NBC Should Fire Phil Griffin

A few thoughts regarding Keith Olbermann’s “indefinite suspension” at MSNBC by Phil Griffin:

I wonder why someone that works as a political commentator would have to report that they have donated money to a campaign when they have kept that donation private and have not campaigned for the person.

If Keith had requested the right to donate, and he was turned down, what would that mean? Would it mean that Phil Griffin gets to decide who is worthy of Keith’s support?

If, on the other hand, this “asking permission” is just a formality, then why have the rule in the first place? If it is meant to keep tabs on who is receiving donations and whether they are being unduly promoted on Keith’s show, I think that is fair.

But Keith never promoted any of these candidates on his program, so he never violated the intent of the rules. I don’t think he should have been suspended over this.

Phil Griffin undoubtedly tried to exert his authority over Keith in a way that violated Keith’s sense of right and wrong, and Keith would have none of it. I’m sure that this is just a power-play by Griffin to put Keith in his place. Keith left ESPN for similar reasons. I hope he stays on MSNBC, but I don’t think that they are worthy of him.

Jed Lewison points out that Griffin has not been even-handed in enforcing this so-called policy.  As long as you donate to a Republican everything is okay:

Politico’s Ken Vogel flags another donation from MSNBC host Joe Scarborough to a Republican candidate, this one made in April of this year for $5,000 to a GOP candidate in Alabama. Combined with his 2006 contribution of $4,400 to a GOP congressional candidate, Scarborough has donated at least $9,400 to Republican candidates as an MSNBC host — more than the amount that led to Keith Olbermann’s suspension.

It’s not just contributions, either: Vogel points out that in August, Scarborough traveled to Alabama to headline a fundraiser for the county GOP where he made his contribution.

Given the obvious double-standard here, Griffin’s decision to suspend Olbermann but not Scarborough seems to be motivated by personal or political factors. After all, Joe Scarborough not only has contributed more money than Keith Olbermann, he’s headlined fundraisers.

It’s implausible that the issue here is that Olbermann didn’t ask permission. First, the policy in question doesn’t appear to apply to MSNBC — it’s for “impartial journalists” on NBC News’ staff, and nobody would claim Olbermann or Scarborough are impartial. They are opinion show hosts. Second, even if the policy did apply, and even if Scarborough did ask permission, it’s clear that these types of donations are permissible at MSNBC. And given that it would be illegal for MSNBC to allow Republican donations but not Democratic donations, there’s no chance that Olbermann was suspended for failing to ask permission to do something that he would have been granted permission to do.

So it’s clear Griffin’s decision was the wrong one and it was motivated by the wrong reasons. But the question remains, how long will it take for him — or the network — to back down?

Daily Kos: Another Scarborough political donation.

So we now know that Scarborough has not only donated to Republicans, but has helped them raise money for their campaigns. He did this while working for MSNBC.  Griffin is looking more and more like someone who lost his temper and lashed out at Keith because he could. Hopefully, he will suffer a great deal of humiliation and shame over this incident.  Hopefully, NBC will send him packing.