Good night, and good luck

Well, that was abrupt. I had no idea Keith Olbermann had quit until Bill Maher mentioned it on HBO’s Real Time Friday night. A quick check on the iPad confirmed the news. Wow. Once upon a time, MSNBC’s “Countdown” was fresh, brash and witty – and a lot of fun to watch. Sadly, by the end of last year, the show had become a tiresome, shrill and meandering exercise in paint-by-the-numbers partisanship. The thrill was gone. Olbermann, once a charming and intelligent presence, had somehow become an angry parody of himself. His comportment at times was little better than a raving Howard Beale. In effect, Olbermann became his own “Worst Person in the World.” I imagine Bill O’Reilly, his Fox News archenemy, is laughing his head off. That’s gotta hurt. I wish Olbermann well, but I cannot say I’m sorry to see him go.