Keith Olbermann's First Week Smooth, Rude And Divisive

Opinion: New Current TV host brings the rancor with him

From David Zurawik, The Baltimore Sun

After four nights of watching Keith Olbermann, there are two things I can say with some certainty.

First, he has put together a first-rate production team. Current TV is producing a more focused and faster moving “Countdown” than MSNBC did. That is either high praise for a relatively little outfit like Current, or a harsh indication of how slipshod things sometimes get editorially and production-wise at MSNBC, especially with some of its, shall we say, less focused hosts like Chris Matthews.

On the other hand, it is premiere week. And while it is great that the production crew was of the caliber where opening-week jitters didn’t make it to the screen, the big test will be whether “Countdown” can maintain the energy level of these first shows a month from now.

But here’s the second thing I believe to be true about “Countdown,” and this one matters far more than a telecast looking good. Olbermann will never see the high road. He is a divisive and uncivil character whose very essence as a performer is rooted in anger, rancor, insults and feuds.

I hoped that working for Al Gore, who at times in his political career exemplified the high road, would alter Olbermann. But that’s not the case so far, and Olbermann is already dragging the prime-time cable TV conversation about politics in the wrong direction.

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