Keith Olbermann's Suspension: Putting the Playing Field on El Capitan

There’s a mountain in West Texas that has at its acme the eighth highest point in the state of Texas. You can see in the photo at right that it has some very sheer cliffs, nearly perpendicular to a flat plain, and it has on its lower half a nearly uniform planar slope that you could play football on if only you could run up it.

This is where I suggest we put the new playing field that is emerging with regard to political contributions, and play the new game of DeLay Dollars.

The game was invented by Tom DeLay in 2002 when he invented a scheme to pass corporate dollars directly to the campaigns of Texas House candidates, a game that, ironically enough, he is on trial this week in Austin for inventing it. But the game was perfected by the uberconservative justices of the US Supreme Court in the now-infamous Citizens United decision that has put our democracy up to the highest bidder.

But now, today, I read that while conservatives can donate to conservative causes and candidates with wild abandon, liberals are not allowed that option.

I read today that Keith Olbermann, the man that invented MSNBC’s liberal message machine has been suspended without pay indefinitely because he donated to the campaigns of 3 Democratic candidates this year.

MSNBC’s suit dweeves apparently don’t like the fact that Keith Olbermann put his money where his mouth was and denied to him the honor and privilege of doing what any citizen in this waning democracy can do: support a candidate that agrees with their political outlook.

That they did this the very week of a Republican mid-term election sweep that was bought and paid for by corporations, corporations that they are in competition with, supposedly, is just the icing on the cake.

I made it a point to be ready to sit down at the tube by 7 PM every weeknight and watch Keith Olbermann’s entire inspired program from end to end. People know not to call me on the phone during that hour or risk my wrath.

Now no Keith Olbermann.

Guess what? No Keith Olbermann, no MSNBC. I will be boycotting MSNBC and every business that advertises on MSNBC until this wrong is made right.