We have heard many people talk about Keith Olbermann lately. Many, many people. Too many people.

In case you have been hiding under a rock or are smart enough to avoid people talking about Keith Olbermann, here’s the upshot. The MSNBC “journalist” was suspended for a couple of days because he made political contributions without alerting his bosses at NBA NBC (he can’t pundit or dunk) as is apparently the policy at the company.

Olbermann returned from his brief suspension last night as pompous and arrogant as ever. He claims he didn’t know of the rule and acts as if it’s kosher for a TV commentator to interview a candidate then mail the guy a donation immediately after the interview. We can debate whether preventing these guys from giving donations is right and whether his actions merited a suspension, but while they are railing at Fox for their actions and holding themselves up as a moral alternative, they couldn’t ignore what Olbermann did.

Unfortunately, some of us have come to expect this kind of self-absorbed thinking from Olbermann. This does not come from any political territory I occupy. I have as much disdain for Keith as I do for people like Glenn Beck. I harbor no love for those who take the airwaves to demonize those who disagree with them and scare those who might agree with them into doing so.

I come from a print news background so have a natural distaste for much of the television news industry. I have seen good people fight against the medium’s vapid and soulless predilections. I have watched bad people rise into positions simply because they love themselves more than they respect the news process. Not everyone in TV is hopeless, but the ones who are do hopeless so, so, so well.

That’s why I have never been able to stomach Keith Olbermann, even before he appeared on MSNBC. I hated him when he was on ESPN alongside Dan Patrick when “The Big Show,” as Keith often called SportsCenter to the dismay of his bosses, dominated the sensibilities of 20-something sports fans like me.

So I loved the highlights and Patrick’s catch phrases, but even then could not get over the smugness of Olbermann. I think Patrick knew the whole “Big Show” thing was tongue in cheek, but Keith really did think he was the Big Show. Then they made him the focus of ESPN2 and he put on that abominable leather jacket and tried to play too cool for school, which just seemed forced. Dan was the guy you wanted to watch a game at a bar with to make jokes about the players and appreciate the action. Keith was the the guy you wanted to tell to shut up because he was preventing you from enjoying the game.

Olbermann has tried to make himself out to be some sort of voice of reason in the political spectrum, but he’s still coming off as the guy trying too hard to show that you need to follow him simply because he’s Keith Olbermann. Sadly, it’s always been that way, but the base instincts of television keep him on TV. Even after he breaks the rules and thumbs his nose at his bosses.