In today’s edition of Planet Waves, I mentioned Keith Olbermann, the MSNBC anchor whom I described as “the voice of moral indignation. He is a journalist who is bigger than it all.” He was suspended today for giving donations to three Democratic candidates, at least one of whom had appeared on his program.
This is somewhat freaky news, but it fits our weird moment. In Wednesday’s podcast I proposed that there would be a series of fast-moving repercussions after Tuesday’s elections, and this is the first of them. It’s certainly a victory for the political right, whose radio and television programming contains little other than neurological venom — the likes of Uncle Rush and Glenn Beck.
Before I interpret the chart you see to the left, I’ll repost the rest of my section on Olbermann from this morning’s edition, which counted up lots of good things we have to be thankful for.
“His ‘special comments’ on the Iraq war and the Cheney-Bush administration were a vivid wake-up call. He too is brilliantly funny and sees the irony in everything, and is not put off by it. He’s another person saying deal with the facts. I view his background as a sportscaster as a plus. He supports my long-held view that sports writers have to be honest because everyone has seen the game and knows the rules. Meanwhile, Olbermann got Rachel Maddow her job, and he also brought in Lawrence O’Donnell, another primetime MSNBC guy who is genuinely pragmatic and who’s believing no lies; his new program gets better every night as he steps into his role. I recognize these programs all have some of the limitations of TV and corporate ownership — but even in the age of media conglomerates, they are doing more with television than many of us imagined possible.”
First let’s look at the chart for getting fired. Since we don’t know exactly what time that happened, I am using the time that I posted the news to Planet Waves. This chart gives a Sagittarius ascendant that is either peculiar or spot on, depending on your viewpoint — it’s the exact degree of the United States Sibley chart, the most widely used horoscope for the Declaration of Independence — 12+ Sagittarius rising.
There are two points within one degree of the ascendant: Pallas Athene, the planet of politics (technically an asteroid) and Pholus, the planet of ‘small cause, big effect’ (technically a comet-like centaur planet). In addition, in the background of that part of the sky is the Great Attractor, an intergalactic point — the largest thing known, and it is very large — located at 14 Sagittarius. So the GA is right there. Note, this is not the Galactic Center. It is much vaster — an enormous dark matter magnet drawing a million or so galaxies toward it. Its effect is polarizing. Here is a Planet Waves article about it.
So we have a combination of three points in the ascendant: Pallas (politics), Pholus (small cause, big effect) and the Great Attractor (polarizing effect). These are all closely situated around the degree of the United States ascendant. The backlash is going to be huge — and this is payback from the other side of the aisle, as it were.
[Phil Sedgwick just wrote to me and reminded me that Ixion is on the ascendant as well. My keywords for Ixion are ‘Anyone is capable of anything’, and I view him as an amoral influence. In mythology he’s the guy who squandered his second chance. You can find a short article on Ixion in Small World Stories.]
With that in mind, let’s look at some classical elements, starting with the ascendant ruler, Jupiter. It is in its domicile, Pisces – very strong. It is retrograde – less strong. The Sun is applying in a trine to it; very helpful.
Next, the Moon. The Moon is in the extreme waning phase — we are mere hours before the Scorpio New Moon. Whatever happens, this matter is going to be resolved fast, one way or the other. The Moon is about to conjoin the Sun. Notably, this is during the festival of Diwali, the Hindu celebration of Lakshmi, the supreme goddess. Venus, the Mon and the Sun are all in the 11th house — extremely public. Everyone is watching. What they are watching is a sacrifice. This aspect contains Vesta, who can and often is associated with a sacrifice of some kind, and there are many who are hoping this will be a human sacrifice of one of the authentically human people on television, who made a human error in judgment.
Note to horary wonks, the Moon’s last aspect was a sextile to Pluto and its next aspect is a sextile to the North Node of the Moon. These are two more indicators that the millions are paying attention. It will be the public that protects Olbermann just as he’s been protecting us.
The actual assailant is hiding. Mercury is in the 12th house. Mercury rules the 7th house. Mercury rules the house of open enemies, and is in Scorpio, in the house of hidden enemies. Mars, the ruler of the 12th, is also in the 12th. This was a stab in the back; I recognize that this is stating the obvious.
I’m going to post Olbermann’s natal chart cast for noon, without much comment — except to say that this chart qualifies as intense because so many points are conjunct centaur planets. Note Mars-Nessus; Venus-Chiron; Sun-Pholus.
In many respects, this is Keith’s life the way it is. He is accustomed to controversy, and while I will not accuse him of thriving on it, which is an immature mental posture, he recognizes that it’s a basic necessity of his existence. He has an effect on people. Those centaurs have an effect that you could call catalyzing, but a ‘catalyst’ merely facilitates a reaction. Olbermann is a propellant.
She is missing – or not stating – the much larger point: This was a Trojan horse on Mr Olbermann’s part. This was his personal gesture against Citizens United v FEC.
There is a policy in the Green Book — the ethics rules of NBC news — that says you have to ask Daddy, and that is designed to give the appearance of propriety — propriety that GE lacks entirely. In addition to their involvement in the military, from nuclear missile guidance systems to aircraft engines to just about anything else you can name — is anyone aware just how high the pile of bodies behind this company is?
It is a very high pile. They have killed untold thousands of their employees. I have details only of their crimes with PCBs and dioxin. Here is one representative example, called GE’s Warm, Caring Impression. They do so because they already own the government, the regulatory agencies, the means of investigation and enforcement. (In the article above, based in California, I give a rare example of when they didn’t get away with it, but only after poisoning hundreds of their workers at that one plant.)
After 17 years on one angle of this story, I am all but certain that the reason that SUNY New Paltz case was not reopened for retesting and cleanup after my exposés on the company was GE covering its ass on Hudson Falls and Fort Edwards plants, where many of its biggest mass murders were committed. In other words, If SUNY New Paltz got cleaned up, it would set off a revolution among the Hudson Falls and Fort Edwards families, who were contaminated far worse than those at New Paltz.
As far as GE is concerned, Keith and Rachel are nothing other than public relations shine. If they could get me as a devoted fan of their cable station, you have to admit, that’s pretty good, after I dug out their crimes for years on end.
Meanwhile, Citizens United comes down the pike. Billions of dollars in dirty money are flying around. So Keith tosses a few dollars into the hoppers of three Dem candidates, which is entirely inconsequential from a strategy standpoint for these candidates. I believe his donation was the maximum for a private individual, for one election.
Then he says, okay — now watch what happens.
Okay, the Teabaggers bought the House and half the Senate. They would not have got anywhere near the number of votes without all that anonymous money pouring in — a million dollars in those funds to try to defeat Rep. Maurice Hinchey, and I live in the woods. The Birthers will try to impeach Obama for being a foreigner, and try to turn the next two years into a total circus. They have to: they cannot keep their promises.
Keith is showing — not telling — “look at what a bunch of hypocritical asses these people are. The government is already the wholly owned subsidiary of GE and its peers. And these guys are going to fire me for tossing a few coins into the Salvation Army Santa’s bucket?”
Here’s what Rachel Maddow posted to her blog about the suspension:
” Here’s the larger point, though, that’s going mysteriously missing from the right-wing cackling and old media cluck-cluck-clucking: I know everyone likes to say, “Oh, cable news, it’s all the same. Fox and MSNBC — mirror images of each other. But if you look at the long history of Fox hosts not just giving money to candidates, but actively endorsing campaigns and raising millions of dollars for politicians and political parties — whether it’s Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck or Mike Huckabee — and you’ll see that we can lay that old false equivalency to rest forever. There are multiple people being paid by Fox News to essentially run for office as Republican candidates. If you count not just their hosts but their contributors, you’re looking at a significant portion of the entire Republican lineup of potential contenders for 2012.
They can do that because there’s no rule against that at Fox. Their network is run as a political operation. Ours isn’t. Yeah, Keith’s a liberal, and so am I. But we’re not a political operation — Fox is. We’re a news operation. The rules around here are part of how you know that.”
Truthtellers. This one’s our only Democratic Socialist Senator, and one of the two (Kucinich) left in that body that won’t be moved. Sen. Bernie Sanders:
It is outrageous that General Electric/MSNBC would suspend Keith Olbermann for exercising his constitutional rights to contribute to a candidate of his choice. This is a real threat to political discourse in America and will have a chilling impact on every commentator for MSNBC.
“We live in a time when 90 percent of talk radio is dominated by right-wing extremists, when the Republican Party has its own cable network (Fox) and when progressive voices are few and far between.
“At a time when the ownership of Fox news contributed millions of dollars to the Republican Party, when a number of Fox commentators are using the network as a launching pad for their presidential campaigns and are raising money right off the air, it is absolutely unacceptable that MSNBC suspended one of the most popular progressive commentators in the country.
“Is Rachel Maddow or Ed Schultz next? Is this simply a ‘personality conflict’ within MSNBC or is one of America’s major corporations cracking down on a viewpoint they may not like? Whatever the answer may be, Keith Olbermann should be reinstated immediately and allowed to present his point of view.”
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=e34f64e9-df96-493a-a8f6-af39713e51d4
By the way — and I was gonna say “not sure how I missed this” but the answer to that is Neptune — this has all happened with a Mercury-Neptune square going on; there is a lie in the midst of all of this; yes, this whole issue is like a boat on a sea of lies, but I mean, somebody is bullshitting.
And Mercury square Chiron — hmm, well isn’t that appropriate.
Latest tally for “olbermann suspended” search string, in quotes, is over 40,000. Yesterday evening it jumped from 19,500 to 20,500 in about 10 minutes. By last night it was around 30,000.
The petition was close to 170,000 when I signed.
Any New Yorkers feel like going to NBC studios this week? However, if we keep the firestorm going over the weekend and jam their mail servers, this will be over fairly soon.
Latest on Olbermann from Politico, which broke the story about Keith’s campaign contributions:
TOP TALKER – WSJ A4, “MSNBC Suspends TV Host Over Political Contributions,” by Sam Schechner: “MSNBC initially said contributor Chris Hayes would be a replacement, but later said that MSNBC news anchor Thomas Roberts would fill in … Olbermann’s contributions were disclosed Friday in an article on Politico … Losing Mr. Olbermann could be a big blow for MSNBC … Mr. Olbermann’s show averaged 1.1 million viewers in October, well above CNN in that hour, but far behind Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly. … On Twitter, Mr. Hayes said: ‘My not hosting has nothing to do with several donations I made to two friends before I ever signed an MSNBC contract.’ Mr. Hayes, Washington editor of the Nation magazine, made a series of donations to Josh Segall, an Alabama Democrat, who ran for Congress in 2008 … Hayes also donated $250 in January 2009 to Thomas Geoghegan, who ran in a primary for an Illinois seat. This summer, Mr. Hayes interviewed Mr. Geoghegan, an author, when he guest hosted ‘The Rachel Maddow Show.'”
–Guest host Thomas Roberts, on “Countdown”: “Last night, MSNBC management became aware of three political contributions that Keith made to three different candidates last week. The contributions are not permitted by NBC News without prior approval. In light of those facts, Keith has been suspended indefinitely. And we know all of you are looking forward to Keith’s return, and so are we.”
–Rachel Maddow last night: “I understand this rule. I understand what it means to break this rule. I believe everybody should face the same treatment under this rule. I also personally believe that the point has been made and we should have Keith back hosting ‘Countdown.’ … Yes, Keith is a liberal, and so am I. And there are other people on this network whose political views are shared openly with you, our beloved viewers, but we are not a political operation. … We are a news operation, and the rules around here are a part of how you know that. Before it was politically safe to do it, Keith Olbermann attracted the ire of the right wing and a lot of others besides when he brought to light and raged against what he saw as the errors and sins of the previous presidential administration.”
Here’s a petition to sign; it went from about 90,000 when I signed it at 7 Pm to well over 149,000 signatures: http://act.boldprogressives.org/sign/petition_olbermann/?source=huff
I love refreshing the page and seeing the numbers go up, up, up.
the convolutions are intriguing and inspiring
as was pointed out in the friday edition, the way Christine O’Donell’s platform actually brought some important issues to the foreground while at the same time making her look a bit silly. It worked to the advantage of progressives.
this is brilliant pallas athena / pholus in sagittarius Olbermann turning the tables on the hypocrisy of campaign finance as a powerful protest involving media. I love it…
thanks to Eric Francis and the staff and blog commentators on Planet Waves’ for keeping us all updated and in the loop…
Tucson, Ariz. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today released the following
statement on the news of Keith Olbermann’s suspension without pay from
MSNBC due to his contributions to Reps. Grijalva and Gabrielle
Giffords and Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway:
“I am personally distressed and saddened by the news of Mr.
Olbermann’s suspension. If there were any way to undo what has been
done, I would do it in a heartbeat. Mr. Olbermann is a respected media
voice who has done good work at MSNBC for seven years, and I feel the
network has overreacted with such a severe penalty. I welcome and
appreciate his support, and the fact that his contributions were made
as a private citizen — not as the host of Countdown — should be
taken into consideration before MSNBC or the wider media make any
final conclusions.
Unlike other national talk show hosts who use their programs to
deceive the public or hawk self-promoting financial schemes, Mr.
Olbermann has used his show to educate, inform
and bring common sense to our airwaves. I would rather return the
money he contributed than see this incident used to take him off the
air. He made no effort to disguise his contributions from the Federal
Election Commission, and at no time has he misled the public as to his
intentions.
MSNBC should reconsider its suspension and restore Mr.
Olbermann as the host of Countdown.”
It would appear that Mr. Olbermann has already pulled a grand finesse at getting a spade to call itself a spade.
He has made a broader point loud and clear – we cannot wait for the pubs to act and then be on the defensive. We must take offensive action in order to bring order back to our lives.
This is only a beginning round.
If you cannot get through to the phone or the e-mails, try faxing the letters to this number: SEND faxes to MSNBC urging Keith’s return here at: Fax: (212) 664-4426
Thanks Eric for adding your voice!
Mr. Gaines,
That was a smooth move today by your Capo. He seems like the kind of guy who ties his shoes together in the locker room, then tries to run out onto the playing field.
FYI I will be boycotting MSNBC and its advertisers till you rehire Keith Olbermann. I’ll include the list below.
I’m a journalist — CEO of a company, actually, I’ve grown up a bit — and I donate to my congressman’s campaign fund because I like how he votes. And I was one of his biggest journalistic adversaries years ago.
Keith just exposed the corporate bullshit that is turning our country into a gulag. He can be self-sacrificing because he has a soul. We love him, and we’re not shutting up.
I am guessing from the busy circuit at (212) 664 today — impressive, for Manhattan — that I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Yours & truly,
Eric F. Coppolino
Publisher and President
Planet Waves, Inc.
Toyota
Verizon
Nutrisystem
Avis
AIG Term Life
Coldwell Bankers
Venus Breeze
O’lay
Jimmy Dean Sausages
lawyers Weitz & Luxenburg, NY
Sudafed
Video Professor
Natural’s Cat Chow, Purina
Merneke Car Care Center
Am. Express
Travel Companion on CNN
Crystal Light
Infiniti Car
Vonage Phone
Dyson Vacuum
Eharmony
Cepacol
Hyundi Car
U.S. Buildings
Boeing
Progessive.Com
Direct TV
Colonial Penn Life Insurance
Indulg-a-Bath
Stop IRS Debt
HSBC Direct Financial Inst
U.S. Airforce
Aleve
Progresso Soup
Subaru
Spiriva
Cooking Lite
Steak-umns Burgers
Infiniti
Scalpcin
Mama Lucia Meat Balls
Sea Bond
Financial Freedom, reverse mortgage
eDiets Meal Delivery
Aqua Velvet
Citracal
Mr. Clean
Chemistry.com
Bayer Products
Old Mutual Investment
Rogaine
Verizon (Both)
Geico
Here’s the e-mail address for Phil Griffin’s boss, Jeremy Gaines, at jeremy.gaines@msnbc.com. Here’s a list of MSNBC’s corporate (advertising) sponsors; let them know we won’t be buying their stuff (remind them of Target’s loss of BILLIONS in one day when it went viral about their donations to an anti gay candidate) until Keith is brought back:
Toyota
Verizon
Nutrisystem
Avis
AIG Term Life
Coldwell Bankers
Venus Breeze
O’lay
Jimmy Dean Sausages
lawyers Weitz & Luxenburg, NY
Sudafed
Video Professor
Natural’s Cat Chow, Purina
Merneke Car Care Center
Am. Express
Travel Companion on CNN
Crystal Light
Infiniti Car
Vonage Phone
Dyson Vacuum
Eharmony
Cepacol
Hyundi Car
U.S. Buildings
Boeing
Progessive.Com
Direct TV
Colonial Penn Life Insurance
Indulg-a-Bath
Stop IRS Debt
HSBC Direct Financial Inst
U.S. Airforce
Aleve
Progresso Soup
Subaru
Spiriva
Cooking Lite
Steak-umns Burgers
Infiniti
Scalpcin
Mama Lucia Meat Balls
Sea Bond
Financial Freedom, reverse mortgage
eDiets Meal Delivery
Aqua Velvet
Citracal
Mr. Clean
Chemistry.com
Bayer Products
Old Mutual Investment
Rogaine
Verizon (Both)
Geico
Well as my friend said, Keith is smart. I take him for a chess player. You always think three or four moves ahead – some go for 10. He knows it’s a game. I don’t think this was an “oversight” on his part. He was bunting. This is pulling the pants off of the gross hypocrisy of MSNBC and GE, and of Fox and the rest of them. Such as all those who cashed in on Citizens United. How much did MSNBC make on ads suddenly permitted by Citizens United? Okay so let’s see…these phony PACs pour billions into BUYING the House and half of the Senate; Fox dumps millions into Republican governors and lies around the clock; and he gets suspended for giving a few donations to candidates, quietly and out of his personal funds.
Keith is not the kind of guy who would go to someone and say, “Excuse me, may I write these checks?” As far as he’s concerned, it’s his money. And if the NBC policy is stupid, may it be damned. Anyway, MSNBC anchors are not held to the standards of NBC News reporters. Their programs are opinion shows.
One comment I left out of my article today — it got in in watered down form at the very end of the Olbermann segment — is that the problem that the anchors on MSNBC have is they cannot question the structure of the system. They can’t say “We’re published by a big company no different than News Corp.” So to do that, Olbermann had to show rather than tell; and he was willing to let the chips fall.
Imagine what it was like for him, meanwhile, to expose this insanity for years and then young Democrat voters turn coat on their own cause; women vote against reproductive rights (they may as well support candidates who oppose the right of women to vote — that would be on the same level) and then these Teabaggers all get voted in. I realize the donations were made before the results came out, but we all knew which way the wind ws blowin’.
Rand Paul is a tyrant who is going to be — mark my words — on the GOP ticket in 2012 or 2016. In the total void of leadership, it’s likely to be sooner than later. The guy running against him was utterly vulgar freaky Christian and THAT is who Olbermann contributed to.
So yes, this is a demonstration. It is doing what he could not say. He is revealing the nature of the structure; the nature of the beast. I am sorry I softened that up in my column today. Here is how I said it, phrasing it in a positive way:
“I recognize these programs all have some of the limitations of TV and corporate ownership — but even in the age of media conglomerates, they are doing more with television than many of us imagined possible.”
“In the mix of that crazy ascendant is Pallas — strategy.”
eric:
Whose strategy? Keith’s in exposing his network’s bias or the network’s?
“A friend just commented by email, “I can’t see how Keith wouldn’t have suspected an outcome like this – to me it doesn’t make sense he could have overlooked the possibility.””
again – I agree. KO is not a stupid man. Not a conspirator – or reverse conspirator – either.
But definitely not the stupid one. He made no “error” in judgement or otherwise.
From Kos:
Griffin’s defense of suspension makes no sense
by Jed Lewison
Fri Nov 05, 2010 at 02:08:04 PM PDT
Even if you set aside the hypocrisy of the Joe Scarborough double-standard, Phil Griffin’s explanation for suspending Keith Olbermann doesn’t add up.
Griffin says Olbermann violated a policy requiring NBC News reporters to obtain approval for making political campaign donations that “jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist.” But Olbermann isn’t an “impartial journalist” and doesn’t claim to be. Neither is Joe Scarborough, a point that NBC itself made in excusing Scarborough’s donations. To quote NBC in 2007:
Joe hosts an opinion program and is not a news reporter.
It’s the same thing with Olbermann. As John Cook reports on Gawker, MSNBC’s opinion hosts aren’t subject to the same rules as NBC News reporters.
MSNBC’s increasingly left-wing programming and personalities aren’t required to abide by NBC News’ exacting rules—if they were, it would be a much less bombastic and politically charged network. So while Olbermann’s donations may have run counter to the NBC News brand and Griffin’s wishes, there doesn’t appear to be a chapter-and-verse policy applying to MSNBC employees barring them.
“The standards department has told us that MSNBC doesn’t answer to NBC News standards,” the insider said. “They don’t have coverage over MSNBC. They used to, back before MSNBC went political, but at some point it became too hard and MSNBC was taken out of their portfolio. As far as I know, there are no ethical standards at MSNBC. And if NBC says MSNBC is supposed to be living up to the NBC News standards, that’s a preposterous lie.”
Given that Olbermann is MSNBC’s top draw, you’d think Griffin would have an airtight case for suspending him. The fact that he doesn’t suggests that Griffin’s real motivation is either personal or political, because from a business perspective, it just doesn’t make any sense.
Well, I might not have called it overreach but definitely supercharge with the three first centaurs all conjunct personal planets — think about it.
A friend just commented by email, “I can’t see how Keith wouldn’t have suspected an outcome like this – to me it doesn’t make sense he could have overlooked the possibility.”
In the mix of that crazy ascendant is Pallas — strategy.
“Better to be transparent, and let the consumer be the judge. (Really, did anyone not know where Olbermann stood before this revelation?)”
Exactly.
Eric: Did you find overreach in this chart as well?
Here is the email for Phil Griffin:
phil.griffin@nbcuni.com
Here’s the Facebook page for “Let’s Bring Keith Back”
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lets-Bring-Keith-Back/121149904612750
(copy and paste this address on your browser – the link is odd – fb)
Fe – Yeppers. Obviously, being an accolyte of the Great Orange One, I knew about Griffin’s anger towards Markos and while thinking it was shitty, I kinda shrugged it off. I just didn’t think he’d be THIS STUPID and try to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, so to speak.
Because you know, if KO goes the way of all good things (like Donohue did), he’s gunning for Rachel. Bet on it.
I finally got through to the NBC comment line — (212) 664-4444. Ask for MSNBC, then go to option 6 and you’ll get a voicemail thing. A million people breathing fire is pretty hot.
When you search “olbermann suspended” in quotes, you already come up with 19,500 hits. Oops, it just went up to 20,500 in five minutes. Here is a comment from the Politico blog that I found in the process of looking for that statistic:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1110/Olbermann_suspended.html
cmassy:
Let’s trade keith for Griffin for the sacrifice block!
Joe Scarborough did the exact same thing
by Jed Lewison
Fri Nov 05, 2010 at 12:36:04 PM PDT
If you have any doubt about Phil Griffin’s real motive in suspending Keith Olbermann, you need look no further than how the network reacted to Joe Scarborough’s donation of $4,200 to a Republican House candidate in 2006:
Joe Scarborough, host of the “Morning Joe” talk show and the evening newscast “Scarborough Country,” $4,200 in March 2006 to Derrick Kitts, Republican candidate for the House from Oregon. … A spokesperson for NBC, Jeremy Gaines, replied to questions sent to Scarborough. “Yes, he did make a donation to Derrick Kitts. Kitts is an old friend of Joe’s. Joe hosts an opinion program and is not a news reporter.”
Griffin might try to defend himself by saying the difference is that Olbermann interviewed one of the candidates that he contributed to after making the contribution. But Griffin’s problem would be that Joe Scarborough did the exact same thing. As JohnKWilson pointed out in a diary, after donating to Derrick Kitts, Scarbrough interviewed Kitts on his program.
The bottom-line here that both Keith Olbermann and Joe Scarborough both host opinion shows. They both made personal contributions to political candidates. But Olbermann supports Democrats, and Scarborough supports Republicans, so even though Olbermann is the network’s top-rated host, and even though Scarborough hides his ratings sheet in a little box in the basement, it’s Olbermann that gets silenced.
How interesting: my b-day is 1-26-62 also in NY. He beat me by 3 years, 1 day.
This whole thing is insane. There are some posters on the Great Orange Satan saying that the difference between KO and Joe S. is that of notification. Maybe Joe S. provided some while KO did not. Nope, not buying that for the simple reason that Griffin would have said that right from the start and avoided all this controversy. He wouldn’t have had to do this stupid dance about Joe S. being non-news while KO was.
Here’s how I think it went down: after the elections, Griffin thought he, too, had some sort of “mandate” and let KO go in a hastily cobbled together scenario. He didn’t count on intrepid bloggers finding out about Joe S. so, again, he put together a quick, badly thought out statement about Joe S. being non-news and besides, the politician is Joe’s friend. Then bloogers found out about Pat B. and now, most recently, NBC says their policies don’t really apply to KO or MSNBC. The fact is, Griffin didn’t think this out clearly; this whole situation reeks of a response to a visceral dislike for KO executed in a ham-handed way. I hope Griffin pays a price for this.
I think Comcast, which is owned by some pretty big corporate backers of the Republican Party, purchased NBC a little while ago.