February 28, 2005
Countdown - February 28, 2005 ( 8:00-9:00 pm ET )
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
MICHAEL JACKSON OPENING STATEMENTS: Harvey Levin, host, creator and executive producer of "Celebrity Justice"
BTK SERIAL KILLER CONFESSES TO SIX CRIMES: Clint Van Zandt, former FBI profiler
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: March 4 1:10 p.m.
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: KO led off the program with the most important hard news story of the day: Michael Jackson. "Your tax dollars in action", sneered Olby, as if he didn't see what's so bad about a grown man's fascination with little boys. After the chitchat with Harvey Levin, the topic swerved to the BTK killer. It was amusing to hear Olby's description of the accused. As he rattled off various facets of the suspect's persona, KO's voice jumped up several tones to emphasize the phrase "a church leader". More bloviating, this time with Cliff Van Zandt.
#4: Bush's strategy to sell his Social Security program isn't working. And what's more, it's dishonest: Bush claims there's a 6-year gap in life expectancy between blacks and whites. But the LA Times says no, it's only a two-year difference, if you don't count things like crime-related deaths. (Perhaps if we don't include things like illness and old age the numbers will be even more amazing!)
The real Olby fully emerged in an item about "propagandist" Ann Coulter.
Crediting no outside source, he revealed that Coulter referred to Helen "Thompson" (yes, that's what he said) as "that old Arab" on her website, but the version of that column sent to newspapers read "that dyspeptic old Helen Thomas". Hey, where else are you going to get the hot scoop on big news like this? Possibly from the left-blog Crooks and Liars, or Olby's comrades at Media Matters, both of whom by some amazing coincidence happen to have flogged this story just today.
After Oddball and the Top 3 Newsmakers (strangely absent any mentions of Bill O'Reilly or Jeff Gannon--but maybe the Coulter bit was supposed to compensate), #3 brought us the big explosion in Iraq. After a recycled NBC report, reliable Roger Cressey talked about the Bin Laden-Zarqawi connection, or rather Olby's suspicions about whether it's real. Then KO made note of some vaguely critical remark Colin Powell made about Rumsfeld. The resignation of the Syrian government in Lebanon, which was big news earning large blocks of live coverage this morning, got a few sentences. The Pope's health was an afterthought.
#2: An interesting Lisa Meyers report on how jailed terorrists communicated with their followers. It's not surprising that the most interesting and significant real news was a) recycled from NBC, and b) not reported by Olby.
Finally #1: An Oscar wrap-up with the smirking Michael Musto of the Village Voice. Musto said Chris Rock will be back because he got "good ratings" (he didn't mention they were 6% below last year), although he said Rock made Letterman look good.
So endeth another backwards news hour. Sitting through this once a week, in the words of a great President, is "hard work".
Keith Gives Up Blogging on Politics
Would that it were so...
With Henry Hanks going into early retirement, I figured I had better circle back and check Bloggerman, Feedster, Google News and a few other search engines for KO news. Besides this from Ripclaw there was not much out there on Keith lately except his own post from a few days ago.
Turns out Keith hasn't blogged in a few days after unburdening himself of his traumatic experience, a harrowing brush with blog-fueled paranoia. Let's have Keith set the scene:
Something happened in December from which I'm just cooling down. It represents all the worst byproducts of this useful new form of media, and it underscores that we’re all going to have to figure out how to address them or the blogosphere will succumb to Global Warming long before the planet will.
Gosh, that sounds horrible. What could could have happened two months ago that rocked Keith's world so badly that he is only now recovered enough to speak about it? Keith goes on:
I got an email...from a woman who identified herself only as Alexandra, who insisted "something clearly has happened to your coverage. Looks like 'bait and switch' to me… your quote...from the Kerry attorney saying they believed Bush really won...is so far fetched, I may as well have been listening to Karl Rove or Scott McClellan..."
Ah! This terrible tale of life in the blogosphere starts, as so many do, with a simple e-mail. Lulled by the simplicity of this opening feint, Keith "replied gently to Ms. Alexandra..."
Who could have expected such a nefarious turn of events from such an innocent exchange? Certainly not Keith who fell unwittingly into "Alexandra's" trap. Keith continues:
The next afternoon she was back. “Can someone get a statement DIRECTLY from Kerry’s office that ‘Hoffmeier’ (sic) is INDEED his attorney? No one’s heard his name before (though maybe Bush/Cheney lawyers, or Karl Rove might have a clue)..." As Charlie Brown used to say, arrrgh!
Riveting. Horrofiric. It is just a wonder Keith has been able to go on MSNBC each night! Can you imagine? Keith got TWO whole e-mails, from an anonymous source, doubting the great KO.
Now some of you may be asking how or why this e-mail has anything to do with blogs. After all, Keith just decried this "incident" as representing all "the worst byproducts of this useful new form of media (blogs)" and noted how it underscores the need to "address" these horrible byproducts. Is "Alexandra" a blogger? Does "Alexandra" read blogs? Is "Alexandra" Alexandara? We don't know - and apparently neither does Keith.
Keith's whiny, self-indulgent post continues with irony so thick that regular readers of OlbermannWatch hardly need me to explain it.
I wouldn't get very far if I just made the news up every day, including quotations and even entire people.
Every day? No. But how about comparing the efforts of the KGB-backed Ukranian government to assassinate an opposition candidate to Ken Blackwell refusing to accede to every loony left claim about Ohio voting?
I wouldn't get very far just making this stuff up out of whole cloth.
You mean like reporting Kathy Dopp's fabricated "analysis" of vote fraud in the Florida panhandle.
What wore me out, of course, was the idea that because I was presenting news that a viewer didn't like, I had to have sold out to one party or another, and/or fabricated it. The woman presumed that I had created a fictional character, was stupid enough to quote him on national television, and was guilty of both these crimes and had to get a note from John Kerry that I wasn't making it up.
Keith make things up? You mean like lifting false information from blogs, presenting it as your own reporting, then failing to issue a correction when called on the error. Or maybe reporting on news from Indiana University where Keith quoted the fictional character Dr. Hosung Lee commenting on a non-existent report about a fabricated Kinsey Institute study. To paraphrase Keith's line about Dr. Lee, "KO is a pip, isn't he?"
With no need to apply logic or reason to his rant, Keith opines "If this is the ultimate impact of the blog on the MSM, we’re only going to have a newscast once every few months. We'll be spending the intervening time preparing the footnotes and the affidavits."
So far the impact of blogs on the MSM have been to shove frauds like Dan Rather and Eason Jordan out of a job. Is Keith starting to feel the heat?
Thanks guys
I'll leave the Olby-watching in the capable hands of my associates from now on...
February 27, 2005
Laura Ingraham on KO
We're making Laura an honorary "OlbyWatcher". It takes a strong woman to admit she watches Keith. Listen here.
OlbermannWatch in the News
Doug Schmitz of MichNews.com in his recent article The White House Press Clubhouse: No Conservatives Allowed cites OlbermannWatch:
When MSNBC's rabidly leftist pit bull Keith Olbermann isn’t obsessing over the phony sexual harassment charges that a CNN mole maliciously leveled against Bill O’Reilly; smearing the Swift Boat Vets; or sticking up for suspected terrorists at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, he always manages to make up a new anti-Bush diatribe to run on his actual fake news show, which mostly involves creating wildly leftist conspiracy theories that are further exaggerated by his pro-Democrat-only guests with their own leftist agendas...
As Olbermann (www.olbermannwatch.com) ignores Rathergate (www.rathergate.com) and Easongate (www.easongate.com), he milks his nonstop segment, "Gannongate."
Drudge Notes OlbyObessession with Gannon
CABLE NEWS RACE
THURS., FEB 24, 2005
FNC O'REILLY 2,181,000 [VIEWERS]
FNC HANNITY/COLMES 1,622,000
FNC SHEP SMITH 1,386,000
FNC BRIT HUME 1,318,000
FNC GRETA 1,307,000
CNN LARRY KING 1,004,000
CNN ZAHN 673,000
CNN AARON BROWN 551,000
CNN COOPER 524,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 388,000
CNN DOBBS 379,000
CNNHN NANCY GRACE 366,000
MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 240,000
MNSBC OLBERMANN/GANNON 208,000
If cable news shows were blogs...
Top Five Blogs (by Traffic in visits/day) at TTLB Ecosystem (2/27/05)
1) Daily Kos 421,984
X) MSNBC HARDBALL 388,000
X) CNNHN NANCY GRACE 366,000
X) MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 240,000
2) Gizmodo 229,502
3) Gawker 222,685
X) MNSBC OLBERMANN/GANNON 208,000
4) Defamer 175,071
5) Instapundit.com 166,389
February 25, 2005
Contributor Wanted
We currently have an opening for a contributor to OlbermannWatch.
If you can spare an hour a week to suffer through Countdown once a week so others don't have to please contact Robert Cox at robert-dot-cox-at-thenationaldebate-dot-com.
February 24, 2005
Countdown - Day Thursday, February 24, 2005 (8:00-9:00 P.M. ET)
Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Day Mon
Host: Keith Olbermann
Scheduled Topics/Guests:
POPE BACK IN THE HOSPITAL: George Weigel, NBC News analyst and author, "Witness to Hope"
"JUICED: WILD TIMES, RAMPANT 'ROIDS, SMASH HITS AND HOW BASEBALL GOT BIG": Jose Canseco, former Major League Baseball player and author of "Juiced"
THE WIFE OF THE SUSPECT IN THE MURDER OF THE PREGNANT TEXAS WOMAN AND HER SEVEN YEAR-OLD SON SAYS HE'S INNCOCENT: Clint van Zandt, former FBI profiler and MSNBC analyst
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Story #5 began with the Pope's health, KO interviewed an American doctor named Richard Smith and Pope Biographer George Weigel. Most the questions were ones that could not be answered because they don't know, like how bad are his lungs, and what will happen if he can't speak for three weeks, etc. It soon became apparent that this was an unstated death watch and rather tacky at that.
#5 was also the Bush/Putin press conference today---is this a new form of Olbyconvergence? What does the Pope have to do with Bush? I have been noticing that stories seem to be randomly lumped together under the same number, some stories don't rate a number, and mostly this countdown thing is turning into a mish mash.
At any rate, pretty straight up reporting of Bush and Putin's press conference, with the obligatory sarcastic labeling of Bush's trip "the Bush charm offensive" and the also obligatory mention that "American soldiers died today in Iraq" at the end of the story. Oh, and later on, a cheap shot clip of Bush missing on a joke at the press conference.
If you wanted to hear about Bush's historic speech today in front of frequently cheering crowds in Slovakia, covered fully by other news outlets, well, between hoping the Pope would die and an extended report on the fact that there was no new info on Gannon, there just wasn't time. Or maybe it was the fact that there wasn't enough of a portion of the tape where the crowd wasn't cheering Bush wildly to make it worth it for KO.
Which brings us to number 4, the Gannon/Guckert story. It is almost bizarre to see that this story refuses to die, with almost no new information. The only new thing is an interview with Campbell Brown in which Gannon provides no new information to the story. Gannon is gay, remember, he's the gay guy that got into the White House? Gannon is gay gay gay gay gay, and he did a gay porno site. Porno porno porno porno. And he was in, he was in in in in the White House. And he was gay. Good God.
I have to mention something that was on both Hardball and KO's show. In one piece of the clip with Campbell Brown she is asking him why he used a fake name (why didn't someone think to bring that up til now?) and he said it was hard to pronounce, and that people who saw it in writing typically mispronounced it. Campbell had him pronounce it, and she said, that was easy, Gook-ert. That was it on Countdown, but on Hardball the reporter was David Shuster covering the Brown interview, who reported Campbell's comment and then proceeded to mispronounce Guckert for the rest of the piece. That was rich.
#3 Jose Canseco, interesting story of the big dust up over steroids that his book is causing.
That was it on serious news, #2 were some new Tsunami photos that were fascinating, one of them was the best photo I have seen so far. #1 was at least three different stories, Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart, and a turkey that attacked a cop.
All more important to KO and his two watchers, apparently, than the incredible and historic impact Bush is having in Europe right now.
Keith's next target: Coulter?
Could be:
(By the way, if writing for a news organization with no viewers is grounds for being denied a press pass, why do MSNBC reporters have them?)
Imus Slams Olbermann Again
At about 7:25am this morning on MSNBC's Imus In The Morning program, Don Imus uttered a mildly flippant comment about the Pope. Imus's cohort, Bernard McGuirk then commented that it was another "Keith Olbermann moment", presumably referring to the tasteless comedy bit about the Pope that KO did on Countdown several days ago.
Imus shot back at Bernard, "Don't compare me to Keith Olbermann, or I'll beat the hell outta ya".
In the prior incident in which Olbermann's name came up in conjuction with the Pope, Imus had ridiculed Keith for having low ratings.
February 23, 2005
Countdown - February 23, 2005 ( 8:00-9:00 pm ET )
Countdown with Keith Olbermann for Wednesday
Host: Keith Olbermann
Scheduled Topics/Guests:
DIPLOMACY AND IRAN: Robin Wright, Washington Post correspondent
ROYAL WEDDING TURMOIL: Laura Trevelyan, BBC correspondent
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
Guest: PENDING
OLBYWATCH GUIDE:
The #5 story tonight was "Bitter Closure" and was well produced. It discussed the fact that the medical examiners office has ended attempts to identify the remains of 1161 victims of the 9-11 attacks. These families will be left without the closure they sought, and our hearts go out to them.
The #4 story was about the release of a 40 year old color video taken of Martin Luther King Jr. The film was made the day after 'Bloody Sunday.' It had pictures of MLK behind the pulpit, organizing a march and walking in a march. It is the first time this video has been viewed by the public.
The #3 story is where things began to unravel. In Dimplomacy and Iran, KO asked Robin Wright (Washington Post)what may be the dumbest question of his career: "Do we have a policy and strategy towards Iran?" Uh, no KO, who's Iran? Do we need a policy towards Iran? That's probably how I would have responded, but kudos to Robin for reminding KO that the President has been sending a clear signal on this issue. KO then fell back into the trap he was in last Wednesday: Still trying to peddle the theory we are going to war with Iran. KO contends the President is playing word games and points out that President Bush stated there were 'no war plans on his desk' when he was in Germany before the Iraq war. He then went on to cover President Bush's European trip by pointing out how many protestors showed up and what each sign said. Not a positive word about the trip.
The #2 story... Handshakes. Boy, this is what I depend on "newscasts" for. Tell us, Monica Novotny, what are the 4 steps to a good handshake? I am certain this is more important than actually telling me something that happened today.
**Gratuitous Jeff/John Guckert/Gannon mention.** Ahhh, it wasn't a O'Reilly moment, but it'll do.
And the #1 story of the day, for MSNBC's "newscast of record" is... A Royal Mess. Laura Trevelyan (BBC News) tells us the story of who is going to the wedding and who is not going to the wedding. Queen-No. Charles' brothers-No. Sons-Yes.
So which one will you be talking about tomorrow?
February 22, 2005
Countdown - February 22, 2005 ( 8:00-9:00 pm ET )
Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for February 22
Host: Keith Olbermann .
Topics/Guests:
---VIRGINIA MAN CHARGED IN ALLEGED PLOT TO ASSASSINATE PRESIDENT BUSH: Ashraf Nubani, attorney representing Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the Virginia man who is being charged with the alleged assassination plot
---PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY RELEASES NEVER BEFORE SEEN HOME VIDEO OF JOHN F. KENNEDY: Larry Sabato, presidential historian and director for The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia
---PARIS HILTON'S CELL PHONE IS HACKED: Michael Musto, entertainment columnist, Village Voice
Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: Updated: 10:34 a.m. ET Feb. 23, 2005
Guests: Larry Sabato, Michael Musto, Ashraf Nubani
OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Every Tuesday when I'm forced to view Countdown for this blog, I find myself hoping that Bush and Republicans generally have a great news day. Because that will often induce Keith to tone down his veiled political carping and demagoguery, and consequently I'll have less to write about. Today was one of those days. The 9:35 segment---which is when KO usually grabs for the long knives---was all fluff tonight. Nevertheless, there were still a couple of shots that Keith got in:
KO introduced indicted Ahmed Abu-Ali, as a 23-year-old U.S. citizen born in Texas, raised in Virginia, and an honor student who graduated valedictorian of his high school class who was allegedly tortured while in prison for 20 months in Saudi Arabia---cohorts of the US. He threw softballs to the boy's attorney, Ashraf Nubani, who said Ahmed was a good boy, repeating KO's statement that he graduated valedictorian. KO failed to hit Nubani with questions about the very extremist views of Abu-Ali, as well as some of the purported charges against the boy. Also, according to Fox's John Gibson, that was a Wahabbist school in Virginia where the boy graduated valedictorian. That's like graduating valedictorian in a nazi youth school in Germany circa 1939. Not something you should put on a resume today.
Thus, KO dropped the ball again. He allowed Nubani to portray this affair as a freedom of speech issue. Thus, without the balance, one comes away from this news story thinking this is another Muslim-American wrongly detained.
The second shot was about President Bush's excellent adventure in Europe. Recall how Bush was condemned for dissing the Euros? Countdown provided a forum for every Bush critic to reprimand the president for stiff-arming the Europeans. But now here's Bush in Europe attempting a reconciliation; laughing off the past animosity; etc. Being very diplomatic, as he was urged to be for the last few years by American liberals and Dems. And what does KO say about that now? He grabs the Dem talking points, dismissing the trip as Bush's "charm offensive." Bush's comment that the rumor of a US attack on Iran was false, but adding "However, all options are on the table", must have stuck in Olby's craw.
It must have been particularly galling for the "antis", who had expected---before the stunning voter turnout in Iraq on January 30th---that this would be a trip where Bush would be crawling to the Euros to help in Iraq. And kudos to CNBC's Dennis Miller for reminding us that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opposed the Iraq war only to get elected, and that President Jacques Chirac opposed it merely to build a European coalition to counter-balance the power of the US, and to safeguard France's financial investments with Saddam's regime---To no one's surprise, Dogs That Didn't Bark on Countdown.
It was such a slow day for beating up the President that Keith invited a conservative on Countdown--a rarity indeed. Larry Sabato was on to discuss the politically innocuous, recently released home movies of JFK. I will note that in KO's outtro "thank you" to Sabato, he referred to him as a "Presidential historian", but didn't plug Larry's organization, The Center for Politics.
Following the pay per view parody that Keith did, Trey Jackson pointed out to me that Keith said, "I just want to mention, again, this is MSNBC‘s newscast of record."
For the sake of those who feel that NBC is the most fair and balanced among the big three broadcast news nets, I would only hope that Keith's statement was intended as a joke.
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