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Look up comment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A comment is generally a verbal or written remark often related to an added piece of information, or an observation or statement. These are usually marked with an abbreviation, such as "obs." or "N.B.". The term "comment" may have different meanings depending on specific fields of usage.

Computing[link]

• Comment (computer programming), information embedded in the source code of a computer program, often explanatory text
• Syntax of comments in various programming languages
• Comments in word processing documents
• Comments in configuration files
• Feedback comment system, a system by which comments can be posted on a website

Engineering[link]

• Request for Comments, an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) memorandum on Internet systems and standards

Law[link]

• Comments under rulemaking in United States administrative law
• Obiter dicta issued by a judge in a court opinion
• Public comment is requested by executive public agencies when issuing a Draft Environmental Impact Report and similar documentation.
• Public comment is accepted by public agencies- legislative or executive- with regard to specific agenda items at public meetings. They also typically allow general comments on matters which are not on the agenda but are within their jurisdiction.

Music[link]

• "Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers)", a 1969 song by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

Publishing and media[link]

• Peer review#How it works comments in academic publishing
• Comments and notes as law review articles
• Comments in newspaper editorials
  • Op-ed

See also[link]

• Annotation
• Commentary (disambiguation)
• Footnote

References[link]

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Keith Olbermann
Olbermann in 2008
Born	Keith Theodore Olbermann[1] (1959-01-27) January 27, 1959 (age 53) New York City, United States
Education	B.S. Communications Arts
Alma mater	Cornell University
Occupation	sports announcer, broadcast journalist, political commentator
Years active	1980s–present
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)[2]
Television	Countdown with Keith Olbermann (2003–2012) SportsCenter (1992–1997) Football Night in America (2007–2010)
Awards	three Edward R. Murrow Awards[3]

Keith Theodore Olbermann ( /ˈoʊlbərmən/; born January 27, 1959) is an American political commentator and writer. Most recently, he was the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of the Current TV weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, until March 30, 2012, a program he hosted with the same title and a similar format on MSNBC from March 2003 to January 2011.^[4][5]

During his time at MSNBC, Olbermann established a niche in cable news commentary, gaining note for his pointed criticism of mainly right-leaning politicians and public figures^{[6][7][8][9][10]} such as Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly,^[11][12] President George W. Bush and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, John McCain.^[13] Though he has been described as a "liberal", he has resisted being labelled politically, stating "I'm not a liberal. I'm an American".^[14]

Olbermann spent the first twenty years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and radio stations in the 1980s, winning the Best Sportscaster award from the California Associated Press three times. He co-hosted ESPN's SportsCenter from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he was a producer and anchor for Fox Sports Net and a host of Major League Baseball on Fox.

Early life[link]

Olbermann was born January 27, 1959, in New York City to Marie Katherine (née Charbonier),^[15] a preschool teacher, and Theodore Olbermann, a commercial architect,^[9] and is of German descent.^[16] He has one younger sister, Jenna, who was born in 1968.^[17] Olbermann grew up in a Unitarian household^[18] in the town of Hastings-on-Hudson^[19] in Westchester County, and attended Hackley School^[9][10] in nearby Tarrytown.

Olbermann became a devoted fan of baseball at a young age, a love he inherited from his mother who was a lifelong New York Yankees fan.^[15] As a teenager, he often wrote about baseball card-collecting and appeared in many sports card-collecting periodicals of the mid-1970s. He is also referenced in Sports Collectors Bible, a 1979 book by Bert Sugar, which is considered one of the important early books for trading card collectors.^[20]

While at Hackley, Olbermann began his broadcasting career as a play-by-play announcer for WHTR. After graduating from Hackley in 1975, Olbermann enrolled at Cornell University at the age of 16.^[21] At college, Olbermann served as sports director for WVBR, a student-run commercial radio station in Ithaca.^[21] Olbermann graduated from Cornell in 1979 with a B.S. in communications arts.^[22]

Sports broadcasting[link]

Olbermann began his professional career at UPI and the RKO Radio Network before joining then nascent CNN in 1981. Among the early stories he covered was the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid including the "Miracle on Ice."^[21] In the early-to-mid '80s he was a sportscaster on the old WNEW 1130-AM radio station in New York City. Also in the mid-1980s, he did the voice-over on the USA Cable Network's "Cartoon Express", with cheering kids heard in the background. In 1984, he briefly worked as a sports anchor at WCVB-TV in Boston, before heading to Los Angeles to work at KTLA and KCBS. His work there earned him 11 Golden Mike Awards, and he was named best sportscaster by the California Associated Press three times.^[23]

ESPN[link]

In 1992, Olbermann joined ESPN's SportsCenter, a position he held until 1997 with the exception of a period from 1993–1994 when he was at ESPN2 on SportsNight. He joined ESPN2 as their "marquee" personality to help launch the network.^[24][25] He often co-hosted SportsCenter 11 PM show with Dan Patrick, the two becoming a popular anchor team. In 1995, Olbermann won a Cable ACE award for Best Sportscaster.^[22] Olbermann later co-authored a book with Patrick called The Big Show about their experiences working at SportsCenter; he also said that the short-lived ABC dramedy Sports Night was based on his time on SportsCenter with Patrick.^[26] In his last year with KCBS before moving east to work for ESPN, Olbermann's salary was $475,000 but started "just over $150,000" with ESPN.^[27] He made $350,000 at the end of his tenure at ESPN.^[28]

Early in 1997, Olbermann was suspended for two weeks after he made an unauthorized appearance on The Daily Show on Comedy Central with then-host and former ESPN colleague Craig Kilborn. At one point in the show, he referred to Bristol, Connecticut (ESPN's headquarters), as a "'Godforsaken place."^[28] Later that year, Olbermann abruptly left ESPN under a cloud of controversy, apparently burning his bridges with the network's management;^[29] this began a long and drawn-out feud between Olbermann and ESPN. Between 1997 and 2007, incidents between the two sides included Olbermann's publishing an essay on Salon.com in November 2002, titled "Mea Culpa", in which he stated: "I couldn't handle the pressure of working in daily long-form television, and what was worse, I didn't know I couldn't handle it."^[30] The essay told of an instance when his former bosses remarked he had "too much backbone," a claim that is literally true, as Olbermann has six lumbar vertebrae instead of the normal five.^[30]

In 2004, Olbermann was not included in ESPN's guest lineup for its 25th anniversary SportsCenter "Reunion Week," which saw Craig Kilborn and Charley Steiner return to the SportsCenter set. In 2007, ten years after Olbermann's departure, in an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, he said: "If you burn a bridge, you can possibly build a new bridge, but if there's no river any more, that's a lot of trouble." During the same interview, Olbermann stated that he had recently learned that as a result of ESPN's agreeing to let him return to the airwaves, he was banned from ESPN's main (Bristol, Connecticut) campus.^[31]

[edit] Post-SportsCenter

In 1998, Olbermann joined Fox Sports Net as anchor and executive producer for The Keith Olbermann Evening News, a sportscast similar to SportsCenter, airing weekly on Sunday evenings. While at Fox, he again hosted the 2000 World Series as well as Fox Broadcasting's baseball Game of the Week. In May and July 1999, Olbermann also guest starred ten times on the Hollywood Squares.^[32]

According to Olbermann, he was demoted by Fox when he asked for a slight reduction in duties for health reasons, and then was fired from Fox in 2001 after reporting on rumors that Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns Fox, was planning on selling the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[33] Olbermann characterized the demotion as "blackmail".^[34] When asked about Olbermann, Murdoch said: "I fired him...He's crazy."^[35][36] News Corp. went on to sell the Dodgers to Frank McCourt in 2004. That year, Olbermann remarked, "Fox Sports was an infant trying to stand [in comparison to ESPN], but on the broadcast side there was no comparison—ESPN was the bush leagues."^[21]

After Olbermann left Fox Sports in 2001, he provided twice-daily sports commentary on the ABC Radio Network, reviving the "Speaking of Sports" and "Speaking of Everything" segments begun by Howard Cosell.^[37]

In 2005, Olbermann made a return to ESPN on the radio when he began co-hosting an hour of the syndicated Dan Patrick Show on ESPN radio, a tenure that lasted until Patrick left ESPN on August 17, 2007.^[38] Olbermann and Patrick referred to this segment as "The Big Show," just as their book was known. Patrick often introduced Olbermann with the tagline "saving the democracy," a nod to his work on Countdown.

On April 16, 2007, Olbermann was named co-host of Football Night in America, NBC's NFL pre-game show that precedes their Sunday Night NFL game, a position which reunited him in 2008 with his former SportsCenter co-anchor Dan Patrick. Olbermann left the show prior to the start of the 2010 season.^[39]

News journalism[link]

In 1997, Olbermann left ESPN to host a primetime show on MSNBC, The Big Show with Keith Olbermann (ESPN objected to the use of the title).^[28] The news-driven program, with substantial discussion, relied on Olbermann to carry the 8 to 9 PM hour.^[28] The show typically covered three or four topics in a one-hour broadcast. Olbermann also hosted two Sunday editions of NBC Nightly News and once co-anchored a Saturday edition of the Today show.^[40][41] During that period, Olbermann along with Hannah Storm, also co-hosted NBC Sports' pre-game coverage of the MLB 1997 World Series.

When the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, The Big Show with Keith Olbermann morphed into White House in Crisis. Olbermann became frustrated as his show was consumed by the Lewinsky story. In 1998, he stated that his work at MSNBC would "make me ashamed, make me depressed, make me cry."^[29] Olbermann left MSNBC for Fox Sports Net shortly thereafter.

After leaving Fox Sports in 2001, Olbermann returned once more to news journalism. In 2003, his network won an Edward R. Murrow Award for writing on the "Keith Olbermann Speaking of Everything" show.^[42] In addition, Olbermann wrote a weekly column for Salon.com from July 2002 until early 2003,^[43] worked for CNN as a freelance reporter,^[21] and was a fill-in for newscaster Paul Harvey.^[44][45]

Olbermann revived his association with MSNBC in 2003 briefly as a substitute host on Nachman and as an anchor for the network's coverage of the war in Iraq.

[edit] Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Olbermann's own show, Countdown, debuted on March 31, 2003, in the 8 p.m. ET time slot previously held by programs hosted by Phil Donahue and, briefly, Lester Holt. On October 13, 2004, Olbermann launched Bloggermann, his Countdown blog, hosted on MSNBC.com.^[46] Olbermann used the open format of the blog to expand on facts or ideas alluded to in the broadcast, to offer personal musings and reactions. However, in February 2007, Olbermann launched a new blog, The News Hole.

Countdown's format, per its name, involves Olbermann ranking the five biggest news stories of the day or sometimes "stories my producers force me to cover," as Olbermann puts it. This is done in numerically reverse order, counting down with the first story shown being ranked fifth but apparently the most important. The segments ranked numbers two and one typically are of a lighter fare than segments ranked five through three. The first few stories shown are typically oriented toward government, politics, and world events. His stories usually involve celebrities, sports, and, regularly and somewhere in the middle, the bizarre, in a segment he calls "Oddball." Opinions on each are offered by Olbermann and interviewed guests. Olbermann has been criticized for only having guests that agree with his perspective. Former Los Angeles Times television critic Howard Rosenberg stated that "Countdown is more or less an echo chamber in which Olbermann and like-minded bobbleheads nod at each other."^[47]

In a technique similar to that of former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite in connection to the Iran Hostage Crisis,^[48] Olbermann for many years closed^[49] the program by counting the days since May 1, 2003, the day that President George W. Bush declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished", and then crumpling up his notes, throwing them at the camera and saying "Good night and good luck" in the mode of another former CBS newsman, Edward Murrow. Olbermann discounts this gesture to his hero as "presumptuous" and a "feeble tribute." ^[50]

On February 16, 2007, MSNBC reported that Olbermann had signed a four-year extension on his contract with MSNBC for Countdown which also provided for his hosting of two Countdown specials a year to be aired on NBC as well as for his occasional contribution of essays on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams.^[51]

Olbermann co-anchored, with Chris Matthews, MSNBC's coverage of the death of fellow NBC News employee Tim Russert on June 13, 2008.^[52] He presented a tribute, along with several fellow journalists, in honor of Russert.^[53]

During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Olbermann co-anchored MSNBC's coverage with Chris Matthews until September 7, 2008, when they were replaced by David Gregory after complaints from both outside and inside of NBC that they were making partisan statements.^[13] This apparent conflict of interest had been an issue as early as May 2007, when Giuliani campaign officials complained about his serving in dual roles, as both a host and a commentator.^[54] Despite this, Countdown was broadcast both before and after each of the presidential and vice-presidential debates, and Olbermann and Matthews joined Gregory on MSNBC's Election Day coverage.^[55] Olbermann and Matthews also led MSNBC's coverage of the inauguration of President Barack Obama.^[56][57]

In November 2008, it was announced that Olbermann had signed a four-year contract extension worth an estimated $30 million.^[58]

Feud with Bill O'Reilly[link]

Since beginning Countdown's "Worst Person in the World" segment in July 2005, Olbermann has repeatedly awarded Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel, the dubious honor.^[6] The feud between the anchors originated with Olbermann's extensive coverage of a 2004 sexual harassment suit brought against O'Reilly by former Fox News Channel producer Andrea Mackris during which Olbermann asked Countdown viewers to fund the purchase of lurid audio tapes allegedly held by Mackris.^[59][60] In 2008 O'Reilly decided to avoid mentioning Olbermann's name on the air, and once cut off a caller who mentioned Olbermann.^[61] O'Reilly has also led campaigns against MSNBC's political coverage without ever specifically mentioning Olbermann.^[6][62][63] The rivalry continued when in 2006 at Television Critics' Association in California, Olbermann donned a mask of O'Reilly and made a Nazi salute, leading to a letter of protest from the Anti-Defamation League.^[64][65][66]

In an article on "perhaps the fiercest media feud of the decade", the New York Times's Brian Stelter noted that as of early June 2009 the "combat" between the two hosts seems to have abruptly ended due to instructions filtered down to Olbermann and O'Reilly from the chief executives of their respective networks.^[67] On the August 3, 2009 edition of Countdown, Olbermann asserted that he had made statements to Stelter before the article was published denying that he was a party to such a deal, or that there was such a deal between NBC and Fox News, or that any NBC executive had asked him to change Countdown's content. Olbermann maintained that he had stopped joking about O'Reilly because of O'Reilly's attacks of George Tiller, and soon resumed his criticism of O'Reilly.^[68]

Suspension[link]

On October 28, 2010, days before the 2010 U.S. elections, Olbermann donated $2,400 each to three Democratic candidates for Congress: Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway, and Arizona Democratic Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords.^[69] Grijalva had appeared on Olbermann's show immediately before Olbermann mailed the donations. In response, on November 5, MSNBC President Phil Griffin suspended him indefinitely without pay for violating a network policy which required employees to obtain approval from management before making political contributions.^[70][71] An online petition calling for his reinstatement received over 250,000 signatures;^[72] two days after the suspension began, Griffin announced that Olbermann would return to the air on November 9.^[72]

Departure[link]

On January 21, 2011, Olbermann announced his departure from MSNBC and the episode would be the final episode of Countdown.^[73][74] MSNBC issued a statement that it had ended its contract with Olbermann, with no further explanation. Additional reporting in the days immediately following suggested that the negotiations for the end of Olbermann's tenure at MSNBC had begun soon after the end of his suspension.^[75]

Current TV and FOKNewsChannel.com[link]

On February 8, 2011, it was announced that Olbermann had taken the position of chief news officer for the Al Gore/Joel Hyatt–owned public affairs channel Current TV and would begin hosting a one-hour prime time program on the network.^[76] The new show was scheduled to air at 8 PM Eastern — the same time slot that Countdown was in.^[77] On April 26, 2011 it was announced that Olbermann's new show would debut on June 20 and would be named Countdown with Keith Olbermann.^[78] Olbermann was also heavily involved in the development of the rest of the network's news programming.^[79] The deal also included an equity stake in Current TV.^[80]

During the interim between shows, Olbermann launched an "official not-for-profit" blog called FOKNewsChannel.com, "FOK" being an abbreviation for "Friends Of Keith". The blog featured political commentaries by Olbermann—including viral video versions of Countdown's "Special Comment" and "Worst Person" segments, as well as photographs of his outings at professional baseball games.^[81] On May 29, 2011, the FOKNewsChannel.com domain redirected to the Current website promoting the June 20 launch.^[82]

Olbermann was fired on March 30, 2012. In a statement from Current TV, they stated that "Current was [...] founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it." Olbermann released his own statement, apologizing for "the failure of Current TV" and "that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently." His show was replaced by a show hosted by Eliot Spitzer.^[83][84]

Olberman was on This Week as a roundtable participant on Sunday April 22, 2012.

Political positions[link]

Viewpoints[link]

Although it began as a traditional newscast, Countdown with Keith Olbermann eventually adopted an opinion-oriented format. In a Countdown interview with Al Franken on October 25, 2005, Olbermann noted that in 2003, after having Janeane Garofalo and Franken on his show, a vice president of MSNBC had questioned him on inviting "liberals" on consecutive nights, contrasting that occurrence to the apparent ideological latitude he enjoyed at the time of the second Franken interview.^[85] In January 2007 The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz wrote that Olbermann was "position[ing] his program as an increasingly liberal alternative to The O'Reilly Factor."^[86] Much of the program has featured harsh criticism of prominent Republicans and right-leaning figures, including those who worked for or supported the George W. Bush Administration, 2008 Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain and running mate Governor Sarah Palin,^[13][87] and rival news commentator Bill O'Reilly, whom Olbermann has routinely dubbed the "Worst Person In The World".^[7]

During the 2008 Democratic Party primaries, Olbermann frequently chastised presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton for her campaign tactics against her principal opponent, Senator Barack Obama, and made her the subject of two of his "special comments".^[88][89] Olbermann has also posted on the liberal blog Daily Kos.^[90]

In November 2007, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph placed Olbermann at #67 on their Top 100 list of most influential US liberals. It said that he uses his MSNBC show to promote "an increasingly strident liberal agenda." It added that he would be "a force on the Left for some time to come."^[91] Avoiding ideological self-labeling, Olbermann described his reporting in 2006 to Salon.com, "I don’t think in these issues that I’m a liberal; I think that I’m an American. I think I’m acting almost as a historian on these particular things".^[7]

Before the 2010 Massachusetts special election, Olbermann called Republican candidate Scott Brown "an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, Tea Bagging supporter of violence against women, and against politicians with whom he disagrees".^[92] This was criticized by his colleague Joe Scarborough, who called the comments "reckless" and "sad".^[93] Yael T. Abouhalkah of the Kansas City Star said that Olbermann "crossed the line in a major way with his comments".^[94] Jon Stewart criticized him about this attack in his show by noting that it was "the harshest description of anyone I've ever heard uttered on MSNBC", following which Olbermann apologized by noting, "I have been a little over the top lately. Point taken. Sorry."^[95]

He has accused the Tea Party movement of being racist due to what he views as a lack of racial diversity at the events, using photos that show overwhelmingly Caucasian crowds attending the rallies. In response, the Dallas Tea Party invited Olbermann to attend one of their events and also criticized his network for a lack of racial diversity, pointing out that an online banner of MSNBC personalities that appears on the website shows only white personalities. Olbermann declined the invitation, citing his father's prolonged ill health and hospitalization and noted that the network has minority anchors, contributors and guests.^[96]

Criticism of the Bush administration[link]

In Olbermann's "Special Comment" segment on July 3, 2007, he called President George W. Bush's commutation of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence the "last straw" and called for the resignation of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.^[97]

On his February 14, 2008 "Special Comments" segment, Olbermann castigated Bush for threatening to veto an extension of the Protect America Act unless it provided full immunity from lawsuits to telecom companies.^[98] During the same commentary, Olbermann called Bush a fascist.^[98]

In a special comment on May 14, 2008, Olbermann criticized Bush for announcing that he had stopped playing golf in honor of American soldiers who died in the Iraq war. He stated that Bush never should have started the war in the first place, and he accused Bush of dishonesty and war crimes.^[9]

Baseball fan[link]

Olbermann is a dedicated baseball fan and historian of the sport, with membership in the Society for American Baseball Research.^[99] In 1973, when he was only 14 years old, Card Memorabilia Associates published his book The Major League Coaches: 1921–1973. The September issue of Beckett Sports Collectibles Vintage included a T206 card that depicted Olbermann in a 1905-era New York Giants uniform.^[100] He argues that New York Giants baseball player Fred Merkle has been unduly criticized for his infamous baserunning mistake.^[101] He contributed the foreword to More Than Merkle (ISBN 0-8032-1056-6), a book requesting amnesty for "Merkle's Boner". Olbermann was also one of the founders of the first experts' fantasy baseball league, the USA Today Baseball Weekly League of Alternative Baseball Reality, and he gave the league its nickname "LABR".^[102] Olbermann wrote the foreword to the 2009 Baseball Prospectus Annual.^[103]

In March 2009, Olbermann began a baseball-related blog entitled Baseball Nerd. He has also written a series of articles on baseball cards for the Sports Collectors Digest.^[104]

Personal life[link]

In June 2006, Olbermann began dating Katy Tur, now a reporter with WNBC-TV.^[10][105] According to Mediaite, the couple broke up in 2009 after three years of cohabitation.^[106]

Olbermann suffers from a mild case of coeliac disease,^[107] as well as restless legs syndrome.^[9] In August 1980, he also suffered a head injury while "leaping" onto a New York City Subway train.^[108] This head injury permanently upset his equilibrium, resulting in his avoidance of driving.^[9] Along with Bob Costas, he supports the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation as an honorary board member.^[109]

During a period in the mid-1990s, Olbermann appeared in a series of Boston Market advertisements, in which he would instruct a group of underweight models to "Eat something!"^[28]

Olbermann's father, Theodore, died on March 13, 2010 of complications from colon surgery the previous September. His mother had died several months before.^[110] Olbermann had cited the need to spend time with his father for taking a leave of absence shortly before his father's death, occasionally recording segments to air at the beginning of the shows which Lawrence O'Donnell guest hosted in his absence, giving his views on the state of the American health care system and updating viewers on his father's condition.^[111]

Career timeline[link]

• SportsCenter, co-anchor (1992–1997)^[112]
• The Big Show, anchor (1997–1998)^[112]
• White House in Crisis, anchor (1997–1998)^[112]
• Major League Baseball on Fox, studio host (1999–2000)^[112]
• The Keith Olbermann Evening News, anchor (1998–2001)^[112]
• Football Night in America, co-host (2007–2010)
• Countdown with Keith Olbermann, anchor (MSNBC: 2003–2011; Current TV: 2011–2012)^[112]

Bibliography[link]

• The Major League Coaches: 1921–1973 (Card Memorabilia Associates, 1973).
• The Big Show: Inside ESPN's Sportscenter (Atria, 1997) (coauthor: Dan Patrick). ISBN 0-671-00918-4.
• The Worst Person In the World and 202 Strong Contenders (Wiley, September 2006). ISBN 0-470-04495-0.
• Truth and Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration's War on American Values (Random House, December 2007). ISBN 978-1-4000-6676-6.
• Pitchforks and Torches: The Worst of the Worst, from Beck, Bill, and Bush to Palin and Other Posturing Republicans (Wiley, October 25, 2010). ISBN 0-470-61447-1.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keith Olbermann

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Keith Olbermann

• Keith Olbermann on Twitter
• Keith Olbermann's blog on The Daily Kos
• Baseball Nerd, Olbermann's Major League Baseball blog
• Biography at TV guide
• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • C-SPAN Q&A interview with Olbermann, March 12, 2006
• Keith Olbermann on Charlie Rose
• Keith Olbermann at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Keith Olbermann in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Gabrielle Giffords
Congressional portrait, March 2010
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 8th district
In office January 3, 2007 – January 25, 2012
Preceded by	Jim Kolbe
Succeeded by	TBD
Member of the Arizona Senate from the 28th district
In office January 8, 2003 – December 1, 2005
Preceded by	Randall Gnant
Succeeded by	Paula Aboud
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives from the 13th district
In office January 1, 2001 – January 8, 2003
Preceded by	Andy Nichols
Succeeded by	Steve Gallardo
Personal details
Born	Gabrielle Dee Giffords (1970-06-08) June 8, 1970 (age 42) Tucson, Arizona
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mark E. Kelly
Residence	Tucson, Arizona
Alma mater	Cornell University (M.U.P.) Scripps College (B.A.)
Profession	Politician; Businesswoman
Religion	Reform Judaism
Signature

Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American politician. As a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she represented Arizona's 8th congressional district from 2007 until her resignation on January 25, 2012, having been elected to Congress three times. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Considered a "Blue Dog" Democrat,^[1] her stances on health care reform and illegal immigration were sources of attention for those opposed to her candidacy and have made her a recipient of criticism from various conservative groups. She has described herself as a "former Republican."^[2]

Giffords is a native of Tucson, Arizona, and a graduate of Scripps College and Cornell University. Prior to her election to the United States Congress, Giffords served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2001 until 2003 and the Arizona State Senate from 2003 until 2005, when she resigned to run for the seat held by then-Congressman Jim Kolbe. She also worked as an associate for regional economic development in New York City and as CEO of El Campo Tire Warehouses, a local automotive chain owned by her grandfather. She is married to former astronaut and Space Shuttle Commander Mark E. Kelly.

On January 8, 2011, Giffords was a victim of a shooting near Tucson,^[3][4] which was reported to be an assassination attempt on her,^[5][6] at a supermarket where she was meeting publicly with constituents.^[5] She was critically injured by a gunshot wound to the head;^[7][8] thirteen people were injured and six others were killed in the shooting, among them conservative federal judge John Roll.^[4] Giffords was later brought to a rehabilitation facility in Houston, Texas, where she recovered some of her ability to walk, speak, read and write. On May 16, 2011, Giffords traveled to Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch of STS-134, the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour, which was commanded by her husband Mark Kelly.

On January 22, 2012, Giffords announced that she would be resigning from her congressional seat in order to concentrate on recovering from her wounds, but promised to return to public service in the future.^[9] She appeared on the floor of the House on January 25, 2012, where she formally submitted her resignation to a standing ovation and accolades from her colleagues and the leadership of the House.^[10]

Early life, education, and business career[link]

Giffords was born in Tucson, Arizona, to Gloria Kay (née Fraser) and Spencer J. Giffords. She was raised in a mixed religious environment by her Jewish father and Christian Science-practicing mother. Her grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania who changed his name to Gif Giffords to avoid anti-Semitism.^[11] She has identified herself solely with Judaism since 2001, belonging to Congregation Chaverim, a Reform synagogue, in Tucson.^[12][13] She is Arizona's first Jewish congresswoman.^[14][15]

Giffords graduated from Tucson's University High School. She received a Bachelor of Arts' degree in Sociology and Latin American History from Scripps College in California in 1993;^[16] then spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico;^[17] and earned a Master's degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University in 1996, focussing her studies there on Mexican-American relations.^[16] She is a former Girl Scout.

Giffords worked as an associate for regional economic development at Price Waterhouse in New York City. In 1996, she became president and CEO of El Campo Tire Warehouses, a local chain of auto service centers founded by her grandfather. The business was sold to Goodyear Tire in 2000. At the time of the sale, she commented on the difficulties local businesses face when competing against large national firms.^[18]

Arizona legislature[link]

Elections[link]

Giffords was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives and served from 2001 to 2003. She was elected to the Arizona Senate in the fall of 2002, and at the time was the youngest woman elected to that body. She took office in January 2003 and was re-elected in 2004. She resigned from the Arizona Senate on December 1, 2005, in preparation for her congressional campaign.

Tenure[link]

In early 2005, Giffords observed that "the 2004 election took its toll on our bipartisan coalition" and that as a result "a number of significant problems will receive far less attention than they deserve." She highlighted among these, the lack of high-paying jobs or necessary infrastructure, rapid growth, and inward migration that threatened the environment and "strain[ed] [...] education, health care, and transportation" and unresolved problems such as Students First, Arnold v. Sarn, repayments due under Ladewig v. Arizona, the No Child Left Behind mandate, low educational achievement, health care costs, and the demands of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. She noted that Arizona was not alone in facing such challenges.^[19]

Expanding health care access was an issue of interest for Giffords when she served in the legislature. She also pushed for bills related to mental health and was named by the Mental Health Association of Arizona as the 2004 Legislator of the Year. Giffords also earned the Sierra Club's Most Valuable Player award.^[20]

In the legislature, Giffords worked on the bipartisan Children's Caucus, which sought to improve education and health care for Arizona's children. Critics of this plan argued that it amounted to taxpayer funded daycare. She worked with Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to promote all-day kindergarten. Giffords supported raising more money for schools "through sponsorship of supplemental state aid through bonds and tax credits that could be used for school supplies." She was awarded Arizona Family Literacy's Outstanding Legislator for 2003.^[21]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Giffords in 2008

Elections[link]

2006

Giffords launched her first candidacy for the U.S. Congress on January 24, 2006. The campaign received national attention early on as a likely pick-up for the Democratic Party. Prominent Democrats endorsed Giffords, including Tom Daschle, Robert Reich, Janet Napolitano, and Bill Clinton. EMILY's List endorsed Giffords early in the campaign cycle.^[22] The Sierra Club and the Arizona Education Association also endorsed her.^[23] On September 12, 2006, Giffords won her party's nomination in the primary election.

Her Republican opponent in the general election was Randy Graf, a conservative former state senator known for his enforcement-only position on immigration and illegal aliens. Graf had run against Jim Kolbe in the 2004 GOP primary and had announced his candidacy in 2006 before Kolbe announced his retirement. The Republican establishment was somewhat cool toward Graf, believing he might be too conservative for the district, and the national GOP took the unusual step of endorsing one of the more moderate candidates in the primary. Graf won anyway, helped by a split in the Republican moderate vote between two candidates.

Not long after the primary, Congressional Quarterly changed its rating of the race to "Leans Democrat." By late September, the national GOP had pulled most of its funding, effectively conceding the seat to Giffords. Giffords won the race on November 7, 2006, with 54 percent of the vote. Graf received 42 percent. The rest of the vote went to minor candidates. Giffords' victory was portrayed as evidence that Americans are accepting towards comprehensive immigration reform.^[24]

2008

In 2008, Giffords was elected to a second term. Republican Tim Bee, a childhood classmate and former colleague in the Arizona State Senate, ran against her. Bee was then the Arizona State Senate President and was considered a strong challenger in this race. Despite the presence of McCain atop the ticket as the Republican presidential candidate, Giffords was reelected with 56.20 percent of the vote to Bee's 41.45 percent.^[25]

2010

Giffords during a press conference following her 2010 election victory

On November 5, 2010, Giffords was declared the victor after a close race against Republican Jesse Kelly.^[26] Kelly, an Iraq War veteran (and not related to Mark Kelly), was listed as a top-ten Tea Party candidate to watch by Politico, and described by azcentral.com as highly conservative even compared to Sarah Palin.^[27] Giffords had been targeted for defeat by Sarah Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC.^[28]

Giffords participated in the reading of the United States Constitution on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 6, 2011; she read the First Amendment.^[29][30]

Tenure[link]

Following the November 2006 election, Giffords was sworn in as a congresswoman on January 3, 2007. She was the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress. In her inaugural speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Giffords advocated a comprehensive immigration reform package, including modern technology to secure the border, more border patrol agents, tough employer sanctions for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and a guest-worker program.^[31] In her first month in office, Giffords voted in favor of increased federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research;^[32] raising the minimum wage;^[33] endorsing the 9/11 Commission recommendations;^[33] new rules for the House of Representatives targeting ethical issues;^[34] and the repeal of $14 billion of subsidies to big oil companies, in favor of renewable energy subsidies and the founding of the Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve.^[33]

During the 2007 session of Congress, Giffords introduced a bill (H.R. 1441)^[35] that forbids the sale of F-14 aircraft parts on the open market.^[36] Giffords advocated for a national day of recognition for cowboys as one of her first actions.^[37] She voted for the contentious May 2007 Iraq Emergency Supplemental Spending bill, saying, "I cannot, in good conscience, allow the military to run out of money while American servicemen and women are being attacked every day".^[38] She has also been a Girl Scout supporter for many years. On April 21, 2007, Giffords hosted her third "Congress on Your Corner" in Tucson, Arizona and kicked things off by speaking to the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, Sahuaro Council.

Giffords is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition. She is a co-founder of the Congressional Motorcycle Safety Caucus. Until her husband's retirement, she was the only member of the U.S. Congress whose spouse was an active duty member of the U.S. military.^[1] She is also known as a strong proponent of solar energy as well as for her work to secure the U.S.–Mexico border.^[39][40]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
  • Subcommittee on Readiness
• Committee on Science, Space and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation

Attempted assassination[link]

Roadside sign at the scene of the shooting

On January 8, 2011, Giffords was shot in the head^[3] outside a Safeway grocery store in Casas Adobes, Arizona, a suburban area northwest of Tucson, during her first "Congress on Your Corner" gathering of the year. A man ran up to the crowd and began firing,^[41] hitting 19 people^[42] of whom six died;^[43] a 20th person was injured at the scene, but not by gunfire.^[3][42]

The suspect, identified as Jared Lee Loughner,^[44] was detained by bystanders until he was taken into police custody.^[45] Federal officials charged Loughner on the next day with killing federal government employees, attempting to assassinate a member of Congress, and attempting to kill federal employees.^[46][47][48]

Giffords' intern, Daniel Hernandez Jr., provided first aid assistance to her immediately after she was wounded and is credited with saving her life.^[49][50][51] She was promptly evacuated to the University Medical Center of Tucson in critical condition,^[3][52] though she was still conscious and "following commands" at the time.^[3][53]

On the same day, doctors performed emergency surgery to extract skull fragments and a small amount of necrotic tissue from her brain.^[3][54] The bullet had passed through Giffords' head without crossing the midline of the brain, where the most critical injuries typically result.^[3] Part of her skull was removed to avoid further damage to the brain from pressure caused by swelling.^[3][53] Doctors who first treated Giffords said the bullet had entered the back of her head and exited through the front of her skull, but physicians later concluded that it had traveled in the opposite direction.^[55]

Upon receiving a call from a staffer about Giffords' injury, husband Mark E. Kelly and his daughters flew in a friend's aircraft directly from Houston to Tucson.^[56][57]

Recovery[link]

Giffords' husband, Mark E. Kelly, at her bedside in the University Medical Center in Tucson

Giffords initially was placed in an induced coma to allow her brain to rest. She was able to respond to simple commands when periodically awoken, but was unable to speak as she was on a ventilator.^[58] Nancy Pelosi said Giffords' husband Mark Kelly acknowledged that there is a "rough road ahead" for his wife's recovery, but was encouraged by her responsiveness,^[59] which included the ability to signal with her hand and move both arms.^[60] U.S. Army neurologist Geoffrey Ling of the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, was sent to Tucson to consult on Giffords' condition. Ling stated, "Her prognosis for maintaining the function that she has is very good. It's over 50 percent."^[61] On January 11, neurosurgeon G. Michael Lemole Jr. said that Giffords' sedation had been reduced and that she could breathe on her own.^[62] On January 12, President Barack Obama visited Giffords at the medical center and publicly stated in an evening memorial ceremony that she had "opened her eyes for the first time" that day.^[63] Shortly after the shootings, some questions were raised by the media as to whether Giffords could be removed from office under a state law that allows a public office to be declared vacant if the officeholder is absent for three months, but a spokesperson for the Arizona secretary of state said the statute "doesn't apply to federal offices" and is, therefore, not relevant.^[64]

As Giffords' status improved, by mid-January she began simple physical therapy,^[65] including sitting up with the assistance of hospital staff and moving her legs upon command.^[57] On January 15, surgeons performed a tracheotomy, replacing the ventilator tube with a smaller one inserted through Giffords' throat to assist independent breathing.^[66][67] Ophthalmologist Lynn Polonski surgically repaired Giffords' damaged eye socket,^[68] with additional reconstructive surgery to follow.^[69] Giffords' condition was upgraded to "serious" on January 17,^[70] and to "good" on January 25.^[71] She was transferred on January 21 to the Memorial Hermann Medical Center in Houston, Texas, where she subsequently moved to the center's Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) to undergo a program of physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.^[71][72] Medical experts' initial assessment in January was that Giffords' recovery could take from several months to more than one year.^[73] Upon her arrival in Houston, her doctors were optimistic, saying she has "great rehabilitation potential".^[74]

On March 12, 2011, Giffords' husband informed her that six other people had been killed in the attack on her, but he did not identify who they were until months later.^[75] In late April, Giffords' doctors reported that her physical, cognitive, and language production abilities had improved significantly, placing her in the top 5 percent of patients recovering from similar injuries.^[76] She was walking under supervision with perfect control of her left arm and leg, and able to write with her left hand. She was able to read and understand, and spoke in short phrases. With longer efforts, she was able to produce more complex sentences.^[76]

From early in her recovery, Giffords' husband had expressed confidence that she would be able to travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to witness the launch of his final Space Shuttle mission, STS-134, which was originally scheduled for April 2011.^[77] On April 25, Giffords' doctors gave her medical clearance to travel to Florida for the launch, originally scheduled for April 29, and she went to Florida where she was to watch from a private family area, without any public appearance or photography. The launch of STS-134 was delayed due to mechanical problems, and Giffords returned to Houston after meeting with President Obama, who had also planned to see the launch, with his family, at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).^[78][79] After continuing her rehabilitation therapy in Houston,^[80][81] Giffords returned to KSC for her husband's launch on May 16, 2011. Kelly wore his wife's wedding ring into space, which she had exchanged for his.^[82]

August 1, 2011: Giffords' first appearance in the House of Representatives since her attempted assassination

Giffords underwent cranioplasty surgery on May 18, 2011, to replace part of her skull that had been removed in January to permit her brain to swell after the gunshot to her head. Surgeons replaced the bone, using tiny screws, with a piece of molded hard plastic; they expect that her skull will eventually fuse with the plastic's porous material. At that point, Giffords no longer needed to wear the helmet that she had been wearing to protect her brain from further injury.^[83][84] On June 9, 2011, Giffords' aide Pia Carusone announced that while Giffords' comprehension appeared to be "close to normal, if not normal," she was not yet using complete sentences.^[85] On June 12, two photos of Giffords taken on May 17 were released, the first since the shooting.^[86] On June 15, Giffords was released from the hospital to return home, where she continued speech, music, physical and occupational therapy.^[87]

On August 1, she made her first public appearance on the House floor to vote in favor of raising the debt limit ceiling. She was met with a standing ovation and accolades from her fellow members of Congress.^[88] A Giffords spokesman, Mark Kimble, stated in August 2011 that the congresswoman is now walking without a cane and is writing left-handed, as she does not have full use of her right side.^[89] On October 6, Giffords traveled to Washington for her husband's retirement ceremony, where she presented him with the Distinguished Flying Cross medal. She then returned to her husband's Texas home.^[90] On October 25, she travelled to Asheville, North Carolina, for intensive rehabilitation treatments, ending November 4.^[91] In Kelly's memoir, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, released in November 2011, he reported that Giffords would return to Congress, although she continues to struggle with language and has lost fifty percent of her vision in both eyes.^[75]

Resignation from Congress[link]

Giffords embracing President Obama at the 2012 State of the Union

On January 22, 2012, Giffords announced in a video statement that she intended to resign her seat so that she could continue to focus on her recovery.^[92] She attended President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address on January 24, and formally submitted her resignation on January 25. Appearing on the floor of the House, after the last bill she sponsored was brought to a vote and unanimously passed, Giffords was lauded by members of Congress and the majority and minority leaders who spoke in tribute to her strength and accomplishment in an unusual farewell ceremony. Her letter of resignation was read on her behalf by her close friend and fellow Democratic representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.^[93]

Electoral history[link]

Political positions[link]

Abortion[link]

Giffords is pro-choice.^[94]

Economy[link]

Giffords voted against President Bush's Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.^[37] Giffords was one of 60 lawmakers who voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 before switching to a yes vote,^[95] and she voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.^[96]

In August 2011 she voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling.^[88]

Education[link]

Giffords argues that Americans are competing on a global level and that this competition starts in the classroom. She is a critic of the No Child Left Behind law, viewing it as an unfunded federal mandate. She supports public schools and their improved efficiency.^[97]

Energy[link]

Giffords strongly supports renewable energy, in particular solar energy, as a top public policy priority.^[98]

In September 2007, she published a report titled: The Community Solar Energy Initiative, Solar Energy in Southern Arizona, observing that Arizona has enough sunshine to power the entire United States. It reviews current energy usage and discusses how to increase the production of solar electricity.^[99] On August 1, 2008, she wrote to congressional leaders regarding tax credits that were set to expire, saying that failure to extend the scheme would be extremely harmful to the renewable energy industry "just as it is beginning to take off."^[100]

Gun rights[link]

Giffords supports gun rights.^[101] She opposed the Washington D.C. gun ban, signing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to support its overturn.^[101][102]

Despite her stated support, gun rights groups typically give her low grades on the topic. She has a D+ rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA)^[103] and a D from the Gun Owners of America (GOA).^[104]

Immigration and border security[link]

Representative Giffords speaking with a military officer in July 2010

Arizona's 8th Congressional District is one of ten in the country bordering Mexico. Giffords has stated that the Arizona SB 1070 legislation is a "clear calling that the federal government needs to do a better job"^[105] and says that she hopes the legislation acts as a wake-up call to the federal government. However, she stopped short of supporting the law itself, saying that it "does nothing to secure our border" and that it "stands in direct contradiction to our past and, as a result, threatens our future." She also claimed that SB1070 kept Arizona from attracting students and businesses.^[106]

On August 31, 2010, Giffords praised the arrival of National Guard troops on the border: "Arizonans have waited a long time for the deployment of the National Guard in our state. Their arrival represents a renewed national commitment to protecting our border communities from drug cartels and smugglers."^[107]

Giffords worked to secure passage of the August 2010 bill to fund more Border Patrol agents and surveillance technology for Arizona's border with Mexico. The legislation passed the House of Representatives only to be sent back by the U.S. Senate with reduced funding. Ultimately a $600 million bill was passed and signed in to law. The bill was over $100 million less than Giffords fought for, but she said, "This funding signals a stronger federal commitment to protect those Americans who live and work near the border."^[108]

In 2008, Giffords introduced legislation that would have increased the cap on the H-1B visa from 65,000 per year to 130,000 per year.^[109] If that were not sufficient, according to her legislation, the cap would have been increased to 180,000 per year.^[110] The bill would have allowed, at most, 50% of employees at any given company with at least 50 employees to be H-1B guest workers.^[111] Giffords said the bill would help high-tech companies in southern Arizona, some of which rely on H1-B employees.^[111] However, Giffords' bill was never voted on by the House of Representatives.

Personal life[link]

Giffords with husband Mark E. Kelly

Giffords married U.S. Navy Captain and NASA astronaut Mark E. Kelly on November 10, 2007. Kelly was the Space Shuttle's pilot on the STS-108 and STS-121 missions, and was the commander of STS-124 and STS-134.^[112]

Giffords is a former member of the Arizona regional board of the Anti-Defamation League.^[113] After Hurricane Katrina struck in the late summer of 2005, Giffords spent time as a volunteer in Houston, Texas, in relief efforts for hurricane victims. She wrote about her experience in the Tucson Citizen.^[114]

Giffords is an avid reader, and was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition on July 9, 2006, talking about her love of books.^[115] She was periodically interviewed in 2007 together with Illinois Republican Peter Roskam on NPR's All Things Considered.^[116] The series focused on their experiences as freshman members of the 110th Congress.^[117]

A joint memoir by Giffords and Kelly, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, with co-author Jeffrey Zaslow, was published on November 15, 2011.^[118][119] Giffords and Kelly were interviewed by ABC's Diane Sawyer in their first joint interview since the shooting, which aired on a special edition of 20/20 on November 14, 2011, in conjunction with the book's publication.^[120]

Naming honors[link]

It was announced by United States Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, on February 10, 2012, that the next U.S. Navy littoral combat ship will be named the USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10).^[121] This raised some controversy as traditionally navy ships have been named after people who have served or are intimately connected to the sea services.^[122]The naming of the Giffords, as well as ships being named after labour leader César Chávez and Democratic congressman John Murtha, caused the Senate to amend the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act to “require a report on the policies and practices...for naming the vessels of the Navy.”^[123]

See also[link]

	Arizona portal
	Biography portal
	Government of the United States portal

• United States Congress members killed or wounded in office

References[link]