If only ego sublimation were enough

Keith Olbermann was fired from his gig on CurrentTV. Is anyone really surprised? The stage was set for his latest flame-out when Current ousted former CEO Mark Rosenthal last July. Rosenthal, you see, recruited Olbermann to Current and "had a knack for the ego sublimation necessary for effective talent management," per the Hollywood Reporter. And selfdom is the bane of the pointless Merry-Go-Round representing Olbermann's on-air existence. His work history reads like Hamlet. ESPN fired Olbermann in 1997. Fox Sports fired him in 2001 (Rupert Murdoch said: "He's crazy.") After reaching official prima donna status as anchor of MSNBC's "Countdown," that network fired him 2010. The reasons behind Olbermann's trail of burnt bridges are all of apiece. CurrentTV summed it best: He violated the "values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty." Olbermann is his own "Worst Person in the World." I wish he would simply go away. But neurotics like him only leave the klieg lights at gunpoint, rhetorically speaking. So expect to witness another Olbermann flame-out cycle on yet another cable show coming to a TV near you.