How many biased wisecracks can Keith Olbermann cram into a single paragraph? He did his best to set the Guiness record on Friday's Hour of Spin. Let's see how well he did in just the opening minutes:

• George Orwell may have been off by only 18 years.
• [Bush] lecturing an acclaimed journalist on what is or is not news.
• Join me...for MSNBC's coverage of the President's hastily-scheduled address.

To discuss NSA surveillance, KO brought in a reporter from the leftist Boston Globe, who talked a lot about snubbing the Congress and the Court. Neither he nor Olby bothered to note that Congressional leaders and the FISA court were informed of these actions.

The entire #4 slot was given over to the latest jib-jab internet cartoon; #3 was all about Howard Stern--complete with what must have been the 89th replay of the interview with Katie Couric. Then followed segments on a credit card snafu (#2) and penguins (#1). The elites love to praise Countdown as "the future of tv news", even as KO devotes the vast majority of his "newscast" to noxious drivel and reruns. Meanwhile, there just isn't time to report on insignificant trifles like the Iraq election. But there we go again, lecturing an acclaimed journalist on what is or is not news.

Finally, in the Media Matters Minute, Olby names Bill O'Reilly "worst" (Olbermann O'Reilly attack #48):

The latest part of his delusion about this war on Christmas, that it's partially the fault of the Catholic Church.

Keith was not telling the truth; O'Reilly said no such thing. Mr Bill's point was that Church leaders should speak out and address the issue; one of his guests, Father Jonathan Morris of the Vatican, agreed with O'Reilly. Since Olby doesn't watch The Factor and just takes talking points from the web, he wouldn't know that--the Soros smear site edited out Fr Morris and everything he said.

So Friday's Countdown was top-heavy with a concentrated block of spin in the first segment, while the remainder of the hour was filled with trivial inanities that would embarrass the producers of A Current Affair. Another groundless attack on Bill O'Reilly served as Olby's cherry on the sundae.

Oh no, that reminds us. The President speaks on Sunday. And a-mess-nbc is letting Keith anchor the "analysis". No wonder people get depressed over the holidays.