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CONTACT: Senator Bernie Sanders Michael Briggs (202) 224-5141
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Sanders Statement on Olbermann Suspension
WASHINGTON - November 5 - “It is outrageous that General Electric/MSNBC would suspend Keith Olbermann for exercising his constitutional rights to contribute to a candidate of his choice. This is a real threat to political discourse in America and will have a chilling impact on every commentator for MSNBC.
“We live in a time when 90 percent of talk radio is dominated by right-wing extremists, when the Republican Party has its own cable network (Fox) and when progressive voices are few and far between.
“At a time when the ownership of Fox news contributed millions of dollars to the Republican Party, when a number of Fox commentators are using the network as a launching pad for their presidential campaigns and are raising money right off the air, it is absolutely unacceptable that MSNBC suspended one of the most popular progressive commentators in the country.
“Is Rachel Maddow or Ed Schultz next? Is this simply a ‘personality conflict’ within MSNBC or is one of America’s major corporations cracking down on a viewpoint they may not like? Whatever the answer may be, Keith Olbermann should be reinstated immediately and allowed to present his point of view."
20 Comments so far
Show AllThank you Bernie. You are a man of integrity.
I am sorry Senator. I have to disagree with you this time. I have always respect you as one of the very few Senator’s who really doing his job and take care the people interest first. How many times I get the feeling the MSNBC's trio, Chris Matthews, Olbermann and Rachel Maddog worship your Obama. I really don't want to cut and paste the links, and statements made during, after the Primaries and during 2008 Presidential Election. MSNBC is no different from FOX, CNN and the rest.. I do understand CD is infested with MSNBC sympathizers, PLEASE allow me express my views. NO offence intended.
If you are so outrageous, why didn't you come out aggressively and support Helen Thomas when she was so badly treated by the MSN, including your Obama? Thank You.
Bernie is pretty cool. He sold me some Missouri health insurance.
I wonder how much they paid Phil Griffin for this? Disgusting!
Thank You Senator Sanders. We will not go down without a fight. We must fight the Oligarchy and not let them silence the progressive voice!
lol what a shock, MSNBC and keith are obvious shills for the DMC . Maybe GE is sensing the political wind shift and seeing their bottom line taking further dismal turns with MSNBC continued one note reporting.
This makes my day.
oh goody
Thank you Senator Bernie Sanders.
Please don't stop giving a voice to justice and progress!
Mother Jones, labor leader of the past, was said to have asked an inmate what crime had put him in prison.
"I stole a pair of shoes," he said.
To which Mother Jones replied, "If you had stolen a railroad they would have put you in Congress."
The shoes have changed. The Empire model has not.
Rachel Maddow Censorship
http://gators911truth.blogspot.com/2010/08/rachel-maddow-knows-911-truth-but.html
Oh, a corporation suspended someone who, in dim light, might be mistaken for a liberal. Boo hoo! Olberman supports the American mercenary thugs who murder innocent Iraqis and Afghans, and he damn sure supports capitalism.
Wait a minute. Didn't Olbermann agree to the terms when he decided to take the big bucks from GE & NBC? Seems to me he was just testing how far he could push it, probably assuming MSNBC couldn't survive without him.
It would have been better for him to publicly ask why Fox's folks can jump back and forth across the line (tonight I'm a commentator-reporter; last night I was a talk show host) and work to nullify that clause in his contract. Instead he get to witness how an inflated ego obscured his vision causing him to crash headlong into a solid corporate wall.
"no gods, no masters" --m. sanger
"Wait a minute. Didn't Olbermann agree to the terms when he decided to take the big bucks from GE & NBC?"
How about you wait a minute and think a little bit? Since when does an employee meet an employer, especially a large corporate employer like this, on equal grounds? The question that should be asked is whether an employer has the right to even draw up a contract that takes away the political rights of an employee in the first place. GE and MS have no problems making corporate political donations, so why ask their employees to agree to not have the same rights?
Start asking the right questions and you might get the right answers.
You clearly have no familiarity with traditional ethics of journalism. Nobody is taking away Olbermann's rights. And nobody forced him to work there. He freely agreed to the conditions of employment imposed by NBC News, and he gets paid extremely well.
The real question is whether MSNBC is actually engaged in the practice of journalism. That, it seems to me, is a legitimate question for debate.
I agree with Sen. Bernie Sanders:'Keith Olbermann should be reinstated immediately and allowed to present his point of view"
Democracy means fair elections. There is nothing fair about allowing wealthy foreigners to buy U.S. elections. There is nothing fair about allowing an employer to demand that an American employee get permission from the employer to donate to a candidate of the employees choice on his own time.
Exactly put.
I think MSNBC wanted to get rid of Olbermann and were searching for a reason to justify getting rid of him and found one.
Just heard the news, Olbermann is back on MSNBC__suspension is over.
I should have had this posted to all the sites last Friday.
The e-mail address for Phil Griffin is here. I picked it up from another site and hope it's right. If so, lets smother him with e-mails. phil.griffin@nbcuni.com
i like your article a corporation suspended someone who, in dim light, might be mistaken for a liberal. Boo hoo! Olberman supports the American mercenary thugs who murder innocent Iraqis and Afghans, and he damn sure supports capitalism thanks for sharing.web banners