Stupidity, its a 'feature' with him.

To bad he's gone, if nothing else he was fun to laugh at. Now all they'll have are the lesser clowns of doom and gloom.

Thank god, he was a whining and pundit with a distorted sense of reality. Glad to see him go.

I believe they're going to use this as a basis to get eventually rid of him.
He's a ratings disaster and an embarrassment to broadcasting.
Actually, this is pretty much consistent with his history.
He always wears out his welcome with management and co-workers wherever he goes.

I can't stand this guy, but there's a weird part of me that wants to defend him.

I mean, the transgression is pocket-change BS. These actions cause concern that Olbermann might be skewing his broadcasts in favor of Democrats that he supports?!?!? The hell, you say!!

C'mon.

OK, this is between him and NBC, so who are any of us to comment, but I think everyone out there, no matter how you feel about this particular jackass commentator can smell a whiff of management getting their ducks in a row for actions far beyond these piddly campaign contributions.

I've been saying for some time that incoming buyer ComCast has a real odiferous pile on it's hands with MSNBC. Comcast has millions of customers that likely will not quite see the obvious charms of Olberman, Ed Shultz, and their merry band, and MSNBC is is getting killed in the ratings as it is. But any action to get it to swerve away from its shreiking radical socialism quaint leftism could unleash a firestorm by a small but professionally vocal and agitative viewer base, who loathe the existance of big corporations like ComCast to start with.

So, me-thinks this decision comes from a ComCast boardroom, and is the opening salvo of what could prove interesting time at MS-LSD.

Hey Ed...... what's that behind you.... BOO!!!!

Heh, jus' messin' wid ya!

Maybe now he has time to fly to india and hide with another loser.

I agree with LeBron. Violating ethics rules may be a justification for termination of employment as well as his contract.

Do you think Fox will follow MSNBC's lead and suspend Karl Rove, Dick Morris, and Sarah Palin for raising funds for candidates?

Do you think Fox will follow MSNBC's lead and suspend Karl Rove, Dick Morris, and Sarah Palin for raising funds for candidates?

Those people have a different relationship with the network. Keith is a host and "news anchor". He is also a full-time employee of the network.

Karl Rove, Dick Morris and Sarah Palin are contributors. Which means they are not full time employees of the network. Contributors have a contract with the network, but it wouldn't be as extensive as a Keith's.

I wonder if he's accused MSNBC management of being TEA-party sympathetic "RAAAAACISTs!" yet.

Now a few hundred people will need to find something else to do during that time slot.

Joe Scarborough did the exact same thing

http://www.jedreport.com/2010/11/joe-scarborough-did-the-exact.html

Another case of IOKIYAR.

Rance, sorta following up with Eric there, I would say it doesn't even matter what Olberman's relationship to NBC, versus Palin's and Rove or whatever with FOX. Palin and Rove could personally run the RNC, I suppose.. it only matters what are the established terms of employment with the network in question. If the actions are within the parameters, nothing to say here. If they are not, well, it's the network's descretion, just as such a circumstance would be for you or I.

I'm on record above as saying that even if this is a full-bore violation, and I presume it is, NBC is being pretty harsh, and that leads me to believe that there is more afoot here than this small change and even absurd (given who Olberman is) issue.

But Palin and Rove's, et al, situation is utterly irrelevant. That's between them and FOX, end of story.

Supposedly Joe Scarborough received permission from his boss prior to making the donation. Olbermann was fired for not notifying and clearing it with his boss.

Keith is a host and "news anchor".

He's not a "news anchor". His show is pure opinion, no different from Beck's.

And Tina, please cite your source. Neither the reports I've seen on Olbermann nor Scarborough cite permission as a factor. They both host opinion shows. They both donated to candidates. They both had the candidates they donated to on their shows. One got suspended.

john:

You're overlooking NBC's internal policy against political donations. It's pretty simple: they don't allow it. End of story. FOX matters not a whit in this at all.

And he hasn't lost his job, yet, Tina. He's been "suspended indefinitely."

#12 Andrew X,

I agree. If it's in his contract, then it's in his contract.

#14 john
NPR reported this afternoon that his contract requires him to get permission before contributing.

#8 Eric
I am aware that they have a "different" relationship with Fox. So do most of the possible 2012 possible Republican presidential candidates.

I was wondering if Fox would hold them to any sort of standard, or not. Hannity gave substantial amounts to one compaign and Michelle Bachman's PAC, but he not jounalist, he's a "talk show host" according to Fox, so he's allowed.

I doubt that a facade of impartiality matters to Fox. The didn't try to cover-up the fact that they gave $1.3 million to the campaign to defeat Prop 24 in California along with a 5 hour commercial which was "on-the-scene" reporting from a factory owned by one of the anti-24 members.

They should give his spot to Joe Scarborough or Pat Buchanan. Currently, no conservative has their own show on MSNBC.

You're overlooking NBC's internal policy against political donations. It's pretty simple: they don't allow it. End of story. FOX matters not a whit in this at all.

That might be a relevant point if they were on different networks, or if either of them was on Fox. Olbermann and Scarborough are both on MSNBC. So much for your "internal policy" theory.

Here are 143 journalists who made political donations. Several of them even from MSNBC. (And ironically reported by MSNBC!)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113455/

Poor Keefums, hoisted on his own petard.

If you're going to screw up and violate one of the rules of your employment, it's probably best that you don't do it after pissing off your boss by going around telling others "He thinks he's my boss!".

"He's not a "news anchor". His show is pure opinion, no different from Beck's."

Please cite your source John. Keefums says he's the embodiment of E R Murrow. You know, a "reporter". MSNBC shills Keefum's show as "news reporting". MSNBC's election night coverage was allegedly from an "anchor desk".

Or is this just more of that liberal "nuance"?

You need a source to tell you how to differentiate news from opinion? Oooo-kay.

Olbermann has been fired by every network he has worked for - ESPN and Fox Sports come to mind right offhand. So when I read that he had been suspended from PMSNBC, I was not too surprised. Just wish they had done it sooner.

"You need a source to tell you how to differentiate news from opinion?"

Obviously you do.

To repeat myself (please read slowly John for comprehension). MSNBC touts Keefums as a "news reporter". His is a "news" show. Keefums considers himself the reincarnation of Edward R. Murrow. Murrow was a "news reporter".

Understand now?

I suspect it was the lack of disclosure... having them on his air time in an election season without telling his bosses and his audience...
Opens the network to possible charges of an undisclosed political contribution of valuable air time.
Granted, it was on Keith's show, on MSNBC, so $50 billed to each candidate should cover the airtime.
Any leeway NBC might have allowed Oby went out the window with his lack of transparency on the topic before he was caught AND his obviously hostile and biased behavior in the last 2 election cycles. He's hurting their ability to claim they are an unbiased news source.

Understand now?

Yes, I understand that you need someone else to tell you how to differentiate news from opinion. The fact that you choose Olbermann himself as your source just makes you somewhat irrational about it. And your "Keefums" fetish makes you less than mature, to boot. So what I understand is that you didn't exactly follow the thread into which you interjected yourself, and you did so just to wave your penis around and post some insults without actually contributing anything. Mission accomplished, big boy.

Bottom line is Keith is fired or suspended, whatever. Now he can enjoy life like many of us who just went thru Barrys recovery summer. On funemployment.

Who's the next to go, Chris the screamer or that homely lesbian chick?