Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Thursday, March 31

Host: Keith Olbermann

Scheduled Topics/Guests: REACTION TO TERRI SCHIAVO'S DEATH: Jay Wolfson, Terri Schiavo's former Guardian at Law; Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent

THE LEGALITIES AHEAD FOR THE SCHINDLER AND SCHIAVO FAMILY: Kendall Coffey, former U.S. attorney with the Southern District of Florida

WHAT IS THE POLITICAL LEGACY OF TERRI SCHIAVO?: John Harwood, political editor, Wall Street Journal; Craig Crawford, Congressional Quarterly and MSNBC political analyst

THE FINDINGS FROM SCHIAVO'S AUTOPSY: Larry Kobilinsky, forensics expert and professor at John Jay College

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
Guest: PENDING

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: The hour was dominated by the Schiavo case, and although most of the time was spent relaying the events of the day, which I won't go over once again, KO's biases again were on display, along with his usual lack of awareness of them. Early on he had on Jay Wolfson, the former court appointed gaurdian of Terry Schiavo, and introduced him by saying that there has been extreme rhetoric on both sides and neutrality has not been around. The implication is that KO was going to be neutral, and here is the proof, he is going to interview Wolfson. OK, I was with him so far.

Then for the rest of the show we were treated with one story after the next which represented the liberal side of the story, reporting on death threats to Michael Schiavo's family, even playing a tape of one threatening call, worried about the possibility that Michael could get sued, and finally culminating in a quote from Tom Delay labeled as threatening judges. He even had Howard Fineman talking about an upcoming Republican "crusade" against the judiciary over this, complete with KO predicting its failure.

There are so many interesting stories that could have been explored from the other side's angle, such as when the autopsy is performed, what if they find that Terry's brain is in a lot better shape than thought by those who declared her in a persistant vegetative state? I think that possibility is a lot more likely than that Michael Schiavo will get sued, considering the long history of court judgements in his favor.

What stands out is that KO always find stories that support the liberal viewpoint, the "real" stories, yet it also appears he thinks he is being objective and "neutral". Don't think so, Keith.

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Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Day Wednesday

Host: Keith Olbermann

Scheduled Topics/Guests:

THE LATEST DETAILS IN THE TERRI SCHIAVO CONTROVERSY: Pete Williams, NBC News correspondent
CAN ELEPHANTS MIMIC NOISES?: Harry Peachey, manager, Columbus Zoo

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Let me begin by making it clear that I only watch KO once a week. I follow my colleagues review of other shows, so I have no first hand experience as to what KO's show is every night. Why am I pointing this out? because I do not wish to hear the same complaints I heard expressed last week about my review of KO's coverage of the Terri Schiavo case. So, I'll attempt to be a bit more precise.

KO starts off the night explaining that the Schindler family has once again appealed the case to the Spreme Court [we now know that petition was denied]. KO spends a few minutes discussing whether or not all the legal options will be over or not when the Supreme Court rules (and.. made sure to point out that the Schindler family stated they wouldn't file any more legal papers in this case and then did it anyway several times). I think it's fair to 'analyze' the legal status of the case. This is relevant information. Implying the Schindlers are not keeping their word -or- being dishonest because they continue to fight for their daughter is deplorable.

My next complaint continues what I began last week. The simple fact is KO either cannot, does not know how or simply chooses not to cover this story in a full [both sides] analysis. Instead, he uses cheap tactics like bringing in Dr. Jeffrey Ponsky (who invented the feeding tube) and continually attempts to compare Terri's situation to that of Pope John Paul (who had a nasal feeding tube inserted today). This whole segment of 'this type of feeding tube is OK' and 'this type is not' is again deplorable. While Keith studies the history of the feeding tube (invented 25 years ago) a young woman is dying. Did KO ever tell his audience this information from either point of view? NO.

You know what he did have time to talk about? Let's see...

Apparently Dr. Pellman (who testified on behalf of baseball at the steroid hearings) got his medical degree in Mexico. I am in no position to pass judgment on Mexican Universities, but are they inferior? I'm not being sarcastic-I just don't know. Want to know why I don't know? The 'news show' I learned this from failed to give me any insight into teaching standards/reults/studies from Mexican Universities. I think that info would have helped me determine whether or not this is relevant information.

Monica Novotny got me all worked up and worried about my tattoo when she told me there may be lead or copper in the ink. I've had a tattoo for ten years without incident, but who knows.

I know this is the part that everyone reads for. What is the #1 news story of the day? What is the most important thing KO could find to report back to his audience? Ok..enough suspense. Elephants may do impressions, or something. One elephant made a 'chirping noise'. Another elephant made a noise that sounded like a truck driving by.

Wow. KO may be on to his next big 'under reported' news story of the year! Elephants making noise. Wait... Did I understand this segment right or was he talking about the DU? I sometimes get confused.

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Looks like Liz Halloran's interview with Keith Olbermann where Keith claimed he was being "perfecuted" by OlbermannWatch was part of her swan song at The Hartford Courant - she quit and is heading to the Baltimore Sun where she is replacing David Folkenflik who left the Sun for NPR. Folkenflik is one of the few journalists to interview Keith Olbermann and the Managing Editor of OlbermannWatch, Robert Cox.

OW readers might recall that shortly after leaving the Sun for NPR, Folkenflik appeared on Countdown to discuss the Jeff Gannon/James Guckert story.

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Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Tuesday Mar. 29, 2005

Host: Keith Olbermann

Scheduled Topics/Guests:

WILL AN AUTOPSY BE CONCLUSIVE IN THE TERRI SCHIAVO CASE?: Dr. Cyril Wecht, forensic pathologist

THE SCHIAVO CASE AND HOSPICE CARE: Dr. Morton Getz, medical director of Douglas Garden Hospice

SLEEP DISORDERS: Dr. Mark Mahowald, Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: 11:24 a.m. ET March 30, 2005
Guest: Morton Getz, Cyril Wecht, Ira Reiner, Amy Forliti, Paul Mooney

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Demonstrating once again that Keith never misses an opportunity to beat a dead horse KO introduced his report on Terry Schiavo by noting Jesse Jackson is now supporting the parents "thus separating the man who most loudly claimed Republican voting fraud in Ohio last year from those now insisting that Congress overreached in legislating the Schiavo case in the federal court." Dude, Ohio is so, like, over.

I seem to recall not to long Olby mocking the notion that Senator Bill Frist, a heart surgeon, could arrive at a conclusion about the condition of Terry Schiavo based on watching video tape and reading medical reports. How then to explain Keith parading guests on his show like Dr. Cyril Wecht the "world famous" coroner in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (i.e., someone not qualified to render an opinion on Terry Schiavo's condition in any case):

The degree of damage, the severity and extent in specific areas of the brain, which, in my opinion, based on what I've read, involves both cerebral hemispheres, and probably even a portion of the mid-brain, sparing only the vital centers locate here at the base of the brain and the back, where the respiratory and cardiac control centers are located, which is why Terri Schiavo continues to breathe and have a heartbeat. That's the only part of the brain I think that continues really to function.

Of course in Olbyland, the problem is not rendering a medical judgement without seeing the patient but rendering one that does not comport with Keith's wholly uninformed opinion.

The Master of the Tangent-cum-Political-Attack served up two totally extraneous "conflict of interest" stories through which Keith seemed to suggest something nefarious about Jeb Bush and the parents of Terry Schiavo without clarifying the exact "crime" implied by the "gotcha" tone of his report.

I think Keith made some actual news here when his next guest, attorney Ira Reiner revealed that while Cochran was serving as a paid analyst for NBC he was in discussions with O.J. Simpson's defense team about representing O.J.

Johnnie and I were paired together on NBC doing commentary, and this was at the time of the preliminary hearing and before the trial. And then Johnnie, of course, left and went to defend O.J. During that time, Johnnie was very analytical about the evidence and he very carefully avoided ever giving the slightest indication of opinion. I expect because Johnnie at that time as it turned out, there were discussions going on where he might be in the case, so he couldn't.

I know he's dead now but isn't their something untoward about an attorney preparing to take on a client and meanwhile appearing regularly on network news as a legal analyst thus influencing prospective jury members (I'm sure some lawyer can explain why this is permitted but surely Cochran didn't NEED to work for NBC). It seems to me "if the conflict is near, the lawyer should not appear".

Keith seemed to have no idea what to make of the recently released WMD report which found that "Saddam fooled the intelligence community as well as some of his own commanders into believing he had reconstituted unconventional weapons after the inspectors left the country in 1998."

Sounds like Saddam actively sought to pretend he had WMD (presumeably to intimidate local enemies and scare off the U.S.). So is that then really Bush's fault? Sounds like Saddam was an idiot who miscalculated the level of U.S. resolve in the wake of 9/11 and paid for it with a U.S. invasion.

What to make of KO reporting on Rev. Jerry Falwell's illness by quoting Larry Flynt? Typically classless and ironic for a guy who feels "persecuted" by this site. But hey, Falwell "deserves" whatever he gets, right Keith?

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'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Monday March 28, 2005

Host: Keith Olbermann

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
Guests: Mark Potter, Savannah Guthrie, Anthony DeCurtis, Richard Mineards

OLBYWATCH GUIDE:
#5: The Terri Schiavo controversy. Disagreement within the "Schindler camp"; an autopsy will be conducted. A school near the hospice is temporarily closing; Judge Greer is living under "armed guards" due to "death threats" and has been "kicked out" of his church. Another patient at the hospice died before the granddaughter could get there because of extra police security measures.

Olby was eager to pin the blame for all this on the protestors as he questioned NBC's Mark Potter:

Are these things registering with the protestors there? Is there any sense that anything, besides what Ms Schiavo represents to them, mattering at this point?

Predictably Olby swerves into the Tom DeLay story, describing the case of his father as "similar, though not exact, circumstances", as an intro to a recycled NBC report (that first aired over 12 hours ago!). Norah O'Donnell's piece is lifted (almost word-for-word in parts) from a story in the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. The key differences between the DeLay and Schiavo cases are given short-shrift.

For those who insist that Countdown's coverage of the Schiavo controversy has not been hopelessly biased, we have a brief overview below. But first:

The #4 story: tsunami worries--another recycled NBC package. The "Oddball" segment was interesting primarily because Olby thought it was amusing to ridicule motorcycle riders who yearly attend a blessing service. It's been going on for over 20 years, but to KO, it's news, and an opportunity to take another cheap shot at religion.

#3: Michael Jackson--for some reason Olby was talking a mile a minute during some of this. Was he running behind schedule? Savannah Guthrie from CourTV chatted up the latest from the courtroom, and a segment of an MJ interview with the other Jackson--the Reverend--was played. Anthony DeCurtis discussed the singer's holdings. (Two guests; this must be an important story.)

#2: A viewer of Fear Factor [NBC Network Cross-Promotion Alert!] escaped from a submerged car with techniques she saw on the program. The valuable lessons one can learn from the gross-out reality show? Unbuckle your seat belt. Swim out through the window. And Jeff Gannon will be appearing at the National Press Club. Olby: "Perhaps they'll have a surprise Pulitzer waiting for him." [Cue the stagehand: forced laughter.]

And finally #1: The Royals and their marital embarrassments. Guest: Richard Mineards.

As the backwards newshour mercifully lumbers to its conclusion, we're left pondering how little coverage there is for events of any real importance on MSNBC's "newscast of record". And, when Olby deigns to cover genuine news, how one-sided and slanted the Countdown can become.

Case in point: the Terri Schiavo controversy. Countdown featured this story every day last week. Some of the interview subjects were the usual, purportedly impartial reporters. But Olby did interview some non-journalists:

Monday: Dr Sean Morrison (assisted suicide advocate and George Soros acolyte, sides with Michael Schiavo)
Wednesday: Jay Wolfson (former guardian of Terri, sides with Michael Schiavo)
Thursday: Brian Schiavo (brother of Michael Schiavo)
Friday: Hamden Baskin (co-counsel for Michael Schiavo)

Day after day of feature interviews favoring one side of the controversy, and zero for the other side. That's the impartial, non-partisan, straight-down-the-middle coverage served up by Countdown and Olby.

Q.E.D.

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Dirty Harry has his own Countdown: he offers Olby Five Ways to Make Your Show Bearable

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Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Friday March 25, 2005

Guest Host: Alison Stewart

Scheduled Topics/Guests:

THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: NBC News correspondents Mark Potter and Pete Williams

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE A LIVING WILL?: Jerome L. Wolf, attorney

WHAT IS TERRI SCHIAVO'S POLITICAL LEGACY?: Dana Milbank, Washington Post

THE STATUS OF TERRI SCHIAVO'S HEALTH: Dr. Rosanne Leipzig, a geriatrician with the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING
Guest: PENDING

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Talk about "Good Friday", Keith has run off with his rain coat (see below) to join Howard Beal and we are left with the always lovely Alison Stewart.

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Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Day Mon

Host: Keith Olbermann

Scheduled Topics/Guests: TERRI SCHIAVO NEWS OF THE DAY: NBC News correspondents Mark Potter and Pete Williams
USING FAITH AS A HEALING MECHANISM: Monica Novotny, "Countdown" correspondent

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: Transcript, March 24, 2005

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: The first story was once again Schiavo, and once again KO came completely from the left side on this. After detailing facts that support killing her, such as a report that the parents, the Schindlers, once told a judge that they agreed that their daughter was in a persistant vegetative state. KO then interviewed Michael Schiavo's brother Brian. Have you ever noticed how many conflicting facts there are in this case, depending on who you are listening to?

The interview of Brian Schiavo was remarkable for what KO did not ask. Since he had a guest that was totally in agreement with his point of view, he had only to ask the most softball of questions and let it go at that. Looked like Larry King in there. No, does it bother you that this is actually killing someone, not just turning off life support but actively not feeding someone similar to say, a Steven Hawking who would also die if someone didn't feed him? None of that moral complexity here.

This was followed by an interview with Pete Williams exploring the "what next" question, and in particular, could Michael Schiavo get sued by Terry's parents after she dies? Looking out for Michael already, I suppose.

The rest of the newscast was not particularly memorable except for an amazing bit of psycho theater at the end wherein KO reported first on Jeanne Dixon and her predictions for the future from the 70's, then Woody Allen's predictions, then somehow segued over to the 70's hit movie Network about a future of television gone nuts. KO then acted out a nutty news anchor a la Network, with his trench coat on exorting us all to get mad, say "I am a human being", "I have value dammit", and then "I want all of you to get up out of your chairs, go over to the window and yell....Good Night and Good Luck!!!" He walked a roundabout and picked up his water mug and threw the water in his own face.

I was howling with laughter, not at how funny the bit was but how incredibly stupid and embarassing it was. My wife, watching in the living room in solidarity with me having to watch it, said it all "did you see that? This guy is just not funny."

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Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Day Mon

Host: Keith Olbermann

Scheduled Topics/Guests:

MISPRINT IN NEW YORK DAILY NEWS $100,000 SCRATCH N' GAME HAS MULTIPLE "WINNERS" UPSET: Monica Braggs, held one of the "winning" tickets

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: TRANSCRIPT PENDING

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: As you can see by the topics/guests list above, KO was not preparing for a power-packed hour of "News-Olbermann style!".

KO kicked off the night with Exhaustive Appeals - the Terri Schiavo case. KO spoke to Jay Wolfsen and Glenn McGee (Dir. NY Institute for Bioethics.) The discussion was pretty straight forward and looked at the case from a pro-legal aspect (hence-the title). No discussion of the more compelling HUMAN side of the story. Basically, it went through the court, and that's that. KO was concerned about how Terri's family was funding the legal battle, and speculated on what right-wing groups may be donating to the cause.

I must say, considering Terri Schiavo is in a hospice and could die any minute, this show should have followed the lead of every show on TV and given it's viewers a real, honest discussion of the Schiavo case. KO should have presented all sides and shown some humanity by at least pointing out the tradegy of the situation. It just appeared to me that this show was centered around explaining how the courts were right.

Maybe humanity does not fall into the "News-Olbermann Style!" mantra?

KO then ran a leftover NBC spot by Peter Alexander (NBC News correspondent).

Lastly, KO got into the real news of the day, the misprint scratch & win game winners in New York. One lady claimed she was so excited she spent $200 dollars that day and she is now suing. Another woman who is suing, claims she 'thought about' quitting her job that day so she is going to sue. Although I poke fun at this situation, I must admit that if I had received a lottery ticket that said I won $100,000 and then was told it was a misprint- well, I'd be suing to.

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Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Tuesday, March 22 2005

Host: Keith Olbermann

Scheduled Topics/Guests:

SHOULD SCHOOLS BE PROFILING POSSIBLE SCHOOL SHOOTERS TO KEEP THEIR STUDENTS SAFE?: Clint van Zandt, former FBI profiler and MSNBC analyst

THE POLITICS AND MOTIVES OF POLITICIANS IN THE TERRI SCHIAVO CASE: Craig Crawford, Congressional Quarterly and MSNBC political analyst

THE LEGAL PROCESS OF APPEALS IN THE SCHIAVO CASE: Pete Williams, NBC News Justice correspondent

BOSTON RED SOX JET MYSTERIOUSLY TRAVELS TO GUANTANAMO BAY?: Farah Stockman, Boston Globe

Read the transcript to the 8 p.m. ET show
Updated: 11:20 a.m. ET March 23, 2005

OLBYWATCH GUIDE: Keith went for the trifecta tonight, linking the need for gun control (Red Lake shooting) to disdain for Bush and the GOP (Congress going into special session over the weekend) to mocking right-to-lifers (Terry Schiavo case).

KO Loaded Statement of the Day:

So six years after Columbine, nothing we had learned from that experience was enough to stop Jeff Weise. Nothing, from forcing Weise physically out of school to placing metal detectors at the door of the school. Nothing stopped him.

KO Loaded Question of the Day:

When you see Congress go into special session and the president break off his vacation to address the survival of one woman who, best case, may or may not ever recover, do you get angry about the comparative political disinterest in taking any steps—I’m not talking about necessarily gun regulation. But anything done to—more money on counseling. Anything necessary to prevent Columbine, Red Lake and whichever school is next.

And the Award for Best Use of a Question to Advance an Agenda goes to...Keith Olbermann...

But there's no one in politics who's saying—certainly, not on the side that has introduced this. There is no one that is saying, putting this woman on this sort of stage is a grotesque and inhuman act by itself.

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A new reader writes:

I love 'em! No one in the media is more deserving of a daily blogospheric bitchslap than KO. His smirky girly-man style is severely irritating and you do a yoeman's job of pointing out the innumerable sly half-truths that he slides into every show. You just KNOW that KO thinks himself oh-so-much smarter, wittier and wry than anyone on the right.

Erik A.
Louisville KY

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