Yes, Olbermann’s leaving MSNBC, and the announcement was precipitous.
And no, I’ve never watched his show, except for a couple of YouTube excerpts. I have written very few posts that even mention his name. So in honor of his going I could say, “Keith, I hardly knew ya—and really had no desire to do so, from the little I do know.”
I’m not sure why it’s such a big story, except that it has the added element of mystery. Why did he go? (Dunno.) Was he fired or did he quit? (My guess is “fired.”) And will it matter? (Not one little bit.)
I think this is the most probable explanation:
Did Comcast–as many Countdown viewers seem to suspect–order Olbermann out? It appears that the end of the Olbermann era at MSNBC was not “ordered” by Comcast, nor was it a move to tone down the network’s politics. Instead, sources inside the network say it came down to the more mundane world of office politics–Olbermann was a difficult employee, who clashed with bosses, colleagues and underlings alike, and with the Comcast-related departure of Jeff Zucker, and the rise of Maddow and O’Donnell, the landscape shifted, making an Olbermann exit suddenly seem well-timed.
A humorous note is this statement of Olbermann’s in his farewell speech, reflecting his view of himself as an iconoclastic rebel:
Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a show that had “gradually established its position as antiestablishment.”
Keith Olbermann, anti-establishment hero.
And in honor of his departure, let’s have a little traveling music:
Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
January 22nd, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Being an anti-establishment hero, or even more specifically, the modern re-incarnation of Edward R. Murrow, was obviously Keith Olbermann’s guiding self-image. And he did his best to sell it to everyone else, especially in the later years of the Bush administration. He got more and more strident and quite consciously tried to pin the reputation to himself of being the ultimate speaker of truth to power. The trouble for him was no one else believed it (he came across as more of a self-important blowhard) and also that it’s not a reputation you can give yourself. It has to be bestowed from others, by winning their respect. He seemed to think it was obvious that he was due that respect, even when the rest of the world showed no sign that that was the case.
January 22nd, 2011 at 2:38 pm
I read that Olbermann had signed a four year contract two years ago, which would mean two years of salary if it was a 100% buyout. Pretty nice establishment Keith, where you get paid two years for not working, especially at your salary.
January 22nd, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Love the music video. Those girls look great! Beautiful outfits!
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Keith Olbermann was MTM’s Ted Knight “Ted Baxter” filled with vitriol with no Ed Asner “Lou Grant” to contol him. A total joke, proving again that real life can imitate theater.
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:22 pm
It’s a big story because he is an utter ass on the show. A left-wing shock jock that, for some reason, the rest of the left treated like a normal reporter.
The utterly blind irony was as unfunny and painful as the Colbert Report, with added shrieking.
Supposedly, in real life he’s not such an utter jerk, but eh.
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:27 pm
I’m guessing that CNN–bottom of the ratings barrel–will have him blathering there in very little elapsed time.
His little farewell, after the final commercial break, was–for Keith–astonishingly level, non-shrill and(can’t believe I’m saying this..)classy.
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:40 pm
What I read: this awful talking head was/is paid $7mill a year.
Before his msnbc gig, he was an espn talking head. I never understood how that qualified him for msnbc; he could and did crap on players and teams for espn. But maybe some of these heads are like empty pitchers, which dispense when tipped what they’ve been filled with.
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:46 pm
It’ll be interesting to hear what Mark Levin has to say Monday night, he always calls it Keith Overbites countdown to low ratings show.
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Great to hear he is off the TV for now. Too bad he will probably turn up on another network I don’t watch.
January 22nd, 2011 at 3:59 pm
there once was an a**hole named keith
whose departure did laughter bequeath
on those who like sanity
better than vanity
in spite of its comic relief
January 22nd, 2011 at 4:10 pm
I wonder how Chris Matthews hangs on. His ratings are dreadful.
January 22nd, 2011 at 4:53 pm
warren-THANKS!
January 22nd, 2011 at 5:32 pm
And, the hideous-lithium deprived Ed Schultz is being pushed to 10:00pm from 6:00. Buu-Byeeee, Eddie.
January 22nd, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Hitler Finds Out That Olbermann Has Been Fired
January 22nd, 2011 at 7:24 pm
It’s news because he is such an arrogant, mean-spirited, foaming at the mouth liberal. I doubt his politics are that different from his (former) MSNBC colleagues, but his approach to the “news” was particularly revolting (he called Michelle Malkin a mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick).
I hope there’s more MSNBC housecleaning in the works.
January 22nd, 2011 at 7:55 pm
He wasn’t a bad commentator on ESPN and with respect to baseball, the only sport I can say I know well, he wasn’t a complete idiot. But I couldn’t see at the time what qualified him to be a political commentator, and I haven’t seen anything since that would show me otherwise.
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Ogremann was profiled in The New Yorker a couple of years back. Like most articles in The New Yorker, it is rather long but interesting.
In it, the writer portrays Ogremann as a guy who has had problems with almost every employer he’s ever had, as well as the co-workers at those employers. I remember one sentence where the writer mentioned Ogremann’s parents sent him to see a professional because of his psychological problems. I remember wishing he’d developed that idea further, but unfortunately it was just one or two brief sentences.
I decided to see if I could find the article before hitting “submit” and here it is. I forgot the title is “One Angry Man” which is perfect:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/23/080623fa_fact_boyer?currentPage=1
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Get this though: at the NYT, the comments on the announcement all said something to the effect of “But Keith was the only reason I watched MSNBC! Keith WAS MSNBC!!”
Very telling, and excellent schadenfreude as well.
Oh and I hear that Keith’s ex-girlfriend was only with him because she wanted a job at MSNBC.
January 22nd, 2011 at 11:14 pm
he he.
too funny.
Who would want the job at MSNBC that bad?
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:01 am
It only takes a few minutes of viewing one of Olbermann’s foaming, incoherent rants to realize he is walking around with a big punch my lights out sign on his forehead. I would guess that most people have known a person like Olbermann at some time or another.
People like Olbermann are in a constant state of rage. They respect no one but themselves. They think everyone else is an idiot. They know they are the smartest person to have ever walked the earth. They think they are the meanest, toughest SOB on the planet when nothing else could be further from the truth. They talk they talk but they can’t walk the walk. When the real made of lead bullets start flying all the big talk stops and they s*%t their pants and become whining, cringing sissy boys crying for their mommy.
I’ve seen it happen and it ain’t pretty.
January 23rd, 2011 at 2:22 am
More Crystals
The do run run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTqnam1zgiw&feature=related
January 23rd, 2011 at 3:15 am
I *never* liked Olbermann, even before I knew anything about his politics. When he was a sportscaster it was overwhelmingly obvious he was an insufferable, egomaniacal pompous jackass – and he wasn’t nearly as knowledgable about sports as he pretended to be.
Nitpick on the Crystals’ vid – it may have been from 1965, in fact likely because of the go-go dancers, but they are lip-syncing to the original record from 1962. Still great, though.
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:41 am
His hysterical, overheated rants were political porn to the left. I’m loving the angry, infuriated reactions of the Kos kiddies. It restores some faith in the capitalist system that even in the age of Obamanomics and bailouts, reality can still exert it’s pull and force out bullying twerps like Olby.
January 23rd, 2011 at 7:36 am
Baklava, my second favorite version of Da Do Run Run is Da Do Run Ron(ald Reagan), courtesy of the UK’s Spitting Image.
For a doddering ex-actor, he did pretty well.
January 23rd, 2011 at 7:39 am
This just in. Breaking: FOX News Hires Olbermann
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:12 am
Gringo,
With all due respects to the hillarious Gateway Pundit, I think he has put Olberman over his pay grade. It is, however, a move in the right direction.
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:56 am
I like the Crystals video. Here is my choice for a vocal sendoff: Goodbye to You, by Patty Smyth and Scandal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_50-gOeBilc
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:57 am
For a cool 7 mill per year, I’d go on in my underwear and be a stark raving lefty progressive lunatic degrees worse then Keefums.
Them there’s acting dollars, as far as I’m concerned. I’d give it a shot, even though I can’t act worth a crap. But then, neither can Keefums act (sane).
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:45 am
“”For a cool 7 mill per year, I’d go on in my underwear and be a stark raving lefty progressive lunatic degrees worse then Keefums.”"
RickZ
Nahhhh. A better example of selling your soul to the devil could not be found! I feel guilty just pondering a figure of what i’d take just to display an Obama bumper sticker on my vehicle.
January 23rd, 2011 at 10:24 am
He he, from the comments of the Gateway Pundit picture:
“Some of my good friends are janitors and Keith Olbermann ain’t no janitor”
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:48 am
Best line from the New Yorker story (my brevity edit): He once bumped his head, which permanently upset his equilibrium.
January 23rd, 2011 at 2:25 pm
The only thing more ridiculous than making a political commentator out of a sportscaster would be making one out of, say, a drama critic.
January 23rd, 2011 at 7:55 pm
If Olbie was “anti-establishment”, he’d be a tea-partier. Dems are the established establishment.
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Rickz,
Who would want a job at MSNBC that bad comment was a reply to Helvetica’s post that his ex-girlfriend only dated him to work at MSNBC.
he
January 23rd, 2011 at 8:58 pm
You put up some good stuff Neo, but this one really got me going. Must have been the video : )
January 23rd, 2011 at 9:53 pm
If Olbie was “anti-establishment”, he’d be a tea-partier.
Nothing says “anti-establishment” and “anti-corporatist” quite like working for GE.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Kieth who?
January 24th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
The spoiled children at Daily Kos are trying to “draft” him to run for Joe Lieberman’s senate seat. Watching that disaster unfold will be more entertaining than anything he ever did while at MSNBC.
January 24th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Scott:
The spoiled children at Daily Kos are trying to “draft” him to run for Joe Lieberman’s senate seat. Watching that disaster unfold will be more entertaining than anything he ever did while at MSNBC.
Please, please, oh PLEASE make Olbermann the Democratic Party nominee for Lieberman’s seat!
January 24th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Occam’s Beard
Nothing says “anti-establishment” and “anti-corporatist” quite like working for GE.
Nails it.
Not to mention the reported $7 million dollar salary. Very anti-establishment, that. Practically minimum wage.
He would be glad to live on the old Chicom ration of a pound of rice a day. ‘Twould be luxury, by comparison to what he had been suffering with under MSNBC.