So they wanted Keith out before the State of the Union and GOP response?

[highplainsdem]

We could of course have depended on Keith for the sharpest, most perceptive commentary.

I don't for one minute believe he'd have chosen to resign now.

[musette_sf]

1. ding ding ding ding

We have a winnah!

[glinda]

2. Accurate observation.

[earthside]

3. Well, I, for one ...

... do believe this has everything to do with Obama and Immelt and Comcast.

Since Pres. Obama broke his promise on not extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, well, I just don't care about his political prospects anymore.

I have become completely indifferent to his presidency.

[Overseas]

4. I will miss him on Tuesday night! //nt

[Hannah Bell]

5. interesting speculation. what day is sotu?

[highplainsdem]

8. Tuesday, the 25th

http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2011

[Hannah Bell]

10. thanks. that's going to be an interesting one.

[jillan]

6. That - and the new GOP leadership. I bet they didn't want Keith commenting on that - how else

can they keep the GOP in power if Keith speaks the truth.

Shit - it's time to pull out the tinfoil hat again.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. You bothered to put it away?

[jillan]

13. I'll tell ya - as soon as I put it away - it's time to take it out again.

:tinfoilhat:

[robinlynne]

7. Me neither.

[high density]

9. Nah, I think they're just showing what money can buy

They just wanted him out, period, and I expect this is the beginning of the end of that network. They will kill it by diluting it into bland thoughtless nonsense like CNN is. Nobody will want to watch that garbage and then they'll shut it down because of low viewership.

I know now that my TV will not be tuned to MSNBC to watch the SOTU.

[bluedigger]

12. Oh god.

I hadn't considered that. Tweety is going to be insufferable. CSPAN for sure.

[grasswire]

14. I wonder if Tweety knew.

He was particularly chipper today, in a way that appeared he was buffing up his show.

It was one of my first thoughts when Keith was talking. I wonder if Tweety knew today.

[coolhip33]

21. watch anything but MSNBC that night and everynight for that matter

They need to see the ramifications of their actions...

[davidwparker]

15. they wanted him out while the ink was still drying on the

merger contract.

This has nothing to do with what Obama is doing. They have Obama in their pockets. Keith ..... not so much.

[tabatha]

16. Yes, they were trying to avoid the appearance

of cause and effect. That is why it happened so fast.

[brewens]

17. Damn! Keith and Rachel after work was perfect. Now I'll have

a dilemma. I'd hate to bail on Rachel but the first impulse is to boycott MSNBC. I like Ed's show too. I'll have to hear something from Keith that makes it sound a lot better than what it appears to be. I would think anything reasonable that would allow me to not be pissed at Comcast or MSNBC, would have allowed for an explanation and some kind of longer notice that Countdown was going.

[Kurovski]

18. I'm finding it hard to believe that GOPers would do that to Toby Keith.

Isn't he proud to be an American or something?

[EFerrari]

19. For the win.

[Cleita]

20. Hopefully he will write for one of the blogs.

Apparently David Shuster said that he can write and be on the internet. It's TV he can't be on.

[charlie]

22. Maybe Tweety will get another thrill up his leg on Tuesday

Or maybe Obama will make Tweety "forget he's a black man" once again.

And MSNBC execs will be sure they dumped the right guy, because their crew's professionalism JUST GOT THAT MUCH MORE SOLID.

[Honeycombe8]

23. It's possible he gave notice, and they paid his contract out & said he could leave now. nt