Keith Olbermann blogs about his "firing"

[Shopaholic]

I've posted this to General Discussion--here's the link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2691744

or you can go directly to his blog home at www.bloggermann.com.

[RoyGBiv]

1. Excellent Observation: Polls

"Oh and by the way: how come the 'Kerry’s winning' part of the election night exit polling is presumed to have been wrong, or tampered with, but the 'Moral Values' part of the same polling is graded flawless, and marks the dawn of a new American century?"

[Buddyblazon]

2. I LOVED this snippet....

"Oh and by the way: how come the “Kerry’s winning” part of the election night exit polling is presumed to have been wrong, or tampered with, but the “Moral Values” part of the same polling is graded flawless, and marks the dawn of a new American century?"

GO OLBERMANN...GO OLBERMANN....ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY...GO OLBERMANN!

[Bread and Circus]

5. It's pure gold. You beat me to posting it. Man it was perfect.

I am really liking this guy. I wish I had MSNBC just
to see him.

[Buddyblazon]

3. Apparently...brilliant minds think alike.

LOL

[IAMREALITY]

4. I warned you all

I tried to warn you all in the Olbermann thread about taking it too far. But some of us just haddddd to email him, make a ruckus, and spread the rumors. Sorry to sound frustrated, but his article is incredible embarassment to me. This is why we need to be more vigilant and focused on what we are doing, and try not to be so anxious. We have a ton of eyes looking at us right now, so tread carefully. We don't want to be perceived as tin foil hat wearing morons, yet with such an obvious planned bit on Countdown some of us felt the need to take it and run with it as yet another conspiracy theory. Sorry, but I am absolutely ashamed at that article, and think we have now made our one media friend realize to be even more wary of what he reads from bloggers.

Tear me apart, I don't care. But I think the levels that some people took this Olbermann thing to was absurd and hurtful to our cause.

May we learn a lesson from this.

(but yes, I am still so thankful for all the other efforts on here, and couldn't live without them right now, so still love ya all!)

[RUAWHACKO]

7. I for one

Never thought he was fired

And I agree with you- it went too far.
Olberman is the bomb but all the people who went nuts
when he ran off did look silly

[restorefreedom]

8. I have to respectfully disagree...

As I read it yesterday, the main issue on the original thread was not the running out of the studio bit - although a few were concerned about that, most of us realized it was a gag.

The issue of concern was whether he was being forced to take a vacation now in order to let this story die.

I do not think it is going out on a super-long limb to think that was possible. Up until recently, Keith was the only MSM person willing to cover this. Only now are a few lame attempts being made to catch up with him. I think it's also important to remember that when Joe Wilson was a guest on Countdown, the WH had the stones to email Keith some "talking points" for Wilson (fortunately, KO basically told them to screw off).

If you think it's beyond the 4th Reich and its corporate reach to try and silence any and all voices of dissent, feel free.

But I have to disagree with you. They've stolen one election and possibly a second. They have outed a CIA operative, tortured and hidden prisoners, lied their way into an unjust war, and stonewalled investigations into 9/11. And now, they have decided to purge the CIA of all "non-loyals."

Putting the silencer on one of the few journalists with the guts to uncover their lies is child's play for these monsters.

[IAMREALITY]

10. Irresponsibility

"The issue of concern was whether he was being forced to take a vacation now in order to let this story die."

Exactly. And it is that sort of tin foil hat overthinking that is hurting our real efforts. There was no chance he was forced. The very notion of it was absurd to those of us still level headed enough to sort fact from fiction. All I'm saying is that we need to learn a lesson from this and calm down a bit. This did nothing but hurt us, but luckily many positive efforts are still continuing.

[restorefreedom]

11. Given all that we know ...

about the Bush regime and the cooperation of many of the MSM outlets, why do you think it was beyond all possibility?

I agree that it was highly unlikely that he would be forced out. But impossible? Nothing is impossible anymore.

And I don't think it hurt us terribly. The DU'ers are relieved, the freepers are disappointed, and by tomorrow's news cycle, people will be much more concerned about the disaster in Fallujah and the replacement of CIA officers with ones loyal to the regime.

Underestimating the capability of the enemy is much more dangerous than risking embarassment, imo.

[truehawk]

13. Bush Purging Democrats from the CIA?

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscia1114,0,707331.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

Tin foil hat thinking like this????

[newyawker99]

17. Hi truehawk!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[merh]

27. You say it hurts "our" efforts, but you don't say how.

The emails and his reporting on the concerns makes public the concerns many have that the story is being silenced and makes public that his vacation war preplanned and not forced. This causes no harm to the voter irregularites efforts, it actually is very helpful to the efforts to make the story public.

Other members of the media are watching this and that they know that he was not forced to take vacation or fired hopefully will encourage them to report the story and not hide from it.

We will always be seen as conspiracy theorists until the truth is discovered and reported. Why that bothers you so escapes me.

The more they complain about the efforts to recount votes the more I know we are on to something they don't like and don't want us to find out.

Relax, when threads discuss issues you are not comfortable with, ignore them. You don't have to be a part of them.

[illuminaughty]

31. I must have missed that thread. I knew he was going on vacation

It is not a stretch in the least that he might lose his job. He lost his job at Fox. They just came in and told him that they weren't covering sports anymore and I believe he packed up that day and left.
It was not a pretty ordeal. He is Anonymous Voice #2 in the documentary "Outfoxed". The fact that he could not speak out without having to alter his voice tells you it's pretty brutal in mainstream media.

[anamandujano]

16. You forgot the 2002 election

where they increased their numbers in the house and senate.

That makes (at least) three.

[m berst]

14. can't control that

There will always be someone somewhere saying outrageous things, and reporters can always grab those and use them to smear any effort by suggesting the extremists represent the whole group.

[Clark2008]

19. Actually, when I e-mailed him

I told him I was running out of tin foil and that I had been contending that he was merely on a hard-earned vacation.

Since he answered me, I'm guessing he figured I hadn't lost my mind! :D

But my answer from him was the same as on his blog tonight, so, unlike the lame-stream media, my reporting skills aren't shoddy. ;)

[JohnnyCougar]

23. Watch what you say

If you attempt to sound sensible about this, you will get flamed bad, called a traitor and a freeper, and asked why you don't want Democrats to win.

Trust me, it happened to me at least 5 times last week. The only way to not get flamed on here is to run around like a chicken with your head cut off screaming "fraud, fraud!!!" at any slight inconsitency in voting statistics that can easily be refuted by the right wing.

[Clark2008]

26. I never questioned anyone's suspicion

regarding the vote fraud: my background makes me realize that it's easily done. I'm a former reporter who now works in P.R./marketing for a technologies company. I know this shit happens.

What I questioned - openly and I was proved to be correct - was that Keith's "walking out" on his show was merely a gag and that he was taking a real vacation and not being forced out. I know how the bean-counters work in these large corporations and, if his ratings are high, they'll let anything slide, whether it's a good story like the voting-fraud fiasco or a sleazy story like Monicagate.

[ahyums]

6. the other point which he makes which I think is quite true

is that media coverage of all this is going to get far far more vigorous as soon as there is a common realization that there will actually be a recount in Ohio.

[pacalo]

9. In the words of Jonathan Alter (Newsweek)...

"Don't give up on it, Keith."

Those who think "we went too far" may as well drink the KoolAid. The Republicans don't want the election fraud story publicized, & the fact that Keith is the only one hitting it hard makes some people nervous.

Alter also said that many journalists took a vacation after the long, grueling campaign & that we should be hearing more about the voting irregularities. For those who rely on media coverage to serve your self esteem on this issue, hang tight...your validation is coming.

[crispini]

12. Great blog entry...

A man of humor and cojones. I'd marry him any day of the week. :D

Can you believe, 27,000 emails? We some busy people here!

This is my fave part:

"I suspect the coverage is going to go through the roof as the news spreads that Nader has gotten his recount in New Hampshire, and that the Greens and Libertarians are actually going to get their Ohio recount. When reporters discover what Jonathan Turley pointed out to us on Tuesday’s show, namely that 70% of Ohio’s votes were done with punch cards and as Florida proved in 2000, in court, a lot of those punch cards - as Jon put it - “turn over,” I suspect there will be long-form television on the process."

Yup, yup, we on the internet (tinfoil hats and all) are well ahead of the MSM, as usual. I think the whole kerfuffle about his putative forced vacation was, quite simply, symptomatic of our collective nervousnesss. To be perfectly honest, once you START even admitting to yourself the possibility that it could have been stolen, it's through the rabbithole into a gray land where many things become possible. Navigation in this twilight land beneath the surface requires a finely-tuned BS detector... but at the same time, when you make one presumpution of dishonesty, then others begin to follow.

Not that I'm saying it WAS deliberate fraud... YET... it's still, possibly, just an error or a problem or some other explanation. BUT.... (see 10,000 other threads here for what comes behind the but.)

And, Olbermann rocks beyond all belief. :D

[HEAVYHEART]

15. I know I know! Keith Olberman is friggin HOT HOT HOT HOT!!

[bain_sidhe]

18. Keith responded!!

I wrote to him about his blog entry, and he reponded!!
OOOOOHH! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

My letter:

Subject: Welcome to the big time!

I hope your bosses at MSNBC take note of your new status - and ratings - as the darling of the 48 percenters! (Probably 49%, if you count the Nader/Green voters.) There's a simple reason we all panicked about your previously "unannounced vacation": For the last four years, we feel like we've been wildly waving our hands trying to get the cable news networks' attention, shouting, "HELLO!?!? Half the country here! Wide open, unserved market! It can be ALL YOURS! Hey, CNN! Hey, MSNBC! Hey FO... (ok, maybe not *them*)."

We really wonder about the lack of shows that speak to the concerns of the half of the country that ISN'T Republican. What cable network, we ask ourselves, wouldn't kill for a lock on a 48% market share?? And yet, even back when we were supposedly 51% (by the 2000 election results), none of them stepped up and truly tried to serve the left-of-center market. So, of course, we wonder why. We wonder if some shadowy, nefarious "Powers That Be" have sent out the word: No liberals, no progressives, and especially no sane, articulate Democrats, get to speak for more than five seconds without cutting away to a "breaking news" story - taped last week - or without suddenly getting beset with "technical problems" like "lost feeds" or "audio drop outs" or whatever excuse they can come up with to make sure their voices don't get heard. (Unless they can be shouted down by rabid right wingers, of course...)

Is it any wonder when we found one (count 'em, ONE) non-shouting, non-conservative (to be generous), non-technically-deficient news show speaking to our concerns, we all feared you'd gotten yanked?

Glad to hear you haven't been, and hope you enjoy your well-deserved
vacation!

Keith's response:

Thank you kindly. Two thoughts: we can always use more viewers, and they didn't swarm the tv this past week, so spread the word.

Secondly, as to the conservatism of the media -- well, who owns the media? Know any liberal corporations?

ko

Fanswoon!
:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

**edit formatting**

[Clark2008]

20. He e-mailed me, too

What I want to know is this: why the heck is this fabulous, intelligent and attractive man sitting as his computer reading our e-mails instead of out somewhere VACATIONING?

Not that I wasn't in a full-swoon (:loveya:) after he e-mailed me, but that just dawned on me this evening.

But, then again, I am a fabulous, intelligent and attractive woman and I'm sitting here. :P

[bain_sidhe]

21. I'm fabulous and intelligent too...

attractive? Well...

Not to mention, I'm sneaking up on half a century. I plan to ambush it somewhere about this time next year.

But, send the word out... Keith needs more viewers! Keep watching, keep writing... hopefully his bosses will figure out that there really IS an audience for liberal/progressive/left-of-center viewpoints!

[RUAWHACKO]

22. I'm jealous!

We have to get the word out to everyone that will listen that they MUST watch Olberman.

Sometime last week Don Imus had an MSNBC person on- I dont even remember who- and Imus was saying that Olberman was going to be cancelled because his ratings are so bad.

WE CANT LET THAT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!


Get those ratings points up up up

[angrydemocrat]

24. I'm also jealous! Keith is so HOT! HOT! HOT!

Keith has always been my favorite! I loved it when he beat DUMBA$$ Sean Hannity in the sexiest news anchor contest!! That was great Sean thinks he is God's gift to women :puke: I think him and Ann Coulter are total A$$ES and have about the same IQ - 01. What is Keith's Email so I can write? Thanks

[Red State Blues]

25. Ratings

I thought high ratings were the best way to get fired from MSNBC. Look out Keith!

[ebayfool]

28. Imus is like that old Life cereal commecial w/ Mikey ...

He hates everybody! Especially everyone on MSNBC w/any kind of future, since he wasted his a long time ago. Can't stand to see a has been snivel like that so I don't watch. (& I watch a little of most - you know, the keep your friends close - your enemies closer kinda thing!)

[Olbie Fan]

33. I'm jealous three!!

I've also written Keith almost daily and I've infused humor and all sorts of 'manipulation techniques' to get him to respond ... I even shamelessly quoted his favorite music/rock band ... but I'm riding on 'empty' ... and so it goes!

I'm thrilled for those of you who DID get responses, though ... well, OK, not really 'thrilled' but I am 'happy' for you ... on second thought, not really 'happy' either ... OK, OK ... I'm darn envious and jealous!!! But it does tell me one very important thing ... that this man, Keith O, cares ENOUGH to sit at his computer while he's on a well-deserved vacation and actually READ his emails and respond to some of them. Now that speaks volumes to this man's sincerity, dedication, professional courtesy and just plain 'niceness' ... and it also means that there's still hope for the 26,998 or so of us who haven't yet heard from Keith 'up close and personal' ... but as we all know by now ... HOPE IS ON THE WAY!

So, (hint, hint) Keith, if you're reading this forum ... I'd love to hear from you, too!!!

Signed,

Your #1 Diehard Olbie Fan,

[idiosyncratic]

29. Oh, I'm so jealous. I've written to him several times

and he hasn't written back.

But then I didn't write such a well-composed, literate email.

Congratulations!


(P.S. I love Keith :loveya: )

[bain_sidhe]

30. Oh, my! Flattery! Love it!

But then I didn't write such a well-composed, literate email.

:preening: (Ok, there isn't really an emoticon for that, but there SHOULD be!)

Thank you!

Oh, and, btw...

See my post here about supporting Keith (put it in the General Discussion for those who don't descend into the dungeon)

:kick:

[jimmyp]

32. Thanks

for posting this. Keith is one of the few truly brave broadcasters - I'm waiting for all the others to finally get this message out. It kind of reminds me of when Watergate happened - nobody would touch it except for a few brave reporters WHO WERE RELENTLESS. Maybe Olbermann is cut from the same cloth.

[Olbie Fan]

34. "Maybe Olbermann is cut from the same cloth?"

In this instance, jimmyp, there are NO "maybes", at least in my opinion. Not only is Keith O 'cut' from the same cloth - he's donning a whole new SUIT from the stuff.

Here is a man 'unafraid' to go 'out on a limb' and tackle issues that are controversial and 'as yet' unsubstantiated to an unequivocal degree, but he 'feels' something ... he may not know just 'what' yet, but his journalistic instincts believes there is something more to all of it ... something that needs to be 'dug up', so to speak. And yes, maybe his 'trailblazers' are Woodward & Bernstein, and if so, they're a mighty fine 'example' of what true journalistic gut feelings are all about.

"The O Man" senses something in all of this, and he won't let it go until the last card is turned up and someone has a legitimate Royal Flush ... and ... the Fat Lady Sings ... until then, Keith will be all over this like Grape jelly shaking all over Peanut Butter on a Ritz ... and you can take that to the bank!!