Friday's Countdown emanated from Tampa again, with the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann more heavily made up than ever:
To get the spin started at whirlwind speed, KO twice referred to John Dean as an "expert" witness. Krazy Keith is the only alleged "journalist" would consider a disbarred lawyer to be a legal expert! He showed some of Dean's testimony before the committee looking into a censure motion, but no clips of any of the other witnesses--some of whom really are legal experts. If you don't know why, then you don't know KO. Olby served up his usual leading questions:
And when does startling translate into public reaction or into Congressional reaction. I guess we, we've come full circle in the questioning here, this goes back to your appearance today, when does somebody sit up and take notice and say, it's not about Republicans and Democrats, it's about what the Constitution says the President's supposed to do, not do, and what the Constitution says the Senate and the House are supposed to do, and not do?
Oddly, there was quite a bit of testimony today about what the Constitution says about the President's powers, but Keith didn't show any of it! And of course, of all the witnesses, the only one who gets the seat of honor at The Hour of Spin is the ex-con. Needless to say, Krazy Keith didn't bother to mention that only two Democrats even bothered to attend the hearing!
We looked back into the OlbyWatch archives to analyze KO's coverage of the NSA issue. Leaving out the interviews with reporters and politicians (none of whom supported the program), first we'll list all the Countdown interviews with "experts" who were critical of the NSA program or thought it to be illegal:
12/27 John Dean
12/28 Jonathan Turley
1/11 James Bamford
1/18 James Bamford
1/23 Jane Martin
2/6 John Dean
2/8 Heather Wilson
3/29 John Dean
3/31 John Dean
Now, here are Keith's guests who argued for the program or its legality:
Do you want to see that second list again? OK, here it is:
[sound of crickets]
Ahem. OK, moving right along... KO also chatted with his favorite felon about aluminum tubes and the Big News that some people in the intelligence community "dissented" from the official position that they had nuclear uses. Of course, Olby spun it as Bush knowing that the tubes were not nuclear, rather than as what it was: a conflict of opinion. Then he followed up with a regurgitated NBC report on the released hostage. Krazy Keith intro'd the segment thusly:
Tonight some conspiracy theorists are criticizing Jill Carroll, suggesting in a political context that she's suffering from Stockholm Syndrome...
He went on to say the report casts her demeanor in a different light, but the NBC report certainly did not reject the possibility that Stockholm was involved. Did KO even watch this before introducing it? And why does he think it would be a "criticism" if someone fell prey to a known aftereffect of a psychological trauma? No matter, from there it was on to steroids again, followed by another fine, fine edition of "oddball".
The #3 slot was billed as the third anniversary of Countdown, but it was actually Olbermann O'Reilly Attack #76. Olby bragged that his ratings were up (not mentioning the Olympics lead-in for that ratings period, or that even artificially inflated he still loses to Mr Bill by as much as 9 to 1). Then Krazy Keith really went bananas: he claimed he "never said anything factually incorrect about the man". There he goes again, with another little white lie...or given his freaky complexion, perhaps it's an orange lie. For those unfamiliar with Krazy Keith's record of "factually incorrect" statements about O'Reilly, here are just two incontrovertibleexamples. KO ran yet again his bash-O'Reilly montage, updated with New Footage!, to put a cherry on The Liar's Olbsession sundae.
Celebrities took over the entire #2 story slot, and the #1 story was the oddball month in rewind. In the Media Matters Minute, after viewing the clips that site posted from yesterday's Countdown, Krazy Keith scanned their list of conservatives and Republicans and chose Neil Boortz as "worst person", for criticizing Cynthia McKinney's hairdo. Video to appear at Media Matters on Monday.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 44th day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
If the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann obsesses on steroid stories even when there is no news on the subject, you can imagine how manic he becomes when there are actual developments. "Two exclusive interviews!" he roared. How will we contain our excitement? Reporting again from Tampa, looking cartoonishly fresh from a generous application of Man-Tan, Krazy Keith made steroids the lead story (#5 on the backwards newshour). A new investigation. George Mitchell appointed. Oh, and did we mention, "Two exclusive interviews!"?
We shouldn't complain. At least he's not slanting, spinning, and distorting the news. As far as we know, that is; we don't claim expertise on coverage of sports (aptly described by the great Dave Diles as "the toy department of our lives"). Then again, Krazy Keith did manage to to imply that had Republican Rumsfeld been commissioner, professional baseball would have been destroyed; and that Democrat Senator Mitchell had succeeded in his investigation of drug use in baseball, before the investigation has even begun. Other than that it was interesting to see Jason Giambi wonder to Olby "how was the grand jury leaked?" That's another of those breaches of security (like the NSA surveillance program, or the CIA prisons) that KO is totally uninterested in. The stereoidapalooza overflowed into the #4 slot, with Joe Torre in a taped interview.
By this time, Keith must have been worried about his audience of blue blog buffs, so he inserted a special promo for his Friday show with...ta-da!...John Dean! Keep plugging, Keith; people can't wait to see another of your "exclusive" interviews. After all, it will only have been all of 48 hours since your last John Dean interview. Following "oddball", our Olby was back in form. Introducing a regurgitated NBC report on the freed hostage in Iraq, KO gave one of his pretentious sermons about how all the reporters there "know", while critics of the media don't. Who said glittering generalizations represent sloppy, careless thinking? Then an additional rerun from the mothership: the survivor of the mining disaster.
After still another plug for Friday's Countdown: a report on the rape allegations at Duke University (regurgitated from NBC), celebrity news, and an especially stupid segment on Silvio Burlesconi. In the Media Matters Minute, Olby slammed Justice Scalia once, and Mr Bill O'Reilly twice (including the "worst" slot) for comments on the media (attack #74) and a Cardinal's position on immigration (#75). George got his money's worth tonight; the quid-pro-quo video clip should appear at MM within the next 24 hours.
Dogs that didn't bark? The FISA judges testify, of course. And if we look at msnbc's own website, we find: Bush meets with leaders of Canada and Mexico, dozens die in Ferry mishap, Moussaoui jury deliberations, immigration talks shake Arizona, etc etc. What do all these major stories have in common? None of them was covered on Krazy Keith's Kountdown.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 43rd day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
It's Wednesday, and the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann was back, in the flesh (apparently having stocked up on a case of Man-Tan). The Big News tonight was "The Democrats Have a Plan!" It was an exciting burst of PR for the alleged "national security" policy that the Dems have cooked up. Olby's excitement over all this (note the exclamation point) stands in stark contrast to his reaction to the government's publication of a National Strategy for Iraq just a few months ago. Cue the harp music, let the image wash into blurriness, as we give you an instant flashback to how Krazy Keith handled that announcement--by cracking wise:
Is the implication here that we didn't have one of those already?
Keith also ran a clip from Sen Reed (D), with Keith reading off the Senator's military record as if Keith were his official biographer. And that was just a prelude to KO complaining that the President's speech that day broke "no new ground"; it had "very little in the way of actual strategy"; what strategy there was is "debatable".
OK, cue the harp again, fade back in to the present. That was then, this is now. How did Olby treat today's Democrat proposal (a political tract, as opposed to an official government document)? First, the clips were all of Democrats: Pelosi, Wesley Clark, Madeline Albright, etc. Unlike the Iraq Strategy coverage, there was no soundbite from any critic or member of the opposition party, let alone one with a lengthy military record Keith could rattle off. And KO gave today's Democrats something he didn't bother to give the Iraq Strategy coverage: a featured softball Hour of Spin interview! Harold Ford was the honored guest, and we don't need to tell you he has a (D) after his name. Keith just doesn't do (R)s unless his producers force him to, and that only happens maybe once a year, if that.
Note that everything Keith said back in November could be applied to the "policy" that the Democrats released today: no new ground, very little actual strategy, debatable. In fact, reporters at the press conference raised some of those very issues. But KO, who loves showing the press hectoring Scott McClellan, took pains not to show any of this Q&A. And of course, those points never came up during his powder puff interview with Ford, where Krazy Keith peppered the Congressman with challenging questions:
The Vice-President did another one of the interviews today in which he alluded to a link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, speaking of trips to Iraq. How exactly do you combat that when the facts don't seem to have much to do with one of the main arguments about this?
And we thought Larry King was master of the toothless interview. Olby left his teeth in a glass by his bed! And he gets away with it, because he conveniently never got around to reporting those documents ABC News translated (except for the one that was negative to the administration).
Just to make sure that The Hour of Spin stayed as completely slanted as a Tilt-A-Wheel run amok, we get John Dean! The excuse for his showing up is upcoming testimony about the unconstitutional "censure" motion proposed by Olby hero Russ FoolsGold. There was more talk about "domestic spying", illegality, and the like. Needless to say, Keith continues to ignore telling any of his deluded viewers about the ruling of the FISA Court of Appeal, let alone the testimony of a panel of FISA judges who just told Congress that the President acted legally when he set up the NSA surveillance program. Say, wasn't that a Congressional hearing just like the one felon Dean is going to attend? Why do you suppose KO never reported on it? Why do you think none of those judges will ever get to sit in the seat of honor on the Countdown set for a probing interview with Krazy Keith?
Hard to believe, but all that spin whirled about before even the first commercial break. The #4 slot brought us a recycled NBC report from Norah O'Donnell about Laura Bush's staff, and after "oddball": Barry Bonds and steroids! #2: swearing (regurgitated) and celebrities; #1: the psychotic cat (only two or three days old--the news, not the kitty).
A Republican candidate in California was a "worst person" runner-up for publishing a photo of Turkey erroneously labeled as Iraq. A Democrat actually got a mention too: Cynthia McKinney, who avoided metal detectors and punched a Capitol Hill police officer. But don't worry, KO didn't break his streak--she was only a runner-up. The "worst person" was "comedian" Rush Limbaugh, for something he said about a golfer, what, seven days ago? Why is it all of a sudden news today? Oh, because the blue blogs just picked it up, and the only blogs Keith reads are the blue ones.
Dogs that didn't bark? We already referenced the testimony of the FISA judges. Krazy Keith also spiked the story of Jim McDermott (D), who was just slapped down by a federal court for leaking to the press a secretly taped phone call of John Boehner (R). Here's a "domestic spying program", and Olby won't even report on it!
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 42nd day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
On Tuesday's Hour of Spin, it was back to the regurgitated Michael Schiavo interview. Keith Olbermann's variety of "journalism" led him to ask the tough, hard-hitting, uncompromising questions. Examples:
There were things, extraordinary things that you did, that just do not line up consistently with the idea that there was this evil man who was rushing to get his wife off life support later on.
Tell me about your fundraising efforts and your career choice.
You would not have, if you were a doctor, you would not have gotten up in front of the Senate and reached your conclusions based on that videotape or any videotape that was presented to you.
They [critics] really didn't knock on the door, they sort of just came through the wall, didn't they?
Were people just refusing to face the reality of what her life had become?
Was there the sense of releasing someone, was there the sense of, of fulfilling the wish that, that, that you had always said she had for those circumstances?
And for yourself, was there release then too?
With leading questions like those, Schiavo was able to give fascinating, newsworthy responses like "Yes, yes" and "Of course".
Olby himself appeared only on tape. Countdown had a substitute host, and for the record, the other topics covered included the new Chief of Staff, Jack Abramoff, spring break, and iPod underwear. It's too bad KO wasn't present for that last, as it would have given us a great segue into this little nugget that a spy from Seacaucus sent us. If you ever wondered, what does Krazy Keith listen to on his iPod, well, we have the answer. Our source (not The Laughing Stagehand) sent us Olby's favorite mp3, which he undoubtedly has playing on a continuous iPod loop:
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 41st day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
Monday's Countdown had a predictable spin on the immigration debate: it's bad for Republicans. That's no surprise coming from Keith, and so it was not exactly a shocker to hear the ever-flexible Howard Fineman echo that take. Howie twice referenced Republicans trying to "criminalize" illegal immigration. Um, Mr Fineman? Illegal immigration is already a crime. That's why they call it "illegal".
In another indication of the ever-increasing influence of Olbermann Watch, Olby was forced to report some of last week's news: Hillary Clinton's immigration comments, which KO developed into a "what would Jesus do" formulation. Other politicians have raised that question regarding abortion, gay marriage, or a myriad of social issues, but they never received the fawning approval of Fineman and his Giupetto, the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann.
Then KO moved on to his other Big Story, another one of those memos that he finds so conclusively authentic (unlike the ones found in Iraq, which he simply ignores). This one said President Bush and Tony Blair had pretty much decided to go to war in January. Really? No kidding? Of course, Olby had to morph this little story into a personal smear:
It was only last week that President Bush could be heard, in the tone of voice that might be the verbal equivalent of wagging the finger, "No President wants war," he said. Tonight, more evidence to suggest, at least in his case, that might not have been true.
To pull off this non sequitur, it's necessary for KO to expect his gullible viewers to overlook a key point: a decision to go to war and a desire to go to war are two different things. See Keith, it's like this. You can say the President decided war was inevitable, based on this piece of paper. But in every war, there is a date when the decision is made that war is inevitable. Does this mean that every one of those Presidents really wanted nothing more than to get into a shootin' war, and if they say otherwise they are lying? Here's a hint to the answer to that question: NO!
In the #4 slot, a recycled NBC report dealt with port security. And Olby finally got around to mentioning the Moussaoui trial again. Of course it was only a few sentences. Anything more and people might remember how KO ridiculed the prosecutor and the government, never telling his audience that the Judge reversed herself to grant the prosecutor's request for additional witnesses. After "oddball", the "top 3 newsmakers" included a mention of Tom DeLay. Say, would this be the Novak report that Abramoff has no information whatsoever for prosecutors that would implicate DeLay? You know, the Great Scandal that Krazy Keith has been telling us has Tom shaking in his boots? Umm, no, it was something about a concealed weapons permit. The Abramoff case only gets Olby's attention when it suits him, and Novak is never cited except when he's critical of Republicans.
Halfway through The Hour of Spin, and we're into sports news and the murdered preacher. After the nightly serving of celebrity gossip, it's time for another visit to the Countdown archives for news not from yesterday, or even last week. Olby set the Time Tunnel for February (so long ago that what we're getting is more history than news), as he went back to the Michael Schiavo well, regurgitating once again his hard-hitting, provocative interview, taped some seven weeks ago. KO kept calling this Schiavo's "first cable interview", pretending like he had never aired part of it before. Which he did, back in early February, only to be slapped down by NBC President Steve Capus, who ordered him to hold it until the Today Show interview ran. Schiavo ticked off the people who crossed him by not agreeing with his desire to pull the plug on his wife:
Tom DeLay
Bill Frist
George W Bush
Jeb Bush
The Schindlers
Randall Terry
None of them was sincere, Schiavo claimed. Jesse Jackson's name was conspicuously absent. Hmm, now why would that be? More of this earthshaking Breaking History on Tuesday.
There were "worst persons" as well: an indicted Massachusetts Republican was a runner-up. Jerome Corsi, the Swift Boat coauthor, was "worst", admitting that one of his columns was heavily cribbed from a Debbie Schlussel column. But wait. Is this not old news as well? Indeed it is, almost a month old. Why does it make today's "worst person" list? Perhaps because it was just now that the blue blogs decided to flog the story, and the only blogs Keith reads are the blue ones. Besides, he needed a conservative for the "worst" slot, so he found one, even if he had to go 28 days back in time to do so.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 40th day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
Was our Olby a little off his game tonight? Leading off the show, he referenced the "controversy" about NSA searches. Controversy? Not on Countdown, where every person he has interviewed about the program has had the same opinion: it's illegal. How is that a "controversy"? No matter, he went on to talk about a lawsuit involving "international phone conversations". Is this the same Olbermann who just a few weeks ago was ridiculing the administration for using the term "international"? KO quoted an attorney who believes his law office was the subject of "clandestine searches". Only Keith decided to pronounce it CLAN-dis-TYNE.
Naturally the attorney, who had no evidence whatsoever against the federal government but was suing anyhow, was Krazy Keith's honored guest. Again, our Olby wasn't quite up to par:
OLBERMANN: Do they have any reason to suspect--[SIGH!]--that you were talking to a terrorist?
THOMAS NELSON: Well, one of my clients has been designated as a specially designated terrorist, so I think that was part of it.
Hmm. Perhaps he'd better explore another angle:
OLBY: Are you scared by this?
NELSON: No, I'm angry.
One more try:
OLBY: Mmm. Scared on behalf of the constitution, perhaps.
Bingo! "Untrammeled executive power". Keith finally got the money quote, but it was a long journey. Particularly long when you consider that NPR reported on this lawsuit weeks ago. Don't mention how old the news is, and no one will guess that it's just an excuse to flog a favorite talking point.
Turning to politics, Olby brought in Craig Crawford to complain about Bush using "signing statements", and of course Olbermann's Brain joined right in. We don't recall either of them complaining about the many signing statements recommended by Janet Reno's Justice Department or implemented by the previous administration. But we'll have to cut Olby a break on that one; during the Clinton years he was too busy complaining about "persecutor" Ken Starr and comparing him to famous Nazis.
Krazy Keith may not have been at full fighting strength Friday night, but even when he's a dollar short, he can still pull off a neat piece of spin. Talking to Brain he referenced the ABC documents that have made headlines everywhere except on The Hour of Spin. But the only document he mentioned was the one about the Russkies tipping off Saddam on our war plans. Not one word about Saddam's people meeting with Usama Bin Laden. Not one word about their plans for further "cooperation". Not one word about Iraq's goal to find new channels to "activate their relationship" with UBL. Even when KO is just phoning in it, he still manages to filter out anything that doesn't fit the tint.
After the nightly Barry Bonds Bash and "oddball", Olby did an interview with a talk radio host who was discussing Condi Rice. He meant to say her becoming football commissioner would be a "coup" for the NFL, only he slipped up and said "coon", immediately apologizing. The guy was promptly fired. For his part, Keith right off the bat suggested that his slip might represent "a racial epithet" lurking in the back of his mind, but quickly backed off. It was not an uninteresting interview, but KO came to this story a day late: Hannity & Colmes had the guy on yesterday.
Then the intellectual Countdown audience was treated to segments on drunk laws in Texas and celebrity news. The #1 story was all about the video of the falling cat, and an interview with the owners. Yes, the same owners who made the media rounds over 48 hours ago. Two days late, but hey, at least it wasn't Michael Musto.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 37th day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
It's Thursday, and the burning question is: will Keith Olbermann flog his invented "Bush attacks the media" story yet again? Or to put it another way, does a bear sleep in the woods? Sure enough, tonight we were told that the media are not negative enough, a sentiment attributed (with a large dose of Olbermann Creative Interpretation) to the State Department. Note that this report, quoted from by Olby with extreme selectivity, came out something like a month ago. So how does it come to be the top story now? Remember, flog, repeat, flog, repeat.
As he introduced Dana Milbank, Krazy Keith again trumpeted his lie that Bush has launched "a war against the media". Olby brought up the ABC email, leaked to "the infamous, deplorable Matt Drudge", and said it sparked of desperation by the White House. What, he knows the leaker? Without even conducting a Great Leak Case investigation? Silly rabbit, everyone knows Karl Rove keeps an archive of all emails from "Good Morning America" producers. Milbank, for his part, carefully distanced himself from Keith's smear of Drudge. Of course, KO would undoubtedly rush a special "worst person" designation for any Fox executive who would write such an email about, say, Madame Hillary. But instead, in a tour de force of spin, Olby twists it around and bashes Matt Drudge.
After a gratuitous slam at Fox News, KO touched on the NSA surveillance program--oops, sorry, the "domestic spying" program. This served as a pretext to drag in, yet again, the discredited David Shuster, to speculate on why the President may have given Pakistan a clue about the phone intercept plans. This Big News, by the way, is not a month old--it's four years old! And yet moments before, Olby was slamming Drudge for printing a "two-year-old memo".
The law firm of Shuster and Olbermann also bloviated about The Great Leak Case, rather confusingly for Countdown viewers, since they were talking about the time it will take to give Libby copies of some classified materials. Why would that puzzle people who rely on The Hour of Spin for their news? Because when the judge granted that defense motion, Olbermann didn't bother to report it. Every little twist in the case is faithfully reported by Krazy Keith--except the ones that favor Libby.
If you were after the major news of the day, you could have changed the channel at the first commercial break. Because the #4 segment marked the return of Bash Barry Bonds, then "oddball". Hard news for the highly educated Countdown audience continued with the #3 story dedicated to Debra Lafave, complete with a psychiatric expert. In the #2 slot was a Countdown "expose" about American Idol. "At least four" of the contestants, it was asserted, are actually "professionals". One of them had a bit part on a sitcom, another had a role in a local stage production of "The Lion King". But since none of this is against the rules, where is the "scandal"? Either this is an attempt by Olby to grab some of the Idol ratings, or its just a Krazy Keith jihad against another Fox program with a lot more viewers than he'll ever get.
So baseball, true crime, American Idol, what could possibly come next? Celebrity news! And in the #1 slot, Tom Cruise, Scientology, and South Park--again! Fidel Castro made "worse" in the Media Matters Minute, but not for being a brutal dictator, or making his country a prison. It was something about underpants. Barbara Bush was "worst", so the never-a-Democrat-or-liberal streak continues apace.
Of the many dogs that did not bark, how about Hillary Clinton's remarks that cracking down on illegal aliens is contrary to Scripture and the teachings of Jesus? Krazy Keith has never been reticent to slam Republicans or conservatives for mingling religion and politics--recall his two-night extravaganza with Michael Shiavo, his ranting about Justice Sunday, or how he and the author of "Bush's Brain" bemoaned that the President was trying to implement his own "religious agenda". Yet there is no "worst person" status for Hillary, not even as a runner-up. And true to form, her comments were not even reported! If that reminds you of how KO treated Mayor Nagin's statement about the hurricane sent by God, or Dick Durbin's comparison of US troops to Nazis, there's a good reason for that. Olby didn't report any of those on Countdown either.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 36th day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
It's "Operation: Attack the Media". That, according to Krazy Keith, described the President's town hall discussion with military families on Wednesday. One of the questioners criticized media coverage of Iraq, and the President said...well, he said, there are all kinds of ways people can communicate, and you can never suppress the free press. And there you have it: Bush attacking the media. As another example to "prove" his premise, he ran a clip from yesterday where Bush said the terrorists know their attacks will get coverage, and he doesn't blame the media for that because they have to cover it. Aha! Bush "attacks" the media twice! Then a few clips of Laura Ingraham: more proof that Bush is attacking the media. Is there something we're missing here?
Olby regurgitated some footage put together by NBC as damage control for Ingraham's withering criticisms. Lots of stuff about reporters in danger, but to KO that's not the fault of the terrorists who are targeting journalists. No, it's Laura Ingraham's fault. It's Bush's fault. After Keith lectured Laura ("unforgivable", "desperate", "stupid"), Richard Wolffe was brought in to cast light on this controversy. "It's not a bias of the media", he predictably claimed--predictably, because if he were to say anything else, he wouldn't have been sitting in that chair. All Olby could say to that was, "Amen". In fact, that's what he can say to each of those ideological clones who parade before the Countdown cameras.
Meanwhile KO speculated that the "experiment" of the President facing critical audiences appears to be over. Hello! Earth to Krazy Keith! When was the last time anybody who disagreed with your spin was permitted to sit for an interview with your almightyness? You're great at calling Laura Ingraham names from the safety of your Seacaucus cocoon, but you're too much of a wuss to to do it to her face and give her the chance to respond. How insecure are you that you don't dare face anyone who might actually challenge your preconceived spin? Then again, maybe it's not just the insecurity. Maybe you just realize how ill-informed and inadequate your knowledge base is. Nah. You're just a coward.
As if to prove our point, KO dragged out Helen Thomas, the rabidly anti-Israel "reporter" who claims George W Bush is the worst President in history. Last week the Daily Kos, and now Helen Thomas. What a fearless journalist our Olby is. Willing to talk face to face to anyone--as long as they parrot his views. Spalding has never seen so many softballs as were tossed by KO in this "interview". Typical hard-hitting Olbermann question:
Did the President answer your question yesterday?...He went off on a tangent about the adjective or rather the verb "want"...
After oddball and multiple teases, Krazy Keith finally got around to O'Reilly attack #73. Mr Bill is campaigning for a multiple child rapist to get something more than probation, and the local paper decided to attack O'Reilly personally (specifically his settled harassment suit). As far as Olby is concerned, personal attacks are just fine, if they're against one of his enemies. (Anyone else does a personal attack, they end up as a "worst person".) KO took a statement from the paper as absolute fact, even though its accuracy is disputed by the Fox producer involved in the conversation. No verification, no seeking the other side, and also nothing new for The Hour of Spin.
Then who to bring on to discuss Bill O'Reilly's accuracy? None other than self-admitted professional liar, David Brock. Yes, tonight the Media Matters Minute became the Media Matters Segment! See what putting up clips of Olbermann can get you? A seat on the Countdown set. So deranged has Krazy Keith become that he actually said this:
He gave out the email of this man Jeff Bruce on tv on Monday. This stuff's bordering on harassment now.
Jeff Bruce's email appears online at the bottom of each of his columns at the Dayton Daily News website. This is "harassment"?!? Olby had better adjust his medication. All of this Big News was more important than the Moussaoui trial, which only makes Countdown when Keith can use it to embarrass the administration. His hapless viewers still don't know that the judge backed off the decision that he was trumpeting so maniacally last week. Instead, Kourageous Keith treated his meager audience to news about lost luggage, celebrities, and a missing dog.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 35th day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
On Tuesday night's Countdown, the spin began even as the opening credits rolled:
Any credibility left? Anyone?
Olby was talking about the President's press conference, with the subtle headline "Beat the Press" seen in big bold letters behind Krazy Keith and his wig. Olby referenced Lyndon Johnson in 1969, and then ran clips from the presser. Bloviation was supplied by Jim VandeHei of the Post, no doubt invited back because of his track record of astute analysis, as when he told Keith that Dick Cheney would "never" speak about his hunting accident. An NBC report from Norah O'Donnell talked about declining poll numbers and conservative disillusionment, because those subjects never get any coverage on The Hour of Spin.
To introduce a regurgitated Lisa Myers report about Naji Sabri, an Iraqi who was feeding information to the CIA, Olby put it this way:
[He] was insisting that Saddam had no biological weapons program, and the administration simply ignored him.
Note how Keith, who is quick to accuse "Mister" Bush of semantic hairsplitting, only mentioned biological weapons (he pulled the same trick in his earlier tease). But there was more to Myers's report than this one aspect flogged by KO. Sabri also said that Saddam had around "500 metric tonnes of chemical warfare agents", that production of the agents had been renewed and that Iraq had additional stockpiles left over from the Iran-Iraq war. Myers rather airily said that on this Sabri was "wrong", but of course she has no way of knowing that.
"Oddball" preceded a segment about the New York Daily News report that Bill will have to clear his public comments through Hillary. So what else is new? Howard Fineman, Pundit for All Occasions, called it a "soap opera of power". Then after no report on the Moussaoui trial (to KO it's only news when he can use it to embarrass the administration) we got a #2 story about the "return" of the antiwar entertainers. What, they went somewhere? It was an excuse to give free publicity to Susan Sarandon, Cindy Sheehan, and their ilk. It's more of that canny Olbermann News Judgment: hype Susan Sarandon, ignore Moussaoui. Perhaps Countdown has done similar stories on pro-administration entertainers, but oddly none come to mind. Then celebrity news and the Deborah Lafave non-trial.
Tuesday's Countdown, though rich with propaganda points, still couldn't match the dizzying centrifugal force of the spin on Monday's edition. But there's always the Media Matters Minute to help balance the scales. This time Olby chose Ann Coulter as "worse", reaching all the way back into last week's entries. Whether that's too far removed to earn Keith his reciprocal video clip posting on the Soros site remains to be seen.
And that's The Hour of Spin for this, the 34th day of the Keith Olbermann CoverUp.
The President gave a speech today, and that means it's time for Krazy Keith to come up with one of his "gotcha" moments. This one came at the very top of the show, as Olby claimed Bush's denial of a "direct connection" between 9/11 and Saddam was a contradiction, because after 9/11 Bush said Saddam had harbored terrorists:
So that direct connection, once removed, was what, a dream?
It's getting to the point where KO's semantic tricks are so transparent it's like he's not even trying. What in the wide world of sports is a "direct connection, once removed"? Is that something like a circle, but with square corners?
But the Big News of the day that led off segment #1 turned out to be the Big News of three days ago: speculation about warrantless physical searches reported by US News and World Report. Sure it's already 72 hours old, but what dead horse has Olby ever refrained from beating? Chitra Ravagan, reporter for US News, was the guest and actually mentioned the Aldrich Ames case. Keith completely avoided any follow up on that point, instead wondering about why this story hasn't "exploded".
For his "expert" witness, Olby brought in Kate Martin, the far-left "Democracy Now" favorite who also rushes to preen before the Democrat pseudo-hearings run by the likes of John Conyers. Martin's preposterous commentary was full of ignorance and propagandizing, which made it ideal for The Hour of Spin. One example:
It's pretty clear that warrantless searches of Americans' houses are unconstitutional.
It is? What court has ruled that, Ms Martin? Why wasn't Aldrich Ames released from prison and his conviction overturned? Could it be because the President has inherent constitutional authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence information? Of course you will never hear that expressed on Countdown, not even as a dissenting voice. Because in Olby's Echo Chamber, views that do not conform with those of Krazy Keith don't make it to air.
The Great Leak Case led off the #4 segment, and that meant another visit from the discredited David Shuster. His purpose was to speculate that Libby's defense won't "hold up very well" and is a "long shot", while "nonpartisan" Keith compared the principals in the case to The Three Stooges. Shuster had the brilliant insight that Libby may try to "blame somebody else". We are floored by his discerning legal acumen.
After "oddball", KO finally got back to the much-hyped rhetorical sleight-of-hand he cooked up. You remember, the one where the President did make a "direct connection" between Saddam and 9/11. Except as redefined by Olby, that "direct connection" is a connection that's direct, except for the part where it isn't, because it's "once removed". This time, we got more extensive soundbites:
PRESIDENT BUSH: I didn't say that there's a direct connection between September 11th and Saddam Hussein. We did say that he was a state sponsor of terror. I was very careful never to say that Saddam Hussein ordered the attacks on America.
KEITH OLBERMANN: Then that must have been a different George W Bush who gave the State of the Union Address on January 28th, 2003.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al-Qaeda. Secretly and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop one of their own.
So where exactly is the contradiction? Today: "state sponsor of terror". 2003: "aids and protects terrorists". Today: never said Saddam "ordered the attacks on America". 2003: he never said it then either. Is Olby so far gone that he thinks even his credulous lemmings are not going to see through such an obvious confidence trick? Apparently so, because this was his "convincer":
Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda in the same sentence, separated by seven words. September 11th and Saddam Hussein, two sentences later, separated by six words.... Who does the President think he's f'ing kidding?
So now it's the number of words in the sentence that determines the "direct connection"? Sorry, the "direct connection, once removed"? Who does Krazy Keith think he's kidding? Here's an idea: let's ask Craig Crawford. Olbermann's Brain chortled that this was "Presidential prevarication" and dutifully embraced all of KO's subterfuges, only in a more annoying fashion, if that's possible. It was somewhere around Brain's 14th snicker we realized that we haven't seen an hour of news this slanted, propagandistic, and one-sided since we last listened to Radio Havana. Aha, a "direct connection, once removed" between Keith Olbermann and Fidel Castro!
Weather was the #2 story, followed by the usual dose of celebrities, and then a full segment on Tom Cruise. Happy day! Fox News wasn't the "worst person in the world" tonight, but Olby took the opportunity to slam their journalistic abilities anyhow. The ultimate irony, con
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