Whatever the particulars of Keith Olbermann’s abrupt departure from NBC, the fact is that Olbermann had come to define the network. By separating with Olbermann at this moment, NBC is speaking volumes about the debate that has consumed the country for the past two weeks. Olbermann’s broadcasts in the immediate aftermath of the murders and mayhem in Tucson, Ariz., were astonishingly dyspeptic. Led by Olbermann, Paul Krugman and a few others, many on the Left attempted to link the violent actions of an insane killer to conservative political rhetoric and goals.

George Will rightly pegged this reaction as the latest instance of “McCarthyism of the left.” The backlash against the McCarthyism formed instantly.