Msnbc TV host Keith Olbermann was suspended indefinitely on Friday for making campaign donations to three Democratic congressional candidates, apparently in violation of NBC News ethics policy.

The announcement came in a one-sentence statement from msnbc TV President Phil Griffin: “I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay.”

The donations were first reported by the Politico website earlier in the day.

Olbermann acknowledged the donations in a statement to Politico, saying he gave the maximum legal donation of $2,400 to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who waged an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate against Tea Party standard-bearer Rand Paul.

majorspark;545936 wrote:Left wing flame outs are always fun to watch.

derek bomar;545949 wrote:...he's a commentator with a certain POV. They pay him to express an opinion. I don't really get why they'd suspend him over this. If he was supposed to be unbiased I could see it...but that isn't what he has ever tried to be, nor what MSNBC pays him to be. Weird.

IggyPride00;545928 wrote:
They want to know how K.O (who has a nightly show) giving $2,400 to Democrats creates a conflict of interest when Rupert Murdoch (who owns an entire network) is able to give a $1 million dollar donation to the Republican Governors Association and no one says a word.

They are really wound up by this right now and it is kind of amusing.

Once again the left tries to create equivalence where none exists.

Manhattan Buckeye;545976 wrote:I remember him with Patrick during the old ESPN days...he seemed pompous then, but it was in a good way, not sure what happened to him but he's turned into a hateful person.

majorspark;546043 wrote:Some chick he banged a few years back went public that he was lousy in bed. The New York Post published her comments as well as a lot of the internet media. Not sure but this could have something to do with it.

IggyPride00;546016 wrote:The crazies are really coming out of the woodwork over this for some reason.

believer;546052 wrote:I'll give you a couple of reasons.

1. Fox News is kicking MSNBC's ass. It's not "coincidence" that MSNBC execs brought this to light after the election. They know KO was helping to bring them down and they used this contribution as an excuse to shit can him...well..."suspend" him. Now they can think about bringing in someone a little less controversial and maybe even make a run at Fox News. Riiiight...

2. The Repubs just killed the Dems in the mid-terms. MSNBC execs apparently got a clear message that it's time to moderate. Do you think they would have "suspended" KO if the Dems had retained power?

derek bomar;546064 wrote:#2 is stupid from a business perspective - CNN is moderate, and they suck (ratings wise)

believer;546075 wrote:True. They should be more like #1.

Writerbuckeye;546092 wrote:If they were more like "#1" wouldn't they just tell everyone to piss off?

believer;546052 wrote:I'll give you a couple of reasons.

1. Fox News is kicking MSNBC's ass. It's not "coincidence" that MSNBC execs brought this to light after the election. They know KO was helping to bring them down and they used this contribution as an excuse to shit can him...well..."suspend" him. Now they can think about bringing in someone a little less controversial and maybe even make a run at Fox News. Riiiight...

2. The Repubs just killed the Dems in the mid-terms. MSNBC execs apparently got a clear message that it's time to moderate. Do you think they would have "suspended" KO if the Dems had retained power?