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Olbermann Offers Limited Coverage Of Republican Election Victory

by Colby Hall | 3:55 pm, November 5th, 2009

» 9 comments

It’s been less than two days since the first election under the Obama administration, and Countdown host Keith Olbermann has been curiously absent from the airwaves. Given that MSNBC touts itself as “the place for politics,” and that this is arguably the biggest political event of the year, it would seem to be a loss for MSNBC to lose its star anchor for the night of, and after, election results come in. In fact, Olbermann’s absence has given fuel to his critics on the right who have simply claimed that he didn’t like the results.

In baseball terms Olbermann is a franchise player — he’s often credited as the force behind MSNBC’s turn-around. So its no surprise that leading up to election day, MSNBC was promoting a “special live edition of Countdown” at 10:00 pm. But when the 10 o’clock hour game, the program began with Olbermann handing off the anchor chair to Lawrence O’Donnell, who seemed to be sharing anchor duties with Chris Matthews. After a commercial break around 10:15pmET, suddenly a repeat of the 8pmET Countdown began to air, then ran for the rest of the hour. Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer reported that he “heard that Olbermann was visiting his dad in the hospital, which accounted for his absence.” When asked for confirmation of this an MSNBC spokesperson provided no comment.

The following night also saw O’Donnell filling in for Olbermann, who was at the sixth and final game of the World Series (which the Yankees won.) Olbermann blogged about the game, and even posted a picture he apparently took of a smiling Fox News host Sean Hannity, whom Olbermann had named a “Worst Person” several times in the last year.

The first Tuesday that follows the first Monday in November every year is a day circled in the programming calendars of every cable news network. The stories that unfold on this day not only answer questions that have been hotly debated for the previous year, but also frame the discussion for the coming year. This year was no different and there were a number of interesting stories that came from this year’s election day. Whatever one thinks of the broader meaning and importance, there’s no question that the two biggest elections of the day were won by Republican candidates running for Governor in states that had gone for Obama just a year ago.

One can hardly fault Olbermann for looking after his ailing father, but should MSNBC have better considered the implications of Olbermann taking the next night off also? This has only served to fuel the critics who claim that Olbermann skipped work because he didn’t like the results of the election. Fair or not, its unnecessarily opened up questions that Olbermann and MSNBC would rather not address as they celebrate the fact that they overtook CNN in election night ratings.

An MSNBC spokesperson tells Mediaite that Keith Olbermann will be back on air, hosting Countdown, tonight.

Countdown, keith olbermann, msnbc, ny-23, Olbermann's Absence, Sean Hannity

errxn

Having Olbermann off the air for one night is almost worth putting up with Yankees fans for an entire year.
Plus15

You are an imbecile.
Facebook User

since when is an illegitimate figure like robert cox considered a real critic of keith olbermann? he is just an obsessed individual with nothing better to do with his day than just watching and following what olbermann does all day. i wouldnt be surprised if he was found in his basement with pictures of olbermann all over the place.
ImNotBlue

Facebooker… Yes, Robert Cox is a terrible person. He should be more like the legitimate voices of criticism on the left like Media Matters, Newshounds, NewsCorpse, and so on. Oh wait… those guys are “acceptable,” but Mr. Cox isn’t… why, you ask? Well, because he goes after Olbermann’s many lies, and we can’t have that, can we? The other guys, well they attack FOX News and “Conservative bias” day in and day out (even if they make up half their reports)… so they’re okay.

Face it… the template is out there, and if you want to start complaining, start with your own side first, lest someone call you a HYPOCRITE. Cox does a good job of exposing Olbermann’s many false and misleading statements… if you don’t like it, tough. KO is a hack, and it’s a good thing someone is calling him on it.
_________

As for this story… there are two potentials to it:

(1) KO just didn’t want to report on Republican’s winning anything. This is completely possible, as we know what happened in his previous MSNBC career, when he left because he didn’t like reporting on the Lewinsky scandal. The man can’t take anything that doesn’t 100% conform to his spin, so he bails.

or (2) KO has such a massive ego that he just doesn’t care. This more applies to Wednesday’s missed show. Sure it was a big news night, and sure folks would have tuned in to hear what he had to say… but he wanted to see the baseball game, so f**k MSNBC… what are they going to do… fire him? Not likely. Egotism and KO are never too far appart… just ask ESPN.

Either way, Keith once again shows just how much of a “news man” he isn’t. The proof, of course, will come after next year’s elections. If the Republican candidates do well, and KO “mysteriously” disappears, there will be no doubt… and perhaps even the most fanatical will agree that KO is a coward.
kristianna

If any person cannot see this as truth or on the right track, I guess, still put their teeth under their pillows for the tooth fairy to collect and/or look up the chimney for Santa.politics, greed, and power are going to kill the human race…so sad.

xmas gifts
Cecelia

Olbermann doesn’t seem to hesitate to use his parents as an excuse for walking out on his job when things are less than comfortable for him.

Remember when he was questioned with the rumor that he had been gone from work because of a temper tantrum over the Maddow show trumping Countdown with a Ben Afflect interview?

Keith went into spasms of indignant outrage claiming that he had been absent from Countdown in order to settle his late mother’s affairs.

As in this instance, during his off-time, Olbermann was photographed enjoying himself at a baseball game.

They don’t call him “bath tub boy” for nothing.
StewartIII

ChickaBOOMer: Keith Olbermann’s Sour Grapes
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2009/11/keith-olbermanns-sour-grapes.html
http://trickletown.vox.com/ Trickletown

Well, I don’t know about Robert Cox, but I actually do follow Keith Olbermann around all day. I have the pictures to prove it! Just click on my avatar (warning, not for the faint of heart).
Sunnyr

The smarmy POS couldn’t handle it! lmao!