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In a fit of horrific oversight, I neglected to mention the birthday of a thespian GENIUS.MSNBC says Olbermann, Matthews won't anchor
By DAVID BAUDER
NEW YORK (AP) — MSNBC is replacing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as co-anchors of political night coverage with David Gregory, and will use the two newsmen as commentators.
The change reflects tensions between the freewheeling, opinionated MSNBC and the impartial newsgatherers at NBC News. Throughout the primaries and summer, MSNBC argued that Olbermann and Matthews could serve as dispassionate anchors on political news nights and that viewers would accept them in that role, but things fell apart during the conventions.
Gregory, the veteran Washington hand, will anchor MSNBC's coverage of the presidential and vice presidential debates and election night, network spokesman Jeremy Gaines said Sunday. The change was first reported by The New York Times.
The tipping point appears to have come during the GOP convention when Olbermann criticized MSNBC for showing a Sept. 11-themed video prepared by the Republicans.
MSNBC executives, who had publicly defended their anchors' roles while privately monitoring them throughout the political season, made the change over the weekend after discussions with Olbermann. Despite the controversy around him, Olbermann has been a hero with left-leaning viewers and keyed MSNBC's growth among coveted young viewers.
During her acceptance speech last week, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin talked about the "Washington elite" not accepting her qualifications for the job. Some delegates on the convention floor began chanting, "N-B-C, N-B-C."
Olbermann began to have difficulty keeping his opinions in check, or simply stopped trying.
He sarcastically dismissed GOP pundit Pat Buchanan on the air after Buchanan said the Republicans had been enlivened by the entrance of a conservative Republican.
"Those reading US Weekly with the picture of her and her youngest daughter with the word `scandal' written across it won't be so happy," Olbermann said.
He expressed little sympathy at another point when GOP anger at rumors over the Internet about Palin were being discussed.
"We'll see if people feel sorry for unfounded rumors on the Internet," he said. "If that's the case, Senator Obama's probably standing up and cheering and waiting for people to feel sorry for him."
Perhaps most embarrassing, Joe Scarborough was discussing positive developments in John McCain's campaign at one point when Olbermann was heard on an offstage microphone saying: "Jesus, Joe, why don't you get a shovel?"
Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," got in another nasty on-air exchange with MSNBC reporter David Shuster, and Matthews snapped at Olbermann on-air when it appeared Olbermann was criticizing him for talking too much.
All the drama made MSNBC a punch line when top NBC anchor Brian Williams appeared on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" last week. "Is there no control?" host Jon Stewart asked him. "Is it Lord of the Flies?'"
A sheepish Williams said that every family has a dynamic of its own.
"But does MSNBC have to be the Lohans?" Stewart said.
Olbermann was in Denver during the Democratic national convention, but performed his co-hosting duties for the GOP convention in a New York studio. NBC President Steve Capus said the decision was not political, that Olbermann had been sent back to anchor coverage of Hurricane Gustav.
MSNBC's decision comes just before Olbermann's "Countdown" show is set to air, on
Monday, his interview with Barack Obama. That will put Olbermann in direct competition with his nemesis, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, who interviewed Obama last week and is airing a portion of it Monday in the same 8 p.m. EDT time slot.
It was a big to-do. but wasn't posted here. There was recent news that Belgian (if you could call it that, as the company is rather mysterious and does not really have a "concrete" home office) beer giant InBev has purchased Anheuser-Busch for 52 billion (with a 'b') dollars. Madness."American Originals: Budweiser" taps into the beer industry, as CNBC reveals how Anheuser-Busch cultivated its Budweiser brand to remain a leader even as it was losing market share. CNBC gained unprecedented access in order to show viewers how Budweiser executives built the brand and how they respond to one of their most challenging issues yet: how to battle relentless competition from exotic brands from overseas and microbreweries as well as favorite local brands and other national beers. The fate of the last of the independent American beer brands is at stake and CNBC shows you what is being done to maintain market share lead.
<---Glacier National Park, Montana. Part of the Gordons's Summer 1999 vacation extravaganza.Sat Jul 12, 4:21 PM ET
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' new series celebrating America's national parks and detailing their history will air in fall 2009, PBS said Saturday.
"The National Parks: America's Best Idea," is a 12-hour, six-part film that traces the origins and growth of the national parks system over 150 years.
The series will feature Burns' trademark blend of archival photos, interviews and what PBS called "breathtaking images" of the national parks system. Tom Hanks, Andy Garcia and John Lithgow are among the actors who lend their voices to historical figures in the series. The narrator is actor Peter Coyote.
Those who fought to preserve the parks saw in them a "visual, tangible representation of God's majesty," Burns said in a statement released by PBS at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.
The series details the crass opportunism as well as the lofty ideals that became part of the national parks story, Burns said.
"The National Parks," produced by Florentine Films and public TV station WETA Washington D.C., is directed by Burns and produced by him and writer Dayton Duncan, who wrote a companion book for the series.
Burns, among the nation's highest-profile documentarians since his series "The Civil War" created a sensation, has agreed to air his work exclusively on PBS until 2022, the network said last year. His other films include "The War," a 14-hour series on World War II, and "Baseball," an 18 1/2-hour series on the sport's history.
He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion; he hath indeed bettered expectation than you must expect of me to tell you how.
What does it say when Kimberly and Chris get all weepy and sniffle like ninnies every time we watch anything related to the death of Tim Russert? Watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night, the collective House of Gordon wept somewhat silently, oftentimes not, in front of the TV. Hell, I'll say it. We cried.
This was the culprit:
We are not particularly religious people. We eschewed religion once we applied common sense and scientific analytical thinking to it. Suffice to say we are not especially fond of organized religion and its trappings. But, frankly, that's a discussion/argument/debate for another time. This being said, the irony and coincidence of performing Somewhere Over the Rainbow as folks file out of the memorial service at the Kennedy Center in DC while they look up and see this is awesome: 
Meet the Press and Gordon Sunday mornings will never be the same.
NBC’s Tim Russert dead of heart attack at 58
WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after suffering a heart attack at the bureau. He was 58.
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” broadcast when he collapsed. He was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, where resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Russert’s physician, Michael Newman, said cholesterol plaque ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis.
Russert had earlier been diagnosed with asymptomatic coronary artery disease, but it was well-controlled with medication and exercise, and he had performed well on a stress test in late April, Newman said. An autopsy revealed that he also had an enlarged heart, Newman said.
Russert had recently returned from Italy, where his family was celebrating the graduation of his son, Luke, from Boston College.
“Meet the Press,” which he began hosting in 1991, was considered an essential proving ground in the career of any national politician.
“If you could pass the Tim Russert test, you could do something in this field,” said Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent for Newsweek magazine and a columnist for msnbc.com.
Russert’s tenacity as a reporter and his consuming passion for politics were evident during his nearly round-the-clock appearances on NBC and MSNBC on election nights.
Aside from his on-air responsibilities, Russert was also a senior vice president and head of NBC’s overall Washington operations.
He was “one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time,” Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” said in announcing Russert’s death. His assessment was echoed by former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, who said, “This is a tragic loss for journalism and for all who were privileged to know him."
Russert’s death left his colleagues devastated.
Brian Williams, managing editor and anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” called his death a “staggering, overpowering and sudden loss.” Steve Capus, president of NBC News, called it “a loss for the entire nation.”
In a statement, President Bush called Russert “an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades.”
“Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it,” the president said.
Earlier this year, Time magazine named Russert one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Mayor Byron Brown ordered flags flown at half-staff in Buffalo, N.Y., his hometown. NBC News planned to air a tribute to Russert on “Dateline NBC” on Friday at 10 p.m. ET, and Brokaw was to host a special edition of “Meet the Press” remembering Russert on Sunday morning.
Timothy John Russert Jr. was born in Buffalo on May 7, 1950. He was a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He was a member of the bar in New York and Washington, D.C.
After graduating from law school, Russert went into politics as a staff operative. In 1976, he worked on the Senate campaign of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomo’s campaign for governor of New York.
Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of NBC’s TODAY show from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II, a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987, Russert led NBC News’ weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.
Of his background as a Democratic political operative, Russert said, “My views are not important.”
“Lawrence Spivak, who founded ‘Meet the Press,’ told me before he died that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest’s positions and take the other side,” he said in a 2007 interview with Time magazine. “And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that’s what I try to do every Sunday.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement that Russert “asked the tough questions the right way and was the best in the business at keeping his interview subjects honest.”
Russert wrote two books — “Big Russ and Me” in 2004 and “Wisdom of Our Fathers” in 2006 — both of which were New York Times best-sellers.
Russert was to have received a lifetime achievement award from the Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University on June 23. The school said the award would be presented posthumously.
In 2005, Russert was awarded an Emmy for his role in the coverage of the funeral of President Ronald Reagan.
His “Meet the Press” interviews with George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000 won the Radio and Television Correspondents’ highest honor, the Joan S. Barone Award, and the Annenberg Center’s Walter Cronkite Award.
Russert, who received 48 honorary doctorates, won countless other awards for excellence during his career, including the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the John Peter Zenger Freedom of the Press Award, the American Legion Journalism Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication and the Catholic Academy for Communication’s Gabriel Award.
He was a member of the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and a member of the board of directors of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
He was a trustee of the Freedom Forum’s Newseum and a member of the board of directors of the Greater Washington Boys and Girls Club and America’s Promise — Alliance for Youth.
In 1995, the National Father’s Day Committee named him “Father of the Year,” Parents magazine honored him as “Dream Dad” in 1998, and in 2001 the National Fatherhood Initiative also recognized him as Father of the Year.
Survivors include his wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine, whom he met at the 1976 Democratic National Convention; and their son, Luke.
Alex Johnson of msnbc.com and John Yang and Ken Strickland of NBC News contributed to this report.
