I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! Keith Olbermann, a man who earns millions, an American citizen and (until today anyway) a free man living in a free country... actually donated $7,200 to three candidates running for public office. And I'm even more surprised to find out they were all... DEMOCRATS! Oh, the horror. Who would have guessed?
Let's see, $7,200... why, that's probably less than two hours pay for him. Have you ever given any candidates what amounts to two hours of your earnings? Were you suspended for it? These were not some secret donations Olbermann made under cover of darkness, in an alley behind a bar, or by slipping an unmarked envelope under a door someplace. No, they were perfectly legal donations properly reported by the candidates who received them.
So, how then could Olbermann get suspended from his job? Without pay too. I hope he's saved a few dollars. Seems his company, the GE owned, National Broadcasting Company, Inc. cable channel MSNBC has a policy whereby their air-personalities, their entertainers and performers must get some sort of executive permission before they make political donations. And Keith apparently failed to get his bosses to approve his in advance.
Who among us needs to get their employer's permission before making an open and legal political donation? Could such a corporate policy pass the laugh test in court? Did Olbermann then go out of the normal programming policies at MSNBC to use his own show "COUNTDOWN" to support these candidates? Is he even being charged with doing that? Did any of the three win their elections? Does anyone at GE, NBC or MSNBC care? And what about the fact that MSNBC airs a daily show featuring the wife of Alan Greenspan without ever notifying its audience of her and her husband's decades of political activity? Maybe the Greenspans have quit all politics. Perhaps, Keith Olbermann is a "Media Lone Wolf," a solitary contributor inside the otherwise pristine hallways of GE, NBC and MSNBC.
What about any other GE, NBC or MSNBC employee who may have made donations to political candidates? Has anyone else been suspended, and without pay? Maybe none of them - not a single one - has ever donated even a dime to any political candidate as long as they've worked for GE, NBC or MSNBC. Do you find that remotely possible? Pat Buchanan maybe? Or "Morning" Joe? Or all the rest? Are all of them holding onto their dollars with tight fists, refusing to put their money where their mouths are? Or do you think Keith Olbermann is the only GE, NBC or MSNBC employee ever to make a legal political donation while failing to get his employer's permission to do so in advance? Maybe Keith's been using steroids too, you think?
What can I, or other MSNBC viewers do to effectively register my shock at this outrage against civil rights and basic democracy? How can we protest this? I can tell you what I'm doing. Effective immediately I'm suspending MSNBC from my viewing schedule - until further notice, without pay - and certainly without permission - until Keith Olbermann is back on-the-air. And if he never reappears on MSNBC - I will never watch that channel again. And, just in case I cheat a little and maybe tune in anyway... you can be sure I'll NEVER report such a grave personal weakness to any rating service that happens to call me. I'll tell them I'm watching FOX NEWS.