actually represent some sort of sick progress as far as allowing lie-bruls on the teevee.
I know Olbermann isn’t going to starve if he gets shit-canned, and I know he can be smug and over-dramatic, but his calling bullshit on the Bushies back in 2003-05 really was a beacon of light for those of us who actually understood that this country was careening into the abyss. And there’s no Maddow without Olbermann preceding her.
So, I’ll always be a fan of Keith for that reason. And I hope he hangs onto his gig…
fraught
Outgay Robert Thomas is so hot. And two straight hours of gay anchors should make Sean Hannity cream in his jeans. Keith will win this power struggle but until he does, I’m fine with a butch guy with two first names.
WaterGirl
@cathaireverywhere: Hmmm… can my email be considered polite if it included the phrase “your decision disgusts me”?
cleter
@WaterGirl: as long as you avoid the “f” word, and don’t start the letter with “Dear Fascist Bully-boys,” then, yes.
tammanycall
@BGinCHI:
Movie attendance is down, but box office profits are at an all time high. And where exactly do you think those cable shows that you like so much get made?
Hollywood’s about the only American industry still turning a profit.
JoyfulA
@cathaireverywhere
I also sent Mr. Griffin a polite letter, from the standpoint of losing money for GE shareholders like me. I figure that should be effective, unless he looks up how few shares I actually hold in my pitiful IRA.:
ricky
I see this has quieted down. Did Rachel’s explanation that this was a good policy and shows “we at MSNBC are different from FOX” work for you folks out there?
You know Rachel. Dr. Can I Have His Time Slot if He Don’t Come Back Maddow?
Jo
God i hope he doesn’t torch the damm place!
fasteddie9318
Hey, I thought Ted Baxter was fantastic for the 15 or so seconds I happened to see of the show before I remembered to stop DVRing it.
Max Power
It’s a stupid policy, and it’s been applied only to Keith Olbermann.
Rachel may give the company line, but that doesn’t change anything.
I won’t be looking forward to Monday’s Jon Stewart doing victory laps at having torn down one part of cable news that he targeted last weekend.
Ryan
I’m continually baffled that people still watch cable news.
tkogrumpy
@General Stuck: @Ryan: Ditto. Also too, they watch the commercials that go with it.
Bill H.
Olbermann has been going over the top for about a year, to the point that I stopped watching him a couple of months ago. I don’t care for demagoguery regardless of which side it’s on.
After many months of harsh condemnation of Fox and its various commentators for their political contributions to the Republican party and members thereof, Olbermann winds
up engaging in the same behavior with Democrats, including not disclosing it to his viewers.
Hypocrisy bites.
Church Lady
What would it take to get Matthews kicked to the curb? His spittle flecked constant interruptions of guests and blathering in general is extremely annoying.
fasteddie9318
@Church Lady:
Funny; that’s what I’m constantly wondering about you.
chaseyourtail
@Bill H.:
I stopped watching him months ago as well. Couldn’t take his pre-fabbed, sancto-outrage any more. I also avoid him because he always has that insufferable hack, Howard Fineman on as a guest. I pretty much stopped watching MSNBC all together, except for Rachel now and then. I think Olbermann jumped the shark about a year or so ago anyway. Countdown has become tired and predictable. I won’t miss it, that’s for sure.
chaseyourtail
I was listening to a local progressive radio show here in SF today and a woman called in to express her rage and dismay at Olbermann’s suspension. She was really upset and said, “I watch Keith religiously and when I can’t watch him I record the show, so I never miss it.” Red flag. I don’t watch anyone in the media “religiously”. Maybe it’s time some liberals cut the KO umbilical cord.
Bob L
@Bill H.: Yep, I want news that tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear. Olbermann is just part of the news entertainment circus.
Still, it is really silly for MSNBC to fire Olbermann for being a rodeo clown when they hired him to be one.
Flugelhorn
First the election and now this! You folks must be devastated. How will you ever properly process what has happened to you without Olbermann to snark you out of your depression?
Then to suggest you turn against MSNBC. Your very own political prop machine… Wow…
Where do I send a donation? Is there an ACTBlue for this?
Donut
I guess this thread is kinda dead, but Dennis – I call bullshit on you smearing Chris Hayes with the scab tag. That’s fucking lame, dude. First, as Karyn said above, this situation is not at all analagous to a picket line crossing. For you to draw any kind of likeness there is just…a bit of stretch. I think the decision to suspend Olbermann was wrong, but Olbermann is hardly a working class hero for what happened to him. Like it or not, if he had gotten permission for the donations, he likely wouldn’t be in the mess he’s in. Maybe. I don’t know. And that’s the point – neither do you. None of us know all the facts Besides all that, you need to update this post, because Hayes’ disputes that he was ever asked to host the show yesterday.
Pretty cheesy of you, Dennis. I respect you and the work you do as a blogger, but this one was way off the mark. Update your post, dude.