December 31, 2004
What IS That Music?
If your browser can play .wav files (and if you speakers, and the volume turned up) you can now hear some wonderful music added to the site for the holidays.
Does everyone love this music as much as I do? There are a total of five lovely tunes to choose from over here.
Vote in Comments to (1) keep the new OlbermannWatch theme music; (2) replace the current OlbermannWatch theme music with other themes; (3) get rid of it.
Olby Wins An Award After All
After Bloggermann's underwhelming showing at the Weblog Awards, at least Keith didn't go away empty-handed this year... In fact he had an award named after him:
Kooky Keith Award
(for Keith Olbermann's Conspiratorial Rants)
Follow the link for some real gems...
December 30, 2004
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 30, 2004 (8:00-9:00 P.M. ET)
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 30, 2004
Host: Keith Olbermann
Scheduled Topics/Guests:
THE FALLOUT FROM THE TSUNAMI IN SOUTH ASIA CONTINUES TO UNFOLD: Peter Goodman, Washington Post
A REPORT FROM SRI LANKA, TORN APART BY THE TUSNAMI: Eric Bellman, The Wall Street Journal
WHAT OBSTACLES CONFRONT THOSE ATTEMPTING TO TRANSPORT RELIEF TO VICTIMS IN SOUTH ASIA?: Michael Neuman, program director, Doctors Without Borders
LASERS POINTED AT PILOTS FLYING A PLANE: Capt. David Mackett, President, Airlines Pilot Security Alliance
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
Guest: PENDING
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Maybe MSNBC could keep Keith "on ice" until there is some serious reporting like a natural disaster or a terrorist attack to report. When Keith has ACTUAL NEWS to report he does quite well. A slow news day is NOT Keith's friend.
Tonight he almost made it through the show without a gratuitous pander to the lefty loons. He did report on John Conyers "officially declaring" that he would sign a formal challenge to the counting of the Ohio electoral votes but that is actual news - stupid yes but actually news. A hint of where this Conyers stunt is going came when KO reported that so far no house members have signed on other than Maxine Waters. Conyers needs one Senator to sign on for his stunt and has sent a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer. Apparently Conyers is intent on re-enacting the opening scene of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Keith reported that the if Conyers get his one senator and they both object to the counting of the Ohio votes, the counting would be suspended and then debated "until disposed of" which is likely to be "in short order" in the Republican controlled Senate.
With time running out, Keith dug down deep and worked in a series of shots at Bill O'Reilly during the Countdown News Quiz segment including an appearance by thesmokinggun's "Bill O'Reilly loofah". Oh well, maybe next year.
UPDATE: This broke shortly after Keith went off the air - Candidates Want Second Ohio Recount. h/t Juan Genao
December 29, 2004
Keith Tidbits
Moorelies.com is taking nominations for their Stupid White Man Award. I can think of at least one Stupid White Man OlbermannWatch readers might want to nomininate.
There are places that think of Keith Olbermann as a hero but some that think he has just has too much to drink.
We were remiss in noting that KO was on The Tonight Show last night - anyone catch it? Anyone have a report?
Countdown - Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 29, 2004
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
THE FALLOUT FROM THE TSUNAMI IN SOUTH ASIA CONTINUES TO UNFOLD: Peter Goodman, Washington Post
WHY DID THE SCIENTISTS IN THAILAND FAIL TO WARN THE PEOPLE OF A TSUNAMI?: John Rundle, seismologist at the University of California at Davis
THE LATEST ON THE WAR ON TERROR: Juliette Kayyem, MSNBC terror analyst
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
Guest: PENDING
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Somehow Keith was able to find a guest willing to come on and slam President Bush over the Indian Ocean Tsunami - this time for being "dragged to the relief table" by a brave Norweigen bureaucrat. David Phillips of the UN-Loving Council of Foreign Relations, having it both ways, criticized Bush for promising too little money and then admitting that he knew "this was a rolling start...I expected it to be more". Egging him on, Keith asked "did we already damage ourselves...is it too late" and Phillips obligingly noted that "if not for" that Norweigen speaking out Bush would not have done more than the $15mm offered the first day.
This is a perfect MSM set up because now, no matter what the U.S. does, it will always be because Bush was "pressured" to act by some Norweigen dweeb at the U.N. To be fair, Keith is certainly not alone in this as The Washington Post, CNN and most of the MSM has jumped on the "stingy" comment. Bianca Jagger has crawled out of her Fifth Avenue luxury apartment long enough to appear on Crossfire and slam the U.S. for not doing its "fair share". I don't have exact figures but I believe the word stingy was repeated 4,517 times on CNN in one four hour period.
Keith must be in a Tsunami-induced tizzy because he passed over stories on the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court responding to Cliff Arnbeck's motion that the Chief Justice recuse himself from Arnbeck's "lawsuit", more vote counting fun in the Washington governor's race,, Keith's favorite lawyer Ramsey Clark getting a new client - Saddam Hussein, the Washington Post story on "Lost Voters" in Ohio, and Bush winning Ohio (again).
Countdown viewers will recall that the Green and Libertarian party presidential candidates raised $113,600 to pay for a recount in Ohio and between them got precisely zero new votes. Bush and Kerry both got several more hundred votes with Kerry closing Bush's 118,000+ margin of victory by 300 votes. Since Keith likes numbers, that comes out to $378.67 per vote for Kerry.
Countdown - Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 28
Host: Keith Olbermann
Scheduled Topics/Guests:
CONCERNS ARISE ABOUT THE PENDING HEALTH DISASTER FOLLOWING THE TSUNAMI IN SOUTH ASIA: Dr. Daniel Lopez-Acuna, World Health Organization
U.S. AIRWAYS AND TROUBLES WITHIN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY: David Field, Airline Business magazine
AN EX-OFFICIAL SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HOMELAND SECURITY FAILURE: Mark Hosenball, Newsweek investigative correspondent
WHY CANT WE BETTER PREDICT THE LOCATION AND STRENGTH OF FUTURE EARTHQUAKES?: Dr. John Rundle, seismologist at University of California at Davis
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: 12:23 p.m. ET Dec. 29, 2004
Guest: Alfred Ironside, David Field, Elecia Battle
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: I've noticed an additional pattern in KO's reports that smacks of political bias. Perhaps not as faithful as Henry Hanks' astute Olbermann Apology Equation, but we shall see how durable it remains over time.
I call mine, "OLBYconvergence": To report a story or issue in the news not related to the Bush Administration, and then append to it a story that reflects poorly on Bush's Administration. The relationship of the former (Story A) to the latter (Story B) can be tenuous and even coincidental, and KO doesn't even have to state explicitly that they're related at all. Minimally, one story merely has to immediately follow the other. The intent is that the viewer will perceive that there's an association--preferably causal--between the two. Not only does this 'convergence' link Bush to stuff he's not responsible for, it also artificially amplifies the seriousness of legitimate problems for which the administration is indeed responsible.
So, I'll slap "OLBYconvergence" at the beginning of each applicable example here, and in future posts.
Keith's first utterances about the tsunami were from John Donne's inspiring words on the benevolence and compassion of mankind, followed immediately by an allegation that "experts in Thailand failed to warn of the possible tsunami out of fear of damaging tourism there, in case they were wrong." After showing a powerful amateur video of the devastation, KO returned to this 'failure to warn' story that appeared in one newspaper---the Scotsman, in the UK---and based on unnamed sources who disagreed with on-the-record officials who Keith said had affirmed that "tourism was never a factor in whether or not they issued a warning in Thailand over this past weekend".
Perhaps Keith should have also mentioned that the Scotsman reported that "The [Seismological Bureau of Thailand's Meteorological Department] did issue warnings of the impending tidal wave Sunday", even though it was said that the "threat was underestimated". Frankly, when the government says a tidal wave is coming, that's when I get my kids and my own butt away from the beach, regardless of how much the alert may be downplayed.
This was the second day in a row that Keith reported the 'news' that Arthur C. Clark--who resides in Sri Lanka-- was fine and unaffected by the tsunami. Judging from this, and his obsession with the alleged voting fraud in Ohio, I suspect KO may be an avid science fiction fan.
The first, but certainly not the last, OLBYconvergence to be noted:
OLBYconvergence: Story A was the voter fraud in the Ukraine; Story B was the VoteFraud2004inOhioButNotPennsylvania. KO's been presenting this pair for several days, since the Ukraine story first broke. From a loon's perspective, one might even justify it as "news", given that name-brand loons like Jessie Jackson and Cong. John Conyers have conflated the two stories in various ways.
KO reported that the final preliminary count showed that Viktor Yuschenko defeated incumbent Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich, and that Yanukovich is not conceding defeat and will challenge the results. But it looks like a victory for this particular OLBYconvergence: Expect more of it.
Story B of course was the alleged Ohio vote fraud. But it's both instructive and entertaining to see the segway KO used: After reporting the apparent suicide of Transport Minister Heorhiy Kirpa, KO shifted to Ohio with this: "The Yuschenko man said it is possible Kirpa was, 'coerced to commit suicide.' And in this country, one of the great nonevents of the year, the Ohio recount is complete." Was that smooth or what?!
But that was nothing compared to KO's opener to Story A: "It would have been implausible a year ago today to predict as 2004 ended today mountain earns would be talking about elections in Iraq, Ukraine and Ohio." That was followed by reports of terrorist attacks in Iraq and the urgings that it be postponed (hint: disastrous election to be in Iraq); followed by the aforementioned Ukrainian debacle (hint: disastrous election that was); followed by the Ohio recount results, the impending lawsuits and possible challenge in Congress (hint: disastrous election via OLBYconvergence).
Referring to the aforementioned "great nonevent" that KO keeps reporting on, he suggested why both the loony left and the mainstream couldn't care less about the recount results. Apparently that doesn't include his own audience.
Yet he does, so OlbermannWatch must too. He reported that the associated press "says the president's margin of victory was narrowed by 285 net votes, a total of 118,457." Dog That Didn't Bark: That's still a margin much greater than that of several other states.
KO said next: "Green Party observers say, however, in 86 of the 88 counties, state laws about which precincts were to be recounted by hand were broken." Precincts were broken? That typo needed a rewrite. Anyway, from that quote from the wacky Greens, KO segwayed out with this keeper: "From the serious news to the seriously strange news, ice castles and the men who love them. This is our next edition of "Oddball."
Another OLBYconvergence: Story A: latest items on the financial woes of airlines and flight delays. Story B: failure of the TSA regarding airport security.
KO introduced these stories with a cute "the bad news / worse news" juxtaposition, and used a quote from "the former inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security", saying that the aviation system is "a huge dysfunctional bureaucracy." This former inspector general (later identified as Clark Kent Ervin) was referring solely to airport security problems, and not problems involving misplaced luggage, scheduling delays, labor actions, and such.
Keith revealed that only after a report on Story A, and his interview with David Field of "Airline Business" magazine about Story A. Hence the method of convergence is shown. Olbermann: "Assuming that there is an airline industry left in the new year, will it be safe to fly?"
Keith said that Clark Kent Ervin's term at the Department of Homeland Security "was allowed to expire on the 8th of this month". Yet KO implied that since he's a whistleblower, then he must have been the subject of a purge. What sort of purge? KO Segwayed to the news that Deputy Director Jamie Misik was the next victim of Porter Goss' purge at the CIA, and quoted her saying, "It's not exactly [my] decision" to leave the agency (therefore: "I wuz purged!"). KO allowed the viewer to wonder if Misik was a whistleblower, or just fouled up?
Dog That Didn't Bark: At some point, KO might want to share air time with critics who are tiring of the whiners who fouled up what they were paid to do, and who can't seem to exit the scene quietly, leaving what's left of the integrity of the CIA, and it's supposed legacy of secrecy, intact. Hint: it won't be heard from the likes of Larry Johnson, formerly the Deputy Director in the US State Department's Office of Counter Terrorism, and a COUNTDOWN regular.
Kudos to Keith for resisting a play on the name 'Clark Kent' Ervin, and science fiction hero, Superman.
December 28, 2004
NOTE ON POST FROM LAST WEDNESDAY
I am not sure what happened but the post we put up last week for Wednesday's Countdown did not appear on the site. I re-published the post this morning and it is now visible
Countdown - Wednesday Dec. 22, 2004 (8:00-9:00 P.M. ET)
In the post, I use Keith's vacation as an opportunity to examine why Countdown fixates on topics like Iraq, Ohio "vote fraud", and hit pieces on Bush officials and supporters and explain how that advances the show's core (leftist) agenda.
NOTE: after a couple of days I will remove this "heads up" post.
December 27, 2004
Countdown - Monday Dec. 27, 2004 (8:00-9:00 P.M. ET)
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 27, 2004
Host: Keith Olbermann
Scheduled Topics/Guests:
THE LATEST ON THE TSUNAMI IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCH A DISASTER STRIKING THE UNITED STATES: Colin Stark, geophysicist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
HOW HAVE GOVERNMENTS AND RELIEF AGENCIES RESPONDED TO THE TSUNAMI CRISIS?: Mathew Parry, American Red Cross
REACTION TO THE MOST RECENT OSAMA BIN LADEN TAPE: Roger Cressey, MSNBC analyst and terrorism expert
THE UKRAINE ELECTIONS: Howard Fineman, NBC News political analyst
AMERICAN IDOL REJECT WILLIAM HUNG PERFORMS FOR THE HOLIDAYS: William Hung, Former American Idol Contestant
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
Guests: Howard Fineman, Roger Cressey, William Hung
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: The big story on every channel was the deadly tsunami. But KO didn't think the deaths of tens of thousands of people were worth more than one segment. He had bigger fish to fry. After all, he had to leave time to file yet another report on VoteFraud2004inOhioButNotPennsylvania.
But first, analysis of Iraq developments, courtesy of Roger Cressey, described by KO as an MSNBC analyst and "terrorism expert". Left unsaid in Olbermann's intro: Cressey served in the Clinton administration as chief acolyte to Richard Clarke, and desperately defended Bubba as a someone who "fought hard to counter terrorism". Cressey is currently the candidate of choice of a coalition of lefty loons who want a "progressive" Secretary of Homeland Security. The perfect guest expert for Countdown!
But then, finally, some real news!
Olby made much ado about a statement by a Kerry attorney regarding the "integrity of the electoral process", even though the attorney later made clear that he was not talking about any kind of "conspiracy theory"--such a thing just isn't likely. Keith held out a bit of hope that someone in the Congress would challenge the Ohio electors (in language lifted right out of his blog) even though it isn't likely. Hapless Howard Fineman was dragged in yet again to speculate on how there might be a challenge but (breaking news!) it isn't likely. KO gave a brief history of attempts to eliminate the electoral college (but it isn't likely), and mentioned in passing the Washington Governor's race. It will surprise no one that KO made no mention whatsoever of conveniently discovered ballots or other irregularities in that race; after all, the last vote count was won by a Democrat.
OLBERMANN NEWSWORTHINESS RATIO:
Tsunami kills tens of thousands in disaster of Biblical proportions: 11 minutes.
VoteFraud2004inOhioButNotPennsylvania news of what isn't likely: 8.5 minutes.
William Hung Sings Christmas Favorites: 7 minutes.
Olbermann Wins Prestigious Broadcasting Award
Keith Olbermann's contributions to cable news journalism have finally been given the acknowledgement they deserve. The esteemed Media Research Center has announced its awards for 2004, and Keith has been recognized for his unique achievements in gazetteering:
Kooky Keith Award (for Keith Olbermann's Conspiratorial Rants)
First Place: MSNBC's Keith Olbermann
"John Dean, who was at the center of the greatest political scandal in this nation's history, has produced a book with perspective, and that perspective is simply terrifying. The bottom line: George Bush has done more damage to this nation than his old boss, Richard Nixon, ever dreamt of....John Dean, joining us here in the studio...."
"The feeling that I had been left after reading Worse Than Watergate was that this could have been the historical, essentially, prequel to George Orwell's novel 1984, that if you wanted to see what the very first step out of maybe 50 steps towards this totalitarian state that Orwell wrote about in his novel, this [President Bush's policies] would be the kind of thing that you would see...."
--MSNBC's Keith Olbermann to former Nixon aide John Dean on his Countdown program, April 5.
Mr Olbermann could not be present to accept the award (because of his new duties in the promo department of MSNBC), but OlbermannWatch is honored to accept this accolade for him. On KO's behalf, we would like to thank Bev Harris, Jesse Jackson, Cliff Arnebeck, of course John Dean, and others too numerous to mention. We look forward to 2005 with new anticipation, because, as this award demonstrates, even after KO has wrung the last drop out of the VoteFraud2004inOhioButNotPennsylvania story, there will still be an endless supply of loony Olbyisms. KO will always be the gift that keeps on giving.
December 24, 2004
Countdown - Friday Dec. 24, 2004 (8:00-9:00 P.M. ET)
'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 24, 2004
Updated: 3:50 p.m. ET Dec. 27, 2004
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: With no additional news from Ohio to keep the vote fraud story alive, and no reporter to feed the hard questions to the soldiers talking to Rumsfeld in Iraq, all the Olbermann could do was to look back at the most memorable moments of 2004 that should have cost Bush the presidency. This time, the stories weren't lifted from blogs and internet chain mail. Instead, the bites looked like they were borrowed from Letterman and SNL. Neither the yawning boy nor Colin Powel got a pass. Strangely, Kerry's "Can I get me a hunting license here?" stayed in Ohio.
Say Ain't So, Keith: Olbermann to Fox News?
Cornell Magazine's Alumni News reports:
In other television news, I was reading an entertainment magazine in December and noted that Keith Olbermann has left MSNBC for a more lucrative contract with Fox News. Congratulations, Keith, and keep up the great work.
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