Bad Blood at MSNBC....(Olbermann)

[AnnInLa]

((I heard Imus and crew talking about this ad nauseum this morning...they, of course, sided with Rick Kaplan))

It might be a good idea for Keith Olbermann and Rick Kaplan to give each other a wide berth until things cool down.

I hear that MSNBC staffers in the Secaucus newsroom-studio watched in horror Monday night as the volatile Kaplan, the president of the cable outlet, publicly laced into the eccentric Olbermann, anchor of the 8 p.m. show "Countdown," after the latter eulogized lung-cancer victim Peter Jennings with a graphic rant about his own cancer scare. Olbermann - a former pipe and cigar smoker - is said to have looked stunned as Kaplan raced onto the set and shouted at him after he signed off.

snip
Olbermann had urged viewers to quit smoking and repeatedly mentioned "spitting blood" and "spitting globs of myself into a garbage can" while discussing his bout with a benign tumor in in his mouth.

I'm told that Kaplan erupted angrily and at length, calling Olbermann "out of control" and "not to be trusted," and accusing him of driving away viewers from the 9 p.m. debut of Kaplan hire Rita Cosby's show, "Live and Direct."

Kaplan - a friend and former ABC News colleague of Jennings, and a frequent cigar smoker - apparently got even angrier when Olbermann suggested that the reason he was upset was that "this is about you."

more at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/335981p-286995c.html

[Beaver Tail]

1. Hurts support from Tabbaco Companies when you say what Olbermann said

Dosn't matter if it's true.

[kevsand]

16. What support do tobacco companies give to MSNBC? /nt

[Dave Reynolds]

44. Advertising, not tobacco but

all the other things that they sell, think RJR/Nabisco for one. Conglomerates have a long reach beyond their beginnings as smokes dealers.

[Logansquare]

86. Phillip Morris owns Kraft Foods, for example

Piss off PM, and a lucrative food advertiser is pissed off. MSNBC is owned by GE, anyway--who knows whom is on boards of tobacco companies or their subsidiaries.

However, other U.S. news outlets have covered the death and other tobacco-related health problems recently, so the blowup between KO and his boss sounds more like a personal thing.

[gman16]

2. Contact info for MSNBC?

OK, can someone post Kaplans contact info?
I feel the need to let him know what an ass he is.
I urge others if they feel the same to join me.

[AnnInLa]

3. I already emailed Olbermann about how effective

his personal story about smoking was. I don't know how to email Kaplan, unless it is the general email for MSNBC.

Please email KO to let him know you support his attempt to get people to stop using tobacco products.

Disclosure: I am a smoker.

[jojo54]

4. I will email him too. Good suggestion, Ann.

I am a smoker too. After watching his show and hearing about Dana Reeves' lung cancer, I've decided to try Committ (spelling?). The segment K.O. did was very powerful.

[MsUSA]

43. jojo54: I've been quit for 100 days today........

2008 cigarettes not smoked, saved $500.00 and gave myself 13 days of life back.

[JDPriestly]

92. Congratulations.

Never give up. No matter how difficult. Even if you "backslide." You should really be proud of yourself for having quite. I wish you good luck in your effort. You are doing the right thing.

[acmejack]

5. Kaplan's e-mail addy.

Mr. Rick Kaplan
President
MSNBC
1 MSNBC Plaza
Secaucus, NJ 07094-2419

E-MAIL: [e-mail]

[jojo54]

6. Thx for that acmejack. Will email him too. n/t

[gman16]

14. Thanks n/t

[SoCalDem]

17. Dear Kaplan:. The reason Rita Cosby's ratings suck

is NOT Keith Olbermann...SHE'S AWFUL...Her Kermit-esque voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard, and the crappola stories she does are to "puke for"..

Olbermann is the ONLY reason I have not blocked MSCRAP from my remote..

Resist the stroke-induced rantings from your advertisers...you know the ones I mean..the tobacco companies, cleverly disguised these days as candy/cereal/soup/veggie vendors.. They aren't fooling any of us anymore..

Keith is RIGHT...and YOU are wrong... and Rita is just plain BAD

Sincerely,

a viewer until you mess with Keith

[NYCGirl]

19. One problem with your letter: Rita Cosby is doing well in the ratings.

Up 206% compared to July:

Rita Boosts MSNBC's Ratings, But CNN Loses Some Afternoon Ratings Ground
TV Week's headline sums up the ratings for yesterday's cable news premieres: "'Cosby' Debut Promising; 'Situation Room' Struggles." Michelle Greppi offers some monthly and yearly comparisons:

> Rita Cosby: Live & Direct: "In the key news demographic of 25- to 54-year-olds, 'Rita Cosby' averaged 245,000 viewers, up 206 percent compared with July and only about 20,000 viewers shy of MSNBC's total-viewer average for its entire prime-time lineup last week."

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Then Kaplan Was Wrong About That!

That means that Olbermann is NOT depressing Cosby's ratings, since they are climbing at a steep rate.

So, either way, Kaplan was wrong.
The Professor

[NYCGirl]

40. That's right. Cosby's ratings were about three times bigger than Keith's.

NT

[ProfessorGAC]

42. Then Kaplan Is A Jerk

The Professor

[NYCGirl]

46. That's not disputed. The previous poster's comments about "Cosby's ratings

suck" were what I was attempting to correct. For good or bad, Cosby's show is doing very well for the time being.

[ProfessorGAC]

50. Yeah, I Know

I was adjuncting the point. If the ratings are good, then Kaplan's statement about ruining the ratings was wrong. If the ratings weren't good, then he'd be wrong about the reason.

So, either way, Kaplan is an idiot. This guy has made some horrific programming decisions and has obviously failed up. Probably why he supports Silverspoon.
The Professor

[MADem]

88. Of course Rita is up, ANYTHING is better than Tucker!!!

Kaplan's main gripe was his fear that the transition from KO to Rita should flow smoothly, so people don't pick up the remote. He was afraid that smokers would click rather than listen to KO.

I have nothing against Rita--the fact that she left Faux for a place that does not insist she lose weight and allows her a normal amount of makeup instead of tarting her up like a Barbiewhore and does not insist upon masses of cleavage as a costume requirement indicates that she has a few brain cells, even if she covers salacious and stupid shit. And if she does well, who knows, she may drop a few dimes on Faux. Andrea Makris (of Dildo Reilly fame) got the ball rolling...perhaps hefty Rita could do a bit of piling on as well!

Hopefully this will all blow over. If Kaplan screws with KO too much, he could up and leave, and that would be bad. He is one of the best presenters on TV....

[SoCalDem]

20. Was she even ON in July??

0 viewers in July..206 in Aug???

[NYCGirl]

22. No, that is compared to the programming that was ON in July.

And lower down on the link I posted:

"Rita Cosby has hosted one evening of Live & Direct, but she has already claimed the title of #1 show on MSNBC's primetime. Her Monday night premiere averaged 665,000 viewers. Rita delivered MSNBC's best numbers in the tough 9pm timeslot for a "regular" news day in over two years, according to a network spokesperson."

We have to get our facts straight.

[Gato Moteado]

34. actually 206% * 0 = 0

nt

[NYCGirl]

41. Tucker Carlson was on in that timeslot in July. How quickly we forget! NT

[SoCalDem]

90. Ooooh.. you "math people" are so picky

1 viewer to 206 viewers.. Does that work :):evilgrin:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

36. Funny you should mention Muppets

Separated at birth?



Of course, to compare them is an insult to Miss Piggy...

[ooglymoogly]

98. thank you for posting the pic...i only now realized who she is

bitchola X 206...bleh if k.o. goes then msnbc goes out of my house.

[KittyWampus]

49. What A Counterproductive Letter. You Sound Like A Reactionary Screamer

and an obnoxious one at that.

How about just informing Kaplan that you appreciated Keith's blunt talk ESPECIALLY since RJReynolds might take offense?

Such gutsy reporting is a rare commodity and one that we crave more of.

[JDPriestly]

93. The tobacco companies

buy the media's silence. 1843 deaths in Iraq is nothing compared to the toll in premature deaths that smoking causes or is strongly related to. I post my tobacco post once agin:

Here is what the American Cancer Society says about smoking and cancer (87% of lung cancer is smoking related). Please visit their site. Don't just visit the one page I link to below. They provide so much useful information on cancer. Please do this for your own health and that of those you love.

Health Effects of Smoking

About half of all Americans who continue to smoke will die because of the habit. Each year, a staggering 435,000 people die in the US from tobacco use. Nearly 1 of every 5 deaths is related to smoking. Cigarettes kill more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined.

Cancer

Cigarette smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths. It is a major cause of cancers of the lung, larynx (voice box), oral cavity, pharynx (throat), and esophagus, and is a contributing cause in the development of cancers of the bladder, pancreas, liver, uterine cervix, kidney, stomach, colon and rectum, and some leukemias.

About 87% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, and is one of the most difficult cancers to treat. It is very hard to detect when it is in the earliest, most treatable stage. Fortunately, lung cancer is largely a preventable disease. Groups that promote nonsmoking as part of their religion, such as Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists, have much lower rates of lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers.

Other Health Problems

But cancers account for only about half of the deaths related to smoking. Smoking is also a major cause of heart disease, aneurysms, bronchitis, emphysema, and stroke, and contributes to the severity of pneumonia and asthma.

. . . .

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Cigarette_Smoking.asp?sitearea=PEDIn

[Clark2008]

96. I took a more diplomatic approach

and posted it over at the KOEB:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=315&topic_id=16046&mesg_id=16066

[cry baby]

23. Thanks, sent him a "thank you for having KO" email...

and I wrote how effective he was the other night in his talking about quitting smoking. It really did bring me to tears.

[MaineDem]

85. That's almost exactly what I said

And I sent an email before I read all these responses.

I was almost in tears, too. I have never seen KO so serious.

[Catchawave]

24. Thanks for info ! Done !!!! n/t

[City Lights]

39. Thanks!

I pledged my support to Olbermann and gave Rick some suggestions for improving MSNBC.

[shireen]

52. thanks Acmejack

I just sent Kaplan a message telling him to leave Keith alone, to do the news as he sees fit.

[deminks]

7. IMHO

1. Ricky is getting heat from the GE overlords. KO has been "asking for it" for a long time. Big Tobacco is still a big player, even if they can't advertise still (look for that to change). The Rita stuff is just a diversion, an excuse.

2. There is nothing wrong with what KO did on the show or his blog. If one gross picture, or description will keep a teen from lighting up or help someone quit, then more power to him. Smoking may not be the only cause, but it is certainly one of them. I myself think both smoking and pollution are the main causes, and they may be equal causes. Whatever motivates people to quit has got to be addressed. KO is just trying in his own way. I still admire him. I don't think Jennings would mind. I quit, btw, 6 months ago.

3. Perhaps we need to let MSNBC know how we feel about KO and the story, either way.

mailto:[e-mail]

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

68. Pink and black lungs - Boston Museum of Science

The best science exhibit I ever saw was two lungs side by side, one pink and one black. The former was from a non-smoker. The latter was from a smoker. Saw that as a child and have been revolted by smoking my entire life.

[marions ghost]

81. thanx for the link...

Olbermann was absolutely right to be talking about this in the wake of Peter Jennings death. It was a subject that I'm SURE Jennings would have approved of as he was a realist and a humanitarian. We need to hear media personalities talking in bold terms about these common addictions we all fear.

As a member of a family that has been victimized by the serious consequences of smoking, I appreciate your comment. :thumbsup: to you for quitting. Everytime I read of someone quitting, I feel glad--I'm glad that you and your family will have the chance to be spared the hideous forms of suffering that smoking-related cancers and COPD produce. I have seen them at first hand. You are so fortunate to be able to quit where others can't. Congratulations. I know how hard it is.

[Catherine Vincent]

8. This guy was outraged at that?

I thought it was a riveting piece by Olbermann. Of course I am biased since I watch Keith all the time but I didn't see a problem with it.

I sure hope this guy doesn't ruin it for Keith's show. If his show is cancelled, there will be no more MSNBC for me!

[katinmn]

9. why do these jackasses hate to hear the truth?

[Miss Chybil]

79. Things have to be PRETTY on t.v.

Pretty missing girls, pretty presidents, and pretty wars. We're all about PRETTY.

[gkhouston]

84. yup. It's okay to talk about Jennings' death and to be sad

about it... from a safe distance. To display genuine emotion, to talk about what it was like when you thought you might be headed down that same road, to give us a hint of the rationalizations, the fear, the anger, the relief, the desperate desire to prevent someone else, anyone else, from making a similar journey... noooo, that's too raw. Not Pretty. Not Allowed.

[Pithy Cherub]

10. That explains Olbemann saying last night "Thank You

for your reactions to my personal story and we will continue to talk about it!" Go Keith! :woohoo:

It is way too important to let some pantywaist who wants to produce/talk about meaningless trivia on Rita's mannequin show dictate how the most successful anschor on MSNBC will do his show! :nuke:

[Coexist]

11. My letter - the absolute truth, BTW

Mr. Olbermann,

Thank you so much for your discussion on the ugly side of smoking. I have lost an uncle, and aunt and a cousin from smoking-related illnesses (lung cancer and emphysema) an in-law (emphysema), and both of my sister's in-laws (throat cancer and emphysema).

My teenager's love your show, and if hearing you speak the truth helps keep them from lighting up for the first time, bless you, sir.

Please keep up the good work.

Sincerely,

[glitch]

53. Excellent. nt

[sleipnir]

12. It's in Secaucus! HA!

That's a good chuckle for the day.

Secaucus! Oh, it's too funny! Who's brilliant idea was that?

[UTUSN]

13. E-mail KAPLAN! I'm Doing It Now

Aw, you beat me to this topic. sL-IMUS stooge Bernard read this whole item on the MSRNC air and then they chimed in saying that NOBODY likes K.O. at MSRNC, that they HATE him. He's the only fresh air on their whole steenking network. We need to DU KAPLAN before they get Tweety or whomever to execute K.O. the way Tweety did to DONAHUE. I'm going to look up the "bad blood" that was between sL-MUS and Peter JENNINGS.

*******QUOTE*******

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/335981p-286995c.html

There's bad blood at MSNBC


It might be a good idea for Keith Olbermann and Rick Kaplan to give each other a wide berth until things cool down.

I hear that MSNBC staffers in the Secaucus newsroom-studio watched in horror Monday night as the volatile Kaplan, the president of the cable outlet, publicly laced into the eccentric Olbermann, anchor of the 8 p.m. show "Countdown," after the latter eulogized lung-cancer victim Peter Jennings with a graphic rant about his own cancer scare.

Olbermann - a former pipe and cigar smoker - is said to have looked stunned as Kaplan raced onto the set and shouted at him after he signed off.

Olbermann had urged viewers to quit smoking and repeatedly mentioned "spitting blood" and "spitting globs of myself into a garbage can" while discussing his bout with a benign tumor in in his mouth.

I'm told that Kaplan erupted angrily and at length, calling Olbermann "out of control" and "not to be trusted," and accusing him of driving away viewers from the 9 p.m. debut of Kaplan hire Rita Cosby's show, "Live and Direct."

Kaplan - a friend and former ABC News colleague of Jennings, and a frequent cigar smoker - apparently got even angrier when Olbermann suggested that the reason he was upset was that "this is about you."

I'm told that the anchor quietly asked the news exec to move the discussion to a private location, but the enraged Kaplan wouldn't hear of it.

"I don't care if you don't come to work tomorrow," Kaplan told Olbermann, according to my spies.

Olbermann - who yesterday defended his much-criticized remarks on Jim Romenesko's media gossip Web site at www.poynter.org - did come to work, but he didn't return my phone call.

Kaplan told me: "I'm not going to discuss it. It's between me and Keith."

********UNQUOTE*******

[UTUSN]

21. Here's the sL-IMUS Attack on CLINTON, JENNINGS, & Everybody

This A.M. sL-IMUS said KAPLAN had saved him after this speech where he had attacked JENNINGS. What I want to know is, how come the CLINTONs had to put up with this crap, but Shrub is OFF LIMITS. i also want to know why CARVILLE, BEGALA, DODD, LIEBERMAN, KERRY go on the sL-IMUS show and kiss his ass.

http://imonthe.net/imus/ispeech.htm

[karynnj]

62. I think because all of them can pretty much control the conversation

when they are on - cause Imus is an idiot. I think Kerry hasn't been on much since the election.

[MADem]

89. Kerry was out at the IMUS RANCH yesterday for the whole day

He and Teresa are 'plankowners' of sorts. He was driving a big Ford truck with a Harley in the back, and spent the day riding a horse AND cutting cattle (unlike Chimp, who is afraid of horsies). The speculation arose that he is running in 08....maybe he should challenge chimp to a horserace and let that decide--anything beats the Supremes!

[shelley806]

91. Unbelievable, these politicians! Kerry is a McCain. IMUS insulted

Kerry numerous times pre-election, and even on election day, calling him a 'phony' and a 'cold fish' among other things. He supposedly voted for Kerry, but you'ld never guess it considering his extremely rude reamrks about him. It is for this very reason that I've not watched IMUS since. And he was at the RANCH? These bastards are all such hideous hypocrites...it's just a matter of degree, IMHO.

[MADem]

95. I always wonder if Don Imus

...gets so much play from the politicians because he was the "go to" guy for some of these politicos back when he had a bad drug habit.

His influence astounds me, too. Harold Ford, who goes on his show regularly, told him flat out a few years back that many of his colleagues in the House refer to him as ANUS IN THE MORNING. He is not loved, but he is feared, because of his audience share.

I note of late, though, that he is losing some of his juice. He gets whiney and querulous on occasion. Sucks getting old, old man! He's probably worried about keeping up with Diedre...!

[glarius]

15. This is not a quit smoking story as much as it is a...

...how to treat your employees story. Rule number one: Never dress them down publically, in front of their co-workers. Kaplan broke the cardinal rule of being a boss. You can't treat people like that, you can't belittle them in this way. If you've ever been publically humiliated like this, you know what I mean. Take the person in your office, talk to them there....shout at them there if you feel it's justified. No excuse for this whatsoever.

[pacalo]

35. Those are exactly my thoughts.

[AngryAmish]

38. Not to defend Kaplan

However, occaisionally public humiliation serves a manager well.

The best example I can think of at this time is from baseball. Braves v. Cubs about 7-10 years ago. Rookie centerfielder Andrew Jones dogged it on two line drives to center field allowing them to drop for singles.

Manager Bobby Cox had enough. He walked out on the field and motioned to Mr. Jones to come sit on the bench. Right now. He substituted a bench player for Mr. Jones, who got that opportunity to watch how his teammates huslted the rest of the game. This is about the most embarrassing thing that can be done to a baseball player. It would be humiliating to a player in high school, let alone the big leagues.

Andrew Jones has become a many-times over all star. He hustles on every play. The Braves play the way Bobby Cox wants them to play and they have won their divions for something like 13 straight years.

[pacalo]

63. Keith did nothing wrong, though.

The tragedy lies in the fact that Keith Olbermann has more class & integrity in his little finger than Kaplan's entire talking head staff, yet Kaplan made it clear that he doesn't value a man of Keith's high character. Kaplan's displaced loyalty to the tobacco corporations goes against the grain of what Olbermann stands for: Integrity. The viewers can bank on anything Olbermann reports, which says a lot in this Faux News nightmare we're in these days.

(Liked your baseball story, though. :))

[AngryAmish]

65. Oh I agree with you

However that is my favorite baseball story (other than those that involve Cindy Sandberg) and I like whipping it out.

[roguevalley]

103. Public humiliation is a failing of management. No one gains and

everyone loses. Kaplan polarized everyone against him and undercut his own authority. Also, this kind of crap is illegal.

[rucky]

70. Praise publicly, punish privately

rule #2... behind, "be fair"

[kevsand]

18. I kept my email to Kaplan relatively short:

Sir:

I give up. Why are you defending cancer?

[shireen]

54. LOL! nt

[UTUSN]

25. I Kept My E-ltr to KAPLAN Relatively Long

Dear Mr KAPLAN: I have little faith that my e-mail will mean anything, although it should. Over the past 5 years I have been a close observer of cable (while doing other things). I remember liking MSNBC when Mika and those other 2 women were fresh air in the afternoon.

But 9-11 changed a lot of things--big and little. It made BUSH popular. It made "journalism" obsolete in favor of propaganda. It made Right-wingnuttiness the norm.

I have seen your network put extreme, radical nutjobs like Michael "SAVAGE" and Don IMUS on the air--and IMUS is repulsive and despicable, I don't CARE what "charity" he does--- and your "formerly Democratic" Chris MATTHEWS turn into a defacto Republican operative. I saw it live when MATTHEWS performed a public execution of Phil DONAHUE, whose ratings were better than MATTHEWS' and the rest of the MSNBC line-up.

I now fear for Keith OLBERMANN, who has been the ONLY independent-minded feature on your network. This is not a Keith vs COSBY thing. I monitored COSBY at Fox and believe she has her own niche for tabloid stuff and projects a "sweet" image.

I fail to see, as reported, how you could interpret Keith's tribute to JENNINGS with a heartfelt plea to pay attention to your smoking habits as any kind of a detriment. Your network panders all day long, beginning with the filth that spews from Don sL-MUS's mouth, ending with SCARBOROUGH's Right-wing junk.

If you were a friend to Peter JENNINGS, you need to find your way back.

[UTUSN]

72. K.O.'s E-addy: [e-mail] n/t

[BulletproofLandshark]

26. Probably looking for any excuse

to can Olbermann. Because you know they just don't have enough Bush sycophants at MSNBC.

:sarcasm:

[Pithy Cherub]

27. Who is Kaplan's boss - that where cc:ing will be very

helpful to getting the point across!

[progressoid]

28. Olbemann did a big no-no. Don't piss off the corporations.

[Rose Siding]

29. Didn't Keith's ratings beat Matthews recently?

How can he be accused of driving away viewers? That makes NO sense.

[AnnInLa]

37. I think you are correct, it was posted here at DU

I think.

[shireen]

55. look what they did to Donahue

Phil was producing the highest ratings for msnbc, but they fired him because he was against the invasion of Iraq.

[Garbo 2004]

80. Apparently Kaplan thinks news viewers can't handle unpleasant truths.

Ironic, isn't it, for an alleged "news" network?

Olbermann's viewers tune in to his show to see something other than the "canned spam" that passes as news on other shows. They tune in to see something they won't see on any other news broadcast: what Olbermann brings to the table, including his considerable wit, intelligence and integrity.

And Kaplan should recall that NBC managed to survive its "I am Katie's rectum" broadcast.

Meanwhile, Kaplan, how's your boy Tucker's ratings doing? LOL

[UTUSN]

30. K.O.'s "Explanation" in Ltr to ROMENESKO's Website

*******QUOTE********
K.O.'s ltr to ROMENESKO: http://poynter.org/forum/?id=letters

8/9/2005 3:21:00 PM

From KEITH OLBERMANN: My thanks to Messrs. Firestone and Byrne for their comments on last night's cancer commentary, and my explanation to Mr. Macaray.

Of course a "near-miss" with cancer is an irrelevancy compared to a diagnosis of even the least virulent form of the disease. My point in putting the audience through all that was to emphasize that even when the biopsy results are good, that experience alone can be nightmarish and frightening enough to tip the balance irrevocably away from any sense that there are any positives to smoking -- a sense that I can assure you, as a recovering smoker, a lot of us cling to as the basis of our rationalizations.

The idea wasn't a pity party. The idea was to try to shake people into quitting -- even those who might not be destined for cancer.

***********UNQUOTE**********

[Bozita]

32. I saw the first minute of Cosby's show last night ... the intro part

Topics were runaway bride, Michael Jackson jurors, and Aruba.

Cosby's program needs no help in chasing away potential viewers.

[txindy]

45. You got that right

The problem is, now, with that tripe on after 'Countdown', if Keith does a snarky bit about any of those news-lite topics, it's either going to look like reinforcement of it as news or inappropriate criticism of the show following his. That'll be the perception. Either way, not a good thing.

[DefenseLawyer]

57. Sadly that proves not to be true

Celebrity trials and attractive women gone missing DO get ratings on cable news channels. We always have to remember that the ratings for all cable news shows, even the top rated ones, are terrible, relative to all of television. The percentage of people that watch news shows in prime time on a regular basis is fairly static (and very small). It is these tabloid programs that draw in casual viewers who otherwise wouldn't watch a "news" program. Greta Van Whatever hit number one when she went all Natalee All the time, sad but true. It amazes me that people would still be watching live remotes from Aruba, but then again the Dukes of Hazzard is #1 at the box office.

[ElaineinIN]

33. My letter to both of them

Boy, it was was hard to write.....

***
Keith, I write to thank you for sharing your smoking comments. Both my parents smoked for all of their adult lives.

In October of 1998, I went home for the funeral of my grandfather, who died of lung cancer. While I was home, my father went into the final stages of his battle with lung cancer. Luckily, I was there before he lost all ability to speak, and I have great memories of my final lengthy conversation with my father. My sister was not so lucky--by the time she was able to make it home, she put her head on my father's chest and cried; all my dad could do was put his hand on her head, to let her know that he knew she was there.

Over the next three weeks, he deteriorated into pain and deep suffering. My mother and siblings stayed on watch with him 24/7. He was getting pain pills through suppositories; one day, my mom didn't get it in correctly, and my father was screaming in agony. My mother had to call our next door neighbor, an RN, to help with this process, as my mother sat on the couch and sobbed. The morphine IV went in the next day. Every 15 minutes, when the machine allowed, we would dose my father to the full amount, night and day.

One night, when my two younger sisters were up with my father, he had a morphine nightmare. He thought the house was burning down. He had not spoken or really moved in two weeks, but he jumped out of his bed, fully naked, hooked up to the IV and to a catheter for urine, and tried to run out of the house into the street. As my sisters tried to stop him, he threw them against the wall (dad was 6'2", 230 before his illness). I pray that my dad had no memory of this, as he would have been horrified to be seen in that state, but more horrified that he hurt his children

Dad turned yellow with jaundice, and we swabbed his mouth out with lemon flavored moistened qtips. We held his hand and told him to go, that we would be fine. We prayed that he would go. After four weeks, he had a heart attack and died in the room that was his "cave", looking into our backyard where wild turkeys and deer used to pass. We all thanked God it was over. Dad was 62; he never got to retire.

Mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer; it was in 5 lymph nodes. It has probably spread to her lungs, according to the latest MRI. Mom turns 65 next year.

If your speech keeps one family from going through this horror, then you have done a world of good.

Sincerely,

[MsUSA]

48. ElaineinIN: *hugs* *hugs* *hugs* *hugs*

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[shireen]

58. internet hug to you, and boycott tobacco affiliates

Oh Elaine, I am so sorry for what you've had to go through.

It's not the same, but I watched a good friend die of lung cancer. He was not a smoker but his mom was a chain-smoker. It was very painful.

I don't put the blame on smokers for lung cancer. Smoking is an addiction, it's an illness that needs to be medically treated. The blame belongs to the murdering tobacco companies that covered up the dangers of smoking for so many decades and now do shallow token PSAs about it to salvage their image.

It's why I refuse to buy any products affliated with tobacco companies, but don't always know where those tobacco tentacles reach. We need to start a list. Philips Morris aquired Nabisco and merged with Kraft in 2000 (http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/Nabisco.htm). I looked at the site today and noticed that Planters was a part of that sick organization -- just finished a container of peanuts from them, my last one! Other products: Oreo Cookies, Barnum’s Animal Crackers, Honey Maid Grahams, Ritz crackers, Wheat Thins, Fig Newtons, Planters Peanuts, Fleishmann’s margarines and spreads, A1 Steak Sauce, and Grey Poupon mustards.

Does anyone have other additions to the list? We need to stop buying these products.

[DemonFighterLives]

61. That's terrible

I hope your mom is OK.

I saw the Olberman program and it was very compelling.
He said if quitting now is tough, think about quitting when you have cancer.
Great Job! Keith Rita? still up in the air

[qanda]

77. Self Delete

Sorry wrong place.

[qanda]

75. I'm so sorry

That is very sad. ((((ElaineinIN)))) Hang in there!!!!

[ElaineinIN]

87. thanks to all for the hugs and good wishes

Doesn't look good for Mom--her first round of chemo further damaged her already weak heart, which is now operating at 30%. Drs are worried that if they do more surgery, she won't make it off the table. Last MRI showed 5 different spots they are watching--tongue, lung, kidney, other breast, and liver. Anyone by themselves is scary.

We are prepared for the worst--my uneducated guess, 6 months to a year.

My reason for telling people this in graphic detail is not for sympathy (okay maybe a little :) ) but because if people knew...really knew... the toll this has on you AND your family, maybe, just maybe, they'd think twice. My dad saw me get married, but not any of my 3 siblings; never got to meet any of his grandchildren, never got to retire and enjoy life. Is that what you want, for you, your spouse and your family? Because you are making that choice when you continue to smoke....

Sorry, end of rant!

[Andromeda]

99. Bless you Elaine.

I know it's very difficult to watch loved ones suffer and even harder to talk about it.

[SillyGoose]

47. I don't get it. What was so offensive about Olbermann's comments?

I was watching the show when he said this, and I don't see what the big brouhaha is about. Kaplan blew this way out of proportion if you ask me.

:shrug:

[fooj]

51. The TRUTH is what seems to offend these delusional rat bastards!

MSNBC is pathetic...

peace.

[noamnety]

56. I emailed the show

and copy furnished Kaplan without acknowledging the dispute. I wasn't sure how to end it, but hopefully the subject line makes it clear I appreciated it anyway.

Subject: Thank you for the story on the cancer scare

The Countdown remembrance of Jennings was outstanding, as I knew it would be. What I wasn't expecting was the final segment, on the cancer scare. That was one of the hardest hitting Countdown segments I've seen, and its impact was magnified by placing it in the same show as the Jennings coverage.

During the first five years that I knew my father-in-law, he was a heavy smoker who was defiant about the health risks of smoking. He was insulted when I was pregnant and wouldn't remain in the room with him when he lit up. As he put it, he'd been smoking all his life without a problem. I am sure he had a sense of being invincible - he'd survived being a Polish paratrooper in WWII, taking part in Operation Market Garden at Arnhem.

There were no second five years - he died of lung cancer.

[RSchewe]

59. Looks like a lame attempt to find an excuse to dump Olbermann n/t

[Burried News]

60. Geez Kaplan sounds like he should replace Mike Eisner at

Walt Disney.

It is absurd to believe that management would ever interfere with news content.

[MaineDem]

64. I thought KO was fantastic!

He was talking about a very personal issue. His sincerity was evident. He had me almost in tears. It was one of the most prsonal reports I have ever seen on television.

I can't believe the boss hated it. I thought it was appropriate and fitting.

Hang in there, Keith. We're glad it wasn't cancer.

[gkhouston]

66. sounds like Kaplan is the one out of control

I saw "Countdown" Monday night and while Keith's delivery of his anti-smoking plea was intense and heartfelt, he was clearly still in command of himself. This wasn't a Howard Beale moment; he did his usual "keep your knees loose", tossed his paper wad, and introduced Rita as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. Me, I was still sitting there transfixed, and I don't even smoke. I was still in a bit of daze when Rita came on so I actually did see a tiny bit of her show when I'd originally had no intention of watching that harpy.

Interesting, and a sad commentary on what passes for news today, that Kaplan apparently sees more value in Cosby's sideshow freaks than in Olbermann's painfully urgent and candid words. I can tell you which I'm more likely to remember a week from now... a year from now... ten years from now.

[Sapphire Blue]

67. The only thing driving viewers away from Cosby is Cosby.

More tabloid TV... no thanks. :puke:

Give Rachel Maddow her own show... and bring back Donahue.

And don't mess with Keith!

[rucky]

69. Olberman vs. Cancer... Imus sides with the latter. heh. n/t

[FreedomAngel82]

71. Ugh

Do they get money from the tabacco companies? And I'm surprised they've kept Olbermann this long since he's a true journalist.

[Ms. Clio]

73. Kaplan freaked out because he know the tobacco companies will retaliate

I saw a guy on Democracy Now! talking about just this very thing yesterday.

[Mr_Spock]

74. Kaplan sounds like a friggin' shit head

Maybe he should be fired.

[MidnightWind]

76. Kaplan is infamous in the industry for his behavior towards staffers

And he's in big trouble at MSNBC and rumors have run rampant for months that he was on his way out the door there. Keith's show has been the highest rated show in MSNBC's primetime line-up for the last several months. It does VERY well for MSNBC in the "demos"--the 25-54 age bracket esp. which is one of the most desirable for advertisers. MSNBC's ratings overall though, are horrible. But still, Keith is the highest rated thing they got. And clearly, Keith's graphic speech did not negatively impact Rita's numbers that night because she did what-three times better than his show did that night in the ratings.

I guess it's okay for the right-wingers to get on MSNBC and lie but let Keith tell the truth and he's on Kaplan's shit-list! Right now though, Kaplan is on mine!

I wrote a short e-mail to Mr. Kaplan praising him for allowing Keith to share his personal story with us and talked about how I had lost relatives to lung cancer and how I didn't want to lose anymore to it and how I thought they were doing the public a great service by talking about this. I thanked Kaplan in fact--I used the reverse psychology approach instead of blasting him. Although God knows, I want to! We really do need to show Keith some support here and let the folks at MSNBC know we really support him because the right-wing loathes and despises him.

[qanda]

78. I watched Keith last night

And I thought the segment was very appropriate, especially as lung cancer has come to the forefront of the nation's consciousness. These types of shows can have a million weight-loss segments, but I guess the tobacco industry dare not be touched. Very sad!

[garybeck]

82. it was all a setup to get rid of Keith.

I give him 30 days.

[NYCGirl]

83. A setup? How? Did Rick Kaplan give him a tumor?

Kaplan is an asshole for his tirade, but I don't buy it as a "setup."

[garybeck]

97. no, what I'm saying is

they made a story out of nothing. there is nothing wrong with what Keith said. it is totally appropriate at best, and at worst it is slightly distasteful, but still makes an important point. either way, Kaplan overreacted a ton. by "setup" I mean there was nothing Olberman could do. Kaplan was just waiting for some kind of issue to jump in on.

[NYCGirl]

102. OK, now I understand. You meant he was using it as an excuse.

A "setup" means that it was pre-planned.

[kimpossible]

94. Emailed Countdown and cc'd Kaplan nt

[shelley806]

100. KO to continue anti-smoking campaign tonight!!! God, I love his

integrity. On now. KICK!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Nothing Without Hope]

101. Keith blogged extensively about his cancer scare, complete with a

closeup showing the roof of his mouth. I thought it was unpleasant to read but an important contribution to getting people to stop smoking or to avoid taking it up - getting smoking-derived cancer would be a hell of a lot more unpleasant than his description of his experience.

Here's his blog entry on this:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8514671/#050808b