As you probably heard, Keith Olbermann has been suspended from his MSNBC show because he violated a company rule against making political donations without prior approval. The Internet is abuzz with some celebration but a lot of outrage, much of it from folks who don't like Olbermann's politics. Obviously, I think he was dumb to violate a corporate policy but he should get his wrist slapped and be put back on the air. That may be what happens but somehow, this smells to me like something else is up — like the new controllers of NBC Entertainment are looking to renegotiate his contract or get rid of him…or something. There's something going on here other than Olbermann violating that one rule.
I do agree with a point Rachel Maddow made on her show last evening. It kinda proves there's a false equivalency at work when folks claim MSNBC is just the flip side of Fox News. Fox News has no problem with its hosts not only making donations to political candidates but going out and appearing at fundraisers. Then again, it was pretty obvious before this that the two were not alike. MSNBC gives three hours of its daytime schedule over to a right-of-center former Republican congressman. There is no corresponding left-of-center presence on Fox News. And Fox News employs many "commentators" who are either recently active in charting Republican strategy (Karl Rove) or likely to be Republican candidates before long (Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, etc.). There are no Democrats like that on MSNBC. This will never matter to those who like the worldview that Fox News sells. They'll forever believe it's Fair and Balanced.