Who would have ever thought that Keith Olbermann would be the man to bring liberals and conservatives together?!?
But in the hours following MSNBC President Phil Griffin's bizarre decision to suspend Olbermann for donating money to democratic candidates, anchors and pundits from across the political spectrum have expressed outrage over the action.
Take it away, William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard one of the most conservative commentators on the planet:
"[It's] ludicrous. First, he donated money to candidates he liked. He didn’t take money, or favors, in a way that influenced his reporting. Second, he’s not a reporter. It’s an opinion show. If Olbermann wants to put his money where his mouth is, more power to him."
It's worth noting that the policy at MSNBC does not ban employees from making donations. It only requires they ask permission first, which Olbermann failed to do.
Rachel Maddow acknowledges that distinction, along with her colleague's mistake in ignoring it, but urged her network to re-install Olbermann as the host of
Countdown last night. She also used the incident to illustrate a major difference between MSNBC and Fox News:
The former suspended its most well-known personality for contributing to a campaign; the latter uses its programs to openly raise money for Republicans, while its hosts have all given money across the board to conservative candidates. The former is an admittedly biased news service; the latter is a political operation.
