Why is Keith Olbermann still on the air? Part III

Bilmon discusses the Keith Olbermann phenomenon today.

It appears that Bush bashing now sells -- not just to the viewers but to the stuffed suits in the corner office:

Olbermann said he hasn't spoken to NBC Chairman Bob Wright or anyone at corporate owner General Electric Co. about his commentaries. No one's asked him to tone things down; in fact, "I've had to calm them down a little bit," he said.
Such is the almighty power of the Nielsen meter.

"As dangerous as it can sometimes be for news, it is also our great protector," Olbermann said. "Because as long as you make them money, they don't care. This is not Rupert Murdoch. And even Rupert Murdoch puts `Family Guy' on the air and `The Simpsons,' that regularly criticize Fox News. There is some safety in the corporate structure that we probably could never have anticipated."

I'm tempted to repeat my favorite line from Casino -- "Always the dollars. Always the fuckin' dollars" -- but Phil Donahue had very good ratings, too:

As I said in Why is Keith Olbermann still on the air? and Why is Keith Olbermann still on the air? Part II there is more to it than the Nielsen meter. The Republican establishment has had it with the Bush/Cheney cabal. The fact that Republican political hack Peggy Noonan supports the new Woodward book only bears that out.