Olbermann allegedly over-rode producer and canceled Michael Shermer from show.

[Ian David]

Michael Shermer
I'm on Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" on MSNBC tonight 8:50p EST, 5:50p PST. Topic: If we discover ETIs will it challenge religious beliefs?
17 hours ago
http://twitter.com/#!/michaelshermer/status/26013261156

Michael Shermer
Argh! Olbermann overroad his producer and canceled me, apparently afraid of having a "skeptic" answer the ET-God question, opting for a...
14 hours ago
http://twitter.com/#!/michaelshermer/status/26026457360

Michael Shermer
...mainstream astronomer who won't offend the religious right. And liberals wonder why they are getting their asses kicked by tea baggers!
14 hours ago
http://twitter.com/#!/michaelshermer/status/26026532580

[lazarus]

1. making me glad I quit watching that show

[SheilaT]

2. Considering that

Olbermann asked the question: will the discovery of a planet which can support life as we know it change the way some fundamentalists think, I suspect that there was some other reason Shermer was cancelled. Methinks he's entirely too smitten with himself to consider various alternatives here.

[salvorhardin]

3. Yep

He had Derrick Pitts from the Franklin Institute on. That seems like a much better guest to discuss the Gliese planet than Shermer to me.

[Ian David]

4. Like I told Shermer, it's not like Olbermann to be timid about anything.

Maybe he just decided Shermer is an asshole?

[Odin2005]

5. Shermer is your typical smug secular Right-Libertarian

[Codeine]

6. An unfortunate failing of many in the skeptical community.

I really enjoy Brian Dunning's Skeptoid podcasts until he gets political, then it goes to shit.

[Odin2005]

7. I find the correlation between Skepticism and Right-Libertarism rather disturbing.

It seems to fit the stereotype that hyper-logical = trouble empathizing with others.

[TZ]

8. Olbermann's not what he's cracked up to be

Same source that told me that Sanchez is an idiot has also told me that Olbermann has taken to MAKING SHIT UP and then denying it. AND that he will not book anyone who disagrees with him politically. Liberal hero he might be to some, I prefer getting my news from someone who at least strives to be objective and unbiased. I don't really watch any cable news anymore because they all seem just as bad (for the record my uber liberal mom also now finds Olbermann screechy and unwatchable)
He's a left wing version of tweety as far as I am concerned.