Special Comment: Uppity liberal who dared raise his voice is shown the door

[nashville_brook]

The firing...or, "mutual separation," of Keith Olbermann from MSNBComcast has shocked everyone. But many us watching from the nosebleed section of the political blogosphere have been wondering how he's survived so long on the rigged playing field that is mainstream media.

To us it's not shocking that he's been shown the door. Rather, it's amazing that he was able to keep his ball in play as long as his did, because, while there's been a few additions to Team Liberal on mainstream news, no one played the game with the passion that Keith did -- and that is what he's been punished for.

The message here is that a few liberals will be granted air time, but you can't look into the camera and ask "have you no decency, Sir." You can score a political point here and there, but you can't spike the ball in the endzone.

Keith called the demagogues out. I much as I love Rachel, that's not her style. She lays out amazing intelligent logical proofs that lead to ironic puncturing of the dominant paradigm -- and that's not a threat to the machine. You can raise an eyebrow, but you cannot raise your voice. You can point out facts, but you cannot point a finger.

Keith is the "uppity" other. He dared to raise his voice. He dared to point his finger. Think of all times Keith gave emotional release with his calls to highbrow indignation: Bush lied us into war. FOX News manufactures civil unrest. Insurance companies are killing people.

Already the rightwing noise machine is spinning this as the logical response to the problem of an "uncivil discourse" that leads to spree shootings at political gatherings. Apparently, if the left knew how to hold their tongues, we wouldn't get shot. It's our own fault for seeking power through political speech and political office. Meanwhile, Glenn Beck is implores the crazies on the right to shoot liberals in the head.

The economic lords that keep the right wing in power, know that emotion rules the day, and that's why Keith's out and Beck is safe forever. Given the free ride of hate that the right wing enjoys in their media kingdoms, Keith's departure should concern all of us.

We've lost not only an important voice, an incredible talent, and our strongest ally -- but we've also lost our emotional champion.

[FSogol]

1. K&R. n/t

[highplainsdem]

2. K&R

[RKP5637]

3. Recommend!!! n/t

[snappyturtle]

4. Beautifully said...K&R nt

[OHdem10]

5. Raising your voice and pointing fingers is the domain of the

right and right only. This is how they maintain power
while the left must roll over. Emotion won the last
election and the Right uses it to their advantage.

[nashville_brook]

7. if you look at this too closely, it's truly creepy...

"know your place" -- is the message. our political life on the left has boundaries, and we're being shown what's going to be allowed going forward.

[grasswire]

9. absolutely

Even more, it's the "thumb in your eye" of the Bushian era, the "get over it" of election 2000, the "we're in charge now" of the wingnuts.

It's an extreme insult, and meant to be an extreme insult. The man who just took over control of MSNBC is one of Bush's top dogs. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Keith was fired as a direct favor to George W.

[Enthusiast]

64. You might be on to something

about Keith being fired as a direct favor to George W. His daddy said Keith and Rachel "Are sick puppies."

[nashville_brook]

80. never underestimate the pettiness of powerful men.

[joentokyo]

60. Just another restatement of the golden rule.

Those who have the gold make the rules and the rest of us don't count.

[nashville_brook]

93. eggsactly.

[Horse with no Name]

114. The eye poking isn't just coming from those on the "right" side either

It's also coming from those "we" have put in office.

And yes..it is TRULY frightening...in a "1984" kind of way.

[molly77]

62. It is amazing that Keith stayed on air as long as he did.

He has passion.

[molly77]

72. OHdem10 you got that right. see below.

More wisdom from the right:
"I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus - living fossils - so we will never forget what these people stood for."- Rush Limbaugh, Denver Post, 12-29-95
"Get rid of the guy. Impeach him, censure him, assassinate him."- Rep. James Hansen (R-UT), talking about President Clinton
"We're going to keep building the party until we're hunting Democrats with dogs."- Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), Mother Jones, 08-95"
My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."- Ann Coulter, New York Observer, 08-26-02
"We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors."- Ann Coulter, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, 02-26-02"
Chelsea is a Clinton. She bears the taint; and though not prosecutable in law, in custom and nature the taint cannot be ignored. All the great despotisms of the past - I'm not arguing for despotism as a principle, but they sure knew how to deal with potential trouble - recognized that the families of objectionable citizens were a continuing threat. In Stalin's penal code it was a crime to be the wife or child of an 'enemy of the people.' The Nazis used the same principle, which they called Sippenhaft, 'clan liability.' In Imperial China, enemies of the state were punished 'to the ninth degree': that is, everyone in the offender's own generation would be killed and everyone related via four generations up, to the great-great-grandparents, and four generations down, to the great-great-grandchildren, would also be killed."- John Derbyshire, National Review, 02-15-01
"Two things made this country great: White men & Christianity. The degree these two have diminished is in direct proportion to the corruption and fall of the nation. Every problem that has arisen (sic) can be directly traced back to our departure from God's Law and the disenfranchisement of White men."- State Rep. Don Davis (R-NC), emailed to every member of the North Carolina House and Senate, reported by the Fayetteville Observer, 08-22-01
.
So, in Fox-think, a liberal calling a conservative "stupid" is as bad or worse than a conservative calling for the killing of a liberal. The Guardian .....a comment






| Link
Kaengkrachan
19 January 2011 3:36PM





than the Iraq war enough times it becomes true...




In the context of this stuff the averaged out viewing numbers are not what would be pertinent, the viewing numbers of their showboats would.

[South End Liberal]

6. Well said!

I posted this on another Keith O thread, but feel it needs to be repeated here.

On Wednesday night's show, Keith said the following regarding Joe Lieberman's retirement announcement:

"The end of the line for Joe Lieberman, self-described ‘moderate Democrat.’ Don’t let the delusional liar door hit you in the delusional liar butt on the delusional liar way out."

2 days later Keith is gone. Coincidence? I wonder....

That's what I've liked about Keith and that's why I've watched his show every night over the years. He is not a cookie cutter, follow the mantra news "infotainer." Keith's real. His special comments are legendary.

In my area, Comcast had already moved MSNBC to a higher payment tier (while leaving CNN and FOX on the lower, less expensive programming package tier) to, in my opinion, discourage people from watching the network's programming. Now that they own MSNBC, watch for more changes to the programming -- to more copycat faux fox programming.

Yesterday was the death toll for any form of liberal, progressive programming on the tv networks. The corporations have truly taken over.

We'll miss you Keith.

[nashville_brook]

8. for some reason, our carrier Bright House loses the MSNBC signal

every other night. makes you wonder.

[German]

55. Who´s running the show?

An article on huffingtonpost features a video of this comment

Keith Olbermann made his (unsurprising) disdain for outgoing Senator Joe Lieberman clear on his Wednesday show, calling Lieberman a "delusional liar" and saying, "good riddance."

In the segment, Olbermann brought Slate's David Weigel on to talk about Lieberman. He asked sarcastically what problem Democrats could have had with Lieberman's domestic positions--"except for the estate tax, the Bush tax cuts, school vouchers, gay marriage, homeland security, the public option, the Medicare buy-in, privatizing Social Security and tort reform."--let alone his foreign policy choices.

Reminds me pretty much on Helene Thomas (remember her?). Like her, Olbermann jumps on top position on DU. The main reason "--let alone his foreign policy choices is a non-issue here.

Helen did say a lot of things after her resigning regarding the US foreign policy. But, "Out of Sight means out of Mind", she is no theme anymore.

[nashville_brook]

100. interesting take on domestic vs foreign policy...although, i think DP is top of mind

b/c our domestic situation is so awful right now.

[xchrom]

10. well said. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. The most unfortunate thing about his departure is the timing.

Because the right-wing will latch onto it as proof that the left's tone was equally to blame for those shootings. I agree with you there. But Olbermann was just one person, against dozens of conservatives pundits who are on the air and say much, much, worse. Who among them was forced to step down? None.

What scares me the most about who gets to represent our side on t.v., is that the conservative media moguls get to pick and choose. I remember in the mid nineties how FoxNews always picked the most way-out looking progressive to put in a window on the t.v. screen, next to a clean-cut conservative. I just kept saying to myself, as much as I might feel this guy has a right to speak his views, he doesn't represent my opinion at all. But the damage was done. Liberals were painted as freaks. If we would be fair, we'd have overt racists representing the conservative view.

So who Comcast allows to stay on MSNBC needs to bring their game up because there's a major disturbance in the force.

[DirkGently]

17. Great point. Media consolidation is a huge part of the problems we all face.

[nashville_brook]

39. CommonDreams: Olbermann departs as media consolidate further

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/22-2

Published on Saturday, January 22, 2011 by Informed Comment


Olbermann Departs, as Media Consolidate Further
by Juan Cole

(snip)

...In other words, six big corporations determine what you will hear about the world if you get your news from television. There are fewer and fewer t.v. news outlets that do not belong to one of these six, a process called media consolidation.

For reasons of profit-seeking, when Disney acquired ABC, it looted the company’s news divisions. Profits are not to be had in hard news, but rather in tabloid news. It used to be that human interest stories would be ‘desert,’ but they have become the main meal.

Ironically, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw was one of Olbermann’s biggest critics, afraid that the latter’s flamboyant and polarizing style would tarnish the reputation of regular NBC newsmen for objectivity.

What Brokaw seems not to have noticed is that NBC and MSNBC did, like most television news, a miserable job of covering the Iraq issue in 2002-2003–mainly buying White House propaganda. The powerful bias toward the point of view of the rich and powerful and well-connected in Washington demonstrated by all the major tv news outlets in 2002-2003 makes Olbermann look like a staid centrist.

[go west young man]

81. So true.

David Gregory is an example of how much they suck. Initially he had some
good questions and then he turned into a total ass kisser during the Bush admin.
Keith was the best they had and they got rid of him. So it's all down hill from here.

[nashville_brook]

103. david gregory -- ugh!

[dixiegrrrrl]

82. What exactly IS on tv worth watching anymore?

Not news.
PBS has little to offer any more, most good PBS stuff is onlne.
Democracy Now is on line.



:shrug:

spelling edit

[nashville_brook]

23. couldn't agree more!!

[Enthusiast]

65. The right wing says a lot of things -

none of them true.

"So who Comcast allows to stay on MSNBC needs to bring their game up because there's a major disturbance in the force."

If they bring their game they will be history.

[DirkGently]

12. Very well said. Liberal emotion is dangerous. Anti-American. Threatening.

And that's what Keith provided. In the rightwing paradigm for America, conservatives are the wise, fatherly elders, temples streaked with gray, sternly keeping to the wisdom of the Old Ways. They are Not To Be Questioned. Their claims to privilege are divine right, derived from the Founding Fathers and Jesus. They wave guns, but only in the interests of Justice. It's not fascism, or stealing, or torture, or bigotry, or extortion, when THEY do it. Nevermind what Daddy does, no matter how crazy or stupid or greedy it may appear.

In their eyes, Keith went too far. Liberals, the right asserts, are unruly children to be tolerated, notwithstanding every social, cultural, or economic improvement made in this country has, by definition, been liberal and progressive. Unruly children may mouth off occasionally, or throw water balloons, but they will not be heard to raise their voices, wag their fingers, or throw stones, no matter how well aimed.

Thus the double standard. Beck states, as fact, that outdoor statuary is a liberal plot to destroy America. That FEMA "may" be preparing deathcamps for American citizens. That the President of the United States "hates white people." Sharron Angle calls, without a trace of hyperbole, for armed violence in the event conservatives don't get their way. Michele Bachmann wants an investigation into "anti-Americans" in Congress.

So, from the right, ludicrous fantasies, lies, and blunt threats of violence are "robust debate."

From the left, a young liberal woman with a sign is so outrageous that she earns a kick in the head, with no apology. Keith Olbermann is out of control for pointing out that Bill O'Reilly, who one suggested a rape victim had mostly her halter to blame for her attack, might not be a good speaker for a women's group.

The problem with Keith is not that his "How dare you sir" tone was too "vituperative and mercurial," which we will hear repeatedly in coming days. It was not that he was somehow the equivalent of screaming rightwing liars chumming the waters with darkly gleeful talk of bullets and insurrection and pretending shock when an endless stream of "lone nuts" take them at their word and kill for them.

The problem with Keith was that he spoke to conservative miscreants like the unruly, dangerous children that THEY often are. Presumptious. Self-righteous. Effective. And, as Nashville says, "uppity."

Don't stay away too long Keith. The absence of your voice is something "up with which we dare not put."





editted for speling and so forth.

[nashville_brook]

14. damn straight Dirk!

The problem with Keith was that he spoke to conservative miscreants like the unruly, dangerous children that THEY often are. Presumptious. Self-righteous. Effective.

that's the bottom line. your post should be its own OP. so right on to point out the false equivalency with: From the left, a young liberal woman with a sign is so outrageous that she earns a kick in the head, with no apology. Keith Olbermann is out of control for pointing out that Bill O'Reilly, who one suggested a rape victim had mostly her halter to blame for her attack, might not be a good speaker for a women's group.

and how i love this:
It was not that he was somehow the equivalent of screaming rightwing liars chumming the waters with darkly gleeful talk of bullets and insurrection and pretending shock when an endless stream of "lone nuts" take them at their word and kill for them.

[Enthusiast]

66. Dirk........damn!

That is good! Deserving of an OP for sure. Excellent observations.

[DirkGently]

104. Done. Thanks for the vote of confidence. 8)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x255913

[WingDinger]

13. I am going to upset you now. He is no longer relevant.

I love Keith. He did just as a patriot would do. And I can never hope to attain such accolades.But, he did what he was supposed to do, in a perfect world, and left it up to us, the left. To preserve whats left. Is that any surprise that what is left is all that is ever offered the left? That is why we were branded the left. Not the part of the spectrum we occupy, but we always sweep up after the repugs get done destroying everything.

One thing I have learned, if you ask folks if they would appreciate you taking care of their business too, usually, the answer is hell yes. So, lets do the work. And they will get used to the left getting the work done.

Simple. Right? What better opportunity do we need? GET TO WORK>

[nashville_brook]

15. upsetting? try amusing. i love your perspective here,

it would be a lovely world, indeed, if "hard work" were all it took for the left to change things.

[WingDinger]

16. Do you see any rethugs stepping forward to govern? WHO?

We do the slog, the drugery, no not DRUDGEry. And soon enough, the rethugs will be right alongside libertarians. Cute, but irrelevant.

[DirkGently]

19. When does calling out the right on its hypocrisy and destructiveness become "irrelevant?"

I could go along with a call for a 100 new liberal voices to spring up, Hydra-like, where KO's has been (presumably temporarily) lopped off, but if the notion is that Keith has somehow done all that he could do, in THESE times, that's a pretty radical read of the situation.

[walldude]

21. You call governing hard work?

Man people are seriously confused as to what "work" is.

[WingDinger]

27. Hard choices anyway. Not callouses, surely.

[walldude]

30. Hard choices are not hard work.

There is a difference. You may want to re-think your terminology.

[demwing]

79. Oh Hell with that - hard choices ARE hard work

You may not have to pick up 100 pounds over and over in the hot sun, but you do carry the weight of your decisions. One breaks your backs, one burdens your soul.

I've done roofing, and I've had to choose which 150 people on a staff of 300 get to keep their jobs, and which do not, then personally deliver the message to each, one on one.

I'd rather do roofing. It's easier.

[walldude]

107. Really? Then you are misusing the word WORK.

It may be easier on the soul to roof then to fire 150 people. But firing 150 people is not FUCKING WORK! Learn the meaning of the word.

[demwing]

109. Managing a business IS fucking work. YOU are confusing "Work" with "Physical Labor"

Work can be physical, intellectual, creative, or destructive. If the only thing you picked up from this is that I fired people, you're being intentionally and unnecessarily combative. Chill out.

[nashville_brook]

108. yikes -- firing people hardly compares to actually doing work

if you really want to go there, you might find yourself in a logical bind...so, i just want to make sure that's what you're saying before i answer.

[demwing]

111. I'm ready.

1. Managing a business in general, and employees in particular, and doing it well is a skill. If providing a skilled service for a fee isn't work, what is it?

2. There is more to managing than hiring and firing. Don't focus on just that aspect.

3. Firing people is a fucking bitch, especially when many of those you fired were your friends. Dividing your friends into two groups - one group who get to keep their income, and one group who does not, is emotionally and physically taxing. If anyone doesn't think so, they've never done it. If anyone has done it, and their ass wasn't kicked by the effort, then their empathy is broken, and they should not be managing people.

Definition of WORK
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/work?show=0&t=1295824140
Activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something:
a: sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result
b: the labor, task, or duty that is one's accustomed means of livelihood
c: a specific task, duty, function, or assignment often being a part or phase of some larger activity

Now where in the definition of work does "managing" NOT fall?

[nashville_brook]

115. i'm not saying it's not work. i'm saying it's not "hard work."

following your debate with Walldude.

regarding 'work" and "hard work" -- from the perspective of human resource management, no exec worth his/her expense account should be crowing about how much worse s/he has it than his/her workers. it shows contempt for labor, and it's a poster-perfect reason why we need unions.

and lets be real, firing people is a bitch for the 5 minutes it takes to hand them their exit packet. after that Mr. Difficult Day is off to happy hour, or the golf course, or his wife/girlfriend/mistress to whine about his shitty day -- while Mr. Unemployed is left with no way to care for his family, facing foreclosure, possible homelessness, and the very real prospect of dying of an easily curable illness b/c he doesn't have insurance any longer, can't afford COBRA and is under more stress than he's ever experienced in his life.

there's plenty of *logical* fallacies in your line argument: equivocation fallacy btwn asserting the topic as "hard work" and then dialing that back to "work," there's an "is-ought" problem where you're saying that b/c firing people is technically "work" then it ought to be considered on the level of roofing, and there's an appeal to wishful thinking where you'd like to believe that your situation is as noble as the workers'.

but what stands out the most isn't a problem in logic. it's a problem in sensibility, b/c what's being said here -- if i'm reading it correctly -- is that workers just fail to appreciate how hard it is for you fire them. cry me a river. seriously.

[demwing]

118. Honestly, is that how you really think I feel?

Did you NOT read my post? The stuff I said about empathy?

I'm just trying to get a sense of whether you didn't read it or didn't understand it, or whether you just want to set a fire because you like to watch shit burn?

[nashville_brook]

36. i'm confused about your position here. do you think KO stands in the way of "hard work" ?

do you think that the absence of full-throated liberal voices in the media negates the ability of people to do the "hard work" of getting good people elected to office?

do you think that the progressives already in Congress will benefit from not having KO's advocacy?

[walldude]

20. K&R the op and agree totally with the "hard work" comment

Yeah we were raised to believe that if you were honest and hard working you could make a decent life for your family. What a crock of shit that turned out to be huh?

Hard work is a term used by many but understood by few. Yes those poor politicians work so hard sitting there on capitol hill with their oak desks and their manicured fingernails, enjoying health care, parties, food, transportation and security all paid for by the taxpayer. Not to mention sucking off the teet of the lobbyists.

Meanwhile in order to make enough money to feed our families and pay for the extravagant lifestyles of Washingtons elite, the working man is out there roofing in 10 degree weather.

Honesty and hard work no longer get you anywhere.

[WingDinger]

28. That is the nihilist programming you recieved from the repukes.

Politics is so icky, I will avoid it all. Politics is all corrupt, why bother. They will frighten me at the pols, why risk it. Hard work is what got the repukes their midterm victory.



Wrote a song about it, and it goes like this.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WingDinger/40

[walldude]

29. It's nihilist programming to think that some asshole

sitting behind a desk complaining about "working hard" is a pathetic weenie compared to a guy who spends his days roofing, or doing construction or being a garbage man?

It's nihilist Republican programming to believe that the way to get ahead in this country is to be dishonest and screw as many people as possible?

You are either willfully blind or ignorant.

And I never said anything like this:
"Politics is so icky, I will avoid it all. Politics is all corrupt, why bother. They will frighten me at the pols, why risk it. Hard work is what got the repukes their midterm victory."
A sitting politician wouldn't know hard work if it bit them on the ass. But hey if you want to believe that governing is "hard work" then be my guest. I'll give you this, it may be stressful. But hard? Fuck a politician wouldn't last a fucking day in my job.

But I understand if you needed to make some shit up so you could tell me I'm "programmed" by Republicans. :rofl: :rofl:

Good luck with your music. And that one I mean sincerely.

[Enthusiast]

67. Pluuuus one! nt

[demwing]

113. Are you saying that people who use their faculties instead of their muscles

do work that is of less honor, relevance, or importance?

As tired as you are some imagined "pathetic weenie" sitting behind a desk, I am tired of the way some people hate on others just because their egos have convinced them that there is something MORE noble about manual labor than other types of work.

Break your back all you want to, I'll listen and nod with empathy while you bitch about how hard your day was, but don't piss on someone else or diminish the work that they do. You are not better, or worse than anyone else in the room, based only on how you pull a paycheck.

[nashville_brook]

40. agreed! regarding the hard work we do to feed our families,

most people have been made aware of the fact that it's the people who work the least who make the most moolah. that's the way the system "works." moreover, it's the people who screw over those "under" them who are rewarded by being moved up the ladder.

and so it is with political "hard work." those who go to The Hill with the aim to help us are not rewarded with powerful committee leadership positions. it's the pols who present themselves the opposite of that -- those who are most willing to throw us under the bus are the ones rewarded with power and money.

what's worse -- it's not thinking nihilistically that gets you here. there's nihilism built into the system and you're either aware of it or you're not. the simple act of seeing the true nature of the system doesn't create the system.

[WinkyDink]

71. So, the absence of a major voice in the major media is "irrelevant"?

[Zephie]

18. k&r, it's a very sad day for freedom.

Silencing the loudest first, just one more step towards the Right realizing their dream of fascism...

[WillyT]

22. Most Excellent !!! - K & R !!!

:yourock:

:hi:

:kick:

[nashville_brook]

35. hey WillyT!

thanks...and :yourock: too!

[Tippy]

24. K&R

[cutlassmama]

25. K&R

[cali]

26. our strongest ally? wtf?

no, Keith is not our strongest progressive ally.

[Kurovski]

33. In the Media? Yes, I think he has been for eight years.

They shit-canned every other lib voice prior to The Illegal invasion of Iraq.

[nashville_brook]

37. very true. there will always be Harper's and The Nation -- mainstream liberal presence is new

and has been very effective, which is why it's being targeted.

[nashville_brook]

34. explain?

[Incitatus]

53. Then who is, pray tell?

[delightfulstar]

31. K&R

Keith would be proud. Eloquently said!

[Kurovski]

32. Well put, and I thank you.

K&R

[Paper Roses]

38. Well said. n/t

[Laelth]

41. k&r. n/t

-Laelth

[me b zola]

42. K&R

[deacon]

43. Comcast/NBC silenced an important voice. Disgraceful.

[nashville_brook]

44. media consolidation coming soon to an internet provider near you...

nt

[Paka]

46. More than silencing an important voice...

with his non-competition clause they are trying to muffle him throughout the next election cycle. Long enough for them to control the tone of the media until they can re-win the Senate and WH. How dare those damn progressives have an intelligent voice in the mix?!!!

Edit for typo

[nashville_brook]

47. yes, this 2-year non-compete does seem convenient...Robert Parry has a column up

that makes another good point --

The ongoing significance of America’s media imbalance is that it gives the Right enormous capabilities to control the national debate, not only during election campaigns but year-round. Republicans can deploy what intelligence operatives call “agit-propaganda,” stirring controversies that rile up the public and redound to the GOP’s advantage.

(snip)

Like Clinton before him, Obama has reacted to this political/media landscape by shifting rightward toward the “center,” further alienating his liberal base. Many on the Left respond by denouncing Obama as a sell-out and deciding to either sit out elections or vote for a third party.

This dynamic has been instrumental to the Right’s political victories over the past three decades even as those policies – from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush – have worsened the lives of middle- and working-class Americans.

The sudden disappearance of Keith Olbermann from television is another ominous omen that this dynamic will continue.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2011/012211.html

[Enthusiast]

68. Robert says it well.

But I think he was making a joke when he said Obama reacted by shifting rightward toward the center. Center being the punchline.

[nashville_brook]

78. good point. And, it reminds me how much I'm going to miss KO's SOTU coverage.

[Paka]

45. Well stated...

I'm in a deep, dark funk at the moment. Don't know where to turn for the political fix that Keith brought me daily. :cry:

[nashville_brook]

99. i usually avoid the TV on friday nights so i didn't get this news until

saturday morning. i went straight from deep funk to truly concerned. we'll see how this shakes out.

[Major Hogwash]

48. His "special comments" were a highlight of his program and I agreed with almost all of them.

Pointing fingers at liberals is what the right has done for years, while yelling "look at that, just look at that guy."

But, they never hold the mirror of introspection up to themselves to see that they have become soulless bastards.

Tucker Carlson's hatred of Keith is real.
As is Bill O'Reilly's.
As is Glenn Beck's.
As is Rush Limbaugh's.

So, Keith is the one that is silenced, and the earth spins on its axis for another day.

"As The World Turns" was the soap opera that was playing on CBS when JFK was murdered.

The soap opera drama that plays out on FOX, and on the rightwing echo chamber radio networks have polluted this country for the last 30 years.
Enough is enough.
If the rightwing establishment does not clean up their act, then the American people will.

We own the radio waves, not Rush Limbaugh, not Comcast.
Make no mistake about that.

[nashville_brook]

49. would it be too much to ask to bring back the Fairness Doctrine?

i wonder.

[walruswasrob]

51. I agree

The Fairness Doctrine never should have been gutted in the first place.

What possible justification could there have been in the first for eliminating it? How was it spun?

[Enthusiast]

69. You know, it was just another of

the old right wing talking points of the day. "The fairness doctrine is an impediment to business. Radio would be more competitive without the anchor that is the fairness doctrine." I just made those up but I think those are probably accurate. Kind of like the excuse to deregulate the financial world.

[nashville_brook]

84. well, it was Reagan's FCC chairman who did it...

here's the basics from the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

Revocation

FCC Chairman Mark S. Fowler, a communications attorney who had served on Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign staff in 1976 and 1980, was appointed by Reagan to head the FCC.<10> The commission began to repeal parts of the Fairness Doctrine, announcing in 1985 that the doctrine hurt the public interest and violated free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
On February 16, 2009, Fowler told conservative radio talk-show host Mark Levin that his work toward revoking the Fairness Doctrine under the Reagan Administration had been a matter of principle (his belief that the Doctrine impinged upon the First Amendment), not partisanship. Fowler described the White House staff raising concerns, at a time before the prominence of conservative talk radio and during the preeminence of the Big Three television networks and PBS in political discourse, that repealing the policy would be politically unwise. He described the staff's position as saying to Reagan:

"The only thing that really protects you from the savageness of the three networks — every day they would savage Ronald Reagan — is the Fairness Doctrine, and Fowler is proposing to repeal it!"

Instead, Reagan supported the effort and later vetoed the Democratic-controlled Congress's effort to make the doctrine law.

In one landmark case, the FCC argued that teletext was a new technology that created soaring demand for a limited resource, and thus could be exempt from the Fairness Doctrine. The Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC) and Media Access Project (MAP) argued that teletext transmissions should be regulated like any other airwave technology, hence the Fairness Doctrine was applicable (and must be enforced by the FCC).

In 1986, Judges Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the Fairness Doctrine did apply to teletext but that the FCC was not required to apply it. In a 1987 case, Meredith Corp. v. FCC, two other judges on the same court declared that Congress did not mandate the doctrine and the FCC did not have to continue to enforce it.

In August 1987, the FCC abolished the doctrine by a 4-0 vote, in the Syracuse Peace Council decision, which was upheld by a different panel of the Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit in February 1989. The FCC also suggested that because of the many media voices in the marketplace, the doctrine be deemed unconstitutional, stating that:

“ The intrusion by government into the content of programming occasioned by the enforcement of restricts the journalistic freedom of broadcasters ... actually inhibits the presentation of controversial issues of public importance to the detriment of the public and the degradation of the editorial prerogative of broadcast journalists.”

[nashville_brook]

85. here's a another tidbit from a great FAIR article

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2053

When Edward Monks, a lawyer in Eugene, Oregon, studied the two commercial talk stations in his town (Eugene Register-Guard, 6/30/02), he found “80 hours per week, more than 4,000 hours per year, programmed for Republican and conservative talk shows, without a single second programmed for a Democratic or liberal perspective.” Observing that Eugene (a generally progressive town) was “fairly representative,” Monks concluded: “Political opinions expressed on talk radio are approaching the level of uniformity that would normally be achieved only in a totalitarian society. There is nothing fair, balanced or democratic about it.”

[chill_wind]

57. Obama doesn't subscribe. He wouldn't support it.

At least he didn't when it's come up before.

Obama Does Not Support Return of Fairness Doctrine
There may be some Democrats talking about reimposing the Fairness Doctrine, but one very important one does not: presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama.

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/25/2008 8:25:00 PM

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/114322-Obama_Does_Not_Support_Return_of_Fairness_Doctrine.php

[nashville_brook]

97. indeed...sigh.

[opihimoimoi]

50. KnR 115... :o)

[Swamp Rat]

52. k&r

[pacalo]

54. Impressive perspective -- & everyone who values truth in reporting should indeed be concerned.

What is there left, three hours per week night of non-reichwing commentary? Keith's departure is devastating.

[nashville_brook]

92. i posted this upthread RE the Fairness Doctrine...but it's relevant here too...

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2053

When Edward Monks, a lawyer in Eugene, Oregon, studied the two commercial talk stations in his town (Eugene Register-Guard, 6/30/02), he found “80 hours per week, more than 4,000 hours per year, programmed for Republican and conservative talk shows, without a single second programmed for a Democratic or liberal perspective.” Observing that Eugene (a generally progressive town) was “fairly representative,” Monks concluded: “Political opinions expressed on talk radio are approaching the level of uniformity that would normally be achieved only in a totalitarian society. There is nothing fair, balanced or democratic about it.”

[myrna minx]

56. Excellent essay Brooke.

:applause: '

[cantbeserious]

58. Well Said, The Game Is Rigged Against The Left Of Any Truthful Stripe

eom

[truedelphi]

59. Wow - you really nailed it.

Quite eloquently, in fact, and almost as though you'd been inspired by a Master.

I will always be grateful to KO for his calling out Mr Bush the Younger on as many aspects of his lying smirking inarticulate blathering muddle that was supposed to be Presidential as there are words in the dictionary.

I also think that KO will end up, much as Conan did, on a different network with more pay.

For now, that's one way I can get through the next few weeks.

[nashville_brook]

98. thanks TD!! -- i am, and have been inspired by Keith, in many ways.

i think the most significant, though, was his regard for his father, and how the experience of his illness inspired his work with the Free Clinics initiative. that was exactly the sort of honor my mother would have wished for...and that time reminded me of her, and how she inspired me. like, i really "got" what was going on there.

on another note...when the special comments started i was in a big transitional phase of my life. divorcing, and living on my own with almost no money. i'd go to the local coffee house and download his special comments, and just weep in the realization that i wasn't the only person feeling those things and thinking those ideas. it was validating and empowering. such dark days those were.

[truedelphi]

106. Ah, the nation of

Divorce. A very strange country, one with no clear boundaries and no time lines. It seems endless, senseless and consuming. With no one else to understand.

[lupinella]

61. K&R

We love you, Keith.

[Enthusiast]

63. That is a special comment! K&R

"You can score a political point here and there, but you can't spike the ball in the endzone."

[WinkyDink]

70. Small triumph: Philly and NYC radio cancelled Beck, and the former included Hannity.

[nashville_brook]

95. i wonder if they'll put Thom Hartmann in that slot...

for the extra point -- :evilgrin:

[chillspike]

73. I think this is a blessing in disguise

Keith has a large following now. MSNBC needs Keith more than he needs them now. Keith can start his own media empire like Al Gore did with Current. This way Keith would have full control and be able to say what he wants.

Plus I would'nt take this too hard or as a conspiracy to silence liberal views. Television is different from other media (with the exception of fox news). Television doesn't like bombastic personalities. The are afraid some of their viewership will complain. Look, Michael Savage had a gig at MSNBC and that didn't last. It's because the big three networks are always concerned with presenting programming acceptable to their entire viewership. It's not some kind of anti-liberal conspiracy. In fact, I think it shows how more fair and balanced the other so called liberal news networks are to Fox News. I think MSNBC fears becoming Fox News which I think is a legitimate fear.

[nashville_brook]

96. monopolies transcend the notion of "conspiracy" b/c there becomes no other possilble

world than the one allowed by those few men owning the entire market.

[jdadd]

74. Kick.....

[Pooka Fey]

75. Sighhhh....

[snagglepuss]

76. K & R nt

:kick:

[decidedlyso]

77. That was excellent.

[nxylas]

83. Don't agree that Rachel is no threat

I think they just started with the host of MSNBC's top rated show in order to send out a message that no-one is safe. Maddow will be the next to go, I suspect.

[nashville_brook]

87. yes -- i think this will have a snowball effect

as all witch hunts do. take the icon first, the rest will follow and the whole thing will be perceived as a natural chain of events.

[nxylas]

88. Either that or they'll self-censor

Playing it safe for fear of their jobs. I hope that won't happen, but I wouldn't blame them if it did. Now is not a good time to be unemployed, and Rachel and others will be in the same position as a lot of their viewers, putting up with all sorts of shit from their employers because they can't afford to lose their jobs.

[nashville_brook]

94. very good point -- the chilling effect.

[madokie]

86. Well put and I agree

rec

[RoccoR5955]

89. We need Keith's voice

Other than that we have Fox Propaganda, Savage, and Limbaugh, among others, who voice the Right.
WE NEED A VOICE ON THE LEFT!

[glinda]

90. KO was the voice of the left and also of FACTS. We need him in a strong position somewhere somehow.

[nashville_brook]

91. agreed, and it's more than just hearing ourselves think...media affects the agenda

what media talks about becomes what politicians talk about. they truly are the fourth branch of government.

[theFrankFactor]

101. Fantastic! sharing!

[nashville_brook]

102. thanks Frank!!

hey...check your RSS feed link...it might be broken - :) - says the RSS junkie.

[julian09]

105. Make Keith White House Press Secretary

Then he can confront the lies right from podium, with the world watching.

[Poboy]

110. too late to rec, but kick.

[nashville_brook]

112. b/c of your sigline, MajorityFM is now my favorite podcast...i'm addicted!

used to listen to Sam Seder on Sirius. then, Marc Maron had him on his show. still that wasn't enough for me to make the connection that, hey, i should see if he's got a show to download.

his work on the Social Security debate is top notch.

[Poboy]

116. Good to know, and glad Sammy has a new listener to his podcast. Yes, his SS commentary IS top notch.

He is very up on his facts and does great research.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

117. "Dean Takes on Big Media" (The Nation, December 2003)

http://www.thenation.com/blog/dean-takes-big-media

Didn't work out too well for him, but we was right then, and he's right now. It sickens me to see where we are now, seven lonnnnng years later...

[Poboy]

119. .

[DianeK]

120. kick