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Why I'll Miss Keith Olbermann
The Wall Street Journal ^ | JANUARY 24, 2011

Posted on 01/29/2011 10:29:26 AM PST by presidio9

Keith Olbermann once put me on his nightly list of the worst people in the world. To add insult to injury, I was merely a runner-up.

So I suppose I should smile now that Mr. Olbermann's career as the host of "Countdown" has at last tick-tocked to 00:00. Boom! Here was an anchor whose personality is every bit as unhinged as his politics; whose on-air epithets of choice include "prostitute," "monkey," "fascistic," "fat ass" and (about conservative pundit Michelle Malkin) "bag of meat"; who has been let go from nearly every job he ever held; and whose "childish attacks" were, according to Jon Stewart, "as hominem as they are nauseam."

All true. Which is why most people will probably see Mr. Olbermann's abrupt departure not only as a corporate brouhaha but as a belated act of public hygiene, all the more necessary now that the Tucson rampage has put the subject of political civility back on the table. Now if only Glenn Beck or some other right-wing anchor would also go off the air, maybe we could have the culture-wars equivalent of arms control.

There are people who really believe this: Those who want to bring back the FCC's old "Fairness Doctrine," which mandated "balanced" coverage of controversial topics; solid citizens who think responsible broadcasting is C-Span, NPR and the BBC;

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bretstephens; fairnessdoctrine; keitholbermann; msnbc; omittedauthor
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1 posted on 01/29/2011 10:29:29 AM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9

I never wasted my time with his charade show but I admit it was good fodder for here.


2 posted on 01/29/2011 10:32:08 AM PST by A_Former_Democrat (The Rodney King Riots: Courtesy of ABC, CBS, NBC & CNN)
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To: presidio9

You won’t have to miss him for long.


3 posted on 01/29/2011 10:32:12 AM PST by Steely Tom (Obama goes on long after the thrill of Obama is gone)
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To: presidio9

The author of this article, although he works for the WSJ, is of questionable loyalty to the United States. I suspect he sees himself at part of the one-world governing class. Raised in Mexico, he is a former editor of the Jerusalem Post.


4 posted on 01/29/2011 10:35:11 AM PST by La Lydia
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To: presidio9

Aparently the new guy at MSNBC is even worse if thats possible and his name is just strange.

Plus CNN’s new guy is getting worse ratings than Larry King did, lol.


5 posted on 01/29/2011 10:37:13 AM PST by GeronL (http://www.stink-eye.net/forum/index.php)
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To: presidio9

PMSLSD has plenty of mentally damaged people to fill the void of Kieths loss. Just look at some of the names of possible replacement for him. Derangement and conspiracy will be the words of the day there.


6 posted on 01/29/2011 10:39:38 AM PST by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: presidio9
Keith Olbermann once put me on his nightly list of the worst people in the world. To add insult to injury, I was merely a runner-up.

"Jim Thompson" feels your pain.

7 posted on 01/29/2011 10:41:22 AM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: La Lydia

And exactly why should we care?

A very well written article, very on point.


8 posted on 01/29/2011 10:42:15 AM PST by Kansas58
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To: GeronL
Aparently the new guy at MSNBC is even worse if thats possible and his name is just strange.

The best part about this story is all the ultimatums popping up that Alec Baldwin is the only man on the planet capable of filling Olbermann's shoes. Most sane people on the left will admit the Baldwin is a funny guy and a decent actor who doesn't have the first clue what he's talking about when it comes to politics. So where's their messiah now?

9 posted on 01/29/2011 10:42:26 AM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: presidio9

“So where’s their messiah now?”

The guy couldn’t say his name without a script. He would last five minute in a talk show format.


10 posted on 01/29/2011 10:54:48 AM PST by aquila48
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To: aquila48; presidio9

Alec Baldwin is a very talented actor - he’s just a rotten human being.


11 posted on 01/29/2011 11:00:49 AM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: La Lydia

Wow - luckily for us the WSJ doesn’t require writers to sign a loyalty oath before penning an op-ed, huh...


12 posted on 01/29/2011 11:13:07 AM PST by Zeppo ("Happy Pony is on - and I'm NOT missing Happy Pony")
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To: Slings and Arrows

Whenever I see or hear Baldwin, the first thought that springs to my mind is What an angry man.

Not angry “indignant” or angry as in rightous anger.

Angry as in unhinged and mean and scary.

Which is exactly the feeling I’ve always gotten from KO.


13 posted on 01/29/2011 11:16:20 AM PST by I still care (I miss my friends, bagels, and the NYC skyline - but not the taxes. I love the South.)
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To: Zeppo

No but it is nice if they are at least like our country a little bit.


14 posted on 01/29/2011 11:21:48 AM PST by La Lydia
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To: I still care

I concur. I seem to recall a freeper encounter IRL with Baldwin some years back - afterwards, Baldwin hunted the guy down online to abuse him.


15 posted on 01/29/2011 11:27:31 AM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: La Lydia
The author of this article, although he works for the WSJ

Al Hunt was a member of the editorial board of the WSJ for a while as I recall. He was all but an overt Communist. I could barely stand reading anything that lying piece of filth wrote. Think of a better looking version of Alan Colmes for a sample of the kind of insanity he used to spew.

16 posted on 01/29/2011 12:07:45 PM PST by Hardastarboard (Bringing children to America without immigration documents is child abuse. Let's end it.)
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To: Hardastarboard

You’re right - he’s been a liberal since the start. I believe most WSJ writers are liberal... it’s mainly the editorial page staff that’s conservative...


17 posted on 01/29/2011 12:09:45 PM PST by GOPJ (http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php - World Disaster Map)
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To: Slings and Arrows
"Jim Thompson" feels your pain.

At least he has the endless breadsticks & pasta at Olive Garden to console him.

18 posted on 01/29/2011 12:47:18 PM PST by BlueDragon
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To: Hardastarboard

The WSJ may be the last decent main stream newspaper in the country left.


19 posted on 01/29/2011 1:03:25 PM PST by catfish1957 (Hey algore...You'll have to pry the steering wheel of my 317 HP V8 truck from my cold dead hands)
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To: presidio9
And then came Fox News, and Fox Sports, and Fox Business, and Fox Everything.

Anybody who thinks Fox represents conservatism, is seriuously deluded.

20 posted on 01/29/2011 4:37:39 PM PST by nickcarraway
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