By Lilac Sunday
I've heard it said that politics makes strange bedfellows, but this is ridiculous. I have no choice but to defend Keith Olbermann.
On Friday, MSNBC suspended famously partisan Keith Olbermann of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" for having violated an ethics policy barring campaign donations. MSNBC's action is misguided and bizarre, and should be immediately reversed.
It is deeply hypocritical of MSNBC to invoke an ethics policy as a guardian of journalistic objectivity and purity after it has allowed itself to evolve into the go-to cable channel of the Left.
MSNBC gave Olbermann a forum to engage in highly partisan rhetoric in front of millions of viewers night after night. The value of that forum to Leftist causes and candidates, in terms of Olbermann's ability to shape the dialogue and persuade viewers, is immeasurably great, far greater than $8000 Olbermann reportedly gave to a handful of Democratic candidates in the last campaign cycle.
For MSNBC to be shocked, shocked that its on-air personalities have ideological leanings is, well, shocking. Say what you will about Keith Olbermann, he never pretended to be anything other than what he was, and throwing him under the bus in a grasp for objectivity is both transparently desperate and ineffective.
Those of us who complain about media bias will not be satisfied with a sacrificial lamb like Olbermann. The news analysts aren't the problem, the sickness at the heart of liberal media bias is analysis masquerading as straight news.
Olbermann might be a symbol of what's wrong at MSNBC, but he isn't all that's wrong at MSNBC. Put him back on the air, and stop insulting your critics by offering us his neck.
Cross-posted at Lilac Sunday: Red Girl in a Blue State
Discussion: Memeorandum
