As I've written here several times, I'm not a big fan of the politicized life. It is unhealthy for society to view every person and every behavior through the lens of politics: it's needlessly divisive and hurts us, as a society. This is why I think the attempts to deprive Orson Scott Card his livelihood because he dares to articulate the view that he opposes gay marriage are destructive. And it's why I cringed at the reaction in my Twitter feed to TBS' hiring of Keith Olbermann to anchor their playoff baseball coverage.
Yes, Keith Olbermann is a left-liberal who has donated to Democratic politicians and did his best to make Al Gore's absurd cable network a success. I—and many of the readers of this post, I imagine—think he's a fool. And a blowhard. And an ass. Fine, true.
But he's very clearly a talented sportscaster. Maybe I'm biased because I grew up watching him do Sportscenter every morning, but the man was entertaining and smooth, the owner of a perfect TV voice and just the right sense of humor. And the dude knows a ton about baseball. He's very sports-smart. It is, frankly, a good hire for TBS.
Which is why I was dismayed to see some of the reactions to his hiring. For instance:
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There were also some generic calls for boycotts and things like that. It was all extremely depressing. We should not work for the destruction of other people's livelihoods just because we disagree with them. Boycotts of Chick-fil-A are terrible just as boycotts of Orson Scott Card are terrible just as boycotts of TBS for hiring Keith Olbermann would be terrible.