When Keith Olbermann was still employed, his MSNBC program, Countdown, featured a segment where he named the “World’s Worst” people, based on a political or social issue.
Frequently attacking Fox News and Republicans, Olbermann’s show and various segments were derided by the television critic at the Los Angeles Times as “more or less an echo chamber in which Olbermann and like-minded bobbleheads nod at each other.” He was frequently criticized as only inviting on guests that agreed with him, and was actually suspended after having Democratic candidates on the air and then donating to them shortly afterward.
Olbermann’s segments attacked perceived political or social sins that he disagreed with, almost always with far more hatred than the sins themselves allegedly committed. His audience enjoyed the personal attacks, and he revelled in them. But, like several other jobs, Olbermann couldn’t hold on to the show.
He is currently reduced to a mere Twitter personality, and there is perhaps no one outside of the Lincoln Project who misses Trump’s presence more than Olbermann.
In Michigan, a school shooting left students dead. High school football players gave their lives to help his peers. He was a hero. Virtually everyone recognized his heroic act. Barstool Sports was among the media outlets to write about it.
Tate Myre’s achievements on the field and off it will always be remembered because of his courage in facing pure evil.
Tate was reported to have run over an active shooter. He received numerous gunshot wounds while trying to disarm the man.
Let us spread the word about Tate Myre as more information becomes available. He was a hero who sacrificed his life to save many lives.
Tate aspired to play at Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University, Wayne State University, or Texas A&M University from what I can gather. His quote from his post-game interview, “Rain is like Oxford football, tough,” resonates with the type of guy he was. The most gritty of men. Tate made the most selfless sacrifice when he ran after the gunman. We should all remember this as we live our lives.
To rename high school fields after him, a petition was created.
When I say “virtually everyone on the planet” recognized this kid was a hero, I am of course excluding Olbermann from that.
Dave Portnoy, who runs Barstool, initially responded, but decided that it wasn’t worth it.
Yes, I did delete a tweet. This is something I rarely do. I felt wrong for allowing Keith to highjack his relevance. Going to bed.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 2, 2021
Portnoy has it right. Olbermann is not trying to get the spotlight. His illness is actually a mixture of two of today’s most serious illnesses in politics.
First, the obsession with Trump. There are many people who become so obsessed by Trump’s prospect that they can not talk about any other topic. All things must revolve around him. Olbermann is still unemployed but saw a brief revival of Internet fame while Trump was at the helm. But Trump is no longer constantly in front of a camera, in the White House, or really at the forefront of most peoples’ thoughts.
We refer to it somewhat dismissively as “Trump Derangement Syndrome” but it has some deep impacts on public discourse. Some people are so broken by the man’s existence that they now see his shadow around every corner. Yet, they desperatelyTrump needs to be back at the forefront of American politics as this was the most important moment for many of them. They were able to get clicks, social media interaction, and ratings.RequiredIt made them feel more relevant and able to sense his presence.
Tate Myre died saving his classmates’ lives, but guys like Olbermann and the writers at The Daily Beast want the focus to be on Trump and his role in “influencing” the shooting. Trump has to be at the center of it all. Olbermann must go further than that to tell the story about a hero and make an infuriating political attack against Trump. Portnoy and Barstool are nothing but deranged.
But, we’re talking about a guy who was fired more than once for not understanding how to deal with human beings.
Addiction to social media is the second disease. A lot of politics is now centered on what the loudest and most outrageous voices are posting to social media.
To share memes, I use Facebook. Instagram to share pictures of my kids and what I’m cooking. Twitter is a tool I use to build my audience and promote my columns. If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t be on it. It’s toxic. Twitter is more toxic than Facebook or any other social media platform. It’s so easy to fall into a bubble or become part of some social or political hivemind.
Olbermann is another example of a man obsessed with insults and dunks. His Twitter audience craves them. These guys are just like them Countdown’sThe audience was: A bunch of similar-minded trolls that eat this kind of stuff.
But they don’t represent the general public and never really have. The American public really doesn’t like disgusting personal attacks like this. The public wants more civility in public speech. Social media influencers and media personalities are addicted to interactions, the likes, the retweets, replies, and all the rest. They seek the most exposure.
Keith Olbermann deserves our congratulations. All over the globe.
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