The Olbermann Affair

I feel true sympathy for the few thousand people in this country who actually depend on Keith Olbermann for their news, or even on MSNBC for that matter. For obvious reasons, that pity is derived from the fact that those people will now be deprived of their beloved bloviator. For peripheral reasons, it is because they have been so misinformed over the course of his career.

Olbermann has been suspended without pay indefinitely from the floundering cable network for violations of the corporation's rules regarding political contributions. Already the Liberal Progressive machine is mobilizing, ready to defend Keith with every lie and obfuscation in their play book. These modes of defense will be coupled with the obligatory "the other side is doing it too" excuse.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has fired the first salvo. Sanders, an Independent (cough, cough) has written a brief letter published by Politico demanding the immediate return of Olbermann to the airwaves, and his salary. And he employs the predictable plaintive wails usually reserved for children deprived of candy and equally devoid of reason. In his letter, Sanders makes the claim:

"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."

Imagine Sanders' outrage had it been announced that FOX's Sean Hannity had made the maximum individual contribution of $2,400 to three different Republicans. Ah, but Sanders didn't mention that, he cleverly used a much larger figure - "millions of dollars" - as News Corp's contributions as a whole. This serves two purposes; it indicts an entire organization while giving his intended audience a comparative source of outrage, one they would never think to question.

That's why I'm here.

First, News Corporation is free to make political contributions, just as are major airwave networks and competing cable networks. Keith Olbermann was an employee of one such entity who was found to have violated one of its rules. And while Olbermann's own network took him down, the commentators of FOX News have been under constant attack by the competition who have repeatedly demanded that they be silenced. Big difference.

Sanders got his figures from the recent disclosure that News Corp. contributed a million dollars to the Republican Governors Association, a fact that the Left viewed as a perfect "gotcha" moment despite CNN's having reported on it in August. Sanders saw an opportunity to paint FOX as a purely partisan organization based on the disparity, as did the very network that just canned Olbermann. That being said, if Bernie Sanders wants to play the "who's worse" game by attempting to portray Olbermann's contributions as small and insignificant in contrast to those of all of News Corp., I say "my serve".

While Democrats - holding hats in hand - complain bitterly about the possibility of "anonymous corporate donors" , they seem to have no problem spending the money of the workers they claim to champion, nor the money - by extension - of taxpayers. News Corp. has donated a few million dollars to Republican candidates and PACs. But the three largest unions in the country have donated more than $150 million to Democrats. (Most of that money is derived from the dues of union members, which is supposed to pay for benefits and retirement).

Barack Obama was the largest beneficiary of campaign contributions from BP Oil, not only a large corporation in the oil industry, but a foreign corporation to boot. Yet the Democrats complain of corporate financing influencing our elections.

Back to the point, though. Liberal interests and politicians have been scheming for years to somehow get FOX News shut down and silenced. Now they are allegedly outraged over one lunatic getting suspended for breaking his employer's rule. Media Matters is already whining that Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto made contributions to Republican organizations, thus fulfilling the promise of the "they're doing it, too" excuse.

One small problem with that argument, however; News Corp. doesn't ban the practice. Neither do some large broadcast companies, whose employees donate to all kinds of causes, politics included. Olbermann hasn't been silenced, as Bernie Sanders intimates, he's been disciplined. It happens all the time in the grown-up work place. If Keith has a beef with that, perhaps he should take it up with his shop steward.

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Surviving the Referendum

To begin, I would be remiss if I didn't offer my most sincere gratitude and congratulations to my fellow Americans, without whom yesterday would not have been possible. Having suffered the machinations of one-party rule for two years, you have all managed to hang on and fight back to put an end to the madness. The 2010 mid-term elections were an incredible event, thanks to all of you.

The Tea Party has endured and defeated the most vitriolic campaign the so-called mainstream media could unleash. Never once did they think to back down, to give up, to throw up their hands and accept the seeming futility of it all. Perhaps the reason for such truculence and perseverance was always the mantel of truth. And our preferred candidates felt it.

The leftist networks and cable shows did not receive the message last night in the aftermath of the drubbing their party took, continuing to use ridicule and false bravado as a tool to defeat those who had already vanquished them.  Chris Matthews of Hardball on MSNBC, along with those on his panel, interviewed Michele Bachmann after polls closed in Minnesota's 6th C.D. Bachmann, a favorite target of Liberal pundits and a Tea Party darling and beneficiary, infuriated host Matthews by reminding him of his "thrill-up-his-leg" moment in the Obama ascendancy.

Matthews and company predictably laughed like school children at her performance during the interview, further exposing the juvenile mentality that permeates the halls of Liberal enclaves such as MSNBC. But Matthews' irritation was clearly evident. Score another one for Bachmann and - as a result - all of us. (Matthews' indignant retort was one of pure semantics because Bachmann used the word "tingle" instead of thrill).

While last night was a time of jubilation for us - the American patriots fed up with lectures and heavy-handed "compassion" from the people we hire to serve us - the underlying message was still clear from the coasts and other liberal bastions. The politicians most responsible for our successful activism were left unscathed. That may prove beneficial to us as we traverse the next 733 days until the presidential elections, but is disappointing nonetheless.

Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi will still be a House Representative, although not as Speaker, and Harry Reid will retain his position as Senate Majority Leader. However, the disappointment of those results should be seized as the fuel we need to continue the fight. Just as comfort and complacency were concerns going into yesterday's polls, so must we remain alert to the sad truth that those regions will never be transformed. But they can be isolated.

How many times over the past decade have we heard the snobbish denigration by elitist politicians of rural America as "fly-over" country? That characterization is not about to change, despite the fact that "fly-over" country just handed them the sort of drubbing  bested only once in our brief history. I say let them have their Liberal encampments on the distant shores, and let them fly over to their hearts' content.

They had their shot, and they failed miserably, but never assume that the war is over. You (we) have awakened a spirit that has been too long dormant in this greatest nation on Earth, and as I wrote on Election eve, politics is far from a gentlemanly sport. We have already demonstrated our immunity to their sharp-tongued barbs. We have already proved the worth of our beliefs, and we have shown that theirs is a house of cards. But vigilance is not to be abandoned now.

There is still the specter of the lame-duck damage the bitter losers from yesterday may inflict upon us. And we have so much to undo as we move forward. Do not take the olive branch being offered, and never assume that their contrition is genuine. Just as a defeated combatant seeks to lure you in by exploiting your compassionate nature, only to bury a concealed brick in your head, so will Liberal Progressives attempt to use the Ju-Jitsu philosophy against you.

Yesterday was a clear referendum on the policies of our current government, despite what the President may say. You did this. You succeeded. Don't wipe your hands and feel that the job is done now. Stay fired up and vigilant for the next contest. They will be numerous and forthcoming.

Nevertheless, great job yesterday. I am proud today.

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Game Day Prep

Graphic Courtesy of a Special Friend

It's generally considered bad form for one professional football team to run up the score on a badly out-classed opponent. When one team is clearly cruising to victory, they are expected to suddenly behave in a gentlemanly manner, and deliberately lay back until the final whistle. While this sounds like a very nice and sportsmanlike gesture, it runs contrary to everything that football players do in preparation for game day. 

Football players train all week to take the field as warriors with one goal; winning. To have them turn that emotion off - or even to dial it down a notch - contradicts everything they worked so hard for prior to the game. Too many times it has backfired, much to the chagrin of the formerly jubilant fans who suddenly see their heroes of the day turned into the vanquished.

We see that same mentality today in both war arenas, Iraq and Afghanistan, where our soldiers - trained to fight and kill - are ordered to fight nicely.  Rarely does such a strategy result in anything resembling a positive outcome. There comes a time when the practice must be abandoned. Tomorrow is it.

Tomorrow is Election Day, as if anyone reading this needed that reminder. We have all been riveted to the polls and prognostications, feeling like the game is ours for the taking. All we have to do is show up. Ironically, that is true to a point for an election, but in sports it means you have to do more than just show up...you have to play.

Tomorrow, we have to not only show up, we have to vote. Don't just drive by your polling precinct and think, "Wow, what a crowd. I guess they have it covered. I'm going shopping." No, go in and vote, no matter how good it looks. For late voters, don't worry about reporting precincts predicting the landslide victory we do expect.

Go in, run up the score. Rub their noses in it, spike the ball and do an end zone dance.

Remember Nancy Pelosi and crew walking and laughing after inflicting the Health Care bill on us. Remember all of the rhetoric about that stupid car in the ditch. Remember all of the admissions that no one read the legislation that they passed. Remember the arrogance of your representatives at town hall meetings (think of Pete Stark, for starters). Remember all of the union thuggery exhibited by the likes of the SEIU, et al.

Remember being called domestic threats by Janet Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security, and stupid by your own Congresspeople. And remember your president referring to you as "the enemy" to an Hispanic television station.

As you vote tomorrow, remember all of this. As you contemplate the trip to your polling place, and perhaps consider that your vote might not mean much...remember. Go. Vote.

Make 'em pay.

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