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Edited on Tue Sep-19-06 10:12 PM by calimary
And I can't disagree with anything in it - except the length. They probably won't read it, just because it's long, not because it's not worth it. Because it IS worth it. Your points have GREAT merit and should be taken in, whole. They just don't have much time, or the attention span to give it the attention it deserves.
That said, the most important part of this, and the best part, is that you wrote it, period. And you sent it in. Period. The fact that you weighed in is ANOTHER vote on Keith's side of the ledger, and it appears to me that there has been an avalanche of these things - pro-Olbermann. With all this input praising Keith and, in this particular case, saying you're actually gonna subscribe to cable JUST SO YOU CAN WATCH HIS SHOW, they will take notice. They already have.
If the reaction was bad, several things would happen: they'd fire him outright (replacing him with yet another in a nauseating series of knuckledragger joe scarborough wannabes) or give him the tucker carlson treatment and move him out of prime time. They'd probably tell him to cut out the commentary - that people were watching and taking note and getting offended and complaining (mainly from the rovians, I'd suspect, plus a bunch of loutish republi-CONS full of threats and other nastiness, and a few nutcases from Focus on the Pharisees). You also would NOT see him showcased in ANY way, such as flying him all the way out here to L.A. for the TV Critics Association confabs (and the obligatory extra pay needed to bring in a parttimer like Brian Unger or juggle somebody else's schedule - like Allison Stewart's - to cover his shift for him when he was otherwise engaged), OR an appearance on "The Tonight Show," or the various hosting and emceeing jobs he also did while he was here. You would NOT see them going to the trouble to allow him to anchor from here or New York City, or wherever he happens to be. Satellite time is expensive, plus booking the techies needed for such away-from-home broadcasts. They just would NOT spend the money on him. They would not regard him as worth it. And they CERTAINLY wouldn't encourage him to repackage something like his "Worst Person in the World" featurette into book form, much less allowing him to promote it on his own show and then again on the "Today" show. You also would probably notice that, if they even allowed him to keep "Worst Person in the World" on the air as a regular segment, there'd have been an edict from on high that it must never include anybody political, unless they're liberals or Democrats. There'd be a hands-off the GOP policy dictated. And they'd tell him to lay off bashing the Big Giant Head. Ratings wouldn't have much to do with it, since they jettisoned Phil Donahue when he was the highest-rated show they had, because back then, the climate was all-knuckledraggers-all-the-time, and I'm sure enough knuckledragger viewers complained that they just got rid of him to turn down the heat. They'd see no reason whatsoever to promote Keith or draw more attention to him, and they'd make sure he knew it. Sometimes the cheaper strategy is to make talent so miserable that he/she just gets fed up and quits. Then you don't have to pay severance or whatever there is that might be stipulated in his/her contract.
NONE OF THE ABOVE IS HAPPENING WITH KEITH. He's NOT being treated that way. It is quite clear that SOMEBODY upstairs there, whether it's Dan Abrams or whoever, regards Keith Olbermann as an asset worthy of keeping happy, and keeping - PERIOD. They seem to be leaving him alone to do whatever he wants, because they're obviously seeing AND noting the strong favorable reaction. Evidently, that reaction continues and gets MORE strongly favorable the more Keith cranks up the heat. BELIEVE ME, they probably do have cheney's office or rove's office or bartlett's office or some White House/republi-CON fiend calling in and complaining. But letters, emails, and phone calls like YOURS, and like those of the rest of us Good Guys who've weighed in (and apparently, weighed in rawther VEHEMENTLY), they realize they fuck with Keith at their peril. Added bonus - his ratings ARE improving compared to the other talent on MSNBC, and other cable outlets, and he's more than holding his own.
Consider, on the other hand, what you observe about Rita Clear-Your-Throat and tucker Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time carlson. They were big marquee names, too. Showcased, promoted, given prime time shows. And look where they are now. The powers that be would have lumped Keith in with them in the ghetto if they thought he wasn't becoming such a powerhouse. AND, perhaps you'll notice the press he's gotten - here with the Reuters feature, and Salon, and elsewhere, even added onto an AOL poll about various newspeople, among other profiles and attention-drawing venues. The fact that WE are roaring and making ourselves heard in such a loud, profound way as to render ourselves impossible to ignore or shrug off - is what I think is making the difference. Even Keith said, himself, on the "Today" show, that he figured he'd get hate mail for his 9/11 commentary, but what he was NOT prepared for was the absolute tidal wave of loud, glaringly enthusiastic, impossible-to-ignore support. And if he was unprepared for it, it probably knocked his MSNBC bosses flat on their asses. Remember: it's a relatively small number of VERY loud, aggressive, in-yer-face assholes who've been the squeaky wheels on the wrong-wing end, the fundie wackos and other extremists on the FAR end of the conservative/republi-CON spectrum, that are running everything and owning everything SIMPLY BECAUSE they're so damned loud, vocal, and forceful. By their sheer loudness and shrillness, they make themselves APPEAR to be much more of a large, formidable force than their actual numbers merit. It's why THEY dominated the broadcast landscape, because they've been EXTREMELY loud and impossible to ignore, while many of us up til recently have remained quiet. We're not staying quiet anymore. We're doing what they've done - on Keith's behalf, AND IT IS PAYING VISIBLE DIVIDENDS. We need to do more of it, AMPING IT UP IN THE EXTREME, because this is a successful strategy, matching AND MAGNIFYING the success Keith has achieved strictly by himself.
You CANNOT argue with success.
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