The real Keith

Keith Olbermann is the host of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on MSNBC. He graduated from Cornell University with a BS in communications in 1979, where he set off to pursue a career in his true love, sports broadcasting. After stints in Boston and LA, he finally achieved the pinnacle and hosted ESPN's sportscenter with his long-time friend, Dan Patrick. He stayed there for 5 years, and was abruptly cut loose by the network. The circumstances of his departure were and still are vague, but most in the know say Olbermann and ESPN had philosophical differences of opinion (translation: clash of monster egos). Olbermann went on the talk show circuit and back to radio soon after, and did pretty much all he could to publicly criticize and make fun of ESPN, in effect voluntarily burning all his bridges to prove a point that no one really cared about. In any case, he was and still is free to say whatever he wants. Keith won awards - and still does win awards - wherever he goes to work. He's witty, articulate, and very frank.

He became a news journalist with MSNBC in 1997, hosting a show called "The Big Show", which was a rip-off of the name ESPN called Olbermann's and Patrick's 11 pm sportscenter. Apparently, this too was another effort to blast ESPN. Soon that morphed into "The White House in crisis", a nightly run-down of President Clinton's troubles with Whitewater and Monika Lewinsky. In a very public forum, Keith said on television in front of his entire audience, "If I have to do one more Monika Lewinsky story, I'm outta here".

Well, he was outta there, to be sure.

He went back to sports for a few years, and after September 11th, he decided to go back to news journalism again, where he now hosts "Countdown", or as I like to call it, "Bush - Bashing with Keith Olbermann".

It seems a nightly occurrence now that Keith is delivering another diatribe which is a direct attack on the President and the administration. The focus of his rants is always the fact that we in the United States are constantly being denied our Constitutional Rights to freedom of speech and thought, although his being on television raging nightly is in direct contradiction of that. He's a perfect example of the kid who owns the football who won't let other kids use it unless he's picked to the team he wants to be on. I find it interesting that as soon as ESPN had one idea and Keith another - he quit. As soon as he tired of reporting on Lewinsky - he quit. His basis for quitting in the Lewinsky matter is constant repetition of the same old story, yet he has no problem pontificating nightly about the current administration. If MSNBC ever tells him to calm it down, he'll no doubt quit again. Since 1979, Keith has quit more jobs than I've owned underwear, yet he seems unable to grasp that he is the central figure in this, and quite possibly there isn't a building large enough to hold his ego.

And lastly it should be said, he's not always correct. Articulate - suave - intelligent - yes. Correct? Not always, although I'm certain he believes he is and give's no quarter to anyone with an opposing view. I used to like Keith, but like anything or anyone else who gets too big for their britches, he's wearing me out. In all of his speeches about what's wrong with the White House, he - like most of his cohorts who spout the same old bullshit - has no suggestions for what to do other than put someone else in office.

He likens himself to a positive voice of dissent. I liken him to just another wind-bag with an agenda to fulfill.