"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
GEORGE TENET AND PREDICTIONS: Philip Giraldi, former counter terrorism specialist, contributor to "American Conservative" magazine
POLITICS OF WAR: Richard Wolffe, Newsweek chief White House correspondent and MSNBC political analyst
D.C. MADAM SEX SCANDAL: Dana Milbank, Washington Post, MSNBC political analyst
WHO SHOULD BE FIRED AND WHO SHOULDN'T: Jason Bateman, star of Arrested Development
Monday is on us and the opening spiel is as lively as ever. Tenet "racket", the President had already made up his mind on Iraq, taking Rice's word seems ridiculous to Olby. What else is new. Chaos is everywhere! Of course, the 4th anniversary of the "declaration of 'Mission Accomplished'." Hm, don't ever recall that being declared.
UPDATE: Video & Transcript
#5: George Tenet predicted everything! The prophet is here! Keith attempts to bolster his credibility by reminding his audience by saying, "As any sportscaster could tell you, the best way to enhance your reputation for predictions is to not reveal any of them until after the season is over." Ah, such humor. Is it ever not about baseball? Tenet, apparently, let "falsehoods" stand even though Olby has a hard time stating exactly what those lies are. "Man On Fan" implies that Tenet has no credibility as he gets a date wrong, but Olbersturmfuhrer seems incredibly excited to point to all the "lies" that Tenet is exposing. Cherry picking as usual. Enter Philip Giraldi, a counter terrorism "specialist" and a contributor to "American Conservative" magazine. Now, dear readers, as you probably know, Olby loves conservatives who criticize other conservatives. One thing Monkey Man leaves out is that "American Conservative" is a magazine for paleoconservatives, those that are generally antiwar and isolationist. But "conservative" in Countdown means all of those who are part of the vast right wing conspiracy. Fat Ass muses that Tenet could have perhaps stood on a street corner and barked "the truth." His esteemed guest naturally agrees and suggests he should have resigned and was either incompetent or a liar. Naturally this is all speculation with nothing to back it up. Why bother? Olby gets upset at having to root for "either side" but seems to be more happy with anyone who will discredit the President. Giraldi suggests there was little truth behind Tenet's testimony before congress. As in: HE LIED! Jabba the Hut moves on to "enhanced interrogation" which to Olby means "torture" and immediately moves from there to begin a debate on torture. Yet, they can't produce a SINGLE PERSON who has EVER BEEN TORTURED. More hypotheticals posited as truth. Typical. Giraldi says no one would support the assertion that "enhanced" interrogation (Read: water boarding, not torture) doesn't work. Hm. No attacks on the USA in six years. Guess it doesn't work. It's all about Tenet making money. By the way, he's a war criminal, Iraq didn't threaten us. "Well stated," states KO. Great thanks.
#4: Right off the bat, the infamous, deplorable KO declares Iraq a "war predicated on lies" and that Bush is going to veto a bill to fund the war on the "fourth anniversary of the declaration of Mission Accomplished." Olby clearly knows this is a lie, as he later states that the President declared the end of "major combat operations" with the words "mission accomplished hovering over him." Interesting how he manages to lie, tell the truth, then lie again. Enter the Wolffe Man. More Tenet talk. "Truth squading" by the government of the government which is highly suspect to Olby. I doubt he minds the so-called "oversight" of the Congress controlled by the Democrats. Wolffie argues that Tenet played both sides, makes some reference to Tora Bora and more assertions that seemingly come out of the blue. Olbersturmfuhrer makes a comparison of Bush to Gonzales (read: clueless). Much to Olby's excitement, he references Murtha and his "stature" when he suggested that impeachment can "influence the President." Olbermann wonders if someone like Murtha and his stature and position would now use it as a "last resort." Definitely has not been a last resort for John Conyers and the like. Deeply upsetting to Keithy, Wolffeman does not agree with the idea of impeaching the President solely to influence his position and use it as "leverage." Wolffie almost became a necon by suggesting that just "talking about impeachment" doesn't convince anyone. Either be serious or not. It's strange to Wolffe. Olbermann, ever depressed, replied by stating that we "lowered the bar ten years ago." Of course we did Keith. Of course we did. And I am sure that you are ashamed of every day you spent covering that impeachment and the money MSNBC gave you for it. Wolffe agrees but replies that throwing it into a war spending debate is "superfluous."
Oddball, typically lame jokes. Some Volcano. Shot lava 600 feet in the air! Wow! Snooze.
#3: Sex scandal![Ding!] Story from the mothership. Dana Milbank, a professional, apparently, comes in. Olby declares he "bears the scars of Monica Lewinsky." Un huh. At least Milbank says the list of clients of the D.C. Madam is "bipartisan." He jokes that "Man on Fan" could be on the list. Would anyone be surprised? Insults thrown around at the D.C. Madam that fall into the typical misogyny of OlbyPlanet. Double entendres abound! Does it embarrass the administration? Of course it does! Why bother reporting on it on Countdown? Milbank, again to this viewers shock, states this is near nothing to worry about. Just a "thanks" tonight.
#2: Tony Snow's return after treatment for his cancer. More regurgitated video from HQ. Tony's interview with David Gregory. I guess Olby couldn't swing one with his "friend" Mr. Snow.
#1: Interview with Jason Bateman. Filler. Out of stories to report tonight.
Giuliani kicked off the Media Matters minute, followed by Fox News and a producer of a liberal radio show implied as a right wing zealot for appearing on said network culminating in a thinly veiled attack on the Bush administration. The bronze went to Giuliani campaign for apparently releasing a list of campaign backers who don't back him (Blue Blog source: HuffPo). Second: Bernard McGuirk, former producer of Imus in the Morning, for making an analogy that didn't suit the Fuhrer (Blue Blog source: Media Matters). The gold went to the implied Bush administration because Bin Laden still has not been caught. (Blue Blog source: HuffPo).
Olbermann's book The book that bears Olbermann's name soared to #3,714 at amazon.com, but "Culture Warrior" is #600. (It's that 2-for-$25 sale!) The OlbyTome struggled to rank at #4,965 at Barnes & Noble; O'Reilly's book is #1,007 there, and is one of the top five books of 2006 per Publishers Weekly. He had good ratings for a Friday. The Hour of Spin managed second, both in total viewers and in the critical, beloved, all-important, coveted "key demo". The MisterMeter was off again.
Sometimes it's difficult to come up with a topic, when you're a "pro" voice on an "anti" site, but I think I've come up with something to appease everybody. It's based on two words: "Special Comment". I'm sure just mentioning that has some fingers already poised over the keys, ready to rumble. Not so fast, bucko! I wasn't overly impressed with Olbermann's anti-Giuliana rant Wednesday night. Amazed?
It's not that he didn't make some good points about the genesis of the War in Iraq (PBS did a better job, by the way), but Giuliani's statement didn't deserve to be expanded into ten minutes on the air. Moreover, the simple fact that Hillary Clinton is using essentially the same argument makes the Special Comment seem inappropriate and contradictory.
For those of you who haven't been playing along, here's Giuliani:
"If any Republican is elected president - and I think obviously I would be best at this - we will remain on offense and will anticipate what (the terrorists) will do and try to stop them before they do it."
And, from Tiime Magazine's piece on Hillary Clinton's stepped-up fundraising efforts:
"Both Clintons have made the case to potential fund raisers that the U.S. will probably suffer a terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11 after the next President is sworn in — and that Hillary is the only Democratic candidate capable of handling such a crisis because of her Senate Armed Services Committee tenure and her years in the White House."
It's enough to confuse voters on both sides of the aisle! It's like watching two kids on the playground: "I'll keep you safe". "No, I'll keep you safe".
I'm guessing that Olbermann had no knowledge of the Time piece; it came out the day AFTER his Special Comment. Still, this Special Comment didn't come up to par with his previous missives. Perhaps he'd been distracted, all tied up in the purchase of that big, new, condominium in NYC. If I had his new contract, I'd go for the gusto, too. Allison Stewart could have kept the show on track for a third night. That would have avoided the non-special "Special Comment".
One strike-out among a lot of home runs ain't bad.
Incensed by Mayor West's complicity in oil-company pollution at Quahog Lake, Lois decides to challenge him in the upcoming election. Keith Olbermann has a voice cameo as an oil exec and Don Most plays himself. Angela: Carrie Fisher.
You know, I'm sure lots of left-wing women share my fantasy of getting ONE of the big three liberal TV anchors for a night in a swanky hotel room. But I have standards and there would be certain...demands I would make to the gentlemen in question, not as a quid pro quo, mind you, but just to maintain my sanity. Keith Olbermann would have to buy me dinner and drinks after and convince me he doesn't have either obsessive-compulsive disorder or Asperger's Syndrome.
ten "journalists" that we could do without MySpace
Sad as this sounds, my favorite pundits are Jon Stewart (fake news) and Keith Olbermann (that really pissed off guy that used to be on Sports Center). So, without further ado, my list of ten so called journalists that this world would be far better off without.
Countdown seems to have missed a few historical details. For one, Bush missed Opening Day last year as well. As Paul Duggan pointed out in the Washington Post, “Except for when the world was at war, only two other presidents, Woodrow Wilson and Richard M. Nixon, missed Opening Day ceremonies two years in a row.
May I have a towel with that rant, please? Jeez, Countdown's canny but cranky interlocuter dishes a mean invective, but I'm now covered with YouTube saliva from the apoplectic force of Keith Olbermann's recent tirade about Rudy Rudy Rudy Giuliani. And I thought I had issues.
This is one strange network that seems to have no moral compass whatsoever. It fires Don Imus, under pressure from the left-wing Media Matters group, Al Sharpton and its own host, Keith Olbermann, when the words, though offensive, didn't actually hurt anybody in the physical sense. But it then gives a national platform to the hateful words and images of someone who killed 32 people, on the dubious pretext that we need to understand the twisted mind of a demented killer.
Karl Rove, Turdblossom Headline on MSNBC, "Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann" This Can't Have been Meant, Can It? The Moderate Voice
On television tonight, I thought I was seeing things… the headline under Karl Rove’s photo on a newstory about Rove scrutiny deepening, read in large letters: Karl Rove, TurdBlossom
Keith Olbermann used his Countdown show to target Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani for a speech the former mayor gave at a Lincoln Day Dinner in which Giuliani contended that America would be "playing defense" in the war on terrorism under a Democratic president.
How did the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann do on debate night? The reviews are mixed at best. John Gibson and Dr Mark Levin had some comments on the coverage, and both mentioned Oralmann. We have a clip of their comments for your listening pleasure:
"COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" (8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. ET)
Host: Keith Olbermann
Topics/Guests:
IRAQ: Larry Johnson, fmr. CIA officer and fmr. deputy director of the Office of Counterterrorism at the State Department; Dana Milbank, MSNBC political analyst
DEMOCRATIC DEBATE REACTIONS: Chris Cillizza, washingtonpost.com national political reporter
CELEBRITIES IN TROUBLE: Michael Musto, Village Voice
Shockingly, the opening spiel began with Olbermann asserting that the President clearly lied because Tenet stated in his book there was no "serious debate" about the war. Dick Durbin tells the truth like no one else. Would he have been a patriot if he violated his oath of secrecy regarding classified intelligence to stop the Iraq war? The great attorney scandal [Ding!]. The hour of spin ensues.
UPDATE: Video & Transcript
#5: The hour of spin began like all before it, Bush lied! According to Herr Olbersturmfuhrer, there was no doubt anymore. Why? Because Dick Durbin said so. George Tenet, now worthy of being mentioned on Keith's show in a way that's not completely hateful because he's criticizing the administration, fills in the gaps for Keith's continuing argument the war was sold on lies. Though Keith doubts his sincerity because of the money he received for his book. Larry Johnson parrots Keith and suggests that Mr. Tenet was like "Al Capone's accountant." Thus, George Bush is Al Capone. Huh? Is Larry suggesting that the administration is like that of organized crime? Or is the President a tax evader because he is talking about the accountant? Proof? Not necessary on Olby Planet. Slander and smear whomever you want. Unusual for KO, he plays a clip of Dan Bartlett, Counselor to the President, rebutting the claim the war was sold on the "slam dunk" claim. Of course, Keithy couldn't contain himself and called Mr. Bartlett the "designated hatchet man" to discredit people who write "dangerous books." Dick Cheney clip follows using the "slam dunk" line yet the clip is strangely silent. Two-minute clip of Dick Durbin on the Senate floor aiming for forgiveness because he didn't tell the American people about the lies the administration was spreading about intelligence. Durbin "wanted to do something about it" but he couldn't, because he had to follow the law. Olby, of course, forgives him because he voted against the Iraq war bill. Keith leaves out the fact that several other Democrats on the committee voted for the war despite seeing that intelligence and hearing the administration's "lies." Man on Fan wonders what prevented Durbin and Tenet from "telling the truth." Johnson replies "carelessness." I guess so. They must have been too lazy to pay attention to the intelligence until four years later. Again, House Boy wonders if people should accept jail to stop a country from being "destroyed" and causing the deaths of 3,000 American soldiers rather than respecting the oath they take. Johnson continues to pleasure Keith by suggesting that Tenet himself is responsible for the deaths of Americans in Iraq. Keith pretends that he knows how history would have turned out if Colin Powell had resigned - never gone into war in the first place. Keith knows all, as usual. Johnson sums up Keith's dream by calling Tenet a coward and again suggesting that Tenet is solely responsible for all American soldiers killed in Iraq. Keith responds as if he's the listening to his preacher: AMEN! Lame joke follows about the Medal of Freedom surprisingly not leaping from Tenet's neck. Great thanks.
Dana Milbank, sadly without any interesting apparel, chimes in on the Iraq funding bill. Monkey Man claims Bush is "pretending Democrats are not sending him the funds." Of course, the President has never said anything to that effect. He is vetoing the bill because it has a timetable, not because he's not getting the money he wants. Big difference. Milbank parrots and agrees. KO, ever the one who wonders, asks what the symbolism is behind the veto coming on the four-year anniversary of the "Victory Accomplished" speech. Question about Dick Durbin's "extraordinary" statement. Is there a point in having a Senate intelligence committee? Apparently not. Classified information doesn't really matter. A great time is had by all. Great thanks.
Quick commercial break about the "fresh stench of scandal [Ding!]."
#4: Incredibly funny caption of "No E-mails For You" testing his viewers knowledge of Seinfeld. Blabbing for a couple minutes about the "scandal" and missing e-mails. Picture of Rep. Christine Jennings (D) mistakenly put up for Scott Jennings. Olbermahn's idea of a hard news segment.
#3: Meet the Dems. Debate seems like a job interview to Keith. Democrats are nice to each other. The President is the target. Requisite clips bashing the war in Iraq. Chris Cilizza enters the Spin Zone when Keith throws out the hardball of, "When people up to and including Pat Buchanan say Hilary Clinton looked Presidential last night. When people up to and including Chris Matthews say she sounded and appeared likeable and pleasant, does that mean she scored most highly last night?" But of course she did! Like one had to wonder what the answer was to that in OlbyLand. Cilizza lauded Clinton followed by Keith's doubts on Obama and Richardson's "gun stance" (aka, not in favor of a complete firearm ban) and "benefit of the doubt" vis a vis Attorney General Gonzales. More wondering if, gasp!, attacks may follow after the niceness of last evening's debate. Snooze inducing musings. Great thanks. Clips of Matthews laughing in a funny way. Keith's way of getting back at Matthews making note of Keith's inability to deal with anyone who disagrees with him.
#2: Regurgitated video from HQ on Stephen Hawking on a zero gravity flight. Keeping Tabs segment follows with Fat Ass using not one, but TWO gut busting fart jokes regarding Hugh Grant. I believe Edward R. Murrow pioneered the use of fart jokes in his broadcasts. Grant is in trouble for using a "silent, but deadly" weapon (throwing a container of baked beans). He was released on bail after being charged with suspicion of assault under the common law principle that "whoever smelt it, dealt it." Classy.
#1: The totally normal Michael Musto chimes in on Richard Gere for offending some Indians for kissing a Bollywood actress, which was regarded as obscene. Alec Baldwin clips from The View on his daughter. Musto makes reference to the gerbil rumor from the 90s. Murrow would be proud. Great thanks.
In the Media Matters minute, all the necessary slots were filled. The bronze went to John "Gibby" Gibson (Fox News) for comments on Iraqis (Blue Blog source: Media Matters). Runner up: Richard McCain for declining to call for Alberto Gonzales resignation soon enough for Olby (Blue Blog source: Media Matters). The gold goes to, guess who, a Republican! John Boehner for calling for a withdrawal from Somalia in 1993, which is totally comparable in a world changed by 9/11 (Blue Blog source: Think Progress).
Olbermann's book The book that bears Olbermann's name slumped to #4,875 at amazon.com, but "Culture Warrior" is #542. (It's that 2-for-$25 sale!) The OlbyTome remains unranked at Barnes & Noble; O'Reilly's book is #1,008 there, and is one of the top five books of 2006 per Publishers Weekly. The MisterMeter was bored.
UPDATE: Video & Transcript
Keith Olbermann interviews Larry Johnson on George Tenet book
Moments after Keith Olbermann tried to slam the Obama campaign for not attacking Guiliani during the South Carolina debate, Chris Matthews calls Hillary Clinton sidestepping the issue a "smart move". Zing!
Keith Olbermann Slams Barack Obama for "failing" to answer Rudy Guiliani question
Example 4,102 of why Keith Olbermann should stick to sports - or at least another reason why Keith Olbermann is normally confined to a television studio... with a prepared script... guests hand-picked to dish up the OlbySpin... and ready access to a bathtub.
Watch as Keith Olbermann, in a desperate bid to inject himself (and his most recent special comment) into an Obama campaign interview), grills Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod over Obama's "failure" to answer a question about Rudy Guiliani that Obama was never asked.
Chris Matthews zings Keith Olbermann over Keith's unwillingness to interview people with views different from his own saying about Zell Miller and Mike Gravel "both entitled to speak by the way on Hardball"
...just for tonight. Seems the Democrats are having a debate in South Carolina tonight. The good news is that Keith will be co-hosting this unscripted evening so we're sure to get lots of clips for the blooper file on top of the reliably inaccurate political "reporting" of Keith Olbermann.
Consider this an open thread. I will Tivo the whole thing but am not going to watch the whole sorry mess. If you see any particular good candidates for the Olbermann Watch You Tube channel please post a comment and note the time (Eastern Daylight Savings Time).
Olbermann pays $4.2M for condo in Trump Palace building on Manhattan's Upper East Side Big Time Listings
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has paid the $4.2 million asking price for a five-room, 40th-floor condominium unit in the Trump Palace building at 200 E. 69th Street in Manhattan, according to public records and the New York Observer.
Keith Olbermann Spends $4.2 M. For Marbled Trump Condo New York Observer
As a pleasingly debauched symbol of his transformation into a top-tier, top-paid newsman, Keith Olbermann has bought a sprawling 40th-floor apartment in an Upper East Side Trump condominium.
Keith Olbermann Goes Off the Deep End, Again Bloggers4Rudy
Don't watch this if listening to the tinfoil hat brigade leader, Keith Olbermann, makes you sick to your stomach. He's really outdone himself with this long winded tirade against Rudy, and the GOP. Olbermann's comments sound like something off a MoveOn.org “truth sheet.â€
First Giulliani is un-American. I thought it was Republicans who said that, though in general they don't. He goes on to blame Bush through implication for September 11th, as well as blaming, once again through implication, Giuliani for September 11th.
Rudy Giuliani's comment that voting for the Democrats would be tantamount to playing defense against terrorists was greeted with the same bleating and whining that surrounded Imus and his jive-ass joke. The guy simply stated the obvious.
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, it's Olbermann! Godwhacker
Now that Rosie is going off the air, Keith is one of the few broadcasters left with any cojones.
I think I want to have Keith Olbermann's baby My Big Ol' Blog
I'm kidding... sort of. His Special Comment segment last night on Countdown was incrediblr...I'm almost serious about the baby thing...
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