Keith Olbermann's 'riveting' (but brief) exile

With MSNBC president Phil Griffin's announcement that he is lifting Keith Olberann's "indefinite" suspension after just two days, the "riveting" drama over the "Countdown" host's future at

the network has ended as abruptly as it began. Olbermann was yanked off the air on Friday after Politico reported he made three undisclosed political donations to Democratic candidates in

apparent violation of NBC's ethics policy, but Olbermann will return to anchor seat on Tuesday evening. Did Olbermann's suspension serve any purpose? (Watch Rachel Maddow's take on the

suspension)

The punishment was a joke: "This was nothing more than a farcical publicity stunt," says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. MSNBC was embarrassed about its shamelessly biased election night coverage —

anchored by Olbermann, a Democratic shill — so Griffin made a stink about Olbermann's donations to make the network appear more "journalistically pure" than Fox News. If MSNBC really wanted

to punish Olbermann, it would have done more than force him to take a long weekend.

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.