Tomorrow night at 7 PM EDT which is 6 PM CDT Keith Olbermann RETURNS, and has he has been missed during this time of trials and tragedies for the poor and middle class.
It is said you have to be a left leaning fringe progressives to like Olbermann, I reject that, I have always been an moderate independent and in most years I have voted a split ticket. Moderate Indpendent to me means I am pro-choice for women rights but anti abortion PERSONALLY!
My voting though might change if the Repbublicans continue to redo our country so the division in the wealth continues to go the way that history shows happened right before the GREAT Depression. What they don’t get is if you do away with the middle class and you have only the rich and the poor workers who become willing to work for wages their family cannnot live on, get medical treatment or education, eventually you will have the very rich jumping from windows on Wall Street. Think back to before 1929 Hoover and the Republicans and the great division in wealth. It took us over a decade to recover. I am now glad that I sat and listen to my family talk about the great depression, how they survive and how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt saved our nation.
Anyway back to what this is about WELCOME BACK TO OUR HOME Keith Olbermann, I am sure I will shed a few tears as I listen to you tomorrow night.
I encourage each of you to tune in and make sure the 225,000 to 250,000 core viewers that Olbermann has always had are there tomorrow night. Tell a neighbor, friend or family member to tune in. The free clinics… back…. the voice to power no matter the party…. back… the voice for the silent majority…. back the voice to keep Medicare (which Texas just privatize so take notice of Rick Perry as he woos the nation…. back…. the voice that we each have a right to live in our birth land…back …… the voice to save Social Security even as it has been gobbled up by the cost of living…. back.
On DirecTV you can watch Keith Olbermann on channel 358, on Comcast Cable channel 107 Times Warner in New York channel 103 in the rest of the country channel 142 Dish Net Work 196, Verizon Fios channel 192, AT &T U=VERSE channel 189. If you have a different form of cabel you can go to http://current.com/shows/countdown/, on the middle of page on the right is a place to put in your zip code and it will tell you how to find Countdown with Keith Olbermann, WOW doesn’t just saying that sound good… If you have Suddenlink and other cable providers they might not offer Current TV you can mount an email demand to have it added to your cable comapany.
Join us and then give us your feedback on Keith Olbermann’s long awaited return to our home.
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The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners. If comments to this or any other articles are not related to the article or does not meet the terms of use for Rose Speaks, they will be removed by the moderators.
Never underestimate the power of talent and friends that are media savvy. After Al Gore with Keith Olbermann held a phone conference call with reporters on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 to announce the coup of getting Olbermann signed on the dotted line; the war of words began with ratings being thrown around on Wednesday February 9, 2011 in the ongoing fracas.
It appears that Comcast in their take over of that other “network” thought they had Keith Olbermann boxed in with a no-compete FOREVER provision of Olbermann’s termination package including a stipulation that NBC Universal had thought that Olbermann was down and out. The no-compete permanent clause is reported to state; “That agreement also stipulates that Olbermann cannot work for any network considered a competitor.” Current TV was not thought of a competitor and was not included. It appears that the former network thought they had confined Olbermann’s talent to just internet or radio in the future. This is a prime example of never understate real talent and that is what Olbermann has “real talent”.
NBC Universal is also giving Current TV and Olbermann better advertising then money can buy with the war of words that Al Gore seems to be basking in shooting shots back and forth between Gore and MSNBC management.
It is rumored that Olbermann will get stock in the company founded by Gore and other friends as well as “TOTAL CONTROL OF HIS OWN CONTENT”, that will not bode well for MSNBC I predict. It is not much to ask for control of one’s own content when being a news or opinion commentator in television or print media. As far back as Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw both insisted on that in contracts. In fact it appears that Brokaw is still having control of the content of NBC Universal and he might have just led his employer down a slippery slope since he began to gun for Olbermann and worked behind the scenes to push Olbermann out.
You know I hated Current TV when it premiered on DirecTV because it replaced the only international news channel that DirecTV had on air. I am feeling all warm and fuzzy about them today as I am sure many of you do as well.
Per the Hollywood Reporter it is reported that “In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Olbermann described the show as an improved, amplified and stronger version of the show that I just did at my previous network… …Olbermann said yesterday that he would address his time there at some point in the future. MSNBC had no comment.”
Current TV network has seen the real talent that Olbermann can bring personally but also as the new chief of news officer Olbermann will finally get the control to turn a network around as Tim Russert did for the cable part of NBC News during his life time. Current TV has already set up a production team to work with Olbermann before he premiers in late May on the network.
The Hollywood Reporter went on to report that Al Gore stated that “Among his many talents, he has an eye for what works, what doesn’t ,who would be good on his show and potentially doing other shows. We’re going to let that evolve. He’s always done that. He was more responsible than anyone else by far in making the brand of the network he most recently worked at and. before that he was more responsible than anyone else for Sports Center, the heart of heart of ESPN. So he knows how to do this.”
Al Gore and Current TV did not miss the part of Olbermann being the center tent poll for an MSNBC tent as it appears those programs in prime time begins to dwindle in audience; well all but Rachel Maddow who was mentored by Olbermann. Current Media CEO Mark Rosenthal for Current TV sees an opportunity in what he described as the white space between “scripted reality” found on networks including History and Bravo and the hard news networks including CNN, MSNBC and Fox New Channel.
The L. A. Times has reported that the war of words continue today with Al Gore ruffling the peacock feathers by saying; Current TV, which has about 60 million subscribers in the U.S per Gore who said; “We have more subscribers today than MSNBC had when Keith Olbermann began working for them in 2003”. MSNBC, whose management had clashed repeatedly with Olbermann prior to his exit, cried foul, with a spokesman citing Nielsen Co. data that shows MSNBC had 78.4 million subscribers in 2003. Alerted to the network’s claim, an Olbermann rep fired back by pointing to “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network & Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present,” a commonly used reference book, which says that only 74% of those subscribers were in the U.S., which could conceivably give Current a slight edge. I don’t know what he’s talking about,” the MSNBC spokesman replied.” DO WHAT??? MSNBC does not know how to read the ratings directories?
I would imagine some top meetings are going on in the penthouse offices of the new Comcast control mega media presence of basically WTF and how did this happen. If Olbermann brings “only” the 300,000 people who supported him with the petition that got him back on MSNBC in 48 hours after they had tried to push him out in November 2010 it will hit MSNBC hard not to mention once the million viewers that Olbermann had find him on Current TV. Remember it was a no no for Olbermann to contribute to political campaigns but the darling of MSNBC management Joe Scarborough had a full backing for donating to Republican campaigns even though Scarborough had given more money and over a longer period of time. Al Gore addressed that during the news announcement saying he believed it was Olbermann’s right to contribute to those candidates he wanted to as long as there is full disclosure Gore stated in his opinion it was a first amendment right
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I am having visions of Ted Turner dancing in my head like Christmas here and when the news network in the past said his cable news dream would never make it… Ah that would be CNN today.
I have weaned off of MSNBC and count on Anderson Cooper and his 360 program nightly for my news. I must admit I do still watch Maddow on late night repeats because I like what she says but by doing it this way MSNBC does not get to count the viewer ship as it is not in prime time.
We will be following this carefully with as much attention as we can give to Olbermann and Gore as I predict other blogs will do. Olbermann is not only the voice of progressives but those of us moderate independents that just want to learn and then make up our own minds. Then add that to the free clinics and the real death panels that Olbermann became the voice for and this is going to be fun folks. Gore and Olbermann, wow the 2012 political campaigns seem to be a shining new beacon for the election coverage in our home.
In other updates about Rose Speaks.com, we are changing some of the site to make it more friendly to search for downloads of paperwork on high profile trials we cover and that will be implemented this weekend we hope. However for now you can find the downloads in our Download Section. We have also updated the Michael Jackson downloads yesterday and those can be found on the Jackson page of the site.
I have been sick the last couple of weeks and I so appreciate you all reaching out personally to ask how I was doing, I am always touched that people who will never meet me still care about any turn in my health. As I was sick I watched a lot of television and have been mesmerized by the Egypt youth movement of a revolution and doing it without force but in peaceful means. I will be doing articles of my journey watching this from half a world away in a series called; “Remember my name. If I die here tonight, you will tell our story.”
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I was working on the computer, probably on my family tree Friday, January 21, 2011, and had MSNBC on in the background waiting for Keith Olbermann and Friday night with James Thurber, which Ken loved.
When “Count Down” with Keith Olbermann came on I watched but continued at the computer, turning to watch certain segments. Then the world of broadcast changed with Olbermann saying something like “Next this will be the last night of Countdown, more about that when I return”, cut to commercial break. I was stunned, was he changing the name of his show, what?? I never in a million years expected to hear what he said when he came back. I was stunned, looking at Ken and saying WTF???
Well we have found out some of that over the last two days as well as a lot of hype of being fired, quitting, Tom Brokaw, being a lefty, having problems with the powers to be, believing he was all omnipotent, wanted to go back to sports, wanted to be a comedy writer a lot of things spinning out there, but here are a few “truths” .
MSNBC was a third place cable news network never getting traction, we would watch for a few minutes and then always go back to CNN, love Anderson Cooper and 360 there and got my two hours of news a night from his format. Then in 2006, I had MSNBC on for some reason perhaps it was destiny and I listened to Olbermann’s first Special Comment and I cried. Here was a guy talking truth to power, and like Valerie Plame and her husband Ambassador Joe Wilson. I feared Olbermann would be silenced by the Bush regime, or as his nickname in Texas goes “shrub” .
Why was this important?? Because like other greats before him, Walter Conkrite, who I idolized and he truly was the most trusted man in America and then Tom Brokaw of which I watched every night with some “Meet the Press” with Tim Russert. What made all of these newsman great to me was that each controlled their own content. Cronkite broke what the Viet Nam War was really about and with that courage of Cronkite the war ended. As Nixon said; “If Cronkite says it is over, then it is over”. I don’t remember Brokaw doing much of that Bryan Williams did more with his coverage of Hurricane Katrina and taking up for those in the Super Dome that he had spent the night with as other media began to slam them as “just the pour and the unruly”. Russert had control of the whole news department in both NBC and MSNBC as Browkaw had with NBC and Cronkite had with CBS. These titans knew that success depended on being able to speak the truth when you felt strongly about something. “Control of content”, something every successful commentator has had. That is what made Olbermann climbed and taking MSNBC with him, he controlled the content of his special comments and wow did they deliver a punch.
We have often said we are moderate independents, that silent majority here in politics, no real voice out there and not aligning with anyone, but when Olbermann took on the Regime we were govern — all of us knew this was special, this could be career ending for Olbermann, but it needed to be said. He pulled MSNBC out of third place and propelled them into 2nd place leaving CNN behind in the dust so to say. There was finally a voice not just for progressives or bleeding heart liberals, but to all of us who wanted our country back, and believed that could happen.
Tom Brokaw needs to retire and go to Wyoming or Montana like he promised he would, but no, he is still powerful, thought all cable news as unneeded and refused to appear on MSNBC, he was a dinosaur and wanted to hang on to that era; although never doubt he had total control of his content and still does it appears as well as others content. We have learned that Brokaw is more powerful in retirement then what any of us knew, it was not the regime in power we needed to worry about taking a new and clear voice as Olbernmann down, it would be someone we all trusted at one time, Browkaw and his lingering power
It was Tim Russert who saw the vision of cable news for NBC via the vehicle of MSNBC and he began to appear and encouraged others from the NBC side of News to appear, eventually even Brokaw appeared on election nights. Dan Abrams totally saw the future and reformatted MSNBC before he was canned.
At the end of Olbermann’s nightly commentary of events that he found of interest that day; Olbermann said “Goodnight and Good Luck”, from Edward R. Murrow. There are many prestigious awards worth more on the mantle of accolades and there are multiple Murrow awards given out every year, too many to even list or remember. Olbermann prized his Edward R, Murrow award though more than any other award he might have been given. Murrow spoke truth to power and it cost him his whole career. He unmasked the witch hunt of the 50’s under McCarthy and lifted a veil of fear that had gripped this country after WWII. Murrow spoke truth to power and McCarthy lost his power, was unmasked for what he was and ended that regime. Murrow paid with his whole career being taken off news and put on some Sunday night Live interview show and then faded out into what those in power in the media hoped would be oblivion.
Walter Cronkite worked after his retirement on leveling the campaign field seeing cable news as a vehicle to help reform political campaign financing. He felt with 24 hours of cable that each candidate could be assured of equal time and by that would get the powerful corporations and lobbyists out of our politics which would give it back to the voter, and prevent a Corpocracy as even Thomas Jefferson used to warn the country to beware of and not to allow that to happen. I didn’t know that about Cronkite until his death but that made him even more the most trusted man in America in my eyes. Russert saw potential in cable news and supported the then fledgling MSNBC and believed in Olbermann. Russert understood “control of one’s content” and the power that gave a voice. Hell even Fox “News” gives O’Reilly control of content., but that is for another day.
Brokaw and Comcast won and we lost a valuable voice on Friday night and the cable network will bow to the gods that be and my respect for Brokaw has been taken forever, leaving only a bad taste in my mouth. Something I thought could never happened until the last two months cumulating in this past 3 days.
Take Action has asked those of us who put 350,000 signatures in less than 48 hours, to sign a Thank you to Olbermann On a petition to bring Olbermann back in November which was successful and with that the people speaking we put into motion both good and bad. Good in that we have a voice and the internet has leveled the playing field a bit, but also unknowingly we set into motion the eventual take down of Oblermann by Browkaw and his lords in the main offices. When you take risks, you make powerful enemies and those with Brokaw at the helm was determine to silence the “silent majority” and the progressives who loved Olbermann. Brokaw needs to fade away and perhaps as MSNBC goes down in the flames of ratings and those few advertising dollars that all networks and shows fight for diminish, it will be Brokaw who fades into obscurity.
Keith Olbermann or KO as he is called will be back, it is rumored he cannot come back on air for many months because of the non-competition clause of most contracts which are bought out and have as a condition for several months if not for the whole two years left on Olbermann’s contract. 15 million dollars in a buyout gives a lot of credence to the no compete clause. Olbermann it appears can be heard as a sportscaster or on radio or he can become an internet powerhouse, I hope the latter happens fast and during the time he has to remain off of the air. I can see something equal to the Huffington Post, say Olbermann’s View, with Olbermann giving those who work at some endeavor like that, control of their content, and if he does those who want to participate will line up to sign on, and Olbermann will make a ton of money along the way.
I will not be watching MSNBC again, even though I wish Rachel Maddow only the best, because at the end of day the little guys like us citizens can only control the media in ratings which equals advertising dollars and the money advertisers pay and that my friends gives us POWER.. That POWER we must each claim right now if we believe in freedom of speech, freedom of the press and those eloquent enough to make it in the media should have control of “their content and editorial opinions”. The ACLU says it best when they go head to head to protect that right for someone that makes me ill, because if we do not protect that person’s right then it will end for all of us. We can see that now in the censorship of American news and opinion shows and the difference in the U. K. media and Canadian media. How ironic that which our founding fathers fought so hard for to keep us free, is given more in the motherland of the U. K. then in America.
I encourage each of you to sign the thank you that is up on line at Bold Progressive site and watch David Shuster’s video from this morning’s CNN “Reliable Sources” He sums it up great.
I close with two additional things:
1. What I wrote on the thank you petition : “To Keith, Edward R Murrow spoke truth to power, you knew that and you knew what that cost him and yet you followed him and spoke truth to power, on both sides of the spectrum.
The internet has a way of making the stage more even today. I know you will be back and a million of us will be waiting for you. Advertising dollars are tight these days, and in that is power.
Last night as you said goodbye I was shocked and then when you said “Goodnight and Good Luck” I saw a class act. I will not be watching MSNBC again, looks like CNN is going to attack a lot of us until we learn where you will again appear.”
2. However much more importantly is what Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter as the press of his day slammed him unmercifully: “If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
Join with us and the growing outcry and boycott MSNBC, in numbers, “We the people” still have a lot of power if we use that power wisely. Remember viewership equals advertising dollars, a simple rule that has a lot of power.
Be sure to participate in our COMMUNITY , get the most out of the site by learning your way around in the community where you can discuss things about the cases in a debate area of the site.
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The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners. If comments to this or any other articles are not related to the article or does not meet the terms of use for Rose Speaks, they will be removed by the moderators.
Subtitle: Or is it an Excuse as Comcast gets Ready to Come on Board?
Late Friday afternoon, November 5 2010, CNN broke the news that Keith Olbermann had been suspended indefinitely without pay for making three political contributions without the “approval” of MSNBC president Phil Griffin. However by today, November 7, 2010 that is not holding water and the backlash is something Comcast, GE, and MSNBC probably never imagined.
If you want a story to die, you release it on Friday afternoon when no one will notice and then it dies over the weekend. Politicians do this all of the time, but this time the Keith Olbermann dispute is gaining steam and putting Griffin in a no-win situation, or as much of that kind of situation you can put a rich dude with a title in.
I watched Rachael Maddow on Friday night to hear the “most” that MSNBC is going to allow to be said on their network… “Allowed”??? Yes they have the final say in what will be on their network, like it or hit the door.
As Thomas Jefferson once said; “[A despotic] government always [keeps] a kind of standing army of news writers who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, [invent] and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true.” Jefferson also had confidence which today rests with our computers and Google of saying; “I am persuaded that the good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army. They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves. The people are the only censors of their governors, and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution.”
After that what did I do? I went to my favorite of “let Google be your friend” and began to hunt for my truth. What I found out there is amazing, confusing and should scare all of us. First Olbermann was suspended for giving political contributions without permissions from his overlords. By today it is because he would not apologize on the air, not that any of us would know why he was doing that, nor would we care. Griffin might be changing to this because over the weekend it is getting more difficult for Griffin to find employees that have not given as in no host to take over for Keith on Monday, so the story has again changed to the apology angle.
Joe Scarborough of “Morning Joe” with nutso co-host, Mika Brzezinski, (I say nutso because she is), and pundit Pat Buchanan, who guarantees a channel change in our home when he begins to spew his hate on air. Besides what Buchanan has given while being on MSNBC it was found that WAY back in 2006, Scarborough had given the maximum $4,200 contribution to the Oregon congressional race of close friend Derrick Kitts. On Friday MNSBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines put out a statement that said; “That contribution was made in accordance with (network) policy. Joe sought permission in advance. Since 2007 we have recommitted ourselves to following these important standards.”
That lasted about four hours before it was uncovered by POLITICO, the same organization that reported the Olbermann donations; found that statement was also FALSE. Scarborough made a $5,000 contribution in April 2010 to Alabama state legislative candidate John Merrill, who said the two have been close friends since they attended the University of Alabama together. Merrill had no real Democratic opponent.” So of course he needed Joe’s contribution, Joe tell us it anit’ so? That caused nutso Mika Brzezinski to give an interview to POLITICO, not something anyone is doing that works for MSNBC on behalf of Olbermann by the way. Mika basically said, Joe this is MY JOB, throw you long time friend under the bus, tell them he LIED. Her exact quote was in part; “That contribution should have been in the name of Scarborough’s wife, Susan Scarborough. The Scarboroughs expect John Merrill will amend his campaign report to accurately reflect that reality. If he does not, I will recommend they file an ethics complaint against him.” Brzezinski also challenged Merrill’s recollection of having brought Scarborough to Tuscaloosa for an August 2009 fundraiser for the county Republican Party, which Merrill said “was unbelievably successful. We raised a ton of money that we used to help local candidates.” Mika jumped on that to spin it as; “That event was billed as a tribute to Gov. Bob Riley on his retirement from politics, any suggestion that Joe Scarborough went to the University event to raise money for a political party is false. Sadly, many politicians try to elevate their standing by exaggerating their connection to Joe. This is one of those cases.” Yea Mika like unknown pundits wannabes like you elevate yourself in all of this.
That said it appears that Mika has the power to make a politician change his “story”, go figure Contrary to a VERY different interview with POLITICO earlier on Friday, I suggest you read that interview at POLITICO. Mika (cough cough seems to think she has the power she has claimed) cause on Friday evening, Merrill issued a chastened statement to POLITICO asserting that the $5,000 donation — his biggest individual donation of the campaign — was “from Susan Scarborough … I am very appreciative of her support.”
Mika shut up and sit down. We know your ratings are in the crapper but frankly I liked you better when you showed up at work, with curlers in your hair, very little make-up and chomping your breakfast on camera. I still turned you off though and even if by accident you and Morning Joe are on my television in the early morning hours by accident, WELL let’s just say thank God for quick remote controls. That said I would be doing this of you so think before you are fast to throw someone else under the bus, you might need support one day.
There is a much bigger story here that is probably closer to the truth, when POLITICO wrote that the decision was made by Steve Burke, a Bush fundraiser, who will be placed at the helm of MSNBC and other NBC companies after the buy-out of NBC Universal. Burke has not made any secret it appears of not liking Olbermann, and in previous interviews when asked about Olbermann’s style of reporting said to ask him again in six to twelve months. Perhaps this is a preview?
POLITICO corrected that error with the following: “UPDATED: We have been notified that Comcast has not yet officially taken over MSNBC/NBC Universal. Although Comcast has tentatively finalized a deal to purchase a majority stake in NBC, Comcast awaits final approval of the takeover from the Justice Department and from the Federal Communications Commission. A statement from Comcast reads: “The joint venture between Comcast and GE has not yet received regulatory approval. Comcast is not in any way involved with decisions made currently by NBC News.” However, once Comcast gains final approval from federal regulators to move forward, Comcast COO Steve Burke, a Bush fundraiser, will be placed at the helm of MSNBC and other NBC companies. Our original post inaccurately asserted that Comcast’s Burke was involved in the decision to fire Olbermann. We apologize for the error”.
All of this said and done what causes me the most alarm and this fiasco has I hope brought to the forefront for a lot of us is that Comcast has a pending deal with NBC Universal to buy them for $80 billion, that is right BILLION, dollars and has been moving on getting permission to do that with the Justice Department and the FCC. The why they need permission is what shocked me. With the purchase of NBC Universal Comcast will control 25% of what all of us see on TV. Let that sink in they will control ONE-QUARTER of what is available for every watcher of television. Now their deal is a sure thing to go through because they bought the votes with $32 million dollars in contributions to the best politicians for sale out there.
Twenty, [20], public interest, industry and consumer groups have announced a coalition to oppose the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC Universal, citing its potential harm on competition and consumer choice. “As the nation’s largest cable company, the largest Internet service provider, the NBC broadcast networks, owner of the local NBC and Telemundo stations in some of the nation’s largest media markets, owner of dozens of national, regional and local news, entertainment and sports cable networks, and owner or part-owner of some of the most heavily visited Web sites on the Internet, the merged entity will exert a degree of power unknown in our nation’s media history,” the coalition’s letter said. “That degree of concentrated power is fundamentally threatening to the public interest. Before allowing such a sea-change to take place, these impacts must be fully studied and understood – and the threats must be mitigated through energetic applications of the government’s regulatory authority.”
As a side note but one to pay attention to is Comcast is anti net neutrality as in they want you to pay to find sites like ours or block small sites altogether and to slow down both the ability to get to sites. , savetheinternet.com explains that companies like Comcast want “to be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow and which won’t load at all. They want to tax content providers to guarantee speedy delivery of their data. — while slowing down or blocking services offered by their competitors. These companies have a new vision for the Internet. Instead of a level playing field, they want to reserve express lanes for their own content and services — or those of big corporations that can afford the steep tolls — and leave the rest of us on a winding dirt road.”
In closing I want to quote two more great insights to all of this:
Russell Simmons’ op-ed at the Huffington Post.com in saying not only will he pay those pesky three contributions made by Keith but says what many of us feel. “Keith Olbermann has given voice to the voiceless, sanity to the madness, truth where lies are now a daily part of our political discourse. … If he goes we lose the Edward Murrow of our generation, the voice that spits truth to power and vested interests.”
Secondly another quote by Jefferson; “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter…”
I also want to say that Olbermann puts his money and time in what he believes. When he saw Free Clinics in action in poor areas he took notice. He raised all of our awareness and promoted and help fund much larger Free Clinics to those in need. So for what everyone else is doing he is now punished and perhaps will not return to Count Down, if he does then whether on the right or left we all lose.
So with this being Rose Speaks.com first ever political or save anyone editorial here are the places you can go to make sure whether you love or hate Keith Olbrmann that his voice not be silenced for if he is silenced for MSNBC to become a baby “Fox” then who is next and when it is us who will be left to speak up?
Yes I have joined all of the efforts and in disclosure I gave to Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign a very small amount, but sometimes those small amounts or the lone voice can get traction and help.
Here is a sample you can send when signing the Petition and is what I added to my signature: “Friday, November 05, 2010 This is the last night for me to watch MSNBC until Keith is back. Only watched tonight to hear what Rachel Maddow had to say. GOOD BYE Mmmmmmmm where will your advertisers go, perhaps CNN where your viewers will go?”
Yes I love Rachel and think I would like Lawrence O’Donnald but sometimes you just have to watch reruns so MSNBC is hurt in the only way that matters, viewers which equal advertising dollars. Keep the heat of MSNBC and say, “you can’t hide something this unfair by saying it late on Friday afternoon, we are smarter than that”.
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The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners. If comments to this or any other articles are not related to the article or does not meet the terms of use for Rose Speaks, they will be removed by the moderators.
This video is in Mike native tongue of Armenian. I was sent the translation but I believe it needs none. The music and images speak volumes to our hearts. This song was written by one of Mike’s relatives, the number one song composer in Armenia.
Mike changed lives, he gave so much in his nineteen years and he continues to change lives daily. I can’t help but stop to think how much more Mike had to give all of us if he had lived. The world is a better place for Mike being here but it could have been so much more if Mike had not been murdered.
In my communications and talks with Mike’s family, today they still speak of Mike in the current tense. “Rose you know my boy will be twenty this Friday”, “My wife everyday sees something she wants to buy for Mike knowing he will love it”. The current tense and the frozen in time is what caused tears to flow freely as I listened to his parents. We pledge to continue to remember Mike and to support his loved ones in their quest for justice.
The investigation and charging the people who killed him over a text message has stalled. It is easy to say, “hey just one more of many murders here in L. A. county, we just don’t have the funds or the man hours to hunt these people down or build the case it would need to convict them”. If anyone deserves that extra time, care, funds to solve this and bring those to justice who did this, it is Gombert, Mike, Yepremya.
I hope each of you will contact the media in your home town to ask why? If not for Mike then who in our country is deserving of justice? Contact the national media, Keith Olbermann at Countdown@msnbc.com, Rachael Maddow at Rachel@msnbc.com and Lawrence O’Donnell at thelastword@msnbc.com of MSNBC, their email address, blogs and twitter accounts can be found on the MSNBC pages. Contact Anderson Cooper of CNN or Dr. Santa Gupta and ask if not Mike then who deserves justice. For once I say contact Fox News if you have a favorite person you watch on their news. Contact Jerry Brown’s office in Sacramento California, and the D. A. for Los Angeles County. It takes but just a minute to say that Mike gave so much too so many and if not for Mike then who is deserving of justice in our country?
When you think life is overcoming you, or you are angry at someone, put it in the larger picture and realize what most of us face everyday is nothing compare to what Mike’s parents and loved ones face daily.
I leave you with this picture of Mike and his parents in such a happy time, and a list of how Mike continues to impact all of our lives and that his maturity at nineteen will impact our lives for the better forever. Be an organ donor.
Each of these people listed as recipients of Mike’s gift as a donor was near death and hanging on praying for a miracle. Each was at the top of the organ donor list because of their heath deterioration and the need for an organ or tissue to literally give them the gift of life.
Gombert’s [Mike] left kidney was transplanted into a 47 year old woman in southern California. She has four children and several grandchildren. With her gift of life, she no long needs dialysis.
A 51 year old woman in southern California is the recipient of Gombert’s right kidney. She is married and the mother of seven children. This woman started dialysis in 2001 and she is now free from dialysis.
Gombert’s liver was transplanted into a 63 year old woman in southern California who is the mother of seven children. We are told that she is now doing well and can look forward to a return to health.
Gombert’s heart was transplanted into a 44 year old southern California man. We are told that he has a degree in computer science and that following his transplant, he is now doing well.
In addition Gombert’s tissue in the form of bone, skin and veins is a gift of immeasurable value as there are many thousands of people waiting for a tissue transplant that will enable them to return to a normal life. The bone tissue can restore quality of life to those that may have suffered traumatic injuries, cancerous tumors or degenerative disease. Gombert’s skin tissue can be used to fill soft tissue loss from cancer or trauma, restore bladder control in the treatment of incontinence and in periodontal surgery to correct gingival defects. His veins can help patients suffering from peripheral vascular disease. Many of these patients are at risk for amputation and this is the only remaining alternative.
A Letter From one of the recipients of Mike’s gift of life:
“I am now able to walk again and I am no longer on dialysis. I have improved so much. My seven children, twenty-five grandchildren and twenty two great grandchildren are all organ donors today and all give blood the gift of life often. With this experience, we have learned a lot. My family and I have learned that we should help others. The gift of life you have given to us has changed our lives and has made us realize each of us owe so much to others, we must all be organ donors.”
On New Year’s Day on the Donate Life’s float, themed “Seize the day”, in the Rose Parade Mike will be honored for the gift of life he so unselfishly gave to others in his death. There will be a single rose and a heart felt message from his family to the world.
From a Friend of Mike’s a Beautiful poem:
I wish heaven had a phone so I could hear your voice again: .
Thought of you today, but that is nothing new.:
I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too.:
I think of you in silence, I often speak your name.:
All I have are memories and pictures in frames.:
Your memory is a keepsake,…from which I’ll never part….:
God has you in his arms, I have you in my heart.:
Stop for just a moment today to think and pray for Mike’s family.
Mr. and Mrs. Yepremyan, Thank you for your son who cared about others, you have changed our lives forever.
If not Mike, then who deserves justice in our country?
The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners. If comments to this or any other articles are not related to the article or does not meet the terms of use for Rose Speaks, they will be removed by the moderators.
From 1961 to 1981 Walter Cronkite came into my home every night and my parents trusted him totally. If Cronkite said it, then it was true. We, like many American homes, believed he was “the most trusted man in America”.
There has been much said about his passing and what he stood for. For my family, he was the voice for middle America and he was the most trusted man in America. We had a black and white television and when he came on, homework stopped, dishes were left to be washed later, my dad’s newspaper was laid to the side and as many families, we stopped for thirty minutes as a family and got the news of the day.
Cronkite came from a line of journalists in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow, who in the 50’s, produced a series of TV news reports that helped lead to the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy and thus the end of a time of terror where all of Hollywood feared being labeled a communist and put on a “black list” if they failed to report on others as communists following WWII. McCarthyism became it’s own term in the 1950’s because McCarthy cashed in on American’s fear thus he was able to lead his own reign of terror in the U. S. Senate. Does this sound familiar with the fear tapped into by political leaders following September 11, 2001?
On July 7, 1952, the term “anchor” was coined to describe Cronkite’s role at both the Democratic and the Republican National Conventions, which marked the first nationally-televised convention coverage. He also expanded evening news from 15 to 30 minutes on September 2, 1963, making Cronkite the anchor of American network television’s first nightly half-hour news program.
Cronkite carried us from the heights of landing on the moon to the lows of multiple assassinations in the 1960’s. All of us remember exactly where we were when Cronkite, who showed emotion as he seldom did saying journalists were about reporting, but that day there was a tear in his eye and his voice broke as he told the nation that John F. Kennedy had been killed by an assassin in Dallas Texas, my home town. Cronkite carried us through those horrible days that followed… the burial of President Kennedy, watching a young widow with two small children… and even in that he taught us history; pointing out that the same funeral bier held Kennedy’s casket, which rested on the same catafalque that had supported Lincoln’s bier. So even in the public mourning of a nation Cronkite taught us history, explaining that Jacqueline Kennedy had President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral researched and based her own “blue print” on that, for her fallen husband, President Kennedy’s, public funeral. Cronkite taught us history from the East Room to the Capital Rotunda to the horseless rider with a boot turned backward to show a fallen hero. We cried as a nation and it was Cronkite that placed the historical events in perspective for us.
On June 6, 1964 Cronkite did a special report called “D-Day +20 and brought Retired General and former president Dwight D. Eisenhower out of retirement and to return to his former Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) headquarters for an interview with Cronkite.
Cronkite brought us many reports of the ever changing times from 1962 to 1981, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. He brought us the news of “Bloody Sunday” that started on March 7, 1965, where we saw 600 civil rights marchers attacked by state and local police with billy clubs and tear gas. These were our fellow Americans and most of us thought about it, followed it via Cronkite and a few of us feared that could be us. On March 9, 1965 the civil rights marchers tried again and were attacked and again it was Walter Cronkite that brought it into our homes. Cronkite brought us the news from March 21, 1965 thru March 26, 1965 as the marchers made the 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery Alabama with a civil rights leader named Martin Luther King Jr. at the front of the line of marchers. The Selma to Montgomery marches marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement and Walter Cronkite never failed us in his objective coverage, again all in black and white televisions with families like mine around the country gathered in front of the televisions with their parents telling, as mine told me, we were witnessing history. There was Governor George Wallace, who in 1962 marked the tone for what was to come in Alabama during his 1962 inauguration saying: “In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”. We remember Wallace standing at the doors of the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963 to stop desegregation as two Afro-Americans, Vivian Malone and James Hood, were escorted to the doors by federal marshals in a confrontation we all feared would turn into more blood shed. Walter Cronkite brought us that, as he did Martin Luther King’s speech at the Washington D. C. mall to a crowd of over a million people. For the Civil Rights movement would not be stopped and like many times in our countries history we grew, we changed, and Cronkite was there every evening or on assignment telling us objectively what was happening but also reassuring us.
The democratic convention in 1968 was one of the other times he allowed emotions to take over for a few seconds and brought Americans to know of the riots at the convention and that the police even entered the convention and began to rough up newsmen. It was Cronkite who turned and had the cameras show us as he called the police “hoodlums”. We had lost another potential great leader in June 1968 when Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles California. The late 50’s and 60’s were turbulent times and Cronkite was there, ending his newscasts with “And that’s the way it is…”
Beginning on January 16, 1980, “Day 50″ of the Iran hostage crisis, Cronkite added the length of the hostages’ captivity to the show’s closing to remind the audience of the unresolved situation, ending only on “Day 444″, January 20, 1981. Something that Keith Olbermann has started doing, is a similar technique with a closing Count Down, counting each day since May 1, 2003 when President George W. Bush declared “mission accomplished” in Iraq.
Cronkite also brought us through the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, where, following a trip to Vietnam, Cronkite did in an editorial on the Vietnam War and that was the beginning of the end of the war as President Lyndon Johnson said, “If I have lost Cronkite, I have lost middle America.”
Cronkite brought us the Watergate scandal. When President Richard M. Nixon resigned it was Cronkite who said our Constitution works almost two hundred years after being drawn up by our founding fathers, it worked; and no man, not even a President was above the laws of the U. S. Constitution and we learned history again from Cronkite.
Cronkite brought us the Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 20, 1969, and when the rocket carrying our astronauts launched from Cape Canaveral Florida again in a seldom show of emotion, Cronkite led the nation with the phrase, “Go baby go”. When they landed Cronkite expressed what we all felt with a simple, “Wow”; and again we, [my family], knew he was coming into our home via a black and white television and extending our history lessons from the classrooms at school to our living rooms at home.
There is a Chinese Proverb of “May you live in interesting times”. I have only recently learned was a curse and not a blessing but for us, we have been blessed by living in both interesting times as well as historical times and like the sailing Cronkite so loved in his private life, he also held the helm of the ship of history of the 60’s and 70’s and we learned so much from him.
Go baby, Go, thank you for teaching my generation so much, we will not see the likes of you again Mr. Cronkite and as Mr Cronkite said every night in my home growing up, “That is the way it is; Tuesday, July 21, 2009”.
The expressions in this blog editorial are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.
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