Olbermann Watch - MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann: Trouble Bruin

Olbermann Watch, "persecuting" Keith since 2004

January 19, 2006

Trouble Bruin

On the Hour of Spin, the bias starts even before the titles run. On Wednesday night, Keith's opening tease used this elegant bit of phrasing:

The Democrats propose their own lobbying reform the day after the Republicans rushed out theirs.

Into the story itself, the hits kept on coming:

Not surprisingly, the Democrats much tougher on those trying to curry favor with the government, if not bilk it outright. One provision of theirs calling for criminal and civil penalties for companies defrauding the government in time of war. Halliburton? Halliburton who?

[snicker "He said Halliburton!" snicker]

And it is not often you will hear us praise the Democratic Party for political savvy...

[insert spit-take here]

...tapping Illinois Senator Barak Obama to be point man on ethics and reform: pure genius.

[what a shocker]

Olby went on to describe the Republican proposal as full of "loopholes". We'll be watching Thursday night to see if he seeks out the loopholes in Obama the Great's presentation. The topic changed to Hillary Clinton down on the plantation, and Keith poked some mild fun at the New York Senator. Surprisingly Newt Gingrich wasn't mentioned. Dana Milbank wasn't impressed with either ethics proposal, while Olby kept harping on those "loopholes".

Recycled NBC reports followed: the abortion decision, the kidnapping in Iraq, the plot to abduct Tony Blair's son, and the Pakistani air strikes. Yes, the taped piece did concede that several top Al-Qaeda operatives were likely killed in that strike. If you expected that Keith would acknowledge, let alone explicitly correct, his Monday statement that the people killed were all "innocent Pakistanis", then maybe you'd like to invest in our newly-perfected perpetual motion machine.

In the #3 slot, car chases that cause accidents. Olby again had telegraphed the spin for the night in the opening seconds of the program:

Why do police chase them if this could be the outcome?

Um, maybe because the police don't want to give escaping felons a get-out-of-jail-free card just because they go over the speed limit. Ya think? KO talked to an activist who is against these pursuits. The rules of Olbermann's Court were strictly observed: nobody with an opposing point of view was interviewed.

More recycled NBC pieces: cell phone privacy, a submerged car, and a rescue at sea. In the Media Matters Minute, Olby called Andrew Jones the founder of a "radical group" because, sez Keith, he wants to:

expose any UCLA professor who expresses left-wing political views.

This is, of course, an Olbyfication of what the group's actual purpose is:

to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided, or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies. The year-old Bruin Alumni Assn. says its "Exposing UCLA's Radical Professors" initiative takes aim at faculty "actively proselytizing their extreme views in the classroom, whether or not the commentary is relevant to the class topic." Although the group says it is concerned about radical professors of any political stripe, it has named an initial "Dirty 30" of teachers it identifies with left-wing or liberal causes.

How did the latter get morphed into Olbermann's caricature? It's all in a day's work for KO. But this is just small potatoes. It's the Media Matters Minute, so there must be allegiance paid to Olby's primary source, and he does so by making tonight's "worst person" none other than...[drumroll please]...Mr Bill O'Reilly! His crime:

I don't think Dr. King would be disappointed in where the economic situation is in the USA right now. I really don't. Because our system of government and economy gives more people the chance to pursue happiness in a meaningful way than any other system in the world. I'm the poster boy for that. And, you know, no matter what color you are, if you work hard, and you're persistent, and you get educated, you can make it here.

Now there's a worst-person-caliber statement if there ever was one. Fully deserving of Olbermann on-air O'Reilly attack #54. Somehow, it's much more serious than Ray Nagin (D) blaming the hurricanes on divine retribution. In case you had any doubt, Nagin's comments are still unreported on Countdown. Not to mention the other dog that again did not bark tonight: the William Jefferson (D) bribery scandal. Just like our world, Countdown with Keith Olbermann spins on.

Posted by johnny dollar | Permalink | Comments (13) | | View blog reactions

13 Comments

By KFK on January 19, 2006 9:25 AM

I saw the end of the show where Keith castigated O'Reilly for paraphrasing the American Dream. I loved it when Keith said, "Bill, Bill, you know you are white, don't you." One might counter, "Keith, so are you!"

I really think Keith believes he knows more about race relations than O'Reilly, and perhaps even imagines himself as the "First Black Host of Countdown." What a dope.

By IrishLightning on January 19, 2006 9:47 AM

worst person: not clever, not ironic, not surprising, not worthy of a segment. Simply boring. I bet even in the upper East Side salons they were groaning at last night's feeble attempt to work in what is basically Keith's version of an O'Reilly "shout-out." The poor guys paid to guffaw must really be trying to come across as team players so they can keep their job after Keith's resignation. I am starting my 150 day "Keith will be fired" countdown today. If Keiht is not fired in less than 150 days, I will donate 150 dollars to a charity endorsed by Bill O'Reilly in Keith's name.

By Cecelia on January 19, 2006 10:38 AM

I'm just shocked by his comments. I can't imagine how it must feel to want to use a political ideology as a club. An ideology that makes it a faux pas for a white man to state the obvious; that the United States is a place where with training and persistence, people are more likely to succeed than any place in the world.

What's inaccurate about that statement? Is Olbermann really arguing that people of color are unable to partake in success? THAT is patently untrue.

O'Reilly didn't say that it was easy, or that whites don't face the obstacles non-whites face.

What's the crime?

Olbermann is such a totalitarian jerk. Every time I think he's unable to shock me anymore, he makes me sicker than the last time he made me sick.

His narrow-minded allegiance to the most superficial political correct canards. The way he targets the easiest of targets.

He really is one of the shallowest and WORST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.

By puck on January 19, 2006 12:34 PM

"And it is not often you will hear us praise the Democratic Party" Ladies and Gentlemen I now firmly belive that Keith's mind has left his body. It's too bad Glen Beck isn't going to the eight o'clock slot at C.N.B.C. but, then again maybe Apprentice reruns are beating Olby. No, we will know that's happening when Donald Trump starts showing up on Worst Person segments.

By Anonymous on January 19, 2006 1:51 PM

Puck,

The whole quote is "And it is not often you will hear us praise the Democratic Party for political savvy..."

What Olbermann is implying is that the Democrats are good-hearted, guile-free lambs in a forest controlled by the hustler-pol wolves of the RNC.

By Jim on January 19, 2006 4:21 PM

Say, when and what time is Glen Beck starting his TV gig? I didn't know the hour had been decided -- apparently it has.

By Cecelia on January 21, 2006 9:05 AM

Johnny,

Your titles for your Countdown synopses are so clever I wish someone would publish them.

I had never heard of Glen Beck until I googled him after hearing Keith's on-air plea to CNN not to not hire him.

Does he rob widows and orphans and eat the flesh of infants or something?

By johnny dollar on January 21, 2006 7:01 PM

Even worse, he arrogantly goes on the air and pronounces people to be worst in the world based on his own agenda.

Oh wait, that's someone else.

PS: Thanks for the kind words. Sometimes I spend more time on the titles than the article itself! I happen to like puns, the badder the better.

By Anonymous on January 21, 2006 9:45 PM

Keith has been a guest on Air America several times.

Read some of the comments from the radio hosts there:

Host Mike Malloy on Laura Bush:

"A murderer herself. Somebody getting killed, one of her former boyfriends, in a drunken stupor, being behind the wheel of a car ... So here's Laura Bush, another killer. This Bush family. In order to get in the Bush family, it's like the way it used to be in order to get into certain gangs in Chicago. You had to kill somebody. And once you killed somebody, you're part of the gang. Well, Laura, Laura Bush is apparently that way. She murdered somebody in a car wreck, so she's in the gang. She's part of the gang."

Mike Malloy on Sean Hannity:

"And Sean ... I know you listen, you listen to the first hours of the program every night, I know you do, you son of a bitch, I know you do. Shame on you ... You little rat weasel ... Let me tell you something, Sean. You make me ashamed to be a male, you make me ashamed to be white, you make me ashamed to be in the radio business, you make me ashamed to be an American. You pig. You little pig."

July 7, 2005, episode of Air America's "The Majority Report," Host Sam Seder on Brit Hume:

"Let's go to Brit Hume, the horrible scumbag, who many people consider somewhat responsible for the fact that his son committed suicide."

Friday January 13, 2005), Randi Rhodes on Judge Alito:

"This guy [Judge Alito] just creeps me out. He's quiet. He's not a guy who shoots up stores, he dies in a blaze of glory. No. That's not who he is. He's like one of those guys who goes along for years really quietly ... murdering hookers. You know what I mean? That's more him. He's the kind of guy that you live next door to for 30 years, and then all of a sudden a bulldozer shows up, and there's 31 kids buried underneath. You know what I mean? That's his temperament. He's not a junkyard dog. He's not a barker. He's not like a [UN ambassador John] Bolton; y'know, obviously a big bully. No. He's more like a wolf in sheep's clothing. He looks really 'milk toasty'; you want to pet him, and actually, I want to make boots out of him. Y'know. But, uh. No. He's a hunter. And he's hunting for ways to - y'know - "

By IrishLightning on January 22, 2006 10:33 PM

How mean spirited a person must Sam Seder be to utter such a horrible statement. I know he must not be a father.....anyone who is a Dad would not let such an evil statement cross his lips. Do you have a source for the statements? They sound so despicable as I wonder if they are maybe fictitious....not accusing you of misrepresenting just maybe someone fooled you. If accurate, and it's so brutal a statement I must give him the benefit of the doubt, Seder's statement would have to rank as the most vile political statement I can recall hearing.

By Cecelia on January 22, 2006 11:02 PM

Irish they were reported by Newsbusters.com. They include the host,name of show, and air date.

By Cecelia on January 22, 2006 11:44 PM

Irish,

Here's the link on the Air America site that has a recording of the show:

http://www.airamericaradio.com/onnow/clips/show/3?from=110

On the site, go to:

Fair and Balanced?
The Majority Report (7-7-2005)

Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder make Brit Hume and Neil Cavuto pay for their insensitive remarks about the terror attacks in London.

Hit "listen now"

Seder indeed made the remark. You'll find it 15:59 into the show.

Nice, huh...

By Cecelia on January 22, 2006 11:50 PM

Irish,

Wikipedia, in its profile of Air America host Mike Malloy, mention his comments calling Laura Bush a murderer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mike_Malloy_Show

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13 Comments