I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now. Keith Olbermann is leaving ESPN. If you haven’t heard yet, read the next story. And that’s all I’m going to say about this. Keith Olbermann has something he wants to say. In short, Keith Olbermann said he’s “going to become Donald Trump’s campaign manager.”
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Come back to your true love Olbermann. Your presence is greatly missed in the political arena. MSNBC lost their backbone when you left!
A statement From ESPN:
“While the show’s (“Olbermann”) content was distinctive and extremely high quality, we ultimately made a business decision to move in another direction,” the ESPN Faculty said in a statement. “We wish Keith nothing but the best and trust that his skill and ability will lead him to another programming endeavor.”
Olbermann’s contract was set to expire at the end of this month.
It was good to see Keith Olbermann again. Yes, I know, he’s now on ESPN. But his role on ESPN is slightly different to the cutting edge political broadcasting he did at MSNBC.
Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore joined together – HBO sports jackets on and all – to do a little sports commentary on an unprecedented event – Bill Maher’s six blocks marathon from the Washington studio where he does his HBO show to another location for a live stand-up special.
“We’re seeing something unprecedented in comedy tonight, Michael,” Olbermann said. “A man trying to be funny for an hour in one theater, and then stopping the funny, then getting into a car with a motorcade going through Washington [D.C.] and then trying to be funny later on.”
At the end of his HBO show, Maher runs off stage to his dressing room where he quickly changed into a more “casual” attire. Maher may have changed too fast causing Moore to make the following observation. “It does not look like Bill is wearing his protective cup.”
“I hope nobody was looking for that,” Olbermann said.
Bill Maher then rushed to a waiting limousine and was ushered through the streets of Washington by a police escort. All this time, the “sports” duo of Olbermann and Moore humouously kept the audience informed on Maher’s progress, or lack of progress when the motorcade stopped at a corner to allow a boyscout and an old woman to cross the street.
Realizing that the feeble old woman and her assistant were taking too long, Maher exited the limousine and sprinted the final block to the waiting audience where he was greeted with a standing ovation by his live audience.
An ‘unprecedented” event indeed. Watch it unfold below.
Chuck Todd works at MSNBC, but don’t let that fool you. He has developed a reputation of letting Republican talking points go unchallenged, and… wait… come to think of it, many of the MSNBC hosts these days allow Republicans to spew their talking points unchallenged. These hosts are concerned that if they challenge these Republicans with facts, the Republicans will avoid the network. So the kiss-ass is abundant!
Bring back the days of Keith Olbermann!
Anyways, like I was saying. Chuck Todd has developed a reputation as a soft reporter, so hearing him denounce the recent Republican fund-raising edition of Benghazi caused me to take another look. I had to make sure Todd was okay. Maybe he fell and hit his head on the White House lawn when no one was looking, who knows?
In a recent episode of Morning Joe, Todd said, “the way they rolled this out it seems very political, very ham-handed. . . Right now it seems like nothing more than a partisan stunt.”
Enjoy some Chuck Todd like you’ve never seen before, cause you may not see or hear this Chuck Todd again!
After the announcement was made that Current TV and Keith Olbermann had parted ways, the network founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt put out this statement;
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 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 in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it. We are moving ahead by honoring Current’s values. Current has a fundamental obligation to deliver news programming with a progressive perspective that our viewers can count on being available daily — especially now, during the presidential election campaign. Current exists because our audience desires the kind of perspective, insight and commentary that is not easily found elsewhere in this time of big media consolidation.
As we move toward this summer’s political conventions and the general election in the fall, Current is making significant new additions to our broadcasts. We have just debuted six hours of new programming each weekday with Bill Press (“Full Court Press, at 6 am ET/3 am PT) and Stephanie Miller (“Talking Liberally,” at 9 am ET/6 pm PT). We’re very excited to announce that beginning tonight, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer will host “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer,” at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Eliot is a veteran public servant and an astute observer of the issues of the day. He has important opinions and insights and he relishes the kind of constructive discourse that our viewers will appreciate this election year. We are confident that our viewers will be able to count on Governor Spitzer to deliver critical information on a daily basis.
All of these additions to Current’s lineup are aimed at achieving one simple goal — thegoal that has always been central to Current’s mission: To tell stories no one else will tell, to speak truth to power, and to influence the conversation of democracy on behalf of those whose voice is too seldom heard. We, and everyone at Current, want to thank our viewers for their continued steadfast support.
Keith Olbermann then put out his own statement.
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 thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract.
It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current’s statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently. To understand Mr. Hyatt’s “values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty,” I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee. That employee’s name was Clarence B. Cain.
In due course, the truth of the ethics of Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt will come out. For now, it is important only to again acknowledge that joining them was a sincere and well-intentioned gesture on my part, but in retrospect a foolish one. That lack of judgment is mine and mine alone, and I apologize again for it.
Eliot Spitzer will replace Olbermann with a new show called Viewpoint With Eliot Spitzer starting tonight, Current confirms.
There is absolutely no reason why any police officer should be allowed to intentionally cause harm to anyone, especially when an individual is in harm’s way, but is not putting said officer’s life in danger. So don’t even try to understand this policeman’s actions in the video below – there’s just no plausible explanation.
Keith Olbermann interviews the lawyer of the victim. Be warned, more scenes of the attack are shown.
Countdown with Keith Olbermann starts on June 20th, and Keith just released his official video promoting the show. In what could be considered a slap-in-the-face to his previous network, MSNBC, the video shows Olbermann talking about the corporate spin that dictates what gets on television under the guise of “news.”
As Keith talks, a censor is placed over his mouth, but Keith simply moves to the side and continues;
The free flow of information has been thwarted, dissenting voices silenced, and for every story there’s a flurry of heavily biased corporate-sponsored spin that can distract even the most engaged viewer. And every day we’re left with a bit less clarity. Until now.
Leave it up to Keith Olbermann to decipher the White House’s reasoning behind the release of the long form birth certificate. If true, it is a brilliant move on behalf of the President.
I know a lot of you will be thinking, why would you let the Republicans know the reasoning behind the President’s decision? I asked myself the very same question while Keith laid it all out on the table. But then I remembered – these are Republicans, you know, they wouldn’t know the truth if it… well, they wouldn’t know the truth!
The new date is set. The time, the place and oh yeah… the name. Keith Olbermann’s new show is not really new. It maintains the same name – Countdown With Keith Olbermann – and it maintains the same time slot – 8PM Est, 11PM Est and 2AM EST. But according to the video release by Mr. Olbermann, Current’s version of Countdown will be a little more edgy.
And the ‘when‘? It will be in June. Could this new Countdown be in direct competition to MSNBC’s 8, 10 and 2am time slot, now hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell’s The Last Word? After all, these were the times the old Countdown had on that network. Should O’Donnell be concerned?
Mr. Olbermann tells more in the video below.
Keith Olberman… yes, that Keith Olbermann – has been keeping up on the nonsense that is today’s Republican party. Here, in this Worst Persons Of The Day edition, our favorite orange, John Boehner wins hands down.
Ladies and gentleman, Keith Olbermann…
And so, the return of Keith Olbermann has officially began, with the launch of FOK News Channel. Olbermann previously made the announcement in a tweet, saying “Proud to announce: Coming very very soon – your FOKNewsChannel website… #FOK” – [Friends Of Keith]
As described on the website,
Three-time Murrow-Award Winner Keith Olbermann is the “K” in “Friends Of Keith” and “Friends Of Keith” is the FOK in the not-for-profit FOKNewsChannel.
Next for Mr. Olbermann… his return to television.
Word from the Keith Olbermann camp – Mr. Olbermann broke the news on a conference call today that his new television show will begin this spring on Current TV. No word yet on what day or time the show starts, but his more than 1 million nightly fans of the former Countdown on MSNBC will be more than pleased to tune in. More from the NYTimes;
The untitled hour of news and commentary will effectively mimic “Countdown,” the MSNBC program that Mr. Olbermann conceived eight years ago and quit hosting last month. Mr. Olbermann told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that the new program would be “an improved, and we hope amplified and stronger, version of the show that I just did.”
Current is betting that Mr. Olbermann will put it on the cable map — and it needs the help. The channel averages just 23,000 viewers in prime time each night.
Mr. Olbermann drew about 1 million viewers to his MSNBC program each night. This is “the best investment that Current has ever made,” said another channel co-founder, Joel Hyatt.
Mr. Olbermann will have an equity stake in the company, and he will also have a management role. As the chief news officer, he will develop new programs and provide editorial guidance to the channel’s journalists.
“We are counting down the days to Keith Olbermann’s return to television,” the channel’s chief executive, Mark Rosenthal, said on the conference call. But he did not announce a premiere date or a time slot for the program.
With Current TV, Mr. Olbermann gains a measure of independence. Unlike most cable channels, including MSNBC, which are owned by large media companies, Current is privately and independently owned by Mr. Gore, the former vice president, and other backers.
Mr. Gore praised Mr. Olbermann in a statement. “We are delighted to provide Keith with the independent platform and freedom that Current can and does uniquely offer,” he said.
For more on this story, click here. Check your cable provider for channel info!
