Confirming that talk-show host Keith Olbermann is indeed one of the most horrible people in the world, MSNBC pulled the blatantly partisan blabbermouth from the anchor slot on its nightly political coverage, along with fellow repugnant ass Chris Matthews.
David Gregory has taken over the hosting job, with Olbermann and Matthews serving as commentators.
Although it is difficult to be more leftist than MSNBC in general, Olbermann managed it quite spectacularly, making Democrat consultant James Carville seem circumspect by comparison.
AP reported that Olbermann’s grotesquely obvious partisanship had become thoroughly embarrassing during the presidential primary season and the political conventions:
The tipping point appears to have come during the GOP convention when Olbermann criticized MSNBC for showing a Sept. 11-themed video prepared by the Republicans.
MSNBC executives, who had publicly defended their anchors’ roles while privately monitoring them throughout the political season, made the change over the [Sept. 6-7] weekend after discussions with Olbermann. Despite [Despite? The correct term is ‘because of’.—Ed.] the controversy around him, Olbermann has been a hero with left-leaning viewers and keyed MSNBC’s growth among coveted young viewers.
During her acceptance speech last week, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin talked about the "Washington elite" not accepting her qualifications for the job. Some delegates on the convention floor began chanting, "N-B-C, N-B-C."
Olbermann began to have difficulty keeping his opinions in check, or simply stopped trying.
He sarcastically dismissed GOP pundit Pat Buchanan on the air after Buchanan said the Republicans had been enlivened by the entrance of a conservative Republican.
"Those reading US Weekly with the picture of her and her youngest daughter with the word `scandal’ written across it won’t be so happy," Olbermann said.
He expressed little sympathy at another point when GOP anger at rumors over the Internet about Palin were being discussed.
"We’ll see if people feel sorry for unfounded rumors on the Internet," he said. "If that’s the case, Senator Obama‘s probably standing up and cheering and waiting for people to feel sorry for him."
That last observation vividly illustrates Olbermann’s rhetoric: He falsely equates blatant bias among the professional press, which was inflicted on Palin, with weirdos yammering on obscure websites, as has happened to Obama and every other person who has run for office since the invention of the Internet (and has happened to every candidate since the invention of the mimeograph machine, and before that since the invention of the soap box).
The situation had become so embarrassing to MSNBC that another open Democrat partisan talker, Daily Show host Jon Stewart, compared the mess to the island of feral children in William Golding’s brilliant novel Lord of the Flies and the Lohan family.