Olbermann (Creative Commons)

After a four-day suspension by MSNBC, political commentator Keith Olbermann returned Tuesday night to host his primetime program,  "Countdown."

Poking fun at his recent absence at the start of the show, Olbermann comically leaned into the camera and asked the audience, “What’s new?” He also thanked his viewers for supporting him and sending in a petition to NBC to keep him on the air.

An honor, he said, “that should only be reserved for Chilean miners.”

Olbermann noted that this was not a “publicity stunt” because he didn't know about the MSNBC donation policy, but if he had known that this was his viewers’ reaction to scandal, he would have done it “years ago.”

He apologized to viewers for all of the "drama" he had caused and apologized for featuring the challenger of one of the candidates he donated to on his "Worst Person" segment.

Olbermann also made a point of saying that the donation policy is good in spirit, but is badly in need of updating to meet the realities of 21st Century journalism.

Some news organizations like MSNBC keep their employees—or, at the very least, their news-related employees, from making political donations.

However, employees of other networks, such as Fox News, are not at all barred from donating to specific political campaigns. In the recent elections, Fox openly donated more than $2 million dollars to a variety of political campaigns and causes.

At NBC News, which MSNBC is a part of, newscasters can donate to political campaigns as long as they get their donations approved by the company.

NBC confirmed over the weekend that morning show host Joe Scarborough asked permission before donating to a Republican political campaign in 2006 and was allowed by NBC to do so.

But NBC has yet to successfully explain why "asking" to donate to a political campaign is any different than simply donating to a political campaign beforehand. And why does this supposedly make MSNBC a better news program than Fox because donations can only be given out if the network approves it?

What also seems strange is that Keith Olbermann isn’t exactly known for his "objectivity" as a journalist. Why should it even matter if he makes a small thousand dollar contribution in a couple of political campaigns?

His long-airing program paints him as a staunch liberal and his program is certainly not meant to be objective in the least; instead, it is supposed to deliver a certain perspective to his viewers.

Olbermann has made it a point to hammer conservatives during his time on the air, notably slamming McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and feuding with Fox personality Bill O’Reilly, who he poked fun at in his episode.

If this is the case, then Olbermann’s position on politics is certainly right out in the open.

His power to sway Americans with his liberal minded production is far greater than anything that could possibly have happened with his small donations.

On top of this, Olbermann came right back to work after an extremely short period.

 The actions of NBC only served to victimize Olbermann and cast big media in a negative light.

Reach reporter Greg West here.