'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Dec. 6

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: 1:52 p.m. ET Dec. 7, 2004
Guest: Dana Milbank, Derrick Pitts

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: KO wasted no time in cribbing from the internet by lifting information directly from the OlbermannWatch.com web site itself.

Earlier today our Managing Editor, Robert Cox, was refuting the claims of a misguided reader who sought to argue that she was not defending Olbermann in her posts, only criticizing Cox who was criticizing Olbermann. Cox ably refuted her argument by pointing out that she was admitting to the use of a fallacious ad hominem argument, a type of logical fallacy commonly used by left-wing loons. Cox explains,

A logical fallacy is an error in logical argument which is independent of the truth of the premises. There are various type of logical fallacies. An ad hominem argument is a type of logical fallacy that involves replying to an argument or assertion by addressing the person presenting the argument or assertion rather than the argument itself. A fallacious ad hominem argument has the basic form: A makes claim B; there is something objectionable about A, therefore claim B is false.

And then just a few hours later...

...Countdown began with Olbermann explaining the concept of a logical fallacy:

Good Evening...the logical fallacy is that knee-jerk part of life in which Event A occurs and then Event B follows and the natural...and usually wrong assumption...is to conclude that event A caused event B. Our fifth story in the countdown tonight...it's not always wrong...for the ninth time in six years a statement from the al Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zahwiri was followed by...in short order...a terrorist attack.

At least KO didn't swipe from a parody site this time, so that's a small step in the right direction. If you're going to steal, steal from the best.

The obligatory VoteFraud2004inOhioButNotPennsylvania segment followed shortly thereafter. Aside from demonstrating Olbermann's masterful command of English usage ("...a news conference scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at which the recount request from he and the Libertarian Presidential candidate..."), KO reported on a stunning development: Clifford Arnebeck has not filed a lawsuit. And Francisco Franco is still dead.

Showing his versatility at covering breaking stories, Keith interrupted the flow of Countdown to report "flash news" about a fire in Chicago. KO broke that story at 8:44 pm, only ten minutes after Fox.

Finally, Olbermann's Improbable History: In explaining the Army's "new" stop-loss program (regarding a case of eight soldiers challenging its constitutionality), KO delivered this gem:

"The Army measure, which was first used during Desert Storm, was enacted last spring...".

Come again? Just how could a measure have been used in Desert Storm when it was only enacted "last spring"? Memo to KO: stop-loss was enacted by Congress after the VietNam war, expanded by them in 1983, and found constitutional in a 1991 Federal Court case. Many springs ago.