Signs of trouble began in December, when Olbermann abandoned his glitch-prone set for an austere black background, and escalated a dispute with management about his participation in the network’s coverage of the Iowa caucuses. Now, in a lengthy feature, Newsweek‘s Rebecca Dana reports that Olbermann may be close to walking away, and scuttling former President-Elect Al Gore‘s plan to build a 24 hour cable news channel around him.

RELATED: Bill Press Hosts Current TV’s Florida Primary Coverage On Countdown

The report doesn’t add much flesh to the bones that have already been reported, and what flesh there is comes mostly from an unnamed source at the network, who confirms what most observers probably already concluded: that Gore and company are doing everything they can to keep their temperamental star happy. The source also paints a grim picture of Olbermann’s future at Current, and consequently, of Current’s future.

There’s nothing wrong with this kind of sourcing, mind you, but in Keith Olbermann’s case, it’s worth noting that even a perfectly honest and reliable source might succumb to some level of wishful thinking. Let’s face it, talented people can be difficult. Not all of them, mind you. Rachel Maddow has managed to step in and fill the franchise player role at MSNBC, while still being universally regarded as the Queen of Nice, and even that network’s polarizing Ed Schultz saves his firebreathing for the big show.

But some talented people can be difficult, and the people around them can react in one of two ways. They can either decide the talent is worth the difficulty, and manage it, or they can become resentful. When you’re the “complicated guy” in the cast of According To Jim, you probably won’t be around long, but when a network builds an entire programming strategy around you, they’re going to put up with a lot.

By all accounts, Keith Olbermann is more than worth it to the management of Current TV, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some unhappy campers a bit farther down the food chain. The host may, indeed, be bored or unhappy, but the question these reports of his departure never really get around to answering is, where is he supposed to go? Set aside the burning of bridges, now that he has become so closely identified with progressive politics, where else would he even fit now?

The media types that I’ve spoken with, though, all see an unhappy end for Olbermann and Current, so it’s possible that if he doesn’t remain there, he goes the Bobby Fischer route, just takes his money and vanishes. He might have the tortured soul for that, but talent-wise, even he’s got to know that he’s not the Bobby Fischer of cable news. Maybe he could ratchet the tortured soul setting down a bit. He’s at John Belushi, when he ought to be closer to Jim Belushi.

Unfortunately, all of this drama has eroded the fruits of that talent. His once-appealing wit has become increasingly bitter and petty, and has served to undercut the authority with which he was once able to speak. It’s tough to segue from a fingerbang joke into an impassioned soliloquy about civil liberties. Also, the black background was kinda cool for about a minute, but he really ought to bring the set back.

That Newsweek report does shed some light on the business side of Current (the good news: the network is great at drawing advertiser-attractive younger viewers; the bad news: they’re racing against time to renew carriage agreements with cable systems that expire over the next few years), and Current president David Bohrman revealed to Dana that the network is now trying to develop a morning show to compete with Morning Joe (hmmm, now who could they get to host that?).

All of this depends greatly on Keith Olbermann not just staying put, but getting his head back in the game.

RELATED: Current TV Source: Keith Olbermann Has Not Responded To Request To Cover New Hampshire

Gore spoke to the AP in a report published last night, explaining that Olbermann was a pivotal member of the team and that he considered the beauty of Current TV to be its strict point of view:

Former Vice President Al Gore on Friday described Current TV as the “consistent” liberal TV network compared with MSNBC, and said it will keep Keith Olbermann in the fold.

“He’s fine,” said Gore, chairman of the network in 63 million U.S. homes, dismissing rumors that Olbermann was seeking to leave. “He has been the key to our ability to pivot and develop our whole network as a progressive news and commentary network.” [...]

“They’ve got a few progressive shows on MSNBC in prime time,” Gore said, “but they’ll start the day with a conservative show in the mornings, and then they’ll get the prison channel on the weekends. They’ll be all over the lot in the middle of the day. We’re consistent.”

Current TV officials have said that Olbermann’s absence at programming meetings is due to his being on vacation, and the network brass seems to publicly be on his side. Current CEO Joel Hyatt attributed MSNBC’s liberal tendencies to Olbermann’s work, and blasted the network as lacking “authenticity” to the AP. MSNBC and Olbermann did not respond to Current’s remarks, but it sounds like a very different tune from the lawyer-laden reports of the past week, and appears to confirm that the network and the anchor are committed to staying together.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“I am pleased that I’ll be running the election coverage on Current, following this Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary,” said Olbermann in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday. “However, I don’t think those participating in the New Hampshire primary will share my satisfaction.”

A spokesperson for Current confirmed that progress between the two parties was made over the weekend and that they expect Olbermann to participate in election coverage going forward.

…Olbermann will have complete creative and editorial control. But it’s unclear exactly what that coverage will look like; whether Olbermann will do a special edition of Countdown with his own panel of guests or lead the network’s Politically Direct election specials, which have featured Cenk Uygur, Jennifer Granholm and network co-founder Al Gore.

The whole thing began when The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter reported on possible tensions between Olbermann and Current TV, as manifested by his scheduled (as in, ahead of time) absence from Current’s Iowa Caucus coverage. That made it all the more strange when, several days later, Olbermann tweeted his followers that he was “headed into the office now” for Countdown‘s return from holiday hiatus, followed by a more dramatic tweet that advised viewers “So as not to mislead: I am informed Countdown will not be on tonight. I must defer on all questions to @JoelHyatt@AlGore and@Current.”

But according to the network, Olbermann was more than “informed” about his absence from the schedule Tuesday night; he was responsible for it. A Current source confirmed to Mediaite that Olbermann was kept appraised of the Iowa Caucus plans at every turn, and acknowledged as much, in at least four or five emails dating back to mid-November. In those emails, Current executives tried to secure Olbermann’s participation in the program, as they have previously stated, but he refused.

Then, Wednesday night, The Hollywood Reporter broke news that the whole thing had gone to the lawyers, but a source at the network told Mediaite, Thursday, that, while Olbermann’s representatives are frequently in contact with Current as a routine matter of course, they have not been contacted about this matter. The source also said that the network had invited Olbermann to anchor Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary coverage, but had not gotten a response.

Olbermann also pushed back hard at reporting by The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter, accusing him of “threatening” Olbermann in order to get him to go on the record. Now, as suddenly as it started, the whole mess appears to be over.

Whatever touched off this spat, it’s a safe bet it runs deeper than some equipment malfunction. Olbermann and Current have smoked the peace pipe for now, but as THR notes, he’s got four years left on his contract with the network, and it looks like those years just got a lot longer.

While Gore’s diatribe won’t likely lose Current many viewers, it will likely earn him some hate mail from the Paul faithful.

Speaking of Paul’s electoral support, Gore laughingly said “He has a ceiling except in fantasyland.”

Describing voter frustration with the economy and congressional inaction, Gore said GOP voters are saying “Let’s play 52-card pickup, upend things, and do something radically different. And I think he does culturally, psychologically tap into that.”

Gore also pointed out the extension of Paul’s resonant anti-war message, that all US troops be brought home, is “silly,” and Cenk Uygur added that Paul appeals to voters who “want to hit the reset button,” but that Paul’s reset button is “a nuclear option.”

Uygur’s assessment is actually not far from what Ron Paul is campaigning on. One of Paul’s first ads in Iowa featured Paul literally blowing up government agencies.

Paul’s ascendance looked a lot more threatening before the Rick Santorum surge, but his close third place finish in Iowa is probably enough for the media to go back to ignoring him, despite the fact that Paul has the money and the organization to hang in there for a long time to come.

Here’s the clip from Current TV:

(h/t The Daily Caller)

It was almost a year ago that Olbermann suddenly announced the end of Countdown on MSNBC, which precipitated his move to Current. Last week, The New York Times’ Brian Stelter cited unnamed sources and programming inconsistencies as indications of strife between Olbermann and Current TV.

As if Olbermann’s referring questions to Current executives Al Gore and Joel Hyatt wasn’t disturbing enough, the programming change appears to have taken the Countdown host completely by surprise. He tweeted to a fan, earlier Tuesday, that he was “headed into the office now” for Countdown‘s return from holiday hiatus.

At the time I reported on Olbermann’s move to a set-less black void, I asked Current if it was some form of protest, to which they replied that it was a stylistic choice borne of a technical mishap, but maybe it was somebody’s way of sending a message, either Olbermann bristling at a more austere network, or Current expressing dismay at Olbermann.

It’s hard to say what will happen next. Although the details aren’t known, it’s a safe bet that Olbermann’s contract is hella lucrative, and puts him in the driver’s seat. If Current wants him gone, though, it’s hard to see him sticking around, even if cutting him loose costs them big.

As of this writing, Current has not returned requests for comment, but we will update as we have new information

Update: Keith Olbermann subsequently tweeted: “Back by popular demand, Countdown returns Wednesday Night 8 PM Eastern. Now with 99% less Santorum (google it).”

Additionally, Current returned our request for comment, saying they had nothing to add.

Update 2: This explanation was posted on the Current Live Chat:

Hi FOK et al – We wanted to answer the questions about Keith Olbermann’s participation… Current asked Keith to be the sole anchor and exec producer of our primary and caucus coverage beginning tonight. Unfortunately, he declined to anchor or participate.

We’re excited for tonight’s live four hours of Politically Direct featuring Vice President Gore, Governor Granholm and Cenk Uygur.

Countdown will be back tomorrow night!

That’s a pretty strange explanation, since, hours before, Olbermann was convinced he was doing a show Tuesday night. We’ll keep an eye on this.

RELATED: Mitt Romney Campaign Releases Tired ‘Newt And Nancy’ Attack Ad

During a town hall in Iowa today, Gingrich was asked by a supporter to clarify his position on global warming. The candidate immediately stated that global warming “hasn’t been totally proven” and even if it were, he would still oppose a cap-and-trade solution to combat carbon emissions which, as Gingrich argued, would “turn… over the entire economy to the EPA.” He offered the following analogy to explain his position.

“The Dutch face the problem of oceans. They decided to build dikes instead of lowering the sea.”

Gingrich touted his conservative credentials on opposing cap-and-trade by citing a testimony he delivered before the House of Representatives following a testimony by Al Gore. Referring to the negative attack ads his opponents have used to accuse him of anything else, he dismissed them as “a plain lie.”

And then, in a rather bizarre offshoot, Gingrich bragged about his own personal experience studying the history of the Earth’s climate.

“I, also, am an amateur paleontologist, so I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the earth’s temperature over a long time, and I’m a lot harder to convince than just looking at a computer model.”

So if we’re keeping track now, Newt Gingrich is both an amateur historian and an amateur paleontologist. All he needs is a fedora and a whip, and we’ve got ourselves a real-life Indiana Jones here! (Yes, Indy was technically an archaeologist, but let’s not ruin what could be a great franchise reboot here.)

RELATED: Meghan McCain: If We Nominate Gingrich It Is ‘The End Of The Republican Party’

Watch the video below, courtesy of CNN:

Watch the 2008 Nancy Pelosi / Newt Gingrich Climate Change Ad below:

Longtime TYT viewers have probably already seen many of the vintage clips that were featured on Friday’s episode, but it was great for new fans, and who could ever get tired of watching Cenk Uygur hawk tires for Tire Heaven, wolfing down a bacon cheeseburger, or seeing him get body-checked out of an interview with Kevin Spacey? Unfortunately, Current doesn’t yet post entire episodes worth of clips, so if you missed it, you’ll have to settle for this brief walk down memory lane, from CurrentTV:

With friends like Ben Mankiewicz, who needs enemies?

In a few short weeks, the Current TV iteration of TYT has managed to strike the right balance between its gritty, underground visual style and the right level of production polish. It’s a big change from the web series, which always punched above its weight class in production values, but that signature look is important to conveying the show’s ethos to those who haven’t been with Cenk and the gang for years.

It was a lack of identity, in my view, that severely hampered the show that MSNBC threw together for Cenk. They never bothered to give it a name, or a look of its own, and it was missing the most important ingredients to The Young Turks’ success: the rest of the Young Turks. The Current TV show hit the ground running with the entire group, so Friday’s show was a chance for the audience to get to know Ben, Jayar Jackson, Ana Kasparian, and Dave Koller. The success of the new show rests largely on their work, and chemistry, with Cenk. Translating their years of working together is a challenge in a one-hour format, but the show is quickly finding its footing.

Current’s press release described the show this way:

From the caucuses to the campaign trails to Capitol Hill, the hour-long program will shed light on the news of the day and will feature in-studio commentary by political insiders, campaign veterans, opinion leaders and newsmakers whose unique perspective will both inform and inspire.

According to Current, The War Room “will cap off a nightly roster of thought-provoking content beginning at 7:00 pm ET/PT with Cenk Uygur’s The Young Turks (launching November 2011) to be followed at 8:00 pm ET/PT by Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”

Gore was effusive in his praise of Granholm, saying in a press release, ““Jennifer Granholm is a supremely talented and dedicated public servant whose deep understanding of the issues makes her one of the most relevant voices in politics today. She would be an asset to any news organization, and I am delighted that she has chosen Current TV as her new home. I have no doubt that her ability to illuminate and provide context to the issues of the 2012 election will prove to be of inestimable value to Current’s audience as well as to the public policy discussion surrounding the election.”

In a conference call with reporters, Gore went quite a bit further. Echoing comments he made to the former governor over dinner last night, Gore said, “I sincerely believe that if (Jennifer Granholm) had not been born in Canada, she would have been a leading candidate for President of the United States, and would have been, very possibly, the first woman President of the United States.”

He went on to say that she has “a combination of insight, intelligence, and personality that…is really going to be fantastic on television. I’m very excited about it.”

I asked the former Vice President if he would share his wish list for the rest of Current’s lineup, and he jokingly declined, but also declined to give specifics on the network’s inroads into being available in more households, saying that “the ratings have been good,” and that he was in “many different conversations, and we’re very optimistic” about distribution. Gov. Granholm did reveal that comedian Brett Ehrlich, who formerly hosted infoMania on Current, will be a contributor to her show.

I also asked Gov. Granholm if she could gauge the political temperature of her show, relative to Keith Olbermann on the “hot” end of the spectrum, and Rachel Maddow on the “cool” side.

“I think we’re gonna be a hot show,” she said, with a laugh. “It’s going to be hot in the sense that people will want to watch it, we want it to be fast-moving, and we want it to be entertaining, yes, but we also want it to be very thoughtful.”

“Yes, I’m progressive,” Granholm continued, “I’m on the left end of the spectrum, but I’ve also had to be a pragmatic governor, and can explain what that’s like, dealing with a Republican legislature, and how important compromise is. It will be a blend of temperatures, but hopefully, the show itself will be a hot show.”

It’s probably not what she meant by a “hot show,” but earlier in the call, asked if the Detroit Tigers should start Justin Verlander in Game 4 or save him for game 5, replied with an earthy turn of phrase, saying, “I say shoot the wad tonight, you gotta take it every game at a time.”

Cenk Uygur with fans in Asbury Park, NJ

On the heels of CurrentTV’s announcement that The Young Turks will join Keith Olbermann at the network as Countdown‘s lead-in, host Cenk Uygur and Current president Al Gore held a tele-press conference Tuesday afternoon. Gore talked about expanding Current’s lineup even more, and Uygur assured current Young Turks fans that he would be bringing the whole TYT crew, and the show’s magic, to the hour leading in to Countdown. Although Olbermann has the higher profile, The Young Turks has an arguably larger, more loyal audience to bring to Current.

Gore and CurrentTV CEO and Co-Founder Joel Hyatt revealed that the addition of TYT is the first step toward a full lineup of news and commentary. I asked Al Gore if he had anyone specific in mind, like top-rated progressive radio host Bill Press, or Thom Hartmann, who already produces a TV show in addition to his syndicated radio broadcast.

“Well, without getting into specific names, the answer to your question are we looking at someone else to add to the lineup, yes, we are,” Gore replied. “Stay tuned, you won’t have to wait that long.”

Current president David Bohrman added, “I’ll just tell you. We are going to have an entire broadcast day full of people. We had a beachhead with Countdown with Keith, now Cenk will lead into that, we’re working on the program afterwards and hopefully we’ll be able to talk about and crystallize and the rest of the day will follow. This is going to be a – you know, we are going to transform the network into political news commentary and analysis and you’re seeing it start.”

Although he declined to be specific, it sounds as though Gore and Current Chief News Officer Keith Olbermann already have someone in mind for the 9pm hour. Asked why TYT was being scheduled as Countdown‘s lead-in, rather than its lead-out, Hyatt replied that he hoped Cenk would bring new viewers to Countdown, and added, “We have a plan for that larger audience being handed off by Keith at nine, as well.”

While Gore joked that he expected TYT to continue its 300% annual audience growth rate (“I was going to say a billion,” Uygur cracked), he and Hyatt said they don’t have a number in mind for the show’s audience size. The Young Turks has the potential to bring a significant built-in audience to Current. Their daily Youtube audience of over a million is roughly equivalent to what Countdown was pulling in at MSNBC before the move, but The Young Turks has the added advantage of coming from a more interactive medium. A more invested fan base could result in a surprisingly large debut audience.

Uygur’s MSNBC show didn’t include any of the elements that have made The Young Turks popular, and was hampered by a lack of identity, generic graphics, and sub-par production values. Cenk assures viewers that the CurrentTV incarnation of TYT will bring the show’s familiar vibe along for the ride.

“Ana (Kasparian), Jayar (Jackson), Jesus (Godoy) will appear on air, as they normally do on TYT from time to time,” Uygur told me. “…We’ll also be having the same crew of guest hosts, co-hosts, etc, Wes Clark, Jr., Michael Shure, Richard Eskow, Jimmy Dore, Brian Unger. All these guys have been great to us throughout TYT history, Ben Mankiewicz.”

“We’ll also bring all the other progressives you’ve seen on my shows, as guests,” he continued, “and you know who they are. We are going to be a gathering place for progressives.”

He also assured fans of the online show that they’ll still be getting the content they’re used to. “Wee’re going to continue to do the two hours that we’re doing now,” Uygur said. “We’re going to do the hour of Current television, then we will do the two hours of The Young Turks online. And we will provide Members Only content as much as we can.”

Although the online show is free, TYT has about 3,500 viewers who pay $10 a month to access “Members Only” content, sort of like DVD extras for the hardcore fans.

Here’s a transcript of the call:(via email from CurrentTV)

Jeanne Meyer: Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us on such short notice. We had some exciting news today at Current and assembled on this call are Current’s Chairman and Former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, also Co-Founder of Current; also, Joel Hyatt who is Chief Executive officer and Co-Founder of Current; David Bohrman, who is our rather new President of Current TV; and Cenk Uygur who is our newest edition to the family as the new Host and Exec Producer of The Young Turks on Current TV.

I’d like to introduce everyone – or I’d like to turn it over to Mr. Gore, who will start things off today.

Thank you.

Al Gore: Well, thank you, Jeannie, and hi everyone. As many of you have probably heard, Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks are coming to Current TV. Joel Hyatt and I are extremely excited about this development. If you look up the term Young Turks in the dictionary, it will say something like, young, progressive, or insurgent member of an institution movement or political party.

And although the Oxford English Dictionary doesn’t add this, you might as well say, an alternative definition is Cenk Uygur, because Cenk and The Young Turks on YouTube and soon Current TV, are a group of progressive outspoken journalists and commentators who have build an incredibly fast-growing loyal network. Cenk and his collaborators and the army of followers that they’ve built really does live up to that definition of Young Turks.

Speaking personally, I’ve admired Cenk because he speaks truth to power without fear or favor. He gets that what audiences want today is context and insight about what’s going on in the world. They don’t want yelling, they want a smart take on the days’ news and the complex issues that affect their lives. They don’t want commentary that’s watered down by corporate or special interest influences. I liked how Cenk and his team boil it down for his viewers.

The Young Turks also understand that we live in a multi-screen world and they speak to an audience that wants to hear the truth, so Cenk, welcome to Current. I am so excited. And now I want to turn it over to my partner and Co-Founder, Joel Hyatt, who is our CEO.

Joel, take it away.

Joel Hyatt: Thanks, Al, I appreciate it. A few months ago, after we landed Countdown with Keith Olbermann, you know, Current changed its programming direction to become entirely focused on building a news analysis and political commentary network, one with a progressive voice and one that offers an alternative to what’s been in the marketplace.

We’re creating a new news network for a new kind of news viewer. People consume news in different ways today, on television, online, on mobile, and as Al said what they’re looking for is insight, context, and the truth. Cenk and The Young Turks is a great addition to our network. I share Al’s enthusiasm and excitement. This is just a wonderful development Current.

You’ve seen the stats. The Young Turks channel on YouTube gets about 30 million views a month, Cenk has 300,000 subscribers, and The Young Turks channel has racked up 1/2 billion video views. As we head into the election year people are eager to hear voices like Cenk’s, which can only be heard on an open independent platform like Current.

So, I want to add my welcome to that of Al’s to Cenk and his posse, and now let me turn it over to you, Cenk.

Cenk Uygur: All right, thank you both so much and I am incredibly excited to come to Current. As both the Vice President and Joel were just saying, it is a true home for independent television and for progressives all across the country. And I can’t wait to do a show there that is open, honest, aggressive, and also fun.

We’re in the fun business and we’re going to do it with a smile on our face, and we’re going to bring all the different strong progressives throughout the country to this show. It’s going to be a gathering place for progressives to meet and discuss the issues of the day, and I think it’s going to be a really exciting show and I couldn’t be more excited to do it with this great group of people.

I mean, for a progressive to have Joel Hyatt and Al Gore as your bosses and to have Keith Olbermann as your colleague, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Joel Hyatt: David?

David Bohrman: Well, we – we’re – we’ve already started. I mean, I was on already, must have sent 20 emails this morning already about the environment for The Young Turks and about how we’re going to produce the show, and what it may look and feel like.

And, you know, I will tell you that, you know, our goal is to come up with something refreshing, difference, the – to try to capture the excitement and magic and dynamic that The Young Turks brought to the Internet, we’re going to, in our own way, turn that it into what I think is going to be a really fun, interesting, compelling, and passionate television program.

They bring their community of loyal viewers with them and, you know, Cenk and I we had an immediate meeting of the minds on the program and what it was going to feel like, and we are – we’re – I mean, we’re ready to go and we’ve already begun. So, we’re really looking forward to it and I think it’s going to be a great blast for us to do.

Cenk Uygur: Hey, let me add one other thing. You know, the – this is Cenk again, when you look at what David Bohrman’s done in his career, whether it’s World News Now and that kind of different irreverent, you know, more conversational shows, whether it was the site, whether it was what he’s did online, it – he was our President waiting to happen, in terms of the person that we would love to produce a show with.

So, I think it’s just the right combination and really excited about it.

Al Gore: We’re happy to take any questions. Jeannie, are you going to moderate it?

Jeanne Meyer: Yeah, I was just going to suggest that if you want to ask a question, to get in the queue. (Audrey) will tell folks how to do that, and I think we have a question from Tommy from Mediaite. Would you please…

Tommy Christopher: Hey…

Jeanne Meyer: …say your name and outlet? Thanks.

Tommy Christopher: Sure, I’m Tommy Christopher from Mediate. I actually – well, first of all, congratulations, Cenk.

Cenk Uygur: Thank you, Tommy.

Tommy Christopher: It’s great news. I have three questions if that’s okay, but one of them is really quick. First of all, Cenk, I wanted to know if – when MSNBC first started giving you static a few months back, did Keith ever tell you, you know, “Don’t worry about it. If doesn’t work out there, you know, we’ve got a spot for you?”

Cenk Uygur: No, no. I had no communication with Keith at time.

Tommy Christopher: All right, and now my second question for you was could you maybe ballpark us your total daily audience now, including the Internet stream, your YouTube views, and how many premium members do you have?

Cenk Uygur: Sure. You know, we use the number of one million from YouTube simply because YouTube dwarfs everything else, so when you put it all together it’s still in that ballpark. So, I think it’s just fair to say a million views a day, even though it’s probably a little over that we’re a little (queue) on it.

Tommy Christopher: What…

Cenk Uygur: But, and then…

Tommy Christopher: …do you get from the stream?

Cenk Uygur: What was it? Oh, our paid viewers are in the ballpark of 3500. That’s people who pay $10 for our podcasts; $10 a pod…

Tommy Christopher: All right and my last question’s for Mr. Gore, are you currently looking at any other progressive media talent? You’ve got Thom Hartmann doing a TV show, you’ve (Phil Press) out there, anybody else you want to add in the lineup?

Al Gore: Yes, stay tuned.

Tommy Christopher: Is said do you have anybody else that you’re thinking about adding to the lineup? You’ve got a lot of fresh…

Al Gore: Yes, I…

Tommy Christopher: …talent out there, Thom Hartmann.

Al Gore: Well, without getting into specific names, the answer to your question are we looking at someone else to add to the lineup, yes, we are. Stay tuned, you won’t have to wait that long.

Tommy Christopher: All right, you can’t see who, huh?

David Bohrman: This is…

Al Gore: Nope.

David Bohrman: …David, I’ll just tell you. We are going to have an entire broadcast day full of people. We had a beachhead with Countdown with Keith, now Cenk will lead into that, we’re working on the program afterwards and hopefully we’ll be able to talk about and crystallize and the rest of the day will follow. This is going to be a – you know, we are going to transform the network into political news commentary and analysis and you’re seeing it start.

Tommy Christopher: So, you’re going to be creating a lot of jobs liberals.

David Bohrman: (Yes), (unintelligible)…

Al Gore: We’re going to be creating a lot of jobs for people who are not afraid to speak truths to power without fear or favor.

Tommy Christopher: All right, sir. Thank you very much.

Coordinator: As a reminder, please press star 1 if you would like ask a question. And the next question comes from Sam Thielman. Your line is open.

Sam Thielman: Hi, guys, Sam Thielman from Daily Variety.

First of all, Cenk, congratulations and can you guys – can you tell me if you are looking at doing more programs like Cenk’s and Keith’s that are stripped five nights a week, or are you looking at doing – at like focusing in on a particular evening with more – with your other primetime programming.

David Bohrman: I think you’ll find more of the first.

Sam Thielman: Okay.

David Bohrman: I think you’ll find that we will do a 9:00 pm program. We’ll fill out the day. By and large, it’ll be things that are on every day. Weekends are an interesting question. There may be some things that we decide to make more episodic. But, I think fundamentally as we begin you should think that we’re going to be adding programs across the week uniformly.

Sam Thielman: Cool. Thank you.

Jeanne Meyer: Do we have any other questions? Yes, we do. I think we have David Levine from Adweek.

David Levine: Yeah, hi. I’m just curious whether we can expect this to be the template, meaning folks who have large online followings already, folks who have followings outside of the sort of linear TV medium, is that who you’re looking at moving forward to fill out your sort of personality slate?

Joel Hyatt: David, it’s Joel, I would say there’s going to be on template. I think we’re going to do a lot of things. We, of course, love the fact that Cenk has this huge online following. And keep in mind that the DNA, the original roots of what Al and I started here at Current was to be a multi-platform network, one in which we could explore and bring innovation to the synergies between the platforms so that they could be additive to each other and not just duplicative of each other, and this is a great opportunity with The Young Turks to do just that.

And again, yes, you know, Keith Olbermann was a rating superstar, no question about that. He had a loyal following. Cenk has a loyal following. Do we like that as we launch those TV shows knowing they’re going to get off to a good start, absolutely. And so, there’s certainly something very appealing about that template, but we’re going to develop different kinds of shows and as Al said, you’re going to need to stay tuned.

I’d like to think though that the only template theme that we want to have is that each and every one of them be – build large followings for insightful, intelligent, courageous analysis from people whose opinions you’ll want to hear. That’s the template we’re looking at.

Man: (Unintelligible)…

Al Gore: And this is Al Gore, if I could briefly add to that. I endorse everything Joel just said, but Cenk is one of a kind. He has the most successful news and political commentary channel on YouTube and he has a record of experience and great success already in the television medium, so he is kind of one of a kind.

Cenk Uygur: And I just want to add, look, given that The Young Turks is the longest running live daily Web TV show, given that Current has, you know, web presence in television in its DNA, this was just a partnership waiting to happen. It makes all the sense in the world and I really appreciate what the Vice President and Joel just said as well.

David Levine: Can I ask, I’m sorry, a very quick follow-up? Do you have an expectation for how many viewers you think might, you know, make it over from YouTube to Current? Do you have a figure in mind for what you’re hoping for?

Cenk Uygur: Who was that directed to?

Joel Hyatt: We don’t have – any preconceived notion about that. We’re – we believe that Cenk is going to have a television show that’s going to enormously attracted to its existing following, and of course the TV platform adds the opportunity to bring many new viewers. So, we’re excited about the potential success of the program, but we don’t have any preconceived data points to provide to you.

Al Gore: He promised us that he would continue his annual 300% audience growth rate.

Cenk Uygur: I was going to go with a billion, but okay.

Coordinator: Please press star 1 if you would like to ask a question.

Jeanne Meyer: I think we have a question from Frazier Moore from the AP. Frazier?

Frazier Moore: I was just wondering why you chose to put the new show on at 7:00 instead of 9:00 after Keith Olbermann to let him lead into it? What’s the strategy there for programming the two shows?

Joel Hyatt: Well, again, as to what we’re doing at 9:00 you’ll have to stay tuned and there – this is more art than science. We’re very excited about what we’ve are already achieving as younger audience for news analysis and commentary than the other networks in our competitive set.

We believe that trend’s going to continue launching – with the launching of Cenk and The Young Turks, and we’re excited about that. We think the consequence of that is that Cenk’s going to bring a new audience leading into Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which you know again, is a big and important development for us, and I think that you know, look, Keith Olbermann’s going to keep that audience.

So, the audience that The Young Turks delivers to Keith we hope will be additive to the loyal following that Keith already has and will grow Keith’s audience, and is – you know, as we’ve alluded to we have a plan for that larger audience being handed off by Keith at 9 o’clock as well.

Frazier Moore: Thank you.

Cenk Uygur: And for my part, I love 7:00 pm because I’ll be the only progressive on television at that time slot.

Frazier Moore: Understood. Thanks.

Jeanne Meyer: We have a question from Matthew Flamm from Crain’s New York Business. Matthew?

Matthew Flamm: Hi, I just – I got on the call late, so I apologize if you’ve been asked this already, but do you expect to see this help you, you know, expand your distribution?

Joel Hyatt: Yes. Good question. Yes, we do. Again, as we build out a – what – we will in January have a full primetime lineup for a Presidential Election year. We will be the only independent news analysis network and we believe that that will serve as a very compelling case for additional distribution for Current.

We are today carried into about 60 million U.S. households, which is a great accomplishment for a small independent network; very few others have been able to do that in the years in which we’ve built that distribution platform.

That said, a primetime lineup with hit shows, which is what we’re going to have in place for the beginning of the Presidential Election year, we believe will result in increased distribution.

Matthew Flamm: And any timetable for that where you think you might start adding?

Joel Hyatt: No, none that we’re going to be predicting, no.

Matthew Flamm: Okay.

Jeanne Meyer: I think we have time for just a couple more questions. We have – Tommy Christopher, did you have another question you wanted to ask?

Tommy Christopher: Yeah, I had – well, there weren’t so many people raising their hand, so I do have a couple. As a original Young Turks Premium Member, I’m kind of curious if you’re going to – when you say The Young Turks are going to Current are you bringing the whole gang with you; J.R. and Dave and Ana, and will you be moving to the East Coast or staying on the West Coast?

Cenk Uygur: That’s a great question, Tommy. Yes, Ana, J.R., Jesus, will appear on air as they normally do on The Young Turks from time to time. You know, how I talk to my producers from time to time, Ana does, you know, some political and some pop culture stories for us. We’ll also be having the same crew of guest hosts, co-hosts, et cetera, that you normally see on The Young Turks; Wes Clark, Jr., Michael Shure, Richard Eskow, Jimmy Dore, Brian Unger.

All these guys have been great to us throughout The Young Turk’s history; Ben Mankiewicz. And we’ll also bring all the other progressives you’ve seen on my shows as guests, and they’re a great lineup and you know who they are. We are going to be a gathering place for progressives.

Tommy Christopher: And you’re staying on the West Coast?

David Bohrman: David, let me – Tommy, let me add in. One of the reasons Cenk’s going to be able to do that, and we didn’t mention it, the program will originate from Los Angeles. It’s where the home of The Turks is and it will be there – we do the program from L.A. live every day, so all of The Turk’s regulars will be there and at home and we won’t have to latch them all up electronically everyday to create the right environment and the right dynamic for The Turks.

Tommy Christopher: All right, and one more quick one, you currently do what, three or four hours of programming a day, are you going to continue to do that also, the (full size) Turks at night or is this going to be (edited) to one hour?

Cenk Uygur: No, we’re going to continue to do the two hours that we’re doing now online, so we will do the hour current television and then we will do the two hours of The Young Turks online.

Tommy Christopher: All right, thanks.

Cenk Uygur: And then, we will provide…

Joel Hyatt: And the…

Cenk Uygur: …members-only content, you know, as much as we can, which is how we do it today.

Tommy Christopher: Thank you.

Joel Hyatt: And the television broadcast will be live daily 7 o’clock Eastern and it will be rebroadcast at 10 o’clock Eastern.

Jeanne Meyer: I think we are a wrap, folks. Thank you so much joining us. If you have any questions I think you know who to reach out to.

Thank you for your time today.

Al Gore: Thanks, everyone.

Cenk Uygur: Thank you.

David Bohrman: Thanks.

Maher began by talking about Al Gore‘s new Climate Reality Project, and made fun of the idea that anyone inside the Republican party would ever connect the words “climate” and “reality.” He called out Rick Perry by name for his particular brand of denialism, and then suggested the media should refer to climate skeptics as “climate assholes.”

Maher described GOP voters as “a thick shell of super-hardened bullshit” where the only thing that get enter is Fox News and the only things to come out are “misspelled signs and babies.” He compared Republicans to domesticated animals.

“Trying to get today’s Republican to accept basic facts is like trying to get your dog to take a pill. You have to give them the truth wrapped in a piece of baloney, hold their snouts shut, and stroke their throats. And then, just when you think they’ve swallowed it, they spit it out.”

To Maher, the idea of a channel devoted to “reality” 24 hours a day is peculiar because “half the country doesn’t believe in reality.” And then, Maher introduced a “typical Republican voter” to the audience, a middle-class white man surrounded by a giant bubble. Olbermann was invited to join in the festivities. And by festivities, I mean “Maher and Olbermann shouting random factoids about the economy at a guy sitting in a bubble.”

First of all, the casual media observer may recall that Al Gore is technically Keith Olbermann’s boss, since he owns Current TV. So Olbermann’s inclusion in a New Rule inspired by a new project of Gore’s is odd, if nothing else.

But even more odd was the whole skit, which really didn’t liven up until Olbermann did a Foghorn Leghorn impression and a minute later when he randomly shouted, “Wrestling is fake!” I’m not sure if analyzing this bit should be the duty of media watchdogs or art critics. The whole thing felt insanely surreal.

Watch the video below, courtesy of HBO:

Earlier in the interview, Colbert brought up Rick Perry‘s endorsement of Gore’s 1988 presidential campaign, and asked him whether he would return the favor. “It would hurt him a lot!” Gore chuckled. “He was a Democrat back then, I’m not sure what happened.”

Colbert followed up with a question about Perry’s climate change skepticism: “He said, back in the 17th century, only Galileo said the Earth revolved around the sun, everybody else said the sun revolved around the Earth. Who’s side are you on, Galileo or global warming? Rick Perry says you can’t have both!” Gore responded that the science was in and 97% of climatologists agreed that human activity was causing global warming.

The interview concluded with Colbert asking if Keith Olbermann would be part of the Climate Reality Project, as the Countdown host scares Colbert.

“He scares Fox News and he scares your character,” Gore replied, letting the cat out of the bag. The Vice President suddenly realized his mistake as he and Colbert both lost their composure. “I forgot for a moment,” Gore apologized.

Colbert stung back, “I think our job is done here — (air quotes) “Al Gore”.”

Watch the segment below, courtesy of Comedy Central:

From Reuters:

“’24 Hours of Reality’ will broadcast a presentation by Al Gore every hour for 24 hours across 24 different time zones from Wednesday to Thursday, with the aim of convincing climate change deniers and driving action against global warming among households, schools and businesses.

The campaign also asks people to hand over control of their social networking accounts on Facebook and Twitter to it for 24 hours to deliver Gore’s message.

‘There will be 200 new slides arguing the connection between more extreme weather and climate change,’ Trewin Restorick, chief executive of the event’s UK partner Global Action Plan, told Reuters on Monday.”

New slides! Oh, I’m sure every single Fox News host is getting started on their “We were wrong” editorials as we speak.

That Reuters article concludes by pointing out an opinion poll showing that “concern about climate change in the United States” is now at 48%, down from 62% in 2007, a year after Gore’s big documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. That number hasn’t dropped because there’s been less proof in the past four years (Oh yeah, and if anyone tries to bring up this, please do try to remember how that story actually ended).

The really inconvenient truth is that “climate change” has become “political and, therefore, no one’s going to get persuaded by simple “proof” any more. Gore is seen by many, not as an expert, but rather as someone on the other team, an enemy, a guy who called them racist (despite the full quote of what he actually said).

Long story short, these skeptics just don’t like him. They will never believe anything he says because it came out of his mouth. One of these new slides could be a signed letter from God Himself saying “Dear Al, Please get everyone to stop messing up my planet. Love, Yaweh XOXOX” but, because Al Gore’s involved, the response will mostly be jokes about his private jet usage and weight.

That’s just the way it is. Sad? Yes. But, then again, I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that my grandchildren will grow up in a flaming post-apocalyptic Hellscape where humans kill each other for a drop of water and everyone wears leather and football shoulder pads for some reason. Whatever. I’ve accepted it. I plan on dying in a totally bad ass motorcycle accident in a couple years anyway so, not my problem.

However, Al Gore still seems pretty set on trying to change things. However, he just has to accept that no one who hasn’t been persuaded already will ever be by him. His political enemies have ruined his reputation too much (and he hasn’t helped). If he wants to really stop this thing, he should stop working on his message and start looking for a new messenger.

And, if he doesn’t? Maybe all those Fox News hosts were right about him being in it for the glory after all.

“After Reagan, Senator Al Gore ran for president, pledging to raise taxes and increase spending, pushing his liberal values. And Al Gore found a cheerleader in Texas named Rick Perry. Rick Perry helped lead Al Gore’s campaign to undo the Reagan revolution, fighting to elect Al Gore President of the United States…Now America must decide who to trust. Al Gore’s Texas cheerleader, or the one who stood with Reagan.”

Gore explains:

“There came a time when racist comments would come up in the course of the conversation and in years past they were just natural. Then there came a time when people would say, ‘Hey, man why do you talk that way, I mean that is wrong. I don’t go for that so don’t talk that way around me. I just don’t believe that.’ That happened in millions of conversations and slowly the conversation was won.”

In some circles, according to Gore, just using the words “climate change” is considered taboo, as was the case with Southerners bringing up racism. The interviewer suggested the comparison may not be quite accurate, considering the scientific evidence available for global warming. However, Gore suggested that there is a moral component that both arguments share.

Later in the interview, Gore addressed comments made by Rick Perry about climate change, and saw his remarks as part of “an organized effort to attack the reputation of the scientific community as a whole.”

“It’s not in [scientists'] nature to get ready to constantly defend themselves against political attacks. That’s not want they expected to be doing in their lives.”

Watch the video below, courtesy of Ustream:

h/t Daily Caller

Kimmel applauded Gore’s anger, joking “he can use a little dash of Mel Gibson in his life – maybe more people would listen to him.” Then the movie trailer played with a voice sounding eerily similar to Gore, saying “many people ask me ‘what is global warming?’ It’s a f*ckin’ disaster, that’s what it is you dumbasses!” The narrator even pronounces the word “ocean” in Gore’s unique vernacular.

The narrator unloads many more obscenities and ends with “I’m Al Gore and I’m sick of this shit.” Yet ever the conservationist, Kimmel is able to squeeze out one more joke from the same material, concluding “somebody’s mom to needs to wash somebody’s mouth out with bio-degradable soap!”

Watch the clip from ABC below:

Gore began by comparing the anti-global warming block to tobacco lobbyists who “succeeded in delaying the implementation of the surgeon general’s report for 40 years… It was evil, evil, evil.” He declined to name names, but gave the impression that a small group of people were benefiting from the debate by paying for alternate and less reliable theories to come out against climate change:

And some of the exact same people — I can go down a list of their names — are involved in this. And so what do they do? They pay pseudo scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message: ‘This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes.’ Bullshit! ‘It may be sun spots.’ Bullshit! ‘It’s not getting warmer.’ Bullshit!

What seemed to get him angriest, however, was the prospect that those that believed in global warming were outnumbered. “You heard them washing back at you the same crap over and over and over again,” he cried, arguing that there was “no longer a shared reality” from which to begin scientific study and that those that shared his reality were being hindered by the debate. “It’s no longer acceptable in mixed company, meaning bipartisan company, to use the goddamn word ‘climate,’” he railed.

The speech also included some talk on the current fiscal crisis in America, where Gore noted that the country had not been served well by lobbyists paying for public advertising for their causes, and stating that the wide dissemination of the idea that spending and not revenue was the problem had led to the second recession, and that was “absolutely insane.”

Listen to Gore’s statements below:

[h/t]

For the past decade, Bohrman was CNN’s senior vice president of programming and Washington, DC bureau chief, and in May of this year, he became CNN’s SVP and “Chief Innovation Officer.” As Current’s president, he will be based in New York and San Francisco, and will oversee programming, production, broadcast operations, digital and technology. He will also work closely with Olbermann, who in addition to his hosting duties, serves as Current’s Chief News Officer.

“There has been a profound change in the media landscape in terms of what’s being covered, how it’s being covered and how audiences want to consume it,” said Bohrman. “Those of us inside the media business have a responsibility to anticipate what viewers want and need, and we must constantly reinvent the medium. Today more than ever, I think audiences demand intelligent discourse instead of shouting. They want a way to be part of the discourse instead of being passive outsiders. I have been watching what Al and Joel and Keith have been doing at Current, and I believe that Current has a real opportunity to be a truly vital medium for a new breed of savvy, intelligent viewers. I’m extremely energized and inspired by this opportunity to work with them to establish Current as a significant and influential voice in the news and political commentary arena.”

Host Greg Gutfeld played the clip from “Captain Charisma,” and for once appeared mostly speechless. Gore called for a “grassroots movement,” but not the Tea Party. “Does Gore even know what an Arab spring means?” Gutfeld asked. The panel took turns picking out what was most absurd about his statements, Jill Dobson summing them up as “we need something just like the Tea Party, except everyone agrees with me.” She also wondered what a “stalking horse” was– a term Gore threw in there to describe the Tea Party (Andy Levy later informed everyone it was an idiom meaning “decoy”). Her co-panelist Jamie Weinstein hoped “the wizards at MSNBC give him a rhetorical lashing” for comparing President Obama to a tyrant, a point he argued seems to have been lost by the wayside in light of him calling for a revolution.

Meanwhile, Sherrod Small had some sympathy for Gore. “Al Gore was vice president, he gets the same respect we gave our vice principal,” he noted, which probably caused some frustration. The frustration point came up later as well, when Small then turned to blame his ex-wife Tipper, though Levy blamed the fact that he did not become president in 2000. Small wasn’t alone in not taking Gore all the way on in the panel, however– Bill Schulz had some sharp words for the Tea Party, arguing that their unwillingness to compromise made them impossible to deal with. “I used to think the only population in America that didn’t understand compromise and couldn’t do it were infants,” he argued, “but now American babies are not alone: they have the Tea Party.”

The discussion and Halftime Report via Fox News below:

On September 14th, Gore’s event will attempt to focus the world’s attention on the truth, remove any lingering doubt and reveal the deniers. Gore suggests “climate change is not your fault.” Well that’s a relief. However, “the climate crisis is our problem.” Damn!

And the final message from Gore is that “fossil fuel interests have money, influence, control – but together we have something that they don’t: reality.” Gore previously proved his ability to spark a national climate awareness movement with his popular documentary An Inconvenient Truth. With Gore’s new event, will lightning be able to strike twice? Or does “climate change” result in less lightning overall?

Watch the clip below from Climate Reality Project:

(h/t The Blaze)

Zurawik also dinged Olbermann over his “rancor” and use of insults, but I think he missed the mark a little bit. Olbermann’s ability to go at his opponents has long been a key to his appeal. The problem is that the rancor and the insults have become increasingly artless and petty, in stark contrast to the sharp, florid wit present in much of his commentary. Zurawik says Al Gore should “rein him in,” but Gore would be better off sharpening him up.

The best observation, though, came from Glynnis MacNicol (now with Business Insider), who noted that “(Olbeermann)’s been trying to demonize MSNBC, and sort of make them the enemy he’s playing off of, and it clearly, in the first week, didn’t work, and he pulled back and said ‘Rachel Maddow’s my friend now.’”

Here’s the clip, from CNN’s Reliable Sources:

In the run-up to the Countdown re-launch, host Keith Olbermann launched increasingly sharp barbs at his former colleagues, and condescension at his former friends. Rather than positioning himself as an alternative to Fox News, or neutral CNN, Olbermann set himself up as the “us” in an “us vs. them” battle with the only other prime time liberal cable news bloc, MSNBC. As Glynnis observed, this strategy doesn’t seem to have worked.

Despite relatively strong ratings for his debut show, Countdown didn’t make a dent in MSNBC’s ratings, and his decision to overlap with Rachel Maddow’s show caused a swift backlash from fans who didn’t feel like choosing.

Olbermann cast his decision as a desire not to hurt Maddow’s ratings, the equivalent of a mosquito generously offering not to exsanguinate a crocodile. The truth is, by targeting his old friend’s show, he was making himself look like a jerk, and costing Maddow very little. That same dynamic likely applies to viewers of other liberal MSNBC shows, as well. Even those who might like Countdown better are bound to wonder why Olbermann can’t let his show stand on the merits, rather than trash the efforts of others on the same “team.” No one likes to see Mom and Dad fight.

The good news is that the cable news town appears to be big enough for two liberal sheriffs. With an impressive (especially for a small net like Current) debut of 179,000 demo viewers, and little (if any) effect on MSNBC’s numbers, it appears more likely that the cable news landscape can support two liberal-leaning networks, rather than settling on an eventual last network standing. The next step is for Current to fill in the rest of its prime-time lineup with the right kind of talent to build on Countdown’s success.

“Without presidential leadership that focuses intensely on making the public aware of the reality we face, nothing will change,” Gore said.

The White House was quick to respond to Gore’s comments. CNN reports administration official Clark Stevens “outlined a number of policies the administration implemented in the last two years, including investments in clean energy through the Recovery Act that set ‘aggressive new joint fuel economy and emissions standards for cars and trucks,’ reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 960 metric tons.”

Joan Walsh told Matthews she found Gore’s essay both inspiring and depressing. And even if Gore was critical of the media, Walsh comforted Matthews that Gore wasn’t talking about them “of course, because we’re doing the right thing.” Forget about worrying about global warming though, since it was Matthews who was continuing to heat up with anger at conservatives throughout this segment.

Matthews argued that the Republican party is lining itself up as “anti-science” and selling half the country “nonsense.” He singled out Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the Chamber of Commerce as being guilty of pandering to business interests and declared “these people are evil in what they are doing.” Especially since Matthews doesn’t believe Beck or Limbaugh are stupid, he thinks their motives are not well-intentioned. And in a quote that will surely get some of Matthews’ own critics excited, he admits that on certain issues like climate, he really hates “so called objective journalism” where “even-handedness” forces reporters to give credibility to both sides of an argument when one side just isn’t true.

Watch the clip from MSNBC below:

If Olbermann’s remarks about Boehner are any indication, Current Chairman Al Gore might want to invest in a leash for his new star, even if it’s a long one. These rumors about John Boehner have been rattling around for a long time, and with every breathless iteration, they have invariably failed to pan out. One story insisted, in September, that The New York Times was going to drop a Boehner Bomb right before the mid-terms. The source for that story was The New York Post‘s Page Six gossip column, odd when you consider Olbermann’s historic enmity with Page Six, and more recent blasts, as well.

Boehner’s office told the Post that the story was “bull(bleep),” then told The Huffington Post “”It is deeply disappointing that even a scandal-mongering rag like the NY Post prints ‘bull(bleep)’ when the spokesman clearly said it’s ‘bullshit.’”

This particular rumor was cleverly constructed as a rumor, not about an affair, but about a rumored story about an affair, a variation on tabloid techniques to insulate against charges of defamation.

Rumors like this are a dime a dozen. In fact, no fewer than four different Washington DC sources swore to me, while I was at CPAC in February, that Boehner would be resigning over this very “scandal” the next day. Not “Oh, I hear…,” but “clear your freakin’ schedule, man, it’s going down!”

Despite these breathless entreaties, from real-live insiders, Boehner’s resignation never materialized.

As a liberal, I’m obviously not a fan of John Boehner’s, but after watching a December interview with he and his wife, I am a fan of Debbie Boehner, who by all appearances, is a devoted and proud wife. Fan or not, I also don’t think John Boehner deserves to be unfairly maligned by unfounded rumors, especially by the guy who signs off every broadcast with a tribute to legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow. Unless Olbermann has some news to break, he owes the Boehners an apology, and his viewers, a higher set of standards.

Al Gore has accused Rupert Murdoch of an “abuse of power,” saying the News Corp. chief forced Gore’s Current TV off the air in Italy because the channel–preparing to launch a signature nightly show with ex-MSNBC host Keith Olbermann–did not fit with Murdoch’s “ideological agenda.”

In an interview with the UK Guardian, Gore says Current was informed three weeks ago the channel would no longer be carried by Sky Italia “because of its decision to hire a U.S. left-leaning commentator often critical of Murdoch’s company.” Sky Italia is a digital satellite channel owned by Murdoch’s News Corp.:

“News Corporation is an international conglomerate with an ideological agenda. It seeks political power in every nation they operate. They wield that power to shut down voices that disagree with the agenda of Rupert Murdoch,” Gore said.

The decision, he added, was “a complete shock” but Current TV executives were told “off the record that the decision was taken on News Corp instructions from New York”. The primary reason, he said, was “because Current is launching Keith Olbermann next month”.

A spokesman for News Corp. said the decision to drop Current had nothing to do with Olbermann. “The non-renewal of Current TV’s carriage agreement with Sky Italia is purely commercial. Current TV asked Sky Italia for double the carriage fee when prime-time viewing had fallen by 40% in the past year. Sky Italia’s offer was in line with the market and reflected the performance of the channel. It had nothing to do with politics.”

Current Italy responded with its own statement, which is translated here:

“News Corporation is taking liberties when they claim Current TV asked Sky Italia for double the carriage fee. In fact, we never offered any number to them before we were summarily informed that they were dropping us.

News Corporation is further taking liberties by claiming that Current Italy’s ratings “dropped” by conveniently comparing only the first quarter of 2011 to 2010 in its entirety. In actual fact, Current Italy’s ratings increased by 550% in 2010 compared to 2009.”

The comments came as Beck was reviewing clips of Van Jones speaking to students. Jones made a joke about the young people in the audience confronting “Uncle Joe” at Thanksgiving, the family member who “loves Fox News.” Beck stopped the tape there.

“I will tell you this, in a side note. That is why I’m leaving this network. This network has this audience cornered. You are here because it is telling you the truth. We have got to get to the youth. Listen to what he is saying.”

I’m sure there are a number of reasons that Beck is leaving Fox News, however, I wouldn’t doubt for a second that this is one reason why he views the leave as a good thing. After all, Beck, for all his mocking of “the students” and their Facebooks and Googles, has made it very clear over the years that he sees teaching young people as a number one priority. Just think back to all the clips he showed last summer of children at his Rally, pleading to parents they needed to let their kids know how to be proud of America. And, it’s no obscure joke that Fox News’ audience skews older.

Beck talks a lot about his talent for understanding the enemy and knowing how they think. If he believes that the likes of Van Jones and Al Gore are trying to “brainwash” our kids, of course he’d want to find a platform where he can beat them to it.

On the upside, no more “Hooray for Old People!” episodes.

Check out the clip from Fox News below:

2010 ceremony: “Worst. Oscars. Ever,” said movie critic Peter Howell in the Toronto Star. “Yes, I know I’ve said this before. But the Academy keeps coming up with new lows.” Hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin led a show that “was a desperate attempt to look hip,” and, at three-and-a-half hours long, it “wasn’t the longest Oscar broadcast ever, but it sure felt like it.” In fairness, “I should qualify my rant slightly. This wasn’t the worst Oscars ever, it was the worst Oscars broadcast ever.” They did pick the right winners. Still, in the spirit of one of the year’s most popular films, I wish we had “our own avatars to watch the show in our place, saving us from having to endure it ourselves.”

2009 ceremony: In a piece titled “The Worst Oscars Ever,” The Daily Beast’s Lee Siegel said the “show was an embarrassingly contrived spectacle that only served to prove how insecure Hollywood is about its own future.” Hoping to re-establish “cultural relevance they used to” have, the organizers “desperately seized on a whole new format.” It was a “disaster,” to say the least. “No wonder the show’s main sponsor was JC Penney, who it seems is embarking on an ad campaign to rebrand itself from a downscale discount outlet to an upscale discount outlet.” The night concluded with the airing of trailers for some upcoming films, which “was like watching a nervous breakdown.”

2008 ceremony: “[A]ll in all, it was The Worst Oscars Ever in the History of Hollywood,” said Nikki Finke in LA Weekly. It was the lowest-rated, partially “because this was really the 11th-hour Oscars” thrown together “after the sudden and unexpected settlement” of the writers’ strike. Putting on a show with just two-weeks notice is tough, and it showed. Most of the time, host Jon Stewart “just stood there uncomfortably, searching for a few words to say.” But this “debacle” wasn’t all Stewart’s fault. It’s about the movies, and No Country for Old Men took home top honors. Would it really “kill the academy to include crowd-pleasers” like action films or comedies? “Usually, academy voters are painfully out of touch with the tastes of the American public. Now the show is a pathetic anachronism too.”

2007 ceremony: “This was the most tedious Oscars show ever,” said Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield. There’s a lot to complain about here. “Dumb montages. Dumb comedy bits. And sorry, but after two speeches by Al Gore, several speeches about him and a Melissa Etheridge song,” I’d had enough. “Christ, Al, would it have killed you to just win Tennessee?” Spare us, please.

Does that make Jon Stewart‘s 2006 show the best ever?

“Olbermann” (actually comedian Steven Crowder) was happy to sit down with O’Connor, he explained, because he “believes in voices of dissent”– except “on my show.” He thanked the CPAC attendees and noted that he was “very grateful that the conservative racist constituency has allowed me here and I look forward to working with them in the future. Mostly berating them.” When asked about his new job, faux-Olbermann grew enthusiastic, particularly excited about being on “the information superhighway” AKA “the interwebs.” He then painfully provided viewers with the full URL to CurrentTV.com– “http://www– let me finish this– .currenttv.com.” “That’s a very thorough URL,” O’Connor added somewhat feebly.

The interview didn’t get any better– “Olbermann” begins to plug Maybelline products, suggests everyone at CPAC lives in a trailer, and ultimately refuses to shake O’Connor’s hand (perhaps O’Connor will be the inaugural “Person of Whom I Disapprove.”) He is also shocked by O’Connor’s affiliation with Andrew Breitbart, which seemed to elude him despite the fact that the venue for which he was interviewing is called “Breitbart.tv”– though, to be fair, this Olbermann seems not to have what one could call extraordinary computer skills.

How it took this many years for someone other than Ben Affleck to adopt the larger-than-life Olbermann roles seems a mystery, but Crowder’s take– and, particularly, vocal intonations– are quite impressive. The interview via Breitbart.tv below:

After talking about Olbermann’s passion and “formidable intelligence,” Gore was asked what impact Olbermann was making on the network’s subscriber numbers.

From The Wrap:

“Do you think he’ll create a groundswell of people asking their cable providers to make Current available to them?

It’s already started. Spontaneously. … Starting yesterday with the announcement, absolutely. You can look on Twitter and find it. It’s not something that — it began spontaneously.

Do you have any sense of the number of people who are reaching out to cable providers or cable providers that are reaching out to you?

This is a spontaneous thing that’s just emerging on its own. It’s a self-organized group and that’s the best kind to have.”

Of course, these comments should be taken with a grain of salt as they were given right before the upfronts with the network trying to sell to advertisers. Still, we wouldn’t be surprised if there’s truth there. We’ve written a lot about how passionate Olbermann’s fan base has gotten recently. While Twitter’s one thing, if Current comes out with specific subscription numbers showing a substantial uptick, it would be undeniable proof of his draw.

As we wait for his new show, we’ll also anxiously await those figures.

(h/t Poynter)

In a discussion that described Olbermann’s move to the poorly-rated Current (described by Gutfeld as a network devoted to “knitting and all things yarn”) as “deserved oblivion,” Current was described as such a nonfactor in the cable television world that it didn’t even warrant a mention in Olbermann’s presumed noncompete agreement with NBC. “They had ‘don’t work at Subway,’ but not that,” said Gutfeld.

The conversation also included references to massage parlors, Current TV’s “knitting” programs, and the size of Gore and Olbermann’s heads.

Watch the segments here, from Fox News:

(h/t Olbermann Watch)

“I just have one piece of advice for the people at Fox; do not ever talk about what goes on over there and nobody will ever hear about it. Olbermann wouldn’t be anything today if they hadn’t decided to start picking fights with people over there. That network wouldn’t have half the audience its got as it does now.”

In his typical blowhardian way, Limbaugh does have a point. All of the talk of Olbermann’s move is the most that many people have ever probably heard of Current TV. Still, Olbermann’s troubles recently with MSNBC have only proven just how devoted his fan base is which means chances are good that they won’t need reminders from Bill O’Reilly to watch his stuff.

Still, it will be interesting to see if Limbaugh takes his own advice. Our guess is that the second Olbermann returns in front of television cameras, Limbaugh will be one of the first to register a (lets go out on a limb and say “negative”) review.

Check out the audio from Limbaugh’s show below: