Free Republic

1) "(Palin) did a disservice to every woman in America. She knew from the first month of pregnancy that kid was going to be Down’s Syndrome. It’s brain dead. A virtual vegetable. She carries it to all these different political events against abortion, she did it just because she didn’t want to say she’d had an abortion. How long is it going to live? Another 12, 15 years? Doesn’t even know it’s in this world. So what kind of compassionate conservative is she? I don’t think anybody will want her near the White House." -- Larry Flynt 2) "You...

“Just get buzz…” That’s what a former MSNBC anchor recently told me is the primary objective of network President Phil Griffin. Create some noise, get some free press—good or bad—doesn’t matter. It’s all about drawing people to a place they otherwise wouldn’t visit. In the words of James Earl Jones, “Oh…people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come. “ When it came to getting buzz, no one did it better for MSNBC than Keith Olbermann. Sure, half the country held him in the same contempt normally reserved for a Bernie Madoff or Casey Anthony. But he got his name...

Unusual candor from Mika Brzezinski and Harold Ford, Jr. on the double standard that exists for Republicans and Democrats. Discussing on today's Morning Joe the Obama administration memo that has been uncovered authorizing the use of drone strikes to kill U.S. citizens abroad, Mika admitted that there would have been a "huge controversy" if such a memo had surfaced during the Bush administration. Ford said that "Democrats have to think now about how they conducted themselves and the questions they raised about Bush administration tactics." Joe Scarborough flatly declared that had the policy come to light under Bush, it would...

GQ magazine has just announced their list of "The Least Influential People of 2012" — "a collection of people so uninspiring that we should round them all up and stick them on an iceberg." While some, like Hulk Hogan (#24), may be obvious picks, others such as Michelle Obama's exile to the iceberg came as a bit of a surprise. Below are GQ's top 15 picks, along with an explanatory line of their biting commentary: 15. Bobby Valentine: "a man whose greatest accomplishment in baseball remains wearing a fake-mustache disguise to sneak back into the dugout after getting ejected from...

Think Keith Olbermann has burned his last bridge in the television business? He doesn’t think so.Seven months after he got dismissed by Current TV, the temperamental host is aggressively job-shopping, and he’s not being too picky about it.In recent weeks, Olbermann has reached out to executives at a slew of different networks to communicate his desire for a new on-air role, according to people with knowledge of those conversations. Those include both cable outlets and at least one broadcast network.He has expressed interest in taking over as anchor of existing shows and in starting a new show. Indeed, several of...

Last night I took a sickening trip into the Alternative Progressive Universe that is MSNBC and settled in to the orbit of Planet Olbermann with its toxic and hate-filled atmosphere. If you ever have the chance to visit Planet Olbermann on any given night, you have to suspend all rational thoughts or beliefs on this mostly dead planet. Olbermann sought to boost his argument that Israel’s boarding of a so-called Peace Flotilla was somehow illegal and to support this, he brought on a satellite (Carter-Era Ambassador), Edward Peck. In falling within the gravitational pull of Planet Olbermann, Peck said that...

Quite true and scary!

THE DEAD BABY MEDIA If the text on that one is too small for you, it's a CNN piece headlined, "Why the Syrian regime is killing babies." There's not much to add to that. The Syrian regime may be killing babies, but CNN killed journalism. With some help from the New York Times, the Washington Post and the BBC. Anyone who has spent time in the Middle East knows quite well that parading around dead bodies is part of the Muslim ceremony of rallying for the next attack. These aren't funerals, these are corpse parades and the corpses are often...

KEITH OLBERMANN wasn’t pleased with Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Kimmel repeatedly ragged on the former “Current TV” star, saying “Keith Olbermann burned more bridges than the Arsonist of Madison County,” and “I’d like everyone to look under your seats. Under each one you will find a copy of Keith Olbermann’s resume,” the Hollywood Reporter writes. Keith, who was recently booted from “Current,” claims the jokes are revenge for turning down an appearance on Kimmel the week before. “I’m not complaining about the Kimmel jokes — I’m fair game. I’m complaining about the revenge element. It...

Roger Ailes: "You talk about burning bridges. This guy really burns ‘em. Now, I feel sorry for anybody who’s out of work, so I don’t want to trash him or say anything negative about him. He was great at sports, I thought. And everybody has some redeeming quality, so people find a job again. But it’ll be, you know. A pet show in St. Louis, or something."

The war of words between Keith Olbermann and Current TV is now officially a legal battle, with the fired anchor filing a lawsuit Thursday accusing his former employer of breach of contract, sabotage and disparagement, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Read the full complaint here. According to the 43-page, eight-count complaint, filed Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court by attorney Patty Glaser of LA's Glaser Weil firm, Olbermann was terminated without cause a year into his five-year, $50 million contract with the left-leaning TV network. He claims he is owed between $50 million and $70 million in damages based...

Keith Olbermann has just sued Current TV for firing him ... TMZ has learned. Keith filed the lawsuit moments ago in L.A. County Superior Court -- claiming he was wrongfully terminated from the network last Friday. Olbermann is reportedly suing for breach of contract, sabotage and disparagement. Sources tell TMZ, the lawsuit contains a reference to an email from Current TV President David Bohrman, in which Bohrman admits "the 33rd street studio [where Keith's show was filmed] is never going to be a professional facility. We are paying for a Porsche [the studio] and getting a Yugo [a notoriously crappy...

Keith raised ‘stink’ E-mails bare ‘Diva’ chauffeur shuffleBy MARC BERMAN Liberal bloviator Keith Olbermann spent his last days at Current TV driving colleagues nuts with rants about “smelly’’ drivers who had the audacity to talk to him, according to startling e-mails obtained by The Post. “The problem is with him . . . the man who professes to be for the 99% doesn’t want any of the 99% talking to him or being near him,” an accounting executive complained in one of the missives. An assistant, who had just about maxed out her corporate card in a desperate attempt to...

This is an interesting side to Keith Olbermann. The former Countdown host admitted that he "screwed up" when it came to his dismissal from Current TV while on The Late Show With David Letterman. "I screwed up really big on this. Let's just start there. I thought we could do this. It's my fault that it didn't succeed in the sense that I didn't think the whole thing through," he said. "I didn't say, 'You know, if you buy a $10 million chandelier, you should have a house to put it in. Just walking around with a $10 million chandelier...

Why can't we have a hunger games for journalists? We'll take about 20 members of the fourth estate, drop them in the Blue Ridge mountains, and let them fight until death. Winner keeps his job. For an industry that is in a financial free fall, journalism is stupefyingly reluctant to trim the fat. Katie Couric, the narcissistic teenager who never grew up, bombed as anchor of the CBS Evening News. She never had much talent and is well over the hump age-wise. So naturally, she has been offered a guest spot on "Good Morning America." Keith Olbermann was just canned...

No, I'm kidding. April Fools. Keefie is still fired. Oh, haven't you heard? Keith Olbermann was fired AGAIN, this time by Current TV, Algore's little network that nobody watches. And Keef now is vowing to take Algore to court. And so I'm NOT kidding about the DUmmies being torn. I mean, Olbie vs. Algore? What's a progressive to do? Multiple threads on this at the DUmp, more people commenting than probably watched his show. We'll start with this THREAD, "Gored: Olbermann Out at Current," and take it from there. So let us keep Current with KO and his fans...

On the heels of Countdown host Keith Olbermann‘s firing from Current TV, the network and sources close to it have been quick to buttress their case for the dismissal with details of the temperamental star’s antics. One such source tells Mediaite, among other things, that Olbermann went through 8 different car services (he doesn’t drive), and complained to the network that some of the drivers “smelled,” and “talked to him,” the latter detail echoing a leak that once dogged then-Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. Earlier, Howard Kurtz tweeted that he was “Hearing allegation that Olbermann switched car co’s and vendors...

Keith Olbermann has threatened to sue Current TV after the controversial host was fired from his primetime slot less than a year after he joined the network. Former Vice President Al Gore, the co-founder of Current TV, said in a statement that the network was founded on "values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann."

On the heels of Countdown host Keith Olbermann‘s firing from Current TV, the network and sources close to it have been quick to buttress their case for the dismissal with details of the temperamental star’s antics. One such source tells Mediaite, among other things, that Olbermann went through 8 different car services (he doesn’t drive), and complained to the network that some of the drivers “smelled,” and “talked to him,” -snip- Olbermann plans to counter Current’s PR offensive with an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday

Current TV, the progressive cable network founded by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, announced minutes ago that it has fired Keith Olbermann, its best-known personality and chief news officer. As is often the case when media companies decide to part ways with a host, Olbermann’s dismissal is effective immediately – he won’t be given a chance to sign off or host a farewell show. Current’s cofounders published a letter to viewers announcing their decision. To the Viewers of Current: We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic...

Former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, the heads of Current TV, have just fired their star anchorman, Keith Olbermann, who previously left MSNBC on bad terms. Gore and Hyatt released a statement saying that “the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers . . . are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.” According to Talking Points Memo, insiders say Olbermann missed almost half his working days in January and February and insisted on taking an unauthorized vacation day the day before Super Tuesday. Here is a statement...

Current TV said Friday afternoon that it had terminated the contract of its lead anchor Keith Olbermann, scarcely one year after he was hired to reboot the channel in his progressive political image. In a letter to viewers, the channel said Friday, “We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet.  We are more committed to those goals today than ever before. Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers.   Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected...

Television commentator Keith Olbermann has been fired by Current TV, the network's founders said on Friday, after just a year with the network.The founders of the public affairs TV channel, former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and his business partner Joel Hyatt, announced Olbermann's departure in an open letter. "Current was ... founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it," they said.

Keith Olbermann released the following statement on his termination from Current TV: I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally...

On paper, it was a great week for the left. On paper, Rush Limbaugh swallowed hard and finally did get that piece of humble pie to go down. On paper -- and HBO -- the cool kids, it turns out, aren't finished piling on Sarah Palin. On paper, Newt Gingrich is still in love with the sound of his own voice, Rick Santorum still sees delegate math as one of those things only college snobs care about, Ron Paul is still the crazy uncle you left up in the attic, and what's left of a torn and tattered Mitt Romney...

Analyses of Tuesday's Iowa caucuses are the top of most news sites right now--including Current TV's homepage, which features images of Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich above a video featuring former U.S. vice president and Current co-founder Al Gore breaking down the results. One image conspicuously absent from the page: Keith Olbermann. Olbermann, the host of Current's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" and listed on the masthead as the network's chief news officer, was supposed to be on air Tuesday night, assuring a concerned Twitter follower earlier in the day that he was "headed into the office now in...

Keith Olbermann, who came to Current TV this year to remake the channel and compete against his old home, MSNBC, is sitting out the biggest political nights of the season. Despite being the biggest star on the fledging channel, Mr. Olbermann is not scheduled to anchor Current’s coverage of the Iowa caucus or the New Hampshire primary in January. Instead, Current’s other prime time anchors, Cenk Uygur and Jennifer Granholm, will be joined by the channel’s chairman, the former vice president Al Gore. Mr. Olbermann also was noticeably absent from two special reports that Current produced after Republican debates in...

Shades of "Special Comment"! In a rant worthy of Keith Olbermann at the height of his Miss Precious Perfect histrionics, Mika Brezinski began today's Morning Joe by tearing into Newt Gingrich for his recent suggestion that Occupy protestors should "get a job, right after you take a bath." It wasn't merely Mika's words: "arrogant, disgusting, sickened." So strongly ran Brzezinski's rage that more than once her voice quavered and she seemed on some sort of emotional brink. View the video here.

Jennifer Granholm, host of "The War Room," says she loves the Occupy movement and discusses what she'd like to see come out of it. She also says she's excited to join Keith Olbermann and Cenk Uygur in their coverage of the protests, which balances the mainstream media's focus on scattered clashes with police and other skirmishes.

Liberal activist and actress Janeane Garofalo appeared on Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" show on the Current TV network Wednesday night. Garofalo went on several rants, one of which included accusing the Tea Party, which she calls a "fundamentalist" movement, of racism. Garofalo also said successful businessman Herman Cain is either being paid to run or is suffering from Stockholm syndrome because he is a "person of color" running as a Republican in the party's presidential primary. "[He's] in this presidential race because he deflects the racism that is inherit in the Republican party, the conservative movement, the Tea Party certainly. [In]...

Keith Olbermann is not in the witness protection program, but he might as well be. His show on Al Gore’s Current TV (America’s least watched network) has lost nearly a third of its viewers in four months. Pretty impressive result for $10 million a year. That’s just his salary. Countdown with Keith Olbermann was a major draw when it was on MSNBC. On January 21, the network took a big hit when Olbermann announced on air that that would be his last show for them. Then in June, Current launched Olbermann and Countdown. It was no surprise that Olbermann drew...

Keith Olbermann is not in the witness protection program, but he might as well be. His show on Al Gore’s Current TV (America’s least watched network) has lost nearly a third of its viewers in four months. Pretty impressive result for $10 million a year. That’s just his salary. Countdown with Keith Olbermann was a major draw when it was on MSNBC. On January 21, the network took a big hit when Olbermann announced on air that that would be his last show for them. Then in June, Current launched Olbermann and Countdown. It was no surprise that Olbermann drew...

Turns out Keith Olbermann's fans may not be willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. Or in this case Current TV. The Daily News reports that Olbermann's show has lost nearly half its viewers since its June Debut. Current doesn't make Olbermann's ratings public (unless the show has a particularly good week as it did in the last week of August), but the NYDN got its hands on some numbers and they're not great.

So-called comedian David Cross appeared on Current TV's Countdown with Keith Olbermann and refers to a study that claims watching one hour of television shortens your life by 22 minutes (not including commercials). He offers up his novel solution of not having to medically support worthless elderly who are "not contributing anything." This was such a funny joke everyone forgot to laugh...

Comedian and actor David Cross appeared on Current TV's "Countdown" program Monday evening to promote his upcoming movie and other gigs when the conversation turned to a recent study that watching one hour of television shortens your life by 22 minutes. Cross was being very serious on how this would benefit his pocket because that would mean he would not have to pay for medical care of the elderly who are "not contributing anything." Keith Olbermann, the host of "Countdown," believes this is a Darwinian idea. Transcript below: David Cross: "I don't mind, I like the idea -- or I'm...

This week Cenk Uygur lost his spot as interim host of the 6pm slot on MSNBC; since then there has been something of a he said/he said surrounding the reasons behind Uygur’s departure from the cable news network. Last night, Uygur appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which now appears on the fledgling Current network, for an interview rife with hidden meanings, subtext, and almost Shakespearean tragic tones. There is a lot to unpack in the following clip, but the core of it centers around the notion of established, mainstream media, and whether or not Uygur was somehow a victim...

Cenk Uygur was thrust onto the MSNBC schedule in January, when Keith Olbermann‘s departure set in motion several host changes on the progressive channel’s lineup. Now TVNewser hears Uygur may be moved out of the 6pm hour, possibly to be replaced by Al Sharpton. When the host changes happened earlier this year, the 6pm hour was simply known as “MSNBC Live,� a telling sign that MSNBC was trying out Uygur. Sharpton has hosted the 6pm show for the last two weeks. This past week, the hour was second, to Fox News, in A25-54 viewers Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.Insiders tell us...

As you may have heard once or twice before, it’s a marathon, not a sprint (unless, of course, you’re talking about a sprint, then it’s a sprint, not a marathon). But we digress. Mark Rosenthal, CEO of Current TV, uses the sports metaphor to express his lack of concern over the second-week ratings drop for Keith Olbermann’s Countdown. The show saw its ratings shrink by nearly a third during the week of June 27, averaging 93,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic.

Ex MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has given a revealing interview to The Hollywood Reporter, which includes the amazing tidbit that Olbermann’s new job in the cable wilderness of Current TV will pay him ten million dollars a year (with the possibility of banking $100 million over the course of his five year contract)–a staggering figure that dwarfs his MSNBC salary (and THR reports that “Current TV disputes the figure but adds it does not “disclose confidential, contractual details”). Olbermann, who discussed his new show and his departure from MSNBC, said he went on the air January 21 without knowing it...

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but comedienne Janeane Garofalo still has a low regard for the Tea Party movement and all just about all other things conservative. On Current TV’s Thursday broadcast of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” during the “Web extra” segment, Garofalo admitted she wasn’t happy there were those that despised her for her 2009 remarks declaring the Tea Party “a bunch of teabagging rednecks,” but she stood by them. “I do not enjoy when people don’t like me,” Garofalo said. “I would prefer to be well liked in any and all situations. And I also...

Take a look at this video of Olbermann waddling around Yankee Stadium over the weekend. What is he wearing?! Is that a duster or a lab coat or maybe a butcher's smock?When is the last time you saw one of those - other than the bad guys in Pale Rider? And what does he have underneath that ridiculous jacket? Did he steal 25 sweatshirts from the Yankee store and is trying to smuggle them out?

Keith Olbermann's supportive commentary on filmmaker Michael Moore's criticism of the Osama bin Laden killing comes on the heels of Mr. Moore's decision to join Olbermann's Current TV program as a contributor. Liberal television news commentator Keith Olbermann, working now for Al Gore's Current TV venture, has added a new contributor to his "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" program, with the announcement on Wednesday that filmmaker Michael Moore will join the Olbermann team...

In 2009, leftoids Keith Olbermann and Jonathan Alter were shocked by Seymour Hersh’s claims that Dick Cheney ran assassination squads using military personnel to take out enemy targets – you know, just like the current President... “There’s a lot more that happened in that Bush administration, directly out of the vice-president’s office, that we don’t know about yet,” warned Alter, adding that once the full details become known, they “will curl our hair.” That last line would carry greater power if Alter weren’t bald. And also a screaming hypocrite. Now that Barack Obama is running an assassination squad – directly...

Cue former MSNBC host (and forthcoming news host at Al Gore's Current TV) Keith Olbermann. Olbermann pushed this story on his "Countdown" show in 2009, saying: Mr. Hersh is making the revelations at a forum in Minnesota two nights ago. The topic: America’s constitutional crisis. Hersh saying of Mr. Cheney and his inner circle, quote, "They ran a government within the government." Adding, "Eight or nine neoconservatives took over our country."

Cable network Current TV says Keith Olbermann will return to the air on June 20. Current said Tuesday the title of the weeknight news-commentary hour will be "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." "Countdown" was the name of the program Olbermann hosted on MSNBC until his heated departure from that network in January. Less than a month later, he signed with Current TV, the public affairs channel launched in 2005 by former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. A liberal lightning rod, Olbermann has often clashed with his former bosses and with the corporate culture of General Electric, until recently MSNBC's...

Keith Olbermann is not a man but a mongrel—a cross between a Shih Tzu and a bull terrier. There’s nothing appealing about him. He’s incredibly masochistic, he can’t keep a job, and he’s one of the most hated talking heads in the media today. After a conversation occurring on “The Joy Behar Show,” he posted a couple of incredibly slanderous, demeaning, rude and crass Twitter messages about S.E. Cupp, who was part of Behar’s panel. Most politicians and talking heads would refuse to respond as he did in fear of being fired from their high paying jobs or sued for...

As I am not a viewer of Joy Behar or a follower of Keith Olbermann, I missed the bizarre turn of events regarding his tweets. S.E. Cupp was a guest on Behar's show defending the defunding of Planned Parenthood and opposition to taxpayer funded abortions. Mr. Olbermann being ever the gentleman suggested the world would be a better place if her parents had sought out the services of Planned Parenthood. Given the original topic of abortion, it's not difficult to conclude he'd prefer that S.E. Cupp had been aborted. Amazing. When he was called on it, he said he meant...

The Red Eye crew took umbrage at Keith Olbermann’s recent Tweet about conservative columnist and talking head S.E. Cupp. On the off-chance you’ve yet to be dazzled by the poetry of Olbermann’s 140-character-of-less observations on people he wishes had never been born, he Tweeted the following: “On so many levels she’s a perfect demonstration of the necessity of the work Planned Parenthood does.” (Our own Tommy Christopher discussed Olbermann’s Tweet at length, writing that “Olbermann did deny wishing an abortion on Cupp, and did reference Kyl, but said ‘I never mentioned abortion. I said her parents could have used counseling...

Keith Olbermann is not known for his candor. In a sense, it‘s what’s made him a popular figure on the left. And sure, he makes off-the-wall comments sometimes in order to evoke a response. But he may have gone too far today when he suggested that conservative commentator S.E. Cupp is a prime example of why the world needs Planned Parenthood (PP). Translation, she should have never been born. Immediately, the comment drew fire from those who said Olbermann, the former MSNBC host turned Current TV commentator, insinuated Cupp should have been aborted. And just as quickly, Olbermann started treading...

NEW YORK (AP)—The New York Yankees say they are finished flashing hand signals from the stands—at least for now. General manager Brian Cashman confirmed that the team received a call Saturday from the commissioner’s office inquiring about a club employee relaying information to players after each pitch on opening day. The Daily News reported Saturday that broadcaster Keith Olbermann, a New York season-ticket holder, put a photo on Twitter of Brett Weber, a Yankees baseball operations coaching assistant, holding up four fingers toward the field during Thursday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.