But, in all honesty, I think Jon Stewart's parody of him was spot on, and is probably going to be the image I'm left with.

The description you gave above has long been visible on air, so I can only imagine what it's like behind the scenes.

decline. As much as I've respected him, in the past, I can no longer believe that it's everyone else. At some point, we have to accept that it just might be Keith. It's the curse of genius, oftentimes people skills aren't a strongsuit.

I like Keith but he has a history at the workplace for being difficult. MSNBC and now CURRENT TV. Both were their fault and not Keiths and I am not even mentioning other places he was fired from. Keith can not be the victim in all these scenarios. I think he needs to sort out some issues before he takes another job. His reputation is gonna follow him where ever he goes now. I wish him well because I think he is very smart and taleneted and I respect him for going after the bad guys. I just don't think AL Gore is the bad guy here.

conspiracy. It comes down to the common denominator and the common fulcrum in all these situations is KEITH. I love him to but that may be because I DON'T know him personally. Maybe he needs to go seek therapy and treatment to turn this situation around.

Watch a segment from the new or ANY Bill Moyers show, and then watch a
Keith O segment for comparison to reasonable and engaging journalism and commentary...

Keith- shut up, sit down and take a lesson from the master.

BHN

On edit- I wish Spitzer the very best on taking over the K.O. spot-
I no longer watch him (K.O.) as he seems as unhinged as the talking heads on the right.
Somehow, I think Spitzer's show will be far less like FOX news than Keith's segment.
Hysteria and blow hard views-
Can you imagine that from Bill Moyers? Or Amy Goodman?

BHN

Did Keith lie like fox news?

Guess you prefer the "over the top" delivery of info-tainment personalities.
I am not aware of Keith lying, but I am aware that his style is no different
than many RW explosive hosts.

I prefer Bill because his interviews are NOT about him and he delves deeply
and professionally into stories that matter to me.

Have you actually watched any of his new segments?
They are pretty powerful.

BHN

I wish we had more like Moyers. Altho in the absence of, I'll take a KO. I think Keith appeals to a different sort of audience.

It looks like that's just what he's going to get.

I will miss his show. He's far and away the best anchor on television.

Nice post.

Enjoyed and agreed with the OP but Keith will always have a special place in my heart because I remember that courage, and I remember how many people in his position did NOT have it.

I too love KO

There are rumors, and there is a verifiable body of work. You choose to give them equal value and also too assume he "did something" at Current (without knowledge or proof) to justify their not living up to a contract.

I can't really say I respect you for that

As I said, he has always been a remarkable talent. Unfortunately, remarkable work and a great personality to deal with do not have to go hand in hand.

I have followed his career for years. He has been a number one person as a teevee draw. He has repeatedly been dismissed. Why on earth would any group or person get rid of one of their most popular talents?

Keith is a demanding person. His demanding sees to be demanding that others follow his lead. Any organization has ground rules and will only allow those to be flouted for so long. I believe Keith will not give an inch if he believes something. If that happens to step on people, alienate others, and defy company policies, that is certainly his right. There comes a point when a situation becomes untenable.

Why would Al Gore choose to fire such a high profile personality? Gore is by nature a thoughtful and deliberate person. I don't think he ever acts out of pique or is impulsive.

I stand by my opinion. You have every right not to respect that. I continue to hope that Keith will make it back on air! I will follow him because he is a great voice on the side I believe in. That doesn't mean that I believe that gives him a pass on other things.

If it is proven that he was ill-treated at Current, I will cede the point. That doesn't affect any of his other dismissals or lack of a successful suit then.

Why would I just choose to criticize at a whim a person I admire so greatly in one respect?

you are rational. other posts here are pretty silly. we don't know the background details

I love him and hopefully he will be back on TV soon. The show on currant never seems to have the same quality it had when he was on MSNBC.

SportsCenter has never been as good. MSNBC has some strong personalities, but their seems to be a hole. I hope he makes it again somewhere.

That way his viewers get to enjoy him, and only the people who can stand him will be around him going forward.

He made current better to be sure, but he was still dealing with technical problems.

It's amazing to me how somebody so thoughtful in their views can (apparently) be so thoughtless with those around them.

Let's face it, when a fledgling network even flirts with the prospect of eating a $50 million contract, that speaks volumes...

I forget now if it was President Coolidge or Wilson about whom somebody once said, "He loves people -- just nobody in particular"...

and that when Current TV found out, they fired him. Current does not have to pay out his contract, because Keith violated it by pursuing a new show, and in the end I think Keith knows what's best for Keith. If he gets a one hour show similar to Maher on HBO, it will have much more of an audience than the Current TV gig.

Let's wait and see what really happens before everyone starts talking about personality traits... this is a business folks, involving millions of dollars and legal obligations and contracts... this is a situation where people on both sides make rational decisions, and I think many are speculating about what is really happening behind the scenes.

I remember when people called it the end for Keith when he left MSNBC... and he already had a deal with Current TV. So if the HBO rumor is true... he "left" or got "fired" from Current for the next thing.

he hasn't yet figured out how to manage his own personality in conjunction with his professional relationships. I think his kind of personality needs more independence and less dependence on others. That's not a crime. But he just doesn't know how to deal with being dependent on others. He needs a format where he is as self-sufficient as possible and still reach a wide audience. His only crime is not realizing it and then getting angry about it.

It's not like he's a mysoginist.

You have got to be kidding me. If that's the problem, he's had growing pains for 20 years or more. He is 53 years old and has been on news and sports shows for 30 years.

He should have had a good idea a long time ago what kind of format would best suit him and what type of management structure would work. I think he needs a show where he has carte blanche and a minimum of supervision. In addition, he needs people who he feels comfortable with and vice versa.

Keith cannot expect to join a company with some set rules and expect them to conform to him. He has tried that. It does not end well.

As I have said, I hope he finds that space.

MSNBC it is painful to see that his work history is consistent in both his passion and challenges at his employers.

This is so unfortunate.

He is brilliant. Maybe that explains it. Good luck KO.

Intolerable to the people around them, that is. If you're an author who agonizes over every typo in a published book, or an artist who freaks out if there's a speck on a print, or a musician who demands take after take to get things exactly right, you're just serving your art.

But for the nuts-and-bolts people who have to meet those demands, dealing with somebody like that can be maddening. Their attitude is, "If it's good enough for everybody else, and nobody will ever notice the difference, why isn't it good enough for you?"

The answer from the artist, of course, is that there's no such thing as "good enough." Things are either right or wrong, and if they're wrong they have to be fixed.

I suspect that much of Keith's problem is that he's trying to be an artist in a medium -- TV news -- that doesn't even acknowledge the existence of such creatures.

Thanks for the thread, grits.

MSNBC should never have let him go in the first place.

Since they did, he should have gone straight to radio. I think he would thrive on radio.

"Keith as also been an abrasive and difficult person for people to work with. This includes bosses, co-workers, and others he came in contact with. He can be incredibly kind and incredibly cruel. Some who worked with him refuse to speak of him"

This behavior sounds like what he criticized Imus for when Imus was getting trashed (rightfully) for his sexist, racist comments.

I remember Keith calling him out because, for one thing, he said, he routinely brought the women in the office

to tears, with his verbal abuse.

Now...We're not talking about women in particular here, but what you're saying

sounds a lot like the kind of cruelty he criticized Imus for.

Please don't flame me...I've been a huge fan of Keith's, but it seems clear

that he has some real emotional problems.

Did Current TV simply use Keith to gain attention and higher ratings? They KNEW what they were getting! Yes, Keith injects emotion into his commentary, into his intelligent and incisive reporting, and into his humor....all of which makes his program interesting, as well as informative. He's forceful, honest, and direct: you FEEL his pain, you FEEL his anger, and you FEEL his heart-felt sincerity when he covers a story. And he covers it well. He's never just another talking head! If Keith is absent from Current TV, then I too will be absent from Current TV. For Keith is one of the best- hands down- as evidenced by his outstanding coverage of OWS during the past year. I wish him well, and hope that he is back on the air soon. We need his unique voice and viewpoint!

EXACTLY!!!!

In some ways, this reminds me of what happened to Gilbert Gottfried about a year ago with Aflac regarding his tsunami jokes (from wiki):

Controversy

9/11 joke

During his monologue at a Friars Club roast of Hugh Hefner three weeks after the September 11 attacks, Gottfried joked that he had intended to catch a plane, but couldn't get a direct flight because "they said they have to stop at the Empire State Building first." Audience members responded with hisses and a cry of "Too soon!". Gottfried then abandoned his prepared remarks and launched into the venerable Aristocrats joke, winning back the audience. Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza used Gottfried's monologue as a segment in their 2005 film, The Aristocrats.

Japanese tsunami jokes

In March 2011, Gottfried made jokes on his Twitter account in reference to the earthquake disaster in Japan. He later deleted the tweets and apologized. Aflac, which does 75% of its business in Japan, dismissed Gottfried on March 14, 2011 and announced a casting call for his replacement as the voice of its duck mascot. He was replaced by Daniel McKeague on April 26, 2011.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Gottfried

Now whether or not I personally condone Gottfried on his gallows humor is beside the point; what is interesting to note is that other *outspoken* celebrities such as Howard Stern and Joan Rivers defended Gottfried with Stern citing that Aflac knew what they were getting into:

<snip>

"Howard Stern also defended Gottfried on his show Tuesday.

"Here is the guy that as long as I know has been making jokes... you couldn't ask for a more inappropriate human being," said Stern of Gottfried (via TMZ), who frequently appears on his Sirius XM show. "When the Aflac people hired him to be the duck, they knew...his humor is offensive... There's no reason for him to be fired. But to be fired for offensiveness... he should never have been hired then."

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/howard-stern-joan-rivers-defend-167799

I sometimes wonder if Aflac was so concerned over his offensive remarks, then why wasn't he fired for his 9/11 jokes back in 2001? More than likely it had more to do with the amount of business Aflac does in Japan (75%) than anything else, imo.

I understand that Olbermann is slated to be on the Letterman show this Tuesday. I hope he does have something lined up with say, HBO because his voice and viewpoints will be missed by this viewer and as you stated (and I agree) his continuing coverage of the OWS movement was oftentimes the lone voice of anyone in the media keeping that important movement front and center.