Olbermania II

I didn't pull any punches in my criticisms of Keith Olbermann. To me, he is/was part of what's wrong with our political discourse. But to be fair, here's the flip side from Steve Benen: "As the dust settles, it's worth emphasizing just how important Olbermann has been in American media in recent years. When he returned to prime time after a four-year absence, Olbermann offered news consumers something we couldn't find anywhere else: honest, sincere, unapologetic liberalism. Olbermann helped shine a light on important stories that were ignored by other shows and other networks, helped give a voice to a perspective that was discounted throughout the mainstream media, picked fights with those who too often went unchallenged, and featured guests who were frequently and needlessly left out of the larger broadcast conversation." I think Benen overstates Olbermann's importance, but I agree he did some useful pioneering work that successors like Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell are better equipped to exploit.