TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

MSNBC suspended Keith Olbermann indefinitely for donating to three political campaigns, which is against their ethics policy.

This policy was undoubtedly included in his contract, so I have no problem with them suspending him based on it. No, Olbermann isn’t being silenced by corporate interests or some other nonsense. If he was, MSNBC itself would be shut down.

I also don’t have any sympathy for Olbermann, because he signed the contract, but more importantly because he’s claimed his show doesn’t advocate liberal policy.

But what I do object to is NBC’s rule. Olbermann very clearly advocated for the Democratic party, and if you couldn’t tell he is a liberal, well. Olbermann’s show did not purport to be a straight-news show, and while I think it’s wrong for MSNBC to use Olbermann, Maddow and Matthews to cover the election and other straight news events, there was never any doubt with his show—he did news commentary, not news. Ethical policies like this do not make news more objective, but instead act to hide bias. We would all be better off if news commentators were open with who they support, rather than retaining a worthless facade of objectivity, because then we can analyze their commentary from a known position. It’s more honest and, besides, no one’s falling for it anyway.